"Kick to the Crunchies!"

I know, I know---the title of this post is absolutely disgusting and inappropriate.  It's a phrase that has been banned from the Taylor household (by me) except for really appropriate occasions, which is now.  Since first semester we have been seriously considering staying in Dominica for our 5th semester, rather than going to Miami or Michigan.  Over the past year, we have really got our hearts set on staying in Dominica.  We love it here (although it may not seem like it at times) and we're nice and settled.  Anyway, if we stayed in Dominica rather than going to Miami, we would save a lot of money, close to $4,000 just in rent (between May and August).  Anyway, we put in our application to stay in Dominica and sadly we were assigned to go to Miami.  :(  We are really unprepared to leave next month but I'm sure things will come together.  So, in 5 weeks we will be leaving the life that we love in Dominica,  flying home, we'll try to find a car we can afford, pack it up, and head to Miami.  

And so the adventure continues......

Emerald Pool and Carib Territory

Here are some more pictures of our trip to Emerald Pool and the Carib Territory.  

(Thanks again Genoveva for the pictures!)

The best way to get in is definitely jumping!

Tamara, Natalynn and I-----please ignore the face I'm pulling

We had a really fun group, here they are

This is a rodent type animal that lives on the island.  I can't remember what they are called, but they're kind of a mix between a bunny, guinea pig, and rat.  They are really quick and I was so excited to finally see one.  I have been hearing about them for the past year and I was starting to wonder if they really existed or if they lived with the snipes at girls camp.

And here are some pictures I took at the Carib Territory, which is land set aside for the Carib Indians to live on.  They make baskets and a few other odds and ends and sale them.  There is also a beautiful view of the Atlantic!

OH!  We also stopped in Castle Bruce, which is a town located on the Atlantic Side of the island.  (We live on the Caribbean side)  Here are some pictures from the Castle Bruce Beach.

Jacko Falls

A few weeks ago the Ross Spouse Organization (RSO) planned a trip to a few different spots on the island.  Spanny Falls, Emerald Pool, and the Carib Territory.   Although Emerald Pool is one of my very favorite spots on the island, I have been there at least 4 times and the Carib Territory at least 5.  I had not however, been to Spanny Falls and I have a list of places I want to see on the island before we leave.  So, I committed to going but the morning we left, our driver Bruno said Spanny Falls would be too Muddy.  Bummer!  We ended up going to Jacko Falls instead, which I had never been to either and I LOVED IT!  It is a small but absolutely beautiful waterfall and the area around it is amazing!  Bruno said it would be too cold to swim so I didn't take anything but my camera to the falls.  After getting my feet in, I decided I wanted to go for a dip.  The water was freezing, but I was able to talk Tamara into getting in with me and we had a lot of fun! (Even with out having our towels afterwards!)  There is just something exhilarating about swimming at the base of a waterfall, no matter how cold the water is or how strong the current! 

Jacko Falls

Another spouse down here, Genoveva, is a very talented photographer and she brought her nice camera on the trip.  Here are some pictures she took.  (Thanks Geno!)

Tamara and I, freezing but having fun!

Tamara, Natalynn, and I

That would be my  "OH!  IT'S COLD!"  face.   

(Thanks Tamara for getting in with me!)

(I'll finish posting about Emerald Pool and the Carib Territory in my next post)

 

The Rest of It

Here's some pictures from the rest of our break.  We were able to spend New Years Eve at Dave and Tiffany's (some of our good friends) and meet their new baby, Melia.  Keith and Dave did a lot of this.......

And I got to visit with Tiff and do a lot of this........
Sarah wouldn't let me touch her until I was holding her baby sister, then she just crawled right up on my lap.  They are such sweet girls!  We didn't manage to get a picture with everyone else who stopped by, but it was good to see some more of our friends!

We were also able to go to Jackson Hole, Wyoming with Keith's parents and Keith and I went skiing one day.  I'm lacking all but a handful of skills when it comes to skiing, but we still had a fun time and Keith is an excellent teacher.   

I had my goggles on in all of the pictures we took and I just laughed at myself afterwards.  Check out the goggle cheeks!  I didn't realize it until afterwards, but I'm like that in all of the pictures from that day!  Ha ha ha.  What a dork!

My wonderful in-laws!  It snowed most of the time we were in Jackson and everything was beautiful and white!  (Driving the pass was a lot of NO fun though!)

The day after we got back from Jackson, we drove up to Idaho Falls and met our friends Cort and Kimi Leavitt for dinner at Wingers! (Our Favorite!)  Cort is 2 semesters ahead of Keith in school and they left the island in August, so it was awesome to see them again and do a little catch up!  Isn't Kimi so cute pregnant?

And last but not least, we flew out just a few hours after the newly weds flew in from their honeymoon, so we were able to visit with them, look at their pictures from Disneyland, and say good bye to them at 

 airport.  

We gave our best smiles for the camera man, who thought it was cute to keep taking picture after picture, regardless of what we were doing.

We had such a fun time being able to visit with everyone and we are sorry for those of you that we missed!  

Tobin and Whitney's Wedding

While we were home, my younger and only sister Whitney got married.  I was so happy that the timing worked out and we were home for it!  (not that I would have missed it, but cutting out an extra $1,000 trip is always nice)  It was, as I think all weddings are, crazy and a bit hectic, but everything turned out beautifully!  We are so excited to have Tobin in the family now!

They were married and sealed in the Salt Lake Temple for eternity on January 2nd.  The reception was the next evening in Pocatello and it was beautiful!  Here are some pictures (in random order)  Some are better than others, but it's all I've got!

While we were in Salt Lake we were also able to get together with some of our friends from Ross and go out to Dinner.  It was such a fun time!     We are so sad that half of the group is in the Bahamas for school now though-----want to come back to Dominica guys?  Please?

Christmas

The week of Christmas was a great one.We had Christmas Eve dinner at my Grandpa and Grandma Cornwalls house (which to me, is a little piece of heaven set right in Inkom Idaho).  The food was great but the company was even more amazing.

But, since Christmas was almost a month ago, I won't go into to details, but here are some pictures!

Sterling, demonstrating one of the many uses for the scarf Sarah made for him for Christmas.

Sarah, Tobin, Whit, and Becky on Christmas morning

Grandpa Cornwall with baby Cloe on Christmas Eve

 Christmas Eve

This is pretty much what Becky and Sarah did.  I guess when you have talent like theirs, you gotta use it!

Tobin and his dolly.   :)

Keep Those Arms Open Blogging World

Well blogging world, I'm back.  After a one month absence, I am back.  Sorry to everyone who's comments, blogs, etc.  I am just barely getting to! Don't worry though blogging world, if you'll keep your arms open, I'm willing to jump back into them.......full force!

I'll start with the first few days of our WONDERFUL vacation home!  Well, I'll actually start by telling you that it was AMAZING!  I couldn't stop hugging my Mom and Sister when I first got home.  Anyway, after a flight on a too small airplane from Dominica to San Juan, Puerto Rico, then from PR to Tampa, one loooooong night of trying to sleep on the floor in the freezing cold Tampa airport,

and then a flight from Tampa to Dallas the next day, then Dallas to Salt lake,

 and a 3 1/2 hour car ride from Salt Lake to Pocatello, Idaho.........we made it home!  There was quite the snowfall to welcome us home

 and we couldn't have been happier to see it!

We spent the first weekend just catching up with our families and doing things like going to Lava Hot Springs

and my Mom and I attended a bridal shower for Whitney

 The first few days back were amazing and I told Keith that even if we had traveled for 2 days just to have those few days at home with our families, it would have been worth it!