Thursday, April 25, 2013

Cruise-Day at Sea

In March, Steve and I got to go on a trip of a lifetime!!  We went on a cruise to the Caribbean !  AHHH!!  My dream came true!  The Caribbean is one place I have wanted to go and experience!!  And...we got to do it with my siblings and parents!  It really was a great trip with many great memories made!!!  The first 2 days were "Day at Sea" days, so here is what we did during those days!
Arriving and getting ready to load onto to the ship!!
 
We were to fly out of San Francisco at 9PM Friday night, with a flew delays we made our way onto the plane for a few rough hours of sleep for that night!  We got into Ft. Lauderdale fairly early on Saturday morning, and we weren't suppose to get onto the ship until about 1PM.  We decided to just make our way over to Port and wait there to get on to the boat!  By the time we got there waited for a few minutes, went through security, checked in, waited a little longer (while all 11 of us were crashed out of the benches!), we found out that we could board the ship at 11AM!!  That made for a happy bunch of tired and hungry people!! It was great we got on and enjoyed some lunch and then headed to our rooms at 1PM when we could get in to them, took another amazing nap, and then headed to the Lido deck to watch us sail to sea!!
Lido deck, where the party began!!
 Setting Sail!

 So...as a mom of 2 young children (2 and 1) leaving them for 8 whole days sounded ok way back months and months ago when this whole trip was first mentioned!  As it got closer and closer, I of course got more nervous!  As I got the babysitter all set up and the time came closer, I was preparing myself to daily that I wouldn't see them for so long!!  All preparations were going great!  We were to leave Friday, Monday night I was at my soccer game when I get the phone call "Ashley! Rachel is throwing up everywhere!!  Like, projectile!!!!"Awesome!!  Of course this would happen to me!!!  Tuesday goes by, no one else to clean up after...Wednesday goes by, no one else to clean up...Thursday, going ok, one sicko, we are half way through our day, it's naptime...put Ty down about an hr. later I hear him crying I go in and he tells "Mommy hurt, Mommy hurt!" And, points to his stomach!  Oh no!!  Take him out lay him down in the family room and a few minutes later...victim #2!  NOOOOO!!!  I am leaving tomorrow!!  And now, I am leaving sick kids!!  That was not fun!!  Anyhow, we all made it, they got better and grandma only got thrown-up on once!!  However, Sunday rolls around, I am on the cruise Aubrey already had not been feeling well and my head begins to feel like a balloon.  Seriously, I felt so crummy!  Wasn't sure what was wrong!  Everyone thought I was sea sick, (don't usually get motion sickness) but, I thought maybe!!  Lunch comes around don't feel super hot, ate a little then we all hung out for a while and then headed down to our rooms to get ready for dinner...Steve went up to get some air, I showered!  Really started to not feel good, wondering where Steve is, starting to feel that I am gonna spew feeling!!!  Ran down to my sisters room, she didn't answer, on to the next room, Natalie opened the door and I ran into the bathroom and well...!!  Ya, 5 min later I felt A LOT better!! (Sorry guys)  Went back to the room and slept for most of the night, missed dinner but for some reason get dressed up for the show and went to that w/ Steve.      
Hanging on top of the boat!
Steve was a good sport and with much talking into participated in the Hairy Chest contest!!



Party on 3rd deck!!! 


 One of the many times all 11 of us would smash into an elevator!!!

Monday, February 18, 2013

Rachel's Party!!!

Here are Rachel's one year pictures!!  They aren't perfect...but, that's ok!!!  I liked how they turned out!!  It was super fun taking these...thanks to pinterest for the prop ideas!!! ;)







 On Rachel's actual birthday, we were in Idaho with Grandma Julie.  My little sister graduated from BYU-Idaho, so the kids and I made the trip up to help her celebrate and to visit with Grandma!!  It was a really good trip!!  Thank you grandma!!


 We celebrated again with Daddy and the rest of the family when we got back in town.

 Preparing to dig in...

 Tyler and Daddy joined in on the fun!!
Happy Birthday Rachel!!!  We love you so much, and are so grateful that you are a part of our family!!

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Rachel turned 1...

 On December 16th, Rachel turned the big O.N.E.!!!!  I really can't believe how fast that year went!  What some fun and crazy memories we have made this past year as a family of four!   Rachel is a lot of fun...here are her monthly mug shots!!!  Unfortunately, her 1 month picture was taken on my sisters camera and is not to be found...so, we start at 2 months!!!










Rach is our little rascal!!  She really is a little one, that is getting quite the personality!!  We love you Rachel!!  Happy 1st Birthday!!!
Here are her 1 year stats:
Weight: 17 lbs 4 oz
Height: 28.7 inches
Head Cir: 45 cm
One year pictures and party pictures to come...!

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Tyler is 2!!!

  WOW!!!  On November 30 this little man turned 2!!!  I just can't believe that is has been two years since he joined our family!  So much has happened and changed, and we are so grateful for him in our lives!  Tyler is such a joy to be around!  He's an excellent big brother and that is such a great blessing to me!!  He has become such a great helper and follows directions pretty well, when I ask him to get things for me and such!! (like the wipes, diapers, his shoes, etc...)  We love you Ty and are so grateful for your spirit in our home!!  
Picture overload....sorry!!!

 Birthday Party!!!!!  Tyler is seriously OBSESSED with my dad and brother's cows!!!  He LOVES the cows...so I went with the farm theme for his cake!!  It was a lot of fun to make it!!!
 And...I think he enjoyed it!!!
Happy Birthday Ty!!  We love you and are so grateful for you!!!!