Bucerias

Today we took a short cab ride up the coast to the town of Bucerias. I think it gave the kids a better look at Mexico (a little less touristy). We spent lots of money at the open air shops and then had a wonderful lunch at Mariscos El Gordo. We were a little worried about eating at an authentic restaurant but we were glad we did. The food was wonderful. We ate on the beach while being approached every 2 minutes by people trying to sell trinkets. I could not resist the cute little kids selling bracelets. I bought 5 but would have bought more had Ryan let me :) After lunch we decided to head back to our resort on foot. Along the beach it was only about 1.5 miles. Most of the beach was littered with trash and pretty nasty. Simon barely made it, he was tired! The kids finally got to enjoy a drink at the swim up bar in the pool. The last highlight was getting to watch a beach soccer game. Every night the cooks and bartenders have a game of soccer or volleyball on the beach after work. They were all very talented soccer players and Ryan is hoping to sneak into there volleyball game tomorrow night. Tomorow we are off to find the dolphins. Wish us luck!

Los Veranos

(This is Brook logged in on Ryan's account.)

We had the great pleasure of a Canopy Tour today. Ok, it didn't start out great or end great but the middle was spectacular. I have been feeling a little under the weather since last night and those of you how know me well know I get motion sickness by as little as moving my head too fast. To get to the tour we had an hour long bus ride on a winding jungle road. When you are already feeling like you want to puke this is not a good thing to do. We finally arrived at the tour site, had our tutorial (which included one tour guide needing a shot from one of the patrons and "Super Mexican" coming to the rescue of another tour guide), and headed up to the first zip line. The first few were alright. Not too high (I am afraid of heights). Once we reached some of the higher lines I started to worry. As I watched my two small children zoom down the zip line in front of me I wondered if I had gone completely insane. How could I trust these young guys to keep my babies safe? They did survive. In fact when the tour was over (fourteen lines), they asked if they could go again. They guys on the tour were full of humor and were great with the kids. They refered to Olivia as the princess and told her she was the cutest one on the tour. (I'm sure her ego did not need the compliment.) They refered to me as little mama (reminded me of a little old lady) and kept insisting that I tell them how old Simon really was (the tour says you have to be 6 years old). They didn't believe that he was a day over 5 (poor Simon). Everyone (myself not included) rode backwards and upside down. We then had the great pleasure of feeding the monkeys, and holding an iguana, a tarantula, and a giant snake. The ride home was just a unpleasant as the ride up but well worth the happiness of the kids. This tour is highly recommended for your next visit to Puerto Vallarta. Enjoy the pictures below...





Tomorrow we are going to rest at the beach and pool and then Thursday we are off on a boat to find the dolphins to swim with. (I'm thinking I might find some dramamine before Thursday!)

For you worry warts

We have arrived. More to follow. Maybe.

Yep, It's us.

A couple of weeks ago while eating lunch at Del Taco we found out that St George was hosting a Monster Truck Spectacular that very night. The cashier at the restaurant gave us a card with someones signature on it and told us it should get 4 of us in free. Of course, Drew was so excited! How could we refuse. Lucky for us we had the freebies (it would have cost us $85.00 without them) otherwise the kids would have been really disappointed once we got there (no way was I paying $85.00 to get in!).

We had a great time. Lots to see. The motorcycles almost gave me a heart attack every time they did a trick. The trucks were loud and big, the sun was bright, the tattoos were fancy, the shoes were converse, the clothes were all labels (Roxy, Element, Quicksilver...). I;m starting to sound stereotypical.

We need to break out of our routine more and see more of the world and its offerings.

My Baby is Big!

I was at the school today checking Drew out for a doctor's appointment when we ran into Simon on the playground. He yelled for us to come over and then smiled really big. He had lost his first tooth.



Who knew that this would make me feel really sad inside. I was hoping my sweet boy would stay sweet and small a little longer...

Summer is coming!

I decided that I should put one more post up before the end of the school year (two weeks and the kids are counting). I think life is busy now, I can't imagine what will happen when the kids are home all day everyday. I have missed a lot of post opportunities lately due to being too tired, too busy, too lazy, and just not wanting to do it.

We went to Flagstaff, Az this last weekend for a dance competition for Olivia so I guess I need to post something about that. First, thanks mom for coming along on the adventure. Hope we didn't wear you out too much. We arrived in Flagstaff Thursday night late. Friday, Olivia didn't have to be at the competition until 3:30 so we went to Walnut Canyon to see the Indian ruins in the morning.





