Eastern Caribbean Cruise: Day 2

Due to the rocking motion I had a hard time not waking up during the night. At 6:00 am I finally decided to get up. I went out on the top deck and watch the sunrise and then went and worked out. It felt good to get up and move after sitting for two days of travel. Abe on the other hand wanted to sleep in.

After Abe woke up we grabbed some breakfast and prepped ourselves for some relaxation. 

We did go to a port shopping seminar for an hour and I won a zip line excursion for when we arrive in Haiti. It was worth the boring-ness just to win the excursion.

The water is so amazing and blue!

Then we tried out the flow rider. It was a lot more fun than expected. And it was much easier than expected.

 We then dried off in the sun, read a little, and then went to check out more stuff.

We loved playing shuffle board today. 

I absolutely love going out on the bow of the ship. It was little windy but still a breath taking sight!

Tonight was formal night. It was fun to dress up and go to dinner. We did get moved to a table for two. I was hoping to interact with other people because it's fun to hear other peoples' stories. But Abe and I enjoyed reviewing our day with each other. Our new servers Anthony and Filip are amazing as well. 

Again we are exhausted and went to bed early. I feel like the old people know how to party better than I do, but I am on vacation and it doesn't matter what I do.

Eastern Caribbean Cruise: Preparation and Day 1

On Thursday we drove to Idaho to drop off our boys with Grandma and Grandpa. The next day we played with our boys, had a small Valentine's day celebration, and picked up our new camper. It was an exciting day and a necessary transition.

Before we left Jake and April's family showed up. Crew and Dallin picked up right where they left off the time before. We ate dinner, checked the weather again, said our farewells, and we were on our way at 6:30 pm. Unfortunately we had to drive to Salt Lake to catch our flight. It was way too expensive to fly out of my parents home town. 

It was exciting to meet up with Abe's cousin and his wife, Scott and Heather, so we could see their beautiful home that is almost done being built. We said more goodbyes and we went to check-in at the airport. We got there early to deal with any unexpected hiccups and we zoomed through everything. No lines and not very many people in the airport. 

Abe and I watched a couple of "Bones" and tried to pass the time until our 12:45 am flight. We got a little bit of sleep on the plane, but it wasn't fabulous. I felt like I kept on getting woken up by the stewardess asking if I needed anything. Yes, sleep! We then waited at the Atlanta airport for our connecting flight. The flight was delayed one hour and then 5 minutes later we were told it was back on schedule, which meant we had to board the plane immediately. When we finally took off it was almost an hour later anyway. 

Landing in Florida was glorious. The humidity, the warm air, the smell of the ocean, and most importantly we had made it!

A quick taxi ride later we pulled up to the docks. It was my first experience seeing a cruise ship up close, and I was not disappointed. Again the lines were short and it was a very quick check-in through customs and getting our ship cards. We called our family one last time, Abe checked in with his hay business, and we shut off our phones to begin our 8 night cruise.

We were in desperate need of sleep, but it was 11:00 am and the rooms are not ready until 1:00 pm. The next thing on our list of needs was food. We grabbed some food and watched the world from the windows and started to relax. After eating we had to kill some more time. We wandered around on the decks and enjoyed the scenery. Finally 1 o'clock came and we beelined for our room, on deck 10, for a nap. It was glorious. It was pitch black, cool, and highly needed.

We set an alarm to make sure we wouldn't miss our departure and it is a good thing we did. After freshening up we headed back up onto the decks to observe with everyone else. Abe and I both were extremely startled when the ship blew it's horn! It is very low and rumbled through my entire body!

Soon it was time for dinner, and I was very excited to meet new people, and Abe was very excited for the food. His excitement was well rewarded. For our main course Abe had prime rib and I had a pork chop that had an orange sauce glaze. Divine! The other two couples were very kind but we knew that our table wouldn't be the same the next night because one of the couples had been separated from their family's table. 

Sadly I couldn't gather enough energy to do anything the first night. After a quick walk around deck 4 and 5, we decided we needed to go to sleep. I am pretty sure it was about 8:30 pm and we zonked out! 

