Cancun!

This is the post I have been excited to write about, except I waited too long and now it doesn't seem very exciting. And I didn't take very many cool pictures. Let's just say that most of the pictures I took included lots of men looking just like the man in the background of this picture...



Lots and lots of speedos. I kept sneaking pictures here and there just to put on my blog, but why would I want this post full of almost naked old men? So I will leave it to your imagination.


So anyway, we had fun. Originally we wanted to do something with the kids but ended up on our own trip. And I am so glad. I really missed the kids and it was hard to leave them, but it was so nice to have some freedom. And the thing I was looking forward to the most on this trip was flying on the airplane WITH OUT kids. I have flown too many times alone with children and I very much enjoyed being able to relax on the flight.

We got to Cancun just as a 4 day rain storm was leaving. Thank goodness. Although it did rain a little on us, but only in the evening. (Which was really nice)

We stayed at a really cool resort in Playa del Carmen and it had a jungle theme. There were animals everywhere, and really weird ones that made very strange noises. It was kind of annoying to wake up at 6am the first morning to noises that I didn't know existed. We got used to hearing them though and really enjoyed it.

We went to some ruins one day and I am so glad we did that. We went with an LDS tour guide and it was neat to hear his interpretations of things. These first few pictures are at a newly uncovered site called Ek Balam.

Can you see that mound of dirt in the picture below? Behind the trees? That is what a ruin looks like before it is uncovered...

We got to climb this one and it was freaky. The steps were so small and I tried very hard not to look down...

We then went to Chichen Itza...

You can't climb this one anymore but there were so many cool ruins to see here. This ball court was neat...

We went to a ceynote (a natural sink hole) and went swimming. These are all over Mexico and was probably one of my favorite things to see. It was so pretty...

We went cliff jumping and I sort of missed Nate jumping. That ledge doesn't look nearly as high as it felt jumping off...

Back to the strange animals. I went out to our patio one morning and found this guy hanging out...

We did some kayaking and snorkeling. We went with a guide on a boat to a reef and it was really neat. We saw some really cool fish and a huge turtle...

This was on our way back from snorkeling. I loved watching these storms roll in in the evenings...

We stayed at an all-inclusive resort and I must say that it is the way to go. We ate so much food. I seriously gained 5lbs. Drinks were included and since we don't drink, I made it up in food. Our resort had 2 buffets and 5 restaurants. We would eat at a restaraunt for dinner and then right before we went to bed, we would go stock up again at the buffet. Plus they had room service that I took advantage of. Oh, and the pina-coladas. I think I had about 10 a day. They were so good. I really miss them. A lot.

Enjoying an ice cream cone on the beach...

I also enjoyed a massage on the beach. It may have only been a demo for 5 minutes, but it was nice. We spent lots of time on the beach and I fried myself the 2nd day there. My skin just stopped pealing finally. We brought back some fun Mexican toys for the kids, and Nate left his own little gift in the Mexican Caribbean ocean. His wedding ring. Nice. But it was a wal-mart replacement ring anyway for the first one he lost. No big deal.

That's all.

Dylan

Dylan played in a soccer league for the first time this spring and just loved it! He asks every night if he gets to play tomorrow. And he is really good too. The first game he didn't know quite what to do, but he sure improved over the weeks. A lot too. He went went from making no goals the first couple of games to about 4 in the last games. He even got recruited to play with a team in a special tournament this weekend. I am just right proud of my little guy. He can be so shy at times so it is nice to see him being aggressive out there and having fun.

He #24 in the above pictures


He has also been busy preparing for his Kindergarten Opera, which he did a fabulous job in. I sort of chuckled when I showed up at the Opera and saw him in his cute little costume...

He is 2nd from the left. I could even hear him singing loud...

Nate was working that night so I left the girls with my nieces and took Dylan to cold stone afterwards. He loved our little "date" and keeps asking to go again. I really need to do that more often.


He also lost his first tooth about a month ago. The adult tooth was already in before the baby tooth fell out, it was weird...

