Aqaba

This past weekend was so incredible....never ever in my life did I think that I would be scuba diving in the Red Sea! We traveled to the city of Aqaba Thursday afternoon and checked into the hotel then went and got some dinner at a nice Chinese restaurant. The food was delicious and we had heaps of fun...continuing the fun afterwards by walking to a really good ice cream shop :)
On Friday we got to the beach fairly early. The hotel we were staying at has connections with the diving company or something like that and they have a restaurant area with an gated in pool area as well that had lounge chairs all around so the divers or others staying at the hotel could go there and not be bothered by others. It was really nice...especially because the actual beach part isn't that nice. The sand is more like rocks and little pebbles and it isn't like our beaches where it is sand that leads to the water and waves. The reef is literally right off the shore so you are pretty much standing on top of it while you are in the water, haha. So the pool is a nice area for the kids to swim and for the tourists not to be bothered by the locals. Anyways, so a little after the arrival a guy comes by and I fill out some paperwork and then Jay and I went back to get our gear on. I always assumed that the air tanks were heavy but oh my word I felt like I had a 200 pound man on my body because you also have to wear weights so that you stay down in the water (once in the water of course you don't feel that weight). So the instructor told me some basic rules and things and then we headed down to the beach....oh yea and I also remembered how much I am not a fan of wet suits. The breathing was really easy...that, equalizing the pressure in my ears and kicking my legs was about the only things I had to worry about because the guide was in control of my buoyancy the whole time since it was my first time. I was perfectly ok with that too because all I wanted to do was see the pretty fish and corral.....and Oh My Word did I see that! The reef was absolutely incredible!!! Jay had said that it would be nice but I did not expect all that I saw...it was so full of life and color! It really was glorious.....I kept feeling like I was in Finding Nemo, hehe :) It was crazy...I just had to keep telling myself that I was actually in the Red Sea, scuba diving among the reef; that it was actually real. I don't even really know how to describe it. Jay, Justice and I went snorkeling later and even that was amazing!! I dived for about 45 minutes and then headed back to the pool where we relaxed under the Sun for a while :) one of my favorite things to do. We did the snorkeling a little bit later and then headed back to the hotel after to get cleaned up and go to dinner. After dinner we walked around the city for a bit with a guy that we met named JF from Canada.....not too sure what his name stood for and I kept forgetting to ask him. But he was really nice and was at the pool that day as well and went diving so he and Jay had talked a bit. He was in Jordan by himself so we invited him to walk around with us. It was a gorgeous night and I loved just walking around seeing new things. The next day we went back to the pool and restaurant place and laid out a bit more....Jay and Justice went snorkeling while Kim, Salem and I sat on the beach and enjoyed the splendor of our King. It is really really cool to just look out at the ocean because straight across from us is Egypt, haha......o and you can also see Israel and Saudi Arabia from Aqaba....it is crazy! So yea straight across from our part of the part of the Red Sea was the Sinai Peninsula. All of these places that I have heard of growing up in school and stuff and I could see them all! God is SOOOO great!!!!!!!
We left about mid-day Saturday and took the longer drive home that is a more scenic route that takes you by the Dead Sea and so we stopped at one point and walked down towards the water. We weren't super close to it or anything and we were climbing on rocks and stuff. It was really really fun...I love the random parts of trips like that. Jay was taking some pictures and the boys and I were having fun with the rocks, hehe. The sun was descending so it was really pretty on the water. We will hopefully visit the Dead Sea soon but oh man even just to look at it is incredible....thinking that nothing lives there nor does anyone travel on it because their is so much salt that it just kills the boat and stuff. It is just a big body of water that sits there. It is like God thought to Himself "I'm going to put this here...at the lowest spot on earth, simply because I am awesome and I can, haha"....others speculate that that is were Sodom and Gomorrah was but who knows for sure. So basically the trip was awesome!!!

We went to prayer meeting this morning and I would like to ask that all who read this would just keep the people/families involved in your prayers for strength and healing and just that they would be blessed in all areas. Can't say much else but I would just greatly appreciate that and I think they would too.

Kim is due in a few weeks so prayer for her delivery would be wonderful as well....especially that the baby would come before I leave so that I can do as much as possible to help them out before I have to head back. Things are going great so far...perfectly healthy and kicking :) Jay and the kids are doing great as well.

Missing you all always! XOXOXOXOXO