10 days Cruising with My Sexy Man!!!!

This was a trip that Kevin earned through the company he works for.   They do a cruise every year and invite all who qualify for a "FREE" vacation!  The cruise was the "Canada/New England" Destination and left out of Boston, Massachusetts and stopped Portland, Maine... Bar Harbor, Maine.... Saint John, New Brunswick... and Halifax, Nova Scotia!!!


First Day of our 10 day trip and our 1st cruise ever!!!!  I love that we got some time away together and that my awesome man won us this fun getaway!!!  :)



In Bar Harbor, Maine... we got the  chance to walk around and take in the local flare!  There was a lot of fun stuff to look at while window shopping and lots of people watching.  We were waiting for a  tour bus to take us down to Sandy Beach and Thunder Hole so we ate at a cute restaurant in the outdoor area and... the Lobster was super fresh!

Kevin picking out his lunch...



Our group that all had a craving for the Lobsters...  except me, who had a burger!



I loved the bibs...



Crazy that this guy was swimming around the tank 20 minutes earlier...




Thunder Hole in the National Park a few miles outside of Bar Harbor.  We took a bus from town to Sandy Beach and then hiked a little less than a mile to Thunder hole.  The water was so amazing and the rocks and cliffs were fun for Kevin to climb around on...



Kevin climbed down between these two rocks and apparently it was really worrying some people in our group and around us.  I didn't even go down that close as I know him and knew he'd be crazy... I was right!

Kevin & John being funny guys!  We were in Saint John, New Brunswick this day and walking the town with the Poulsens... and the boys like to be funny and (kevin) raunchy most of the time!

He was telling the Moose to "turn his head and cough!"...

Kevin and Jason posing by an old cop car that was a "bug"...  I guess they weren't supposed to actually open the doors, but Kevin charmed his way out of getting in trouble over it and even got a police patch at the little museum next door...

He had A LOT to drink that afternoon!

Can't take him anywhere!  The people walking behind us thought he was hilarious and took his picture also!

In an old church to look around and we put Kevin and John in the nursery where they belong...:)

This church was 250 years old and had really beautiful stained glass all throughout... and really pretty mahogony wood everywhere as well.

Sitting in a special seat... and trying to be serious for a minute...

The ceiling was gorgeous...

Organ pipes... pretty as well!

The outside of the church... I love the red door!

This day we were in Halifax with the entire group from on board with FFG.  We arrived at the Citadel first...

Kevin was going to try to make this guys laugh because he has to stay an extra hour if he laughs we heard from the tour guide.  I told him not to because that's just mean!

For protection, in case of  a sneak attack I guess the opposition would try to run up the big grassy green hill  up to what they thought was a block wall (shown at the right) and then think there was just  more grass (because of the way the fort was positioned on top with grass all around)... but they would really get to the edge and fall off into the "grass moat" where they'd be injured and maybe shot by the guards of the Citadel.

My cannon is bigger than your cannon...?  This is Rick Dixon (owner of FFG) and Kevin horsing around!

Our guide explaining the 12 pound cannon that goes off every day at 12noon exactly.

Preparing to shot the 12 oclock noon cannon...

This were the cots that the soldiers slept on... 12 to a bunk house.  They were tiny (here they are folded up to allow walk space) and most of the soldiers were only 5'8"  and most were from Scotland.

The big wooden tables were actually beds that were in the guard house.  This way guards could lay down to rest during their long shifts, but not really get comfortable enough to sleep as to stay alert.

After our tour, we got back on the buses and headed to the harbor and boarded this baby.  We had clam chowder and rolls with vegies and dips, and then yummy roast beef sandwhiches for lunch.  Then we got to eat blueberry tarts for dessert... mmmmmmmmm!  We sailed around for a couple of hours and listened to music and visited with friends.

As we were sailing I got a better picture of the Citadel.  So you can see how enemies would maybe think they could run right to the top because of the appearance from the outside.  There would be no warning of the big moat until it was too late!

