THANKSGIVING CRUISE

I am finally doing it. I have written about our Thanksgiving cruise. I am not the most interesting writer but it will give you an idea of the fun we had. Happy reading.

This summer I challenged my children to practice getting along and avoid fighting with each other. I told them that if they could do it for 40 days we would take them to Disneyland. They did it and we planned on taking them to Disneyland over Thanksgiving break. Two and half weeks before our trip Brian and I looked into cruises leaving from L.A. We found a 4 day cruise that would cost about the same amount so we decided to do it.
Sunday, November 22 we drove to St. George. Brian’s brother, Larry, and his family came on this trip with us. We hooked up in Utah Valley and caravanned together to St. George. Brian’s parents came with us on the trip also so we met them at the hotel in St. George . Monday we continued our drive to L.A. and boarded our ship (the Carnival Paradise) that afternoon.

The kids were so excited. They had plans for swimming, but the pools didn’t get filled until the next day. Monday night was a little crazy with trying to figure out who was going to sleep in what rooms and finding our way around the ship. Monday night was not the most enjoyable night, but we sure enjoyed the food.

Tuesday morning I woke up before anyone else. I went up on top and ran around the small track they have. What a beautiful morning. We were parked outside Catalina Island just waiting for our time to unload. The air was cool and refreshing. It felt so good to be moving around outside. And then I got to watch the sun rise. Gorgeous. This was one of my favorite experiences on the ship.

The rest of the day continued to be wonderful. Breakfast was great. I will just say now that the food was fantastic. The food was a highlight.

We packed a bag with wet suits and snorkel equipment and headed off to Catalina. It is a beautiful island. The temperature was perfect. When we left home on Sunday it was snowing so we were really enjoying the weather. We found a place to snorkel, but the water was really cold. Brian, Steven, Sammy, and Braden were brave and went in the water anyway. Thank you RaeAnn and Kevin for the wet suits. They helped.

We spent the rest of the day at a sandy beach near the dock. Even though the water was cold, the kids had a great time playing. Grandpa rented a golf cart for a couple of hours so we got to take a ride around part of the island as well. We saw some gorgeous views.

Wednesday our stop was Ensanada, Mexico. This wasn’t a favorite stop of ours. It wasn’t a very pretty place, but we did enjoy the blow hole we saw. Apparently it is only one of three in the world. We did some shopping and headed back to the ship. Kylee, Aubree, and Josh spent the day in the kids club. Besides the food that was the best thing on the ship. The kids loved it and it provided free time for us adults.

Thursday didn’t feel like Thanksgiving, but we had a great day. This was a sea day so we ventured to the pools. The water in the pools was cold so the hot tubs were packed. There was one kids pool that was warm, but it was the size of a hot tub. The little kids were lucky enough to get in this one. We did some miniature golf, the big kids put together a treasure hunt, and we played games all together. We did get a turkey dinner. The turkey was delicious, but we sure did miss all the other homemade food. Don’t get me wrong. I am very thankful I didn’t have to cook anything. But, Thanksgiving is all about the family and homemade food. It was a wonderful day.

Friday we got off the ship and said farewell to Grandma and Grandpa. They headed back to Utah, but we surprised the kids and decided to take them to Disneyland for a day. We got there about an hour after it opened. It was very crowded, but I think we all really enjoyed it. The older kids got to go off by themselves. Thanks to walkie talkies we were able to stay in touch with them. Larry, Rachel, Brian, and I stayed with the younger four. We didn’t ride the big rides, but it was fun to see the younger kids get excited. The park was beautifully decorated with Christmas décor. I would have loved to go a few more days, but I am glad we got to do the cruise.

Saturday we drove home all day and arrived to our wonderful house at 11:30 at night. The kids did an amazing job driving in the car all day. We only stopped twice. It was a wonderful week and we are so grateful for the opportunity to take the kids on a fun trip like this. We are so grateful for Brian’s parents, Larry, Rachel, and their kids. We had a wonderful time. We would have loved to go with the whole family. Hopefully, someday we can do that.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAMMY!!!!!!

14 years ago today my life changed forever. I became a mother for the first time. My sweat, tiny, little Samantha was born. She was only 5 lbs 5 oz. She had stopped growing and so the doctor started me 10 days before my due date. It was an overwhelming feeling to see my little baby for the first time. I cried like I had never cried before (I was a little embarrassed after). As I was holding my little baby I noticed sucking marks on her hands.

14 years later she is still small for her age, but she is so full of life. Sammy loves to be busy and have fun. She is active and healthy. She is a leader who cares about others. She is responsible, helpful, and a hard worker. Sammy's love for the Savior has grown so much and she strives everyday to be like Him. She is a great example to me of faith and obedience. I love her so much and couldn't ask for a better daughter.

