Wednesday, January 28, 2009
I love cornbread!
Here's our cute boy Asher. It was his first experience with cornbread and he thought he was pretty neat... as you can see. He is such a cutie and such a chubby little guy. He is right about 8 months in this picture, weighing in at 21.4 pounds.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
The Cruise...
Lacey and I decided we needed some sister bonding time last year, so we decided we were going on a cruise together. We had a lot of fun, and let me tell you... oh how I enjoyed the sunshine!! We went through San Diego, so we got a chance to hang with Becky before and after the cruise which was a definite bonus. As you can see, Axel was enjoying having another little person around to hang with. Becky said there was once or twice she found Axel straddling his chest sitting on him and Asher not quite sure what to do... just trying to breathe I guess.
Our first stop on the cruise was in Acapulco. We went shopping at the old Acapulco flea market, and somehow picked up our own personal walking tour guide(below) who took us around all afternoon. He was very nice and was telling us all about old Acapulco. I am sure he was getting a cut of whatever we spent at the flea market, not to mention the tip at the end!
That evening, we went to see the world famous Acapulco cliff divers. It was really pretty cool. They scale this rock wall that was 106' high in bare feet, go to the little chapel you see at the top and pray they don't die, and then have to push out 21' to clear the rocks at the bottom and dive into this chasm that is only about 20' wide. All in all it was pretty cool. After that we went to the new Acapulco for dinner. It was a lot of fun, and definitely a very touristy place. Below is our boat sitting in the bay at Acapulco... we thought it was pretty with all the lights on at night.
Next we went to Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo. It was beautiful and had a very old Mexico feel to it. Here is the bay that we were in. We took a catamaran and went snorkeling here. It was awesome!! Below you see us with one of our snokeling helpers. He was great. He was catching and bringing up sea life for us to touch and hold. We got up close and pesonal with some star fish, a sea urchin and my personal favorite... a couple of puffer fish. He was great and we had a blast.
The best part of the whole thing was the comic entertainment that comes from watching a man in a bright blue brazillian cut speedo with a very hairy butt shimmy up the mast to secure the sail. (trust me, the picture doesn't do the hair justice!!!) It was great!
Below you see Lacey and I enjoying karaoke while there was not anyone around we would ever see again to remind us of the moment. We, along with some other girls we met on the cruise, had a great time singing and dancing to Baby Got Back by the esteemed Sir Mix-a-Lot. Oh... you all missed out!
And here we are at our last destination, Manzanillo. This excursion was probably our favorite. As you can see we got to get all prettied up to deal with the dust, and then we took our ATV's through the jungle and down to the beach. It was so much fun!! We were there for about four hours, and by the time we got back we were so covered in sand and dust that we were brown pretty much everywhere except where our goggles were. The beach was so much fun to ride on, and thankfully neither of us got stuck in the sand.
They had all these trails from where people got to ride up and down this dune/hill. You had to gun it to get up and then came flying down the other end. Did I already say how fun this trip was!! We were so glad we did this one when we got done, especially when we got back to Manzanillo and tried our luck at downtown Manzanillo and shopping.
And below... I show you the best of what downtown Manzanillo had to offer. This big old fish sculpture was pretty cool. Other than that, the shopping was terrible, there were no beaches in the downtown area, and there really wasn't anything else to do. Luckily, our ATV trip had taken up most of our time at this stop, so we used our time in town to call home from the trusty local payphone shop, and went back to the boat to eat ice cream.
Next is a picture of the people we were at the table with for our dinner seating. Apparently they saw two girls going on a cruise together and thought we must be single, because we got stuck at the young single table. The first night they were pretty trashed and annoying, and we actually requested a different table. But, we gave them another chance the second night and they were all really nice. We had a great time with them and it gave us some other people to hang out with and do things with on the boat.
And last but not least, we can't leave off the picture of our cabana boy/. Before we went on the cruise, Lacey & I were teasing our husbands about how we were going to find a cute cabana boy while we were gone. Larry said if I found one he could rub my feet for me. Anyway, being the good wives that we are, this was the extent of our cabana boy experience. We had to get a picture for our guys to let them know what kind of competition they were up against!!
So, we had a great time on our cruise, I loved getting some sunshine, but it was good to get home. I have an awesome husband to be okay with me leaving him for ten days, an amazing mother in law who flew out to freezing cold Cleveland in the middle of January to take care of three of our kids so I could go, and a wonderful best friend who took great care of my sweet little baby for me while I was on the boat. Thanks so much for all of you, I love you guys and am grateful for your help so I could go!