A picture of our cruise ship from our sail boat that day...

A little tour boat we passed... cute!

All in all it was a really fun trip.  I don't have as many pictures as I would have liked, but we were busy having fun!  We took in the nightly entertainment, a few comedians, magic shows, singers, a newlywed game, etc.  Kevin did some karaoke with friends as we all watched and it was comical of course!  He boogied on the dance floor and jaccuzied... we played a lot of ping pong and ate alot of food!  I can't believe I didn't get a picture at either of the formal nights or the midnight buffet!  I'll so better next time.  It was stressful leaving the kids for 10 days, since we've NEVER done that before, but they were in good hands with Oma & Opa!   Thanks to them for taking our places here for the week and thanks to FFG for the wonderful time!!!!!  I'm looking forward to the next cruise to the Carribean in September... and we'll take the oldest 3 kids as it's a family cruise!!!  Thanks to Kevin for being so great ...He really is very talented and good at his job!!! 

Pirate Cruise

The last 2 months have just flown by!!!! Here's a recap on pics of a few highlights!!!
We took the kids down to Santa Barbara Harbor to walk around the Wharf and took a ride on the pirate ship harbor cruise.



Santa Barbara Harbor





Lauren at the Helm





Daron at the Helm





Back At the Wharf





The Whole Gang







California Harbor Seals, you can see how close they are to the beach. The Pirate ship brought us right up close to them.

 





Under Fire



First Day of School 2010...

Kindergarten!!!! From 8:30am until 1:30pm this little girl will be loving life... and so will Emmy, cuz she has Mom all to herself!

Lauren is such a sweet kid and is so excited about school with the big kids! It killed her every day last year when the kids would get out of the car without her. Now she gets to go too!

Scriptures again!!! Love the routine of the school year!

We're like 3 chapters away from being done with the Book of Mormon and moving on to D&C I think, but we'll see!

Even Lauren took it very seriously this morning and emulated the older kids...



Lauren giving Daddy a hug after her Fathers Blessing to start off the school year on the right foot! So thankful my husband can do this for our family. He's such a good Dad and Husband! He gave the older kids theirs the night before and we had a good time afterwards talking and laughing!


What a good looking group!












































Kaitlin is GORGEOUS as always!!! Growing up so fast, but truly a beautiful girl inside and out! 8th grade!!!! Next year is highschool...

























Madison is loving going into 4th grade and also growing up so fast!!!! She's so cute and wanted all of her hair curled this morning and had a specific plan for it. Beautiful girly!!!!


























Our handsome boy! He'll have to fight the girls off of him!!! But he won't cuz he likes the girls! He will do awesome this year and is starting junior high... 7th grade







BYE!!!!! See you everyday at 3:30pm!!!!! Make good choices and remember who you are!!!! We love you!!! :)

1st Lost Tooth...

She was wiggling that thing to work it out for about 2-3 days and out it came Friday morning. She handed her tooth to Oma in the kitchen and went about her business!
The toothfairy came and brought her $50 (as she put it... really $1)... and she was most excited about that!

Now, her smile has a tooth missing for now and the one next to it is loose! She'll be toothless for awhile!

We Have Another Priesthood Holder in the HOUSE!!!!

Yep! Daron turned 12!!!!! Love this boy! He is awesome...

We woke him up by singing of course... and he opened his gifts from us and Oma & Opa. He got 4 new church shirts with his initials monogrammed on the cuffs, a new silk tie, and a Guitar Hero DS game from us. Oma & Opa brought him a bunch of his favorite oatmeal cereal, some cool popcorn on a corn cob, gummy bears and more candy I think. And before leaving Texas, his family there got him a DS. Kaitlin pitched in some of her own $$$ which I thought was really sweet of her! She does love her brother!

He picked waffles with Strawberries and real whipped cream for breakfast and sliced fresh peaches were on the side! It was soooo good! I think he ate 2 or 3!

