Saturday, January 29, 2011
And hiking season begins...
Today we hiked Spencer's Butte. It was 60 degrees. And its January. I love Oregon!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Why would they ever miss Mom & Dad
I'm sure it's an understatement to say Makenna and Sage had a ball while we were on our cruise. They spent the full week with Nate's family and were very well taken care of (meaning spoiled rotten, of course!). Their aunt Nicole spent lots of time helping Grandma Susan take care of them and I have her to thank for all the pictures...thanks Nicole! During the week they went to the Treehouse Museum twice and even still when Makenna sees pictures from the trips, she begs to go back. They loved it! Kenna also got spoiled with free reign of grandpa's iPhone and iPad. Every night she got to read stories with grandpa on the iPad and color on his doodle app. Since getting home, she's been quite disappointed with mine and Nate's phones for reasons such as our coloring games don't play songs when the picture's complete. (At least we have coloring games...we didn't even have cell phones when we were little!) :)
The week flew by, but the wonderful thing about having kids at home is it sure makes the end of vacations more bearable - we were so excited to see them! Grandpa Richard & Nicole picked us up from the airport with the girls and the looks on their faces when we saw them was priceless. Nothing melts a parent's heart quite like having their children be so excited to see them! Don't get me wrong, they absolutely loved every minute with their grandparent's, but I also like to hope (or tell myself) that they missed us, too. :) However, we were very thankful to be able to fully relax on our trip knowing they were in great hands. Thanks again Richard & Susan!!
The Treehouse MuseumThe week flew by, but the wonderful thing about having kids at home is it sure makes the end of vacations more bearable - we were so excited to see them! Grandpa Richard & Nicole picked us up from the airport with the girls and the looks on their faces when we saw them was priceless. Nothing melts a parent's heart quite like having their children be so excited to see them! Don't get me wrong, they absolutely loved every minute with their grandparent's, but I also like to hope (or tell myself) that they missed us, too. :) However, we were very thankful to be able to fully relax on our trip knowing they were in great hands. Thanks again Richard & Susan!!
Hanging out at home...and loving it!
Aunt Nicole was awesome at styling Makenna's hair - I need her to live closer!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Fun in the Sun
As a Christmas present, my parents took all of my siblings and our spouses on a 5-day cruise to the Western Caribbean! We all left our kiddos home with our in-laws (Thank You Wolfley's!!) and enjoyed some wonderful adult time all together. It was a fabulous opportunity to have some time alone with Nate as well as with my sisters and brothers without the interruption of our collective 9 children. Being a parent, you take for granted eating a meal without having to cut up anyone else's food - let alone 7 days worth of meals! Oh the simple pleasures of life. :) We spent a lot of time relaxing, reading (I finished all 3 books in the Hunger Games series...which I LOVED), playing cards, eating WAY too much and enjoying the daily entertainment on the ship.
Our first port was Progresso, Mexico. It was 85 degrees - compared to the 15 degrees it was back in Utah - we were in HEAVEN! Unfortunately the beach there was pretty mucky, but we did some fabulous barter-shopping (which I am terrible at!). Nate turned out to be an awesome negotiator and got me some great deals. :) Our next stop was Cozumel, Mexico, which we LOVED! We were planning to go scuba diving, but due to some last minute scheduling issues, we ended up going swimming with dolphins instead. It turned out to be AMAZING and I was so glad we did it! We went to a beautiful resort called Dolphinaris where we swam in a pool with about 6 dolphins. We got to take turns going out and getting a ride belly-to-belly on one of the dolphins. It was the experience of a lifetime! You just sat there and the dolphin swam around you, rolled belly-up and stuck its fins out of the water. Then you grabbed on and she took you for a ride! The one we swam with was a 9-foot, 350 lb dolphin named Olympia. The power was amazing - she pulled us through the water like we weighed nothing! Then we got to give her kisses (both her nose to my cheek, then lip to lip!), a handshake & a hug (she literally put her head in your arm then rolled into you like she was hugging!). Then all the dolphins did tricks for us, which was incredible. Afterward we were fed an amazing Mexican lunch and got to do more shopping. What a day!! The only thing that could have made it better is if the pictures at Dolphinaris didn't cost $70 each. Yeah, it was a bummer because they wouldn't let you have cameras in the water, so if you wanted pictures with the dolphins, you were required to buy the ones from their photographer. I'm sure that's how they make their money, but it sure would be fun to have a picture of me kissing the dolphin or Nate getting a ride. Oh well, at least it's a memory I won't soon forget!
