Caribbean Cruise!

Brad and I just got back from the most incredible, relaxing vacation a mom could ask for. A Western Caribbean Cruise! Thankfully we were on a Princess cruiseline and not Carnival or we could have been stranded in the middle of the ocean for 21 hours with no power! We found out the end of September that we were invited to attend the 2010 Executive Summit for Namifiers on a cruise November 6-13. Not much time to plan, but thankfully we have wonderfully supportive friends and family. My sister, Lori, watched the kids the first weekend, she then took them to my fabulous friend, Annica, who kept them until Wednesday when Grandma Goodwin was able to come and stay until we got back late Saturday night. I could not have enjoyed this cruise as much as I did without them. Having peace of mind about my kids let me enjoy the here and now without worrying.

There were 2 formal nights, these pictures were taken the first night.

Our first stop was the Cayman Islands. Here is a "little" friend we met who had wondered quite far from the beach.

I have never seen a crab this big!

Another friend we saw.

Behind us here is our home away from home for the week. Isn't the water beautiful?

This was the best beach we went to, the sand was soft, the water clear and blue and warm!

We met Cary Long on the beach that first day. He was the comedian for the first half of the week on our ship, and basically got our own private show on the beach that day. Super nice, funny guy, he's worked with Robin Williams and Jerry Seinfeld, and is really good friends with Brian Regan. Whenever we saw him the rest of the week he would always come and talk to our group.

Our second stop was Roatan, Honduras where we experienced the zipline throught the jungle. So cool! We were zipping from treetop to treetop through the jungle, the scenery was amazing and the ziplines so fun! There were a total of 11 ziplines the longest being 900 ft long. Loved it!

We just had harnesses that they clipped and unclipped from each line. Our friends Tyler and Heather did it with us.

The beach at Roatan was alright, the water was warm so it was fun to swim in it.

The third stop was Cozumel, Mexico. This was the most touristy place we went. The downside was that you had to take a cab to any of the beaches and most you had to pay to even get on the beach. There were 2 free ones, however, so we picked one of these called, "Paradise Beach." I wouldn't have called it "Paradise" but we did get to do something here I've been wanting to try for a long time...

PARASAILING!

It was so fun and I'm glad I can finally say I've done it. The water was MUCH more beautiful from 350 ft above than it was right along the beach. Out farther where the reefs and sandbars were the water was a beautiful turquois with cool designs.

Isn't it purty?

The beach from up high. They had floaty toys in the water you play on, but you had to pay for it. You had to pay for everything here which was kinda lame in my book.

The best part was actually once we were done, they killed the boat and asked if we wanted to jump in and swim. Uh ya! Doesn't it look like we are in a swimming pool? The water out there was AMAZING. It was so fun to just swim...by ourselves...out in the ocean.

Leaving the beach we saw a couple of Makah birds. So pretty!

Just a pretty garden.

Throughout the ship on formal nights, and actually all throughout the week, they have professional photographers taking your pictures that you can buy later. Well, we actually decided to get one of our pictures cause we liked it and we realized we don't have any professional pictures of just the 2 of us. So here it is. My hair looked better from the side than from the front that night.

Here are the girls minus Becky, she had left to put little Andrea to bed.

Me, Heather, Nichole, Jenny

and the guys...

Bryan, Chris, Tyler, Brad (minus Nick)

Our final stop was Princess Cayes, Bahamas. It's basically a private beach for Princess cruise lines. It was so nice not having to pay just to sit in a beach chair, they had a barbaque buffet line for lunch, and it was a beautiful day. Chris and Nichole had gotten snorkel gear for the day and when they were done they shared it with the rest of us. So I tried snorkeling and Brad really actually did it. It was my first time and every time I went under water I started hyperventilating. I tried to make myself relax and remain calm but after 5 or 6 tries I gave us. But Brad saw lots of cool "Dori" fish and more.

Enjoying the last of the sun and hot weather before returning to cold, Utah. It was really quite strange laying out on the beach, soaking up the rays and thinking, "hmm...what should we do for Thanksgiving in a couple of weeks?"

We really did have a fabulous time. It was fun, relaxing, entertaining, I don't think I ever felt hungry, you could eat 24 hours a day if you wanted. It was fun to get to know our work friends better, and to see a part of the world I had never seen before. I totally would recommend a cruise!

God Bless Texas!

If you read Rachel's blog, you can skip most of this, it'll be a repeat. Rachel is faster at getting her blog updated than I am. Last weekend Brad, Brooks, and I headed to Texas for the very first time. Brad had some meetings in Dallas for work so Brooks and I tagged along so we could visit Rachel, Tyler, and Austin in Ft. Worth. I wasn't sure what to expect of Texas, and I loved it! You hear of Southern hospitality, and it's a real thing. The people there are so friendly, especially if you have a cute baby, and we had 2 when we went out!

Our first stop of the day was Historic Ft. Worth, the Stockyards. They do a cattle drive twice a day and we wanted to be there in time for the first drive and barely missed it, we could see a few of the cattle from the car, who are apparently quite famous. Rachel blamed our missing it on the 2 babies, I blame it on our late night game of "The Farming Game". The Stockyards were fun to look around all the same.

This was a huge belt, we just couldn't resist a picture.

Here we are in front of the White Elephant Saloon. This is where they filmed some of "Walker, Texas Ranger", my dad is a HUGE fan. This is for you dad!

Our next stop was the Water Gardens in downtown Ft. Worth. This is part of the "Stage" I thought its set up was perfect for a jumping picture, don't you think?

The guys thought so too.

Everywhere we went people asked us if these 2 were twins. Don't know where they got that idea. :) No, they are 3 months apart and Brooks is as bald as can be, while Austin's hair is growing in quite nicely. I don't think it's very fair Rachel's first is a red head, and I'm beginning to wonder if I will ever get one myself!

This little boy is such a cute, smiley boy! I love this face!

Rachel and our cute boys!

While in Texas I was lucky enough to get to visit with one of my best friends, and college roomate Sydne. She lives in Dallas now while her husband is going to dental school, she just a baby 5 weeks ago and he is a cutie!

Look at that cute face! Don't you think I need a red head, we fit well together.

My wonderful sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Mandy and Tyrel, watched Daylen and Kate for us while we were gone. We missed them so much! We got home Wednesday, and I left Thursday morning to drive to St. Anthony (Rexburg area) to pick them up, came back Friday. Needless to say it sure feels good to be home. We brought the kids a little bit of Texas back with us.

Family Reunion Time

We had a fun time in Washington a couple of weeks ago and now I have the pictures to prove it. We got to spend time with both of our families, attended the Milton-Freewater ward reunion, my 10 year high school reunion, celebrated our 6 year anniversary, Kate's birthday, blessed Brooks at my parents home, played homerun derby, rode 4-wheelers, shot guns, went hiking, fishing, made a bird house, held a family talent show, enjoyed dutch oven cooking, played games, and enjoyed just being with family!