Akumal Trip!!!!

Last week we went to Akumal, Mexico for a fabulous week-long vacation! (Akumal is about an hour south of Cancun.) We stayed at my parents' beach house (thanks Mom and Dad!), and this was the view from our room. Yeah, I could definitely get used to that! It was so much fun! It was the first time in four years that the whole family has been there together because my brothers have been on their missions. So it was great to have everyone there! There are 24 of us now so it was chaos, but complete fun!

This was Kate's first time in the ocean and she absolutely loved it! We couldn't get her out. She wasn't scared of the waves at all.

There were some cold days but lots of sun. The kids loved the pool. TJ and Brenden are fine by themselves, but we started out having to go with Alyssa. By the end of the trip even she was great all on her own...fabulous!!!

See......proof!!!!! (I didn't think it would happen!)

Kate in the sand....she loved it!

Both TJ and Brenden turned into quite the snorkelers. I had my doubts, but they did great and loved it! Yay! Now Justin has some snorkel buddies (since his wife doesn't fit that bill)!

Just keep in mind...he's 8....just a little goof-ball sometimes!

Can you tell she's happy? She would beg everyone to take her down to the ocean. Since it's hard to say no to that face most everyone would give in and take her. Don't let that fool you though......she's a stinker most of the time. She had some rough days (don't remind me about the plane ride home).

He's so cute! I love that kid!

Yeah, we don't know what this is...but she sure enjoyed doing it!

One of my most favorite places to go is Coba. It's a Mayan ruin site. I haven't been there for13 years and Justin hasn't ever been there so I was really excited to go again. When we went 13 years ago they let us climb to the top of the huge pyramid, but I didn't think they would let us now. I was so glad they did so Justin and TJ and Brenden could also experience it.

Have you seen the animated film "The Road to El Dorado?" In that movie there is a scene where the main characters play a game against the gods. Well, here you go! Here is the actual ball court. Awesome, right? It's hard to believe that this took place so long ago.

And....here it is, the huge pyramid! It's hard to tell from the picture how big it is, just try looking at the people and you will see how big it is. Justin, TJ, Brenden, and I climbed to the top, it was awesome!

Great view, right??? Luckily you can't tell from the picture how out of breath we are! J/K, it wasn't that bad.

This little room is at the very top. I have no idea what it was used for, but I think it looks spooky.

More of Kate in the sand.

Our girly-girl. She turned into quite the fish.

One of my other favorite places to go is called Puerto Aventuras. I like it because they do things that you could never do in the U.S. Like having a sea lion on a podium two feet from people. That would never happen here. It was neat. They had the sea lion bark and kiss people and do a little dance.

They also have dolphins in ponds separated only by small fences. You can swim with the dolphins but no one did that this time.

Our friend, the iguana.

The last night most everyone had a pool party and jumped in the pool with their clothes on. Justin and I were party-poopers and did not participate, so luckily other people played with our kids.

Yep, she loved it!

I took almost 300 pics on the trip so this is only a small sample, but we had a fabulous time and had so much fun! Thanks everyone for a great time and thanks Mom and Dad!!! Now back to real life.....

Basketball!!

This year TJ and Brenden got to play on the same basketball team! Their cousin was also on their team so it was extra fun! They both did a great job, learned a lot, improved, and had a great time! Great job boys!! Now....on to soccer! =)

Introducing The Read-A-Thon!!!!!!

Okay, well, this has been a long time in coming! Almost a year ago I decided I wanted to start a book blog where I could keep track of what I have read, and where people could come to read summaries of those books to decide if they want to read them. I ended up putting my ratings and recommendations on each book summary also. I didn't tell anyone about it at the time because it looked kind of silly with two books listed. It has been almost a year now and I have added each of the books I read in that amount of time, plus I have also been able to add a bunch of the books I have previously read. Since I can't find my camara battery charger and my battery is dead, I can't update this blog with family pics so I decided now is the time to introduce my book blog. Please take a look! If you want to recommend  a book to me please email me, and if you want to comment about what you think about the book then please do! I hope this will be a good tool for determining books teens should read as well. So enjoy!!!!

                            http://www.the-readathon.blogspot.com/

Please let me know what you think and any improvements that can be made. The books are listed in the index on the left hand side and they are under the title, author, and genre. Have fun!

My One Creative Project for the Year!

Okay, so everyone knows how NOT crafty I am. I try, but to no avail. I have been wanting a new job chart for my kids and an FHE board, but did not want to spend a lot of money, and yet I didn't want them made out of cardboard either. I really like the magnetic boards but they are pricey. So I tried to think of a better way. Well, I finally did! I found some cheap (around $10) magnetic white boards at Walmart and I added a few things and I am proud at how it turned out. So....yay! My one creative project for the year is finished!! These pics aren't very good because the boards are hanging in the hall and it isn't very wide, but I think you can see them well enough.

