Merry Christmas!

Welcome to our Blog. Our latest entry always comes up first... 
Click this link if you want to start at the beginning:
FIRST BLOG ENTRY
If you want to start at the beginning of our trip:
START OF TRIP
If you want to see the story of our trip from South Carolina
(where we bought the boat)
 to Lake Ontario Click this link:
  SOUTH CAROLINA

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It is Christmas Day in paradise... Shelley and I have been crazy busy in the days leading up to Christmas, but now it is here and we miss our family who is not with us but are loving this special time of year....

We have put the boat back into the Caleta (Marina) because there is another Norte (Strong north wind)... We are staying with Mike & Margaret and really enjoying ourselves.... 

Yesterday, I got tossed out of our kayak by a big wave and I have managed to hurt my back again (still)... However with Christmas, I hope to rest a little and get things back to normal quickly....

Here are some picture from the last few days...

Last Saturday, after we gave out all the school supplies, we helped some of the island ex-pats with a Christmas party for the children of the firefighters on the island....  Life for firefighters here is not like at home, and these courageous men an women risk everything with sub-standard, old equipment for less pay in a week than Canadian firefighters earn in an hour....  It was a great afternoon...

Margaret sliding down the pole....

Kelly's turn...

Santa is EVERYWHERE!

 Gifts were bought for every child of every firefighter...

Happy Kids...

 A few days ago, my sister Kim arrived for Christmas...  She brought her husband, Richard and his two adult children and their partners....

Who knew Kelly liked beer?

 The weather has been fabulous, and the other day we inflated our two kayaks and had some fun,,

Kelly and our friend from Texas, Alex

Kelly is all grown up....

Quacky....

Kelly and Maria Hose.....

Kyle and Francisco....

More soon!
Feliz Navidad!

Right To Write Ministry : Our BIGGEST Day Ever!

Click on this link to see our Right to Write Blog. we distributed almost school supplies to almost 300 children today:

Right To Write Ministry : Our BIGGEST Day Ever!

Cozumel - Week 4 ( A Little Early)

Welcome to our Blog. Our latest entry always comes up first... 
Click this link if you want to start at the beginning:
FIRST BLOG ENTRY
If you want to start at the beginning of our trip:
START OF TRIP
If you want to see the story of our trip from South Carolina
(where we bought the boat)
 to Lake Ontario Click this link:
  SOUTH CAROLINA

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another great week!  

Our youngest daughter, Kelly arrived from Canada and we began Christmas celebrations...
As you know, part of Christmas is shopping.... That is where my beautiful wife really excels! Shelley and a few friends took the ferry to the mainland on Tuesday, rented a car and drove to Cancun for a day of Christmas shopping....  Apparently, all went well.....

 On Wednesday, we had a special friend arrive... who knew Santa was a scuba diver?

With the arrival of Santa, Shelley and I got motivated to decorate our Christmas tree... I really isn't very big, but it hold many cherished ornaments and memories.

We also spent time preparing to distribute what may be the largest amout of school supplies so far. We have learned of an area on the island where there is no power, no running water and no sanitation systems...  there are also hundreds of children who don't see much of Santa at Christmas...  We have learned that Santa will be visiting these kids on Saturday morning.  Shelley and I enlisted the help of a few of Santa's elfs and have prepared almost 200 gifts of school supplies.... The ladies from our church made a whole bunch of beautiful pencil cases, but there wasn't enough, so we purchased some nice plastic bags and some ribbon and were able to make up the number we need (hopefully)...  Sadly, no matter how many we make, it won't be enough....

Here are two of our best friends on the Island, Francisco and his wife, Matie... A few years ago we were blessed when they were able to come to Canada and visit us with their two children...  It was an unforgettable trip for all of us...

Oh Look, another picture of Troy and Kyle...  We were at the airport.  He was waiting for his mom and we were waiting for Kelly...

Shelley and I spend a great amount of time in our dinghy.... n= For people like us, it has become our mini van...

  The view from our little corner of the world....

Kelly sitting on Santa's knee...

Don't worry... Santa is drinking Mexican milk...

 Kelly and Shelley walked to town where Kelly bought her FIRST legal drink...

On Thursday Mike & Margaret held their annual Staff Christmas party.  All of their employees and their families are invited to a party where a great meal is served by Mike & Margaret (and a few "volunteers").  we ate Lasagna and Cesar Salad and cake... This was not a very Mexican meal, but everyone really enjoyed it...  Mike worked at home for two days to make the 7 huge trays of lasagna we needed to feed everyone...

Santa and his elf's arrive in style....

 Kelly has been a great sport, and volunteered to help Santa over the next few days...

Kelly and Rocky

Eddie and his two boys....

The Christmas party in full swing....

Kelly and Francisco's son, Pancho....

 We have known Francisco and his family for many years... It's amazing how much all the children have grown into great young adults...  We are so proud in so many ways...

Nd then it was time to go home... lol....

More soon!
Cheers!

Cozumel - Week 3

Welcome to our Blog. Our latest entry always comes up first... 
Click this link if you want to start at the beginning:
FIRST BLOG ENTRY
If you want to start at the beginning of our trip:
START OF TRIP
If you want to see the story of our trip from South Carolina
(where we bought the boat)
 to Lake Ontario Click this link:
  SOUTH CAROLINA

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Another great week...  The sun is shining and we continue to enjoy our friends here on the island...  Our friend, Margaret went to Canada and we have had a really strong north wind (Norte) all week.  Thus the boat was returned to the Caleta for protection.

This week we met a great group of divers from Iowa...  Thanks for all the fun!

We also helped Sean and Taylor Y. with their Open Water Certifications...  They were trained at Groundhog Divers in Kitchener, and came to Shelley and I with a letter of referral.

An OPEN WATER celebration dinner....

 We had a great week with Quacky...

 Last weekend we attended a fundraiser for the local fire department who were trying to raise money to purchase a new firetruck...  Shelley was given a local firefighters calendar... She seemed unhappy..

I am spending some real quality time with my friend, Troy.  We have been diving and spear fishing together... Life doesn't get much better than this!

Troy's puppy - Spinner...

Today we plan to remove our head sail and sew the Sunbrella cover back on.. a big heavy job..

More later,
Cheers!