Happy Birthday, Jeff

Today is Jeff's 34th birthday.

I think I must be the luckiest girl in the world to be married to such a great guy. Let me give you the top 5 reasons why I love Jeff, in no particular order:

-He is a very hard worker. He works hard at his job to provide for his family. He makes a good living so I can stay home with our kids.

-He makes me laugh. he says the funniest, off the wall things. Some of which are inappropriate, but all of which make me laugh.

-He is a fantastic dad. There is no doubt that he loves his family. It always makes me smile when he calls the kids (just the girls, really) funny names. The other day he called Lauren "sugar biscuits". I love that.

-He is a smarty-pants. He mostly knows the answers to any questions I ask him. Whether it's religion, politics, world events, local news, history, weather, or whatever, he knows what's going on. I like that he takes time to explain things to me if I don't understand.

-He is so good-looking!

So happy birthday, sweetheart! Hope you know how much I love you!

Pirates of the Caribbean

Jeff and I spent the most amazing week in the Caribbean on a 7 night cruise. We left out of San Juan, Puerto Rico, and had stops in St. Thomas, St. Maarten/St. Martin (depending on which side of the island you are on), Antigua, St. Lucia and Barbados. Here are a few of the highlights...

There is a big, old fort in old San Juan called El Morro. We walked around and read a little about the history of the fort. I was sure there were ghosts there. It is also very windy.

In front (or in back) of El Morro.


This cathedral was very pretty and we stopped to take pictures, turns out there was a wedding going on! So we sat in on it for a while.

This was our stateroom. Um... not really that much to tell about it.

Our first stop, St. Thomas. We went to a beach called Magen's beach, which was supposed to be one of the best in the world. Even though it was a little overcast, we all still had a great time.

A few nights on the ship, we went to the basketball court and played lightening. A word of warning!! If you know Susy Cotterell, watch out! She is AWESOME at this game!!

Our second stop was at St. Maarten/St. Martin. The island is shared between The Dutch and the French. So we got off on the Dutch side, rented a van, and drove to the french side and enjoyed Gallion Beach and Oriental Beach. Beware!! Even on the not-topless side of Oriental beach, women still take their tops off. Yeah, that was funny....

Clark, Susy, Jeff, Empty Chair, Jaime, Dave

Next up was Antigua. Clark, Susy, Jaime, Dave and Jeff and I just went to a beach and (tried to) read. We got a few locals trying to get us to buy jewelry and other stuff. Jaime and I caved and got our girls some necklaces and BFF anklets for us. At lunch, we got some really good barbeque chicken which came with some really good noodles. And we heard some crazy people yelling about how Antigua was God-fearin people. Good times.

St. Lucia was a little disappointing, to be honest. The island was beautiful, but when we went to the beach, we were litterally accosted every second by people wanting us to buy stuff from them, or rent their jet skiis. So though we liked the island, we didn't love that beach.

Clark, Taylor, Dave and Jeff

Our last stop was Barbados. And this was definately our favorite. At Crane beach, the sand was so soft and the water was an amazing color of turquoise. We were lucky to get this guy named Sylvester as our driver. Dave (a guy in our group) who had been telling everyone we met about the church, started talking to Sylvester about the church and the missionaries. Sylvester said he would like to hear more about it, and gave us his card, with all of his contact info on it. Then on the way back to the ship, Sylvester took us to the LDS chapel on Barbados, and the gates were unlocked, and there were some construction people working on the building. So we took Sylvester inside and showed him around the chapel. It was so great to plant the seed. We gave his info to Courtnie's dad (who is a mission president in Atlanta) and hopefully, Sylvester will join the church!


This is my awesome stud of a husband rock climbing the fake rock wall. He climbed it in less than 2 minutes.

So after we would leave the ports of call, that's when the real fun would begin. There were a few shows we went to, but mostly we would play basketball, or go dancing, or my personal favorite, playing games in the game room(I am freaking awesome at Mafia!!). Oh, and there was a little KARAOKE. Let's just say "Loveshack" never sounded so good (good job Court and Susy!). I am so glad we went with so many fun people. I don't think I have laughed so hard in a VERY long time. So thanks, Jaime and Dave, Clark and Susy, Courtnie and Taylor, Ryan and Tiffany, Jared and Jill, Steve and Pauline, Mike and Kayleen, Teresa and Dave, Pete and Rachel, Cary Jo and Tim, and especially Dirk and LillyAnn.

But most of all, I'd like to thank my wonderful husband. Thanks to his hard work, we got to go on the cruise, and I am so glad that he is my best friend, and the person that I'd most like to be with. I had such a great time with you, Jeff. I love you very much. And I'd love you even if you didn't take me on awesome cruises.

God Bless America

I just got done watching the inauguration of President Obama. And gosh darn it if I didn't get a little teary during the whole thing!! I thought the whole campaign slogan thing "Can we make a difference? Yes we can!" was a little hokey. I rolled my eyes when he won. But watching President Obama's inauguration speech today, I was moved and hopeful for this nation. I believe that he can make a difference. I believe that we as Americans have a great opportunity to make for ourselves a better nation. I think that any person who would serve as President of the United States must love their country. I hope that the next 4 years are a fulfillment of the hopes and promises made today. I love this country and I feel so blessed to have been able to witness the democratic process in action. Though I didn't vote for Barack Obama, I am hopeful for the future. I believe that where much is given, much is required, and I am ready to do my part to help keep the United States if America the greatest nation on Earth. God bless America!!

Happy New Year!

New Years Eve started at my parents house. Dec 31 is my dad's birthday so we usually go out to dinner to celebrate. This year, we decided to have enchiladas at home. So 21 people came over for dinner at cake. The kids all gave my dad a Wii Fit (that's what he wanted) and Bubba found these rockin' awesome sweatbands. Dad was a good sport and put them on for this picture.

Then after the Maynard party we went to Clark and Susy's to ring in the new year. Clark lit a TON of illegal fireworks in the street, and then we went inside to eat some more. Finally we got the kids settled and in bed, and the adults went downstairs for the real party. But we were so tired from watching Clark's awesome pyrotechnic display, we all fell asleep at 12:20 (or so). But regardless, we had a great time, and are very grateful for the Cotterells and their illegal fireworks. (okay, there were no illegal fireworks. Clark is a bishop now, he can't really do things like that.)

So on the way home from Clark and Susy's, the night before finally caught up to the kids.

So Happy New Year to all!! We hope that 2009 brings plenty of fun, and plenty more rest!!

Hooray for Santa!

I know it took me a long time to post our Christmas, but here are a few of the highlights.

When I was a kid there was nothing better than waking up on Christmas to a room full of presents and day to play with them. I think you could literally feel the magic on Christmas eve as you anticipated what Santa would leave you the next morning.

Now that I am (slightly) older, the magic is more real to me now, as I see the joy on my kids faces. On Christmas morning Brynnlee came in at 5am to ask permission to look at the presents downstairs. Just to see her face and know that she believes in that magic is so wonderful to me. I know that there are people who think that Santa shouldn't be part of this season, but not me. I am all for something that represents such joy and happiness, not to mention innocence. I love that my kids believe. And I do too.