The Anniversary Day

The last two days of the cruise we were at sea making our way back to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Thursday

Thursday we enjoyed a yummy breakfast in one of the sit-down restaurant on the ship with my sister, brother-in-law, brother and sister-in-law. We breakfast in that dining room the last three mornings on the ship. Different family members joined us. The food was outstanding and the service was even better. I loved the waiters walking around saying "Morning!" so cheerfully and offering muffins or pastries from their trays. The food was plentiful and made me want to eat a light lunch. (Which was actually quite doable at the buffet. I would fill my plate up 2/3 with lettuce and veggies.)

(The first morning we went to this dining room, it was just me and the hubby.  The hostess asked if we wanted to join a table or be seated by ourselves. We said by ourselves. This introverted-not-morning-person had a mini panic attack at the thought of eating breakfast with strangers and having to make conversation. So glad we had the option!) (ha)

Thursday late morning, Hubby and I  donned our suits and headed for one of the pools. This ship had several. On went the sunscreen and out came the book/Kindle. We both took a dip in the pool. So refreshing! I think I lasted all of one hour. I get bored laying in the sun and I am way past wanting to have a tan.

My sister is in this photo.

Hubby was sweet and got me a couple of glasses of water to keep me hydrated.

After lunch, (where we ran into more family members!) I showered and took a lovely nap. Hubby went back to the pool and read a bunch.

That evening was a formal night for dinner. Which means we had to dress up all fancy like. It was neat that one of the formal nights coincided with the actual date of my parents' 60th anniversary! Dad asked us all to meet early so we could have some photos taken of us. (You wouldn't believed all the photographers that are all over the place on a cruise: When you get on the ship, getiing off the ship at the ports of call, before dinner, during dinner...)

This was a perfect opportunity to have a professional photo taken of all of us. We were all together and we were all dressed up.

(I was reminded of my grandma and how she always wanted to take a picture of us grandkids when we were dressed up for church. She would beg for us to wait and change out of our Sunday clothes until she could get a picture of us.)

I scanned into my computer the photos we ended up buying. This one is of my two sister, my brother, my parents and me.

I don't think my parents look like they've been married for 60 years. They were a mere 21 on their wedding day!

Here's a picture of us all with our spouses:

Aren't we fancy? :)

We had dinner that night in a very nice Italian restaurant on the ship. Such a fun evening we all had!

We are waiting outside the restaurant

Sister, Mom, Sister-in-law, Brother

Dad

I took a  picture of the appetizers on the menu because there was Calamari on it and I though the description  was humorous. "Baby Squid in a Cone."

Interestingly, we were given these as a complimentary treat. I tried it and even liked it! (The only other time I have had calamari was in Singapore and it was very chewy and not very good. Our Singaporean friend called it Chinese Chewing Gum. ha.)

And now, I have just got to get some food photos in here.

Nine out of ten of us ordered this Lobster dish. So funny!

In keeping with the theme of a cruise that you don't have to do anything for your self, the waiters took the lobster out of the shell for us.

The waiter saw me taking a picture and decided to ham it up for the photo.

My dessert. A citrus tart. YUM!

Here's Mom and Sister checking out the M&Ms we gave everyone. (I posted about those here.)

The wait staff brought Mom and Dad a piece of chocolate cake and sang to them:::

I just love the huge smile my mom has on her face. :D

After dinner we changed into comfy clothes (come on -- we can only pretend to be fancy for a while before we go back to our "normal" selves!) , and we all converged on my mom and dad's stateroom. It was cozy for sure to have ten of us crammed in there.

We shared cards and notes and talked for a while. Dad shared how the two of them becoming Christians made a huge difference in their dating relationship. This verse describes why:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:The old has gone, the new is here! 

2 Corinthians 5:17

Because of Christ, they have a marriage that has lasted 60 years.

I have seen this verse displayed in their house, but until last week, I didn't know why it is significant to my parents.

One more post about the cruise to come.....