Cruisin the Caribbean!

I think we just had the best vacation EVER! This was our first cruise and can I just say WOW! We left the kids at home with Darren's mom (thanks mom) and went on a 7 day Western Caribbean cruise. Our ship was amazing! We rode boogie boards and surfboards on the "flowrider" climbed a rockwall, played volleyball, relaxed by the pool, ate delicious food, slept in, read books, ate some more, went to shows, met interesting people, saw beautiful places, ate some more, swam with stingrays, hiked up a waterfall, took a nap in a hammock, did I mention eating? We did that ALOT! We got to see Labadee Haiti, Jamaica, Grand Cayman and Cozumel. They were all beautiful but I think my favorite stop was Cayman Islands. The water was so blue and so clear! Ahhhhh so much fun.... now back to "real life." We were so lucky to have grammy here taking care of our kids and they had a blast with her! We love her, she is the best!

Safety check on the ship to make sure we knew what to do in case of emergency.

The ship had 2 formal nights where we dressed up and had an amazing dinner in the dining room.

Our first port was Labadee Haiti.

This is pretty much what we did the WHOLE day!

Darren sizing up our ship from the beach. This ship was amazing!

Enjoying the nightlife on the ship!

Our 2nd stop was Jamaica where we hiked up Dunn's River Falls.... really fun!

This is Jamaica! Yah mon...no problem!

Darren is ready to snorkel at Stingray City in the Cayman Islands! (our 3rd stop)

Yes, I am kissing a stingray!

We were actually feeding these stingrays squid and they would suck them from your hand from underneath...pretty crazy!

relaxing on the beautiful beach!

We sat with the same couples every night at dinner and we had such a fun group!

We ran into Nacho Libre in Cozumel while shopping. (our last stop)

The shopping is always fun in Mexico! We ended up with maracas for the kids!

The Flowrider was so much fun!! This was a popular thing to do on the ship so the line was always long.

Darren showing his skills on the wave! He actually did a flip and landed back on it!

The last day on the ship we went all out and played in a volleyball tournament together and even climbed the rock wall!

This may just be the very best thing on the whole ship. Soft serve ice cream anytime, who could ask for more!

Every night we had a new surprise waiting for us (made out of towels)
They cleaned our cabins 2 times a day!

We had such an amazing time! I am ready to book another one..... anyone wanna come?

9 Wonderful Years!

9 years ago today was the best day of my life!
and here's to 9 Reasons Why I Love You......

1. You are such a hard worker and take such good care of us!
2. You get so upset when the Utah Jazz lose that I just have to laugh at you.
(Actually, you get so upset when any of your favorite teams lose... it is pretty funny!)
3. You are the best daddy to our 3 kids that I could ever ask for!
4. You love a date night with me.
5. You are an amazing athlete...seriously, there isn't a sport you don't play!
6. You help me fold the laundry all the time and wash the big pans.
7. You are incredibly smart (I am so glad you will be able to help the kids with math homework.)
8. You plan vacation getaways for us to great places.... I can't wait!
9. You LOVE me the way you do!

Happy Anniversay sweetie!

I LOVE YOU!

Sister Slumber Party!

To celebrate my little sister Jacqueline's 14th birthday, we had a slumber party!! Darren was such a trooper to take my kids and go have a daddy slumber party with 6 kids, and my brother in law Greg. (man, I wish I had pictures!) We just wanted to talk and hang out so we went to a casual dinner at Corner Bakery and then headed back to my house for some cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory! We decided to skip the movie and just pamper ourselves with waxing and pedicures. What a fun night! We stayed up way too late, but got to sleep in the next morning. We had a yummy breakfast before we hit the street to shop all day! What more could a girl want? (besides a date with David Archuleta)

Happy Birthday Jacqueline!

We missed you Katie and Kim! You better be there next time!

Summertime Chores

Last week I was talking to my sister about chores and how to teach our kids to do them, and she gave me a great idea...... (it's really her sister-in-laws idea, so thanks Christy.) We wrote up a chart with the days of the week. Each day goes with a chore... (the deep cleaning kind.) So Monday ~Mirrors, Tuesday~Tub and Toilets, Wednesday~Windows and Walls, Thursday~Throw out Dust (vacuum and dust) Friday~Floors and Fridge and Saturday~ Sinks and Storage (organizing.) When they do their chores they get a star sticker and we made rewards up for goals they can reach. For example 5 stars=Frozen Yogurt 10 stars= Chuck E Cheese 15= Go to a movie etc.... So, we started last week and Avery thinks this is the best game ever! She will remind everyone what day it is and what chore goes with the day! We will see how long it lasts but for now, I am happy to have some help scrubbing the toilets!

The mirrors are sparkling!

Logan was there for encouragement

She's even smiling!

Little Miss Ella loved to do anything that required a spray bottle!

How much FUN can you have in a week?

WAY TOO MUCH! My kids should be good for the rest of the summer after the week we just had! The girls went to "Hero Camp" everyday this week with their cousins where they got to learn about heroes from the scriptures, sing songs, make crafts and learn how to have "CTR Power!" It was something they will always remember!

William and Ella singing songs

Avery and Windsyr

All of the cousins at camp!

After Hero Camp one afternoon, we met our good friends at the fair. We forgot to get a picture of our cheescake on a stick and our yummy cinnamon roll! Why do you go to the fair? For the food of course! Avery and Dominic's favorite thing was the foot massagers.

We let the kids go on a few rides and of course they want to go on the spinning cups, don't they get enough of the Teacups at Disneyland?

It was so fun to see you Dawn! We need to get together more often!

Then..... the next day we got to go see the CIRCUS! Our good friends gave us tickets to Barnum and Bailey's and the girls LOVED it!

Pretty amazing! I was waiting for the elephants to make a pyramid like they do in the movie Dumbo!

Of course we always have a birthday to celebrate in our family.... Happy Birthday Jacqueline and Karen!

What a week!

We LOVE Lagoon!

Last weekend we went to the Lagoon to celebrate Maxwell and Darren's Birthday. We always have so much fun there because it is like the beach and the pool in one! I love that it's easy to get to (distance from car to sand) and there is tons of shade everywhere. I do love the beach, but with 3 kids and all of the STUFF we have to bring.... I am all about easy these days! The kids LOVE the waterslides! Logan even took his very first ride down and LOVED every minute! We will have to make the Lagoon a weekly event!

Playing with daddy in the water

Logan's 1st waterslide ride (not too sure about it)

He LOVED it.....can you tell?

Mia and Eva "little monkeys"

Uncle Casey and Auntie Amber starting a water fight

Look who wasn't happy about that!

The mommas with their babies

Auntie Amber and baby Karen

The birthday boys...... Happy Birthday!