Missing Cedar

I needed to find some time to head down to Cedar City to SUU to sign some papers and get the ball rolling on applying for my student teaching in the fall. Since Ty had a week off for Spring break this last week and SUU was in session we decided to head down for 4 days and make a little mini vacation out of it. We wanted to get away for a little bit and since we had friends and family we wanted to see down in Cedar and St. George this was perfect.

As soon as we drove into Cedar on Wednesday afternoon my heart was overcome with emotion. We haven't been back here since we moved nine months ago and I just didn't realize how much I really missed it there until we drove into town and all these memories started flooding my mind. I mean Cedar was our home it is the first place Ty and I lived together and it is where our little bubbus was born. During this vacation I realized I MISS Cedar.

Here are some things that I miss about Cedar and our memories there:

1. I miss our home there. It was cute, It was big for our little family, It was fun to decorate, it had 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms,  I loved our neighborhood, we had our own backyard and our own garage. Even though we were renting it felt like ours and it was our home. It is where we came to after a long day of school, it is where we snuggled up close together, it is where we put our feet up on the table our bums on the couch and relaxed after work, it is where we brought Maddux home from the hospital to, it is where I spent my entire pregnancy, It is where I had fun decorating, it is where I cooked meals, it is where our families came to visit us,  it is where we hung out with friends, it is where I would hang out in the front yard and talk to neighbors, it was little M's first home, and when it came time to move it is where I cried many many times while packing up boxes and saying goodbye to our old life and home. Yes I do get attached and yes change is hard for me and yes I do love our life in Salt lake but that doesn't change the fact that when we drove past our old home this week I wanted to cry and say to Ty that that was our home and those people shouldn't be there...I miss our home.

This is the only picture I could find of the outside of our home. Excuse the Halloween decor. But isn't this cute. wouldn't you miss it?

2. I miss our School SUU (Southern Utah University). It is where I did all of my college classes, it is where I went terrified away from home as a new freshman, it is where I first lived on my own, It is where I payed my own bills, It is where I blossomed, it is where I grew into myself and really learned who I am, It is where I not only learned about math, English and science but about life, it is where I cheered at football games and gymnastics meets, it is where I worked, It is where I felt like I lived, it is where I spent hundreds and hundreds of hours, It is where I really started dating, it is where I built friendships that will last forever, it is where I met my amazing hubby Ty, it is where I got to be a Presidential Ambassador and make a difference to the school, it is where I learned, it is where I pushed myself, it is where I earned my bachelors degree, It is where I graduated in Physical Education and health, it is where I decided I wanted to be a teacher one day, It is where I had professors that made huge impacts in my life, It is where I loved to be and I wouldn't change my college years for anything. I would never go back to high school but I would go back here any day... I miss SUU! I will forever be a Thunderbird. Thank you SUU for all the amazing memories and life lessons that will forever make me the person that I am today.

Maddux chilling on the SUU campus. This is where Ty and I both spent many hours recruiting, learning, socializing, partying, watching and studying.

3. I miss our Family there. Ty's brother Dan, our sister in law Brooke and their kids live in St. George, Ty's Brother Mike, our sister in law Jess and their kids live in Cedar and my brother Chris, our sister in law Em and their kids live in Cedar in just a street down from where we lived. We had a lot of family down there and it was a blast. We hung out a lot, had movie nights, had rock band nights, babysat, swam, played at the park, had Sunday dinners together, and watched shows together. I felt so lucky to live close to our amazing family and I loved playing with our nieces and nephews down there. They all helped me so much when Maddux was born, and where always there when we needed anything. Even though we still see them a lot because they are our family I miss seeing them even more often. I cherish the time we got to live close to all of you guys and hope we will all be close to each other again.....I miss living close to those family members.

Our cute niece Oaklyn and Maddux. It was so fun spending some time with Dan and Brooke and their kids for a little bit this week. Oaklyn was adorable with Little M and just kept carrying him around, making him laugh and playing with him. He followed her around like a puppy dog. He loved playing with all his cousins he liked playing outside with Londyn and Connelly. This was also the first time that he got to meet our new baby nephew Creed and he was fascinated by him and kept trying to give him kisses. 

We  spent some time with my brother Chris, Emily, and their kiddos Ella's and Parker while we were down in Cedar. When we lived down there we only lived a street down from these guys and were in the same ward. We spent many hours at their play hanging out.

 This is our cute little niece Ella sitting next to little M. They are such cute little cousins I wish we lived closer so they could hang out more often. They are only 3 weeks apart. Me and my sister in law Emily were preggers together and hung out all the time big bellies and all. They almost look like they could be twins.

Maddux and his cousin Parker. Parker is always asking if he can give M kisses. It is so cute. We miss little Parker so much. We used to watch him when he was little and I just cherish that time so much. We became buddies and I hope he never forgets that. He was so excited when we came down to visit and always tells us he wants us to all live close to each other again when his daddy is done with school. So cute.

4. I miss our friends. We made so many of our best friends down here. We met and built so many friendships. I met so many people that made impacts on my life that they will probably never even know about. I have so many good memories with my single friends, with my married friends and PA friends. We are all growing up, graduating, starting families and moving all over but I will never forget them or what they said and did for me. We miss our biggest loser nights, our desserts, our lunches, our shopping trips, our Vegas trips, our talks, our runs and everything in between. I love you all... I miss our friends.

