Back to Reality

We spent a wonderful 7 days on the western Caribbean this last week with Vicki's mom and dad, siblings, and their spouses. We left Tibi and Landon with family friends while Kira took off herself to Phoenix for a wedding reception of a mission buddy. We flew to Miami (probably the best flight I've ever had, thank goodness) on early Sunday morning and arrived about three hours before the rest of the family. We all caught 6 a.m. flights (which meant 2 a.m. wakeup time) so that we would have daytime left in Miami with time change. Kevin and I never really went to sleep before our flight, which made it nice for me sleeping most of the way on the plane. We arrived in Miami to find record cold and wind there. Our shuttle guy complained that he finally had to buy a coat for the first time because of it. It was brutal cold. We waited at the hotel for the rest of the family to land, finally ended up together, had a relaxing Sabbath day, and prepared to board the cruise ship.

We headed out south toward Cuba on our way to our first stop. We would be on the boat all night, all the next day, and port the next morning in Cayman. It took that first day for me to get used to the movement of the boat, but after the first day, I was fine. I discovered that I needed to be at the back of the boat to get the least movement. Thank goodness that's where our cabin was, but the workout room was at the very front of the boat near the top, which got the most movement, so that first morning that I went to workout, I felt like I was going to throw up. I wanted to workout every morning on the ship (to help cancel calories that I knew I would be eating) but this was not going to work. So I decided to instead run on the track that was located on the top deck of the boat. I would rather run outside than on a treadmill anyway, so it worked out perfectly.

The ship was huge, 12 stories high, with everything you would ever need. Food was always available, and the staff was wonderful.

This is Armanz from Latvia. They have a lot of foreigners working on the ship. Armanz liked to hang out with our family whenever he could. I had taken a puzzle with me to do on the ship and he was afraid we would get it done before he could have a little time off to come and help us.

The Cayman Islands were beautiful, but crowded with tourists from the ship. We usually had two or three other cruise lines ported with us, so it made for a lot of people on the islands. We still had a great time sightseeing and walking the streets. These ports thrive on the tourists that come shopping. It's how they survive, and boy, do they try to draw you in to their store!We snorkelled around this "pirate" ship and saw some pretty coral and fish. Some of us had to get used to snorkelling, but we finally got the hang of it before the day was done. Dad even got out there with us while mom and Jeff stayed on the ship.

After each port we had a lot a down time to travel on the ship getting to our next port. We spent a lot of time on the Lido deck eating and playing games. This was our designated meeting place for almost everything.We ate dinner every night in the Washington dining room, which was very nice. We sat at the same two tables every night and had the same waiters too. The food was incredible and we tried some pretty yummy appetizers, entres, and desserts. We could order whatever we wanted, however much we wanted. One night, when Lobster tail was on the menu, my brother Scott joked about having 5 more dinners delivered, and the next thing we knew, 5 more dinners were delivered! The second port was at Roatan, a little island off the coast of Honduras. It was a beach day where we all got burnt and had to stay out of the sun for the next day. Well.....I had to. This is where we were when the earthquake hit Haiti, which was north of us by then.Mom was able to get off the ship for our beach day. She stayed in a hut right on the beach and even had waiters to tend to her. Our next stop was in Belize where we took a jungle cruise up a river and spotted crocodile, dolphins, iguanas, monkeys, and birds. We climbed Mayan ruins and enjoyed beautiful meadows.Our last stop was at Cozumel where we got off the ship and snorkeled with sting rays (yikes!) and tropical fish. We then went shopping and sightseeing before we headed back onto the cruise ship to set sail back to Miami.

The colors were beautiful. I'm a sucker for pretty flowers.

Every night after our room was remade we would find an animal made out of towels. Here's our elephant. We also had a dog and a dinosaur. The ship even sold a book that showed how to make all the different kinds of "towel" animals. We spent the next day on the ship and got back into Miami on the next Sunday, got off and headed to the airport before flying back to Las Vegas. We had a wonderful time, thanks to mom and dad, and have decided that everyone should go on a cruise at least once in their life.

Druggie For A Week

I don't take drugs, hardly ever. I will stick it out with a headache or ailment until I either can't stand it any longer, or until Kevin tells me to take something. Then I'll do it just to ease his mind, or stop his belly-aching, whichever comes first. So I consider this week to be a week of "almost" sinning for me, because I have drugs and I'm going to take them! Mom and dad are taking all of us kids and spouses on a 7-day western Caribbean cruise on Saturday, and I can't walk to Miami (believe me, I would if I could) and that means that a plane and I are going to be battling it out. I'm sure that the plane is going to win. Planes and I have never been best of friends, not even friends at all for that matter. I don't do well with them. Friends never make you sick, or nervous, and you usually like to be around them. So planes are my mortal enemy. The only enemy I have really. So these two drugs are my new best friends. The patch, (which has been a friend for a while) and Xanax, an anxiety med for nerves. It's bad enough to get sick on flights, but to be nervous too - that's just not nice. They don't go together well at all, sick and nervous. So, hopefully I will relax and find myself in Miami a lot quicker than I would have made it walking. Now all I have to worry about is keeping the ship from rocking. I hope their beds are comfortable. I'm thinking that I might be spending quite a bit of time on mine.

Another Year Older...

I love New Years, not because I have a chance to make a new list of things I want or need to do, but because I get the chance to reflect on the last year and figure out what I really did with my life for the last year. Not that I don't have my list, but I personally would rather make sure that I wasn't a slacker, or improving in SOME way. I came across an article in the Church News a couple of months ago that I tore out and kept because of it's sentiment. It was written by a 102 year old man that had given much of his life to others. Here's the poem that he wrote that was included in the article:
Age is a quality of mind.
If your dreams you've left behind,
If hope is cold,
And you no longer look ahead,
And your ambitious fires are dead,
Why then, you're old.