Our first stop on the cruise was in Acapulco. We went shopping at the old Acapulco flea market, and somehow picked up our own personal walking tour guide(below) who took us around all afternoon. He was very nice and was telling us all about old Acapulco. I am sure he was getting a cut of whatever we spent at the flea market, not to mention the tip at the end!
That evening, we went to see the world famous Acapulco cliff divers. It was really pretty cool. They scale this rock wall that was 106' high in bare feet, go to the little chapel you see at the top and pray they don't die, and then have to push out 21' to clear the rocks at the bottom and dive into this chasm that is only about 20' wide. All in all it was pretty cool. After that we went to the new Acapulco for dinner. It was a lot of fun, and definitely a very touristy place. Below is our boat sitting in the bay at Acapulco... we thought it was pretty with all the lights on at night.
Next we went to Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo. It was beautiful and had a very old Mexico feel to it. Here is the bay that we were in. We took a catamaran and went snorkeling here. It was awesome!! Below you see us with one of our snokeling helpers. He was great. He was catching and bringing up sea life for us to touch and hold. We got up close and pesonal with some star fish, a sea urchin and my personal favorite... a couple of puffer fish. He was great and we had a blast.
The best part of the whole thing was the comic entertainment that comes from watching a man in a bright blue brazillian cut speedo with a very hairy butt shimmy up the mast to secure the sail. (trust me, the picture doesn't do the hair justice!!!) It was great!
Below you see Lacey and I enjoying karaoke while there was not anyone around we would ever see again to remind us of the moment. We, along with some other girls we met on the cruise, had a great time singing and dancing to Baby Got Back by the esteemed Sir Mix-a-Lot. Oh... you all missed out!
And here we are at our last destination, Manzanillo. This excursion was probably our favorite. As you can see we got to get all prettied up to deal with the dust, and then we took our ATV's through the jungle and down to the beach. It was so much fun!! We were there for about four hours, and by the time we got back we were so covered in sand and dust that we were brown pretty much everywhere except where our goggles were. The beach was so much fun to ride on, and thankfully neither of us got stuck in the sand.
They had all these trails from where people got to ride up and down this dune/hill. You had to gun it to get up and then came flying down the other end. Did I already say how fun this trip was!! We were so glad we did this one when we got done, especially when we got back to Manzanillo and tried our luck at downtown Manzanillo and shopping.
And below... I show you the best of what downtown Manzanillo had to offer. This big old fish sculpture was pretty cool. Other than that, the shopping was terrible, there were no beaches in the downtown area, and there really wasn't anything else to do. Luckily, our ATV trip had taken up most of our time at this stop, so we used our time in town to call home from the trusty local payphone shop, and went back to the boat to eat ice cream.
Next is a picture of the people we were at the table with for our dinner seating. Apparently they saw two girls going on a cruise together and thought we must be single, because we got stuck at the young single table. The first night they were pretty trashed and annoying, and we actually requested a different table. But, we gave them another chance the second night and they were all really nice. We had a great time with them and it gave us some other people to hang out with and do things with on the boat.
And last but not least, we can't leave off the picture of our cabana boy/. Before we went on the cruise, Lacey & I were teasing our husbands about how we were going to find a cute cabana boy while we were gone. Larry said if I found one he could rub my feet for me. Anyway, being the good wives that we are, this was the extent of our cabana boy experience. We had to get a picture for our guys to let them know what kind of competition they were up against!!
So, we had a great time on our cruise, I loved getting some sunshine, but it was good to get home. I have an awesome husband to be okay with me leaving him for ten days, an amazing mother in law who flew out to freezing cold Cleveland in the middle of January to take care of three of our kids so I could go, and a wonderful best friend who took great care of my sweet little baby for me while I was on the boat. Thanks so much for all of you, I love you guys and am grateful for your help so I could go!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
RENT
My friend Julie and I went to see Rent when it was here and had a lot of fun. It was freezing the night we went, and we both decided it was not exactly what we were expecting, but we did have a good time!
Friday, January 09, 2009
Going to see Seinfeld!
My sweet husband bought me tickets to go see Jerry Seinfeld live and we had a blast. It is kind of weird to see him doing anything other than Seinfeld, but he was hilarious. It made me remember why I liked Seinfeld so much when it was on!
