Feb 6 - 12

 

Monday, February 6 - Today was another day at sea and we had fun! We sat by the pool, everyone ate lunch together at the back of the ship, we relaxed, played, then ate dinner together. :) Zack convinced me to go on the Sky Ride with him. You just peddle these little cars around a track overhead. The view was amazing! I really love sea days!

Tuesday, February 7 - This was our first port of the cruise; Puerto Vallarta. We spent the first half of the day walking down the Malecon and seeing all of the sights. We went back to the ship and I decided to stay on the ship due to a migraine. Everyone else got back off the ship, went shopping, and then they played in the ocean. Seeing these pictures later made me wish I would have just toughed it out but I'm glad my family had a great time!

Wednesday, February 8 - Today was a little tough. Poor little Zacky came in our room at 2:00 am and said that he had thrown up in his bed. I figured it was just motion sickness or something but he threw up again around 4:00. Needless to say, we didn't have him get off the ship and I didn't want to leave him alone so I stayed on the ship with him. We were at Mazatlán, not my favorite stop, so we just did ship things. He was feeling a little better by dinner so he ate a little bit and then joined us for the entertainment and a musical show after. Poor guy! You can't be sick on a cruise! 

Thursday, February 9 - From my least favorite port yesterday to my very favorite port today! I love Cabo! Everyone got off the ship together and we found a glass bottom boat to take us out to see the sights. That is always fun! Our driver was hilarious and super nice. There was a small group of whales that kept breaching the surface near us so we stayed out probably an extra half hour just watching the water! It was so cool! Tonight at dinner was a mommy nightmare! Zack complained of a headache before we went but it was formal night and it had been a busy day so I didn't think a lot of it. Before our main course even came, he was curled up in a ball on his chair crying. I decided to take him back to our room and figured I would just leave him there to rest and I would go back for the prime rib dinner. I was trying to turn the TV on for him and things got really scary. He was trying to tell me what he wanted to watch but his words were not forming. He would say things like "ick" and "dat" but he couldn't form any normal words. I thought he was having a stroke so I told him to smile, to say his name, to squeeze my hands at the same time...etc. He finally came back to himself and we talked like normal but there was absolutely no way I was going to leave him! I ate dinner in our room and then crawled into bed next to my boy. BJ checked on him but we all think he's fine. Possibly just a migraine mixed with dehydration. I made Simon sleep in Zack's bed so that he could stay with me. The picture of them sleeping on my bed is when Simon came back from the entertainment, I went out of the room for a few minutes. When I came back, these three were all asleep. :) 

Friday, February 10 - This sea day was not as fun as it was on our way out. It was only 60° and breezy so it was COLD! We were basically just lazy around the ship all day. Tonight, we enjoyed our last dinner in the dining room together then went to entertainment. Tonight's show was just amazing! It made up for most of the other shows that were either okay-ish or just bad. It was so good, my parents went twice! The crew hides these little rubber ducks around the ship and when you find one, you take a picture, then re-hide it for someone else to find. Cute! Kendra has a big ole' crush on our Cruise Director, Marty, so she got this very "embarrassing" picture with him. Haha! And my dear son Nick. He ate 119 ice cream cones this week, which is a ship record!! So he got knighted by our Assistant Cruise Director, Renier, and given a cruise ship trophy. Haha! Gross!! It was SO foggy tonight and Simon got this amazing picture. It has been a weird cruise day! And I couldn't help but post a pic of Ricki with our final towel. She has loved going in and seeing what they left us each night and we got a lot of pictures of her with the towels. :)

Saturday, February 10 - Just like that, the cruise is over and we are heading home. Dang it! We had such a nice time being with my parents, Simon's parents, and the McCulloughs. We can't wait to go again...soon!

Sunday, February 12 - Today was the first day Zack got to pass the sacrament so I discretely took this picture of him passing to us. He's so cute...and tiny. The older Deacons tower over him and the other new Deacons. Haha! Today was also the Super Bowl so we congregated at my parent's house for the big game. It was such a great game to watch and in the end, it was won by a field goal! So good! 

