May Cruise

Mike and I were able to go on another cruise in May for our 11th anniversary! My mom and sister, Naomi, were able to come down and watch our kids for the week. It's so nice to have them come and let us leave! It was a great cruise, as usual. The weather was a welcome break from the crap that we were getting back at home. It was in the 90's at every port and beautiful!

Here we are at the muster drill. Always a bunch of fun!
Here's the boat just leaving the port of Miami with the Miami skyline in the background:
We went with Jason and Mandy Bell this time. We all scuba certified together and couldn't wait to get back down to see the fish:
Our first of many towel animals. This one is a seal I guess!

Mandy wanted us to play a little game on this trip. We were to find people that were "interesting" and take a picture of them. The person who got the picture of the most "interesting" person won. We saw this guy on deck the first day and couldn't resist a picture! Check out the supreme, curly mullet, white ankle socks, jean cutoffs, blue tank top, and wild and crazy tats! I'd say that was picture worthy! There will be more of him to come. You just wait!

Here's another beauty. This was that night at karaoke. She had on this flowery, shorty jumper thingy with black nylons. It wasn't very flattering at all! It made me want to give her a makeover! Please don't think I'm this shallow, mean person! This was actually a fun game and you know you guys do the same thing. You just maybe don't take pictures! She did have an AMAZING voice and did dress better the next nights!


Anyway, the next day was a sea day to get us all the way down to Cozumel. I didn't take any pics that day. We just layed around on the decks all day, eating food and making fun of people (obviously)!

The next day we went to Cozumel and took a ferry into Playa Del Carmen to see the ruins of Tulum.
Here we are on the ferry. It was nice and air conditioned so we had no "mishaps!"
Our tour bus stoppped at this tourist trap for a "potty break" which was really a "buy our crap that we say is authentic but really isn't" stop!
We did, however, get to meet our friendly mullet man again! What a coincidence!

Beautiful!

And here he is lighting up a cigarette. Perfect!

Some super cute chicas:

When we finally got to the ruins, we saw these cute little iguanas all over the place:

Here are some of the bigger ruins:

We didn't get to walk up the steps or go inside or even touch the ruins, which was kinda lame. I guess it was to preserve them or whatever! They were still pretty cool to look at and learn about.

These ruins bordered the ocean. So when we were finished touring the ruins, we got to go down to the beautiful beach.

The staircase down to the beach:

Picture of a map of the ruins:

Oh how I miss that beautiful water!

The Carnival Ecstacy was there as well:

And of course, a friendly monkey waiting for us when we got back:

More still to come! I know you can't hardly wait...!

The Borat Suit

So, just only two weeks after our snow day, we had swimsuit weather! What a welcome change to the long, depressing winter!

And who can resist a smile when you look at these sweet cheeks! Miniature Borat!

Spirit Week

This spring's spirit week was pretty fun! Asia, however, decided not to play along. She's always worried about people laughing at her if she dresses funny. I told her they'd be laughing with her, not at her, and that there would be other kids dressed up. She didn't care. Maybe she'll be more brave next year!
Ethan, on the other hand, loves dressing up! Here he is for crazy sock day:

Nerd day:

And "pick a favorite decade" day. He/we chose the "50's":

Dove-tailed hair and high waters- perfect!
They had donuts with dad, but dad took the camera and forgot to get a picture. Oh well. It was a pretty fun week. I wonder what they'll come up with for next year!

Snow in April (and hopefully the last)

Usually when you go back to school after Spring Break, you expect to have Spring, right?! Well, not so much this year! We actually had a snow day in April! So, I decided to take the kids on one last sledding trip (hopefully the last!)

Doesn't Asia look like she has a GINORMOUS head here!? Or Mia just looks teeny tiny!

Mia loved to go down the hill all by herself.

So did Jacob:

My little "stay-puff marshmallow" baby!

Okay. Hopefully that was it for snow. (I think it was, can't remember!) Ha Ha!

Easter?!

Yep, still trying to catch up! The Saturday before Easter is when the "Easter Bunny" usually comes to our house, but we were in Las Vegas and the "bunny" didn't want to cart all the stuff from Idaho Falls. So, we just did the baskets on Sunday this year.

It worked out alright since it was General Conference and we didn't have to go to church and leave the beloved baskets!

Asia and Ethan got dressed up for church anyway:

After conference, we all went over to Mike's mom and dad's for an Easter egg hunt. Since Mike's mom is a retired elementary school teacher, everything is very organized! The kids have their own color and size of egg, they each have the same amount of eggs, and they're all hidden at the height that each kid would be able to find them at! Makes things work like clockwork!

Here's Ethan on the hunt:

Oooo, so excited!

Jacob helping Mia with her eggs:

"I finally found all of mine!"

Counting his wares:

Mmmm chocolate!:

I have just as much fun as the kids, trying to find eggs!

What a dork! HA HA!

It was nice to have a relaxing, peaceful Easter. It was also nice to be able to reflect on our Savior and his sacrifice for us. What better way than to spend the day with the family we love the best! Happy Easter!