Hurricane Season in the Tropics

Hello Family and Friends,

Woohoo, Hurricane Season is officially over.  Did you guys realize the season was extended?  It starts June 1st and ends November 30th.  The season use to end October 31st.  This was our 1st season to weather the storms.  We had some nice ones.

I got say this was truly a learning experience for us.  Sure we've been on hurricane alerts while living in Houston and yes, hurricane Ike hit before we left states but let me tell ya living on an island really puts things into prospective.

Prior to moving here we did some homework on the hurricanes that passed thru the island of Guanaja.  Hurricane Mitch was the most devastating at a Cat 5 for 72 hours on this island back in 1998.  He liked it so much that he wouldn't move.  Well, just like Texas...The history of a major hurricane hitting the islands is once every 25 years.  No problem; we can handle that!  Yeah right!  Never have we paid so much attention to the weather updates as we did during this season.  One late evening we were surprised by a TS Alex that developed 8 miles from here and quickly turned into a hurricane as it passed us.  We were woken with the heavy rain and strong winds that night.   I should say, "I was woken".  Sleeping Beauty Bob heard absolutely nothing.  TS Alex was a wake up call for me.  You have to be prepared for this tropical season especially knowing how quickly a system can develop without much notice.   

I don't know how many of you have looked at map and know exactly where we are.  I've learned my coordinates are 16 latitude and 85 longitude.  (Apparently that's Island Living 101).  Anyway, we're a very small island off the mainland of Honduras.  But not only is Guanaja a small island of 9 miles long and 3 miles wide; we live on a much smaller island called Clark Cay (pronounced Key) which is only a 4 acre private island located on the south side of Guanaja.  Let me tell ya...we feel the winds a lot stronger out here than those on the island of Guanaja and not to mention we are at sea level.   This arrangement has shed a lot of light on owning your own island for me.  I used to think having your own island would be the bomb, I'm sorry to say I've changed my tune.  It's freakin scary out here.  Now some of the other cays around us are a lot more protected with abundance of trees, plants and have higher elevation in the center of their island; they can barely see the ocean from their house but not Clark Cay.  You can see the ocean all around ya.

This is our apartment.  As you can see its elevated and due to
where it sits on the property captures best winds all year around. 
We leave all our doors open and catches all the trade winds thru out the apt.
HOWEVER, with that being said... Not so comfortable in 50+ mph winds.

We have amazing views from our deck.
We can see all the bone and reef fish swimming by in the shallows



This is Clark Ark.  A 40 ft panga that is tied up to the dock out front
As you can see it's totally exposed to the rough seas during a storm.
We have the responsibility of moving the boat out to a protected marina
near by.

A view from the dock out front.  We face the island of Guanaja.
Literally a 5 min boat ride.
This is just a cloudy day with a few rain showers. 
Wish I had pictures of the ocean during a TS.
The waters were extremely rough with lots of large white caps;
which is why you want to move the boat out early.
You don't want to be caught in the waters under these conditions.

Hurricane season isn't bad at all as long as you have a prep sheet ready, monitor the system often, tend to the boats early and clean up lose items.   All the cabanas here on Clark Cay have hurricane shutters and are very easy to close and lock.  We made sure to move all the patio furniture inside and remove possible flying objects.  All you folks who like to find conch shells and cool driftwood to display around the grounds...Thanks!  We have to pick up all that stuff and put in the bodega.  ha-ha-ha.

Now here was the major problem I had during this time...BOB!
Bob thinks I over react to "possible" storms.  Which he is probably correct BUT, living on an island with little time to react isn't a bad thing.  He always "assumes" the storms will stay on path and by-pass us or worse treat them as tropical storms.  He thought I was crazy when I wanted to pack up things such as water, food, flashlights, dogs, etc and be ready to vacate the grounds for safer shelter.   We fought a lot needless to say.  Safety wasn't his priority.  He felt we could do everything at the last minute and be OK.  I don't operate that way.  I would rather be ahead of the game than scramble at the last minute. 

