The day my world turned PINK

Flashback 12 years ago to our basement apartment in my mothers home in Lacombe. Graham and I were talking softly in bed as Alex fell asleep between us. Once he was fast asleep I looked at Graham and told him this would be the last night it was just the three of us.....I told him tonight we were going to have a baby.

Once I convinced him he jumped out of bed and got to work making a loaf of bread. Yup! Can you believe it? He then lit all the candles in the apartment and put on my favorite music and added my favorite scents to heated water. He ran me a warm bath and for the next few hours in beautiful peaceful calm I prepared for the arrival of our new baby.

As the time drew closer we called our midwives, woke my mom, and called our family to let them know. Everything was so quiet and warm and of course the whole place was smelling like yummy fresh bread. Moments before Amelia's arrival Alex came out of our bedroom. I remember both the French doors to the room pushing open and his beautiful big smile. I told him the baby was coming. He was excited but he was more excited about the huge pool in the middle of the living room! Unfortunately for me I had found the water to warm to birth in but fortunately for Alex his night just got better....new baby and a swim!

There I was welcoming my new baby into the world surrounded by my family. My brother Jason had arrived in time from Calgary and was sitting on the stairs that led down to our apartment, out of sight but still very close. He said it was so strange to hear these guttural moaning noises and then when they would subside to hear me say to Alex in my loving mothering voice..."it's ok honey. The baby is coming. These are the noises mommy makes when the baby comes." He said it was like I was possessed. lol

I remember once I had birthed Amelia pulling her up to my chest and thinking how perfect she was. I already knew she was a girl. Not because of an ultrasound, I just knew. I looked in her eyes and I said, "Hello Amelia Mae Perry". We hadn't even decided on a name yet...it was just one of those moments. It WAS Amelia. My whole world turned pink. She was so soft and delicate. Beautifully perfect. It was like the color pink was screaming for her.

Graham pulled Alex up to get a good look at his new sister. He was all smiles. Once his introduction was over he was in the pool! Graham then cleaned and bundled up Amelia for the rest of the family to hug and hold.

We all climbed back into our huge bed together and enjoyed a fresh piece of bread and honey and then drifted off to sleep as a new and improved family of four.

Amelia is exactly what this Perry family needed. I am so extremely proud of who she is and who she is becoming. I feel so lucky and grateful to have her for a daughter.

Happy Birthday Amelia. November 4th is a day I will NEVER forget.

I love you

Up Up and Away

By: Amelia Perry

Today was the day I went Spinnaker flying. I was on the beautiful blue hulled boat named Mojo. My friends Mia and Enya and I came into the white cockpit and their parents Undean and Sven said, "We are going spinnaker flying". After the whoops and hurray's we ran downstairs to put our bathing suits on (or as they call them our costumes). Before we knew it the spinnaker was out of the bag and was hanging in a sock from the top of the mast to the bottom. A sock basically looks like a body bag that's white and can fit a whole sail comfortably.

Mia was the first to go. Mia jumped into the water and waited til Sven pulled up on the sock and let the spinnaker roam free. It was huge and beautiful, purple, blue and white. Wow! Mia grabbed hold of the ropes attached to it and planted her bum on the loop made out of rope and off she went, higher and higher and higher. She went up, up and away.

While the wind filled her sail Undean from the cockpit adjusted it with ropes. Next it was my turn. It was glorious, glorious, amazing, superb and great. The wind whistled through my hair beautifully but soon enough Sven said, "Jump" and I had to barrel down into the deep blue sea.

No Lobster

By: Alex

Yesterday my Dad and I set out to go Lobster hunting at night. The moon was almost at its fullest and there were no clouds in the sky.

We went to go pick up the crew from the sailing vessel Shannon. Shannon is a boat made in Taiwan which produces some of the best cruising boats in the world. She is a slightly green and blonde boat. We were invited aboard and we said, "yes". It was a little small for all of us in the cockpit. Jackster on an Amel boat contacted us on the radio. They said our guide didn't show up so we decided to go on our own anyway.

On our was to find lobster we stopped at Jackster. They were a very nice couple on an amazing boat. Jackie lent me her powerful underwater torch. We said our thanks and headed off to the unknown.

On our way to the final destination we went over some shallow bits and some waves until finally we reached a spot that looked good. I hurried to set up the fortress anchor. At one point I lost a piece and the color drained from my face. Luckily we found it. With the anchor together we were ready to go! A shot of fear and adrenaline went through my body. A lot of "What if's" went through my head and then I just JUMPED IN!

The water temperature was almost as warm as bath water. The visibility wasn't good, with lots of seaweed. We went over some breaking waves than into a beautiful coral garden but no lobster.

As we were swimming along in that murky water we came across a plastic dinghy, just sitting anchored out there. Nobody was in the dinghy. An unsolved mystery in the middle of Tonga.

Dad and I swam against a heavy current to get back to our crappy inflatable dinghy. We saw a large porcupine fish on the way back but unfortunately NO LOBSTER!

My Own Little Bubble

By: Alex

About a week ago we snorkeled a sunken Korean fishing vessel. Although it didn't look like much the swim through's were perfect for beginners and advanced divers.

The vessel was about 40 feet long and was very old and rusted. There were three square hatches in the boat that were lined with vibrant plate coral. These square holes were perfect swim through's.

Although the swim through's were frowned upon by my parents, for those few seconds in the hull of the boat the whole world disappeared.

In that moment I was in my own little bubble. The gloom of the boat and the beautiful coral made me realize it doesn't get much better than this.

Great Mango Harvest

By: Alex Perry

Today was the great mango harvest. My Dad and I went to go check out the mango tree's, with their long skinny green leaves. We noticed that our giant boat hook would work best to get the mangoes out of their natural habitat and onto our boat. We left back to our boat to grab the necessary tools and to get ready for lunch with a family we had met on the island. The family owns the best store on this 1km square island.

We arrived at the slowly decaying concrete wharf at precisely 2 pm. The feast the family had prepared was amazing. The chicken we had tasted like chicken wings from home and the bright ruby red lobster with moms delicious garlic butter sauce was absolutely delicious.

After the feasting was done I took the more than enthusiastic local kids for a high speed dinghy ride. In return they were to help me climb the great mango tree.

When we reached the tree the first attempt at getting mangoes was a success. We flung sticks at the hanging mangoes. The mangoes started falling like rain. Then when the mangoes were out of sight we started to climb.

Surprisingly this was the moment mom chose to appear. This moment is also when one of the boys was at the most precarious spot. As the mangoes fell some of the girls who were putting them in our giant black basin were so close to being hit it wasn't funny.

By the end of the harvest the giant basin was full and we will be eating mangoes forever or until the New Zealand coast guard takes them.