5. I miss all the yummy places we would go out to eat at.  We spent many of dates at all the yummy restaurants in town. Ty worked at chillies so we were there all the time (we got 50% off). We would go there on dates, and I would go there and visit him at work. I spent so much time there. It seriously was like a second home and a lot of the people that worked there became some of our best friends and it was like a second family to me and Ty. I miss our time there. We also loved this yummy place called Pastry Pub. They had delicious sandwiches I would go here at least one a week when I was pregnant with Maddux. We also loved to go to Sizzler, Pizza huts lunch buffet, pizza factory, a delicious Mexican place called Lupitas ( this is one of our favorite places to go with Chris and Em and we even went there for dinner our first night down there this week) and occasionally Wingers...I miss the food. 

We had to go to Pastry pub while we were down there for some lunch. Maddux had a lot of this while he was in my tummy growing. :)

We had dessert at chilies on Wednesday night and lunch on Saturday. It was fun to see all our old friends that still work there. Maddux enjoyed our Peanut butter chocolate molten (oh my heavenly) and some french fries while he was there. My brother Chris also worked at chilies with Ty and was our server for lunch on Saturday.Everyone was all googly over Maddux and saying how much he has grown since they saw him last. He was loving all of the attention and kisses. 

6. I miss our Social Life. While we were in Cedar we just seemed to have more time. It was slower there, it was smaller and we just didn't have as much to do which meant more time to play. Since Ty is in law school up here we just don't have as much time to do things and unfortunately I feel like we haven't gotten to know as many people up here and the people we have tried to get to know it is just hard to find time to do things with. I miss our theater we would always go to and our midnight movie dates, I miss our St. George day trips, I miss our biggest loser nights, and I miss all the walks around the neighborhood we used to take (we need to do this more up here especially when it gets warmer). We just need to find the time to hang out with friends up here more often....I miss the social life.

7. I miss our huge Walmart. I know this is a super weird one but the Walmarts in Salt Lake stink compared to our huge amazing Walmart in Cedar. It had everything and just a much better selection. But since Cedar was so small and we didn't have any Targets or anything like that Walmart had to have it all. This was my Walmart, it is where I did all my shopping, it is where we got most of Maddux's baby stuff, it is where I went shopping while I was in the beginning part of labor with Maddux (even though then I didn't know thats what it was. I had back labor so it was not what I thought it was going to feel like), It is where Ty and I went at ten o'clock at night when we were bored and wondered around, it is where we went for ice cream runs, it is where we got our red box movies, and It is where I went when I was bored and Ty was at work...I miss the best Walmart in the world. 

Maddux in the cart at Walmart. When we were down visiting we of course had to make a few quick trips to our favorite store. 

8. I miss the beauty. It is beautiful down south. I love the views. I love the mix of the red rock mountains and the luscious green mountains. I miss hopping in the jeep and driving up the mountain to just hang out, look out on the little city and just talk. I miss the retreats at the cabin up in the Cedar mountains and all the beauty surrounding it. I miss how much there is to do outside there. I miss the rock climbing. I miss the hiking, I miss the clear skies and the stars...I miss the beauty.

9. I miss my running Trail. Cedar City had the best running trail I have ever seen or ran on. It was my place to be alone, my place to think, it is where I learned to love to run, It is where I trained for a half marathon (I didn't end up doing it because I found out I was pregnant when I got up to nine miles and was a month away from the race and I just didn't feel comfortable running that far pregnant. I was paranoid. Maybe one day it will happen), it is where I ran with friends, it is where I ran for the first time with Maddux....I miss my running trail. I hope that I can find one up here when the weather gets better and I can start running outside again. If anyone knows of a good trail in the Salt lake area let me know. Also I could use a running partner. :)

 Me and little M at the trail during our visit. Yes, that is snow in the picture. It was snowing while we were there. Not much of spring weather for Spring break. Lame

10. I miss the Small town feel. I miss how little traffic there was. I miss how quick you could get from point A to point B. I miss how friendly everyone is to each other. I miss all the fun festivals that happened down there, I miss the Summer games, I miss all the parades, I miss the softball games, and I just miss how chill and non-busy it is down there. I like the slow pace...I miss the small town feel.

Now don't get me wrong, I love Salt Lake and our life here. I love living close to our families. I just also love Cedar and love our memories there.

San Diego Trip Sept.30 -Oct.5 2009

In September my dad called me out of the blue one morning and told us they were going to San Diego and said they got an amazing deal and invited us to come. WE were all of that idea! San Diego with the fam? Heck yeah! It was over the kids UEA vacation from school so we left on Wednesday and got back on Monday. Wednesday we started our drive late so we drove to Primm Nevada stayed at Wiskey Petes and then got up the next day to drive the rest of the way. On our way to our hotel the first day right before San Diego we stopped at the Wild Animal Park/Zoo. It was HOT but so much fun. We got to see a lot of SWEET animals and went on a cool tour train to see all the wild animals roaming out in the open it was soooo cool. Ty's favorite animals are gorillas and they were awesome to see at the zoo. I also really loved seeing the gorillas and the lions. Except the lion looked like it wanted to eat Amanda it wouldn't keep its eyes off of her haha. They also had a cool club house thing you climb up to see a good view of the park and there was a petting zoo area where we got to pet and feed some cute deer. The last thing we did before left was the carousel and yes ty and I road it too :) We are just big kids.

