Our Cruise

Last November we went with some friends on a Caribbean Cruise, it was a BLAST!

Our ship was Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas. It was a very nice ship with a wonderful staff who took such good care of us. Lots of fun was to be had on the FlowRider surf simulator, rock climbing wall, ice-skating rink, 3D dreamworks theater, Royal Promenade shopping, cantilevered whirlpools, mini golf course, and  the H2O Zone water park, not to mention the fabulous eating options.

The weather was not the best and we had to forgo our first stop, which was Cococay Bahamas, but there was so much to do on the ship that we didn't mind one bit.
So, our next stop was St. Thomas, the weather was kind of cloudy but we hit the beach anyway and did some snorkeling.

Just had to tryout the macro function on the new pocket camera:)

Because of the cool weather we discovered something new "sand fleas" and yes, they bite. So, about 3 days later we were covered with little red itchy dots.

Our last and favorite stop was St Maarten, which we thought we might have to stay and take up residence on a count of we cut it really close getting back on the ship. They have some traffic issues, and island time is different than ship time.

Julie and I went on an amazing private horseback ride that ended up in the ocean. It was soooo fun!

Then we took some rhino boats and drove along the coast. This is a must do if you ever go to St Maarten. It was soo cool, we drove through a ship graveyard, and stopped for some snorkeling along the way, I drove the boat on the way back and missed the clothing optional beach, but I'm told there were some interesting sites I missed:) They recommended not taking our cameras for this, but I really wished I had!

Oh, and this ship was our neighbor the "Dream"

The lovely Promenade

This was formal night, which I have to admit was more fun than I thought, I don't like to dress up:)

The guy on the left had a tie on but it came off quick after we left the dining room- pilots are such rebels!

After eating a fabulous dinner in the dining room, we would then change our clothes and hit Johnny Rockets for fries, Sundaes and shakes....because we could. I don't think I ever had a chance to get hungry, we just ate and ate and ate!

The upper deck activities were fun, we felt like we had to try everything at least once!

Dave let me win at mini golf!

Our room attendant would tidy our room twice a day, and at night he would make a different animal out of the towels,

Ice skating in the Caribbean!

Our farewell meal, they sang to us:)

This is all of the groups luggage, but this being our first cruise, most of it's ours, ya know... cause we had to bring everything.

This was one of my favorite parts. I have never been away from these guys for very long and I was soooo excited to see them!!!!!!

Now this was by far the funnest vacation we have ever taken, but there is a dark side, I happen to be one of those extremely rare cases where my land legs never returned. It has been two months and I still constantly rock like I'm on a ship. Mal de debarquement is the name of the "condition" and I'm not gonna lie, It has been pretty miserable and life changing. If I had known that this would have happened I definitely would have passed on the cruise but part of me is glad I didn't know because I will always have the fun memories with my dear friends.

The fall

This has been our craziest fall yet. We've kinda laid low the last couple of years but thought that since Kate is two now we could handle a little more on our plate. HA! So our fall was filled with ballet twice a week, soccer 4xs a week, violin 2-3xs a week, tumbling once a week and piano 2x a week, with the occasional choir concert/recital...humm no wonder i didn't have time to blog and it flew by so fast.

. Abby loves BALLET!

 Last spring Bree tried out for LADY MADRIGALS at school, she loves it. They are a very impressive group and we just love the choir director. He is so fun, but also really knows is stuff.

 Bree attended a murder mystery party and they all had to dress up in formals. (thank heavens for cheap ROSS dresses)

 Abby has become quite a little soccer star!

 Carter is so fun to watch. He is really starting to get it!

 We didn't carve pumpkins this year instead we painted them:)

 Fall wouldn't be fall without the traditional Carmel apples!

 Kate was Raggedy Ann and wore the same costume I made for Bree 12 years ago. I was way more ambitious back then.

 Abby and her BFF always coordinate.

 (four years ago)

 I bought this costume last year on clearance for Carter.....he talked about it all year! Just glad he didn't change his mind!

Man time is flying and I'm always a bit behind but oh well.......

Kate's Birthday

Oh how the last two years have flown! How did this happen? We now offically are counting her age in years instead of months. (sniff sniff) Two is a fun time.

Here are the party planners. They made the cutest decorations!

Our sweet neighbors, whom Kate adores, came and made it a party!

Her first bike, cause Uncle Brian thought she had to have it.

 Grandma and Grandpa came the next day after returning from their trip, what a treat two days of Birthday.

Happy Birhtday Baby Kate!

Summer Goals

This summer we all made the goal to run the "Raspberry run 5k" at Bear Lake. So we printed out the "couch to 5k" training program and hit the pavement. The kids did great! Carter bless his heart tried his best, but half way through training decided to change his goal, he chose to read his first "Diary of a Wimpy Kid book" instead. He still trained with us but he decided maybe next year on the race. (We were kinda worried about losing him in the mass of runners anyway so we didn't push it) He finished his book 3 days after school started. Yay!!

Saydi ended up running two 5k races. (beating her mother in the pioneer day race)


We found out two weeks before the Raspberry Run that the auditions for the "Gifted Music School" were that same morning, so Bree and I had to drop out of the Race. Abby, Saydi and Dave made it and Abby ended up taking first place in her age group. Sorry no pictures:( Bree ended up with a full scholarship to GMS, so I'm glad we stayed home for that.

I am so proud of the kids for reaching their goals. They woke up early all summer and proved they could do "hard things". They were so encouraging to each other and wanted each other to succeed! What a great summer!

Bear Lake Highlights

Ya, so the only thing I have a harder time with than journaling is picture organization. And some how all my pictures from this summer have been completely unorganized. As if blogging wasn't hard enough, it now takes twice as long to find the pictures, so I have been putting it off. Maybe now that the kids are back to school I can get better organized. Ya right! Well, it's a nice thought anyway.

Because the Lake came up so high this year there were a ton of frogs and snakes on the beach. No sand for sand castles, but lots of swampy muck and the creatures that go with it.

And of course the boat rides never disappoint, even though the gas pump went out on this one about a half hour after I took this picture. So we had to tow it back to the cabin, with my kids and my parents on it, but it still made an exciting boat trip. Boy are we happy that Grandpa has two boats:)
And oh boy, we all love the old trusty tractor that gets the boats in and out.

And it seems like every Sunday the lake is always perfectly smooth for skiing, tempting everyone to jump in........but, we end up at our Bear Lake ward instead. And I just have to say how much we appreciate this ward. Every summer, on the big holidays like July 4th, 24th, & raspberry days, they put on two Sacrament meetings. (they pack the chapel and the gym both times) And these dear people are so gracious to double or quadruple their primary classes just to accommodate all of us visitors.

But my favorite thing is that I get all these people all to myself.

Bear Lake is our favorite family hang out! I love that my parents have given us this gift!!!!

Thanks Mom and Dad~~~

Museum of Fine Arts

Last Saturday I took the girls to the Fine Arts Museum, what a perfect day! We had such a great time and a little culture never hurt anyone. I have to admit I didn't have much "art appreciation" at their age, but now I love museums!

The girls made frames and painted them.