Cruise

 After uploading these pictures once they disappeared so I was finally able to get around to uploading them again.

We went on a 7 night Mexican Riviera Cruise with my sister and parents the last week in October and it was a blast. They told us about how cheap the prices were and so we decided to go to. We booked it in February and only paid $275/person plus taxes/fees We stopped in Victorville, CA (about an hour outside of LA) the day before and had a horrible experience with our hotel booking but it's a long story. The next day we drove to Anaheim and stopped at downtown Disney to see the Halloween decorations, do some pin trading and pick up some souvenirs. My parents and sister have been to Disneyland during the holiday's but we haven't so even though we didn't go inside it was still fun to walk around.

 After walking around and shopping we drove another 30 minutes to the port at Long Beach. After getting on the boat they had a buffet lunch and then our rooms were ready by the time we were done eating. Since we had 4 people to our room we had the bunk beds pulled down. I've never been on a cruise but my family has and they said the room was spacious compared to older ships. This side looks cramped but it actually wasn't bad and had tons of storage. Plus, we didn't spend much time in our room other than to sleep.

Unfortunately Ashton was a couple inches short of being able to go on the big water slide but the boys both loved the splash pad area.

 We enjoyed watching them from up above on the top deck in the sun. It was perfect weather.

 This is as we were pulling into Cabo San Lucas.

 This is Lands End where the famous arch is. This is the side called divorce beach because it's where 2 oceans meet so the current and waves are really strong. In fact, if you look at the wave in the left side of the picture my parents were standing right next to the edge of the rock on the far left and that's where the picture farther down where they were knocked over was taken.

 Luckily we had done alot of research about what to pay for the boat rides out to Lover's Beach and around the arch so although they start at $25/person we paid $25 for all 7 of us and they took us on a tour, to lover's beach for a couple hours, over to the other calmer beach, and then back to the dock area. It's all about bargaining. Unfortunately the shopping wasn't as easy to bargain with, they were pretty stuck on their prices and they didn't care if you walked away.

Here we are just leaving the dock to go out to see the arch.

 Most of the boats had a window on the bottom. The boats are small and the waves were rocking the boat so much that I couldn't get a better picture than this. I'm amazed I was able to get any in focus pictures while on the boat since we were moving so much but I got a couple good shots.

 The water was a deep blue and the rocks were amazing. Cabo is a desert area so it's not green or tropical like other parts of Mexico.

 You can see our boat in the distance.

 This is divorce beach. The waves were huge and the current pulled you in if you were more than knee deep. There was one life guard and he told Kaleb not to get in the water on this side because it's so strong.

 The wave you see behind us is the place where I pointed out in the picture earlier. One wave would barely come to your ankles and the next would just about knock you over.

 As you can see this wave was pretty calm and barely came to their ankles.

 The next wave knocked my mom over and she ended up being pushed up against the rocks to the left out of the picture. Luckily she wasn't pulled back in because 2 guys standing by watching grabbed her. After that we were done standing to close to the waves. My mom had quite a few cuts all over her from the rocks.

The boys enjoyed playing in the sand.

Then we headed over to Lover's beach where the dropped us off to wait for our boat to come pick us up.

 It looks calm from the picture but getting on and off the boat was another experience. The guy in the left holding all the bags with a couple helpers would help you in and out of the boats. As much as we hated tipping them every time we had to get in or out of our boat you had to or you couldn't get in and out with the waves. I didn't take any other pictures but we went across the bay to the other side and swam in the water and did some snorkeling until it was time to get back to the boat. Kaleb loved snorkeling and he even saw a puffer fish. Matt, unfortunately, cut his foot on a sharp rock and spent awhile on the beach trying to stop the bleeding. Luckily after seeing the doctor on the boat he didn't need stitches and he was able to get some supplies to wrap it up.

 Originally the 3 stops on the cruise were Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta but cruise lines haven't been going to Mazatlan almost this whole year due to security issues so instead we spent 2 days at Cabo San Lucas. But because you can't stay within so many miles of the port without abiding by their tax/gambling laws we had to sail out and back in the next day. This was the sunset in Cabo the first day.

 The second day in Cabo we did all of our shopping. The boys picked out a couple of toys and each bought a shirt. I bought enough vanilla to last me for quite awhile and we enjoyed an easy day.

 The next day we stopped in Puerto Vallarta which was completely different than Cabo. It was green and very populated and developed. Also, you pull right up to the shore unlike Cabo where you had to take a small tender boat to shore so it made it easier to come and go.

