Turks and Caicos

 Clint and I were blessed to be able to spend a week together in paradise. 

Literally! 

We went to the Turks and Caicos Islands all inclusive Beaches resort for 5 blissful days together and did not want to leave!

 I cannot remember the last time I felt so relaxed  and care free and SPOILED, and it was wonderful!!!

We sat around a lot of the time talking, snuggling up together, and reading or listening to a book together!! WHEN have I ever had time to sit and read for fun??? Never. It was the BEST. :)

 We explored our resort and found so many fun things to do from the swimming pools and lazy river, to the little shops and restaurants, to water sports and tennis and pickle-ball courts...

The water was so beautiful, the perfect shade of turquoise blue! And sitting at the end of this pier that we had all to ourselves was the first spot where we sat down together and read our book, the Saints. It's a book in the lds gospel library app about the early history of the church and I have been wanting to read it for soooo long! Together on our trip we got through 18 of the 46 chapters, and we are going to try and finish it before our church history trip to New York this summer. It is so good!

  Each night we would get to try a new restaurant, but my favorite one was this one called Barefoot By the Sea. We sat together by the light of tiki torches and candles with our feet in the sand right on the beach. To say it was romantic would be an understatement! I was in heaven. And after dinner we walked along the boardwalk talking, holding hands, and listening to a mixture of blissful sounds...the ocean waves, the palm tree leaves blowing in the breeze, and love songs played by a steel drum band...I felt so peaceful and happy...

 We also took an island tour and visited this beautiful and iconic restaurant called the Conch Shack. It is a famous movie stars favorite where they can go and enjoy life there like a "typical" person because fame and stature don't really matter to the people on this island...

 We enjoyed a Hibachi dinner with the Sound Off Signal crew ( which were the people who made this whole trip possible) and laughed at the jokes of this Asian man from "Philly!" ~ The Philippines! Ha! ,)

 On the last night of the trip we were treated to a beautiful dinner on the beach where Sound Off awarded their Distributor of the Year and celebrated the successes of all of our companies for 2019. Mark Litke and his wife Janet are some amazing people and we always have a great time visiting and getting to know each other better...and Clint and I are always trying to "stand out" a little (which isn't hard to do since we are the only ones that do not drink alcohol) and be good examples and good missionaries. We always have something gospel related to talk about and it's great.

 This is a banana split that we shared one afternoon, which was a bad habit that we developed quickly there (dessert after almost every meal!) because EVERYTHING was included! We had to pay for NOTHING. (Except for souvenirs...:)

 We even enjoyed little milkshakes by the lazy river...

 ...they had converted a Volkswagen bus into a mobile milkshake hut and it was the cutest!!!

 Everything there was so clean and beautiful...

 And although I didn't take my camera out on the water, we did go out on the ocean in this kayak where we could look down through the glassy water and see the ocean floor beautifully and clearly!

 We drove these buggy's around the island on a tour too where we saw a few famous people's vacation homes...mansions I should say...

 We spent most of our time being lazy on the beach...and of course I had to capture a few lasting memories with photos by the pier...:)

My sweetie :)

 The beautiful water and the shells that we combed the beach for...

 This is one souvenir I love bringing home to share with everyone...it's fun finding them, they are beautiful to add to my collection, and they are free. :)

 I LOVE this boy!!!!

This amazing view is one that I never want to forget, and one that I feel so blessed to have been able to see with my own eyes... a REAL piece of heaven!

 As our stay was nearing it's end, we both found every reason to fill our time with as much enjoyment as possible, so we also played tennis, pickle ball, and ping pong tournaments for back rubs. 

Clint ended up getting a lot of back rubs! ;) (One day I'm going to beat him!!!;)

 We took in every detail we could...

 ...and focused on US.

I loved every minute of it, and when Clint would say, "Are you sick of me yet?" I would just laugh and then get another kiss. :) 

 Grandpa Trickett saved the day (or the week I should say) by staying with the kids, making pink pancakes for the little girls for breakfast, taking them mini golfing, and playing games etc.

 Then what a sweet surprise to come home to such love! There really is no place like home to come home to! (Unless you are on the island of Turks and Caicos with your best friend!!!!!!!!! :)