Afterward, while all the girls went shopping, Nate & Ammon rented some snorkel gear and explored a nearby beach. Nate really enjoyed it and had a great time. It was his first time to the Atlantic Ocean where the water is incredibly clear and blue. In fact we had a lot of firsts on that trip: our first time leaving the girls for a week, Nate's first cruise, our first time to New Orleans (we stayed there overnight then our cruise left from there), Nate's first time eating real sushi (actually both of our firsts for eating a lot of weird foods!), Nate was able to read his first non-school related book since 2008, our first time eating ice cream 3 meals a day for 5 days, etc. Just writing this makes me want to go back! Everything about the trip was perfect - we had a blast. Thank you so much Mom & Dad for the fantastic vacation!
Dad & Ammon playing shuffleboard
Progresso, Mexico!
Every night we were welcomed to our room by a fun towel-animal - this is our sting-ray
the bunny (we thought he looked like he was surrendering!)
playing cards with the fam
Cozumel, Mexico!
Dolphinaris (aka Paradise)
I didn't get a very good angle on this picture, but at the bottom of the tree branch you can see the dolphins jumping
Nate, me, Kirsten, Allison, Natalie, Ammon & Mom
Our waiter made a napkin into a peacock
...and another into a gun for Zach!
Our elephant
swan sundaes - we ate SO much ice cream!
Mini-golfing with my dad & Nick...the wind made it a little interesting!
The family on the shuttle back to the airport
Our first port was Progresso, Mexico. It was 85 degrees - compared to the 15 degrees it was back in Utah - we were in HEAVEN! Unfortunately the beach there was pretty mucky, but we did some fabulous barter-shopping (which I am terrible at!). Nate turned out to be an awesome negotiator and got me some great deals. :) Our next stop was Cozumel, Mexico, which we LOVED! We were planning to go scuba diving, but due to some last minute scheduling issues, we ended up going swimming with dolphins instead. It turned out to be AMAZING and I was so glad we did it! We went to a beautiful resort called Dolphinaris where we swam in a pool with about 6 dolphins. We got to take turns going out and getting a ride belly-to-belly on one of the dolphins. It was the experience of a lifetime! You just sat there and the dolphin swam around you, rolled belly-up and stuck its fins out of the water. Then you grabbed on and she took you for a ride! The one we swam with was a 9-foot, 350 lb dolphin named Olympia. The power was amazing - she pulled us through the water like we weighed nothing! Then we got to give her kisses (both her nose to my cheek, then lip to lip!), a handshake & a hug (she literally put her head in your arm then rolled into you like she was hugging!). Then all the dolphins did tricks for us, which was incredible. Afterward we were fed an amazing Mexican lunch and got to do more shopping. What a day!! The only thing that could have made it better is if the pictures at Dolphinaris didn't cost $70 each. Yeah, it was a bummer because they wouldn't let you have cameras in the water, so if you wanted pictures with the dolphins, you were required to buy the ones from their photographer. I'm sure that's how they make their money, but it sure would be fun to have a picture of me kissing the dolphin or Nate getting a ride. Oh well, at least it's a memory I won't soon forget!
Afterward, while all the girls went shopping, Nate & Ammon rented some snorkel gear and explored a nearby beach. Nate really enjoyed it and had a great time. It was his first time to the Atlantic Ocean where the water is incredibly clear and blue. In fact we had a lot of firsts on that trip: our first time leaving the girls for a week, Nate's first cruise, our first time to New Orleans (we stayed there overnight then our cruise left from there), Nate's first time eating real sushi (actually both of our firsts for eating a lot of weird foods!), Nate was able to read his first non-school related book since 2008, our first time eating ice cream 3 meals a day for 5 days, etc. Just writing this makes me want to go back! Everything about the trip was perfect - we had a blast. Thank you so much Mom & Dad for the fantastic vacation!
Our ship is on the right - the Carnival Triumph
Dad & Ammon playing shuffleboard
Progresso, Mexico!
Every night we were welcomed to our room by a fun towel-animal - this is our sting-ray
the bunny (we thought he looked like he was surrendering!)
playing cards with the fam
Cozumel, Mexico!
Dolphinaris (aka Paradise)
I didn't get a very good angle on this picture, but at the bottom of the tree branch you can see the dolphins jumping
Nate, me, Kirsten, Allison, Natalie, Ammon & Mom
Our waiter made a napkin into a peacock
...and another into a gun for Zach!
Our elephant
swan sundaes - we ate SO much ice cream!
Mini-golfing with my dad & Nick...the wind made it a little interesting!
The family on the shuttle back to the airport
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