 The water wasn't exactly clean enough for snorkeling so we enjoyed sight seeing. After doing research we learned it was cheaper to take the local bus to old town rather than a taxi. The taxi's wanted $5/person to $20/person to take you there and we took the bus ride for about $.70/person. Now I feel like I can relate to the contestants on The Amazing Race when they say they're going to die in the taxi rides in other countries. They drive CRAZY! I actually felt safer in a tall bus than I would have in a taxi though. Riding the local transportation was actually really fun though and I'm glad we did it.

 There are statues and other structures along the beach by old town.

 Luckily right after getting off the bus there was a tourist office where they speak English and help give you maps and directions without charging anything. Funny thing, the couple in the left side of the picture are from Canada and they got on and off the bus when we did and followed us in the tourist office. It was then we learned they were LDS members and they said they didn't know where to go so they followed us because we looked like we knew where we were going.

 This was a really old church with an all girl school attached to it.

 This is looking through a window in the church.

 This looks small from the picture but it was actually huge and it was really high up in the tree.

 We had to check out the local Wal-Mart which had a Sam's Club next door. They are spoiled with covered parking stalls. Unfortunately things weren't any cheaper than back home and toys were actually almost double the price. We did buy a couple of candy bars and although the Snicker's was the same as the U.S. the Reece's Peanut Butter Cups were really gross and had a totally different taste to them.

 The boat itself, the Carnival Splendor, was really fun. It had movies on a big outdoor screen, miniature golf, comedy, shows, ping-pong, swimming, kids activities and much more. You never were bored. Ashton didn't like going to the kid area and I think it's because he was in a different age group than Kaleb so they weren't together. So being on a boat with people you don't know didn't mesh well with him. So every night Kaleb would go play at the kid camp and Ashton would go to the show's with us and fall asleep. Unfortunately this has led to Ashton having separation issues at home now with preschool and now primary but it's slowly improving. And the food, there was never a shortage of food. I guess that's one of the best parts of a cruise. We didn't get too adventurous with the weird foods but we did try frog legs (just like a small chicken leg). The chocolate melting cake we all fell in love with by the end of the cruise and we ordered it all the time.

 This was the sunset in Puerto Vallarta as we played miniature golf.

 The boys loved the towel animals and mints left every night. We really enjoyed the cruise and would go on one again and yes, even with kids. Although one without would be more relaxing. It was nice being away from any internet service and phone service where people weren't staring at their phones all the time. That was alot of pictures but that's only a small portion of the ones I took and I didn't even take out my camera as much as I should have because we were having too much fun!

The second week in October all of the Snell Family came out to Utah along with Matt's aunt and uncle from San Diego. It's been so long since we've all been able to get together and we had a really fun time together. We went to Cabella's, Ikea and took family pictures at Wheeler Farm. We were going to go up to the mountains but it was the first really cold weekend and the weather didn't cooperate but we still had a blast.

Ashton insisted on being Bumblebee again this year, we even bought him a dragon costume for $6 at D.I. but he wouldn't wear it on Halloween. Kaleb was a ninja and from what his teacher said his dancing while playing musical chairs at the class party was not to be missed. She said she couldn't stop watching him dance. My cousin's Jeff and Christina brought their girls along and we went trick-or-treating in my parents neighborhood. After an hour they had so much candy they couldn't carry it anymore so we called it quits.

We also just returned on Sunday from our cruise to Mexico and we had such a great time. It was our first cruise and we loved it--and yes, we gained some weight with all the food but it was worth it! My grandma was in the hospital last weekend and so right after driving home we went to see her. Luckily she came home on Halloween and is doing much better.

Kaleb had parent/teacher conferences this week and he's doing awesome! His spelling is a 4th grade level and his reading is an end of third grade level. I don't feel like it's anything I've done he just has really great teachers and he works hard in school. Ashton has had a rough couple of weeks with being very shy and not wanting to leave me for preschool, swimming lessons, or just about anything and I'm not sure why. He's never been this way before but it's starting to improve. He's no longer crying when I take him to preschool but he still says it's too long and he misses me. Hopefully it's just a phase he's going through.

I'm excited for the holiday's and although I haven't started listening to Christmas music yet I can't stop playing it on the piano. I guess I'm just really excited for Christmas to come.

Last weekend we took a quick trip up to Logan to go to the Heritage Center again. The slide and gourd launcher wasn't as impressive this time but the corn maze was fun.

I was able to paint the entertainment console and I love how it turned out. It looks better in the basement than in my living room but these are the only pictures I have. It's a really dark gray/brown called Fired Earth.

Lately Ashton has been sneaking into our bed while we're downstairs. When I look at this picture either Ashton looks huge or our queen size bed looks really small.

We're excited for a fun weekend with Matt's family and hopefully the rain doesn't keep going all weekend.

And if you want a recipe for really good pumpkin cookies or bread here they are. I make them all the time, all year long.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
(I always double this to use 1 15oz. can of pumpkin and I add a couple extra chocolate chips.)