So the storms that were close to home and we monitored along the way was TS Matthew, TS Paula and Hurricane Richard.
TS Matthew went directly between us and the mainland.  We got zero rain but high winds.  The winds actually pushed the reef closer to us.  TS Paula was minimal too but turned into a hurricane shortly after she passed us.  Now Hurricane Richard which I had renamed to "Dick".  He headed directly to Guanaja at a Cat 1.  OK we knew Dick was coming and Bob didn't want to leave Clark Cay.  I did however make him sleep down in one of the other cabanas.  I sure as hell didn't want to be up in our apt with all that wind whipping around.  Like I said, we knew it was already a Cat 1 and could become stronger as it approached.   As the hurricane was approaching us; I was on the Internet "facebook" with all my other island friends.  It was actually fun and comforting.  They had all been thru hurricanes before and told me not to worry.  The island can handle up to Cat 3 without any problems.  Homes are built for this situation and the surge is minimal within the reef.  At 2:00 a.m. all the power went out and lost communications with my friends.  Bob and I got the dogs, went to one of the cabanas and barricaded ourselves in.  My sleeping beauty Bob was out like a light.  As soon as the hurricane was upon us.  I was up.  The windows were rattling and I kept shining the flashlight in Bob's eyes to wake him up.  I told him maybe it was best to move into the bathroom.  He wasn't too happy with me and told me to go back to sleep.  How in the hell am I suppose to sleep?  This is my 1st hurricane.

Well, Dick was renamed once again to Lil' Richard.  He actually  was a small Cat 1 with 60-65 mph winds by the time he hit.  The property sustained minimal damage.  We had some large trees uprooted and tons of debris on the beach.  Took us a full week to get the beach cleaned up.  We're very thankful that all the storms that came our directions and didn't amount to anything but that just gives Bob ammunition that I over react.  So, do we balance each other out?  I would say we stress each other out.  ha-ha-ha!  More importantly...He's alive to tell his side of the story.

Well, we are into Rainy season now.  Our friends at Half Moon Cay informed us the best time to trim all the plants is October 16.  That's when we'll start seeing some rain.  Well, I'll be damn!  Oct 14th the rain started.  It rained every day for 4 weeks solid.  After that we would have some nice heavy rain around 2:00 a.m. till 6:oo a.m. and then the sun would come out during the day.  Loved it.  November is just about over and the weather has been fantastic.  Cooler temps high 70's,  lots of sunshine and rain in the evenings or early morning hours. 

Well that's my tale of the hurricane season.  Hope you enjoyed.
As always wishing you and your family true blessings,
Bonnie

1st Honduran Surgery

Hey!  How is everyone doing?  It's been a long time.  Bob & I have been doing very well.  We got thru our 1st hurricane season and that's worth a post on its own.  (stay tuned)

Some of you may know that I've been dealing with bone spurs for at least 2+ years now.   It has been a painful experience but decided surgery wasn't an option due to what I've heard of the procedure, not to mention the recovery time. 

Well, my friend Sharon talked me into seeing her doctor on the mainland (San Pedro Sula).  I agreed but was looking more forward to shopping after the doctor visit.  I had no idea I would be engaging in this type of surgery especially so fast.

The doc said the spurs were pretty big in both feet but the one on my right; x-rays indicated that the bone spur had broken and the fragments were embedding on my tendon which was causing pain.  He was adamant that surgery was the only option if I wanted relief.  GEEZ, not what I wanted to hear but OK. 

Now, I've had a lot of surgeries in my short life but I gotta say this is the 1st where the doc doesn't accept credit cards.  Cash Only.  Apparently the system is for me to pay him upfront and he then pays the hospital, assistant, anesthetic and whatever else is needed.  Humm!  OK.  No problem I have the money in the bank.  I'll make a trip around the corner and get the cash.  Nothing is that simple.  Bob & I have a Honduran savings account.  Even though I had ID; I wasn't able to withdraw the money needed.  Apparently I must present my banking card in order to withdraw cash.  They can't just look up my account and take the money out.  Nope, doesn't work that way.  Bob managed to go online and figured out how to transfer money from our account to the docs account.  No big deal, right?  Wrong!  That was a huge task for Bob to do on his own.  Online banking is in Spanish folks but he got it done.  Way to go Bob! 

