Cruisin' with the fam

For Christmas my parents took the whole family on a cruise. With all of our busy schedules, it just
worked out that we were all home and available to go last week. We were so excited and looked forward to it for a long time. It was the first time we had seen Cindy since she left for her mission September 2005. The only sad thing about it is that we decided not to bring Brooke. Tyler's mom was more than willing to watch her while we were gone and was so good to take the week off of work so she could spend time with her. They had a great time going to Nemo on Ice, the Phoenix zoo, shopping, out to eat with aunts and cousins, taking a ride on Grandpa's horse, visiting the cows, riding on the tractor, and spoiling her more than ever... if that's possible!

Tyler and I flew to San Diego early Saturday morning. We met up with Todd, Wendy & the kids. We had a fun time going to the San Diego Zoo (although I must admit that wasn't as fun without Brooke) and Sea World. Note to self: Next time, skip Sea World and spend the money going to Disneyland.

Monday the rest of the clan arrived from Idaho and we went down to the bay to get on the cruise ship. It was awesome! The rooms weren't as small as I thought they would be, but from what I've heard they were a little bigger than some other cruise ships. We had to go through the life jacket training, and then it was time to have fun and eat. I must say that the food was amazing. I thought that since there was nonstop food that it would be pretty mediocre, but it was actually really, really good! We ate in the formal dining hall every night and that was a lot of fun. You're assigned a table so you get to know the server really well. Our ship had some ping pong tables, a water slide, miniature golf, several hot tubs and swimming pools, basketball, and so on. We spent most of the first day just looking around the ship and seeing what was there.

Our first stop was in Cabo San Lucas. We had to take a water taxi from the ship to the dock. It was so crazy to have the streets lined with guys wanting to take you on your excursions. We didn't sign up with anything on the ship so once we got there we decided to go to Lover's Beach. We went there and had funplaying on the beach, but had to be careful because the undercurrent was very strong. Some went parasailing after that and we went to find a restaurant with good fish tacos.

I'll have to do some more writing when I get a chance, but for now enjoy the pictures!

We're Back!!

We're sitting here in the San Diego airport waiting to get on our flight. We got in from our cruise this morning and absolutely loved it. We can't wait to see Brooke since it has been a week since we left home. Hopefully she remembers us! Pictures and details to follow......

Cheap Mary Kay

For all you Mary Kay users out there...my sister is moving and is selling her Mary Kay at half off so she doesn't have to store it. See what she has at http://wesaleyoubuy.blogspot.com

If you're near me I can get it for you this weekend when we meet up for our cruise (yeah, cruise!!!) and bring it back so you don't have to pay shipping...just order it by Thursday so she can set it aside.

Lions and tigers and easter bunnies, oh my!

Easter weekend Tyler's family all went to San Diego and particularly to the zoo.
This was a part of our Christmas and we had so much fun. We left Friday morning and drove into San Diego. That night we went up to the temple to see it in at night and then took a lovely detour around who knows where before we made it back to our hotel.
Saturday we went to the Zoo and had a fun yet hot and tiring day. The zoo was pretty cool. They had one section that was just for kids and included a kids petting zoo. Brooke gained an audience as everyone stood watching and laughing with her because she was standing next to and petting the goat and wasn't scared. She would touch it then look up and laugh.

Sunday we got up and went to the temple for some pictures with the beautiful flowers and then went to Coronado Island to take Brooke to the beach. She had quite a different reaction than she did 10 months ago when we were there. She wasn't so sure about the water and I don't think she liked the sand between her toes. She was such a trooper (all the babies were) and entertained us the whole way home with her jibberish. She was reading books and reading papers and talking to her dolls. It was quite amusing-I videotaped as much as I could before our memory filled up.

Her latest accomplishments include being able to stand up on her own without having to pull herself up on something. She figured this out about a week and a half ago when she fell down then realized she could get her feet underneath her and stand up. She has also discovered her belly button and, when she remembers it is there, lifts her shirt up to show it off. Her newest favorite food is pears. She now sorts through her fruit to pick out the pears. The first animal that we saw at the zoo was a monkey. I asked her about 4-5 times what a monkey says and would take her arm and act like she was tickling her armpit and making a monkey noise. Now when we ask her what the monkey says she does that same kind of action. When asked what the cow says she goes "Mmmmmmm", and for the horse she moves her head back and forth (the same way her rocking horse goes back and forth) and tries to blow out with her lips. The other morning we asked her to say "Dada" and "Mama" and she was surprisingly clear in saying it, more than ever before. She will only say it on rare occasion now though. She is also a crazy bookworm. First thing after a nap she is grabbing a book and bringing it to me to read to her. At Grandma's the first thing she does is go to the basket that her pop-up Bible story book is in and brings it to someone to read. I love that she loves books so much. As I've said before, I am constantly amazed with how bright her little mind is and how much she really does understand. A couple days ago she brought me her doll. I told her we should put her down for a nap. She immediately turned and went to her room where she found her blanket and brought the blanket and doll back to me. Amazing!

Since we were gone Easter weekend I dressed her in her Easter dress the Sunday before. She was the center of attention in her cute dress and hat.

Now that I've rambled on and on (there's just so much that's happened since I last wrote), get ready for picture overload.......

Our newest addition

We recently made an addition to our family. It is our cute little Beagle puppy Abby. Just for the record, I must say that I was totally against having a puppy. Tyler tried and tried to convince me that we needed to get one for Brooke to grow up with, and also to have as our "guard dog". Well, I'll try to post pics here shortly, but I can tell you that she's not much of a guard dog- at least for right now. She is 6 weeks old and we've had her for 5 days. The first two nights we were still trying to figure everything out with where she will sleep and all that since I am adamant that she will be an outside dog. She cried off and on throughout the night. Since Tyler is the one who wanted to get her and bought her without my permission, he got to stay up with her. He also gets to clean up after her. After the first two nights we got her an Igloo dog house and she loves it and has slept all night since then. It really is like having another child though. The second night we had her she was whimpering so I picked her up and rocked her a little and she feel asleep. So, I guess you could say I now have 3 children! :)

Here are some recent snapshots of Brooke...
She has the "toddler language" down. It is amazing that she will say the same thing over and over. It's like she really knows what she is saying! One night I took her outside to wait for daddy to come home. She heard the airplane flying overhead, so I pointed it out and said it was an airplane. Ever since she will point them out in the sky, even when i can't hear them.
Contemplating......

Brooke is just so fun, as usual! She loves to run (yes, I did say run) around the back patio with Abby chasing her. She did have a little sick bout last week with a running nose as well as drooling and diaper rash from teething. She is getting quite the little attitude and will turn her head and say "Uh" if she doesn't want what is being offered. Not looking forward to those terrible twos!!

These are two projects that I completed last week (yes, I got two done!) Thanks to Emily for the blocks and idea for the Family sign, and thanks to Lauren for always being a trusty project partner and for inspiring me to finish them! :) (I have had the "Be" vinyl and board since before we were married!)