(3) The Crookstons

The Boys are Back! (…for a little while)

Andi gives Tanner a huge ‘Welcome Back!’ hug

With my new job which allows me to work from anywhere, Tanner and I have the option of returning to St. Martin full time. However, there’s a catch: Tanner is loving life in New Brighton, MN. He’s enjoying 6th grade at Highview Jr. High, and he’s enrolled in a baseball tutoring program, guitar lessons, and a martial arts class. And, he and his uncle Tommy (who’s a year younger than him) are loving being roommates.

I just don’t have the heart to yank him out of all that.

And so, until Cari’s done on the island in August, I’ll be doing a balancing act between the two locations. On Saturday, November 10th, I flew down and joined the girls, and on Thursday November 15th, Tanner joined us. (A big “Thank You” to Cory Beard who got up at 3:30 AM that morning to take Tanner to the Air Port!! What a seriously good friend!)

Tanner and I will be on the island with the girls until just after Thanksgiving, and we plan to pack in as much fun as possible while we’re here. Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments, Written on November 18th, 2012 , Everything Else

a New Job, a Trip to Tampa, and Some Culinary Delights

Lobster and Caviar

I’d like to take a brief break from the narrative of life in St. Martin to share some fun experiences I had recently with my new employer, ACS-Connect, based in Tampa, Florida.

I’ve been in contact with this company since June earlier this year, had done a little bit of freelance work for them in the mean time, and a few weeks ago I joined them full time.

For the first two weeks of my new job I went down to Tampa where I spent business hours in their office receiving a crash course in their products, and in the evenings and on weekends I was treated to a barrage of fun foods thanks to my very Italian and food-savvy boss and the professional chef to whom he is married.

I won’t talk much in this post, but I do want to share some of the pics I snapped with my cheap little iPhone camera. We’ll start with the dinner to which we were treated by my boss’s wife, Chef Debbie Frangipane, at the restaurant where she cooks. Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments, Written on November 14th, 2012 , Everything Else

The Girls Have Been Busy (mostly by Michelle)

Halloween on the island isn’t quiet what it is at home, but the American community still makes the most of it

While Tanner and I are keeping busy up in the northern hinterlands of Minnesota, the girls in St. Martin are filling up their days with lots of fun island activities as well. Andi and Tanner have both had birthdays recently… Tanner turned 12 and Andi turned 14. Michelle recently shared a fun report on her blog, and I thought I’d re-post a condensed edition here as well. If you’d like to experience the whole report, checkout her blog!

Take it away, Michelle….

“We like to parrty. With two r’s”

Christmas came early this year for the estrogen tank in St. Martin. As I mentioned in my last post, my niece Andi who JUST turned 14 (WOOT WOOT) went home for medical tests and was diagnosed with Probable Lupus. With a brave face and confidence from her doctor, she decided to return to us on the island to continue her school year as normal and get her regular teenage life back. We missed the little nugget, and were so excited to have her back, and just in time for her birthday. Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments, Written on November 13th, 2012 , AUC: American University of the Caribbean, St. Maarten Restaurants, Learning Unlimited, Mormons in St. Maarten Tags: American University of the Caribbean, Families at American University of the Caribbean, Learning Unlimited, Mormons on St. Maarten, Mormons on St. Martin

a Tropical Storm, a Beautiful Autumn, and a Medical Diagnosis for Andi

It’s Sunday, October 14th, 2012. Down in St. Martin, Carina, Piper and Michelle are enduring Tropical Storm Rafael. Luckily it wasn’t too brutal, but from what I’ve heard, it dumped a lot of rain, knocked out power and water for long stretches of time, and threw up an impressive wind storm.

Rainy season, hurricane season, and hot ‘n humid season are all at their peak in the Caribbean right now. Although I miss Carina and Pipes terribly and wish I was with them, it might be stretching the truth just a little if I said I wish I was on the island right now. Read the rest of this entry »

26 Comments, Written on October 15th, 2012 , AUC: American University of the Caribbean, Everything Else Tags: American University of the Caribbean, Families at American University of the Caribbean

Estrogen Tank (mostly by Michelle)

Piper, Carina, Andi and Michelle at the White Coat Dinner, fall semester 2012

Well, it’s been almost three weeks since Carina left with Andi, Piper and Michelle to head back to St. Martin. Tanner and I miss them terribly, but otherwise we are doing well in Suburbia, Minnesota. We are enjoying the cool fall weather and the turning trees, and we both agree that if we have to be here and not in St. Martin, this is the time of year to do it, as the girls are suffering in crazy hot and humid weather right now.

Tanner is loving 6th grade where he has enrolled in the yearbook committee, an after school golfing class, and a baseball batting clinic. He and his uncle Tommy (who is a year younger than him) are living it up together. And Tommy, who would otherwise be an only child as all of his siblings are grown and gone, is thrilled to have a built-in room mate.

We are hearing good reports from the island, and I thought I would take some extracts from Michelle’s blog (with permission) and share them here as well. But before we turn the floor over to Michelle, I’ll include one update that happened after she wrote her last blog post. Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments, Written on September 24th, 2012 , AUC: American University of the Caribbean, Mormons in St. Maarten Tags: American University of the Caribbean, Families at American University of the Caribbean, Mormons on St. Maarten, Mormons on St. Martin

Whirlwind Trip Back to the States

Entering customs at Newark airport

As I write this, it’s Sunday September 9th, 2012. Tanner and I are settled down into the home of Cari’s parents for an unknown period of time, and all the girls are back in St. Martin. Andi has begun 8th grade at Learning Unlimited, a private k-12 island school, and Tanner is enrolled at Highview Junior High in New Brighton, MN.