These are all at the Wild Animal Zoo. Ammon and I loved the deer. Ty likes to be silly of corse I think he is a little to big to come out of that egg. We all loved the tour train to see all the animals.

These are a lot of the animals we saw while we were there along with much more. I really liked the turtles one day I want one as a pet :) We think ty likes the gorillas because he has really broad shoulders like them. We found out on the tour that the great white rhinos are distinct and there are only five left in the whole world they have two of them in this zoo. Ty thought that was sad.

After the zoo we were off to the hotel once we all got settled in we went out to dinner at dennys and then went to the hot tub for a little bit and then crashed back at the hotel because we were all exhausted from walking at the zoo. Friday was SEA WORLD DAY! We were soooo excited to go to sea world. Ty had never been before and I was little since I had been we had so much fun.

The first thing we did was go on the ride that takes you up high and spins so that you can see the view of the whole park and a lot of San Diego. It was a really pretty view.

Next we were off the see the sea otters, sting rays and dolphins. We got to pet the sting rays it was really cool they feel all spongy. I was hesitant to touch them at first but it was way cool when I did. The kids liked touching them they thought it was cool. Ty really liked it too. I liked the babies.

Next we saw the coolest show ever the Shamu show with all the killer whales. I can't even explain how cool this show was I got chills through the whole thing. The tricks with the trainers were awesome too. The relationship that the trainers and the whales had was so amazing to me they were like their pets it was so cute. Its amazing that people can train killer whales.

After the show we went to lunch and saw some more of the park.

Then we were off to the kids play area it was cute and it had a huge jungle jim that even my dad came and played in, a few rides and the cool circus mirrors that make you look really tall and skinny or realy short and stout haha it was so fun in there. Also the park was decorated in all fall and halloween decor it was cute.

Next we went to the sea lion show which was supposed to be a comedy show called Sea Lions Live SLL and it was soooo funny those sea lions are really obedient. Last we went to more of the aquariums and saw some sharks too it was an awesome day at sea world.

So when I was little I went to sea world with my fam and they got me a dolphin and for some reason I named it puppy. I LOVED that thing and I had it for a long time but I don't know what happened to it. Well since I didn't have it anymore and sea world memories meant puppy I just had to replace it so I got almost the same dolphin and its name it puppy. :) That night we got panda and chilled at the hotel.

Saturday was LEGOLAND day My little brother Ammon could not go to San Diego without going to this place he loves Legos and just had to go. Zach loves legos too so he was also in heaven. It was a really cute place and I think we all had fun.

They had big lego characters everywhere it was awesome we just had to get pictures of all of them. They even had a lego pumpkin patch for halloween. CUTE

Us with more of the characters. Sponge Bob And the pizza guy were my favorite hahaha

And these are some of the animals made from legos.

We went on lots of cool rides....

And some more rides :)

Since it was October Legoland was decorated for halloween and in the evening they invited all the kids to dress up and they had trick or treating, costume contests and entertainment. There were a lot of workers that were dressed up too. Ammon Zach and Emmy had lots of fun dressing up and trick or treating. Zach also went up on stage and danced in his alien costume to Monster Mash he was very entertaining he was cracking me and my mom up. They looked so cute in their costumes. After the haloween festivities we got dessert ice cream. We then went to this cool area called USA mini land this was sooo COOL! It was all the big cities Vegas, San Fran, Orleans, Washington DC, New York and Southern California and they were mini cities built from legos it was incredible. Im sad I didn't get any pictures because our camera battery died. But it was so cool Vegas and New York were my favorite. Washington DCs buildings were awesome too. They also had little lego trick or treaters in all the cities. This area was for cure Ty's favorite. But we all loved it. We went on one last ride and the gift shop for legos for the boys before they closed we were sad to go. We stopped and go in and out burgers and off to the hotel we went again. Just relaxed and the boys of course played with they new legos.

Sunday was the drive back to Utah but before that we had to go to the BEACH. You can't go to San Diego without visiting the beach first. We all had so much fun running from the waves, chasing flip flops in the ocean, writting in the sand and just laughing together. We all had to atleast get our toesies in, but my dad got further in and then the waves splashed him when he had to chase ammons flip flop before the waves took it away so we got a little more wet haha.

Mom, Dad, Me, Ty, Amanda, Emilee, Zach and Ammon all having a blast at the beach.

More fun at the beach. Oh and don't forget the handstand on the beach pictures its a tradition :)

After the beach we went over to the beach shops and bought some cool San Diego souveniers and road some rides on the cool pier mini amusement park. Ty, me Emmy and Zach road the roller coaster and Ammon road the carousel. We then were back on the road to Utah....only we didn't get quite there we got to Primm and my dad decided it would be fun to stay there again and prolong the vacation one more night. We were all up for that :) We dropped our stuff off at Wiskey Petes and we were off to Vegas for some family dinner at chilies. Chilies is my dad's favorite place to eat out and luckily Ty works there so we get a sweet discount. It was so fun to be on vacation and be with the family for one more night. We then drove back to the hotel and just talked and hung out together.

