15th Wedding Anniversary

Nick and I have been married 15 years! It's been a great journey. We decided that 15 years is worth celebrating, so Nick took some time off work, and we arranged for a babysitter to come stay with the kids for 4 1/2 days. I left Nick in charge of the location and activities. I packed perfume, a curling iron, dressy clothes, and I even packed a pair of high heels. I envisioned walking hand in hand browsing gift shops and tourist attractions during the day, and enjoying nice formal dinners in the evening. I decided to throw in a pair of jeans, a few t-shirts, and some hiking boots "Just in Case!" Well the babysitter came over early in the afternoon on Wednesday, August 4th. Nick was just wrapping up the reservations and we were off. It was fun to be alone with Nick, I was excited for our adventure. Nick had chosen Buffalo, Wyoming as our vacation destination. After we got there, I noticed the town boasted of being the Sportsman's Dream. Our trip started off great, just the two of us together in his truck relaxing and enjoying our freedom. We stopped in Casper, Wyoming, where we went shopping and had a lovely dinner at Bottecelli's, a local fine Italian Restaurant.

Things were off to a nice start, and continued to go well when we arrived in Buffalo. We were delighted when we checked in to the brand new Hampton Inn. Everything was shiny and clean, I even took my shoes off in the room. We relaxed in the hot tub and unwound after a long day of driving. Thursday morning we slept in until 8:30, had a delicious complimentary breakfast and began our ascent to the Big Horn Mountains. The weather was a cool 65 degrees in the mountains, but it was a beautiful sunny day. We hiked a bit, ate a picnic lunch, Nick fished, we rode bikes, Nick fished some more, and we covered a lot of miles on windy dirt roads. We got back to Buffalo late that evening, had a fast food dinner, worked out a little in the hotel exercise room, went swimming and crashed. Friday morning we changed it up a little by driving to Sheridan, Wyoming. We went to the grocery store to get sandwich stuff, and we were off exploring a different side of the Big Horn Mountains. Nick fished, we rode bikes, and we also mountain climbed. We got back to town at 9:30 p.m., had fast food for dinner and went to bed. Saturday morning we were on our way to the grocery store for lunch supplies, when we noticed the crowds lining the streets and policemen blocking off Main Street. We deduced there must be a parade, so we parked the truck and joined the spectators. It was a very long parade, but pretty impressive for a small town. The parade was the start of their County Fair and Rodeo.

We got a late start, but we made our way back up the mountain for another day of fishing and biking. We actually made it back to town at 6:00p.m. and decided we deserved a wonderful dinner, we noticed a Steak House in town and it looked popular with the locals. We made reservations for 7:30, which gave us time to swim and sit in the hot tub before we got ready to go. We got to Winchester Steak House, which was packed to the point of flowing out the front door with Rednecks. I was sure that since we'd called and made reservations we wouldn't be waiting long. After 20 minutes in a stuffy lobby, we mutually agreed to settle for yet another night of fast food and left. Sunday morning we woke up at 6:00 a.m. to ride a mountain bike trail just out of town. It was a gorgeous ride, perfect weather, beautiful surroundings, and it wasn't all uphill and rocky(like the prior 3 rides!). I was having a fine time when Nick noticed I was missing a bolt on my rear tire. I ended up walking my bike back to the truck, but it was still a good time. We got back to the hotel, packed up and headed home. It was fun being with Nick. No matter what we're doing, I always enjoy his company. I was really missing the kids, so I was was happy to be home. I hope our next 15 years are just as good. I love you Nick!

Puerto Vallarta, Mexico June 12-19

Our family, along with Adam and Adalee spent a week in Mexico. We planned the trip months ago and the kids had been really looking forward to the beach. We enjoyed hanging out with Adam and Adalee, it was a fun, relaxing week. We stayed at an all-inclusive family resort right on the beach. The only complaint I had with the resort was the food. The food was real authentic Mexican, for example, fried eggs on top of fried tortillas with chilies on top. They had some pretty interesting food choices, that we didn't venture to try. I though I loved Mexican food, but I guess I like Americanized Mexican. The kids had a bit of a hard time, they lived on chicken nuggets, ice cream cones, and Nachos. Nick took pity on the kids and took them to Peter Piper Pizza twice we all had fun playing games and winning tickets. We all took advantage of the free drinks. They had several bars with kids menus, there was Spongebob, Frozen Nemo, Spider Soda, Shrek, Barbie, and lots more. I really enjoyed the virgin Pina Coladas and Strawberry Daiquiris. The beach was public, so there were a lot of vendors selling dresses, shirts, jewelry, toys, and all sorts of nick knacks. I had a very hard time saying no, and when I tried, they wouldn't believe me. I got suckered into buying lots of Mexican souvenirs, including a hammock that wouldn't fit in my suitcase. Some of the vendors also braided hair. Adam negotiated them down to $20 for each of us and all of the girls got braids. It was well worth it and made for an easy week of hair maintenance. We stuck around the resort most of the week, there were 3 pools, several restaurants, and lots of beach front with chairs and umbrellas, so we were pretty content. We did want to see more of Mexico, so we asked the tour guide working at the resort which excursion would be good for the whole family. She promised us that the pirate ship adventure





