Day four...

Well here we are at wonderful Mazatlan!! We decided to go on another tour which took us to see some of the sights here and see some of the culture here. This photo is of some Native Indians doing their flyer dance. That thing their on is spinning in a circle! It was crazy!
This is an incredible Catholic cathedral that was in the center of old town. It was amazing!! The chandelier inside was gorgeous and very large! And all the gold inside was real and very ornate- very cool!
This is a cliff diver! These guys were crazy! They had to time their dives just perfectly or they would have gone right into the rocks. They were pretty cute guys and the tour guide said they do this for their livelihood! Can you imagine?!
Here is a shot of Chan and behind him is a small mountain that has the highest natural structure lighthouse in the world! We went right by it coming into port early this morning- another first!
In that same show as the earlier picture we saw some authentic dancers- aren't they cute! And on top of all that we got a little shopping in too! We are having so much fun! Can't wait to see what Cabo San Lucas has to offer! By the way- we would recommend this cruise to ANYONE!! It's awesome!!!

Day three...

Swimming with the dolphins!!! Okay- this was BY FAR one of the coolest things I have ever done! We went with a group of about 10 people and we each got a chance to take this photo, give them hugs, feed them, pet them, and we also got two rides with them! One on their belly and one holding on to their back. It was truly amazing!!
They are incredibly smart animals! We not only swam with them- the trainers had them doing all sorts of things while educating us on them as well.
Love this picture of Chan- he looks like a happy camper doesn't he?!! Well we are both happy campers!!
We not only swam with the Dolphins, but we also shopped a bit by the port and then hit the pool since the weather here was a lovely 82 degrees with a slight breeze!! (don't get too mad cuz we'll be back in freezing temps soon!)
We worked on our tans for a bit and then hit the room to clean up and watch the boat shove off from port. We are now on our way to Mazatlan where we have planned a small tour of the city and some shopping! More to come!!

Day two...

Well today started very similar to yesterday only we got up a bit earlier! We ate our breakfast in our room again and while we were eating got hooked on the start of a movie, "My life in ruins" so of course we HAD to finish watching it! It was actually really funny! We would recommend it! Then we got dressed and were off to BINGO!!
Bingo is something I have always really wanted to try! It was really fun- but I wouldn't go into it thinking your going to win- just doesn't happen! But it was really fun! Might even go again this afternoon!
Chan enjoyed it too- but I think mostly because I was getting such a kick out of it!
Then we were off to explore the ship again! It's so big we could probably do this every day! But we made it to the skywalkers lounge today! SOOOOO cool! It's the highest part of the ship for passengers and we decided we'll have to go there at night- that would be fun!
Then we went out to enjoy the Pacific oceans rays for a bit! We both fell asleep in the sun- gotta love that! Can't wait for tomorrow- we arrive in port at Puerto Vallarta at about 9am tomorrow- WOO HOO!!! We are going to swim with the dolphins!! YAY!!
Needless to say we are having an absolute blast! Can't believe it's only Monday and we have 5 more days to go!

Day one at sea!!

Another fun day at sea!!! Today was fun and relaxing- it started out with breakfast in our room where we sat and watched the beautiful ocean while we ate. Then it was off to the port shopping seminar where we learned all about the shopping and food at each of our ports. Then I was off to the Lotus spa to receive a facial (which was by far the best I have EVER had!!). While I was there Chan was exploring the ship and getting some more video for the kids. Then we had lunch, roamed the ship some more and checked out some of the shops. Then it was back to the room for a bit. The best part of the day was this evening- it was the first formal night and we made reservations at the ships steakhouse- YUMMY!
It was fun to get dressed up and have a fancy dinner! We took our time and enjoyed every morsel! It was sooooo good! We still have not had anything yucky as far as food goes! We are loving it!
We were given a gift from the captain and crew since it was our anniversary- a beautiful dessert that had this flower on the top (unfortunately we ate the dessert before I got a pic- again the food is soooooo good!!) It was nice to be acknowledged but I think Chan could have done without them singing to us!
This is a shot of our room- the balcony is through the door. There is a bathroom/closet to the right. It's a fabulous room!! Day one at sea was so fun! Can't wait till tomorrow!!!

Bon Voyage!!