Now that the doc is paid; the procedure was scheduled.  Technology has come a long way even in a "3rd World" country.  The incision would only require 2 stitches and only a week of crutches.  The thing that concerned me the most and made me actually have nightmares was the injection to my spinal cord.  Why in the world would you need to numb from my waist down?  But, guess it's a common thing.  Fortunately, my friend Sharon had the same procedure.  She told me not to freak out when I wake and I can't move my legs.   What?  Are you kidding me?   She wasn't.  That is a horrible feeling.  Even though I knew what to expect; when I came to, near the end of the surgery and couldn't move...panic started to set it.  It's a horrible feeling when you try to will your toes to wiggle or try to bend your leg and not be able to do it.  But the anesthetic wore off after several hours.  I truly did have nightmares.  I woke up in a sweat w/the idea of spinal injection going wrong and being paralyzed from it.   Crazy, huh?  I must get that from my Dad.  He's the worst at assuming things to go bad.  Thanks Dad.  I appreciate that gene you passed on to me. 

The doc ruined it for Sharon.  She thought she was going to have the hotel room to herself for a night.  I was suppose to stay one night in the hospital but the doc said I was doing really well and could go back to the hotel.  Poor Sharon.  Nurse duty immediately and no disco dancing for her.   She was fantastic.  She made sure my foot was elevated, made sure my ice pack was full and if I needed anything she was there. 

I was feeling really good that evening.  We ordered pizza and played cards.  Sharon didn't have much sympathy for me and took great pleasure in beating me at Rummy 500.  My story is and I'm sticking to it... "I was under the influence". 

The doc paid me a visit at my hotel room the day after surgery.  He gave me the green light to travel back to the island.  Sharon went out immediately to purchased our airlines tickets and hook us up with a taxi.  What I had failed to mention till now is that Sharon & I did some serious grocery shopping before I was laid up.  We both had full coolers and extra bags to tote w/us.  Thank God for hotel concierge and airport helpers.  I was absolutely no help.  I remained confined to the wheelchair.  To tell you how much we had; we had to pay $200 extra to cover the extra luggage weight we checked.

We finally made it back to the island of Guanaja but damn; for such a short flight we transferred planes 3 times.   My foot was throbbing something bad by the time we got to Guanaja.

I'm proud to say I managed to get in and out of the boat successfully and without injury.  It wasn't lady like but I managed.

I have to give HUGE kudos to my wonderful husband, Bob.   He has been fantastic.  He has cooked me some fabulous meals (he Hates to cook) and has made sure I have absolutely everything I need.  He's been awesome.   He's going to hate that I'm writing this, but I have to...Do you know he followed a recipe and made me some of the best homemade biscuits I've ever had.  Delicious.  I'm thinking he needs to cook for me on a more frequent basis.  Can you hear him now?  Not going to happen.  Bob, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  You are the BEST.

Well, in a few days my stitches will be taken out by Mike Jones.  (Sharon's husband)  I saw him this afternoon and appears he's taking great pleasure in this task.  Should I be worried that he wants to bring his garden tools to pull out the stitches?  ha ha.  I'm sure he'll do a great job. 

I'd say this surgery has gone very nicely and I'm feeling better each day.  I haven't had any pain and by this coming week I'll be crutch free and wearing my own shoes.  I won't be dancing but that too will come in time.

Take care my friends and hope that all is going well for you.  Big hugs - Bonnie

Guanaja's International Fishing

Hello out there!

How is everyone doing?  Bob & I are doing fabulous.  We haven't done too much since we haven't had guests in a while.  (yes, I'm whining!)  ha ha.

I just wanted to help get the word out that Guanaja is hosting it's first IGFA Offshore Fishing Tournament.  This is huge for this little island.  Hopefully this event will drum up some tourism for our sleepy little island.  The tourney will be the weekend of October 21st - 24th; for any of you who may be interested.  