1 c. brown sugar
1 c. canned pumpkin
1/2 c. vegetable oil
2 c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ginger
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 c. chocolate chips

Beat sugar, pumpkin, oil and vanilla. Add all other ingredients adding chocolate chips last.
Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. Makes about 30 cookies.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread

3 c. white sugar
1 (15oz) can pumpkin puree
1 c. vegetable oil
2/3 c. water
4 eggs
3 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 T. cinnamon
1 T. nutmeg
2 t. baking soda
1 1/2 t. salt
1 c. miniature semisweet chocolate chips (I use 2 c. of regular choc. chips)
1/2 c. chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease four regular sized loaf pans. (You could also do 8 mini loaves-30 min. cooking time; muffins-27 min. cooking time)
2. In a large bowl combine sugar, pumpkin, oil, water, and eggs. Beat until smooth. Mix in flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, and salt. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts. Fill pans 1/2 to 3/4 full.
3. Bake for 45 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Cool on wire racks before removing from pans.

The Last Month

The end of August we tagged along with the Gillespie's camping. We hadn't been all summer and so after work Matt and I packed in 1 hour and met them there. I'm surprised I only forgot to pack a couple of things after packing that fast.

Kaleb and Ashton wandered away and had an impromptu photo shoot and these are the pictures Kaleb took. He does pretty good with a camera and Ashton loves to pose!

The 2 pictures on the left are right after waking up Saturday morning. Actually, Matt and the boys had been up awhile but Matt started cooking breakfast and let me sleep in -- heaven.

We took a hike up to donut falls which isn't really that impressive but it's still a pretty easy hike with a groomed trail.

This was the weekend we had the crazy lightning/thunder storms in Salt Lake so the second night was horrible. It rained all night but that I can handle, it was the lightning and thunder that was unbelievable. Kaleb and Ashton had jumped on our air mattress earlier that day so we were sleeping on the ground with nothing but a sleeping bag (awesome) and the ground shook and the rumbling was so loud and long. The lightning was so bright you couldn't keep your eyes open. I was really scared. Ashton never woke-up, I don't know how he didn't and Kaleb would sit-up sometimes because it was so loud. I thought either a tree was going to fall on us or lightning would hit our tent. You could hear people getting into their cars and leaving and if our car wasn't a 20 minute walk away I probably would have done the same thing. I never want to experience that again.

The next week Ashton started preschool.

(I know his "bangs" are a little long, he had a haircut shortly after. And we almost cut it short but he was scared of the clippers so maybe next time he'll have a short haircut.)

He loves going to preschool and I think it helps for him to be around other kids and not just me all day.

Here is Kaleb's 2nd grade picture. His teacher is Ms. Jackson and although he's never had very good handwriting his cursive is awesome and he's loved learning it.



The boys just finished swimming lessons and we're going to do lessons again in November. Kaleb didn't know how to swim before (the last time he had lessons he was 3) and now he can swim a full lap down the big pool. Ashton is getting more and more comfortable in the water and that's what we want. I don't expect him to swim at 3. I didn't get good pictures during the lesson but this was right after the last lesson.


And you'll notice Kaleb's missing a tooth. He started getting a gap between his teeth a couple months ago and I figured it was making room for other teeth since most kids lose their first tooth by 6 and he was 7. I kept checking and sure enough the bottom one was loose about a week later and so Sunday the 18th after a couple days of working on it he let my dad pull it out. I had wanted to make a tooth fairy pillow to put the tooth in but my sewing machine is at the apartment and it was the weekend so I quickly made a pillow at my aunts house with a pocket for his tooth and he left it for the tooth fairy. The tooth fairy left him with a note and a silver dollar coin and he had asked to keep his tooth so the tooth fairy let him keep it since it was his first one.

I really think Kaleb would love to take a hip-hop dance class or something like it. He loves dancing. We have "dance parties" all the time and Kaleb really gets into it. The other day just before leaving (which is why he's in his swimming suit) he told me to take a movie of him dancing. The first shoot he was facing the glass so he could see his reflection but I told him I wanted to see him, not his back so this was take 2. He even counts and says the steps sometimes as if it's a whole routine he choreographed.



And I've leave you with my project for tonight, painting this old dresser I found at Thrift Town that will be our entertainment center. I saw it 3 weeks ago and told myself if it was still there when that color tag was on sale for 50% off I would buy it and sure enough it was. I loved it but didn't want to pay full price. Matt helped me drill new holes for new hardware and we took out the top middle drawer for the electronics. I loved the shape of it and it's really long, plus with the drawers off centered from each other it doesn't look as dresser-ish to me. It came with a big mirrored hutch but we left that at the store. I'll take after pictures when we're done.