And this is one of Dylan's new inventions on how to get Claire around the house...

I sure do love that boy!

Jesse and Jordyn's wedding

Jesse and Jordyn got married on April 9th in the the Salt Lake temple. It was really neat to be there since he is the last sibling to get married. We had a great day with everyone. It looked like a really warm day, but looks can be deceiving. It was freezing! And windy too.


Nate was kind to lend me his jacket while we waited outside the temple. I am a mean mom and didn't even offer it to the kids. I just let them freeze! I love Aubrey's face here...

Funny uncle Brian...



Chad and Nash...



Hot girls...

And my hot brother and his wife...

What a nerd Jesse is. His front teeth are false teeth and he kept making this face for the pictures. I don't think Jordyn had a clue he was doing this. I am sure she was surprised when she looked at the pictures afterwards.

More cold kids...

My parents and siblings...

We wandered over to the conference center to show the kids where conference took place the week before...

That is better Jesse, keep those teeth in!...

Another of us girls...

I guess only some people got the memo to wear black and white...

What another fun wedding with my family. Again, we had a crazy good time dancin afterwards. Have I mentioned how much I love being with my family? I have the best aunts!

A wedding and spring break

April started off with my grandpa getting married. I have been so happy for him because I know he has been so lonely since my grandma passed away in October. Up until the moment Colleen walked down the isle, I was fine. And then it hit me that my grandma was gone. I was a little sad, but still so happy for my grandpa. It is funny to see him all lovey dovey with his new wife. It was also nice to have all the extended family together again. We sure do have a hoot together. Especially at the dance after the reception. What a crazy bunch. Wish I had more pictures of it.

Here they are...

(and some random girl that I assume is Colleen's granddaughter)

While we were all together, we decided to have a shower for Jordyn, my brother's fiance. We just love her! She fits right in to our family, can you tell?...
(again, I wish I had more pictures of the shower. It was a little crazy with all the husbands gone to the priesthood session)

Easter morning we had at my brother's house and then dinner at my grandpa's rec center. It was pretty cold out so we had an indoor egg hunt and then everyone crashed on the couches for conference.

Since it was spring break, the kids and I stayed down for a couple of days to play with cousins. We went to the Living Planet Aquarium and it was a crazy crazy busy there. Don't ever go there during spring break. Plus, Claire was out of control and screaming the whole time. And Cassie got lost. And we had to park 2 blocks away and walk through muddy construction to get there. And...okay that's all.

We also went to Kangaroo Zoo (a cool bouncey toy place) and that was much more relaxing. Except I decided to race Dylan down a huge slide and got major skin burns on my arm from rubbing on the side of the slide. Ouch!

Why did I not take pictures of these things? I don't know.

My brother got married at the end of spring break. That will be up next.

More of March

Here are some more exciting things that happened in March:

Green pancakes, green eggs, and green milk...

Snow projects...

Coloring eggs...


You can't really see it, but that is a Canadian egg...

First time skiing. Dylan really loved it and keeps asking to go again...

Cassie didn't enjoy it so much, but she still wants to go again...

The kids took swimming lessons too and really liked that. Not a very eggciting month. Stay tuned for April, the month of craziness.

Dylan's birthday

Dylan turned 6 in March and had such a fun day. Kind of crazy for me, but he loved it. Lots of kids, lots of games, and lots of presents.

Yes, the pinata is hanging on a broom. Nate was a great broom holder.

I love this little boy so much! He is such a great helper and is best friends with his sister. They fight really good to, however. He is so cuddly and lets me snuggle with him whenever I want. I LOVE that! He is a great student and his teacher told me that she wishes all her students could be like Dylan. The truth is, he gets really shy and scared in front of adults so he listens to them really well. (Except for me, of course. jk) He is ALL boy and loves loves loves being outside exploring, riding his scooter or coaster car, and most of all digging. When we go to the park, all he does is dig dig dig. I love having Dylan in our family. He is a huge blessing to me!