Jan 23 - 29

 

Monday, January 23 - My friend at work, Brooke, was telling me how easy it is to make homemade bread bowls. I got to be honest, I didn't really believe her! :) Nick wanted ham and potato soup this week so I gave the bread bowls a try. They were actually really pretty easy and they tasted so good with Nick's yummy soup!

Tuesday, January 24 - Just me, at work in Aimee's super cute bathroom, trying on more clothes for Marisa! :)

Wednesday, January 25 - We had a fun girl's lunch today at Cafe Rio. We still love the Wednesday special! I did mom's nails and Nick helped her with her new iPhone and then we all went to Young Men/Young Women's together. It was a year preview activity that parents were invited to and Nick conducted because he is the 2nd Attendant in the Priest Quorum. It was a fun evening being together with my family and mom. :)

Thursday, January 26 - Mom slept at our house last night and we kept working on her iPhone this morning. As "payment" for our help, mom took me to Kneader's for breakfast. My fave! We spent most of the day together and it was so fun!

Friday, January 27 - Jenni came over today to get her toes done. Look how cute!! :) 

Saturday, January 28 - It is our Stake Conference this weekend. Instead of going to the church for the adult session, we enjoyed it from home. I had to take a picture of these two because they looked so familiar to me. I sent them to mom and Jenni and sure enough, they were in our first ward in Oquirrh Shadows. They are the Christensen's and they are in the temple presidency at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple now. They were the speakers for our adult session. And it was so good!

Sunday, January 29 - Well, Nick did it...again. He brushed his mirror against the wall of the garage. Honestly, who hasn't done this before. :) Luckily, he has a dad that knows how to get these things out of the paint and make it look like it never happened!

Jan 16 - 22

Monday, January 16 - My cute mom took my younger kids for a sleepover tonight and she surprised them with an evening at Allstar Fun Center. They had so much fun...and then they got a sleepover!

Tuesday, January 17 - It's who you know! Haha! Marisa wants some clothes from Livy & Kate but wants to know how they fit before ordering. She knows I work on Tuesdays so she sent me a few screenshots of what she was looking at and asked me to try them on for her. I obediently complied!

Wednesday, January 18 - Kendra and Adrianna haven't hung out as much lately so when she asked if she could go over there today, I happily allowed it! I just love Adrianna and her and Kendra are such cute friends!

Thursday, January 19 - Shhhh! Kendra and I snuck away today for a quick lunch at Panda Express. She needed some sweat pants from Walmart for gym class and she had a hard day yesterday with the new semester starting so I thought we might as well grab lunch while we were out. :) Love my lunch & treat buddy!

Friday, January 20 - I have been asking and asking for a trip to the teeth whitening place and Simon surprised me with it for Christmas. I have to preface; I didn't think my teeth were too bad as far as color. However, check out that before and after picture! The difference is amazing!! Thanks Simon! I loved this Christmas gift!

Saturday, January 21 - My dear friend, Debby Asay's daughter was getting married today and she asked if I would do their cake. I am honestly not doing cakes anymore so I was hesitant. However, sweet Ashley has been down a similar road as Kenny and is also sober now. I feel a special connection with her and her family so I finally agreed. Look how beautiful and happy she looks cutting her cake next to her sweetheart. I am so glad I was able to be such a big part of her beautiful day!

Sunday, January 22 - Today was a very special day for Zack. He received the Aaronic Priesthood and was ordained to the office of a Deacon. Zack is such a great kid and I can't wait to see what he does with his new priesthood. He is already friend- and service-oriented so I know he will do great in his new role. Congratulations Zack!

Jan 9 - 15

Monday, January 9 - Kendra and I went shopping for a little while tonight. She wanted some dresses to wear over her swimsuits on the cruise. We went to three stores and finally found what we are looking for at Uptown Cheapskate. Cute girl! Ricki constantly wants us to come down to play Minecraft so I finally gave in. I watched Minecraft for a while with her. I love my girls!

