Our Little Bahama Mama

Here is my sweet Anna at eight months. I actually found this outfit before we moved here and found it appropriate for this place. Isn't she so cute! She really is the love of my life, my little Bahama Mama!

The Bahamian "Zoo"

We went to the "zoo" today. Wow! It was quite the experience. It is not so much a zoo as it is an aviary. There are so many birds there. We really didn't see any exotic animals, there, but it was nice to go and spend the day with Rob. He works quite a bit, here, so we try and take advantage of his free time.
We did get to go in and feed some Lory Parrots. We fed them apples. They only drink the juice and spit everything else out.
I love the look on Anna's face in this picture. She loved them and giggled every time they came close. I was a little hesitant to try it but watching Anna's reaction, I had to give in. I ended up with about four of them on me (two of them flew away right before Rob took the picture). They were pretty tame and not afraid of people!
There were quite a bit of peacocks roaming around. This one flared right in front of us, so I had to take a picture.
This goat was hilarious! He became Rob's buddy when Rob gave him some food. He didn't want us to leave and kept trying to get more food from Rob. I think both Rob and the goat are giving me the same look in this picture.
To end the day we went to KFC to eat. The Bahamians love their fried chicken. It was interesting to eat in a familiar place, but not have anything taste familiar. The fries definitely need help. All in all, it was a good day and nice to spend some time with Rob.

The First Week Here

We have had quite the busy first week. First thing I did was get to work cleaning the house. It was an absolute disaster! I have never seen dust as thick as what I cleaned up. Luckily Anna was a jewel and let slept so I could. When Rob gets home at night he shows us around the island. It's like having our own private tour guide :). Our first night here he took us out to eat at a place called "The Poop Deck". They are famous for serving all sorts of celebrities, including Sean Connery. I took this picture of Anna right after someone told us that she looked like the Gerber Baby from the baby food bottles. I guess that is a compliment! The food was pretty decent, definitely a lot fish. I did love the ambiance. We sat out on a deck, overlooking the ocean. It was absolutely beautiful!The next day I got to experience the supermarket. All I can say is Wow! We are definitely not in the United States anymore. The milk has to be shipped in from Florida. It costs about $6 for a gallon of milk and it usually expires within three days, if it hasn't already expired. It is extremely difficult to find fresh fruit and vegetables. Oh, and there are birds everywhere inside the market. The traffic was terrible! They have a ton of one way streets and at 5:00 everyone quits and tries to head home. It is a big mess. They have traffic laws, but people treat them more as suggestions rather than rules. I have a feeling that the driving might push me over the edge. I already get road rage pretty easily! When we got back to our place we decided to go swimming. There is a pool in our backyard, which is nice when the temperature is about 100 with 90% humidity. Anna loved the water! I'm so glad that we decided to bring her frog floatie with us.Going to church was an experience. There are two languages spoken here, English (kindof) and Creole, which is a different dialect of French. I could hardly understand the people and couldn't tell what language they were speaking because the accents were so thick. There is only one room that has air conditioning and that is the Chapel. So we take turns with the Priesthood using that room. It sure gets hot in the other room! The people are very nice, though, and it is fun having missionaries in the ward!
After church, Rob took us to a place called Pirates Cove. The water is amazing here. It's warm and crystal clear. You can actually see the fish swimming through it. We just sort of sat on the sand and watched the sun go down. It really is a pretty place, but pretty overwhelming looking out and not seeing any other island out there. The ocean is a pretty big body of water!

A couple of days later, Rob drove us around the "big" city of Nassau. That didn't take long at all. We stopped at another lookout point around sunset and Rob took this picture of me and Anna.

A couple of doors down from where we live there is a place called Cloisters. It is this beautiful garden where several weddings are held. Across the street from here is a place called the Garden of Versaille where a whole bunch of statues are located. Rob then took us to watch a parade called Junkanoo. The only way I can describe this is having you picture the flashiest costumes you have ever seen and then listening to a bunch of men "trying" to play a tuba, drums, cowbell, whistles and trombone. Even if it is horrible music it is a lot of fun to watch. It just makes you happy. Unfortunately, Anna was done. It had been a long week for her!

Moving to the Bahamas

So, we have moved to the Bahamas. We are on a small island called Paradise Island. It is about a half a mile wide and about 2 miles long, so not very big at all! Our town home seems pretty decent. It definitely needs some deep cleaning, but it is furnished quite nicely. It has two bedrooms and two bathrooms, a washer and dryer, dishwasher and microwave. I haven't seen the store yet, but Rob tells me that it is pretty interesting. Can't wait. It is on the other island, so it will take us about fifteen minutes to get there. We have one car, which I am really nervous to drive. They drive on the wrong side of the road over here. So the next couple of months will definitely be an adventure!

Corry and Merf came and said goodbye. Here are Alli and Anna giving each other goodbye loves. Well, Alli is giving Anna loves. Anna looks a little nervous!

And here's Anna on her first plane trip. She did great! I think she cried once for maybe about ten minutes. Everyone told us how pretty she was and what a great baby she is. I have to agree!