Meanwhile...

We definitely couldn't have gone on a cruise without my parents who watched our kids while we were gone.  My sister and her family also helped out and I am so grateful that my children were taken care of and were loved a ton while we were away.  The only time I talked to my mom or kids was right before the boat left Los Angeles.  She said that Callie was very cuddly and the kids were all being great.  My mom isn't in any of these pictures but she left the kids each with a special feeling and memories that will last forever.  They loved being with her and having all the extra time and attention. 

 Callie loved her new cousin, Abigail and it was so cute to watch her hold her and say her name.

 My dad spent special time with each of the kids.  He even took the older three out to breakfast separately.  He had great conversations with the boys, but said that Annabelle barely said anything.

 Legos were probably the most played with toy, duplos actually.  The kids made all sorts of fun things.

 The kids took turns sleeping over at either Nana's or Aunt Wendy's.  When Eliza and Annie were with Nana, she turned breakfast into a tea party.

 On thanksgiving they went to Apple Hill for some yummy apple treats and then relaxed with take out.  Wendy taught them how to make turkeys with oreos and reeses peanut butter cups.

 They didn't have Thanksgiving because they waited for Greg and I to get back.  I hadn't eaten thanksgiving in California since Nathan was in my belly.  I was more than ecstatic that they waited.  My Aunt Judy brought little goodie bags for each child and made them all feel special.  She even brought me a start from a plant that used to be my grandmother's.  Dinner was fabulous and it was wonderful to be surrounded by my family before heading home. 

 

 

 

The Cruise

Time really does fly.  Our cruise has been planned since May and it finally came time to pack up and go.  We have now been home a few days and I feel like I have been in super speed mode.  So many things to clean up from our trip and then trying to get everything ready for the holidays.  The cruise definitely gave me an energy boost and I feel like I am getting more done in a day than I used to.  

 My kids are fabulous travelers.  We didn't even turn on a movie until we had driven 5 hours.  We stopped only once going to CA and 2 times coming home (Daddy needed the second potty break, the kids could have made it home).  We spent a day and half with my family and then Greg and I headed to Los Angeles. 

Where do I begin with the cruise?  It was amazing, fantastic, just what we needed, romantic, exciting, just all around fabulous!  Greg and I will definitely go on another cruise.  We took tons of pictures, but here is a sampling:

 Boarding the Sapphire Princess.  18 floors (17 since there is no #13).  We were on level 12 with a balcony.  So lovely!

 The food was amazing!!  Lobster, escargot, mussels, prime rib, salmon, pheasant, pastas, sushi, etc.  We really couldn't get enough of it.  We had dinner at the same time and with the same people every night.  There were three ladies from LA and South Carolina and a couple from Yorkshire, England.  We had wonderful conversations every night, and tears on the last night from one.  We couldn't have asked for a better table. 

 

Our first stop was Ensenada Mexico.  This was changed due to problems in Mexico, but we made the most of it.  We went to La Bufadora (a blowhole).

 We spent two days in Cabo San Lucas. The first day we did a rappelling and zip line course.  It was really cool and not as scary as I had thought.  Then the next day we rode horses at the beach.  It was beautiful and we even saw whales. 

 The last day was REALLY windy and since we were at sea Greg and I did a lot of exploring of the ship.  And just revelling in being together without kids.  That was such a great part of the cruise.  There were so many things to do and places to see and we could do as much or as little as we wanted, at our own leisure.  I drank a TON of pina coladas and strawberry daiquiris.  We tried some other drinks, but these were our favorites.  We swam, read, exercised a little, got a couples massage and so much more.  For entertainment they had musical shows, comedians, dance classes, game shows, trivia shows, a cooking show, karaoke (Greg sang Amazed and was amazing) and movies.  I was exhausted some nights.  One day we took a nap with the door to our balcony open and it was so relaxing to hear the ocean outside.  All in all it was a perfect celebration of being married 10 years to my fabulous husband.  Everyone needs the chance to get away and be COMPLETELY spoiled for a week. 

 

Giving Thanks

 I can't believe how time has flown.  Just this last weekend we celebrated Thanksgiving with my cousins and in just 2 days we are headed to California.  Greg and I have been planning this trip for months.  We celebrated our 10 year anniversary in May and we are now going on a cruise to celebrate.  The kids are going to hang out with my parents for 8 days while we enjoy the sunny coast of Mexico.  I have never gone on a cruise or been to Mexico, so I am very excited for the new adventure.  I have been trying to get ready for months, but now the time is here and I am scrambling around trying to get last minute things done.  

We make a Thankful turkey or tree every year.  This year I either made the leaves too big, or the turkey too small.  We had so many things we were thankful for that we had to double and triple up on the leaves.  Making this turkey has helped my kids prayers be more grateful.  I am so grateful for my family.  The craziness can get to a pretty high level sometimes, but I wouldn't change it for anything.  The six of us are so awesome together.  We can laugh and goof around.  We can relax and read books together.  We can drive in the car for hours and not want to kill anyone (I will let you know if that changes with Callie after Wednesday).  Nathan keeps asking me what will happen if the boat sinks, or we get hurt on our zip line adventure.  I don't even like to think about that.  We will all be fine and be back together in a week.  I am so grateful to my parents for wanting to watch my kids, or at least being willing to.  From personal experience I know it will be exhausting, but so worth it.  I am signing off for a couple weeks and will return with fun pictures from our grand adventure.

 

 P.S. Have I mentioned that my little girl is growing up.  She is such a cutie now that she is feeling better.  She LOVES to climb into one of the big beds, get under the covers, and read a book.  Here she is reading "The Magic School Bus."  I love this cutie and worry about her the most when I think of leaving the kids.  I know that she will be in great hands so I just have to smile and be okay.

