Speers Family Reunion Cruise 2023!

Since covid our extended family has really struggled. It has been heartbreaking to me as I don't understand why and how certain family members have chosen to distance themselves or remove themselves from our family. Due to that, we weren't sure if a family reunion would happen this year. We try and do one every other year, but my mom's heart has been pretty shattered and she didn't know if she could make it happen. Through it all, we encouraged her to continue on the tradition and continue to make memories for those who wanted to participate. We hoped to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday and do the reunion all in one on a Royal Caribbean cruise. My parents booked the trip and although it wasn't the same and you can feel the hole in our family, half of us were able to come and we did our best to make memories, celebrate my dad, and create a memory that my mom loves to continue. Family is everything and even though we are through a trying phase, I have hope that we can all be a whole family again.

Our family reunion theme this year was "Anchored in Christ"

We went on a 5 day cruise on the Voyager of the Seas to Cozumel. 

The kids have never been on a cruise, so they were excited to explore the ship when we got on. 

Naturally, Ella went straight for a chair where she read!

Liam, Cavin, and Deacon did most everything together. They played a lot of basketball, golf, and soccer. 

We enjoyed the breeze and relaxing on the boat. 

Channing and Deacon tried out the pool, but quickly decided they did not enjoy the salt water, or how many people were in the small pool with them!

They opted for ice cream instead ;)

That night we had "formal" night at dinner and had a nice time. Mario and Tia were our servers and they were great. Tia adored Deacon and called him "Dimple" and would always say smile for me Dimple ;) haha.

The next morning we docked in Cozumel and went out for an adventure! We ended up switching from the underground caves and cenotes excursion to a snorkeling/beach excursion.

The crew we had was fun and we had a nice ride!

Deacon didn't really want to try snorkeling, but when he decided to and got the hang of it after about 10 minutes he loved it and said he wanted to do it again! We got to see a lot of fish!

We relaxed and played on the blow up slides at the beach, and I paddle boarded. 

We brought home a lot of sand in our suits!

It was pretty, clear water which was nice. 

The kids loved coming back each day to the towel animals! 

Each night we would cram into my parents room and do a devotional. It was a nice highlight of the day. 

We enjoyed eating together in the dining room and on this breakfast morning, the big kids got to enjoy breakfast alone together. 

We had a small "church meeting" Sunday morning. Here is our "half" family reunion crew. 

Channing and Aubrey went iceskating together. 

Deacon won his soccer tournament and Ragnar won the ping pong tournament. Fun to watch them play!

The last night they sang to my dad!

Despite it only being half of our family, I think we made good memories and the kids got to spend time with their extended family. I do not know what the future of our family will look like, but I sure love them all and pray we can all come back together again.