We had such an amazing trip! First stop - DisneyWorld. The kids had such a great time riding all the rides and enjoying the magic of Disney!
Next stop - MICKEY BOAT! We were so excited. . . our first port was Key West. We found a beautiful Butterfly Conservatory to visit. The kids loved it except Miles got WAY TOO hot and Lola became deathly afraid of the "Owl Butterfly."
COZUMEL! We found a beautiful, not crowded beach. The kids loved the sand and waves. They had amazing snorkeling. . . Jacks and I went out with Katie and Trav and saw so many pretty, colorful fish. Jacks was a pro at snorkeling after just a minute of figuring it out. It was so neat to be out there with him! Oh, and the BEST nachos ever.
Grand Cayman! Such a pretty island. We went with Captain Marvin to Sting Ray City. What a neat place. . . so amazing to be swimming around the sting rays. Jacks and Miles LOVED it. . . Lola was afraid and spent half the time in the boat with Captain Marvin. She finally came out for the last few minutes. . . I was proud of her!
Can't do Disney without the characters! Lola talked her daddy into a fancy Sleeping Beauty dress from Disney World. . . she was so happy to dress up in it and get her picture with all the princesses. She was quite the poser! The boys just wanted to get pictures with Captain Jack and were willing to stand in line for it for quite some time!
We had such a great time with everyone on the boat. . . swimming, eating, kids camp till all hours of the night, Penuchle for the adults, shows, FREE SODA, movies, unlimited dessert, Pirate party, BINGO, and tons of laughing!
Thanks grandma and grandpa for an amazing trip!
This past weekend we headed down to Moab with my siblings for a weekend of good food, lots of condo time (due to the FREEZING temperatures), golf for the boys, a mini-hike and a 13.2 mile jaunt down the canyon. 
Several months ago, against my better judgement, I allowed my sisters to talk me into running the Moab half marathon. I spent most of the winter postponing my training and dreading the middle of March.
March 19th found us in Moab, driving the course so we knew what to expect. It seemed a lot more uphill than down to me and I found myself more and more nervous as we drove! Jackson drove it with us and kept telling us that this was going to take us all day. . . I think he had no idea until that point just how far his mom runs. I also think he decided I'm plum crazy.
Morning of: it was a beautiful, clear day. At least that's what I thought until Nate informed us that it was currently 28 degrees. Despite the freezing temperatures, I started to get excited. This is why I do this to myself: the excitement of 4,000 people all freezing their trash off in the shade of a beautiful red-rocked canyon, huddled around the start line, with a similar goal in mind. I decided that I could do this thing.
I had so much fun starting with Tierra, Chelsea and Marcus. We had fun passing the time by critiquing all the different running styles, talking about anything that comes to mind, and weaving our way through those 4,000 runners as we made our way down the canyon. Chel and I ran together till about mile 9 when her knees started killing her and she dropped back just a bit.
Then it was me and my iPod. The last 2 miles are always the hardest 17 minutes of my life but I passed that finish line, one hour and fifty-eight minutes after that oh-so-cold start, so relieved that it was over! So happy that my sisters talked me into it and that we were able to accomplish this thing together.
It was a cold January morning. The sky was a depressing shade of gray.
First it was a fabulously fun day spent with granny: birthday shopping for the perfect present and McDonalds for lunch.
Then it was time to open presents and head to dinner with our family to Miles favorite - IHOP.
I can't believe Miles is 5! He had so much fun having his 1st friend party. . . he's so lucky to have such cute kids as friends.
The other day I asked Miles to put some cupcakes on a plate for me. As he arranged them, he told me he was making a guy out of them. Showing me his masterpiece, he pointed out the key characteristics,
