10 Year Anniversary Cruise

Whit and I were able to go on a cruise for our 10 year anniversary. We haven't gone away together without kids for more than a night since we had kids so this was a pretty great opportunity for us. We left the Saturday before Thanksgiving and the Henderson's and our dear friends Carmen and Lauren watched the girls until my parents and Kylie arrived on Sunday to stay with the girls. We flew to Tampa and sailed to the Grand Cayman Islands and Cozumel. It was so great to be warm and really just relax and be together.

Whit has had issues with getting professional pictures taken ever since I dragged him to Walmart when Jaynie was little, so when the 50 photographers on the ship wanted to take our picture we politely refused. I however really wanted a picture of us together on formal night so Whit created his own photo studio in our room. Great backdrop isn't it. Oh well at least I got the picture.

We had to take pictures of all the towel animals for the girls.

The beautiful waters of the Grand Cayman. I have never been to Caribbean waters so this was really an awesome sight for me.

In the Cayman we were able to sail on a Catamaran to do a little snorkeling and visit Sting Ray City. This was my first time snorkeling and I was really nervous about it. I had never really swam in the ocean except from a beach and the thoughts of being out in the middle of the ocean and swimming while breathing through a tube made me a little uneasy. I was so nervous that I asked to wear one of the dorky life vests they give people who can't swim, but luckily mine wouldn't blow up so I said I would just try to snorkel without it. My dear sweet husband was so supportive as soon as we jumped in the water, right after I said WHIT DO NOT LEAVE ME, he was gone and I started to have a minor panic attack. I finally had to lay on my back and calm down and tell myself this was something I had the power to do. Once I got over that first little set back I fell in love with snorkeling. What an awesome experience it is to view the ocean that way. I have always thought my parents are crazy for scuba diving, but now maybe that is something I could enjoy.

After snorkeling for a while our boat took us to Sting Ray City. What an amazing experience that was. Sting Ray City is basically a sand bar 30 minutes from shore where sting rays hang out and people come and feed them and hold them and, as you can see from the pictures below, even kiss them. It was pretty crazy. They were not afraid of people at all. They would swim right up to you and go in between your legs and everything. Some of them were so big they would almost knock you over. It was pretty incredible. This was definitely the high light of the trip. It was one of those moments where I thought, "Oh I wish the girls were here." Jaynie probably would have freaked out, but Lillie probably would have loved every second of it. Lillies only request was that we take a picture of a sting ray for her so Lillie this ones for you babe!!
Our second stop was Cozumel, Mexico. A little island off the coast of Mexico. We had a great time here as well. We got to spend a lot more time here than at the Cayman, so we kind of just did our own thing. We booked a snorkel tour and we started off with just the two of us in the boat, but after our first stop that was right next to the dock they picked up two more people. We were very glad we booked it ourselves because it was such a more personal experience. Some of the snorkel boats that we saw had 50 people on them. Our guide was great. He loved that Whit spoke Spanish with him and he showed us some really cool stuff. We saw one of those huge schools of silver fish (like the ones that make shapes on Finding Nemo) and our guide swam down to them and created a hole in their group. It was so cool. We saw tons of great coral and beautiful fish. The colors were just so bright and colorful. We passed a couple of barracuda fish, which I guess can hurt you. Good thing I didn't know that until after we swam by.

After our snorkel tour we wanted to go to the beach so we decided to rent a moped. Which was pretty fun until on our way home Whit decided to take us through the City part of Cozumel, where all the people are and traffic is heavy and we are on a little moped that cars don't really care about and we are not locals. Whit loved it. He wanted to find some authentic food and see how people lived, but I just wanted to be safe and sound on the cruise ship. I always said Whit and I would do awesome on the Amazing Race, but after those 30 minutes I realized I may not be ready for that yet. Whit could beat anybody, but he would need a braver partner.

There were wild peacocks roaming around on the beach. How fun is that?

Whit and I really wanted to see ancient ruins, but we ran out of time so these fake ones they had just right off the dock of the cruise ship will have to do until next time. By the way we were getting eaten alive by mosquitoes during this picture.

It poured rain on our last day at sea. I was pretty sad, because I was hoping for one more day to work on my tan, but it really was nice. We just sat out on the back deck that was covered and read all afternoon. What better way is there to spend a day together. I have decided that the only problem with taking a trip like this is that once you go it has to end and it makes you really, really, really want to go again.

Brownie Camping Trip

Jaynie and I got to go camping the first weekend of November with her Brownie Troop. It was freezing, but luckily we camped inside a lodge with heat. I always love to see Jaynie interact with her Brownie friends. She is such a grown up little girl and she is learning so much through the girl scout program.