Friday, January 02, 2009
Dad's Home... Time to Play
Larry was off today, so of course we had to take advantage of it and play. We went to the science center to their robot exhibit, and the kids got to build and play with robots which was a lot of fun. We then went to the Candy Land that the Metro Parks put on each year. It's a life sized candy land game where the kids are the pieces and they play the game by moving to the space on their cards. It was fun, and since this is the last year they are doing it we figured we better take advantage of it before it's gone.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Happy New Year
I can't believe it is 2009! The time is just flying by and my kids are getting bigger and bigger! I think they are really starting to like this holiday thing... not only is dad home more, but for Thanksgiving it was pie for breakfast, Christmas it was sticky buns, and now for New Years it was pancakes with an array of apple butter, raspberry jam, syrup and whip cream. As you can see, the whip cream was the hit of the morning. I never realized that whip cream and syrup were a good combination?! You learn something new everyday. And yes, Rhyan does have her mittens on, and no... I don't know why she insisted on wearing them. As you can see, Asher is enjoying breakfast too. While in Utah for Lacey's wedding, Opa introduced him to pancakes, and let me tell you, he loves them! He has decided he likes real food, so if he's sitting there and you are eating he wants some too! And if he likes pancakes, pancakes with apple butter are just amazing. All you have to do is look at his face; he's in heaven! With the new year it gives you the opportunity to reflect, and we have been so blessed this last year. We can only hope and pray that the coming year is equally as great!
The Highlights of 2008
January: Larry went to the Dominican Republic for a humanitarian service week to do dentistry on the underprivileged. For the last four days of the trip, I went down with Beck and Sabrina and we hung out at the resort with our husbands! It was a great time, and kudos to Julie for watching our kids for us so we could go! Mayson got to go see The Very Hungry Caterpillar at Playhouse Square, and Rhyan gave us our first kid to break a bone when she broke her arm.
February: Larry and I got to go to see Wicked with Becky and JJ and it was awesome! Kaleb and Larry went to see the monster trucks, and Larry and I went to the Matchbox Twenty concert which was a blast!
March: We got our massive snow storm, which led to our fun sledding trip that landed Mayson in the ER and then in physical therapy for a couple months. We won second place at the Psi O Salsa Challenge for our yummy salsa, and we had our fun family night at the Cavaliers game. We also spent Easter with the Campbell family and had a great time!
April: Kaleb had his first pinewood derby, we took our annual trip to the indoor water park, and we had the Dental Formal which was reschedule from the big snow storm in March. I also had the chance to take a trip to St. Louis with my best friend Becky for the AADA conference. We had a blast and learned a lot. And... our sweet Mayson turned five this month!
May: We had our senior dinner the beginning of the month, and then I got the sad new that Grandma Hall had passed away. I made a trip to Utah for the funeral and stayed a few extra days to visit with family. Then, on May 18th Larry graduated from dental school!! We were so proud of all his hard work!
June: The first of June Kaleb turned eight! It is amazing to me he is that old, and not quite a week later his new baby brother Asher joined our family. We were so blessed to have his little spirit come into our home, and once I got past the drama of my water breaking at Home Depot, it was all good! We had Becky & JJ at our house until they left for California, and they helped with the kids while we were preoccupied having a baby. We had Urs come out to help with the kids, which was a lifesaver when Asher ended up back in the NICU. I cannot tell you how much we learned about how blesses we are to have healthy children, and how grateful we were when he was able to come home! The downside to this month was that we had so many good friends move away and they are greatly missed. The kids & I had a lot more free time on our hands once Becky and her boys moved away.
July: Another busy month. The Fourth of July weekend we baptized Kaleb and blessed Asher. It was a wonderful weekend! We are so proud of Kaleb and the wonderful boy he is growing into, and are so happy to have Asher with us. Larry started his residency at UH this month, and he also started moonlighting at American Dental. We also celebrated Larry's birthday on the 12th, and our darling little Rhyan turned two on the 22nd!
August: As we finished out the summer, we ended swim lessons, hit the Zoo, Lake Farm Park, the Science Center and the Children's Museum one more time. Then Kaleb started 3rd grade and my little Mayson started kindergarten. I can't believe she is so big... she was only 15 months old when we moved out here!
September: This month we went to the beach over the holiday weekend, went to pick apples, and I celebrated my birthday. My wonderful husband gave me the best surprise ever when he flew Becky out to see me for my birthday! We hung out, didn't get enough sleep and had a ton of fun!
October: Lacey came out to visit this month and it was great to see her. We also had a great Halloween this year with Kaleb as Anakin Skywalker, Mayson as Pippi Longstockings, Rhyan as a chicken, and Asher was a pumpkin!
