Mexico

The first stop was Puerto Vallarta.  There weren’t a lot of flashy or touristy things going on at this stop. Old Mexican charm was the theme here. We went by van to a little beach that had old chairs and little tables covered in old table cloths. The kids played in the sand, and some of them went out on a boat to snorkel. The fish were beautiful. I wish I would have gone, but only the dads went. The moms stayed behind to watch the kids that stayed to swim and play on the beach. We had some delishous fresh Mexican carne asada tacos...yummmmmm, and a warm coke.  I don't mind my coke warm....if the water and the beach are warm.  :)

The Family

The kids

The tables by the beach

The Island they snorkled at

The boat ride out

The fish

Corbin enjoyed the snorkeling

So did Rick

Channy stayed on the boat

Beach play

I think the thing the kids will remember most about this stop is the LOOOOONG walk we took through the city.  We saw a lot of nothing, but we sure slept good after.

The kids goofing off  (Save Taylor!)

Corbin packed a lot of girls around on this trip....Here it's Taylor.

The best part of the walk....was the bus ride back.  My feet were blistered and I couldn't walk back.  Gotta love the Mexican bus system. lol

The Ship

We went to the Mexican Riviera on a beautiful ship called, The Splendor.  I have to say, I really enjoy ship life.  Besides the yummy food all day and all night, there's great music, fun games, relaxation, waterslides, miniature golf, shows, and we even got a water show from the dolphins swimming along the ship.  Not to mention I sleep like a baby on a ship.  Just thinking about it makes me want to go back....right now.


Corbin enjoyed Cruzin'

I think the kids were tired the whole time because they hardly ever slept.

One of our favorite things to do is just hang out and play games.  We sat around this table and played games almost every night.

The kids hung out in the hot tubs. Swam and went down the waterslides.

While the adults enjoyed chillin' and reading.

Maddi and Channie enjoyed some golf.

And Rick and Corbin played some ping pong.


I think the most fun we all had was the scavenger hunt.  Adults against Kids.....I think the kids won...DANG!
You had to take a picture with the thing you found.  This picture was of an American working on board the ship....You have no idea how hard it is to find an American working on a curise ship.  She was a Hip-Hop teacher for one of the kids clubs.

But, the best part of all has to be the free ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT ICECREAM!!!!

I do enjoy life on a ship.....until it rocks to much that is.....I did get sick on the way home. :)

Mexico Made Me Lazy

Ooooh, I've been so lazy since we got back from Mexico.  We went in January for a family vacation.  Challis didn't come but the rest of us went.  We took the kids on their first cruise.  The ship was The Carnival Splendor.  The destinations were Puerto VAllarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo San Lucas.  There were 2 other families that went along with us, our good friends the Saddlers, and the Batemans who we didn't know that well before, but we got to know really well on the trip.

We drove to California in a 4 car caravan.  I really love a good road trip. There's nothing better than sitting on your butt with a good book and junk food.  We got there and stayed the night then got up the next day and drove to the port.  We were all sooooo excited.  Here are most of us in front of the ship before we got on.

Here were all of the kids.  I have to say that it was great to have so many kids.  They all got along and had such a great time with each other.

My favorite part of the cruise is ALL of the food.  I'm notorious for ordering 3 appetizers, 2 dinners, and 2+ desserts.  Needless to say I always gain a TON of weight, but it's soooo worth it.  Corbin really loved all of the food too.  He takes after his old Mama.  :)  Here are a few pictures from dinners.


All of the boys, (Yellow) Stetson, (Blue) Corbin, (Purple) Landon, (Green) Parker

The Girls L to R (White) Haylee, (Blue) Madison, (Black and Purple) Chantel, (Black) Emily, (Red) Lissie, (Black) Taylor

The little girls Lorin and McKinley

 Brenda and Steve

Brennon and Tammy

Me and Rick

2010 - Happy New Year!!!!

Wow!  Another year down.  We spent the last night of 2009 with our dear friends the Saddlers.  We love them!  We also had over some other dear friends Kristi and Troy Nye, and Heather and Brian Saddler.  We played games all night long and ate a ton of yummy stuff.

Rick, Tiff, Brian, Heather, Steve, Brenda, Troy, and Kristi

Riley, Madison, Kinley, Chantel, and Katelyn

We played a lot of card games.

Played a wicked game of All Play Pictionary.  Girls against Guys (Girls won!) But, my favorite thing happened just after the new year.

We took the balloons behind Brenda, and...

We popped them to get our New Year's Fortune.

 

It was a blast!  Hope you all have a wonderful 2010!

Corbin's 17th

I can't believe Corbin is already 17.  He has grown so much this year.  He's quickly approaching 200lbs and is 6'1".  I always knew he'd be a big boy....Maybe because he was 9lbs 3oz when he was born, hee, hee.  We love him to death.  He's a kid with so much potential, and I hope he lives up to it.  His new favorite quote I see written all over, from his Uncle Jay, "To whom much is given, much is expected."  So, I know he thinks about where he is going.

On his birthday we got together with my "new" sister Jennie and her family, my sister Star and her family, My mom and Steve, and a couple of Corbin's favorite friends, Jessica, and Jayden.  We went to dinner with Jennie's family and the girls then met up with the others at Boondocks for some lazer tag and games. It was really snowy out, so we appreciate that everyone came.  We had fun.

Guess what Corbin's favorite B-day gift was? GO COLTS!

His second favorite....Ok, maybe it was the cash from everyone.  :)

L to R, Jayden, Corbin, Jessica, Chantel, Challis, Austin, and Kyilee.

Kylee, Riley, Star, and Jeff

Jayden, Corbin, and Jessica

Grandma Dorman, Challis, Channy

Thanks for coming everyone, and thanks for all the great gifts.  Corbin loved them all.

A Wonderful Holiday Season with a Facebook Christmas Miracle

Where last I left off I was baking cookies with the family, but what you didn't know was....I'd found my long lost sisters....ON FACEBOOK!  That's right.  I facebooked my sister, Kim Edgar, that I'd wondered about and googled unsuccessfully in past years, and found her in Denver Co.  And in finding her I found my sister Tony  Plexico and my sister Jennie Furse.  It was a little scary at first but eventually after much email I met Jennie and her darling family for the first time up at her home in Lehi.  I think she's darling and I've enjoyed getting to know her.  Here is a picture of the two of us,Jennie and I.

This was our first Christmas with Challis living away, but he came home to spend the night.  Rick and I both said how good it was to have him home for the night and have us all together.  We opened Christmas PJ's Christmas Eve and played a couple of games...Just like the old days.  It was a really fun night.

Chantel

Corbin

Challis

Then the next morning woke up to the kids laughter, and open our Christmas gifts.  We all got wonderful things, but our favorite is a cruise to Mexico in January.  We can hardly wait.

Channy got her first cell phone and clothes.

Corbin got a new cell phone and clothes.

Challis got cash and clothes.

Later Christmas morning we had a yummy brunch at our house with  my mom and Steve, my sister Star and her family, and Star's mother and father-in-law.

Rick worked clean-up all day long.  He's the best husband EVER!  Thanks honey. :)

Then we played games and enjoyed each others company.

Kylee (my niece and me)

Wii Bowling

Grandpa Dorman, Channie, and Chal

Chal and me.

It was a wonderful Christmas.  We were so happy to have everyone there.