December to Remember: Part II

PART II: THE HONEYMOON

When Katie and I got engaged, the first order of business was reserving a date and time at the temple.

The second order of business was reserving our honeymoon cruise. So glad we've had our priorities in the right place from the start.

After spending our second day of marriage in airports and airplanes, Day 3 was aboard the Norwegian Sky in Miami. We were both cruise virgins and had heard nothing about Norwegian for better or worse prior to our trip, and it all turned out to be a very stress-free experience. The price was right, the dates were right, their "freestyle dining" policy was convenient (more on the food later), and the fun and sun of the Bahamas was right in our wheelhouse.

Oooooooooo.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh.

Ehhhhhhhhhhh. (Actually, I was more impressed than depressed with the size and amenities in our room. We knew what we were signing up for with a standard room below the main deck, and it served our purposes just fine. Free room service. Towel animals. Ample closet space. Large porthole. Roomy (enough) bathroom facilities. Comfy bed.)

As you can see from our sunset picture, Miami was plenty sunny but plenty windy, so we felt a little strange eating our chicken and ribs on pool chairs in sweatshirts at the Welcome Party and BBQ. But a good start to the cruise all around.

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Port No. 1: Freeport, Grand Bahama Island

Not much to tell about Freeport. It looked nice enough from the ship. We had no pre-paid excursions for the day and a chilly breeze to deal with, so we opted to take it easy and explore the ship rather than wander from one gift shop to the next in town. We hit the buffet, jogged around the track, sampled one of the restaurants, took in a movie and a comedy show.

A view of Freeport from our room. Wondering what you're looking at? So were we.

Waiting for the comedy show to start at the ship's theater. I've never been to a show at one of the hotel's in Vegas, but this matched what I envision those to be like. We also saw a Broadway tribute show the next night. Again, nothing to compare it against, but not bad for cruise ship entertainment. You could clearly tell they were singing and dancing to numbers from Jersey Boys, Wicked, Mamma Mia, Swing, and Movin' Out (with some slight help from the musicals' billboards posted along the stage wall).

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Port No. 2 : Great Stirrup Cay

You won't find this place on any Google map since this island is property of the cruise line. The weather was vastly improved and just in time for us to hit the beach and take a kayaking tour around the back side of the island. We found out who really wears the swim trunks in our relationship (only kayak in the group featuring a female guide) and how important it is for Katie to navigate the water in a straight line.

My job was to point out sea life in the water - which I did magnificently - while enjoying the scenery. Sadly, there are no pictures that captured the experience. Someone in the back of the kayak was very worried about the camera getting wet and did not want it brought along for the ride.

Can't remember if this blog's new editor approved this picture. Guess I'll find out soon enough.

The sand and water looks particularly appealing right ..... about ..... now.

Easily one of my favorite spots on the ship was the eating area at the back of the boat near the buffet. The wind was partially blocked by the shade cover during the day and pretty well secluded away from our flamboyant cruise director "Richard" and the ship's nightlife activities. And, oh yeah, it was 10 feet from the 24-hour buffet. Katie took about six more trips there than she cared to, but she was a good sport and let me pig out.

Given all the wonderful things we had heard about food on cruise ships, Norwegian did not live up to either of our expectations. The orders were always right in the dining rooms/pre-paid restaurants and nothing was bad, but nothing was a-maz-ing. I think that was part of the reason I liked the buffet so much. The food was just as good as anywhere else on the ship, and you didn't have to wait for it or deal with a waiter.

Port No. 3 : Nassau

Another day at the beach? Yeah, we didn't mind either.

This day's excursion took us to a Blue Lagoon "private island," a short boat ride away from the port. We got a great mini tour of Nassau in the process, including a good view of the Atlantis hotel/waterpark/golf resort. One day, honey. One day.

Though our island didn't boast too many luxuries, it had what we were seeking. Calm water. Soft sand. Peace. Quiet.

"Private" turned out to have about a 60-person occupancy limit, and we had no issues sharing it with the 30 or so people who joined us that day.

Until I saw the doors on this dock house, I had hardly given any thought to the special occasions around the corner. Which leads me to ...

Nice day for a Weiler wedding

WARNING: Contents of this post are entirely suitable for children and will likely put them and most of their parents to sleep due to an insanely large amount of writing. Please refrain from reading near sharp objects or while operating heavy machinery.

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What trumps Christmas, college football, reunions with friends and a weekend of pro sports in Phoenix?

A baby sister as a blushing bride.

It was kind of dumb of me to go to Utah for the holidays packing four dress shirts and one pair of dress pants. Thankfully in the male world it worked out okay. Still, when you're home for 10 days and wear the same pair of pants five of those days, it gets repetitive.