I wish I had the equipment and fishing boat to enter.  They actually have a bracket for women.  I think I'll have to check it out this year and maybe get my stuff together and fish next year.  Any of my girlfriends want to join me?   I'll need a team of 4 girls and a captain.  Of course, I'll work on getting a captain.

Anyway, I'm proud of the "locals" around here that are spear heading this event.  They seem to be pumped, putting in a lot of hours and doing a good job organizing it.  They do have a website if anyone has questions.  www.guanajafishing.com

I'll have to find out how Bob & I can get involved.  Maybe volunteer at a booth or something.  I'm pretty excited about this as you can tell.

While we're on the subject of fishing.  My "island" husband picked up a new hobby.  Unfortunately the island is being hit hard with Lionfish.  Not a good thing.  While this fish is pretty they are also pretty deadly to the reef system.  They are very territorial and aggressive & have no natural predators.  The Lionfish is not native to the Caribbean or other warmer coral regions of the Atlantic, yet they have started to flourish.  Most reports show that the aquarium trade is to blame for releasing this species into the wild.  Way to go people.  If you buy them for your salt water hobby...keep them or eat them.

We had one lingering around our boat dock and Bob decided he's getting him a Lionfish.  Bob had bought a spear gun and thought it was time to figure it out.

He's on a mission, folks!
And yes, this is his 1st time using a spear gun. 
Should I be worried?

Hero, Our dog is observing from the dock.

Guess what, folks?  He got it!
He actually speared the fish!
I'll be damned.

That my friends, is what a speared Lionfish looks like.
Had I known he is actually good eatin;
He would have been an appetizer that night.
Bob, go get us another one.

The dorsal and side fins of this fish are venomous.  But once you cut those off with scissors, scrape of the scales and remove the guts... it's time to season, flour and fry.  We need to get the local folks around here to realize that this fish is delicious so they too can get out there and fish them.  We need to remove as many of these creatures as possible to preserve the reef. 

Really don't have too much more to say.  But we hope everyone is doing well.  If you can swing it; come see us. 

Much love,
Bonnie & Bob

Family visitors with a Special Treat

Hello!  Well they say 3rd time is a charm...well I'm hoping 4th will do it for me.  I have no idea if Blogger made some changes that gave me a hard time posting this blog or if all my napping has made me goofy.

We had an absolute blast with my family that was just here.  My Mom, Sandy (my step dad), Aunt Luz and my cousin, Gloria.   They spent 9 days with us which wasn't enough time.  

Everyone thinks we'll be happy when they leave but that is the furthest from the truth.  We love hosting and entertaining our family and friends.  We miss everyone dearly and when you come down; it means the world to us and we're very sad to see you go.

This visit from my family was a true blessing.  My Aunt is actually my Great Aunt Luz of 82 yrs.   Do you know how excited I was to hear she was coming down?  I had only prayed that we would have a place built so she could see and enjoy the lifestyle we've chosen.  No, we don't have our own place but we do have a very special home that we are able to share.  Anyway, one of my dreams was for my Aunt to make it down here.  She's always been a big supporter of us and so proud that we're achieving our dreams.  To share this with her was a True Blessing.

Let me introduce you to my Great Aunt Luz.

Bob & my Great Aunt Luz

Of all the guests we've had visit; my Mom and posse had the worst time getting here.

So cool to watch a storm approaching.
OK maybe not from the bird's eye view

Unfortunately, we had thunderstorms all day.  We could see the plane in a distance but then all of sudden the weather turned wicked and the pilot made the decision to pull up and head back to Roatan where they came from.  Awe man!  We kept asking the airlines rep will they make another attempt.  We could see the clouds make a break.  Sure enough as soon as the gang approached the Roatan landing strip; the pilot gave the passengers a thumbs up and announced that he's trying again for Guanaja.  Thank God Guanaja is only 15 mins away; I'm sure the passengers are wondering about gas consumption along with the weather.  But ended very well.  I only wish I had camera on hand when everyone got off the plane.   I would have captured some great photos of the family with bulging eyes, white knuckles and a huge relief of being on the ground. 
I'm so mean!   I can be since they arrived safely.

