Caribbean Cruise

My sweet mother and father in law took us on a cruise last month!  We toured the eastern caribbean, stopping at San Juan, St. Maartin, St. Thomas, and the Princess Cays islands!  I am absolutely in love with the bright blue ocean!  My favorite places were the Butterfly Farm on St. Maartin and snorkeling at Coki Beach on St. Thomas!  My least favorite stop was San Juan, because I didn't get to see any of it except through my window.  Lesson learned - if you get sick on a cruise (not like emergency sick) DON'T go to the medical center!  They isolated me to my room for 24 hours with bad room service options.  Other than that it was a perfect trip!  I loved the freedom of the cruise.  I loved spending time as a group, then just being with my honey for awhile.  I loved going dancing.  I loved reading a book on the deck.  Todd and everyone else in my group loved the food the most.  Any of you that know me, know that that is a tough spot to win me over on.  I'm pretty sure Todd's favorite spot was the snorkeling as well, that kid is a fish!  We are definitely planning on taking our kids on a cruise with us in a few years after we save our pennies!

The Grand Princess

 Formal night... I love an excuse to dress up!

 My favorite butterfly at the Butterfly Farm!

 Myself holding a blue morpho butterfly!  Heaven!

 Todd is a big kid... he still enjoys getting smashed by waves!

 We left our mark...

 This is about what heaven looks like!

 Kye, Karlie, Gary, and Todd with a pile of cannon balls in San Juan.

 Todd missing me in San Juan.

 I think I could enjoy this view for the rest of eternity, just bury me here!

 Chillin iguana!

 Todd and me snorkeling at Coki Beach.  (I am not a fish like my honey, I float!)

 Taber walking underwater with a cement cylinder, silly.

 Trick - the fish love doggy biscuits, so pack some with you when you go snorkeling, they'll swim all around you!

 Sunset at sea!

 The guys being silly with seashells at Princess Cays.

 Gary and Karlene, thanks again guys!

 Karlie and Kye chillin!

 These cute little hermit crabs were all over, I loved them!

Tyler and Kolbi (our ship in the background)

A precious memory to last forever!

Lake Powell '09

This year's trip to Lake Powell was the most enjoyable I've had for a long time!  I think that has a lot to do with Linda... Liv was her constant shadow and Linda welcomed it happily!  Those two spent a lot of time looking for seashells and playing games with the family!  Every boat ride we went on the kids wanted to sit on Grandma's lap, and Linda made it work so both grandkids could sit.  Since she was willing to play with the kids it took a lot of stress off of me so I was actually able to relax from time to time!  Todd was there for the first few days, yay!  We actually went a day early and camped on a beach.  We were to find a beach to park the houseboat on for the week, but that turned out to be a difficult job!  It was a packed weekend!  But we were very pleased with the beach we ended up on (Kris and Lyle, the usual beach finders, eventually found it for us!)  But Todd headed home on Tuesday because summer session of school was starting :(  I was very proud of him for being responsible, though, and skipping the rest of the trip to take care of business!  But I was devastated to discover that earlier that day somehow all of my pictures had been deleted off of the memory card :(  I still have no idea how this happened, and it honestly wouldn't surprise me if Gary Boy had somehow pressed the buttons necessary to do this.  So you'll see little pictures of Todd because of this, totally bums me out!

Hawaii Part Four

We were really anxious to get back to our kids after being away for nine days, but Grandma and Grandpa Young kidnapped our kids... okay, not really.  They had to go to Springdale, Utah because Todd's Grandma Young had a plumbing problem so their services were needed.  In the end we waited two hours before we finally got to see them.  The kids were all smiles... Gary ran straight to his dad and would not come to me.  Turns out when his Great-Grandma Young asked him if he was excited to see his mom, he replied, "No, just Dad!"  I'm actually not surprised :)  They are such buddies!   On the other hand, Liv made up for it with warm smiles and big hugs!  While we were gone she drew pictures of the family, but her mommy had a frowny face.  When her Grandma asked why, she said, "Because she misses me!"  Precious!  After reuniting, and finally getting my hugs from Gary Boy, we gave them their gifts we brought back from Hawaii... they were so genuinely happy, like Christmas!