Monday morning we were up ready and drove the rest of the way to Cedar City. When we got there my mom and I went to some antique shops and lunch and the boys and kids hung out at home and had lunch. It was fun just hanging out just me and my mom for a couple hours. My mom loves this antique shop on main street in Cedar and always gets cool stuff there. We also heard of another one so we decided to check it out. Well it was an atique shop/animal adoption and feeding place. It was the oddest place we had ever been they had huge dogs and cats just roaming around the antiques we just laughed the whole time because it was sooo weird. We still got some cool stuff though so I guess it was worth it. Plus it was time with my mom I just love those times :) Around 4:00 the fam left to get back home up North and then a little later Ty was off to work and I was left at home alone after spending all that time with the fam it was sooo lonely :( Luckily I had some unpacking to do and I called my sis traci and talked to her for like two hours. I just never like seeing family go after visiting. I can't wait until next year when we live closer to our families :)

Thank you mom and dad for inviting us and thank you mom and dad, Amanda, Emilee, Zach Ammon and Ty for such a fun vacation. Ty and I love spending time with you all. Can't wait for the next one when Adam gets home!

UlRiCh CrUiSe SuMmEr 2009

I warn you this is going to be a really long post you dont have to read it all I just wanted to put it all down since I am using this as my journal...but atleast look at the pictures they are really fun.
I am FINALLY updating our blog...Our CrUiSe! Sorry about the two month delay we have been super busy. But don't you worry we are back and ready to post. The highlight of our summer was our cruise that we have been saving for since last year for a graduation present to ourselves. We aren't completely done with our education but we are done with a big step so of course we are going to CeLeBrAtE! June 27th at about four o'clock we started our journey to Primm, Nevada. We stayed the night there at Buffalo Bills and then drove the rest of the way the next day. When we got to the hotel they told us they could upgrade us to a bigger room with no charge so of course we took it. It was only for one night but why not. We got a king size bed and a huge room. After we were all checked in we decided we would check out the cAsInO. We ended up playing in the arcade and eating at some yummy sandwich place for dinner.

Ty and I playing the Harley Davidson racing game at the Arcade. We had so much fun in that place the poor children never got to play anything we were throwing elbows to get the good games. Then of course we have our excited jumping on the bed pictures :) I got this picture of the roller coaster and palm tree outside of the hotel.... and it turned out really PrEtTy with the sun going down don't you think? P.S. no we didn't go on the huge roller coaster that buffalo bills is famous for I am a CHICKEN...one day i will...one day.

Sunday June 28th

The next day we were off to Long Beach California to get on the ShIp. When we first got on we had to wait until our room was ready and had to wait for the luggage to be checked in. While we waited we were able to wonder around the ship and get familiar to where everything was. I imagined a cruise ship was awesome but oh my gosh it was so huge and AWESOME! There was everything you could think of it was like a little town and there were so many nice people and cute families. Also our room was a steal :) we got a bAlCoNy room for the same price as a interior room because of a deal Utah had going on it was so fun to be able to go out on the balcony and just watch the ocean waves whenever we wanted. When we first got all settled in we had to do a safety drill. everyone on the ship had to put on the life vests and go out on the big balcony it was kinda funny to see everyone in the huge oRaNgE vests. After the drill we got our room all ready and then we were off to the welcoming parade and show. The parade was sooo cool i know a parade in the middle of the ocean how sweet is that. The show was also really fun it was a comedian juggler and another stand up comedian. The jUgGlEr was the best he was hilarious. :) After the shows we were off to the dinning room for dinner. Oh my heavens the food is soooo good on cruise ships. We had a very interesting experience at dinner the first night. Our table consisted of two lasdies from Russia and a couple that the lady was drunk off her rocker and really mean. The Russian ladies were so NiCe but we just couldn't communicate so that was kinda awkward and then the drunk lady was so mean and we had to repeat ourselves a million times cuz she kept asking us the same question. She was also really mean to our waiters so we were extra nice to them to make up for it. Good thing Ty and I had each other at that table cuz oh my heavens. haha. The rest of the night was filled with wondering around the ship, talking and taking pictures.

Don't you just love those orange vests on us. Those are some pictures of the ship, our room, our balcony and the view off of our balcony. What a fun first day and it didn't even start until one.

Monday June 29th
The next day was a day at sea (we were on the ship the whole day in the middle of the ocean). It was just a fun relaxing day. We started the day off eating breakfast in our room and then got in our swimming suits to soak up some sun and lay out and read. We weren't out there very long when we decided that we were going to go see what the digital photo sCaVeNgEr hunt was all about. We got there at the tail end of the instructions and they asked if we wanted to play and we said sure so they gave us a list and told us to find all these things on the list throughout the ship and take pictures of them and after we're done to just come back to the spot we started. So off Ty and i went just having a fun time RuNnInG throughout the ship we barley knew at this point. Oh my gosh though it really was so much fun and we did so good. We expected to come in like last because it was just us two on a team with one camera and there were other teams that were huge that could split up with two cameras. But low and behold we ran into the meeting place after getting all our pictures and we were SeCoNd place hahaha. We got a medal that's right a silver royal Caribbean medal haha oh my gosh so cheesy i love it! I was proud of that second place medal and wore it around some of the day i think Ty was embarrassed and so was i a little. After the hunt we were off to the ice show. They had a small ice rink on the ship isn't that awesome. We thought the show would be a little cheesy but thought we would see what it was about anyway. Its free entertainment right? Well it kinda started out cheesy but it got really good and ty and I both really liked it there was a guy doing back fLiPs and all the girls were really good. Ty's favorite was the ice skating quick changers. Quick changer are CRAZY! We also heard the most ridiculous and cheesy song during the show by Meatloaf I would do anything for love! it ended up being our theme song of the cruise haha we couldn't ever get it out of our heads and would just randomly sing it to each other and then just start cracking up. After the ice show we were off to the room to get ready for the first FoRmAl night. Formal nights are so fun you get to get all dolled up awww I love it. After we got all ready we went to the song and dance show and then we were off to the formal dinner. While we were in line to take pictures we met this really cute couple Trey and Jamie from Texas that were on their honeymoon. They were way fun to get to know and talk to. We would run into them a few times throughout the week and chat. Dinner was interesting again but not as bad as the first night we were at the same table but the drunk couple wasn't there instead the Russian ladies were there again, an older couple that were really nice (he was LDS) and another older couple that was nice but very werid haha. The couple next to us was a really old rich guy and his wife that had a lot of plastic surgery she was so so nice but couldn't show any emotion in her face and she was hard to understand. After dinner we went to one more late night show it was the same comedian from last night he did pretty good we laughed a lot. After the shows we went back to our room and relaxed in the HoT tUb.