Don't have many shots from the temple to show off due to technical difficulties. On the bright side, I accidently stumbled upon a fun way to frustrate your friends and family members: Hand them a camera with a dying battery and ask them to take pictures (Sorry Catherine).

Michelle and Michael were sealed by Elder Hinckley, who sat beside me the day before at their luncheon. (That's right, HE sat beside ME. I'm the important one here.) Elder Hinckley made quite the first impression, Just before passing me the basket of rolls, his first words were "So brother Weiler, where's your date?" Only could one of the Lord's inspired servants be so bold.

However, there's a good chance these folks fed him that line ...

Three themes stand out about my sister's wedding day, the kind of things we'll be telling Michael and Michelle's children about 20 years from now.

1) The weather. Cliche? Sure. But how can you not discuss the weather when you're January wedding in UTAH features

• no snow

• no nasty inversion haze

• sunshine

• a somewhat chilly gym during the reception (not really "weather", but it qualifies)

2) Michelle's train, or rather the nine shortys grasping the train everywhere she went. Totally adorable, especially considering the number of times they came close to lifting it too high. For a girl who grew up with no sisters and few little cousins, inheriting a half-dozen sisters in-law and nine nieces is a fantasy come true.

3) "Okay, everybody do a big hug!" Wish I had some photo evidence to illustrate this. I know my sister was really excited about her photographer. But seriously, any formal group picture she did was followed by the group hug picture. Enough already.

Great wedding Michelle and Michael. Hope you had fun in Hawaii.

*****

Alrighty then. Let's talk Christmas.

First of all, a big round of applause for the men and women at the airlines and airports who work on Christmas Day so cheap-o customers like myself can still fly home instead of driving for 11 hours. Oversized carry on? Welcome aboard. Yuma to Phoenix? 35 minutes.

We asked Santa Claus to make our house one of his final deliveries of the night so we could celebrate Christmas on the 26th, and the big man came through.

Christmas is a million times more fun with kids around, so we have Kevin's girlfriend Natalie and her son Chandler to thank for bringing us something else to play with than Dad's brain teasers (eh Leslie?)

The kids hooked up Mom and Dad with a flatscreen TV. There may not be high-speed or wireless Internet, cable or satellite broadcasting, blu-ray, MP3, Blackberry or Wii technology at the Weiler home, but if it ever it comes, it'll be in HD baby.

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It wouldn't be a trip to Salt Lake without getting together with some of the old 33rd ward crew. It's amazing how we can tell the some of the same stories over and over again and they never get old, but what's more amazing is there's usually one or two new stories that come out of the woodworks I've never heard before. Always good to find out new information that neglects to be shared, like the fact that one of them is now a firefighter (fairly new news, but still) and one of their wives is 7 MONTHS PREGNANT (C'mon Stir).

The other more unfortunate than amazing thing about hanging out with these guys: I'm just as bad at video games as I ever was. Mario Kart's a great game, but it gets old quickly when you're finishing 12th every time.

Also got to see a bunch of other friends from high school and college and play with their kids. Once again got schooled at the Wii (Jackson, age 4 1/2), learned the lyrics of a Black Eyed Peas song (Gavin, 2) received training in operating a circular saw (Carson, 2), dangerously ate peanuts at Five Guys restaurant (Everett, almost 1) and fell head over heels in love with a smiley-faced little girl (Kate, 1 1/2).

*****

Few other highlights from the vacation:

• Huge shout out to my cousin and fellow blogger Rebecca for notifying me that BYU Creamery chocolate milk is for sale at Deseret Book. If you don't understand the power of BYU Creamery chocolate milk, add it to the list of things you need to experience before you die and thank me later. Why I only bought one bottle while I was in Utah is a question with no acceptable answer.

• Finally, something to make me feel good about Max Hall.

We took a second picture where Doug acts like he's dreading losing our bet on the BYU-Utah football game, but that wouldn't be keeping it real. I wish it bothered my brother to wear BYU gear as much as it would have bothered me to be clad in Ute crimson, but it just doesn't. Curse his good nature.

• Speaking of Utah football, I spent my last day of pre-holiday vacation working at the Poinsettia Bowl. Trust me, my loyalties are just as blue as they ever were. And stay classy, San Diego.

*****

Last but not least, my first week back in Arizona was pretty darn enjoyable (hello 70-degree temperatures!!! You were sorely missed.) I went to my first Suns game (Thanks Athena!) and covered the Cardinals playoff game for work. Steve Nash, D-Wade, Larry Fitzgerald and the highest scoring playoff game in NFL history. It was ........ wait for it .......... awesome.