Fortunately, the rain held off for us on the 30 min boat ride to our cay.  They were pretty stressed out and figured they would be...I was prepared.  I had ice cold libations on the boat for them.  Even my Mom who is not a beer drinker downed hers.  I think she was the 1st on to finish.  hehehe!   By the time we got to the cay; all was really good.  I even think they may have put that flight experience way back in their minds.   We got them all settled in their cabanas and had a nice dinner.

As we do with all our guests; we took them to Manati's for our Saturday ritual.  I was so excited to introduce them to our friends. 

Mom, Sandy and me

My Mom...isn't she pretty!

Now we were a little concerned for my aunt being a 82 yrs and getting around.  For obvious reasons her main concern was falling.   When we left Manati's...I insisted on helping her down the stairs.  She held on to the rail with her left hand while I had her by the arm on her right.

Manati's entrance

Well guess what folks.  I let her stubble over the very last step.  UGH!  How could I have allowed that?  I can't say this enough...my Aunt is one tough cookie and likes to drink.  She busted out laughing, dusted off her knees and was back up on her feet. 
Wha-la...she's OK.  Thank God.  

Bob & Sandy coached her thru the process
of where to step

Getting in and out of the boat can be tricky especially since our bigger boat is out of service.  The smaller boat is a little more unstable but with the help of everyone we made sure my Aunt didn't have another accident. 

She did fabulous!
I'm so proud of her.

What can I say?  I'm married to a pretty cool guy.  He definitely went all out while the family was here.  He was a great host and most of all made sure we had everything we needed.

Early one morning he had the beach area ready for us to enjoy our day.

He had the umbrella and beach chairs up and ready

My aunt & I hung out on the beach near the cooler.

She's drinking her Rusty Water.
At 1st she was saying our pipes were really
rusty only to find out that's Crown & Water.
Nice one, Tia!

My cousin and Mom ventured out in the ocean on their kayaks.  I was so impressed with my Mom. She loved being in the kayak.  She went out several times on her own.

Gloria getting the feel for it.  She
was a little worried that she wouldn't
be able to paddle back to shore.
She did great once she got the hang of it

A picture is worth a thousand words.  If I hadn't seen this with my own eyes...I would have said this picture was photo enhanced.  My Mom helping a dog?!  Now this is one area where my mom and I are so different.  I'm a huge animal lover and my Mom...hell no.  She doesn't like animals much and would never want to be around one.   But looky here.  This was very impressive.  Hero is our island dog.  He has to be in the water when we are kayaking.  He has a mind of his own and won't listen.  Well the current was pretty tough this day and our kayak route was a little further out from the island than Hero was used to.  He needed a little help.  There goes my Mom to the rescue.  With the help of her & Sandy, Hero is now on Mom's kayak and on their way to safety. 

So what were the guys up to?  Bob & Sandy played bocce ball every evening and Sandy would come in beat up.  He sliced his head on a tree and cut his foot on something.  He always blamed Bob for the accidents saying, "Bob became violent when he lost."  Always something with those two.  Apparently, Sandy was pretty good at this beach bocce game.

Mom & Sandy were so looking forward to coming to the island to chill.  Apparently the past few work weeks were very stressful before leaving.  You want to chill?  This is the place

Sandy had no problem relaxing!

Mom's hangout was the hammock at the boathouse.
Where there is always a breeze!

Their last night with us we went to Graham's Resort for drinks and dinner.  

We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful evening.
The sunset was beautiful.  The clouds and sky color were spectacular.

Gloria's sunset glamour pic

Fortunately the weather was very nice when they took off back to Roatan and then on home.

Aerial photo of the island as they left us

We enjoyed a fabulous time and really miss having them here.  We hope they return very soon.

We hope all is going well for you.  Bob & I are truly enjoying life. 

Love,
B & B

It's been so quiet!