Hawaii Part Three

I've been trying to decide how I want to tell you all about the trip.  We did a whole lot, which is why it went by so fast, but I'm not sure how to hold your attention for that long.  So I'll just tell you the highlights of each day...

  Saturday we arrived in Hawaii

 time afternoon, we checked in to our condo which happened to have boogie boards already in there.  Probably someone else's purchase they couldn't take home.  

 Our condo is conveniently located right across the street from a beautiful beach.   So 

right away Todd was ready to experience sand between his toes, so to the beach we went!

  Sunday  was pretty laid back, being the sabbath and all.  We rented our snorkel gear and hit a nearby beach.  Todd loved it from the start, and was diving down right away... a natural

 fish!  In the afternoon/evening we drove around trying to find surfers (Todd's desire).  We saw a beautiful rainbow, complete and breathtaking!  When we found the surfers we watched from an overlook.  It was amazing because it started to rain on us... but it shouldn't be called rain, because it's more of a mist!

  Monday we headed to Lahaina, after more snorkeling (where Dad, Linda, and Todd found the first turtle of our trip), to do some shopping before a Luau.  We had to wait two hours before

 the Luau so we could get a good spot , and then an hour later until food was set up and ready for eating.  But it was worth the wait because during it was another gorgeous sunset!  We were accompanied by a newlywed couple that had eloped from Holland to get married in Hawaii, it added to the experience incredibly!

  Tuesday morning we took a boat ride to Molikini where the water was so clear... the most amazing color of blue!  Then we head to Turtle Town, which was funny cause we later read "Where is Turtle Town?  Anywhere they say it is" meaning they take tourists wherever the turtles are.  Right away Todd and I found one & swam a ways with it.  In just about the same area we found three more resting on the bottom.  I was there when one finally came up for air, they are amazing!  On the way back, after a yummy barbecued lunch, we saw four more swimming along the boat just before the harbor!  It was awesome!

  Wednesday we took The Road to Hana!  I still love the drive, but I definitely had allowed myself to forget the windy roads!  But the stops are beautiful!  I would definitely suggest Dramamine (sp?) if you ever go!

  Thursday we actually slept in for a bit (meaning 8am) and snorkeled.  That afternoon we went to the top of the volcano, Haleakala.  I loved the cool mountain air, made me feel like I was 

back in the Rocky Mountains.  And there's this amazing plant called Silver Sword... it can live for 50 years, but only blossoms once & then dies, so sad.

  Friday was our last day to play in the water, so we started with snorkeling at the first beach where turtles were seen.  It was awesome... it's a bit of a swim out but then we found two turtles, one soon came up for air & I got a lot of the pictures I posted previously.  Todd and I

 swam further and found three more and watched as another came up... it was the perfect last snorkel trip!  That afternoon we went to Iao needle, pretty enough.  Then came back to experience Big Beach... that was so fun for the guys!  Plus, to watch the locals with their boogie boards was very entertaining!  The guys got beat into the shore a lot, but caught enough waves to keep playing until the sun set!

  Saturday we had to check out by 9am, so we had the day to kill.  That's when we went to the Maui Ocean Center... that's the best time to go, morning, because they're feeding all the creatures so they're very active!  Then we did more shopping in Lahaina to make sure we bought all we wanted and ended the trip watching the sunset from the restaurant Bubba Gump... it was the best ending to our great trip!

Hawaii Part Two

I think the best part of the trip was watching my husband enjoy snorkeling, especially when we found all these turtles!  On Tuesday we took a boat ride to Molikini (a vent crater for the volcano) and Turtle Town.  We saw at least ten turtles, five of those up close!  They are such magnificent creatures!  The fish are amazing, I'm starting to understand why people want saltwater fish in their aquariums!  But I have to say, Todd was definitely my favorite fish!!

Hawaii Part One

Our trip to Hawaii was fantastic!  We were able to do so much, but it went by too fast, as trips often do.  I still have some editing to do, but I thought I'd post the beautiful flowers I was able to capture.  I love how colorful Hawaii is!  There are so many exotic bright flowers... it's so pretty!  The trees are equally amazing, but I don't have so many shots of those.  So enjoy these for now, more to come later...