Cruisin 2010

Wow, what a trip. We had such a good time. I'm going to try to remember what we did all week, but it is all kind of a blur. I'll do my best. We flew out on Saturday the 9, and stayed in Miami for a night. On Sunday we got on our boat, the Carnival Valor, around 12:30. Around 5 we set sail. We played cards and ate. On Monday the 11th, Mikes birthday, we were at sea all day. We played a little win lose or draw, boys against girls, the boys won. :(

It was formal night so we got all dressed up and went to dinner. The waiters sang to Mike, and he got to try lobster.

We went to a comedy show and "Showtime" which reminded me of Northridges dance club. Not great. But it was still kind of funny.
On Tuesday the 12th we were in Grand Cayman. We got off of the boat early and did a little shopping. Then we hopped on a Catamaran and went to 3 different snorkeling spots. The first one wasn't great. It was really windy and the water was rough. Still fun though. Then we went to sting ray city. That was really fun. I have pictures, but they are on Trevor's camera, so I'll have to post them later. Then we went to another place to snorkel. We were in a big hurry to get back, when we got to the tender there was a big line to get back on the boat. So we had to wait in line for like 45 minutes. It was scary trying to get on the tenders, the water was so rough. You really had to time it right. Then it took the tender driver like 5 minutes to get us away from the dock. I thought for sure we were going to smash in to the wall. The waves were so big. I also got fried this day. I put sunscreen on 3 times, and I looked like a lobster! It was really bad. I actually got really sick after dinner and just went to bed. I think it was a mixture of the sun burn and the rocking of the boat. Yuck! I felt much better in the morning, except for the burn.
I forgot to mention, that on the news on Saturday they were watching a hurricane over the Caribbean. Which wasn't surprising. I've never been on a family vacation were it wasn't stormy. When my family went to Hawaii in 2007 they said they were having the worst storm they have had in 50 years! The seven pools looked like the Colorado river! We had to move boulder out of the road so we could keep driving the road to Hauna. We lost power, our condo flooded and our beach was closed the whole trip! I guess that's another post entirely! The point is bad weather follows us (my parents) wherever we go!
Anyway when we got back on the boat we had dinner, then found out that because of the hurricane we were going to be rerouted to Ocho Rios, Jamaica and Nassau. We were supposed to go to Roatan, Belize and Cozumel. We were all pretty bummed. We had some really good excursions planned. In Roatan we were going to Zip-line and pet monkeys. In Belize we were going to take a river trip to the Alta Hun ruins. And in Cozumel we had rented a car and we were going to explore by ourselves.
On Wednesday the 13th we pulled into Ocho Rios. We got off the boat not having a clue what to do. Katie, my sister-in-law, went right to work and found Dolphin Cove. She got us a really good deal. We got to swim with a Dolphin, climb up a river,snorkel and hold a giant iguana and snake!It was so much fun, but again I don't have those pictures yet. I'll have to make a slide show later.
Thursday and Friday are really a blur, we were on the boat at sea both of those day. I didn't do much on Thursday because I was still in so much pain from my burn. On Friday my burn was so much better. Between the two days we played cards, ate, went to shows, ate, took naps, ate, played volleyball, ate some more, did I mention that we ate? Oh my goodness there was so much food! For the most part it was really good food! I was sure that when I got home I was going to have gained 10-20 pounds! Luckily I only gained 5.
On Saturday we were in Nassau, that's in the Bahamas. Again we weren't sure what we were going to do. Katie took charge again, thank goodness, if it were up to me and Mike we probably would have sat by the boat all day. We are not very good and making decisions. We took a 2 and a half hour tour of the city, rich and poor. That was pretty neat. I couldn't believe how small some of the houses were, maybe as big as one of my kids bedrooms. And my kids rooms are pretty small. This is the Queens stair case. Then we went to the Atlantis resort and walked around. Amazing hotel! Then we went to the beach and snorkeled. In order to get to the place to snorkel we had to walk about a mile each way in the sand! My calf's were so sore the next day!
On Sunday we were back in Miami. Trevor found us an awesome hotel right on Miami beach. Behind us was the ocean, in front of us was the ocean. It was amazing. So we swam for a bit, then ate dinner pretty much on the beach. I don't think it could get much better then that.
All in all we had such a good time. It was so fun hanging out with my parents and Trevor and Katie, they were all so much fun. The staff on the ship was amazing, everybody was so nice. Now I'm excited for our next family vacation, this time were going to have to take the kids along. It was so hard being away from them for ten days! Too long. When Sarah brought the kid to our house, Wesley was so confused, he just stared at me. He recognized Mike and was happy and smiling with him, then when I took him he started crying. Sad.:( I know Sarah's nicer then I am, but come on! Jaycee was all hugs and I missed yous. She was so sweet. Next time they are definitely coming with.

