My Perfect Heaven.....

will look just like this!

GRAND TURK!

When we pulled in to port, I fell completely in love! Then I vowed to Ryan that one day we would own a home on this island!

The island is a British island and it is only 7 miles long and 1 1/2 miles wide. The colors are shocking! The blue of the water, the white sand, the bright green....WOW!

This was EASILY a favorite for Ry and I! After the cruise he learned everything he could about the island and we were making plans for a future trip back!

This would be our last port. The thought of ever leaving in this place was so sad! :)

Once on port Ryan, me and a few members of the family headed out on an excursion to snorkel on a reef and then swim with sting rays!

This is Jared. We had so much fun at the reef! Ry jumped off the boat just ahead of me. I jumped in and by the time I popped back up Ry was flailing around trying to get my attention. "SHARK", he said. I stuck my face back in the water and sure enough! A real 3-4 ft. long shark was swimming just under my feet! CRAZY! To the right of the shark...a 4 foot Barracuda! Of course, we didn't know it was a barracuda until Ry grabbed it's tail and it took off, then a guy told him what it was. Apparently they are more of a predator than a shark. Hmmm...

The reef was pretty awesome! I am pretty sure I could snorkel anywhere! Everyday Ry had to practically drag me out of the water!

I mean, I have always been a fish. I could stay in the water for hours and hours and still not get enough, but being able to breathe under water?! I think I just found my favorite thing in the world! Next up....scuba certification! Now THAT would be amazing!

Oh! Look how cute! Clint is putting lotion on Jared's back! :) Cute brothers! :)

Speaking of cute.....

I LOVE sting rays! I could honestly touch them and hold them all day! I love their slightly slimyish texture. Our guides were giving us "sting ray massages". They would rub them on our backs. Then one of the guys tore a fish in half (which is when I decided my face didn't need to go back in the water) and handed half to me. I held it under the sting ray and it sucked the fish right out of my hand. Crazy!

They told us that if we kiss the stinger or barb of the sting ray it would give us 7 years good luck. I was all over it! I totally wanted to do it. Then a guy in front of me stepped forward before I could and LICKED the dang thing. Uh....are there any Clorox wipes in the house?! Then my bro in law Jared stepped forward and did the same thing. Then several other guys. Oh man! Seriously?! 7 years good luck and the H1N1 virus...no thanks! :)

I could spend everyday for the rest of my life in the water with my Mother In Law! I love to watch her enjoy the ocean!

Ryan snapped these pics of Jared. Totally not posed! We call them his James Bond pics!

Jared cracks me up! 

What a fun day! And we weren't even done! We went back to the beach and Ry, Kevin and I strapped our snorkels back on and went for a swim. We were looking for shells, conch shells, to be exact. What we found was SO much better!

We swam all the way out to the farthest buoys, which is as far as they will let you go out because it drops off over a hundred feet. The wall drop off was amazing itself. The water was so clear we could still see the bottom. Even over a hundred feet. Just a bit farther out from where we were it drops off over 7,000 ft! Now that would creep me out!

While we were cruising the edge of the drop off we found 2 anchors. Like really old anchors. We were super excited about them. Then a bit further down we found an old cannon! WOW! We were diving down and touching it. We were so excited! I mean this is the old pirate territory! When we got home Ry did a little research and found out that the anchors and cannon we had found were actually from the 1700's. So interesting! I LOVE history! It is so intriguing to me! I would love to get scuba certified and scuba around some old sunken ships! How cool would that be?!

Grand Turk is my favorite place on Earth! I mean, I am totally willing to go to other places and see if they can top it, but for now, one day, I plan to have a home there. :)