But, if in life you do your best,
And if in life you keep your zest,
And love you hold,
No matter how the years go by,
No matter how the birthdays fly,
You are not old.

Christmas 2009

Christmas is always such a great time, even when your kids are older and some of them gone. We love having the holidays with the kids around, and cannot imagine it without them. It will be a lonely day when Kevin and I have to spend it by ourselves and the kids are doing their own thing with their families. For now, we enjoy every minute we have with them.

We set the alarm for a much later time this year, which was nice for mom and dad. The kids ALWAYS sleep in the same room on Christmas Eve, no matter how many there are, and no matter if there are in-laws too! It's made for a crowded bedroom almost every year, but they wouldn't do it any other way. When I was heading to bed at around 1 a.m., I could hear the kids in the bedroom singing "Angels We Have Heard on High." That has become a tradition too. They always sing themselves to sleep. Here's Kira checking out her new sewing machine...

I think Landon was the most surprised this year. He opened up this "little" present to find this...

...his new drumset!

Tibi got a new portable DVD player for road trips and hanging out in her bedroom.

Checking out the stockings. (Landon didn't let his drumset out of sight!)

Three of the kids got slippers this year.

Tibi's new Ugg slippers.

Next to his new drumset, and the quilt that Michaela made him out of all of his playing t-shirts, I think this is Landon's prized possession. His BYU football vault book, a very nice, big, full of everything BYU football informational book. Later in the day, I walked past his bedroom to find his bed made (really!) with his new quilt and his book laying nicely on top of it. That's when I knew that he had had a good Christmas! (Notice he already has his slippers on)

The joke of the morning. Tibi and Michaela have been laughing about those stupid "Snuggie" blanket thingies that are on TV and in the stores, so naturally Tibi got one for Michaela!

Mom did good and got dad the ice pink tie he requested. Do any of you know how hard it is to shop anything clothes for Kevin?! If you know him at all (past custom clothier, very fashion conscience, always looks good in anything), you know that this was a miracle for Vicki! Yeah mom!! (It will look better with his charcoal suit than it does with his baseball t-shirt, I'm sure)

One of many quilts Tibi got this year. This was a rag quilt made up from scrap left over fabrics that she has been eyeing for some time. Great for those track meets coming up!

I made each of the girls a quilt this year. I started them back in August and got them done for Christmas. It was so fun to do them, as they are my prized girls in all the world! Definitely a labor of love.

The new drumset ready to set up in Landon's bedroom eventually.

Every year we head over to the Chappells for Christmas breakfast after opening our presents. We actually started this tradition and used to do it at our house with Vicki's family, but when they all moved away we started doing it with the Chappells. They have a bigger house and more family that comes, so we have been having it at their house for the last few years. This year we expanded to "2" tables. I always make my "fake" cinnamon rolls, a recipe that my mother used to make for us, and the kids have been requesting oven pancakes lately to go with the eggs, bacon, and juice we always have. It's become a fun tradition.

Then we packed up and headed to Arizona to get to the other kids and grandkids. Christmas isn't Christmas without everyone! So into the cars and off we went...

The three oldest grandkids got robes with their pajamas this year. Levi and Phoenix got a pillowcase to match their PJ's.

The "big" grandkids opening their color and paint books.

Levi got a bunch of new cars to play with. He finally got something that is totally his. Being the third child sometimes stinks when it comes to having your OWN things. Grandpa and Grandma took care of him!

Eden opening her "My Little Pony" puzzle...

Lexie is pretty excited about her new brownie pan that gives you "edges" on every piece. Cool new product for edge-lovers! Who knew?!Kira got a sweet gift card from Peter to Sephora to get herself the makeup she has wanted to get.Connie got a sweet curlbar from her dad.

We were able to head over to the Mesa Temple to see the Christmas lights too. They had the prettiest colors, even purple, all through the grounds.

Their nativity scene was wonderful with the neatest star. You could see it from far away and all you had to do was "follow the star" to get to the nativity. It was cold, but not windy, which we were grateful for.

It was a wonderful time, but we couldn't stay forever. So back to Logandale on Sunday night in time for work on Monday. Darn those Mondays...and darn that traffic over Hoover Dam on a Sunday night. We spent over three hours getting about 15 miles down the road! Not fun, but great company...

Putting Up The Tree...

This has become one of our favorite parts of the Christmas season - hanging up and decorating the tree. Tibi and Landon get it all to themselves now that all of the other girls are gone. We still have to divvy out the Washington DC ornaments between everyone, but other than that, it's smooth sailing...for the most part.

Kira is home, but let the kids do their job as she was busy doing a job herself. She was in the middle of transforming Lexie's white vans into a work of art. She is getting pretty good at doing that. She should go into business. She customs them to the liking of her "patient". (Hogwart's logo, NBA, Jackson 5 - you know.)

It was rainy and cold, bitter cold, so Kit decided that inside must feel better than outside. Of course, the rest of the family let her in. This time she didn't even wait till mom said that it was okay, evidently. She even crossed the kitchen tile to get into the family room, which is a first for her!

Dad got to sit and relax after he got the lights on the tree. That's his only job.

This year dad got another tree for the front room. My piano student called it the "Target" tree, because it is red and white. It lights up the whole room at night.

The grandkids even ended up with a little tree all for themselves!

That means we are a "3 tree family!" I guess that's kind of like becoming a 3 car family, or a 3 TV family. We are really coming up in the world, don't you think?!