This is the job chart. The days of the week go across and their names go down. I did four so I don't have to redo it when Kate is old enough. Their chores are listed in the Monday slot of each of their rows. They are individualized. What I like is that they are in control. If they have done all their chores for the day then they move the magnet to that day (notice that TJ has the whole week filled in, Brenden a few days, and Alyssa not at all.....age but mostly personality!) I don't have to do it, they do, and that is what I wanted.

In between is our family mission statement and the Proclamation. We spent a lot of time putting together our mission statement and I think it turned out great.

Then on the end is our FHE board. I think it turned out cute. I love that already it has kept me more organized. I think of the lesson one week in advance so I'm not scrambling for something at the last second like I was doing before.

So there you go.....my craftiness for the year... hooray!!

St. George Trip

So.....life is always an adventure being married to Justin! I am not spontaneous at all (See my Disneyland post), but he is good at being spontaneous. Since he had Monday off and the kids had Monday off we decided to head south. I knew St. George wouldn't be hot, but we were hoping for a little warmer, and maybe some sunshine. We got our wish! It wasn't hot, but it was warmer. If the sun was shining and the wind didn't blow then you felt fine in long sleeves. Saturday we drove all day and we couldn't check into our hotel yet so we drove to the temple. It is beautiful! There was a couple taking their wedding pics and it was very cute. There were so many people just walking around and sitting on the grass, yes, grass, and relaxing. It was great.

Sunday morning we headed out to Zions. I've never been there, and Justin hasn't been there in many years, so we thought we'd check it out. It is gorgeous!!! The views are incredible! It was the perfect day. We hiked on a trail called the Emerald Pools and it was long (3.7 miles). The kids did great, though. Even Alyssa hiked the whole thing. It wasn't really easy, either. It was kind of tough, but it was incredible to see the views.

This pic was at the very top. It was freezing, but beautiful. Little Kate was just shivering.

At the bottom we ate lunch and saw two deer (in the background).

Then we went on another, shorter and easier, hike. It was nice and easy but everyone was pretty tired by then. We saw a couple more deer. It was also getting chilly because the sun had gone behind the mountain. So we really didn't get away from the cold, but it was very nice to get out.

Monday we went to Snow Canyon, but it was raining and very cold. We only stayed for a couple of minutes and then turned around and drove home. The kids had fun exploring the sand dunes for the couple of  minutes we were there. Kate had a great time in the sand, getting all dirty for the ride home.

So we didn't stay very long but it was really good to get out and now.....can you say SPRING FEVER?????

Gramps' Funeral

As sad and hard as funerals can be, Gramps' was all that. He was such a good guy and we will all miss him so much. I cried all the way through my talk, but I did feel like I was able to convey my love for him, and I guess that is all that matters. I am so thankful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What a blessing it is to know that I will be able to see Gramps again, and hear his laugh, and give him a great big hug. It is still really hard right now, but without that hope it would be absolutely devastating.

One neat thing about the grave dedication was that Gramps received full military honors. He served in the navy and so 4 navy people came and saluted as the casket went by. There were two flags the casket went through, and then they folded the flag on top of the casket, gave it to my Grams and presented it to her "On behalf of the president of the United States." Once again, I'd rather have Gramps, but it was really nice to have the recognition he deserved for his service to our country. Here are some of  the pics. And yes, it was in the middle of a blizzard and it was very cold!

Good-bye Gramps, I love you!

I Love You Gramps!

This post is a tribute to my sweet Gramps. He passed away yesterday, and will be greatly missed. I have so many fun memories with Gramps. I remember him as a big, tough, fun-loving, adventurous, and loving man. I remember him cliff diving into the Firehole in Yellowstone, diving into Jackson Lake and coming up to scare us. I remember him piling all of us cousins into the TravelAll and cutting firewood. I remember him driving the boat. I remember him taking immaculate care of his yard. I remember him loving his AirStream trailer and square dancing in Yuma (I wish I had seen him in person, but I did see lots of pics). His laugh was contagious. I remember him at my baptism and my wedding, and many events in between. I remember his love of photography. He took beautiful pictures. He had a twinkle in his eye that brightened any room. He leaves behind his beautiful bride Grams, his four children (and their better-halves), his 15 grandchildren, and his 15 great-grandchildren. I love you Gramps!!! I will miss you soooooooo much, but will look forward to seeing you again someday. I thank my Heavenly Father for allowing me to spend this life-time with you. Thank you for your love and example, I love you!!!!!!