Sunday, November 2, 2008

Cancun in Pictures


Isn't this what a "family vacation" is all about.  Ava never falls asleep in our Arms, what a treat.  You can tell by the look on his face, Darin sees is as much.

One of Easton's signature looks
Easton loved dancing with us the first night, then he discovered his own private retreat away from the dancing.

We danced almost every night after dinner.  There is nothing like dancing with your baby.  I must say Easton's a pretty good dancer.




We drove to Chichen Itza, okay someone drove us to Chichen Itza.  It was phenomenal, and I couldn't believe how much the "bigs" got into it.  They already knew so much about the Mayan Culture, and the even the games they played.  I was impressed with their level of understanding and interest.  We spent longer than we planned.  It's amazing what knowledge this people had.  I found it so inspiring, and faith building. Also, since it rained every day at the beach it was a welcome relief to be here with no rain.
We ventured into Playa Del Carmen one day to get a bit of culture.  We got more than we ordered seeing 3 men arrested outside this fabulous local restaurante.  We got to watch the chef's make all the food.  This dessert was made at our table. 
We also listened to fine music on a wooden zylophone (who knew).  It was our only dinner outside the resort, besides the amazing tacos we ate on the side of the road on the way to Chichen Itza.  I know SCARY, but we ony got a little sick and they were good! 
One of the very few times we actually got to play on the beach, since we were in a torrential downpour for most of the trip.

Madeline couldn't figure out why the water was so Salty.
This picture is so typical of Savvy.  She was trying to clean up the beach by ridding it of the Seaweed.  A big job!
Last time we were in Mexico, Ava tried to devour all the sand.  Not this time, she's a quick learner. 
Possibly the best thing about the trip.  The happy hour, when drinks are two for one.  The kids had earned their own money and loved spending it on these jewels at the swim up bar.  The are know well versed in virgin drinks:)
It was exciting when the rain quit, so we could swim.
Seriously, that hat should have never come off my head.  My hair was so insanely crazy underneath it.  I didn't even want to take it off to sleep.  
Could we ever have too many "mom, take a picture of my muscles" shots?
Nope!



Since it wasn't raining after dinner we let all the kids who so desired jump in the pool in their clothes.  It's so much fun while you are in, it was getting out with no towel that was a bummer.
Baby at the buffet, watching the shows.  This could have been one of the 5 nights we celebrated her birthday.  More on sweet baby's birthday later.
Sergio, the resort celebrity entertaining us all.  He is a professional dancer and absolutely drunk and hilarious at all times. 
Sergio imparting words of wisdom to Easton.  Mom and Dad cringing in the background.  Wish I had a picture of that.

More dancing.
Still dancing!
Darin and Ava on our snorkeling trip.
Mads and Easton took a little break after the first excursion.  They loved it, it was just a little too long.
I am doubting very many babies go snorkeling.  This baby has got no choice, and she was a sport almost the entire time.  I had her in a tube, and she was pretty happy.
Pre-Snorkel
Darin had so much fun with Madeline on our snorkeling trip.  She was super timid in the water, you know with the whole salty thing and all.  She wanted to get back in the boat until she looked down in utter amazement at what was beneath her.  She was in AWE.
See the face Savvy's making.  This is how the whole family feels about Ava.  There is a reverence for her that no one else has the honor of receiving in quite the same way.  We all adore her!

This is Easton's "cool guy" face.  Isn't it cool?

Saturday, October 25, 2008

Nanna was Here

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Welcome Home





Leave the country for 18 mos, doing good works, and this could be your great reward! Every grandchild, wife and child was present to meet Darin's parents home from their mission. It was sooo fun seeing the expressions on so many faces of strangers just passing by. This would actually be fun to do, just to make people smile. So many people kept asking where they have been and how long they had been gone. Some even waited just to see the grandparents be so warmly welcomed home. Welcome home Meeems and Peeps!!

Wednesday, October 8, 2008

26.2.


I DID it!  A major life goal checked off the list!  I am so happy I did it and I am sooo happy it's over.  I had IT Band SYNDROME, which might not sound like much, but when I started feeling pain and the first mile, I didn't know if I would finish.  There are some many parallels to LIFE, training and running a marathon.  For example: my husband couldn't fix my knee (even though this is his SPECIALTY) he could give me a cortisone shot, stretch me, pray for me, encourage me, and even run with me, but no one could take away my PAIN.  I have to say I would definitely consider doing another, because I was sooo slow!  It was also pouring rain the entire time, and one point it was even hailing.  

This girl (pictured above) deserves a medal just for running with me.  She had a baby 8 weeks ago, and could do an Ironman without training.  Sheri Dew says you can tell a true desciple of Christ by how a person treats others.  The same could be said of someone who would run 26.2 miles with me.  Erin you ROCK!





My number
After I crossed the finished line...
I couldn't wait to get to mile 22, because I knew my kids would be there to greet me.  Here it looks as though I was running fast, I wasn't, but boy was I excited to see them, and boy was I even more excited to find out it was really 23.5.  It's worth it to run a marathon just to see your kids cheer so hard for you.  Although it's a bummer to find out how disappointed they were that so many people were BEATING you:)  Look at the look on Erin's face, priceless, it's how I felt too!
How cute are the snuggled up in their towels waiting and waiting for me!
Seriously, how cool is he.  He knew I was in sooo much pain, he wanted to run with me.  He met me at mile 16 and ran the rest of the run!  It was sooo sweet.  He has had a bum knee and hasn't been running at all lately.  Thank goodness he is a fit cyclist, and had no problem running 10 miles with me.  I finished it part for him!  He babysat sooo many saturdays, sat out on some many bike rides for my training.  I didn't want to let him down.
My family cheering me on!

My family had to do some pretty good running, just to get to the finish line in time.  They were so awesome, it's amazing how much it helps to have people cheering for you!