A touch of Paradise!!

Thanks to Andy's mom, we got back a few days ago we got back from a WONDERFUL trip to Cancun - actually about 1 hour South at a great private resort called Taninah. The 85 degree weather was greatly welcomed by us. (I'm not sure our California family could appreciate the warmth as much as us!) We had tons of fun and the week went by much to fast. We loved hanging out with family, eating wonderful food, and soaking up some rays!!

We enjoyed a little shopping and bargaining. Here is Lucy trying on a hat.

This is the place we stayed. We were at a resort in the jungle which happened to be only about 5 minutes from the beach. It was only our family on the property during the week. We each had a little house like this to stay in. The kids were so tired at night they went to bed without any problems!
There was TONS of stuff to do at the resort. This is a gym/play area for the kids. It especially came in handy during meal time. They would play in there while we finished our meal.
This is where we congregated for meal time and at night to play games and talk
The food was soooooo good and we ate way too much. There were 11 men on site 24 hours a day. They cleaned and cooked for us. They were so friendly and became our friends. We had freshly squeezed orange juice every morning with fresh pineapple, cantalope, and other fruit which was followed by the main breakfast. Lunch and dinner were always fabulous and dinner was finished off each night with some rich hot chocolate. They served us our meals. It was nice because they'd serve the kids first and then the adults. Meal time was not stressful at all. They even cleaned the high chairs. Does it get any better than that?!??!

The grounds were beautiful

Some of the activities on site included a trampoline (built in the ground - so no worries about injuries), mini golf, a trail to go running on, volleyball nets, ping pong, air hockey, slides, sand boxes, t.v., a giant movie theater (they set up the big screen and served us popcorn a couple nights we were there), a pool, and a big hit was the zip line.
Another great thing they had at the resort was this water slide in a cave. There are stalagtites (I think I got that right) everywhere with a little pool of water to slide into. It was quite a site. Ethan LOVED the slide and as you can see here Lucy isn't so sure about it!!

This is what it looks like all around. It's really cool.

We had lots of fun on several different beaches. Yes, the water really is this beautiful blue!!
We had a great time snorkeling. Lucy and Ethan couldn't figure out the masks but they had fun looking around with their goggles. I had a wonderful time cruising around with Lucy

Ethan went out with Andy......I can't get enough of the water! We all some some cool fish.

Here is Katie taking a rest with this statue!! Ha!

Here are the ping pong tournament planners looking very seriously over the brackets!!! Chad was the winner!

The workers set up a pinata on New Year's Eve for the kids. They had so much fun!

We even played volleyball against the workers......they beat us!!!

There was a dog(LUNA) running around all week. She lives there and we always knew when she was near by because Lucas would let out the loudest screech. He is HORRIFIED of dogs!!

And here is the lucky group that got to go para sailing. Amy and I were both a little sad not to be in on the action but given we are pregnant we decided we better not go. I did, however take a rain check!!

Here are Andy and Mike

We enjoyed our visit to Tulum where we saw all of these old ruins. It was a hot day but worth seeing. There is a beach right behind the ruins so we were glad to get wet after the tour.

A HUGE THANKS to Andy's mom for a FABULOUS trip!!! We had tons of fun and wish we were still there with everyone!

Christmas 2008

This year we spent our Christmas break in two very opposite places. We were in Minnisota which is the COLDEST place on earth for Christmas and then we headed to Mexico (85 degrees) to be with Andy's family for a week. We had a wonderful time in both places.
Matt and Camie were so great to have us for Christmas and let us join in with their family and for anyone who knows Camie she is a GREAT entertainer. We never lacked good food or conversation. We also never saw our kids because Lucy was too busy with Lydia and Ethan instantly clicked with Clayton.

Our first day in Minnesota we went to Macy's to see the greatest display of Santa's Workshop. We walked around and saw what the elves keep busy doing. It was pretty magical.

Here is a picture of the elves trying to get some sleep. Cute - huh!!!

The kids loved decorating sugar cookies. Lucas just kept globbing the frosting on. He was in heaven!!

Lucy and Lydia decorating cookies. (Notice the winter wonderland in the background. Like I said, Minnesota is the COLDEST place on earth!!!)

Ethan and Clayton are great friends. They had so much fun together!!

We had a talent show on Christmas Eve. The kids did lots of different things. Lydia recited "Twas the Night before Christmas", Lucy played a piano song, Ethan did summer salts, Clayton sang a song, and Lucy and Lydia sang together. Everything was very cute!!

Clayton singing a song with his antlers - too cute!

At the end of the talent show we all played bells to Christmas music

After dinner we enjoyed acting out the Christmas story. The kids really got into it and had fun.
Then it was the traditional P.J. time. The kids opened their Pajamas from grandma and grandpa. Thanks to my wonderful sister - in - laws (camie and Liz) I got a snazzy pair of P.J.'s too!!! (Can you get a tackier pair of P.J's - oh and yes, they are feet pajamas with a giant zipper. I felt like a GIANT wearing them and didn't stay in them too long!!!)

Christmas morning was lots of fun. Here is Lucas showing off his new ball. He was mostly interested in ripping open everybody's presents. He loved tearing the paper!

Santa gave Lucy and Ethan scooters. They LOVE them

Lucy's First Piano Recital

Lucy participatied in her first piano recital at the beginning of December. I teach her but asked my friend who is a piano teacher if we could join in on her recital so Lucy could have the experience of performing in front of others. Unfortunately we arrived a little late to the recital (because we got lost). So, when we arrived they swept Lucy away from us to sit with the other students. I was hoping to get there early so I could show her the grand piano and convince her it's the same piano keys even though it looks bigger than our piano at home. Anyway, I didn't have the chance to do that. I was so proud of her though - she got right up. Sat down, opened her book, found middle C and began playing and did a beautiful job and with confidence! Way to go Lucy!!

Thank goodness for WONDERFUL neighbors!!

I really think we have the BEST neighbors and when we move we will never have any quite like them. Andy and I have both been sick with coughs and sore throats for about a month. We have let our shoveling go to the way side and have not kept up. We just drive over it and pack it down. Well.....you can only do it for so long. As andy was leaving for work he got stuck in our driveway. We managed to get him out. After he left I began to shovel in the bitter cold but it was too hard. There was way too much snow and the bottom layers were so packed that it was impossible for me to lift. No sooner than I got back in the house I get a call from my neighbor telling me they were just on their way to help up us. Long story short......our neighbor brought over his snow blower and got rid of the snow. But, he didn't stop there. He then spent a very long time smashing the hard packed icy stuff and shoveling it off the driveway. Too kind!!!!! It is nice to know there are such nice people in the world and how we happened to live by them ...... who knows. That kind act of service meant the world to me. And on top of it she took the kids so I could run some errands before leaving on our trip.
Thank you neighbors!!!!!!