Reflections

Every year schools around the nation hold a Reflections contest.  There is a theme and then the kids are encouraged to come up with a project on their own.  Ever since Nathan was in kindergarten I have encouraged them to enter.  Sometimes they win, sometimes they don't.  This year's theme was "Diversity means..."

 

Annabelle wrote, "Diversity means different flowers."  She was very proud of her participant ribbon and more especially the two airhead candies that she got.

 Ryan's idea was that if everything was the same it wasn't diverse.  He took my camera to a park and took pictures of a bunch of trees.  His saying was, "Diversity means the world is different and cool."  He won an award of merit for his collage.  He loved his medal.

 Nathan wanted to try something new this year and so he wrote a puppet show.  He made some scenery and used some of our puppets.  The big leaves are from the park where Ryan took pictures.  His theme was, "Diversity means trying new and different things."  He won the award of excellence for his theatrical play and will move on to the next level.  We learned that Nathan was the only one in the whole school to enter in the theater category, but we still think he would have won.

I am so proud of each of my children for trying new things and thinking outside of the box.  It isn't always easy, but I know it will help them in the future. 

Family Pictures

Our last professional family picture was taken Christmas of 2008.  So that is when Annabelle was 2 and we were not even thinking about our dear sweet Callie.  We have taken lots of casual family pictures, but none that could replace the beauty hanging above my piano.  A couple weeks ago my friend Kortney endured two hours with our family and tried to capture smiles on the six of us.  Callie was the hardest, but I expected that.  My cousin Sarah helped us pick out some fun clothes and I while family pictures isn't easy I think they turned out really great:

Halloween Fun!

Be prepared for quite the picture overload.  There maybe should be multiple posts, but oh well.  It all started on the 27th with Greg's company taking us to Cornbelly's.  It was sunny, but FREEZING!  The girls and I stayed for about an hour and the boys stayed at least another hour or so.  Everyone loved it and if it were warmed we probably could have stayed much longer.

 

 I have been planning on making ghosts with the kids for at least 2 weeks.  We finally found some time and had a lot of fun.  I think they had the most fun just swinging them around the house and making them "fly."  Eventually we got them all tied to the tree and flying in the wind.

 

 

 Our ward did a trunk-or-treat on Saturday night.  The kids were SO excited to finally get all their gear on, and to get some candy.  Remember last year I promised my kids we wouldn't do a theme and they could each pick out their own costumes?  This is what they came up with:

 Nathan is our Phantom of Darkness.

 Ryan is our Skeleton Warrior.

Annabelle is our Little Red Riding Hood.

 Callie is our Bat Girl.  She loved her first few trunks of saying something similar to "trick-or-treat" and getting some yummy candy.  Then we came to a car where the man was wearing a scream mask.  That did it for her.  She wouldn't even take his candy.  She was in my arms the rest of the time.

  On Sunday we continued our festivities.  While decorating pumpkins is not the easiest or cleanest projects, it is a lot of fun for the whole family.  We had a YUMMY dinner and then carved pumpkins with Uncle Jeff, Aunt Bri, Uncle Chris, and Aunt Randi.  Then we topped it all off with caramel apples (hint: crushed pretzels on caramel apples is FABULOUS!).  Ryan took one bite of his apple and made a face so I asked if he liked it.  He said, "If you take all that stuff (the caramel and chocolate) off I will eat it."  It was a fun night (but not the funnest clean-up).

 

 

 

 Halloween day itself was a CRAZY day.  Thankfully Nathan didn't care about getting his face painted again.  The boys headed off to school and then I got everything ready because I thought I wouldn't be home from 9-1:30.  The school does a parade every year and luckily they have learned from past years.  It was set up much better this year and while the kids did walk a little too fast, the parade was over much quicker than in years past.

 After the parade I headed over to Ryan's class for a 10 minute poem and song display.  It was very cute and I recorded the whole thing, just no pictures.  Thankfully the parade ended so quickly so I was able to go home and get an hour clean up done (remember the night before?) before heading back to the school for the class party I was in charge of.  I was even able to make some macaroni and cheese for Callie and Annabelle.  Callie devoured hers and Annabelle ate some in the car in between kindergarten and Ryan's party.  I didn't have any room to take my camera to the party, or time to take any pictures, but I think all the kids had fun.  We had a story area, musical tombstones, witches brew and a broomstick craft.  Lots of candy and junk food to send the kids home with.  When we got home I put Callie down for a nap and made all the kids go into their rooms for an hour of quiet time.  It was fabulous.  I am not sure if that makes me a bad mom, or just a really smart mom.  I needed some time to recuperate after such a busy morning, and they needed some time to rest and get some energy to go trick-or-treating that night.

Well, night time rolled around.  We had a yummy soup dinner and then Greg took the older kids out trick-or-treating.  Is it bad that I didn't even dress Callie up again?  I bought the costume last year on clearance.  It was size 12-18 months and it was SO tiny on her.  Plus she wasn't going out.  She had on a bunch of necklaces and a tutu so if you saw her you would just think she was a mini Fancy Nancy.  We had a lot of fun playing and passing out candy to the neighborhood.  Every time someone would knock on the door she would jump into my arms and say, "Candy!"  She is getting to be sneaky (8 months today) and would try to sneak candy.  Here she got a hold of some smarties and went behind the couch to try to open it.  It took her awhile to get it open but she was certainly proud of herself when she brought me the empty wrapper.

While Halloween can be crazy and keep my children on a sugar high that drives me insane, it is always a fun time.  I am glad it is over and we can focus on our big adventure in just 2 weeks.