Happy Birthday Wesley!

Wow, this year went by so fast! I can't believe that Wesley is already 1. We had such a good day. Started off with Mike making pancakes. Then we went to Beus pond and fed the ducks, man were they hungry.
Me and Jaycee both screamed a couple times because we thought they were going to get us. We had a lot of fun. Then we came home and got the house and food ready for the party. We had taco soup, which was delicious. For the cake I made zuccini bread with cream cheese frosting and pumpkin cupcakes, which also had cream cheese frosting. Yum! Wesley had a cupcake and he loved it. We had both our families come over, that's about 40 people! We had a really good time. The kids (and my mom) played a game where you tie a balloon to your ankle and run until your balloon gets popped. Ellie (4yr old) won, she did so good. Wes got all sorts of goods.
We are so lucky to have him in our family. He is so sweet. He is very busy and likes to get into everything! Especially my cupboards. When we go outside to play he always heads straight for the dirt. He is sleeping through the night and has been for a while. We no longer give him baby food or formula and while we were at it we took away his bottle. Actually he wouldn't drink the whole milk in his bottle, he would throw it back at us. We decided it was a good time to take it away. He likes his milk in a sippy cup. Once and awhile he will take 5-6 steps in a row, usually he takes 2 and falls down. He has such a good personality and he likes to tease. He's so cute and we love him! So, happy birthday Wesley!

What happened to Summer?

Wow, time is going by way too fast! Wesley will be 1 next month. We go on our cruise in a couple weeks! I am so excited. We have never been on cruise, and it is coming so fast. I am a little nervous about leaving the kids. They will be fine, still kind of sad leaving them for 10 days! That's a long time. I know we will have fun even if they don't get to come this time.
I've been thinking of things I could do for Wesley's birthday and ofcourse everything I want to do involves halloween.:) He was born in October. I love halloween, always have. I usually go way overboard for it. Mike's birthday is also in October, I have always done halloween things for him, and he loves it...well he doesn't complain about it. :) I can hardly wait to bring out all of my Halloween stuff. Last night I tried to get Mike to bring up my halloween decorations so I could organize them, he informed me that it is too early. So I guess I have to wait a few weeks. So I'm excited for Wesley's birthday, the cruise/Mikes birthday and Halloween!
Over Labor Day weekend we went camping in Plymouth with Mike's parents. We swam in the warm as a bathtub pool, and went golfing for the the second time ever in our lifes. I am the worst golfer ever! But I'm a good loser. We had so much fun. Jaycee's favorite part was sleeping in the tent. She's so funny. Wesley hated sleeping in the tent, but he did ok. He just loved being outside.
We came home Sunday night because it was freezing! On monday we had a BBQ at my parents house. We played a mean game of kickball, then volleyball, and a couple of board games.
So we had a really good weekend. I love spending time with my family. Excited for Halloween. The End.

Washington

We went to Washington for a week visiting Mikes brother Andrew and his family. We had so much fun. We wished they lived a little closer so we could go more often. We left on the 23rd of July at about 7 o'clock at night in hopes that the kids would sleep most of the trip, which they did, so that was great. Mike drove pretty much the whole time, I gave him a two hour break before breakfast. We got to their house around 11 on Saturday the 24th, took a little rest, then we were off. We went and played in the fountains on the navel base.

On Sunday the 25th, we went to church, then to Point No Point beach. The kids loved playing in the ocean.

We had a hard time keeping Wesley out of the water, he kept crawling back into it. He was such a mess, sand everywhere!

After the beach we went to a little Aquarium. The kids love pretty much anything with water.