Jaynie was a pretty determined fisherman. She really wanted to catch a fish, but they were not biting. After all the other girls gave up Jaynie sat down and waited and waited and waited. Maybe next time Jaynie.

The girls do most of the work at camp. Sometimes that is a hard lesson for us leaders to learn. It really would be so much easier if we just did it for them, but thankfully Jaynie has the best leader and she is very insistent that they do the jobs themselves.

Jaynie setting out some corn for the deer to eat. We left that evening so we didn't get to see how much the deer ate, but according to the other girls they ate every last bit of corn we left for them.

The girls all got to do traditional girl scout skits and of course the leaders had to do one too. Ours involved green hair paint that didn't come out very easily.

Halloween, Halloween, and more Halloween

Halloween seems to be the never ending Holiday around here. I dressed the girls up three different times during the week of Halloween. It was pretty crazy especially since Lillie wanted to be a mummy. I really thought a mummy costume would be easy, but I was sorely mistaken. It took 30 minutes to get her wrapped up and then about 5 minutes to start to unravel. Luckily by the third go round I had it down to a science and she held together pretty well. I had tons of comments on how cute she looked, so I guess the unravelling made her look all that more authentic.

Here are our carved pumpkins

All the girls in their Halloween finest. Just incase you can't tell, Jaynie is a vampire, Lillie is a mummy, Eliza is a witch, and Adeline is a dragon.

Our first dress up event was Lillie's Daisy scout Trunk or Treat. It poured rain so we did a drive up Trunk or Treat so all the kids waited in the school while the cars pulled up under a pavilion two by two. Whatever it takes for candy. Right?

The week was full of class parties. I was able to help with Lillie's class.

Dress up number 2: The ward Trunk or Treat and Carnival. The girls had a blast.

Jaynie couldn't win a donught to save her life. I finally asked the YW to rig it for her. Oh anyone standing on the black cat wins a donought this time. YEAH!!!

Dress up number 3: Halloween night. It poured rain again and I at the last minute tried to host a neighborhood potluck dinner in my driveway, which ended up in my house due to the rain, but it was a lot of fun to get together with the neighbors. The Shirley's joined us as well.

I heard a rumor this year that there was a Halloween Witch and that she and the Toothfairy decided to team up to prevent tooth decay. Their plan is to give kids an incentive for getting rid of their candy. The rumor was if you put your bag of candy out on the front porch on Halloween night the Halloween witch would take all your candy and leave you a suprise in your bag. Well the rumor was true the Halloween Witch does exist and she will leave you suprises if you trade in your candy.

The Amazing Corn Maze

The girls had a couple of days off at the end of October for Fall break so one day we headed to a local Corn Maze with a bunch of friends. It was a lot of fun. We split into two groups one with the Big Kids and one with the Little Kids. The Big Kids did not want to be slowed down by the little ones.

The maze was the United States so my girls of course had to visit Idaho and say Hi to Grams and Gramps and then they really wanted to go to Disneyworld so they headed to Florida. The Little girls waved to Grandma and Grandpa as we passed Idaho and rather than go to Disneyworld we opted for Disneyland in California. Which to them was all the same. I guess the sun was in their eyes.

Addie with her best friend Gracen and Raelyn.

Lillie roasting some corn. Thank goodness there isn't fire in that pit.

Addie milking the cow.

How about a duck race?

The cow train pulled by a tractor. How much more fun could you have in one day?


Corn Tee pees.

There was this beautiful path that I just had to have a picture of. I love North Carolina in the Fall.

Rural Hall Halloween 10K

A small town near us had a fun Halloween run on October 24th that I signed up for. It was a 10k and trick or treat 1 mile run for families afterwards. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and it ended up just being a 10k in the pouring rain. Despite the rain, I actually enjoyed the race. It was a really small race that was mostly flat, which for this area meant it only had a few tough climbs. I finished in 58:06 which beat my Salem Lake time by 54 seconds. I was pretty happy with that. I never thought I would say this, but I can't wait to turn 30 because then I will finally be out of the fast 25-29 age group for these races. I ran the race with Kim, Christi, and Nicole (a neighbor) and all of them placed in their age groups. I would have gotten second place for the 30-34 age group behind Kim if I were 30. Maybe instead of wanting to get older I should just work on being faster.

Baa Moo Farm

I want a farm. A real one. Just like the one Lillie's class visited in late October. The Baa Moo Farm is a real working farm complete with the barnyard cat and her baby kitties. This place is the real deal and is exactly what I always dreamed a farm would be like. Now that I have visited one I really, really want one. I am not sure who will work it for me, but I really, really want one.

Lillie makes a pretty cute farmer.

This is the oldest known breed of sheep. It is called a Jacob Sheep because it's genealogy dates back to the time of Jacob in the Old Testament.

Squeeze and Pull Lillie, Squeeze and Pull