was amazing and we'd all be entertained and wowed, she guaranteed we'd all love it. 2 Minutes into the excursion, Isaac said "Are they going to take us back to the resort?" He was not impressed, in fact, follow this link to go to his blog to see what he thought of it. I think Nick and Adam were miserable too. I was trying to make the best of it and played and danced along with the pirates.
We also did a snorkeling excursion which most of us enjoyed. Sophia chickened out and stayed in the boat with the guides. Savannah turned out to be a great at snorkeling and was amused at the sea life. We saw all kinds of brightly colored fish that were all shapes and sizes. We even saw a jelly fish, it was so neat to watch it move through the water. Savannah has seen too many episodes of SpongeBob and knows that jelly fish sting, so she warned me about keeping our distance.When we told Savannah we were going to the beach, she said she was going to find a starfish and take a picture with it. We searched the beach and she found an assortment of lovely shells, but there were no starfish. I decided to ask the beach vendors, they are so eager to please! I asked a guy, and within 10 minutes he was back with a starfish. Savannah was so happy, she didn't put it down all day. A little boy she was playing with threw it into the ocean and Nick had to retrieve it. I'm glad she got her photo with a starfish!
The weather was absolutely perfect and it was beautiful there. It doesn't get better than being on the beach with your family. We're already planning our vacation for next summer.

The girls turn 5! May 26th, 2010

When Sophia and Savannah were born, Nick said he wished they were 5 years old. I absolutely loved the baby stage, and every minute of them growing up, but I have to say I love my 5 year olds! They are getting themselves dressed, learning to brush their own teeth, entertaining themselves and becoming so independent. They will be attending kindergarten this fall, and that's when it will hit me, my babies are growing up. They are so much fun, every day Savannah's humor makes me laugh and Sophia amazes me with her knowledge. They are so different, but get along so well. It's been 5 wonderful years, we feel so blessed to have our girls. This year we kept their Birthday Party small and simple. We started right after preschool, by eating at their favorite place,
Chick-fil-A. After lunch, we went to the nail salon for manicures and pedicures. The girls enjoyed being pampered, and I enjoyed not having the party at my house, it was a win-win!

3rd Grade Zoo Field Trip

The girls and I got to join Isaac on his field trip on May 17th. It was a long day of fun, 10 hours total! We carpooled with our friends and drove 2 hours to Denver, Colorado to attend the zoo and Science and History Museum. Each parent was in charge of their own child and assigned one other student. We lucked out and got Kathryn in our group. She has a little crush on Isaac. Isaac's teacher told me she found a note on the floor that was to Isaac from Kathryn, she read the note and thought it was so funny. The note read "Isaac, will you be my boyfriend? Circle yes or no." Isaac received the note and circled both yes and no. She wrote back, "Which one is it, yes or no?" I suppose he wants to keep her guessing! We had a great time, and the animals were all out and about, making it easy to view them.

Sophia loves pygmy marmosets, she likes to pretend to be one, because she's so tiny and cute. The highlight of her day was seeing one at the zoo. It was so amazing to see one in real life, they are only a few inches long and just as cute as can be.

We met up with everyone for a picnic lunch and then proceeded to the museum. We learned a lot there, it was hands on and the kids loved it.

Isaac's favorite thing was the rocks and minerals.


Savannah loved playing in the mud, I had to drag her out of there.

I'm glad I got to spend the day with my kids. My last photo of the day is my favorite! The girls were exhausted after getting up so early and walking all day, they fell asleep within minutes of the drive home. Isaac was such a good big brother and gave them a comfortable place to lay their heads.

It's been a while, but we're back!

I left my camera at my parents house last time we went to visit, so I haven't had any photos to post. I've taken over Nick's camera now, and I'm ready to get blogging again. A lot has happened since our last post, (after all, it was 4 months ago!) but I'll start from here and backtrack later. When I do get my camera and download the photos, the events will be out of order, but I've got to start catching up now.