Those are our silver medals and the random guy in the picture with us was the guy incharge of the game he was really nice.
The top picture is the one of the ice show and that is the scene with the Meatloaf song but really good skating.
The bottom picture is us in our first formal get up.
And last but not least those are our first day towel animals :)

Tuesday June 30th
Tuesday was an easy day to wake up it was our first port day...Cabo San Lucus! Oh my gosh i was so excited when we got up. We hurried and got ready went up to eat a yummy breakfast and packed our back packs and off the ship we went. It was so exciting getting off the ship and seeing Mexico. If you can't tell it was my first time being out of the country. We got off Ty did some bardering in Spanish and our first destination was LoVeRs BeAcH. Cabo is famous for this beach and let me tell you it is beautiful. We paid for a guy to take us on a boat tour around the beach to see the arches and stuff and then to drop us off at the beach and pick us back up two hours later. Our boat tour guide was a cute eighteen year old boy him and Ty talked a lot in spanish he seemed super nice. The tour as beautiful and it was fun to get dropped off at the beach. The sand was white and i just cant say it enough beautiful. When we first got on the beach and set up our stuff a couple came up to us and was like "hey can you watch our stuff while we go oin the water and then we will watch yours and just take turs so our stuff isnt just sitting here on its own" we were like of course sounds like a good plan. Well we got talking and they were on their honeymoon around our age and from UTAH! oh and they are LDS! we were so excited to meet some people that were LDS and our age. So we took turns getting in the water and watching stuff. The water was freezing but it was fun. Ty and I also walked around the beach discovering cool caves and stuff we also went to the other side that opened up to the Pacific Ocean and watched some skim boarders. We got talking to Dan and Kristen and we both wanted to go Para sailing..what a coincidence! Our water taxis followed each other and we went Para sailing with them. Ty and I were able to do it together at the same time it was so fun oh my gosh i want to do it again so bad. Thank you Ty for doing that with me :). After pArA sAiLiNg we went shopping for a bit and then back to the ship for the night. We ended up going to the show with our new friends that night..it was a singing impressionist and then we were able to work something out called mytime dinning and we sat with Dan and Kristen at dinner. Oh my gosh dinner was sooo much better with them then it was the past two nights. Along with Dan and Kristen we were sat with this really cool family that ended up being like our adopted families the rest of the week it was Michelle and Steven and their Son that was my age Evan and then Steve's dad Papa Don. Oh and Papa Don shoed us a really cool trick with his fork knife launching the spoon into his glass of water it was pretty sweet. Dan and Ty kept trying it they weren't very good at it yet...

These are some Lovers Beach pictures...we swam, laid out, walked around, saw sea lions, and pirate ships and locals skim boarding and made new friends

we LOVE para sailing!

Wednesday July 1st
Wednesday was another port day yay!!! We decided MaZaTlAn would be our beach and shopping day. When we got off we went to some shops but only looked around because we didn't want a lot of stuff at the beach then we were off to this beach and resort it was a beautiful beach except all the people trying to sell us stuff they were everywhere. WE just stayed in the water as much as we could so they couldn't bother us. When we were on the bEaCh Ty would just keep telling them in Spanish we weren't interested and when ever they looked at me I would just keep saying no. I felt bad because this was how a lot of people made their money and they would have their kids there so i would want to say yes to help them but i really didn't want what they were selling. So when we first got to the beach Ty was bartering with people to get a good deal on renting a jet ski. We ended up getting a really good deal for 45 minutes. The people that were renting it out to us were actually from Utah. Well they were from MeXiCo but moved to Utah and were now in Mexico again (something about not liking the cops on them all the time...yikes). Despite their problems with the law they were really nice they were brothers and kept saying they love LDS people cuz they are so friendly. Anyway Jet skiing in the ocean was a blast I have been jet skiing many times but never in a wavy beautiful ocean i loved it! After Jet skiing we set up camp the the beach and went swimming. Oh my Gosh the water was PERFECT! It was as warm as bath water I loved it and never wanted to get out. We also rented some boogie boards that was super fun I had never done that before. Thank you Ty for teaching me how to boogie board and for telling me when to go for the good waves :) After a long day of of swimming beach fun and fried skin we were starving so we went to a cute Mexican authentic place call Margaritas. Ty got this crab salad thing and I got beef tacos with rice and beans. It was so so good and there were even people singing and playing guitars. Then we went back to the ShOpS that we liked and got tons of fun stuff and little presents for our familes. And of course we got way fun stuff for us. We got a cool mexican blanket, i got a sun dress, we got a cool mask, some Tshirts, and much much more. After shopping we headed back to the ship in a really cool taxi. I don't know how to explain it but it was like a little buggie. On our way into the port we saw some more shops and there was this awesome artist. We went to go see what he was all about and he was Awesome he painted full beautiful scenic paintings with just sPrAy PaInTiNgS. Coolest thing I have ever seen. I loved it so much we bought two a small one and a big one of a sunset in Mazatlan. Then we were right back on the ship. It was a full yet relaxing day. After getting ready for the night we met up with Dan and Kristin and went to the ice show with them again. Then to dinner with them then went to the song and dance show and then later that night we went to a hilarious show It was the Love and Marriage Newlywed game show. It was so so funny The newly wed couple was from California but But go to BYU and are LDS they had been married for four days haha. We met them later on they are so sweet. The middle couple were interesting and the older couple was from Utah. It was awesome. The Last that night at midnight they had a buffet at midnight up by the pool it was fun and super yummy.