After Walnut Canyon we rushed Olivia home for a rest and to get ready (hair and make-up for competitions take me an awfully long time). Olivia did a great job on her solo. She got first runner up in her division. The first picture is of all the girls from Olivia's studio who did solos. The second picture is of the winners in Olivia's division.





The rest of the weekend was spent at the high school for me and Olivia and Grandma. Grandma did sneak away with the boys to go to Sedona. The boys did a lot of hiking and driving and had lots of fun together. Olivia and I were able to get away for lunch on Saturday with everyone. If you are in Flagstaff don't miss New Jersey Pizza Company-Second only to the pizza I ate in Chicago. Here are some pictures of the boys and Grandma on their adventure.






Here is a picture of Olivia's dance team. They won Superior with high points for their show "Candy Shop". This was the best I have ever seen them dance as a full team. Way to go girls!



Famous Catholic Church in Sedona.


On the way home on Sunday we stopped at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. It ended up taking us 10 hours to get home instead of 5 but I think we all thought it was worth the extra drive and time we spent there. The kids and I had never been to the Grand Canyon and it had been a very long time since Ryan and my mom had been there.





We also stopped at Navajo Bridge and were lucky enough to see 3 California Condors (they are endangered). I hope the kids will remember these road trips. Ryan and I would love to take them cross county. Maybe I should take them out of school for a year and home school them as we travel?

Quilting

For Teacher Appreciation I made a quilt for Simon's teacher. Olivia had her in kindergarten also and we just love her. The kids did a great job drawing pictures to put in the quilt. I think the colors turned out cute. I am glad that this one is behind me. The fabric did not want to cooperate with me. I remembered why I prefer sewing baby quilts rather than larger one when I started sewing the front, batting, and binding together. I will not sew another large quilt until I have a long arm sewing machine. Hint, hint, Ryan :). I hope Mrs. Buzzell will have some cold nights where she can wrap up in her blanket full of love.

Goodbye Tag

Thanks Allison for the fun tag idea. I had a lot of fun thinking about what each person who signed up would like. I made a cute Birthday table runner for Allison because she loves holidays. I'm only sad that I didn't get a picture of it before I gave it to her. Morgan got a chocolate chip cheese cake. Thanks for sharing, Morg.



I made Sara this apron. She's a chef so she probably has tons but I had fun picking out fabric that I thought she would like. I think it turned out very 1950's


Ang, I haven't forgotten about you. You just signed up in the 11th hour so you have to give me a little extra time.

Thanks again for playing and giving me something else to do besides clean my house!

Dancing Queen

Friday was Olivia's first dance competition of the season. And her first ever solo. She did really well. She remembered the whole dance and looked so cute in her orange costume (Thanks, Corri!) I think I was more nervous then she was. It was a long long day, but I'm glad that she had a great time!
When I go to Olivia's competitions I always think about my mom and all the gymnastics meets she had to sit through. I'm not sure any of them were 15 hours long but I am still grateful for her sacrifice for something I really loved doing. Way to go Liv Love. Mom is proud of you!

Finished product

We are extremely pleased with the new floor. We are wondering why it took us so long to replace them. The pictures don't do it justice!

Grandpa

My sweet grandpa passed away yesterday morning. He used to tell us he was 93 years young. And he was. What a wonderful man he is. I am grateful that I had the chance to be in Salt Lake last week. Although he was not feeling well he allowed me and the kids to visit with him almost every day. I will cherish that time I had with him and I hope the kids will remember that time also. My grandpa was a very humble and gentle man. He loved life and lived it to the fullest. He was able to serve 4 full time missions. I am so grateful that I was able to call him grandpa. I am glad that he is at peace now (he has been wanting that for a while now). Andrew, Olivia, and Simon love their Great Grandpa and had the opportunity to serve him a little bit in the last year. I hope they can keep those experiences close to them.

Phase 2

Moving?

Thanks Allison!

This is the darling frame Allison made me for my Tag gift. I love it! It makes me happy to look at and I love the color. Thanks Allison for the thoughtful gift and the fun game!

TAG

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me, Brook--my choice for you. (how can you NOT leave a comment?) :) Here's the scoop.1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make--but there's a pretty good chance you will!2- What I create will be just for you.3- It'll be done by the end of March.4- You have no clue what it's going to be. It may be a story. It may be poetry or an article on properly cleaning your face before a masque. I may scrapbook something. I may bake you something and mail it to you. Who knows? Not you, that's for sure!The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did it will then win a fabulous homemade gift made by me!Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it! Have fun playing!
*Copied from Alli. E.'s blog...

Good Luck!!