Thanksgiving

We had a nice Thanksgiving this year in Midway with Nick's family. We stayed at a beautiful resort, the Zermatt(thanks to Lowell's discount), the kids had so much fun. Isaac's favorite part was eating bacon for breakfast, Sophia loved to swim every night, and Savannah was so happy when we got to ride the carousel(until she had to get off, then she kicked and screamed).






Thanksgiving dinner was delicious, but we all felt bad for Lowell(Nick's dad), because he was sick and couldn't enjoy it with us. Gidian taught Savannah how to put olives on her fingers, it was pretty cute. Sophia felt like such a big girl when she got to hold baby Elspeth, she is precious and tiny. We had a nice visit, and then it was time for the dreaded 6.5 hour drive home. We ran into some bad weather, but Nick did a great job getting us home.

Field Trip to the Fire Station

Today I got to go on a field trip with the girl's preschool class. There's a cute little boy named Ethan in the class, and his Dad is a firefighter, so he was kind enough to let us come to his station. The firemen were so kind and patient with the children. They let the kids shoot out a fire with a hose, climb all over the fire engines, meet Sparky, the mascot, and try on the fire clothing and hats. The kids were treated to plastic fireman hats and a goody bag full of great prizes. The girls had so much fun and learned a lot about the duties of a fireman.

Dr. Oz

I had the opportunity to go with my friend Emily to a Dr. Oz event in Colorado. If you're a girl, you probably know who Dr. Oz is, because he is the medical expert on Oprah. He is really amazing, intelligent and entertaining. I came home with a new outlook on having my family live a more healthy lifestyle. Nick said, "I've been telling you for years that the kids need to eat more healthy, but Dr. Oz tells you once and you listen?" He says that 70% of our health depends on the choices we make everyday. It was a great lecture, and I'm so glad I got to attend. If you want information on Dr. Oz, Here's the link.

YEAH MON, Jamaica!

Nick and I just got back from Paradise! We met our friends Mike and Mindi Smith there. This vacation was for our 13th anniversary, and also a reward for Nick and Mike passing their boards. Sun, Pina Coladas, Beach, good friends and food, what more could we ask for? Nick said he could have stayed 5 more days, but after 7, I was more than ready to see my kids. Tasha did a wonderful job here with our kids, I was able to relax and not worry about them at home. Our days were packed with many activities and excursions. We went sea kayaking, sailing, rode the Jamaican bobsleds, went scuba diving, snorkeled, climbed Dunn's Falls, Zip lined in the jungle, and enjoyed relaxing by the pool. The Jamaicans are ready to please, anything we wanted, they would say, "Yeah mon, no problem." There were 6 restaurants, and 4 open bars in the resort. Food everywhere! Someone to make your omelet in the morning, and someone to give you an extra little cookie with your creme brule at night. Nick was dissapointed that all he got for breakfast this morning was Capt'n Crunch. They pull out your chair, put a napkin on your lap, and clean up all of your crumbs as you go. The presentation of the food was amazing, some of it looked better than it tasted, but they get an A for appearance.
We all took a scuba diving class, it lasted about an hour, and then take you 40 feet deep to the ocean floor. It was a little intimadating for Me and Mindi, but Nick and Mike were addicted. They both decided to get certified, so they did several more dives, including a sunken ship. They had to pass a written and underwater skills test and now they are open water scuba certified. I ended up really loving snorkeling, it's less of a committment, because you're so close to the surface. I saw the most amazing sea life, it was so beautiful! We went to a coral reef and saw hundreds of brightly colored fish, sea urchins, an octopus, eels, squid, crabs, sting rays, and lots of sea plants. Jamaica is a beautiful, scenic country, I'm so glad we had the opportunity to see it ourselves. Maybe in 5 years we'll take the kids and go back.

Halloween

The kids had so much fun this Halloween, we got their costumes early, and they've been looking forward to Halloween for weeks. They all had great Halloween parties at school. We had an unseasonably warm Halloween night here, so the kids were comfortable and happy trick-or-treating. Tasha flew in on Halloween afternoon so it was fun to have her with us. She was brave and kind enough to come watch our kids for a week while Nick and I vacationed. We left at 9:30 p.m. on Halloween to drive to Denver to fly to Montego Bay, Jamaica.