Sawyer and His "Dee-Dee"

Today I dropped Crew off at ABC school and then headed home to accomplish some household chores. Sawyer immediately got to work with a game of "Help, save me!" It required kicking all the back cushions off the love seat and then putting himself or his toys in a state of distress. Usually that mean "falling" off the couch or hiding in a crack. Once I heard him say "help me Dee-dee" I had to go snap a few pictures. Unfortunately the pretend play stopped once he saw my camera and he wanted to snuggle with his blanket (Dee-Dee) for a picture. Before I had even taken off my lens cap he put his head on his blanket and said "cheese." So it turned into a silly photo-shoot of him snuggling one of his favorite blankets. (He has three that are the same texture but different colors that I rotate while the other is in the wash.) All pictures were set up and posed by Sawyer. He even told me where to stand/sit! This kid knows what he wants!! After a few snaps he would want to see the picture and then change it up. I love this little boy!

Sawyer: Two Years

Sawyer is the silliest kid! He wants to laugh, make other laugh, and have a good time. He is also incredibly stubborn and strong willed. He can give the best snuggles and loves and can strongly refuse to be loved. Sawyer is a great little brother that loves to parrot everything Crew says and does.

This little boy has so much energy and never enough time to fulfill all his wishes every day. He knows many songs, can speak in small sentences, fully expresses himself, loves peanut butter sandwiches, takes great naps, loves sleeping in his bunk bed, has knack for adventure and learning, he is randomly overly cautious (jumping on the trampoline), loves John Deere and everything with tractors, is a Daddy's boy, likes to run "super fast," can climb ladders, enjoys talking on the phone, snuggles in bed, plays "hide from monsters," loves loves loves to chew gum, and would rather wear his pajamas all day than change.

I had all of 2 minutes to take these pictures. This is everything I got. He doesn't like to perform for the camera, but I think it captured him pretty well.

"Two" 

Happy Birthday Sawyer: Two Years

What a happy day! It's hard to believe that we've only had Sawyer in our life for two years and then I cannot believe it has already been two years since he came yelling into this world. I also cannot believe that Crew was this age when he was 6 weeks old!

We started off the morning right with birthday waffles. Abe made scrumptious waffles with homemade strawberry syrup. We have kept up our tradition of a birthday candle in every meal and Crew was excited. Sawyer was not too thrilled that he had to delay his breakfast any longer than necessary, but satisfied all of us by blowing out his candle. No smile included.

After breakfast played while I cleaned up the kitchen. As soon has everyone was ready for the day the boys and I then went out to pick up some balloons for the night. Abe was on pizza duty. I may have convinced him to take two different trips in order to get our 3 family sized pizzas and 2 cheesy breads for a total of $17!

After picking up some balloons we came home to chat with Grandma T for a little bit, ate lunch, and put Sawyer down for a nap. Crew and I got busy decorating for our party.

The party was fun with Grandma and Grandpa S joining in along with our friends, the Sones. Sawyer was in love with blowing out candles by the end of the night and gave everyone great reactions with every gift he opened. He received construction vehicles for his train track (us), BoM characters figurines (Grandma and Papa T), and a wagon (Grandma and Papa S). 

Sadly the party got started a little late and before it was over and I had to be out the door for dance. After I changed we sang Happy Birthday a few more times, blew out the candles, cut the cake, quickly snapped some group pictures, and I left in a hurry. It was a great day celebrating another year in Sawyer's life!

Facetiming Grandma T

Lunch

 Crew was so excited for Sawyer to wake up and start the party. As soon as he was up he had Sawyer sit in his chair and put on his party hat.

 Finally people started to show up and he was ready for the real thing!

 

Second Annual Wii Tournament

Last Thanksgiving my Mom started a new wii tournament tradition for when we are all together. There are always tasty and fun prizes for the adult and kid competitions.

Most serious: Dad

Most talented: Jake (playing a game on his ipad and holding it while bowling)

Most distracted: Abe (he had to help feed the kids lunch halfway through our game)

Winner: Molly

Close contender: Anne

I really wanted the best bites cook book but knew I couldn't and wouldn't win. So I asked Abe if he beat me to get the book when it was his turn to choose. He graciously did so! Abe then told me that Crew really wanted the yogurt covered raisins and to get those; I complied. Too bad Abe didn't get the soda he wanted . . . and what a great guy I have! I am excitedly drooling over what recipes to make first!

First up were the kids. They each bowled twice and then got a prize.

 Later the kids were exhausted. This is how I found them while watching one of the lamest kid movies ever made!
I love that Dallin and Crew picked up where they left off last time. They get along well, communicate, and consider each other buddies.  Too bad we don't live closer to play together more often!