Food and Flea Markets

Our culinary experience was limited due to my no-fancy-no-seafood family. Dinner was the only meal we ate out.  I did insist that we don’t eat fast food, and that we try new places that were recommended by the concierge.

My favorite culinary experience was Mim’s.  It was a quaint little restaurant serving mostly seafood, located right on the beach.  The kids found one of the only non-seafood meals on the menu, chicken fettuccine.  Their favorite restaurant was The Pie Whole.  It’s pizza was actually one of the best I have ever tasted.

What would a Brown family vacation be without the Flea Market?  We walked around downtown Charlotte Amalie.  It is home to several historical sights, but the kids were only interested in shopping for deals.

Mim's and The Pie Whole 

Flea Market

Beaches

We decided to take an entire day to explore some of the famous bay’s of St. Thomas.  Our first stop was one of the Island’s favorite beaches, Magens Bay.  Magens Bay is ranked as one of the 10 most beautiful beaches.  The beach is one mile of white sand, surrounded by crystal blue water.  It is gorgeous!

We spent most of the day at this stunning location, snorkeling, swimming, and enjoying the soft sand beach.  A cruise ship had docked in town, and brought many guests to this beach.  One guest caused quite a raucous among the beach goers.  He/she walked up and down the mile long, sandy beach in his string bikini, with his white shoulder length hair tasseling about.  Whispers, and stares accompanied his exhibition.

We spent most of the day at this stunning beach, and decided to visit a few other beaches on our way back to our villa.

Sapphire Beach was our next stop.  This beach has a shallow reef and is excellent snorkeling for young children.  It is not as deep as Coki Point beach, which is another great place to snorkel.

We ended our day at our hotel, looking for hermit crabs, and swimming in the ocean until dusk.

Magen's Bay

Sapphire Beach 

Fun in the Sun

The Frenchman’s Cove Marriott Resort had an abundance of activities to keep my crew entertained.  Hours were spent on the gorgeous beach, snorkeling, searching for hermit crabs, building sand castles, leaping off the dock, jumping on the water trampoline, climbing on the floating blow-up wall, or merely lounging in the water.

The rocks, and coral provided excellent snorkeling.  They swam with sea turtles, and saw a variety of beautiful fish.  However, walking out to snorkel you had to be careful not to step on a sea urchin or jelly fish.

HUGE iguanas were everywhere, and gave my kids a chuckle every time they startled me and I let out a little (very small) scream.  Jordan tried to befriend  one, when it reared on it's hind legs and hissed at him.  Another vacationer was bit by one and had a nasty wound for over a week.  Yep, I tried my best to keep a distance from them. It was rumored that they were attracted to red toe-nail polish.  What a coincidence that I was wearing bright orange nail polishing toting a tangerine bag. 

The infinity pool provided us with a quick way to cool down.  The kids enjoyed playing volley ball, and  the kiddie slide.  Yes, even the adult children found pleasure in this slide.  Some days we just relaxed, sipped on tropical drinks, read a good book, and basked in the sun.

Paradise

The past four years I have traded our Marriott Timeshare in Park City, for other destinations.  This trade has allowed us to visit other stunning places.  Our family loves the beach, so all the trades have involved accommodations at oceanfront locations.

This year we were fortunate to trade for the Marriott’s Frenchman’s Cove on the quaint island of St. Thomas.  We stayed in an elegant spacious 2-bedroom villa.

Frenchman’s Cove Marriott is tucked along a picturesque hillside overlooking the calm waters of St. Thomas Bay.  It is breathtaking!  The architect is reminiscent of Danish and British architectural designs amidst a colorful tropical landscape.

Adjacent to the resort is the Frenchman’s Reef & Morning Star Marriott Beach hotel.  Shuttle service runs between the two properties allowing guests at the Marriott Timeshare to enjoy both properties.

I was fortunate to have most of my children with me.  Quinn and Meg stayed back with their sweet, little, newborn.  We missed them!

We had a wonderful time enjoying seven fun-filled days in paradise!

Whirlwind August

Wow!  I can’t believe August is almost over, and the kids will be going back to school soon.  August has passed by like a whirlwind.  So many fun and wonderful things have happened.

It began with the birth of baby Mason, and what an absolute delight he has been!  I try to spend very spare minute with this adorable little guy.

