Everyone probably wants to have my sister in their family, especially since she was the reason why we went on a cruise. My sister is known for finding great deals…and that is exactly what she did for all of us (Larsen, Hansen, Farley) to go on a cruise together. Thankfully we all have terrific friends in our church who watched all of our kids so the adults could be together for a week.
Getting ready to board the ship
Matt giving Freddy, the Carnival Tail some love
Antoine Dawson does kareoke on Halloween Night
Girls sing kareoke
Mini golf on the cruise ship
Playing some doubles volleyball on the ship
ice cream 24 hours a day
2nd formal night
Matt as the Carnival Legend Sir Elton John
Beautiful sunset
We spent time together eating, dancing, singing, sleeping, talking, playing and eating again! View more of our photos on the ship here.
Back in March 2008 I made the dumb choice of listening to a timeshare spill and dragging Matt along with me. I wasn’t too worried about us purchasing one since Matt usually says NO to things like that. But, this time he surprised me and said OK. It was mostly because of the RCI perk…travel anywhere in the world and stay for a week and only pay $200 for the week.
Well, in June 2008 we moved to Scotland so we never went to our timeshare for a year. Yet, the people with the timeshare kept calling us. Scotland is 6 hours ahead of Texas, so you can imagine what time we were receiving calls from SilverLeaf (timeshare). We asked numerous times to be placed on a “Do Not Call” list, yet every couple of months we got another phone call.
And now I just got off the phone again with Silverleaf…which I wasn’t going to answer but Kalani heard my phone ring and went to answer it. The first lady was friendly enough and wanted us to go to a meeting to learn about the “new changes.” I told her that we are trying to sell our timeshare and we only bought one for the RCI benefits. She then quickly transferred me to another lady. I told her the same things and she was telling me “how could I sell something if I didn’t know all of the changes?” I told her I didn’t really care and whoever buys it will have to deal with it. Maybe that is dishonest, but I am fed up with these people. I told her our past 2 year experiences with them and their continuous phone calls when we asked to be taken off the list. She told me that they do not have a buy back policy, but another lady said that they could if I didn’t bank my week with RCI…so conflicting information. This lady’s grammer was poor, she was raising her voice and cutting me off, etc. I just about hung up on her since I was just getting more and more frustrated. She told me that she could not take me off the “Do Not Contact” list, that only a manager could…so of course I asked for her manager. I must have been labeled “irate” for the manager was defensive while she talked to me. Finally she told me that, “I will not be allowed to use their resort on the years that we did not purchase and will be turned away at their other locations and will not be told about any new incentives or perks.” My response, “FABULOUS!”
So, now we are stuck with paying the maintenance fees for something we don’t use, but want to keep our credit in good standing. Live and learn…and hopefully others can learn from our mistake. So, now the real question: Anyone want to buy our timeshare?
Tia and I wanted to do something fun and spontaneous on Memorial Day weekend, so at the last minute we decided to hop on a plane to surprise our brother Jon, serving an LDS Mission in Denver, Colorado.
Tia and I both served missions about ten years ago (El Salvador and France) so we know what it’s like to be so far from family and friends for an extended period of time. Contact from family is usually restricted to letters and two phone calls a year (Mother’s Day and Christmas).
We arrived on Friday morning and spent the day at the 80 acre, world famous, Denver Zoo. The exhibits did not disappoint, and my personal favorite was obviously the reptile collection (they even had some large Komodo Dragons).
Friday night we drove to Jon’s address and surprised him by knocking on his window at 9:30pm (the missionaries live in the basement of a host family’s house). He was definitely shocked (and happy) to see us show up out of the blue and we made plans for Saturday night dinner.
Saturday we spent a good six hours at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. Here we watched two iMAX productions: Hubble and Arabia. It was my first time in an iMAX theater and both shows were well worth it. The rest of the time was spent at the many exhibits. Kalani’s favorite was Gems & Minerals. Like his dad, Mason really seemed to enjoy the Wildlife Exhibits. There’s a video below of him walking around chanting crazy Polynesian war cry.
That night we picked up Jon and his missionary companion and took them to Olive Garden for a relaxing dinner. It was really fun to catch up and hear more about his mission (he doesn’t offer much detail in his emails). He’s definitely matured a lot and looks great.
At the airport waiting for the car rental shuttle
Jon's first time meeting his nephew Mason
Moments before the surprise knock on the basement window
A herpetologist in the making
Below we see Mason’s Hawaiian side make an appearance as he bellows his ancient Polynesian war cry.
