Cruisin

About two weeks ago we got back from our fabulous trip to the Bahamas. We decided about a year ago that we wanted to take a cruise. We purchased our cruise a long time ago and it was so neat for it to actually be a reality.
We sailed out of Miami on a Monday and came back on Saturday. We had 5 days on the boat. We loved it!! The weather could have been better but other than that it was great. We were supposed to port three times but couldn't one of the days due to rough seas. We were really bummed that we couldn't get to see the private island. We were able to stop in Grand Turk and Nassau. Both of these two days at port were beautiful. At Grand Turk we took a city tour and spent a few hours soaking in the sun and snorkeling. At Nassau we took a catamaran tour out to a reef and private beach to snorkel. It was beautiful. Braden and I had never snorkeled before and it was so awesome. The water is the bluest water I have ever seen and the white sandy beaches were amazing! After that we rented a scooter and scooted all over the city, visiting two places Braden wanted to see. The queens staircase and an old fort. We only had two hours until the boat was leaving so we had to be fast. That is one of the bad things about the cruise, you are on their time schedule and you can only do a limited number of things. I think the scooter was one of the best times of the trip. We will do it again sometime.

We will cruise again but next time we want to go on "The Oasis" by Royal Caribbean. It looks amazing. It pulled up next to us in Nassau and it made our boat look like a dingy. We also decided it would be fun to have friends go too. So who is up for going with us next time?
Oh, and we are so glad we didn't take the kids. It was great to only be responsible for us. I will say though that it was good to see them when we got back home!

Our Room:
Formal night:Grand Turk:Going snorkeling:All the boats at Nassau, the one on the left is the Oasis.Our sweet ride:The Queens Staircase:The Fort:The Oasis of the Seas:We met this cute couple on their honeymoon. We had dinner with them every night!
We can't wait till our next one.

Busy

It has been such a busy time around our home. I told myself last time I blogged that I was going to try and get back on track and ya... that didn't happen. So here it is almost 3 months since I wrote and I have missed blogging about Halloween, Ty's birthday, Thanksgiving, Christmas and Braden's b-day. They flew by so fast!!
Halloween was good fun as always and it was so great to see Syd be able to participate this year. She was the cutest Duck ever. Tyler dressed as an awesome Pirate and was a real champ at trick-or-treating.
Thanksgiving was fun. We spent the afternoon at my brother's home and had a wonderful dinner.
Christmas... it came and went so fast. We went and cut our tree as we normally do and again got a fabulous tree. I held the annual Christmas brunch at my home and this year we did something different with our gift giving. All of us went and spent a couple hours at the food bank (which was so much fun, I highly recommend it) and then we all bought a $20.00 gift that was wrapped and we played a gift exchanging game to see who went home with what. It was really fun and there was no pressure to find the perfect gift for each person.

New years was a blast too. We did our traditional fondue party which is something we all look forward to. It's always so yummy and a fun night to share with friends and family.

So there's a brief synopsis of what happened during the last few months.

Work still is so terribly slow. I have one very large project that is coming to an end and once that is finished I'm not sure what I will have to work on. I sure hope this economy turns around fast. My industry has been hit so hard....

Our cruise is coming up the end of February. I am so excited. We have never been but hear they are wonderful. The stressful part is figuring out the kid's schedule and making sure they are taken care of. We are seriously thinking about taking the kids to Disney Land in October too. Tyler has never been and it has been 10 years since Braden and I have been. I know Tyler and Sydney would love it.
Here are a few pics.

Where to start...

I feel like I have completely let my blog go. I really need to get back on track. Our summer feels like it went by way to fast and time just got away from me. I think my life will start to slow down a bit. Oh wait... here comes Halloween, Ty's b-day, Thanksgiving, Christmas and so on and on and on....Life is just busy I guess.

Here is a brief re-cap of what has happened since my last post.

We all had our 6 mos. dental check up in August and Tyler had several cavities, I had 3 and Braden got away with none. It turns out they wanted to put Tyler completely out to have his teeth fixed. We scheduled his appointment for Oct. 6Th and I am so glad it is over. I had serious doubts about it and am just thankful it is done with. All he remembers is the doctor giving him a shot in the arm and the rest is history. My worry was that he would be afraid the dentist and never be able to go without having some fear set in. He was in the chair for about an hour and he had 3 fillings and one crown put on. He was so out of it when they came to get me and it lasted for about two hours after we left. It's times like these that really makes you realize how much you love your kiddos. He got his Daddy's teeth unfortunately....

In August we went to Yellow Stone for about 5 days and we couldn't have asked for better weather. We went with Braden's family and had a wonderful time. Braden and I hadn't been there in years and it was nice to go back and take our family.This is the crazy cat Man.. It was so strange, he was hanging out on a bench on a hike down to a waterfall. He tried to stick the cat on Tyler. Too funny....

In September we went to Capitol Reef for a weekend and again, had beautiful weather. We explored a slot canyon and took time to stop at the orchard and see some petroglyphs.

This past weekend I joined Braden for a work trip to Grand Junction and on our way home we stopped at Moab and took our buggy out for the first time. It was again good weather and we had a great time with friends. Tyler and Syd loved to play in all the red dirt and throw rocks. Tyler is at the age where he doesn't listen all that well and he loves to climb and get up close to all the cliff edges. Lets just say he gave me a heart attack a few times but all is well. Again, he is just like his father..

The Grand Junction History Museum.

This is our good friends who tipped over on Rocker Knocker. All they needed was a little help from Braden and a strap to pull them back on there wheels.

Syd is growing and changing so much. I just want her to stay little forever. I love the way she smiles and giggles now. She just makes my heart sing. Syd loves to be chased by her brother. Nothing makes me happier than to see my two children laughing and playing together. I cherish those moments as they often only come once in a great while. Usually Tyler is tormenting her in one way or another. I guess that is what a big brother is suppose to do right?

Tyler is back in preschool and is loving it. He doesn't cry any more when I drop him off and he is excited to go. He really likes his teacher and school friends. He is learning to identify letters and tells me of new things he learns all the time, often days after he was taught. It's funny to see his little brain work.

He is all boy and loves to shoot pretend guns and play pirates. He is always talking about boy stuff and loves to get into trouble. He loves his bike and has gotten so good at riding it. I love our evenings when he will snuggle with me on the couch. He loves to have his back scratched and be tickled. He gets that from his Mom...

Braden is heading to New York for work this next week. I so wish I could go with him but it just isn't in the cards. I am really looking forward to hearing about all the places he will visit and I will be eagerly waiting for his return.

I took a client with me to Vegas for the furniture market in September and it turned out to be a really good sale for me. Work is still terribly slow and I need all the business I can get. I am really looking forward to things picking up. I drove down and back by myself and it was a long, lonely drive but well worth it.

That is just a glimpse of what has been happening. I would have to say that it was a great summer!