Back on the cruise ship

This was the last night on our cruise. I don't know how to get these posts in order. We went to dinner at a nicer place than we had been the rest of the cruise. It was delicious and fun and they even had gluten free bread! I was in shock! Overall we didn't really get sick as we thought that we might. That's great considering that I was just a few weeks pregnant and worried about not feeling well. We had so much fun that it was hard to come home to reality. We feel so lucky to have been able to get a much needed break though! Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for taking such good care of the kids! They may have had more fun than us!

Cozumel

We had a great time in Cozumel. This time we recruited more people to rent scooters with us. We stopped on the beach and had some delicious fish tacos and basked in the sun. The tide was so strong that we almost lost a couple of our friends out there. Scary! We're grateful they were able to get back to shore. We had a great time just relaxing in good company and enjoying the break from the crappy weather at home.

Our first stop was in Grand Cayman where we rented some scooters with some friends and cruised around the island. It was a lot of fun until we finally stopped to relax at the beach and Andy burned his leg on the muffler of our scooter. That kind of ruined his water fun. We did get a chance to go out on the canoe though and that was a lot of fun too. It was beautiful there and we were in good company.

Andy and I were able to go on a cruise to the West Caribbean in April. He worked his tail off to earn this trip for us and we were thrilled about going. Grandma and Grandpa Arnold watched the kids which we were so grateful for. We had a great time! We did lots of just basking in the sun as well as chatting and eating with friends from work. We made two stops in Cozumel and Grand Cayman and had a blast on both islands.

Gage was lucky enough to get to celebrate his birthday twice! Once at his "Mommo and Pacha's" and another time at home. He got some fun gifts from them and some cousins. We love you Gage!

Gage's birthday

Gage had a great birthday! Just one week after Read celebrated his 6th birthday, Gage celebrated his 5th birthday. I can't believe I was brave enough to have kids so close together. Gage decided to have a sonic theme, but we were unable to find anything for his party since it was popular about 20 years ago. He changed his mind and decided on batman. We played a game where we put monsters in balloons and they had to stomp the monsters. We also played pin the bat on the riddler, musical chairs and had a pinata. It was a fun party followed by cake and ice cream. I can't believe my Gage is 5 and is going to kindergarten this fall. He's so big and he is so much fun! Just a couple of days ago Andy got teary eyed just looking at the boys and realizing how quickly they are growing up. And their little sister, Kate thinks that she's just one of them and is only one step behind her brothers at all times.

Andy has been running long distance for a few months now. It's so much fun to have him join me in something that I love! We have really enjoyed our Saturday morning long runs together. This is one of the many. We are doing a half marathon together in June. It'll be Andy's first and I am really, really proud of him. He's a great and a strong runner!

Read's 6th birthday

Read turned 6!!! Where has the time gone? The morning of his birthday he chose to have jelly bean pancakes. I always let the kids choose what kind of pancakes they want. He loved them! He had such a fun scooby doo mystery party. I had a great time making his cake. Andy made up some clues for the kids to hunt for around the neighborhood in order to get to the stolen treasure box. The kids had a great time although the weather didn't cooperate! He was lucky enough to get lots of legos which are his favorite toy in the world! I'm so thankful for little Read. He's a great student and a sweet big brother. We love him so much!

For dinner on St. Patrick's day we had green pancakes, green eggs and green milk. The kids were a little afraid of all of the green but they ended up eating and enjoying it. It was a fun dinner.

Gage, Read and Kate on the morning of St. Patrick's Day. I made green banana muffins which they weren't too fond of. I thought they'd be a hit! They were disappointed that they didn't catch leprechauns after we set up so many traps! Maybe next year.

Basking in the sun

Dena and I sat and basked in the sun for a good two hours in front of Paradise Bakery. We just enjoyed the sunshine and chatted and had a great time. I can't believe a place so close to home has weather like that in January! It was 74 degrees while we were there! Ahhhh! Why do I live in Utah?

Phoenix Rock 'n Roll marathon

Here's my latest accomplishment. My adorable friend and running partner, Dena Harris and I ran a half marathon in October. We had so much fun and I decided since I was already half way there I might as well complete the training and do another marathon. Dena agreed that she'd like to train and do a marathon with me (her first!). We looked around for a good marathon and decided on Phoenix. I ended up finishing in 4:13 with some knee issues and wasn't too pleased with my time but at least I finished. Stupid knee! I love running. I l hate running. I love running. I hate running. This was my 5th marathon in 15 months. Every time I say that I will not do one again. It's like having a baby. You forget how hard it is and how miserable you are. We had a great trip though and really enjoyed the sunshine and the break from the nasty weather at home.



We were so beat the day of the marathon but didn't have much time to relax. We had a dinner with some of my family then head straight to the airport the evening of the marathon. It was hard to shuffle through the terminals. This picture is us just waiting to load our plane. We had zero energy. We had a layover in Vegas and ate a gargantuous plate of nachos. Yum! Yes we are wearing matching shirts. No we did not plan it.

Happy New Year!

We had a fun New Years Eve. Andy has a sister who lives in our neighborhood. She came over with her 3 kids (Sherie, Sydnee, Preston, Parker). Andy's brother came down from Idaho with his wife and their two kids (Troy, Kara, Tyler and Ashlynn). We played our new xbox kinect for a good portion of the night. The kids all made it until midnight. I barely made it until then. :) Cheers to a new year and new goals and new commitments. Happy New Year!

Here are a few snapshots from Christmas Eve and Christmas. Our tradition in my family growing up was to go out to dinner on Christmas Eve. Then after dinner we go home and everyone colors a cardboard box and writes "Merry Christmas" with their name and the year and draws some cute pictures. Then they set them out for Santa to fill. So we did that with my family this year. When we got to Outback for dinner, I was shocked to see that my sister Celest and her family of 6 had driven all the way from Memphis Tennessee to surprise us all and be here for Christmas! That was so fun! Probably the most fun part of my Christmas. The kids had fun coloring boxes and opening their pajamas and slippers. Christmas morning we had Andy's parents and his sister Sherie with her 3 kids for breakfast and one game. Later we head out to my parents to do more Christmas stuff. The Sunday after we had a party with my Moms family. It was lots of family and plenty of fun. We are mostly grateful for our Savior, for the whole reason that we celebrate Christmas. We are grateful for his birth and his life and example and especially for his atonement and resurrection.

In the nearly 8 years that Andy and I have been married and the 7 of those that we have owned a home, this is the first year that we put up Christmas lights. I shopped for the lights but Andy did all of the work and the boys offered their help. We are grateful for our home and were excited to make it even more beautiful this Christmas season with some lights.

Kate's birthday-2 years old!!

My baby is growing up! Kate turns 2.





My little princess's birthday party. We had my family over for some dinner and Elmo cake. I got online with Kate and looked at a bunch of ideas for cakes and she picked Elmo. So Elmo it is! She was pretty excited to see her cake. My sister Celest happened to be in town from Tennessee and we were so happy she could be there. She and I bought Kate the same baby. I think Kate enjoyed her day. I love her so much. She's a little sweetheart!