Some other fun things about Sammy:

*She plays the piano and has become quite good. I love to hear her practice.

*She is athletic and plays volleyball.

*She is a 4.0 student.

*She loves romantic movies, just like her mother.

*She loves to ski (super fast).

* She loves to be with her cousins.

*She is beautiful and so fun.

Love you so much Sammy. Have a fantastic Birthday!!!!!

NEW PICTURES

I am not a fan of school pictures. I really like the out doors for the backdrop to pictures. This year we had a lady I visit teach take the kids pictures. I think she did a pretty good job. I would love to learn to take good pictures. Some day I will invest in a good camera and take pictures of my kids myself.

LOOK AT THAT SMILE =)

After almost 2 ½ years and a lot of money later, Sammy now has straight beautiful teeth. In October Sammy got her braces off. She started her whole experience with an expander that widened her mouth. She started 5th grade with a big gap between her front teeth. To make more room, she had to have a tooth pulled. In June before 6th grade she got her braces on. Now she is wearing her lovely retainers. Hopefully we can keep track of them and avoid throwing them away. (Bring back any memories Maria. I think Dad will never forget digging through the big dumpster at school.) She has a beautiful smile and it was all worth it. In January we get to start the whole process over with Steven.

PLAYING THE BASS

In October, Steven played in his annual school Halloween orchestra concert. He started playing the bass last year in 6th grade. He has enjoyed it a lot. Steven has grown so much last year that he is as tall as the bass now. The kids did pretty good in the concert. It was short and sweet. Just like I like it.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

This has been a fun Halloween season. I spent time helping with the Pumpkin Walk which is a fun way to celebrate Fall. Brian is in a Bishopric in a student ward at USU. As a family, we got to attend a Halloween party with his ward. The kids had a blast dressing up. The students are so kind to them.

A couple days before Halloween, we carved pumpkins. The kids love it. I like it more now because the older three kids are getting big enough to do most of it themselves.

On Halloween we started our trick or treating by going to a local grocery store, Lee’s. Each of their departments passes out candy. This year they even had a mini spook ally in one of their storage rooms. They were very generous and the kids got a lot of candy because we hit both stores.
Our ward has done a trunk-or-treat in the church parking lot for the last three years. I love this because I don’t have to take the kids out. Also I get to see all the cute costumes. Almost no one comes to our house so we used to miss out on seeing all the cute costumes. Soup is provided and we get to mix and mingle with ward members. It lasts for about an hour to an hour and a half and then we go home, watch movies, and eat candy. Yumm!!!

This year I bought me some pumpkin ice cream to try. It was good!! By the end of the night we were all feeling sick.

Isn’t Halloween Great!

PUMPKIN WALK FUN!!

Every year in October my city has what’s called a Pumpkin Walk. At one of our parks, groups set up different scenes using pumpkins as heads, bodies, or props. Some people are so creative and it is so fun to go. Jack-o-lanterns sitting on bales of hay line the walk way as well as corn stalks. Someone dresses up as a witch and Pepperidge Farms donates cookies to be handed out. I love it at night because all the scenes are lit up and it makes a fun atmosphere.

This year a friend of mine, Gina Worthen, asked me to help her group with their scene. I joined in and I am so glad I did because it was so fun. The theme for the Pumpkin Walk was “AND NOW A WORD FROM OUR SPONSORS”. The groups chose a commercial to recreate. Our group chose the Keebler Elves. Someone donated an amazing tree, cookies, and a big glass of milk that they had used for a drill team dance routine and were not using anymore. It made our scene come to life. It was all so amazing. Gina and her husband sculpted the faces of the elves on to pumpkins. We planned out the scene and prepared a lot of stuff before set up, but some ideas came together as we were putting it all together.

We were there off and on for three days just to set up. I spent about 11 hours helping to set up and Gina was there a lot more. I learned so much about putting it all together. Duct tape, wire, safety pins, rebar, and T posts are very important resources in getting everything to look great. The weather cooperated o.k. for set up. It did rain during the night one day, but during the pumpkin walk it did snow and covered everything. We even had strong winds that blew the top off our big tree. When it came time to take it all down, everything was covered in snow . It was all so fun, I think we would do it in almost any kind of weather.

(This is my friend, Raquel's, scene. She does a great job every year.)

The pumpkin walk is such a fun way to bring the community together. We have people come from all over. It started at someone’s farm with a few simple scenes and now has grown into a huge event. It is such a fun way to celebrate the fall season and enjoy the creativity of so many.

At the end, they have a bunch of character boards with out faces set up for people to put their face in. Here is Kylee as Yoda and Cinderella. Isn't she beautiful?

I have several more posts written. Stay in tune this week and catch up on our October...