He went to Kevins sales meeting with him and all of Kevins agents wished him a happy birthday! Then, they went to have pizza together and hang out a bit!

Then it was home to play and have an awesome spaghetti dinner and...

Birthday Chocolate Malted Crunch ice cream from Thriftys!!! We held off on cake for Sunday as we were having a luncheon after his ordination and he wanted cake then.

That's a lot of cream!!! It was an awesome birthday weekend for him. His Mom got to come and be a part of our plans, which included an afternoon at the beach and a yummy dinner for everyone at China Panda! Then he and Kaitlin went and hung out in Solvang showing her around and stayed at her hotel to visit.

We all went to church the next day together and after the block they ordained Daron to have the Priesthood. Emmy didn't want to cooperate so a sweet friend , Leanna, here in our new ward came to my rescue and stayed with Emmy in the foyer so I could be there for Daron. Thank you to her! I love our new ward and friends here! We had 3 families over for lunch, which Daron picked, BBQ Meatballs, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, salad, rolls, mac & cheese, and cake!

It was fun and we could not be more proud of him! CONGRATS DARON AND HAPPY 12th BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Whiffle Ball....

Gotta love it! The family that plays together stays together!

We play whiffle ball a lot... always have. This was my clan out playing a few nights after we got home with everyone, and we have played twice more that I can think of since!

The Elders were over for dinner and joined us for a game as did Oma, Opa, Heidi and Bryce for Daron's birthday weekend!

Kevin is our pitcher and I have to give him credit... he's tough! The kids and I have hit him with balls, hard, where it hurts! And, everywhere else too, countless times!

We call Maddie Sporty Spice... cuz she is so good at all sports. She is a slugger!

All of the kids are awesome hitters though!

Emmy wanted to hang by Daddy so we got this red helmet (darons skateboards helmet) out for her. She wouldn't keep it on, but Kaitlin would! She felt safer! I actually hit one that hit Emmy and she didn't even notice... she's tough too!

(sidebote... you like Emmys outfit??? My Mothers Day apron, which she loves and never actually lets me wear, and a shirt that had the button fall off, and a diaper! Good choice Emmy... looks comfy and a perfect whiffle ball uniform!)

Sitting in the ball bucket!

Back to CA...

Finally!!!!! We all get to ride to CA together!!! So good to have all of our kids home again after a long summer without them! Missed them SOOOOOOOOOOO much! This was on the way home from AZ the weekend we were there to pick them all up and visit Granny.

Granny...

So, Thursday the 5th was Emmys birthday and the day Tawna left back for AZ. The next morning when I woke up I walked out to the kitchen and looked at my cell phone. I had 3 missed calls and texts also from Robert. My brother was trying to get ahold of us since midnight because my mom, Granny, had been taken by ambulence to the emergency room. She was talking with Robert in her room and all of a sudden could not move or breath, just completely restricted. She got out the words, CALL 911, to Bob and he did. They came and worked on her a bit and off they went. As they were trying to determine what was wrong with her Bob was sending texts. So at first they thought it was an annuerism and eventually they got it decided that she had a tear along her aortic wall leading down past her kidneys, etc. (hopefully I'm explaining this right as it's hard to understand exactly). They had her at Mercy Gilbert and were going to keep running tests.

Well, Granny & Papa were going to be heading to CA with Kaitlin, Daron and Maddie Monday morning for a visit and to bring ALL of our kids home to us since they were coming anyway. A grand plan, but it needed to change now for sure. Kevin and I made plans to go to AZ and cancelled his appointments for the day, packed up, called the kids to let them know what was going on and were on our way all in the matter of a few hours. It's a lot to absorb and hard to be far away when something major happens in your family for sure! I was a MESS!!! It was a horrible morning.

