Rome if you want to...day one

Why go to Rome when you can chill in the Virgin Islands on our own private yacht?

OR.....

The Westin Water Taxi.

This made are quick "trip swap" worth it.

St. Johns, Cruz Bay Westin Resort.

Have you ever tried fresh coconut?

It is....not Good!

Italy....Schmidley!

What is so great about Rome? Probably a lot, but since our trip got ousted (due to volcano ash) we went with "Plan B", a trip down to St. Johns Virgin Islands. I love Trent and his determination to make things happen, he quickly called our "travel agent"(Susan) and with her help we were able to take a relaxing beach get away. THANKS Susan! The trip was greatly appreciated. 

With our Babysitters so willing to help, we knew we had to take advantage and take advantage we did....

 "GIDDY"- waiting for the arrival of their next victims.

In my mind I am thinking, "Oh you poor, innocent souls!"

I wonder if Beth was smiling this big when she left?

Thanks Mom and Beth we could not have done it with out you!

TBC.....

Have a good day!

This morning I was getting Tate and Emmy breakfast and I heard Sydney give Trent this send off:

"Don't let the alligators, crocodiles or snaaaakes bite you!"

I have smiled all morning, regarding her "gentle" send off.  Forget about a hugs and kisses, watch your back Dad!

F i V e !

Syd is our Five Year Old Rock Star!

Five things I dig about the Sydster:

Always willing to strike a pose.

4/5 times she is nice to these two chumps.

Has serious passion for tiny toys.

Not afraid to get dirty.

Pretty much happy.

We love you Sydney and your endless energy!

Philippines- "To Be or Not to Be?"

Okay, so we made the long flight  to check out the Philippines and....We survived our very third world visit! I may have done overload with our pics but this will give you an idea of what we did in a quick three days.

We stayed in a beautiful Hotel called the Peninsula. My favorite part was the breakfast, we had sushi every morning, Sushi...yeah, I know! They also have crazy amounts of mango's. Oh My Gosh,  it was awesome! That little speckled fruit there is called dragon fruit,  it is suppose to be good for your skin, I am sure you will notice a huge difference in my skin tone. They also served a different juice every morning they called it a "morning refresher",  this one is a ginger- grapefruit (Unheard of- Good).

While we were there our guide, Dornet (I had to keep saying to myself Door Net) showed us the schools, stores and different areas that we may be interested in living. This is a picture of one of the preschools we stopped by to check out for Tate. The schools are kind of funky they are just open, kind of like a covered patio.

I am pretty sure I have never seen grilled shrimp Pringles! The cool thing was/is you can pretty much get anything American, with the exception of Diet Mt. Dew. (I am still not getting over that.)

Notice anything missing? I could not find the toilet paper either. I was wondering if I should go with the drip dry method when I figured out they keep the toilet paper out by the sink.  I guess your suppose to grab a swatch before you head in to worship. Don't plan on parking it too long!

We also went and checked out vehicles. Look at this bad boy...the E150. I made a crack about it being for the "special kids", that is when I realized that Asians do not understand sarcasm. Hmmm....Who knew! (guide-Dornet)

 All of the Philippino's know the "Mormon's church", It is really pretty and we are looking forward to living a little closer to a temple.

This is Jerry, our guide's driver. He was so nice and always had a big smile, even though it was 95 degrees outside. I felt like he could be Beetles (brother in-law) "brother from another mother!"They also recommended that Trent do all of his shopping in the US. I wonder why?

                                                       Front Entry

We were not planning on leasing a home during this trip, because we still have a few moths before we will be out there but we came across this house and the timing works out with the tenants who are occupying right now. We put a offer in, so we will wait and see what happens, here are a few pics:

                                                 Back Yard

            More Back Yard

          The french doors open up all around the family room during the cooler season or should I say less hot season?   

                     Family Room

     Master Bedroom                         

                                                         Upstairs Hallway

                                               Kitchen (not way exciting but it will work)

                                            Pool looking out from dining and family room area

                        This is pulling up to the front of the house, probably not the best shot but an idea

                                                           Skyline of Makati

All in all, we had a great trip and it was a good eye opener for me to see how blessed we are. The Philippino people seem so incredibly happy for not having  a lot. My favorite part was just seeing how other people live, their lifestyle, food oh, yeah and the way they drive... Trent and I are looking forward to accepting this job offer,  and  we  think that it will be an adventure to say the least!

PS
I am so looking forward to "date night" in this pretty little hot rod!