LOGAN'S 16TH BIRTHDAY!  SWIMMING WITH THE WHALES!

  We had a great Birthday breakfast this morning - French Toast, eggs, and even some juice.    Logan turns 16 today!  It's crazy!  We asked him what he wanted to do today, and he said,   "going out and swimming with the whales sounds really cool."  After he said that, Makayla said, "Oh, can I do that for my Birthday too?"  Sooooo, I took both Logan and Makayla to "Swim with the Whales".  Heidi told me to take both of them and all three of us could do it for our Birthdays.  So, that's what we did today.   There are only two places on earth that you can swim with the whales.  Here in Tonga and the Dominican Republic.  I didn't think we would have a chance, but we did it.  We had such an amazing time swimming with the whales.  We saw about 13 different whales.  The whales are giving birth in the waters of Tonga right now.  The whale season is from July to end of October.  The peak is right now.  We really lucked out.  So, we saw about 13 whales and we got to swim with them 5 different times.  We were about 10 feet away from them.  It was crazy!  You could here them talking to one another in the water as well!  Logan, Makayla, and I were so amazed!  It was an incredible experience!  These creatures are so amazing!  What a huge blessing to be able to do this!  The pictures down below were taken on this adventure.

Logan and Makayla in front of the Deep Blue Cruise ship.  We didn't actually take that ship, we took a smaller one.  We got there 8:30 this morning and finished about 4:00 in the afternoon.  It was a GREAT day full of surprises and adventure!  Fun way to spend the day in Tonga!

While we were waiting around this morning, we talked with some local fisherman.  These guys go out at night, have an underwater flashlight, and spear fish.  They then come in the morning, sell their fish to the local people and markets, and then do it again the next night.  The spear they are holding is what they use.  I asked them what the largest fish was that they ever caught.  They said a shark.  I said, "are you crazy?"  They said, "no, really, we've killed a shark before."  They said sometimes when they have a lot of fish that they have caught, there are sharks that follow them.  They said they have to scare the sharks away so they don't get their fish.  They said they just yell at them and then they go away.  There are some crazy things people do here.

This is our fearless guide on the trip.  She was awesome!  She is the daughter of the owner of "Deep Blue".  Her sister right now is in the Olympics representing Tonga for Archery.  They are pretty proud of her and what she is doing over in Rio.  

Boat ride out to swim with the whales

Pre-swim pictures of us before swimming with the whales

Here is a Mother and calf whale.  These are humpback whales.

A humpback whale surfacing.  You can see the spout of water coming out of the air hole.

The tail of the whale going down.  They say that the tail of every whale is different.  It's kind of like fingerprints to us.  We thought that was pretty cool.  The whale tale is their fingerprint.  The whale tale is also considered good luck.  It's because wherever there is a whale, there are lots of fish for the fisherman.  If they see a whale, they know there is going to be good fishing.

We went out to eat at "Little Italy" for Logan's Birthday.  Wonderful place right off the coast.

It was pizza night!  The kids loved it!

This is a 16th Birthday to remember!  Logan said he had a great B-day!  

Heidi and I are proud of the young man he is becoming.  The hope we have is that he takes a lot of the lessons he's learned from Tonga and use them in his life, on his mission, and for years to come.  He's a great son, and we are proud of him and excited to see what the future holds for him.  We know that as long as he serves God, his fellowmen, and keeps his nose clean, he will do amazing things!