My best friend Ryan Sawyer graduated from law school this year and I knew I wanted to do something really nice for him (and me). Thus, several factors led to the epic vacation that was our “Boy’s Cruise”:
I had extra vacation to use up thanks to our assignment in the U.K.
In January, Tia left me for a “girl’s cruise” with my mother and two sisters.
Mason was only a few months old and still nursing.
Ryan and I share a fascination with marine wildlife.
Ryan was graduating from law school.
Cheap cruises are available out of Houston.
Ryan flew into Houston (first class, thanks to my frequent flyer miles) on Saturday, September 5th. On the morning of Sunday the 6th, Ryan participated in Mason’s baby blessing at church (along with Chris Larsen and McKay Hansen). That afternoon we were in line to board the Carnival Conquest on our way to Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel.
Below are some of the highlights of our 7-nights on the Caribbean seas:
Jamaica:
Dolphin Cove – Here we played, touched, rode, kissed, and swam with a dolphin! They also offered the same experience with nurse sharks and stingrays!
Dunn River Falls – We hiked through uphill rapids on a beautiful river which empties into a white sand beach on the coast of Jamaica.
Grand Cayman:
Sea Turtle Farm – After an up close and educational tour of the facility’s breeding lagoons we were able to snorkel in the park’s artificial reef which contained many fish and turtles. There was also a “predator” section containing sharks and barracuda who were partitioned from the snorkelers by a thick wall of glass.
Jet Ski’s to Stingray City – After a nice lunch at the Hard Rock, we rode jet ski’s out to Stingray City. With a private guide, the three of us each had our own jet ski which we rode to a sandbar where stingrays have been gathering for decades. They were very friendly and our guide helped us to hold and pet them. He then took us snorkeling and located a large moray eel for us to see.
Cozumel:
Scuba Diving – As non-certified divers we had to take a 30 minute crash course and stick by our instructor the whole time. The water was very warm and crystal clear.
Jungle ATVs – A private tour by a self-proclaimed Mayan, we rode ATVs through the Mexican jungle. We were covered with mud at the end of the tour, it was a blast.
Snorkeling – With yet another personal guide who showed us an octopus and large scary fish with big teeth.
We had just as much fun on the Boat:
Food – Giant buffets, 24 hr pizzerias, ice cream machines, fancy dining. We probably averaged 6-7 meals a day.
Entertainment – Comedians, magicians, Broadway-type productions, game shows, etc.
Activities – Basketball, mini-golf, swimming, gym, spa, sauna, etc.
Massages – Yes, we did a couple’s massage, and it was worth every penny.
Dance Club – We spent several late, late, late nights on the dance floor. Ryan’s abilities were unmatched and drew much attention.
Karaoke – Ryan dominated the karaoke scene and I did a classic rendition of Ice Ice Baby.
Sir Elton John – Winning a karaoke contest, Ryan was invited to perform in the final show of the cruise in a packed theater of fellow passengers. They dressed him up in a white suit and had him memorize and perform Crocodile Rock, by Elton John.
The vacation was a blast from the moment we stepped on the boat and it stayed that way for 7 days straight. I’ve never experienced anything like it. The best part was being with Ryan again — and the hardest part was being away from my family.
It had been 12 years since the last Limary family reunion…although most people went to Las Vegas about 7 years ago for our Aunt Lucy’s wedding. Aunt Lucy had been planning this reunion for about 2 years and it was a lot of fun and great to see so many family members. Matt thought that I had a big family before…after our trip to Vegas he realized that there are many more family members that we are related to. With my mom having 9 children in her family and my dad having 14 children in his family, the cousins, aunts & uncles are just everywhere!
This is most of the people that arrived in Vegas for the reunion. There were still more family members that weren’t able to attend
My dad’s family. Only missing 2 people in this photo (Leilani & Jon)
And here are the 4 grandchildren of my parents. (Kalani, Mason, Kalea, Jaedyn) They were finally all together…although we woke Kalea up for this photo and she wasn’t happy about that.
Aunt Lucy & Kalani. Kalani is named after her and was very excited to meet her. (Lucy’s middle/hawaiian name is Kalani)
When you get a bunch of Hawaiians together you know you are going to eat PLENTY of good food. A break down of our week in Vegas where it was at least 110′ everyday:
We never started anything on time, but we “talked story plenty” and had more than enough to eat for the rest of the day. Kalani got a great tan and Mason was such a good baby for everyone. Next reunion is scheduled to be in 5 years. I wonder how big of a group we will get then?
My best friend 
