Cruise Anyone?

(Note: the following post may cause excitability, racing of the heart, jumping up and down out of control, drooling and relentless begging of your spouse...

the remedy for these symptoms: Don't delay, sign up now, and have the vacation of a lifetime!)

(Another note: for all those who think I can produce such wonderful travel jargon, I thank you for the compliment, but I must give credit to where credit is due... my mom Cathi Stanger, the most awesome travel agent on the planet, wrote this letter and I am just passing it along to all of you!)

Ahoy Mateys!

It's time to plan that dream vacation you've always wanted with family and friends. Many of you were on the Liberty of the Seas last October in the Western Caribbean. The Liberty and her sister ship Independence were the largest ships in the world at the time. But since then you may have heard about a new ship currently being built, the Oasis of the Seas...bigger and more fantastic than ever-- indeed, the largest ship ever built! She makes her debut in December of 2009. In addition to FlowRider, ice shows, rock climbing wall, full court basketball, volleyball and boxing, the new Oasis will have all the above PLUS Central Park, AquaTheater (the outdoor amphitheater), a one-of-a-kind carousel, and the first ever Zip Line at Sea! You name it, it's on the Oasis.

The first couple of years after a ship enters the cruise arena, the prices are very high. The Oasis begins at $1,260 per person lowest inside cabin, not including the addition of mandatory port charges and taxes and fees. You could go as high as $6,000 if you prefer one of the loft suites (I don't know too many who would). With that in mind, I decided to book later in the year- October 9-16, 2010 when prices are much less, on an Eastern Caribbean sailing from Ft. Lauderdale with stops at St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and Nassau, Bahamas as well as some great days at sea with plenty of time to explore the ship and participate in all the fun!

Now this is the good part! I know 2010 sounds like a long way off, but that's the beauty of it! There is no huge outlay of cash up front on this cruise, only $50 per CABIN (not person) deposit is required to hold your space by February 25. This will hold you until July10 of this year when an additional $450 will round out the $500 deposit. Final payment on the cruise will be July 1, 2010. After that, we will be within range of penalties, but up until that time a FULL REFUND of whatever you have paid is possible in case you need to cancel. Another thing you might find appealing is that after the initial $50 deposit, you can make payments whenever you have a little spare cash, so by the time final payment rolls around your cruise is already paid for.

Many of you know how much fun cruising is, and that it is the least expensive "big" vacation you can take--about half the price of Hawaii. It is hotel, meals, entertainment, etc. all rolled into one. So now you may be asking yourself what the prices are for the October 9th, 2010. Before I tell you, let me say that one of the categories, C2, is a balcony overlooking Central Park. This has a canopy shade overhead. There is also a category that is a balcony overlooking the Boardwalk, which is open to the blue skies with views of the outdoor theater. Yes, these are inside cabins with a balcony that are lower than the price of the promenade category on the Liberty. The cruise rate is the first price you see. This is the price ALWAYS advertised by all the cruise lines on any ad. The price underneath is the full price including port charges, taxes, insurance, and fees.

CAT L CAT L CAT C2 CATB2 CAT D2

Inside Ins. triple/quad Cent Park Bal Bdwk Balc. Outside Bal.

1st/2nd p.p 1st/2nd 3rd/4th p.p 1st/2nd p.p 1st/2nd p.p 1st/2nd p.p

$710 cruise $710 $320 $920 $990 $1,020

$1,014.48 total $1,014.48 $594.48 $1,254.48 $1,354.48 $1,354.48

Of course, these prices do not include air fare to and from Ft. Lauderdale, but flights won't even go on sale until Dec, 2009 so now is the time to be making deposits on the cruise. As always, the insurance which I have included is optional; however, RCCL is known to have the lowest priced insurance in the industry, and as far out as the sail date is, i strongly recommend having it. There are many unforeseen circumstances which can cause major loss if no insurance has been purchased.

So give this cruise some thought... the newest, largest and most wonderful ship in the world! Remember, the $50 deposit is due before Feb. 25, 2009 (time is running out) and is totally refundable. Tell all your friends, family, those who have cruised with you before, and those who wished they had. As always, I will stay in touch by email and will give you the same great service you've come to expect from Cathi's Fun Trips. And the last word? PASSPORTS MANDATORY!

Cathi's Fun Trips

cstanger@ida.net

208-360-2292 (5 am to 8 am, 12 noon to 2:00 p.m., 5 p.m to 9 p.m)

Ok, this is Carlie talking now... doesn't this sound like a blast?! Mitch and I are going... I'm gonna need a break by that time from all the little ones! We hope to see all our friends and family there. This is coming up fast (the $50 deal) so talk it over with your loved ones and plan a really great vacation! If you want to do this, and I know you do... let me or my mom know soon and she will give you all the info and brochures you will need.