Tuesday, January 10 - Ricki's winter coat is ripping all down the seam so we've been needing to get her a new coat for a couple of weeks now. Angela Howell posted on our ward group chat that she had a really nice coat up for grabs. I went over and got it, offered to pay, and she said she was giving it to us. Ricki loves it! Sadly, BJ had to go to the hospital today with kidney stones again. They are terrible and painful and he is miserable when he has them. Poor guy!

Wednesday, January 11 - Jenni, Marisa, Meg, and I went to lunch today at Cafe Rio. As we were sitting there, I looked at Jenni and I asked if she was okay. She said that she had food stuck in her airway and that she was okay right then but if she tried to swallow, it was going to get stuck. Sure enough, she took a drink and her airway was closed! I did the Heimlich, again, and we got it out okay. It's just so scary that this keeps happening! :( Tonight, we made mom's "oven stew" in the crockpot and it turned out really good!

Thursday, January 12 - These tiny little nuggets are what about kills BJ once or twice a year! The one on the top is the biggest one he had ever passed...until today! The latest one was a doozy!

Friday, January 13 - Simon and Nick were asked to watch Junior while Dave, Viv, Gary, and Alexis went on a Disney cruise with the kids. Last-minute, Franky's sitter fell through so they asked if Simon would be willing to watch after him too. They are both staying at Dave and Viv's and Simon will go over two or three times a day to check on them and feed them. I'm thankful that we live so close that we can help out with these things!

Saturday, January 14 - Zacky had an indoor soccer game today. I video recorded a lot to be able to show Zack how the game looks from my side and I caught this shot of him about to take a PK. He's my favorite athlete to watch! :) Unfortunately, we lost this game 1-7.

Sunday, January 15 - I spent some time today getting the primary birthday handouts ready. We are going to take them around at the end of each month but until today, we didn't have anything ready. I'll send these to be printed, Mirinda is picking up movie theater candy, and we'll be all set by next Sunday!

Jan 1 - 8

 

Sunday, January 1 - It's always interesting getting up and ready in the morning with kids that stayed up until after midnight. :) Ricki and her friend Savannah got called up to help with singing time today. I love that she loves to participate in primary. 

Monday, January 2 - We all had the day off today for New Year's Day (observed) so we decided to get together for lunch. We had "red envelopes" from coming to Salsa Leedos in December so we used those to get a little discount. Lunch was good but the company was great! 

Tuesday, January 3 - Well, back to work! It's hard getting back into the swing of things after over a week off with everyone at home. I went to work today and look how adorable the powder room is!! Aimee is a very talented decorator and put this together in a matter of two days! I love the color scheme and the floral wallpaper. So cute!

Wednesday, January 4 - I guess it's time to take Christmas down. Not only is it a big job that I don't like doing, it's also sad to take the festive decorations away from our home. It looks so warm and happy with everything up, I don't like taking it down. Haha! Bye Christmas. See you next year!

Thursday, January 5 - Dave & Viv are on a Disney Cruise with Gary and Alexis right now so Simon is going over to their house a couple of times per day to take care of Junior and Frankie. When he went over tonight, someone (probably Frankie) had climbed on the high chair, walked over the stovetop, and gotten this bag of cereal, a bag of dog treats, and some of David's medications. Luckily, it didn't look like he had eaten Dave's meds, just knocked them off the counter. Silly dogs!

Friday, January 6 - Amie sent me this meme today. It's funny because of how sad and true it is!

Saturday, January 7 - Zack had a young men's basketball game this morning at the church. I took him and got to watch him play. These boys are so funny! They would yell Zack's name and pass him the ball. I also enjoyed visiting with the moms that were there. :) Tonight, we went to Texas Roadhouse to use up a gift card that was burning a hole in our pockets...from Christmas!

Sunday, January 8 - Happy birthday dad! We celebrated dad's birthday at dinner tonight. He requested tamales and chili for dinner. We sang to him and of course, he had to pull a blowing face. :) My favorite is Zack's face in this picture. Silly boy!