Caribbean Cruise Part 2

Island #4: Antigua
On Thursday we went to Antigua. This day was completely different from the others because we spent the whole day on land rather than on the beach. We got in a little van and they drove up a group of us to a small rainforest.

This is where we got to do a zip line and canopy challenge. Here we are all suited up and ready to go.

It's really hot and muggy in the rainforest. By the end of the day we were ready to jump in the ocean to cool off. The zip lining was awesome though. We had never experienced anything like this before, and probably won't ever again, but it was worth it.

Island #5: St. Maarten
On Friday we visited St. Maarten. We didn't have an excursion planned for this day, so we asked the locals about nice beaches we could spend the day at. We ended up going to Pinel Beach. This island has 2 sides: the French side and Dutch side. This beach was on the French side.

We had to ride a little bit to get over to the island. The beach was really pretty with little lawn chairs and umbrellas set up all over.

As I mentioned before, we were on a French island and people were very "free" and "open". I don't know how many boobs we saw that day, but it was more than we wanted to see haha. We didn't stay on the beach too long. We tried to do some snorkeling, but they really patrolled this area and had a small little sliver of water roped off to where we could snorkel. So it wasn't the best snorkeling we did on the trip, to say the least. We still had a good time though.

Day #6: St. Croix:
On the last full cruise day, Saturday, we got to visit St. Croix. I'm sad to say that I didn't get any pictures of this island. Again, we didn't have an excursion planned this day, so we just went to a nice beach. Driving up to the beach, it was so beautiful and GREEN. The beach itself wasn't the nicest ones we stayed at, but the snorkeling here was the BEST. There was so much corral and sea life. We saw a couple sea turtles, a stingray, and a whole heap of different kinds of fish. It was like swimming around an aquarium...so neat.

When we got back to the ship, we went to the pool area to lounge around for a bit and take some final pictures of our cruise.


The next day, Sunday, we had to say goodbye to our cruise ship. Even though we had had so much fun on this trip, at this point I was getting ready to go home and see my baby. But we still had one more night in Puerto Rico. We went back to our hotel dropped our stuff off. Randy and John decided to go to the Rain Forest in Puerto Rico. Brandon and I really want to go too, but the locals told us that driving out of town was going to be a nightmare because of the "Festival" that was going on. Apparently they celebrate Christmas for like 2 whole months, and this was the last day of the celebration. So we decided to not risk it and just go shopping around Old San Juan again. This is the center gathering for the "Festival", so you can see that the streets were just lined with people everywhere.. It was kind of hectic.

Brandon ended up buying a really nice watch while we were there, and I got my new ring sized. So even though we didn't make it to the rainforest, things all worked out.

The next day we went to the airport and flew home. We got back to Salt Lake around 4:30 in the afternoon. I wanted to race to my parents' house because I was DYING to see my baby. In fact, I saw him in the window as we were walking to the door and I just burst into tears. I immediately grabbed Talin and hugged him to death. He seemed really confused, like he recognized us, but it had been so long I think he just got used to being with my family every day.

All in all, this was one of, if not the best, trips we have ever been on. I can't wait to book our next cruise! Ha ha ha.

Caribbean Cruise!!! Part 1

I've been meaning to update the blog and tell you all about our cruise, but I knew that it was going to be long and I just haven't taken the time to sit down and write about it. So, here we go....

There were six of us on this trip. Brandon's mom and her husband, Doug, Doug's daughter Randy and her husband John, and then me and Brandon of course. The HARDEST thing about this trip was saying goodbye to Talin for 10 days. He stayed with my family while we were gone. I knew he'd be in good hands, I had just never been away from him overnight, let alone 10 whole days.

We flew out to Puerto Rico on the night of January 8th. It was a huge shock to get off the plane and feel the immense humidity and warmth. So different from back home. We settled into our hotel rooms and went to bed. The next day we wanted to explore a little bit of Puerto Rico. We first walked to the beach and saw the ocean....GORGEOUS. The water out there is so blue!


Then we went and checked out the Fort.




There were some beautiful views of the city from on top of the Fort.

You can see our cruise ship in the background here.

Later that day we went shopping in Old San Juan. It's really busy there, and driving around is a nightmare. It's much easier to walk everywhere, otherwise you sit in traffic forever. Here is a view of what the streets looked like there.


