Puerto Rico

Mark and I went to Puerto Rico for a week with Dan and Monique. Dan is Mark's business partner. We had so much fun! We went to the El Yunque National Rain Forest, visited Fort San Felipe del Morro and The Castillo de San Cristobal in San Juan, snorkeled and explored the island. One night we kayaked out to Luminescent Bay where the water glows green because of the microscopic living organisms that glow whenever they are touched. That was cool! Went to the water park and ate yummy (and not so yummy) food. We didn't eat any where that we recognized. We all wanted to try the local food. Most of it was delicious!! Some, not so much. It was such a fun and relaxing trip. We had a great time!

Summer Fun!

I can't believe how fast this summer has flown by! I feel like everything has been chaotic and wonderful and crazy and fun all at the same time!

I could go into detail, but I won't, so here's our summer in a nutshell (there are even a few pictures!!):

We moved back up north and we are near family again, yeah!

Blake moved out!

We went to Disney world with Casey, Kim & Gage and my parents!

I had a paradigm shift!

I got to see my Mission President and Mission Mom!

Jace had his 7th birthday!

We went to the Oquirhh Mountain Temple Open House!

Mark graduated from High School!

We went to Bear Lake and stayed in a cabin for the 4th of July Weekend!

Jackson got a black eye, ugh!

Jenn's kids stayed with us for a couple of days!

Jackson got two stitches in his chin!

Spent the day with Petrina, Austin, Kyle and Collin!

Jackson go his stitches removed, thanks to Uncle Casey!

Mark had a birthday!

We celebrated 10 happy years of marriage!

Jadon got baptized!

I took the kids to Idaho for the day to see Grandma Mitzi!

And Caden started football!
We're not done yet, we are going to Park City, we get to see Petrina again, Mark and I are going to Puerto Rico (not Costa Rica) for our Anniversary, and I can't believe that my baby starts school! Jack will be in Kindergarten, Jace in 2nd Grade and Caden in 6th!

See what I mean? Time really flies!

Happy New Year!

Happy Thanksgiving; Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I missed all the holidays! Life has certainly been busy! But now that I am sitting down at the computer actually ready to write, I am drawing a blank!

My niece, Kristie Norton, got to come up from California and stay here for a couple of weeks. It was so fun to see her! She was here just before Thanksgiving. She’s so cute! She is a huge Twilight fan, so of course we went and saw Twilight together…Oh, the memories! And she stayed at our house for a couple of days. I’m so glad I got that time with her. We don’t get down to California very often.

We just got back from a cruise to the Western Caribbean. That was a blast! All 5 of us went for my birthday. Not really, that was just an excuse. But it worked for me! I’ll go to Jamaica and Grand Cayman anytime! In Jamaica Mark and I walked to the Farmer’s Market to find some mango's. While we were walking around, he saw two Jamaican’s playing domino's in the back. We stopped to watch them play and Mark started talking smack, telling them that he could school them and that he would send them home crying to their baby mamas. It was hilarious to hear him talk because he sounded just like them! So they pulled up a chair, found a friend and the game was on! It was fun to watch. Mark attracted a crowd, who of course, were all smoking huge joints. They were all impressed with how well he played. They asked how he learned and he explained that he used to live in Jamaica. That he was one of the guys that wore a white shirt with the name tag. They all knew the missionaries. It was fun to see him interact with them. I didn’t know he could speak Patois so well!

The next day we got to spend on Grand Cayman. We got to see our wonderful friends there, Cyndy, Casey, Ginny, Murray and Hannah! What fun to spend the day with them. They took care of Mark while he was on his mission. We spent a day in Cozumel, a few days at sea, ate way too much food and had a great time. It was a fun trip.

Jace lost his first tooth this week! Yeah! He got his first visit from the Tooth Fairy. He was so cute! He’s been trying to loose that tooth for about 2 months now. He even tried to get Grandma to pull it out with the pliers! No such luck! He ate apples and tootsie rolls and anything chewy. All to no avail. But, on Sunday last week, we were at Grandma Neilene’s house and she finally got it out for him. He is so happy!