We got to AZ late, about midnight I think and stayed in Maricopa with Oma & Opa. They were so nice to make up beds and get things ready for us short notice. They also watched the girls for us throughout the weekend to make being in Gilbert to visit the hospital and stuff easier! THANK YOU to them!

We went and saw Mom and she looked weak. They had ruled out surgery at the time because they said they could monitor her blood pressure and she'd be okay. So we saw her on Saturday and Sunday, Attended Jamies Baptism as a family, let Kaitlin visit a sweet friend for overnight, packed up one final trailer load from our move (thanks to Dad and Bob for ALL of your help with that process!) and left Monday morning feeling a little better having been there and seen her. Still worried obviously!

She was released from the hospital on Wednesday I think. She had a HORRIBLE night of sleepless pain, and so did my poor Dad because he just didn't know what else to do to make her comfortable and not hurt. He took her back to the ER, this time at Banner Baywood, which has an entire heart hospital on site, and they admitted her to ICU once again.

He called and said they decided to go in and do surgery and I was VERY worried. I should have stayed in AZ a little longer, but know I needed to go home with my kids. We had a family fast for her as she went into surgery Friday morning, 1 week to the day this all started. She did awesome and the surgery went well. They put about 8 stints in to assist in blood flow, etc. and allow her kidneys to funtion properly and take pressure away from the tear because blood would flow as it should.

It's scary having your mom sick! We are very blessed that she is now home resting with her family and she had good doctors at Banner who finally knew how to help her! I talk to her every couple of days and the kids always keep her in our family prayers as well as personal I'm sure! We LOVE our Granny!!!!

Old, but New... Chairs!

The ONLY pics I took when the Mowers were here I guess! Tawna helped me to recover my ugly kitchen chairs one day. I had the fabric and plastic already and had just been putting it off, so we knocked them out in 3 hours, or maybe a little less!! They look great and are completely wipe-able (SP?) now!!! Awesome! LOVE the way they look and eventually I'll paint my secondhand table barn red and finish that project as well! Thanks Tawna!

Emmy is 2!!!!!!

Here's her cake...

(These pics are backwards, but she had her cake after dinner and me, Daddy and Lauren sang Happy Birthday to her! We actually sing to wake up the birthday kid, and then ALL day... she loved it!

She got one of her favorite lunches, an uncrustable pb&j... and some fun playtime in the back yard...

She lounged and ate popcorn (another favorite) and watched a movie with lauren...

And, got cake for breakfast that morning even.

Tawna, Faith and Chance had been here for a week long visit and were leaving the morning of her birthday, which fell on a Thursday. I reminded everyone ALL week her birthday was coming up and the night before that it was the next day. Then, I was the first one out of bed that morning and heard her cooing and talking to herself, like always, and went in and laid on her bed with her to snuggle. I totally forgot it was her bday though!!! So, we're up for about 30 minutes and go in to wake up Daddy. Jump on the bed and he rolls over and scoops her up with a big hug and kiss and says, "Happy Birthday my sweet Emmy!"... I suck!!! I felt so bad! This is how you know you're too busy somedays or losing brain cells or something!

Anyway, Emmy keeps carrying around boxes of Betty Crocker cake mix from our pantry since moving here. Every day I must pick up or take one away from her to put back at least 5-6 times. So after giving her hugs and telling her I was sorry, I marched into the kitchen and proceeded to bake her a yellow cake for breakfast!!! Tawna and the kids were packing up and got on their way and shortly after Emmy, Lauren and I were eating yellow cake for breakfast!

We were supposed to have a family party since the kids were coming home 4 days later, but that's a whole other post! Sidenote... Tawna, I had so much fun while you were here that I forgot to take pictures apparently! What's up with that? Thanks for coming and we hope you can come again and bring Nate! If you have any pics forward them to me!!! :)

Anyway, can't believe Emmy is 2! She started acting it at about 1 1/2 with the terrible 2's in full swing! I love her with all of my heart and she's the apple of Kevins eye!