Then after the Aquarium we went to a really neat park. I can't remember the name of it, but it kind of looked like a castle. I wish they had parks like that in Utah. There were bunnies all over. I love bunnies. That was a busy day.
On Monday the 26th, we rode the ferry over to Seattle.

In Seattle we went to Pikes Place. Which is always fun. We love to look in the little shops. I got some dried flowers and Mike of jerky. Same as last time we were here. After Pikes, we went and found a troll under a bridge.

We got lost trying to find it. I felt like we were driving around in circles. I felt like that a lot. I guess that happens when your on islands.
On Tuesday we went to the Olympic Game Park. Animals come right up to your car and you feed them bread. It was pretty scary, they put their heads right in the car! It was pretty cool.

There was also a little petting zoo area and an aquarium. I guess this is where some of the Hollywood animals were kept after they were done with them (retired). They also filmed some movies here. Just down the road was a lavender farm.

I bought some lavender pepper, lavender rub and just lavender, I've used it several times and love it. I put the lavender rub on chicken and steak. Very good. I also put lavender in some chocolate chip cookie and they were very good. So I like. :)
On Wednesday we went to Paulsbo and window shopped. That night we went to The Blazing Onion. I got the Blazing Onion hamburger, it was fantastic! Good fries too. Then we went to the drive-in.
We had a good time.
On Thursday Me, Mike, Drew and Randy went and played frisbee golf. The coarse was so beautiful. The kids went with LouAnn and Cheryl to a park and the navel museum.
On Friday we went to a Zions Camp. It is owned by the church. It was a lot of fun. They had a lot of fun swings.
We got to shoot bow and arrows. Then Mike rowed us around in a boat. Then Jaycee and Mike went for a swim. Jaycee loved the water, she even fell in from the dock and didn't cry or anything. She was wearing a life jacket and Mike was in the water. Still kind of scary.
Then on Saturday we packed up, went to another fun park in Silverdale.



Then we were on the road again. We had such a good trip. A big thanks to Drew and Cheryl for letting us come and play with them. :)

10 Months Already???

Wesley was 10 months on the 1st! I can hardly believe it! He is such a good boy, happy most the time. He started crawling at the beginning of July, so now he is all over the place. He pulls himself up on everything and has even let go a couple of times. Brave. Speaking of brave he also likes to try and climb off the couch or right out of you lap. Spencer can testify to that.:)
We just got back from a week long vacation in Washington visiting Mikes brother. We had a lot of fun, but I had to hold Wes a lot because they had a lot of stairs and no gates. When we weren't at their house he was in his car seat or the stroller. Then of course there was the 15 hour drive there and back. I promised Wesley I wouldn't hold him at all...unless he really wanted me to. I've made good on my promise and he is so happy to be able to move around! We haven't even been back in the car, and we got back early Sunday morning. That's pretty good for us. We did go for a little walk today so he was in the stroller, but not for very long and I let him get out at the park.

All about Wesley at 10 months:
Claps his hands. So cute he claps at everything.
Waves goodbye. Also cute and doesn't happen all the time, just occasionally.
Hugs. Some of the best hugs ever.
Makes a Shhhh noise, especially when eating, which makes a pretty big mess.
Spits his food, just for fun. Which is what he is doing in the above picture.
Likes to throw food on the ground. Mike thinks he's saving it for later.
Loves to play with any sort of cord, especially Mikes computer cord.
Thinks Jaycee it he funniest thing ever! Even when she knocking him over.
Crawls and pulls himself to standing.
Loves to play in water, any kind of water.
Doesn't so much like grass, doesn't cry either.
Sleeps through the night. I get up more with Jaycee then with Wesley.
Dances when he hears music.
Will play in his crib after a nap for a good 30-60 minutes.
Hates being put in his crib at bed time, he used to be so good to go down.
Talks and talks and talks as long as he can't find a Binky.
Likes his Binky.
Occasionally he bites, you would think it wouldn't hurt. Those two little teeth do some damage!
He pinches like crazy! It hurts worse then the biting.
Has the cutest, squishist, most kissable cheeks ever! I had a stranger kiss him.

He is so much fun and we love him very much. We are so blessed to have in our family.