November: The first of the month Larry and I celebrated twelve years of blissful marriage! I have to say, as the years have passed I think our marriage has only gotten better. I love him dearly and am lucky to have him in my life! We had a fun family trip to Rochester, NY when Larry went for his interview, and got to go back to Palmyra while we were there. We also had a wonderful Thanksgiving over at Julie and Aaron's house. We are so grateful for our friends when we are so far away from our family!
December: This month we got ready for Christmas... which included chopping down a tree, decorating, going to Country Lights, visiting the Christmas Story House, and just overall having a festive time! I also got to fly to Utah for Lacey's wedding and to show Asher off to the family! We then celebrated a great Christmas here at home.
This year has been very busy, there have been a lot of huge events in our lives, and we have been very, very blessed. We are looking forward to the next year and all of the wonderful things to come!
February: Larry and I got to go to see Wicked with Becky and JJ and it was awesome! Kaleb and Larry went to see the monster trucks, and Larry and I went to the Matchbox Twenty concert which was a blast!
March: We got our massive snow storm, which led to our fun sledding trip that landed Mayson in the ER and then in physical therapy for a couple months. We won second place at the Psi O Salsa Challenge for our yummy salsa, and we had our fun family night at the Cavaliers game. We also spent Easter with the Campbell family and had a great time!
April: Kaleb had his first pinewood derby, we took our annual trip to the indoor water park, and we had the Dental Formal which was reschedule from the big snow storm in March. I also had the chance to take a trip to St. Louis with my best friend Becky for the AADA conference. We had a blast and learned a lot. And... our sweet Mayson turned five this month!
May: We had our senior dinner the beginning of the month, and then I got the sad new that Grandma Hall had passed away. I made a trip to Utah for the funeral and stayed a few extra days to visit with family. Then, on May 18th Larry graduated from dental school!! We were so proud of all his hard work!
June: The first of June Kaleb turned eight! It is amazing to me he is that old, and not quite a week later his new baby brother Asher joined our family. We were so blessed to have his little spirit come into our home, and once I got past the drama of my water breaking at Home Depot, it was all good! We had Becky & JJ at our house until they left for California, and they helped with the kids while we were preoccupied having a baby. We had Urs come out to help with the kids, which was a lifesaver when Asher ended up back in the NICU. I cannot tell you how much we learned about how blesses we are to have healthy children, and how grateful we were when he was able to come home! The downside to this month was that we had so many good friends move away and they are greatly missed. The kids & I had a lot more free time on our hands once Becky and her boys moved away.
July: Another busy month. The Fourth of July weekend we baptized Kaleb and blessed Asher. It was a wonderful weekend! We are so proud of Kaleb and the wonderful boy he is growing into, and are so happy to have Asher with us. Larry started his residency at UH this month, and he also started moonlighting at American Dental. We also celebrated Larry's birthday on the 12th, and our darling little Rhyan turned two on the 22nd!
August: As we finished out the summer, we ended swim lessons, hit the Zoo, Lake Farm Park, the Science Center and the Children's Museum one more time. Then Kaleb started 3rd grade and my little Mayson started kindergarten. I can't believe she is so big... she was only 15 months old when we moved out here!
September: This month we went to the beach over the holiday weekend, went to pick apples, and I celebrated my birthday. My wonderful husband gave me the best surprise ever when he flew Becky out to see me for my birthday! We hung out, didn't get enough sleep and had a ton of fun!
October: Lacey came out to visit this month and it was great to see her. We also had a great Halloween this year with Kaleb as Anakin Skywalker, Mayson as Pippi Longstockings, Rhyan as a chicken, and Asher was a pumpkin!
November: The first of the month Larry and I celebrated twelve years of blissful marriage! I have to say, as the years have passed I think our marriage has only gotten better. I love him dearly and am lucky to have him in my life! We had a fun family trip to Rochester, NY when Larry went for his interview, and got to go back to Palmyra while we were there. We also had a wonderful Thanksgiving over at Julie and Aaron's house. We are so grateful for our friends when we are so far away from our family!
December: This month we got ready for Christmas... which included chopping down a tree, decorating, going to Country Lights, visiting the Christmas Story House, and just overall having a festive time! I also got to fly to Utah for Lacey's wedding and to show Asher off to the family! We then celebrated a great Christmas here at home.
This year has been very busy, there have been a lot of huge events in our lives, and we have been very, very blessed. We are looking forward to the next year and all of the wonderful things to come!
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