JAMAICA!!

So we were sitting in bed on March 5th trying to figure out our next trip. There was the possibility of Jamaica because Felisha has family there that me and the kids had not met, Utah for mission reunion or Vegas for a friends wedding. We were leaning towards Jamaica for end of march/beginning of April because we wanted to go before Khyrum turned 2 so we wouldn't have to pay for him. Then I get a text from my sister saying "$199 round trip flights to Jamaica including taxes!" WOW you can imagine our shock at such a great deal. the kicker was you had to leave on march 9... like 3 days away and keiston has no passport let alone a birth certificate. So i go online and make sure there is a way we can get him an urgent passport and there was so we booked the tickets still not knowing if we would for sure get his passport. The next day we head to Calgary passport office with the receipt that we paid for a birth certificate and we just didn't get it yet. we got turned down, but he said come back on Thursday on your way to Edmonton ( we flew out from there) either with keistons birth certificate if it arrived in the mail or with a note saying why you don't have the birth certificate. Wednesday we packed for our possible trip. Thursday morning we check the mail... no birth certificate, so we took a note. long story short we got the passport by about 4pm, finished our drive to Edmonton, went to sleep, woke up and started the next leg of the trip!

We arrived to Montego bay around 8 pm then took a taxi to Kingston and arrived at Grandma Lucile's around 11pm! Felisha's Grandma, Aunts, and cousins were so excited to see her after about 8 years since her last visit! they were happy to meet us as well as we were happy to meet them.
Felisha's family is from an area which would be considered the "slum" the houses there are pretty run down. None the less, we were able to conform to the lifestyle.

This was our room for the next week. Auntie Viviene was kind enough to give us her room and she shared with someone else. We loved our fan, its called Reggae Breeze. It was a little crazy but it mostly did its job. The house we were in was a 31/2 bedroom with 4 beds. While we were there 12 people between the ages of 2 weeks to 56 years were sleeping in the house. An average 3 bodies/bed.   

The next day most of the family went to Felishas great uncles funeral a few hours away. We did not go due to travelling with the kids and it was raining a lot where the funeral was.

This was not your typical trip to Jamaica... beaches and pina coladas everyday.  Most of our time was spent within the neighborhood with family as we expected it to be. It was still a great trip! I am sure we will have more opportunities to travel there and will get our fair share of beaches and coladas as well. We did go to the beach one day with Felishas cousin Pete! Khyrum loved the sand.

Felisha loved the Fresh fried fish. And i loved everything... except the wind.

Cousin Pete and Keiston. Thanks to this guy we got to see the beach.

Khyrum kept us on our feet all day every day. He constantly wanted to be outside with the "puppies" ( stray dogs), goats, pigeons, or pigs. After a while he started to fear the puppies but still wanted to see them from a distance and not within licking range. If he saw a goat he ran as fast as he could... towards them. Nothing you would say would stop him.. except maybe ice cream or candy but even still most time he started chasing, the only way to get him back was to pick him up and bring him back. I am sure everyone thought we were crazy for trying to keep Khyrum close to us at all times. It was nice how everyone in the neighborhood watched out for everyone.

Khyrum and Ziggy. Ziggy is the father of Felisha's cousin Ziquan. He owns all the goats that Khyrum would chase around the neighborhood.

 This is pretty much how Khyrum wanted to be everyday. He didn't want to wear shoes. He was pretty much a street kid the week we were there.

Felisha's cousins were always  sharing their sweets with Khyrum. He didn't like anyone to pick him up. He would scream for mom or dad, but if they said "I'll give you candy" he would almost always go with them. The dog is one of the 4 that were always around where we were. They pretty much just lay around all day. One licked Khyrum's face so he started keeping his distance.

 I think he is trying to show his age.

 Felisha posing in the doorway of the internet cafe

 Khyrum giving his mom rough love at the beach

Felisha's cousins Rasheeda and Rickala ready to go to school.  

This man was always around. He was always just standing around starring deeply at people.They say he isn't right in his mind, but completely harmless.  Creeped Felisha out a couple times. He was just crouched like this looking around. Khyrum saw him and decided to go copy him. There was a funny old man that was always around too. He Loved to dance and Khyrum liked to copy him too. Wish we took a picture of that man too.

Beef Patty and coco bread! Delicious!

Felisha's Aunt Vivienne washing laundry. Khyrum was being rowdy and hitting dirt everywhere and splashing around in the laundry water. I was going to stop him and his great Grandma said to let him do what he wants...he just got ruder and ruder.

Chilling on the pathway that leads to the park.

The first couple of bedtimes were hard for Khyrum so Great Grandma Lucile came to the rescue. She could not get enough of these kids. Hopefully she will be able to come here in the near future!

Aunty Delva and Grandma at the airport.

We got Khyrum this little tiger travel bag and filled it with treats and toys to try to keep him occupied on the trip. He loved that thing. If anyone would try to play with it he made sure to tell them it was his and take it from them.

The trip was well worth the effort. It was so nice for me to meet the rest of Felisha's moms family (as well we met her dads brother Danny). They were so warm and welcoming and took great care of us. It gave us a greater appreciation for what we do have. We have always wanted to give them help, but going there and seeing how they are living made it easier to find ways that we can help. We hope to help them set up 1 or 2 small businesses so they can live a little more comfortably and independently. possibly sending them used sell phones from here to be sold there, or painting supplies to start a painting business.