So Chan and I embarked on quite an adventure today and in fact I am on the open sea right now filling you all in!!! This is a shot of Chan staring down the side of the Princess Sapphire cruise ship!! Yip we boarded this big beautiful ship this afternoon and we're headed to Mexico!!
This was our first glimpse of the ship as we were going over the bridge in the port of Los Angeles!
Once on board we had to go check out our room- which is VERY nice!! Balcony and all!! Can you believe how long the hallway is!! Geez!!
Then we were off to the buffet!! We had flown from Salt Lake this morning and we were quite hungry so we went to try out some of the yummy fare!! And it was ALL good!!
Here I am on the front of the ship- it's so cool!! We went on our own tour of the boat and checked out all it had to offer and even went to the bon voyage party as we shoved off from the port. Sooo cool!! Then we headed back to our room where we are enjoying the movies and room service for dinner. Can't beat it! Tomorrow it's a facial for me and a bit of shopping on board! Watch for more updates as we continue on our journey!! Love to you all especially our cute kids- we miss you guys!! ;)

Brianne defeats the "Red Man"

This past Friday morning I had the pleasure of going over to the school to see Brianne's graduation from the "Rad kids" program. It's an amazing program that teaches kids self empowerment along with self defense. It teaches them different strategies on how to deal with strangers and shows them techniques to use when they are in danger. I LOVE THIS PROGRAM!! It's the only one I've seen that actually has the kids learn maneuvers and practice them with the "red man" so that if the situation were to actually happen then they can use what they learned. It's awesome!! This picture was right before they got started!
This was them after they did their warm up- then they got going! They showed us their different maneuvers this way first- and also to practice- and then it was time to get that "red man"!!
The first stage they were approached by a person and that person was trying to "take them home to Mom" and they had to yell "Stay Back" as loud as they could as ask for a password (which every parent should have with their kids!!!) and of course the person didn't know it so they ran to a safe place....... then they were approached by another person (the fake guy) and he was getting to close to them so they yelled "Stay Back" again and then used one of their maneuvers to get away and run to their safe place.
Here she is with the fake guy.......
Then it was time to defeat the red man!! He is trying to take them away and they have to use what they have learned to get away from him and once they do they run to another safe place where there is a phone and they dial 911. (on a fake phone of course) but you would be surprised how many kids don't actually know how to dial 911! They hear that but don't know how to actually do it! Anyway, Brianne did a GREAT job! She was a bit nervous to go up against the red man- who was our school Principal- but she did it!! I am hoping she will get to go through the program on more time before she leaves Sunrise. Will has done this as well and will do it one more time next year.
Here she is right before she ran away!
This is Brianne getting her graduation certificate!
And a big high five from her teachers and the red men!
Here is her whole class along with both of the red men and her teacher Mrs. Moss- so proud of them!! ;) Such an awesome program!! It is all over the country- so if your school doesn't have it you can get it!! GO Rad Kids!!!!

Brianne's new digs!!

I LOVE this picture of Brianne!! She is so fun and has been VERY patient with me about painting her room. We moved into our current home about 5 years ago and she has wanted me to paint it for about that same length of time! But I wanted to wait and to be sure her "favorite color" on the wall would be that way for a long time! So it was time to cover the bland creme with white trim to something more fun!
She told me a while ago she wanted blue paint, so I surprised her about a week ago and went to the store and got it! I had already painted the wall behind her when she got home from school/activity days and this was her reaction!! VERY excited!!
And with a combination effort she is now very proud of her room! And she should be because a lot of the items were purchased by HER! She got a gift card fro Christmas from Gamma and Papa and she went to Target and got new bedding, the lava lamp, the rug, and the cute wall stickers to match her new bedding. As for the other stuff- we have to thank Gamma and Papa again for the new dresser and I got new shelves and poster frames and her Dad spoiled her with a new TV! (She kept telling us that she was too big to have a princess TV)
Once again- not excited at all!!
Isn't her new bedding adorable!! Looks so good on her bed (which I love)! And I forgot to get a picture of the cute rug.... oh well.
I forgot about those picture frames- I found them in the $1.00 section at Target and couldn't resist!
One of the best parts is that the curtains she already had still matched perfectly! Lucked out there I guess! SOOOOOO cute right??!!!!

Holiday fun...

We had such a blast this Christmas!! We were blessed enough to be able to go to Chicago and spend the holiday with my family! Yay!! We were able to play board games/Wii, eat a lot of yummy food, go out for pizza and a movie, shopping and of course my personal favorite- just hang out! It's so much fun to see all the cousins play and laugh together, but most of all I love being with my parents and sisters and their families and soaking up laughs with them because I miss them the other parts of the year! I couldn't write about ALL the happenings or include all the 300 pictures (I know I have issues) or it would be a HUGE post- so I just made a picture slide show below for you to see all the families and some of what we did! I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas too!

We had such a blast this Christmas!!!
Check out all we did!