Swimming in that beautiful warm water was a Blast!

Thursday July 2nd
Our very last port day and maybe our favorite was Puerto Vallarta. The whole day was taken by our adventure of the cruise....zIp LiNeS Baby! We got off and Ty did what he did best he spoke Spanish and worked his magic and got an awesome price for a Canopy Tour! We road up the beautiful mountain on a Bus we saw a part of Mexico that was hard to see but what I wanted to see the most. We got out of the tourist city and saw some of rEaL Mexico. It was kinda hard to see and I wanted to cry when I saw how some people live but it was fun to wave to the cute little kids and seeing people ride down the mountain on donkeys. I know I'm weird but I love new cultures and love meeting new people. It did make me so grateful for what I have and the opportunities in America. After a long beautiful ride we got to the top of the mOuNtAiN. We got all our gear on and listened to some instructions and we were off. We did twelve different Zip Lines they were all a little different some were short, some were long, some were fast, but they all had a gorgeous view that I will never forget. We were allowed to take pictures (lame) but luckily I will always remember that view. I was so nervous on the first one and screamed really loud in fact one of the guys said I win in the sCrEaMiNg category of the group haha but I got a lot braver and it was amazing. There was one of the zip lines that I got to go backwards and upside down with one of the tour guides. WOW that is all I have to say about that experience. When we got to the bottom we got to ride donkeys back up...the only problem with this is that for some reason they didn't bring enough down so ty was a gentleman and walked by my side he is so sweet but I felt bad for him. We got back and ate at a little restaurant they had right there we just got our favorite Mexican drink MaNzAnItA sOl and some beans and cheesy chips yummy. After our ride back down the mountain we were back on the ship. Then we were off to dinner with Dan and Kristen and our adopted family and of course the food was incredible like always. The show this night was another entertaining super funny one they called it the Quest Game show. The game show was like this: they split the room up in teams and we had a girl captain and a boy captain for each team. Then they would give us something to find that we had to give to our captain to bring up to the gAmE sHoW host and if we got it up there fast we got points. some examples of stuff they had a bring up were: mans pants unworn, a belt, a memory card, a bra not worn, a thong (he meant flip flops but of course he said thong so the crazies would come out), a man wearing heals and so much more but you get the idea it was scary and very funny.

gotta love the handstands on the beach...that is another tradition from our honeymoon

The bottom left pictures are of the Quest Game show... the rest are just pretty views of Puerto Vallarta

Friday July 3rd
Friday was another day at the sea all day on the ship and we entertained ourselves don't you worry :) Friday was full of sleeping in, food, laying out and frying my legs, mini golfing, Johnny Rockets food, fake TaTtOoS and another fun Formal Night Dinner. First of all Mini GoLfInG was a blast I love to say I golfed on a ship. Ty is such a fun husband and good husband for doing all the crazy fun things I wanted to do. The formal night was so so so much fUn and dinner was with our awesome crew of our adopted family and Dan and Kristin. I have a story about Dinners. Well I told ty that this cruise was going to be full of firsts and me trying things. Some of my firsts were parasailing, ziplining, rocking climbing on a rock wall, ice skating in the middle of the oCeAn, boogie boarding and trying new foods. Ty was taking advantage of my firsts so the deal was that I would try the different things that Ty would order at dinner. I was adventureous! The best part of the day though was when Ty sang KaRaOkE! I was so proud of him he did soooo good and by far got the most cheers everyone loved him. He sang Two Pina Colatas! You did the best babe!

