Cruise Week: Part 2

Our first shore excursion was in Cozumel, Mexico. Zach had been there before and was our tour guide as we rented scooters (hilarious dumb and dumber moment) and rode to a beautiful beach to spend the rest of the day. Nice hook-up.

Cute photo Shauna bought. A fun souvenir!





We got about a 5 minute ride on the jet-ski before it ran out of gas or something and pitted out in the middle of the ocean. Thankfully a stranger came to our rescue before sharks started circling. Then, hungry for more adventure, Tyler and I opted for para-sailing after watching Todd and Natalie go. "I don't know what happened to me up there, Goose" (Top Gun) is what I kept telling Tyler when it was over. I got motion sickness 450 feet in the air and lost my lunch. Vomited into the sea. So now I say, many have ridden "Soaring Over California', few have ridden "Barfing Over Cozumel" (TMI).
We did manage to track down the restaurant we loved last time we were here. And I recovered from my nausea by eating lots of good, salty chips. Thank heavens.

Cruise Week: Part 3

Thankfully we made it back to the ship in one piece after dodging vehicles of every shape and size all day. Tyler is a great driver thanks to the practice he gets at home on ours. Otherwise I would have been a wreck.

And then we ran into Steve also returning to the ship. One of the best things about the week was always running into members of our family here or there.
Everybody had some color and lots of enthusiasm for life by this point in the trip!
We loved going to shows together at night after dinner.
Our second shore excursion was in the Cayman Islands. We sort of fell into this adventurous day of snorkeling and swimming with sting rays which was offered to us as we got off the ship. It was an adventure for sure though!
I could not get over the blue-ness of the water there! It was breathtaking.
Meet Mr. Iguana. There was lots of these big puppies all over the place.
We enjoyed our 30 minute boat ride even further out to sea. At one point Ali and I asked ourselves "where in the world are we?!" Seriously, we had flow to Florida, gotten on a ship to go further, then got on a boat to go even further out!. We were FAR away from our children, perhaps a little too far! But it was beautiful and special.


The fish below us were great, awesome snorkeling spot.

And the sting rays were friendly!




Soaking up the moment in the sun on the ride back in.
The boys had fun with sports tournaments. They took gold in volleyball! :)
There was even an ice-skating rink on-board (but the boys didn't try their hands at that).
Final celebrations for the happy couple and for Natalie's birthday.

SUCH A GREAT VACATION! Thank you everyone!! :)

Arizona SNOW!!

Claire wasn't feeling well today so I stayed home from church to let her nap. We'd been told that a big storm was going to come through this weekend - and boy did it ever! I was so sad the kids missed it so I went outside to take lots of pictures and even save some of the "snow" (hail) in bowls for them! It was incredible to see our pool deck covered in white, the trampoline, our house, the patio, the streets! Plus the thunderous roar of all the hail slamming against our roof for so long! It was a thrill. :)

Makutus Island

The day after we returned, we again took the kids out to refill their love tanks! :) It had been a good, long week with grandma and cousins and we knew they had earned another special treat. So to Makutus Island we went, to have fun for them, and not so much for Ty and I.
This has got to be THE funniest picture of Luke I have ever seen!

Organ Stop

The night before we left town we took the kids to organ stop and golf land, as a way to fill up their love tanks! As always, we enjoyed the food, music, climbing toys and mini-golfing and had a great night out.

Another "Brothers"

It seems I always get my cute shots of the boys together right after church. On this occasion we dropped them off at the end of our street and made them walk home because they were overly energetic in the car (a little something my mom used to do with us on the way home from church - drop us all off at the bottom of the timberline hill). These two handsome boys then knocked at the front door, looking a lot like miniature missionaries, after playing at the park for a while in their Sunday Best. What good boys they are.

Feeling Humiliated at the Doctor's Office

Poor Claire. The second her doctor walked in the room she burst into tears. When he dared unsnap her onesie to listen to her breathing, she was devastated. I had to get the camera out as she sat there sobbing, feeling violated with her cute thigh and belly exposed, but too afraid to move a muscle.


At least the appointment was worth it. We knew she was miserably sick and the doctor confirmed: pink eye and double ear infection. Sad, sad girl.