When we went to the Bahamas for Nick’s Make A Wish trip (thank you MSU’s Chi Omegas for raising the funds!) , I soaked in every minute knowing that this trip was special for so many different reasons.  Seeing Nick have such a great time on the water slides at Atlantis, hearing him laugh as we made our way through the lazy river that ended up being anything but lazy, swimming with the dolphins, and so much more….it was the vacation of a lifetime! This is a family photo from June 2008.Picture 050 

I really didn’t get much of a chance to reflect on this wonderful trip because within just two weeks of coming home Nick began to show symptoms that worried us greatly.  He was tired.  His back was hurting.  His legs were even hurting.

From that moment on life was never the same. 

Now here I sit at 3:09 a.m. just two days after Christmas determined to take a minute to ask you to lift our family in prayer as we venture back to this very spot where we enjoyed our last family vacation with Nick.

See, my aunt and uncle are celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary, and their four daughters decided that it would be fun for the whole family to go on a cruise!  So Dad bought our cruise tickets (for which I am forever thankful), and we head out in less than an hour for a week-long family reunion at sea.

My husband, kids, and I have never been on a cruise, so I’m really not sure what to expect. The last time we just flew to the Bahamas and stayed in one place for a week.

I’m just praying for a safe trip to Florida (our van has been in the shop several times in the past couple weeks so a 15 hour trip makes me a little anxious) and special memories with our family.

And if I have to have some tears (which I probably will), I’m just praying I can find a good place to have them alone.

I’ll miss this guy that’s for sure. 

Thank you for praying us through this family reunion and for sharing a few memories of Nick’s trip to the Bahamas with me.

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Thankful to forever be Nick’s mom,