There is us mini golfing, eatting Johnny Rockets for lunch and having a blast at Formal Night.
Can you see my lobster red legs in the formal pic hahaha

Saturday July 4th Last day :(
I kinda missed the typical fourth of jUlY festivities but I can complain I had an amazing fourth in the middle of the ocean with my cute hubby! We totally took advantage of all the things to do on the ship this day since it was the last day. We hung out with dan and Kristin pretty much the whole day. First we went ice skating it was so so so so much fun! After about an hour or so of that we decided to climb the rock wall. This was a fun aDvEnTuRe because ty had never rock climbed before. Good job Ty I am proud of you. He is always so willing to try new things. :) I hadn't been rock climbing in a really long time and I have never rock climbed on a wall only a mountain and they are diferent. Well since it had been so long since I had climbed I forgot to ise my legs more so my arms were getting so SoRe I didn't feel like I could finish so I told the guy helping me that I wanted to come down and he said no hahaha yeah he said no he said you can do it and you are strong so I kept going cuz he wasn't letting me down and even though I didn't think I could I got to the top of a pretty difficult path. Thank you Rock Climbing worker for pushing me to do better! After rock climbing we changed and went to Johnny Rockets again. This time when the workers started dAnCiNg Kristin and I joined in it was silly our boys enjoyed watching us though. After getting super full at the diner we decided to take advantage of the ArCaDe. We were the only adults in there haha. It was so much fun though I think the favorite game of all of us was the surfing one. Its the closest I have ever come to surfing....one day I will do the real thing (huge goal of mine) Ty has already been sUrFiNg lucky ducky. After all of our fun it was time to get ready for our last dinner. We didn't get sat with our adopted family so we were a little sad about that but we were the table right next to them and we sat with Dan and Kristin so it was all good and we still got pictures with all of them that night. I wish we would have exchanged email with that fam to keep in touch :( After dinner we went to the ending show which was the juggler again and another comedian and then later on that night they had the end of the week parade! I got my fourth of July PaRaDe :) After everything started dying down that night I started getting really sad that it was already over. So I kept telling Ty that I didn't want to go to bed cuz then it would be over sooner so before we went to bed we took one more walk around the whole ship and took some pictures and got one more late night snack of pizza. Then we were off the bed :(

These pictures are of us ice skating, rock climbing and Johnny Rockets!

The Arcade! We are allowed to act like little kids on vacation right?!

Our pictures of our last dinner with Dan and Kristin and our adopted Family.
The bottom left picture is of Ty's victory he finally mastered Papa Don's trick that he showed us earlier in the week and got the spoon in the water glass. Go job Ty it was awesome.
That Evening sky was beautiful and the sunset was gorgeous.

These were some of our many random pictures from our last walk that last night.

These were all of our towel animals from the whole week. Everynight our housekeeper would make a different towel animal. Aren't they awesome!

Sunday July 5th
When we woke up we got ready, finished packing got some breakfast and out the door we went off of the ship with our bags. It was so sad to get off I was totally stalling haha. We got off the ship around ten and started our jOuRnEy back to Utah. We decided to hop off the freeway and take a detour. Our detour was a couple hours out of our way but ended up really exciting. Ty has been wanting to take me to one of the places he served on his mIsSiOn called Lake LA and so of course I wanted to go. When we finally got there all the people he knew were still in church so he decided to show me his house. After looking at it he then showed me where his favorite family the Fransens lived and then showed me around tOwN. Then he wanted to go to the church to see if there car was there and it was. I could totally tell he really wanted to see them. We were not in church clothes though we were in jeans and a t-shirt and flip flops since this was a spur of the moment thing. After much debating we decided to go in the church anyway. I got to finally meet brother and sister FrAnSeNs and their kids that I have heard so much about they were sooooo nice and I am so happy we stopped to see them. We talked to Sister Fransen at the church for like two more hours and I could tell Ty was loving being back there. When it was finally time to get back on the road I could tell Ty was sad to go. Thank you so much babe for sharing this part of your life with me. We got back on the rOaD and our next stop was the big huge thermometer. On our way home from our honeymoon we stopped and took a bunch of pictures by it so we decided to make it a tradition and do it again. The drive then continued until St. George we decide to stop to see them and tell them about our cruise and check out their new house again. It was fun visiting. We were stalling in st George and didn't want to leave because that meant our vacation was over :( That night when we finally did get to Cedar City it was so good to be back and in our own home.

As you can tell we were very sad to leave the habor. But we did both wear our new Mazatlan T-shirts on the car ride home. We are such typical tourists I love it :)
The middle big picture is a picture of me with our housekeeper Clemente! I loved Clamente he was so sweet and always greated us with such enthusiasm and he knew our names and he was just so cute! Ty made fun of me for always saying I love Clemente but he made me sooo happy! Thank you Clemente for everything

The two bottom pictures are the view to and from Lake LA its pretty and there are a lot of Joshua Trees.
That is the house that Ty lived in while in this area...spoiled it was old but BIG!
And yes that top picture is a picture ty took of me when he was filling up with gas and I was sleeping he thought it was so funny because my mouth is open and I am soooo out of it.

Our favorite part of the California/Utah drive is the big Thermometer! And yes it was July so it was freakin hot.

Thank you Baby for such an amazing vacation. I got to spend so much time with you and I couldn't have asked for a more fun time. Thank you for all the adventures, for dressing up with me, for all the fun pictures, for getting fake tattoos with me, and most of all for all of the memories that we get to share together. I can't wait to do this with you again!