Ward Girl's Camp at Snider's Mill Lodge by Park City was another highlight.  What a wonderful time I had spending 3 days with these fun and vivacious girls.  We boated, made crafts, performed skits, zip lined or went on the alpine slide, had lots of great food, were spiritually fed, and renewed friendships! Cush Camp, was definitely fun for all! 

And lastly, our Family Vacation to St. Thomas.....more to come on that.

Matt Harpring Basketball Camp

This past week Ben has been attending Matt Harpring's Basketball Camp with a couple members of his comp basketball team.  He has come home every day so happy.  He absolutely loved the camp.  He has learned basketball skills, and played in competitive basketball games.  His team lost in the finals on the last day, but surprisingly, he was OK with that.

In addition to basketball skills, Ben has mentioned Matt Harpring's "pep" talk with them.  He told them that attitude is everything.  He stated that confidence and self perception determines your direction in life (maybe those aren't Ben's exact words), and the happiest people in life are those with great attitudes.

He also taught them that "attitude is altitude".  Ben didn't understand this concept completely, so I looked it up on-line.  It comes from Nick Vujicic who is a motivational speaker who was born without arms and legs.  Nick states that "people can learn how to overcome adversity, persevere under any circumstances and attain the height of their ambition."

I was pleased to know that not only were basketball skills taught, but life skills as well.

P.S.  I might have had a little crush on Matt when he was playing for the Jazz:)

Ben and Matt Harpring

The goods.

Granny is Grand!

Yep, that’s right, Granny, Nana, Grandma, whatever you choose to call me, is fabulous! I couldn’t be prouder of this little guy!  He is absolutely adorable, and melts my heart!

Mason Quinn Cottle was born August 6th at 3:21 a.m.  He is a hefty little fellow, weighing in at 9 lbs, 3 ozs. You would think the bigger babies wouldn’t have any medical issues, but he has had a few.  He has been in the Special Care nursery being monitored for an infection, and other things that they have hopefully worked out.

Meg and Mason came home today!  What a wonderful surprise!  They weren’t expecting to take him home today since they were told that he needed to stay awhile longer.  What a blessing! 

We are so happy that this little guy made it here safely!  He is a bundle of joy!  We sure love him!

The proud parents.

Nanna

Granny

Mason Quinn Cottle

Aunts and Uncles

The Veil is Thin

Emotions ran high for me, Sunday morning as I was getting ready for church.  Tears kept streaming down my face as my thoughts drifted to the impending birth of my first grandchild. I envisioned Steve’s last moments with him, giving him great advice, and a kiss good-bye. I am so glad that they have had some time together, before he comes to earth.

My tears, were also tears of joy.  I am so excited for this precious little baby to join our family.  Babies have such a special spirit about them.  They exude such immense feelings of love and tenderness.

I kept my emotions in check during Sacrament Meeting until the closing song.  It was, “Be Still My Soul,” a song that was played on the violin by Kate and her teacher at Steve’s funeral.  I quickly left, hoping to go home, get a hold of myself, and come back for Young Women's concealing my tender feelings.

I was surprised to get a call from Quinn just hours later, informing me that they were on their way to the hospital.  Sometimes I get such strong feelings, as if heaven is speaking to me. I truly believe that the veil is thin, and that there are angels watching over us. I am grateful for our special angel. 

Chore Day

Friday day is "deep cleaning" day. Everyone knows the drill, and is expected to complete their assignments. Everyone, that is except Ben. For some reason I haven't taught this child very well. He finds any reason not to corporate or complete his tasks.

Yesterday, I spent the majority of the day at the laundry mat.  My wash machine has been broken for over a week.  When the repairman finally came, he had to order a part.  The part came, and he fixed it.  When I tried washing clothes in it right after he left, I realized it still wasn't working.  I think he was a little embarrassed when I called the next day, he sent a colleague, and he found that a few wires had not been hooked up. Oops!

Kate was in-charge while I was gone.  This is what she found when she opened Ben's closet while cleaning his room.

Quote of the Day

Tomatoes

Container gardening is a great way to garden when you don't have much space, and tomatoes thrive in containers.  The limited space in the structure actually encourages upward growth for the vining plant, and when you combine a good tomato pot with a trellis , you will hopefully be successful, and have some tasty tomatoes.

The Young Women Beehive Class planted tomatoes in large plastic containers for one of their activities.  Their Advisor was meticulous in instructing them on preparing the pots, and had all the proper supplies to aid in a successful harvest.  I LOVE fresh tomatoes, and I thrilled that Lizzy has been a good little Gardener and kept this plant alive.