Hello out there!

 

How has everyone been?   We've been chillin and still taking it all in.  We've been without guests now for 3 weeks. The last two guests were my cousin, Kris and her husband Greg.  

Kris celebrated her 40th birthday while here & they both toasted their recent marriage several times during their stay.  It was a party and a continuous party at that.   We sent them out with our fishing buddy Hansito and they had a great day as they brought in the heaviest load & most variety so far out of the 3 trips that we have booked with him.   Kris caught a 3-4 ft Lemon Shark, Greg caught a 45 lb Wahoo, and they both caught several Barracudas, Blackfin Tuna and Bonita's.  Most people have said that Bonita is not very good to eat and when we tried it after the first trip, we fully understood their stand & agreed 100%.   They're basically only good for cut bait.  Everything else was a great catch.   Yes, even the Barracuda.  This is one of our favorite fish to eat on the island.   Don't shake your head till you try it.  It's a clean white fish.   When eating Barracuda; you must first throw out the head in the sand or dirt.  You ask why?  Well at least I would hope u would.  This fish sometimes carry a toxic posion.  But hey, several other tropical reef fish carry this toxin like snapper, amberjack, grouper.  & I bet some of u have eated these fish w/o giving it a second thought.  The locals here and in other countries have told about "head trick".  If the ants eat it; then the fish is OK to eat.  If the ants stay away; throw the Barracuda away.  It's poisonous.  Seriously!!!  Well at least it has worked for us, so far.  Want to more about this posion, than google Ciguatera.

Greg enjoyed fishing every evening at sunset from a
corner of the island.

and every evening he reeled in something.
If you look closely...this Barracuda has war wounds (belly towards the tail).
As Greg reeled it in, there was another Cuda attacking this one.

Kris and I are very close and have always competed in sporting events.  We both can be competitive but she definitely still excels where I've seemed to have fallen off quite a bit.  Well maybe more than a bit, cause I basically suck now.  I have no idea whats happened to me.  I used to excel in sports; now...don't pick me for your team.   Every afternoon, we got our cocktails, put our game faces on and had a Bocce Ball tourney right before sunset.   I'm not sure I won a game the whole week they were here.   Kris, Greg and Bob were intense and there was lots of trash talking.  

Intense game.

But more importantly
Everyone has drinks in hand.

I sure miss them being here.  I had a small boating accident where my arm got jammed up between the boat and the dock.  Pretty much had only limited use of my right arm.  Thank God I'm left handed.  But even at that; I had no idea how much I actually used my right arm.  Anyway,  Kris was a huge help for me in the kitchen and she was basically my right hand.  Thank you, Kris  You're the best!

Everyone thinks we'll be glad when they leave but I have to say that's quite the opposite.   We love having visitors.   We enjoy a special place here and love being able to share it.  No one has been disappointed yet.  

They looked pretty relaxed to me.

My Mom, Sandy (step-dad), my Great Aunt Luz and cousin Gloria will be our next group to arrive.  They'll be taking off from Houston tomorrow a.m.  Can't wait till there get here.

Well hope all is going well for you and your family.

We miss you and hope you'll be down to visit us soon too.

Big hugs,

Bonnie and Bob

Our 1st Island Wedding - Guanaja Style

Hey...Hey...Hey!   I've been hearing from lots of you wanting to know how the wedding went and wanting to see pictures. 

First of all, I have to give my husband lots of kuddos for all the help he put into making this wedding special for Ginger and Rick.  I couldn't have done this without him.   I gotta say the boy has talent and taste.  

Ginger and Rick were looking for a simple beach, barefoot, and sunset wedding.   It wasn't about all the bells and whistles.  It was about their commitment to one another with their parents by their side.

Regina and Mark (Ginger's parents); Rose and Paul (Rick's parents); Ginger and Rick arrived on the island of Guanaja Friday July 2nd.  

Puddle jumper from Roatan to Guanaja

Tight squeeze but a 15 minute flight.

Our Guanaja airport.

Regina and Mark (Ginger's folks)

Boat ride from the airport to Clark Cay.