Nine weeks ago, Andi, Tanner and I left Saint Martin and flew back to Minneapolis. Four weeks ago we were joined by Piper and Michelle, and two weeks ago Cari escaped finals and made it back here in time to squeeze in a short visit as well. One week ago, Carina, Andi, Piper and Michelle left to go back to the island, and Tanner and I stayed here.

It has been a crazy, intense nine weeks, full of the entire spectrum of emotions plus lots of catching up with friends and family. We shuttled back and forth between St. Cloud and the Twin Cities, and managed to squeeze in a trip to Utah to see my family as well.

I’ll let the photos do most of the talking. My good camera was broken the entire extent of this trip, so this post is heavily indebted to the photography of others, and to the very few pics taken with my poor little ancient iPhone camera. Read the rest of this entry »

10 Comments, Written on September 10th, 2012 , AUC: American University of the Caribbean, Everything Else Tags: American University of the Caribbean, Families at American University of the Caribbean, Family Separation, Summer Vacation

Uncertain Times

Our famly on the beach. I hope we'll have more chances to take photos together as a family on St. Martin.

Heavy Loads

My dad once told me that his dad used to tell him, “If you pray for a strong back, the Lord will give you a heavy load to carry.” As a child, this expression always struck me as something a farmer would say, perhaps more so because my dad grew up on a farm where back-breaking hard work was the normal daily routine. I’ve come to realize, however, that “heavy loads” don’t always mean farm animals or bales of hay.

The past few weeks at the Crookstons have been a time of heavy loads. Collectively as a family, we have been hefting around the very real possibility of splitting up our family for the next 12 months until Carina is done with classes at AUC. Read the rest of this entry »

16 Comments, Written on August 1st, 2012 , AUC: American University of the Caribbean Tags: American University of the Caribbean, Block Weekend, Family Separation, Jobs, Money, Summer Vacation

No Longer the New Kids, Happy Bay, And Other Stories of Time Moving Forward

Two of Five is Almost Half Done

Trail marker at the head of the path to Happy Bay

It’s Sunday June 10^th, and tomorrow Carina heads into the second block week of her second semester. This means we literally won’t see her all week. And, as there are four blocks per semester, it also means her second semester is almost half over.

Wow.

Wow!

Okay, now that I’ve gotten the “wows” out of the way, I do also have to say that it’s nice not having Cari being in her first semester any more, for a couple of reasons. Read the rest of this entry »

4 Comments, Written on June 11th, 2012 , AUC: American University of the Caribbean, St. Maarten Beaches, St. Martin Activities, Everything Else Tags: AUC, Families at American University of the Caribbean, Happy Bay, Semesters, St. Maarten Beaches, St. Martin Beaches, beaches, family, kids

“You guys sure are having an amazing adventure down here”

: Grandma, Grandpa, Andi, Piper and Tanner down on the beach below our condo

Well, tomorrow morning life is going to change dramatically. Again. Cari goes back to school, and I go back to work.

For Cari, it’s been a fantastic, relaxing, rejuvenating and much needed three week break. For me, it’s been a… (searching for just the right words…) a … an unexpected but inspired four month weekend.

Just today I got word that tomorrow I will start a short-term contract for a company in Minneapolis to code a new web-based application for them. It’s not a long term gig, but it’s work. And I’m grateful. On one hand I never thought it would take this long to find a company that would let me work entirely from a remote location, but on the other hand, not working the first semester of Cari’s schooling is exactly what our family needed while we all settled in to this strange new land.

But more on this later. Right now I want to focus on my Mom & Dad’s visit and on Cari’s break. Happily, my parents were able to arrange there visit to coincide with Cari’s freedom so we could all spend time together. And we had so much fun! I’m not even sure where to begin, so, let’s start with Cari’s birthday. Read the rest of this entry »

Music of the Island

My mom and dad on the beach down below our condo

A group we stumbled upon playing steel drums in a warehouse in Grand Case

Carina is on break right now between her first and second semester at AUC, and much to our delight, my Mom and Dad were able to schedule a trip down here during her break. They like to travel and were excited when we announced we were moving to a Caribbean island. We’ve been looking forward to their visit and were happy that it could coincide with Cari’s break. I’ll compose a better post soon with fun details of their trip, but right now I just wanted to share a highlight.

Yesterday evening we drove out to Grand Case, a fun little village over on the French side that is well known for it’s cute shops and yummy restaurants. (Andi, Tanner and I went there a while back and we recorded our trip here.)

As we were walking down the main street we heard the melodic and distinct sounds of steel drums, so we followed our ears. We ended up in an otherwise unassuming warehouse where we found a group of young twenty-something islanders playing their hearts out on an impressive array of drums.

At first I just took a few pictures, and as I did so I was thinking to myself, “I wish I could record this… it sounds so fun and beautiful.” And then it occurred to me, “Wait! I can record this!” I borrowed my dad’s iPhone (I no longer carry mine with me), put the camera on video mode, and after asking their permission, I started to record. Here’s a short clip of them as they were finishing up a song. Read the rest of this entry »

4 Comments, Written on April 26th, 2012 , St. Martin Activities Tags: Caribbean Music, St. Maarten Ativities, St. Martin Activities

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