Mark’s nephew Blake just moved in with us! He’s been here for just over a week. He’s so fun! We are glad to have him with us! He seems glad to be here and he is really adjusting well. He played several basketball games last week, hung out at the Jeffrey’s home nearly every day and he went out to see two movies. He went to church with us on Sunday and said he really liked the ward. He especially loved the Priest's Quorum because they talked about sports the whole time. He's been having alot of fun, but he is out of money. Time for him to find some income! He applied at several places last week and today we went to LDS Employment Services. He's got plans and that is a good thing. I really think this move is good for him. He’s so well-mannered and such a great kid! We are going to take pictures soon and I will post them. I'll post a picture of Jace's missing tooth, too!

Lake Powell

Mark and I got to go to Lake Powell for 4 days last week. We had such a great time! Grandma Neilene flew out from North Dakota to stay with the kids so we could go. This was my first trip to Powell and I can't wait to go back. There were 24 of us, adults only. We had 2 house boats, 2 ski boats, 4 jet skis and tons of food! We stayed in Moki Canyon, went on a 10 mile hike (which was more than any of us bargained for) that was such a neat experience, did lots of exploring, cliff diving and playing on the water, ate tons of food, and tried to ignore the naked people in the house boat across from us! We also got to try out the Aqua Skipper, play horseshoes and experience The Crack. It was so relaxing and we had such a great time!

When we first left the kids, I was so sad, but by the end of our trip, I didn't want to come home! I LOVE my kids, but a vacation away is much needed from time to time!! Our next destination: Hawaii!

Mark jumping from about 50 feet

Yes, that would be Mark on the far right!

Jeff on the Aqua Skipper...the guys were hilarious on that thing!

The house boat that we stayed on
The Crack

Spontaneous...

We took a very last minute, very fun trip to North and South Dakota last week. There was a LOT of driving involved, but it was way worth it. We figured with it being the last week of the kids summer break, we may as well take the opportunity to go! We knew once school started there was no way we'd be able to pull it off. We went with Mark's sister, Marlene, and most of the kids cousins: Taylor, Emilee, Jadon, Jonalyn and Jamie to visit Grandma and Grandpa. We went to church with Joe and Neilene on Sunday, took a trip to the Zoo and spent lots of time at the water park where they are staying. The kids had so much fun!!! We did some shopping and of course played a few games of pitch. Then we were off again.

On our way home we stopped in Deadwood. That was an interesting little western town. You can see in the photo what Emilee thought of Deadwood! We visited Cosmo, a little place near Mt. Rushmore, where everything defies gravity...the kids loved it there. And then went to see Mt. Rushmore. What an amazing place. On our way home through Wyoming we stopped at Martin's Cove and learned more about the pioneers and their rescue at the Sweetwater River.

We had such a great trip. We got home last night. The kids start school tomorrow and I am so ready to be back on a schedule! We miss you Grandma and Grandpa! Thanks for the fun trip!!

(I promised Jamie and Taylor that I would post this picture on my blog, so this is for them!!)

What Happens in Vegas...

In the beginning of August we spent fun-filled weekend with the Goldings. We loaded up the car, dropped off the kids and headed on down to Vegas. We had a BLAST! We stayed at Planet Hollywood, right on the strip. We got to see "Stomp Out Loud" and "O". Both were really great shows.

The boys got to enjoy the rides at the top of the Stratosphere,

while Jen and I enjoyed the view.

As part of our "Package Deal", we GOT (notice I used the work "got" instead of "had") to go to the Westgate Owner’s Dinner for an hour. This is where they try to persuade you to upgrade your timeshare from a two bedroom to a four bedroom. It was held in a conference room with a nice little buffet in the back. They had a DJ and of course we got to sit with DeWayne (words cannot describe this man). There were several other owners there, suffering just like we were. It was the type of thing that you were sure you would die of boredom before the end of the night. So, what does Mark do? He decides to get up and provide the evening's entertainment by demonstrating how well white people can dance! Anyone who knows Mark KNOWS that he can NOT dance, and will understand how embarrassing and hilarious this was for everyone involved! But was he embarrassed? No! He didn’t care! He and DeWayne ended up having a dance off. I actually think that Mark may have won that one! I was dying! It was really funny and he did certainly liven up the evening!

Of course there was shopping and great food, between the buffets and Mark insisted that we eat at In-N-Out, twice. It was so nice to get away for a few days. Fun times!!