Our 10 year anniversary August 6, 2012

Jon and I were married and sealed in the Mount Timpanogos temple 10 years ago. I can not even begin to tell you how fast this time has gone but at the same time how much stuff we have been through and accomplished and learned.

We decided we would celebrate by going on a cruise to the Bahamas. And we are so fortunate to have loving parents who offered to take care of our kids so that we could go on a trip. At the last minute Jon's sister and brother in law Alicia and Colby decided to come with us. Jon and I left a couple of days early so that we could go to Disney World. We went to the Epcot center and Downtown Disney and we loved it. It was really fun. Jon met someone in the Germany part of Epcot who was from a town in Germany that he served in while on his mission. That was cool. The fireworks were amazing. I had a little freak out on a ride where I got really claustrophobic. It was kind of funny now that we look back. 

The cruise was a lot of fun. We loved the warm weather and beaches. It was our first time on a Carnival cruise and I have to say it was not as classy as the Royal Carribean cruise we went on. We were not as impressed with the food and entertainment. But it was still a lot of fun.

 Some of the highlights:

Our first stop was Freeport.  Jon and I went on a German pirate ship excursion. He spoke German to the crew. And we got to drive the ship. It was super choppy and everyone on the excursion got seasick. When we got back to the port we took a taxi to the beach. The water was pretty but the sand was really dirty and filled with sticks and leaves. Jon was offered drugs and I am proud to say he declined. People at the beach were selling fresh coconuts and I wanted one but we had to go back to the ship soon. We thought we would get one at another stop but we never saw them again. 

Alicia was pregnant and she got morning/sea sick and threw up over the side of the cruise ship.

There was a girl on the boat named Howie-Alice and she performed in the talent show and she sang angry songs at her ex-boyfriend. The reason I bring this up is because Howie-Alice brought a friend and her friend was drunk all the time and she was so loud and hilarious that we will never forget Howie-Alice's friend.

Our next stop was Atlantis. We went to the famous Atlantis hotel. It was pretty but we decided to skip the aquarium and go hang out on the beach. We loved the beach, it was beautiful. Jon and Colby helped make Alicia and myself into sand mermaids. 

Every night at dinner they offered some exotic strange food and they called it the didya. Short for "Did you ever wanna try..." Jon and Colby tried several of the items including: frog legs, caviar, alligator. Every night for  dessert Jon ordered the chocolate melting cake, he loved it.

Jon surprised me on our anniversary. After dinner he took me to the top of the ship and gave me a diamond band ring to go on top of my wedding ring. We had talked about getting one for our ten year anniversary back when we got married and he remembered. We ended up switching it out for a curved band when we got home because it fit around my ring better. But that was really sweet of him.

Our third and final stop was Half Moon Cay. This is a private Island and it was absolutely amazing. They parked the ship in the middle of the ocean and shuttled us on to the beach in little boats. They had a big BBQ area on the beach where we had lunch.  I am not kidding when I say this beach looks like a picture from a calendar. It was so beautiful. The sand was so soft and fine and white. The water was really warm and so clear. We could see tropical fish swimming around our feet. I could have spent 3 days on that beach. I was so sad to leave. If you have the chance to go to Half Moon Cay you should go, it is wonderful, I have never seen anything like it.

The way back to Florida on the ship was pretty rocky. The ship swayed back and forth a lot and we were happy to be back on land. And then our plane ride home had a lot of turbulence. Those two items along with missing our 3 kiddos made us happy to be home. But I still dream about going back to that beautiful Island one day.

Calvin at 7

At 7 years old Calvin loves to draw and he is really good at it. He loves drawing castles and pirate ships and monsters. He loves riding his bike. He loves playing with his friends Treyson and Ethan out in the cul-de-sac. He is a very good reader and loves to read chapter books. He is very kind and loving. He is pretty cautious sometimes. He is also very aware of other people's feelings and he tries to help people feel better if they are sad. He's a good helper and listener. He likes Stars Wars and he likes jumping on the mini trampoline to the sound track. He likes to do anything with his dad especially playing Legos and having light saber battles. We are lucky to have Calvin in our family.

Lily bug turns 5

My little Lily bug turned 5 on June 22nd. I love this little girl so much. She brings so much joy to my life. I love her sweet little face and funny comments. She is always smiling and running around having fun. Lily loves to play with friends and she loves being with Calvin and Ava. I appreciate that Lily likes to help me cook and clean. She is a fun little sidekick. Jon has been helping Lily learn to ride her bike without training wheels and she is catching on, she will be riding around with us in no time. I am excited because this will take a load off of me when I only have Ava in the trailer.

Lily graduated preschool and she is excited to move on to Kindergarten. She is so happy that she gets to go to Lincoln Academy with Calvin. Lily learned a lot in preschool. She knows all of her letters and sounds and her hand writing is pretty good. She know her numbers, shapes and colors, she is a good listener and she is nice to everyone. Miss Janae said she was a great friend to everyone and she always listened to instructions.
She will be a great kindergarten student but I will miss her at home.

Lily was Mary in Mary had a little lamb for her preschool program. And she learned the alphabet in sign language for one of the songs.

Piano Lessons

In May Calvin decided to be done with karate for a while and start piano lessons. He is taking lessons from a young woman in our ward Kiley Kerby. Things are going great with piano and I love to hear him practice. We decided to stop karate because he was advancing into the real black belt course which is about three years of total dedication to karate, it's pretty expensive and pretty time consuming and we didn't know if either Calvin or Jon and I were ready for that kind of commitment. So we are taking some time off to think about it.

Skate park

 Calvin is an awesome bike rider. Which comes as no surprise since his dad is as well. Calvin loves riding his bike anywhere and everywhere. We were on a bike ride with Jon's work and we came across a skate park and of course Jon wanted to show off some of his skills. Well, Calvin wanted to try going up and down the ramps too. He did really well and I was so impressed with how brave and confident he was. And then he had a little crash and bloodied his lip and cut his elbow pretty good. But he was awesome and got over it quick. As a mom, this worries me a little, but I know he has to fall sometimes to get better. And he loves it and that is what is important.

Happy 2nd Birthday Ava

Ava is a sweet, energetic, loving, passionate little girl. Sometimes she is too passionate,  she'll hug you so tight you until you can't breathe, or kiss and kiss and kiss you or she throws stuff, hits or pinches or throws a fit, she is just full of every mood and emotion. I love how much fun she is. She can talk really well. She tells us everything she is thinking about in two or three word sentences. She love to gab and gab and gab just like her mom. Sometimes we just have to say "okay, let's be quiet for just a minute." She is definitley a momma's girl. Holy cow, she loves being with mom. I love this about her but sometimes it is a little overwhelming. She knows what she wants and she wants it now. I think she will be a great kid that gets a lot done because she has so much drive. She can laugh and laugh and laugh and it is the cutest giggle you have ever heard. We love Ava!!

Ready to go swimming

 

 

Jesus calling

We were at the pool yesterday and every time someone would speak over the loud speaker Ava would shout out, "Jesus, Jesus!" It was hilarious that she thought Jesus was telling little Jimmy to meet his parents at the front gate.

Something else great about Ava these days is she loves to tell us what is on her mind and she is talking really well. But she doesn't just like to tell us once, she tells us over and over and over again until we acknowledge what she is saying. Like, "moon, moon, moon, moon" and I say, "yes, Ava, that is the moon" and then she smiles.