Sorry for the long post but since it is a journal I didn't want to miss anything. A lot has happened in our lives since the begining of July so stay tuned for some more updating posts.

eAsTeR tImE 2009

First off. We got a new Camera for an Easter Present! We LoVe it!and yes it is GrEeN. Here is the story. We went shooting last week and our camera dyed while we were there. (I'll post on the shooting date soon) We knew we needed a nEw camera soon since we are going on a CrUiSe this summer, but we figured we would think about that another day. Well to make a long story short when we were at Staples getting some copies made we looked at cameras just cuz we always do and fell in love with this little thing. We bought it on the SpOt. I really really wanted a nice photography big professional digital camera (my dream camera) but that is something we will have to save up for so for now we have this BeAuTy! We love it! Our old camera was only 2.2 megapixles and our new one is 8.1 with a way better zoom.

Our happy cUtE faces after we bought our new camera. We are silly. Gotta love the self-portaits.


Easter Weekend
Easter weekend started off with school off on friday it was awesome to have a break. BRiGhT and early in the morning our cute little nephew was dropped off at our house. We watched him while his mom and dad went to St. George. It was so much fun. I love this little boy. We played a lot, he loved to watch puppies (101 Dalmations), played pUpPy, kept saying he wanted to help (this is when we were cleaning), and he was so cute during his nap.

Parker being a PuPpY

NaP tImE

Later on Friday afternoon my FaMiLy came down to spend the holiday with us. Oh I was so excited to have them here in our home. It is always fun when my fam comes down. Friday was just really cHiLl we just hung out at home and watched a movie. Saturday morning we were off to the eGg HuNtS in Cedar and in New Harmony. The problem was we woke up to SnOw. Once egg hunt time hit it was down to a rain so we rushed to the Cedar hunt getting there just in time for it to start. They got lOaDs of eggs. Then dad decided we might as well head down 20 minutes to New Harmonys egg hunt. We couldn't find it for a while so just like the other one we were there just in the NiCk of time. The kids seemed like they had fun thought. Double the eggs whats not to like about that.

NeW hArMoNy

There rest of Saturday was full of shopping with the girls (mom, me and Emily), the BoYs went golfing, cooking dinner, boiling eggs, coloringEgGs , eating dinner at Chris and Em's house, talking for hours, mom getting the late night crazies, all of us getting the late night crazies because mom was cRaCkInG us up, watched YeS mAn and laughed our heads off! It was such a fun filled day with the fAm and it was nice that Ty and I both had work off.

Ammon, Zach and Em coloring eggs, drawing on eggs and painting eggs with food coloring pens

My little BuDdY Ammon

Look at all those PrEtTy eggs

mom cute mom and my cute little brother.

Aren't my little brothers so cute ;)

The next day was of course EaStEr! What a beautiful day it was. We got to sleep in just a bit since we have late church but not too late the kiddos wanted to see what the easter bunny brought them. It is always fun to spend holidays like this with kIdS to see how excited they get about it all. I can't wait for that for us. But of course Ty and I got some things from the big bunny himself as well.

Ty got: Some sweet shorts, flip flops, a water bottle, and some of his favorite easter candies (mIlKy WaY bunnies of course)

I got: The new Kelly Clarkson CD, A super cute shirt, a ways cute bAsKeT and some of my favorite candies

Then of course it was time for the inside easter egg hunt with the hard boiled eggs that they had decorated and let out from the easter bunny to hide.

Look at all those FuN toys

Zach broke open the ChOcOlAtE BuNnY right away of course. Who didn't do that as a kid?

After Church we came back and made an easter fEaSt, had an outside egg hunt and then at about six o'clock it was time for my family to leave.

This is part of my family. These are the kids left living in my mom and dads house minus my brother Adam he had to work.
Amanda, Dad, Mom, Emilee, Ammon and Zach
We MiSsEd you Adam sorry you couldn't come I can't wait to see you soon
We also miss Traci and Stephane and their adorable little boys Ben and JuJu Bean

Yay Here is Ty and I. EaStEr PiCtUre 2009
Look how cute we are in our matching Blue. That is my cute new easter shirt

While Dinner was cooking and being prepared Emilee wanted to play her new Hannah Montana DVD gAmE she got as an early B-day present from Em and Chris. My mom, Emilee, and I played the game. It was cute. I WoN and I don't even know anything about Hannah Montana. haha Sweet I love winning games.

Ty and I gave this cute pOlKa DoT dry erase board and some markers to Emilee for an early B-day present...And My cute sis Amanda drew these AdOrAbLe cartoons of Me and Ty I LoVe it so I had to take a picture of it :) I looks just like my hair and I love that she drew Ty's chin hair and the peak in the front of his hair
Thanks Amanda

Outside egg hunt with the plastic eggs with candy in them after church

EvErYoNe just hanging out outside for a bit in the warm sun before my fam had to sit in a car for four hours.

This is a pic of Ty and Amanda landing their toe touches. The story behind this is my little sister is trying out for cHeErLeAdInG and Last year Ty was helping her get ready and it was so funny. He was doing round offs and toe touches and so he decided to help her again It was fun. I didn't get a good picture of them in the middle of it and I had them do it again but the camera battery died, so I'll have to get in from my mom and put it on here. But my MoM thought it was so funny and was teasing Amanda because Ty's toe touch was actually really good and higher than hers. Haha hers was good too though. Good Luck MaNdA LoO at Tryouts we love you

We had so much fun with my family this weekend and had just a fun relaxing weekend with a few days off work. I was so super sad when my fam left. I don't know why but when they leave it is harder for me then when we leave their house. But it is a fun change to have them down here sometimes. thank you mom and dad for bring the fam down.