Rick and Ginger

They love being in a boat.

Rose (Rick's Momma)

Paul (Rick's Dad)

Taking it all in.

The wedding was set for Saturday, July 3rd.   This is the first wedding we've ever hosted and weren't too sure how this was all going to turn out.   We know this is a spectacular island and the scenery is amazing but hosting a wedding was a little scary.   I've seen the reality shows of Bridezilla.  

It was nothing like that.   Ginger was a wonderful bride and so beautiful.  Really made things easy for us.  Thank you, Ginger!

The day of the wedding was fast and furious.   Bob and I were a team.  First thing we need to do is make sure our guests are occupied and out of the way. 

Fortunately the seas were calm

and a fantastic day for kayaking

Rick and his Mom enjoying the clear blue seas.

While Regina and Ginger relaxed on the beach

and took in some rays.

Mark was all about cooling off in the water

While our guests remained busy; that gave us plenty of time to decorate the beach with palm fronds, flowers, conch shells and tiki torches.

Not too shabby, huh?

I had mentioned Bob was pretty creative.   I put him in charge of the flower arrangements.  We needed one for the dinner table setting and one for Rick and Ginger's room.  Drum roll......

Didn't he do a fabulous job?

I was blown away.

This arrangement was placed in their room

from Ronnie and Anita.

Ginger and Rick loved it!

Next.   The arrangement for the dining table.

I tell ya, Bob has some talent.  Very impressive!

While Bob was arranging flowers.  I was taking a cake decorating

class from Martha.  Thank God she was around. 

Bride's cake.

Strawberry Pineapple Cake

with a cream cheese frosting.

I made this.  I can't even believe that it turned out so well.

I know what you are asking.  "How did it taste?"

It was good!  Ask Ginger.  She'll tell ya.

OK now Rick's cake.

Chocolate Cake Balls.

Not at all what I wanted to present.

Poor Rick. 

He saw the cake and thought it was a plate of coals.  

Awe man!

I tried building a pyramid w/ greenary

but it fell apart.

I had no time to try again.

Sorry Rick!

Sharon Jones was the officiator of the ceremony.

She met with Rick and Ginger early in the day

to work out some of the wording of the vows

and to go over a few of the details.

Once the beach was decorated, flowers arranged, cakes were

in the fridge; it was time to start the dinner prep.

I did hire some kitchen help and was quite organized.

It was a little too easy in some ways.

The dinner was simple but wanted to make sure

everything was on schedule.

The dinner menu.

Lobster Dumplings w/Ginger Soy Sauce

Ceasar Salad

Grilled Grouper topped w/a Basil Butter

Roasted Herbed Potatoes

Steamed Green Beans

 and Dinner Rolls

Everything on my list was checked off.

Time for the wedding!

The day started out absolutely beautiful and we were so

excited that we had a cool breeze.   As we were counting down

till Ginger walked down the beach; the clouds rolled in.

I was not a happy camper.  It was too late to move anything around.

Bob and stood around giving those dark clouds the evil eye.

Guess, we must have some strong "evil" eyes (no comments, please)

The storm went right around us.  It was awesome.

It was a little cloudy to start out but all was fabulous.

Here she comes!

Isn't she beautiful and she's barefoot.

Ceremony in progress.

Their first Kiss?

Doesn't appear so.

Introducing

Mr. and Mrs. Sammons

So Sweet!

Great looking couple

How's this for a special treat?

Notice the rainbow behind them?

How about now?

Looks like she is pooped.

We'd like to offer our special thanks to

Sharon Jones

for conducting a wonderful ceremony.

You did an amazing job.

To the Pullums

Clark Cay is their beautiful island

and thanks to them we were able to enjoy

a fabulous celebration.

Thank you for allowing us share this wonderful island

with our family and friends.

Of course a wedding is very special

with the love and support of family.

Rick and Ginger are blessed to have

wonderful parents.

They are amazing.

To Rick and Ginger,

Bob and I want to wish you both

many years of happiness.

We love you guys!