In the late afternoon we finally boarded our ship. We sailed on Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Sea. I've never been on a cruise ship before and it was huge to me. We had our first dinner of the week in the massive dining area. It was beautiful with chandeliers and music playing. The dinners on this ship were really fancy, and we made sure to try new things throughout the week. Brandon even ate escargo one night (it looked awful to me!).

Anyway, that first night on the ship I got sick. :( Talin had a stomach bug before we left, so I don't if it was that or just true sea sickness. I've never had motion sickness before in my life, so I'm not sure what to attribute it to. So when everyone went to a show that night, I went straight back to the room and died (not literally, but I felt like it).

The next day was a sailing day. We spent that day exploring the ship. We also went to a show that explained how to take advantage of the shopping on each of the islands. It was very informative. I didn't eat much that day at all, I was still feeling icky most of the day. Later that night the boys went to the sports bar and watched football while us girls went to the hot tub. It was nice. I think that's just I needed to help me start feeling better. Because the next day I felt great!

Island #1:
Tuesday was our first island adventure...BARBADOS! The first thing we did on the island was shop. Brandon had told me before the trip that he was going to buy me a nice ring on our cruise since my birthday landed during the week, and that he did. He bought me a gorgeous tanzanite diamond ring. Diamonds are way cheaper in the Caribbean, and you can talk them down on price. So this ring would've cost a lot more in the states. I felt like a giddy little girl after that.

After the shopping we went on our first excursion. We hopped on a boat which took us out on the beautiful Caribbean Sea. And then we got to swim with turtles and see a shipwreck. It was our first time snorkeling and it was awesome! Then the boat took us to a BEAUTIFUL island on Barbados. This was my favorite island of the whole week. The sand was so soft and there weren't any rocks or sharp coral in the water.




After that the small boat took us back to our port and we got back on the ship. Every night when we got back we would would clean up and go to dinner. That night was a formal night, so we all got to dress up. It was fun for me haha. Then after dinner every night there was some kind of showing: singing, dancing, comedy, something different every night.

Island #2:
Wednesday we went to St. Lucia.

We didn't have an excursion planned for this island, so we went and asked the locals about some fun things we could do. One guy told us he could take us on a water taxi tour around the island and let us go snorkeling, so that's what we did! We were all about being in the water on this trip, probably because it's something we can't do everyday at home.

Alex was our water taxi driver, along with Benjamin who was there to help out. The people on the islands are so friendly and full of life. I don't know how you couldn't be that way leaving in these places. St. Lucia, especially, was GORGEOUS! So green and scenic.


Here are what the locals call the Pitons. They were really cool.



We even sailed by a place where the Bachelor finale was filmed. I don't know which season, but I wouldn't have minded being proposed to in St. Lucia. I loved this island!

We're just getting started. There's more to come!

FIRST BIRTHDAY!!

We still can't believe our baby boy is now one! He is growing up way too fast. We had a birthday party for him on the night of his birthday, December 30th. We invited just our immediate family. We would've loved to have had a huge birthday bash and invited more people, but our house is just way too small for that. We ate pizza, did presents, sang Happy Birthday, and ate cake and ice cream. Just like Christmas, Talin got spoiled for his birthday. He got a wagon, a little car to ride around in, some clothes, and more toys. And of course, Talin had his own personal cake to enjoy. At first he just sat and picked at it and wasn't quite sure what to do with it. But then I put a piece in his mouth and he started eating it a little bit. Mostly it just made a mess of his hands. Enjoy the pictures below (they got out of order and I didn't want to take the time to re-arrange them haha). It was a fun-filled night. And although Talin won't remember it, we enjoyed celebrating him and his first year of life. HAPPY BIRTHDAY TALIN!

Christmas

Christmas this year was a lot of fun. Having Talin with us this year made it a lot more fun. On Christmas Eve we spent the day with Brandon's dad and his wife. First we opened presents at their house, went to lunch at Bajio's and then went and saw the movie "Tron." I was a little disappointed with the movie. Plus I spent a lot of time in the hallway so Talin could run around and use up some energy. Later that night we went to Grandpa Prescott's house and ate pizza and did a few more presents. It was a great day.

On Christmas morning we got up bright and early and drove to my parents' house in West Jordan. Our tradition is to have breakfast on Christmas over there, and boy is it yummy! Then we all opened presents.




Talin wasn't really interested in opening presents. He got distracted by other things & people around him that he didn't want to sit still and open presents. Oh well, maybe next year he'll be more into it.