WHOOPS!

September 12, 2009

A Tug at my heartstrings

Today is Saturday... it's not often that I get my kids to help clean- I mean really clean- the house. So when Cameron volunteerd to clean the downstairs bathroom, I didn't hesitate! First off, he is a boy, and I didn't think boys/guys did that! Secondly, the fact that I didn't have to scream at him or bribe him to do such a task about made me faint! Not only did he willingly volunteer, but he was cheerful all the while cleaning it!

The tender moment that I will (at least I hope) remember always was when I was in the family room folding laundry- he didn't know I was in there- and I heard Cameron start singing while he was scrubbing the toilet. The song... I'm not sure the name of it, but the words are as follows:

I often go walking through meadows of clover,

And I gather armfuls of blossoms of (something, I can't remember)

I gather the blossoms the whole meadow over,

Dear mother these flowers remind me of you.

Sniff... sniff... isn't he sweet!! My little boy is growing up and he loves me! I won't think too deeply about the fact that he was singing that as he was scrubbing a toilet! I'll just take it for what it sounded like... an angelic little voice telling me he loved me!

Christmas Craft

Okay folks, here it is... the extent of my craftiness. I don't sew, I don't paint, so I bake and decorate. I planned on doing a lot more gingerbread things ( a house, a tree...) but this dang train took waaaay to long as it was. I baked and frosted, Mitch helped assemble, and the kids placed the candies. And tonight (Jan. 2) it will be destroyed... sigh!

Full view of the train... complete with licorice track!

The Engine- the cattle plow was my idea!

The Coal Car- filled with "coal"

The Lumber Car- covered in snow

The Caboose- complete with ticket man


Okay so it's not my finest decorating, but it was a fun- filled family activity and that's what counts! Bon' Appetite!

A Very Merry Christmas!

Well here it is, December 29... is Christmas really over? When did it begin? Am I the only one who thinks time is flying by waaaay to fast? I finally got my act together and got ready for Christmas- ready or not, it was here. And despite the behavior of my not-so-well-behaved children (a lot of the time) Santa visited our home.

Christmas morning brought many smiles and surprises beyond belief! Cameron has been asking Santa for 3 years now for a puppy. I suppose Santa thought Cam was ready to take on this responsibility- although mom is having second thoughts now. Mitch and I told him to not get his hopes up and have a backup plan just in case- so he went with the old stand-by: books and Wii games. So much to his delight and surprise on Christmas morning, he wakes up to wimpering! (We had the video camera strategically placed to see his face while we were still in bed) He came out to see what the sound was- stopped dead in his tracks, stared, and turned and ran up stairs. This is what we heard:

Cam: (in excited half whisper, half yell): Dad, Mom, I got, I got... a new puppy!

Me: (in a sleepy voice... hee hee) What? What do you mean, like a stuffed animal puppy?

Cam: (hysterical) no, a real live puppy! Come see, come see!

Then he tears back down the stairs, followed closely by all of us, since he had everyone in the house awake by now. And sure enough, in it's own little kennel, was a tiny little Mini-Pin. The kids said he was such a little pipsqueak... so we named him Pip. Here he is and as you can see, he thinks he's the king of the household!

Creed has his own personal bodyguard!

We are having fun with him, but he is a puppy and he likes to chew, nip, pee and poop where he isn't supposed to. But we will work it out and we think he'll be fun for our family.

Madeline was the easy one to buy for this year! She asked for an EZ Bake Oven and that's what she got! Okay there were a couple of bonuses with it.. lot's of extra packets of things to bake, and also a frosting pen decorator-- she's walking in my footsteps! Yea! She was so excited to because she got chapstick from my mom and dad and she LOVES chapsticks! Oh, and let's not forget her HSM nightgown- I didn't even know she knew what High School Musical was! Get with the program mommy!!! Yikes- she's growing up too fast!

Collin was easy as well since he only had one request... one pricey request that is! But since he only wanted one thing, we felt compelled to give in to his demands :0) He wanted Spike the Dinosaur. And boy does he love it! It was set up and roaring to go (no pun intended) and Collins face was all smiles on Christmas morning. He got a few other things, but this was definitely his favorite!

Collin also got a big pack of dinosaurs from Grammy and Papa- can you tell what this little man likes?! I think he was very happy with his Christmas.

