St. Croix

Kam and I went to St. Croix to celebrate our 15 year wedding anniversary and so he could attend a work conference. When we first arrived I wasn't sure if I was even excited to be there because I was so tired from the long flight and 4 hour time difference. Thankfully we adjusted and got some sleep and had a really great time together.

My mom watched the kids for us and it was fun to send pictures to them of their silly elf, Charlie, who snuck into our luggage.

View from our private balcony.

The first day we slept a lot. Kam had meetings in the morning and after we rested we explored the property of the hotel. We kayaked from one of the hotels beaches out over the reef.

We stayed at the Buccaneer (an old sugar plantation.)

This guy walked right in front of us while walking from the beach up to our room.

Day 2 we took a shuttle into Christiansted. It was a small little town with not much to do, but it was really neat to see the old buildings. We toured the Christiansvaern Fort and learned some history about Alexander Hamilton who lived in St. Croix.

Looking our from the boardwalk we saw this boat and had to take a picture
(Norma H, is Kam's grandmother's name. She passed in December 2009.)

For lunch we stopped and ate shrimp corndogs. Yummy!

Day 3 we took a sailboat tour out to Buck Island to do some snorkeling. We stopped at Turtle beach and then went to the other side of the island to snorkel at the reef. It was so beautiful with lots of colorful fishes. After snorkeling we sailed back to St. Croix to a small beach where we had a BBQ with our hosts.

Turtle Beach

Day 4 we hung out on the beach and built sandcastles. We also did lots of swimming and playing in the water. Later in the evening, we drove out to Salt River Bay to do a night kayak to a Biluminecent Bay. The conditions were not the best but it was still really cool to experience. We even got to hold a Comb Jellyfish.

This guys head was as big as a cantolope.

Our last day in St. Croix we drove around the island to Fredericksted. It was pretty much the same as Christiansted but less occupied. I'm guessing it's a more happening place when cruise ships come in though. We also drove around looking at the rainforest and other beaches before heading to the airport.

We had a great time, but I was ready to go home and see my kids. Silly how I can be so excited to get a break from being a mom and yet want to get back home to those crazy kids of mine after a short time. Still, time with my Kam is my favorite! 

PS. I've decided that traveling in December is a bad idea.

Festivus

My dad turned 60 this year and to celebrate we threw him a "Festivus" themed birthday celebration. The adults had dinner together at the Olive Garden where we "aired our grievances" by sharing stories of special moments from our past and how he has influenced us. In addition to this, we also awarded him with medals for different qualities that he possesses that we felt were great strengths of his. (The medals have personal reference to his pickle ball days).

After dinner we went back to my house for dessert with the kids and to perform the feats of strength. We also watched a few episodes of Seinfeld together.

Happy Birthday Dad! Love your guts!

Soccer Fall 2016

Originally Carter did not want to play soccer this season, but after he heard that several of his friends from our church were forming a team he wanted to play again. Carter played really well and was one of the better players on his team. Sadly, they didn't win any games nor did they score a goal the whole season, but it didn't matter to these kids because they all had a great time being together.

Braden, on the other hand, was very excited to get back to playing soccer. He started playing with a new team this year and his experience was amazing. He has improved as a player by leaps and bounds, playing center as well as defense. His team did very well winning all but 2 games during the season and they took 2nd place in the Henderson Cup for his age division. Braden has decided to stick with soccer and will now be playing year round with most of the boys from his team this year.

Halloween Shenanigans

We had a lot of fun celebrating Halloween and fall this year. Festivities began a few weeks early with a halloween parade at the boy's school. It was so fun to have Bo and Pappy come with us. 

Then we got to go to my mom's new ward trunk-or-treat.

The following week was our ward trunk-or-treat and I won first place in the chili cook-off! I got a sweet trophy and everything!

The day after our trunk-or-treat we headed for Utah since the kids had an extended weekend for Nevada Day. Our first stop was at Kam's parents. I caught this moment while getting ready for the day. Grampa was telling the kids a story and they were mesmorized!

Later we met up with my mom, brothers and sisters at Cross E Ranch. We played in a corn pit, went down slides, went on a hay ride and train ride, and even got to pick out some free pumpkins!

Cleaning the pumpkins

After playing at the ranch we had lunch, had a quick visit with Kam's brother and then headed to Megan's house to play games and later go to dinner. Then Megan took us to an awesome house out in Tooele that was all decked out for Halloween. It was so cool. There was a giant pirate ship in the front yard with skeleton pirates all around, all lit up with the soundtrack from Pirates of the Caribbean playing in the background.

It was a quick trip up north and we had to leave the following day so the kids could go to school on Monday, Halloween, and to go trick-or-treating with their friends. When the kids got home from school we painted the pumpkins we got at the pumpkin patch and then later met our friends in the neighborhood for a soup pot-luck and trick-or-treating together. We have a tradition here where we trick-or-treat on a few streets in the neighborhood and then all pile into the back of the truck and make stops at certain houses including members of our ward and also the big mansion house here in the neighborhood that gives out King Size candy bars. This year was crazy as we had 4 trucks full of kids with us and at the mansion house the kids got to go inside for a mini haunted house experience to get their candy. It was really cool and so much fun being with all our friends. The kids brought home so much candy! I am sure we will be eating it clear through next summer!

Braden's Pumpkins

Carter's Pumpkins

Mine and Kam's pumpkins. Kam was stuck at work late so I painted his.

Riley's pumpkins

Braden the Woodsman

Carter the Big-Bad-Wolf

Little Red "Riley" Hood

Happy Halloween!

A Decade

I've officially been a mother for a decade! Brady turned 10 and although I should say it doesn't seem real that I have a ten year old, it does! He has already started acting more like a pre-teen, but is still my responsible, smart, and loving son.
We celebrated after he got home from school by going to Grammy Bo's house to swim and then open presents. We also took him out to dinner, just him. We went to Red Lobster for their shrimp fest and he loved getting to eat his favorite food and the one on one time with just Kam and me. After dinner we went back to Grammy's house for a doughnut cake and to play card games with my aunts and my uncle who were visiting my mom.

A couple days later we extended the celebration with a friend party. We made homemade pizza's, went mini-golfing, and the boys made up a fun game to play with a balloon before opening presents and eating brownies.