That afternoon we drove up to my Aunt & Uncle's house in Farmington and ate more food and opened more presents. It's good to see my extended family since I really don't get to see them that often anymore.

Brandon and I didn't open our gifts or the gifts we got for Talin until Christmas night. We kind of spoiled each other this year. Brandon got me a cricut, a mixer, and some shirts (that he picked out all on his own!). I got Brandon some parts to go with his new rifle his dad got him. Brandon also bought a gun few a months back and that was part of his Christmas too - talk about an expensive hobby! For Talin we got him some clothes and jammies, a ball, bath toy, cell phone (fake one of course), a fire station with cars, a wagon with blocks, and some books.




The day after Christmas we went to church and then spent the day at Brandon's mom's house. Of course there was more food and presents. (I've been trying to watch what I eat and exercise to get ready for a cruise we're going on in a couple weeks, but I blew it this whole weekend. I was pretty depressed by the time Monday rolled around haha).



Talin got so spoiled this Christmas. He has more toys than I'm sure he knows what to do with. And his birthday is this week too!

Well another Christmas come and gone, and another year too! Where has the time gone!

11 Months & Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was a lot of fun. We trade off families each year and this year we went over to my mother-in-law's house. It was just her and her husband, Brandon's sister and her husband and their little boy, and us. We played some Wii for a little bit (Just Dance...so fun!) and then ate lots of turkey and stuffing. Brandon decided, that instead of spooning sweet potatoes into Talin's mouth, that he'd just plop it on his high chair tray. And boy was that a fun mess to clean up!

Because we spent the day at my in-law's house, Talin wasn't able to get his afternoon nap in. He zonked right out on his Grandpa's lap...so adorable!

Well, Talin is now 11 months! I seriously can't believe he is almost 1! Where did the time go??? Talin has 4 teeth now - 2 on bottom and 2 on top, and 2 more are coming in on top. His biggest accomplishment yet was that he started walking a few days after Halloween! It's now his preferred method of getting around. He loves being so mobile. Lately he loves pulling all the dvd's off our shelf and throwing them on the ground. Much like what he does with his food in the high chair now too haha. He likes to try and see what he can get away with. We put up our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving and Talin has been so intrigued with it. He tries to pull the ornaments off (no surprise there), so we have to keep a close watch on him. We also got him his big boy car seat this week. No more heavy car seat to lug around, thank goodness! He likes to be able to see me driving and see everything that's going on outside. Talin really has become a little person. He's no longer my baby! I just love him so much and I am so blessed to be his mommy!

Talin loves the camera and I think he's ready to lunge after it here.

Here Talin is showing off the ornament he pulled off the tree. My sister drove up from Sugarhouse to watch him last night while we went to the Jazz game. Talin absolutely adores her.

Showing off his ornament again!

Halloween & 10 Months

I know I say this every month, but Talin is growing so much. It amazes me the things he understands. He learned how to say dada and can pretty much say it on command. He has a little walker toy that he pushes around and just loves it! He's not walking on his own yet, but is SO CLOSE. I had to start Talin at a daycare this month. Luckily it's only on Mondays and Wednesdays, so not too bad. Still, I was really worried about it..how we would do there, if he would fuss a lot, sleep much, etc. So far he's adjusting to it pretty well. He cries a little when I leave but every time I pick him up he seems happy as can be. He has a hard time getting much sleep there because the cribs are in the same room as the toys so it gets kinda noisy at times, making it hard for him to want to sleep. The girls that take care of him are really nice and give him lots of attention, which is good.

So anyway, on to Halloween....

The Friday before Halloween we went with some friends to Cherry Hill's "Spooky Hill" because I had some free passes from work. It was the same Cherry Hill, only it was decked out for Halloween. We got to ride on a little train with the babies and see some ghosts and other "scary" things. I think Amanda and I enjoyed it more than the babies did lol. Then on Saturday morning I had Young Women in Excellence at the church. Later that night we went to Brandon's dad's house for some YUMMY Chili. After that, we took Talin in his costume and trick-or-treated to 3 houses. We'll spend a lot more time out & about when Talin's a little bit older. This year it was more for us than for him hehe.


This was at my work. A few of us brought our babies in their costumes. There was a dragon, monkey, and of course a dinosaur.


A girl that is in Young Women's with me is a photographer and she was giving out this cute template for free. I took the pictures however. You can tell that they are definitely not professional photos ha ha.