As for Creed... he got a couple of things, but he mostly just wanted his bottle and back to bed- he's not an early morning baby, but we did get some cute shots of him before he crashed again!

Creed turned 6 months old on Dec. 23. What a little ball of fun! He is the cutest little guy, but he has been really fussy lately. I wondered if he was teething and last night when he was the worst he's ever been ( I couldn't even console him) and his little cheeks were rosy, I really thought he was teething. This morning, I noticed a little bit of white on his bottom gums... sure enough, he cut a tooth! His first one- and I think he's the earliest one of our kids to do so this early! What a trooper- I can' t imagine how that would feel to a baby. I love teething tablets and Tylenol! His six month appt. is on Friday, so we'll see how big he is now- I'm sure somewhere close to 20 lbs.

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a great 2009!

Oh, I almost forgot... Mitch got me a beautiful curio cabinet to put all my trinkets and nice things. He is so thoughtful!

He even filled it for me while I got to take a nap on Christmas day! That was almost the best gift he and the kids could give me- quiet time and a nap! I'm sure all mom's agree with me!

Time Flies!

Where on earth does the time go?! It can't be the (almost) middle of December already can it? That came way too fast and I'm just not ready for Christmas!
It seems that ever since Thanksgiving, life has just been a huge whirlwind for me. We went to IF for Thanksgiving and had lots of fun with family doing what our family does best... making fabulous food and we even had a day of candymaking for what was meant to be for all the girls- but somehow we only ended up with me, my mom and my sis Katie. But we had fun and got lots of Christmas candy made.
At the end of the week, we went to Mitch's moms house and played games and visited. Mitch got carried away wrestling with his younger brother and cracked a rib... not fun! Especially since he came down with Bronchitis- that doesn't feel to swell on the rib! He has a nasty sounding cough and it doesn't seem to be getting any better, even with antibiotics- so keep him in your prayers please!
I have been up to my earballs in Enrichment- planning our RS Christmas dinner is tomorrow (the 9th) and I am in charge of the program this year. Talk about stress! If I hadn't dyed my hair on Saturday, I'm sure I'd have a full head of white hair! But... just because I felt like I finally had a grip on my calling (it's only taken me two years! :0) the bishop decided to go and switch my calling! I am now the Primary Secretary... yikes! I've never done anything like that before! I hope the Lord will bless me to do well and who knows... maybe this will help me become a bit more organized! Anyway, that's a run down of my life the past week or two. The kids are doing well- Creed is starting baby food and loving it! He especially loved the french fry that Aunt Joni slipped him (sigh!)
Well if I don't get around to sending Christmas cards, I apologize to you all! I love you and wish you the Merriest Christmas and a wonderful new year too. I'm not saying I won't send one, I just don't know if I'll get around to it, but I'll try!

My weak genes pull through!

I am so excited, I just had to post this! You all know that our kids have all looked exactly alike right? They are all mini- Mitch. I've always thought that the only one I had any say in at all was probably Cameron- he looks more like me than the others, but still so much like Mitch that it's not even funny! Until Mr. Creed came along that is... I had given up on my weak genes when I saw him and thought "yep, he's a McClellan alright". But yesterday, a heavenly glimpse of genetics shone down on me. I had a baby picture of me out because I went to a baby shower, and I had it sitting on the counter. Well Cameron came home from piano lessons, saw the picture and said "why is Creed in a dress?" I was fixing dinner and had my back to him, so I didn't see what he was looking at, and thought meant Creed was in a dress at that moment. I looked at him like he was crazy and said "Creed is right here, and he's not in a dress." He gave me the "I am right and you don't know what you're talking about" look and picked up the picture. He said again "Creed is in a dress... why?" My jaw just dropped! I was speechless! My 81/2 year old son thought my baby picture was Creed! And I have to admit... there is quite a resemblence... right? RIGHT??? Please tell me you see it. Tell me my genes came through just a little bit!

Maybe it's the double chin.. defintely not the dress though. Is't Creed so cute? He's almost 5 months old now. He weighs 16 lsb. 14 oz. and is 26 3/4 inches long. He's a big boy and so dang cute! He has deep blue eyes like his sister which we hope he keeps. He finally laughed at 4 months old! It took that long to get him to laugh! But that has got to be the sweetest sound in the world! Well here's a few more pics of us to catch up:

Our happy little guy

Some pics from Halloween- sorry so late about this post:

Madeline just couldn't decide what costume to wear: Winter Belle, or Ariel (notice the red hair?)

Cameron was the Red Ninja- look out!

Collin was a pirate- what else with that missing tooth?!

And our little tiger- wasn't too thrilled with the costume after a while.