Missing In Action? No -- not...

MIA! Not really, just seems that way. Amanda and I were so busy with preparation for our cruise and the Lads to Leaders Convention that we seem to have been MIA...we were just buried under suitcases and shopping lists and puppets and speeches and scripts, and oh yeah, layouts too.

We had a fabulous time on our cruise. We went with two of my sisters and other extended family. We laughed, took pictures, ate, lounged around, took pictures, saw sites, ate, and did I say we ate? We had such a wonderful time and we came back in need of a vacation! Really!

This is one of my favorite pictures. We are in Progresso...it was not sunny that day, but still nice enough to enjoy the beach. Amanda loved playing in the sand and looking for shells. I loved WATCHING her do it! Yep, lazy ole me in a lounge chair enjoying her fun.

Believe it or not, there was TWO Scrappy events on our cruise - wahoo! You know who was the first to arrive for both sessions. This is my newest scrapping buddy, TJ, originally from South Africa. His Mom turned him on to scrapping - go Mom! He shared tips with us, cruise embellishments and some wonderful cruise LO ideas and we had a great time scrapping and sharing while on the cruise - no withdrawl pains for me -- thanks to TJ!!

Now here is my most favorite picture - not sure if you can tell it, but Amanda was so nervous. I was so proud of her though, she pushed off out into the water and by the time our session was

up, an hour and a half later, she was friends with Atlas. Unfortunately, I could not afford to buy all the pictures, only four of them...and hers was the best one. We enjoyed our time at Dolphinaris and would go again in a heart beat. If you ever get the chance to do an excursion with the Dolphins, take it...this is one excursion we will definitely do again.

We went straight from Mobile, our port, to the Lads to Leaders Convention, actually held in five different locations, but we attend the one in Atlanta. We had another wonderful year and all our kids did such an amazing job in preparing for convention. It is really humbling to see what great work and skills our children can develop for the Lord. I was very proud of the kids from our congregation and especially proud of Amanda's speech performance. I know how far she has come and she was totally awesome this year.

I was also very proud of Amanda and Ariana, who both competed in the L2L Individual Scrapbook event. Ariana competed in the 10-12th Grade Division. She earned third place for her cheerleading themed annual album.

Amanda competed with her "Hannah Montana" themed album in the 7-9th Grade Division of Winner's Circle, where she competes with other First Place (in the past) winners. She did not place this year, and she said, Mom, there were so many awesome books, I was just glad to compete with them. Makes a Mom proud. I was proud of both of my girls. Their albums were very well done and will hold memories of their year for them to always look back on.

I hope you enjoyed your spring break as much as we did and took lots of pictures. Now, I just need to scrap them, all nearly 700 of them, LOL. Peachy Heart Hugs, Debbie