Huatulco - Days 1-3

Woohoo!

Ben and I and the girls...aaaaaand my parents went to Huatulco Mexico last week. It was a last minute Holiday and I'm so glad my parents could come.

The entire trip was Perfect!

The food rocked! We ATE soooo much! We ate and ate and ate and ate....and when we weren't eating we were drinking Pinada's (aka virgin pina colada's).

And when we weren't eating or drinking we were lounging on the Beach (or chasing kids).

The resort we stayed at was marvelous.
The staff was amazing.
The company was perfect
The weather was to die for!

Now, to document the trip with photos:

p.s. I KNOW this is probably soooooo boring to anyone but myself, so feel free to just skim through the pics, I just need to record it all in detail for my records.

Day one (the flight)

We flew with Sunwing Airlines. The girls did great on the flight there. Hailey was captivated with the movies on my iphone the entire time and Paige was happy to eat and play and even nap. It was way better then expected! It helped that my parents had an extra seat beside them so we just sent Hailey over to sit with them, that left both Ben and I to deal with the Paiger.

At the Airport waiting to take-off. Paige was very into my moms bag...she can smell candy a mile away!

Day two (First day at the Beach)

We arrived once the sun went down (6:30 pm) so we couldn't see the ocean or the beach the first night. We did explore a bit but it was all a bit eerie because we just couldn't see where we were. So we were very excited to wake up and see what this place actually looked like.

Our room...the girls waking up to see the place. It was almost like Christmas!

The view from our room...we were NOT disappointed.

Me - day one (spray tan and all). Maybe it's vain to have a bathing suit shot of me, but I don't care! There are very few pictures for my from this trip and I will share the few I think I look ok in (eve nif my legs look a ltitle bit dwarfed in this picture).
Hailey couldn't WAIT to get her snorkel gear on... and I don't think I need to be biased to say that she was the cutest snorkeler on the beach

She was also a pretty cute Mermaid

Paigey LOVED the water (she's laughing not crying in this picture). She also gave her Bumpa and Bumpapa (or Grandma and Grandpa) quite the workout with her running and jumping in the waves. No fear I tell ya.

The resort we stayed at had three separate and private Beaches. One of the Beaches has a coral reef in it's bay and Ben spent a LOT of time exploring. We borrowed my sisters waterproof camera for the trip and Ben thought he'd take it out to explore underwater. Unfortunately the camera wasn't as waterproof as we'd hoped and this was the last picture we knowingly took with the camera.

Apparently the camera still took pictures though. How did we know this you ask? Of course we still randomly posed and pretended to take pictures (because we're cool like that). Who knew they would actually work:)

Hi mom!

Day Three (camera still on the brink of destruction)

A day the sport Beach. We had LOTS of fun at this Beach, we took the Sea 'kayaks' and Catamaran's out for a spin, we played in the sand, we lounged on our chairs...

And of course we drank Pinada's (and the camera still mysterious took pictures)

Later that day we went to La Crucecita (a 40 peso taxi ride away) and shopped in the little market. This place is SO different then Puerto Vallarta. I was expecting some serious bargaining to happen...but instead we basically paid list price for anything we bought. Which honestly, is fine. If I can afford this trip, I can afford to pay the asking price for anything I buy.

Another unknown shot - playing with Grandma's trinkets she bought in La Crucecita

And that's it ... for Day's 1-3 at least.

I'll post days 4+ later....I might even have had a little Mexican camera miracle - so stay tuned!

Edited to ADD pictures from my Mom's camera:

First Night:

Hailey saw an itsy bitsy spider and freaked out! She literally jumped on my leg and wouldn't let even an inch of her touch the ground until the spider was gone. WOW!

Day Two:

Getting the kids all 'hatted' and ready to play in the sun

Snorkle Bum

Playing 'rook' Mexican style (Those are phase 10 cards...that we re-labled so we could play our favourite card game)

Day Three:

Hailey and Ben coming back from a Kayak ride
Walking around La Crucecita...everyone loved the blonde kids!

A quick Hi

We've been having fun...and now we're pretty busy. BUT - I thought I'd drop in and just give a quick wave. I'm still here, and I'll post more about this fabulous experience later.

Adios...for now

I might be biased

I'm know I'm biased...but I think I have beatiful children:

Hailey, who let me do her Hair today:

Paige, who wouldn't let me even come close to her hair...or her soo

We're lucky in this house

When Valentine's day comes around this house...we all get a little lucky. Why? Well because not only is it Valentine's (on the 14th) but it's our Anniversary (on the 15th). So that means we celebrate twice...and because this year our girls are ALL about princesses and all things fancy, the got in on the celebration. Romantic hey? Well, that's our life right now.

Being the lucky girls we are, Ben brought us all home roses. I am not someone who has a problem receiving roses on Valentine's day. I KNOW they are overpriced and blah blah blah, but if my husband wants to buy me roses, I'll let him!

Hailey and Paige were Lovin' their roses and were very grateful to their dad for supplying the goods.

Hailey was in Fairy Princess la-la land and couldn't stop smiling, and prancing around and batting her eyelashes and so on.

Paige thought her rose was a sword and kept hitting us with it "Whap whap whap".

Did you know my girls are cute? Well they are!

Especially in their new Valentine's PJ's

I got spoiled with a million roses...or just enough that I almost couldn't squeeze them into my vase. Which is fine by me...like I said, I don't mind flowers ONE bit!

Now, just so you don't sit there puking over how gushy I am...just know that Ben didn't get home from work until 8pm that night. And then I went swimming soon after. So dreamy!

Then our Anniversary was equally as gushy...we ate crepes as a family for dinner. No romantic dinner for two that's for sure, and I'm just fine with that! There's nothing better then spending time with my little family. Then we put the girls to bed and watched a movie...that Ben proceeded to sleep through! I guess that's what 8 years does to ya. We are hoping to get out by ourselves this weekend...and we're really really hoping to go somewhere tropical someday in the not so distant future where we might just get to have a dinner alone. We'll see.

Let down your hair

I feel like I need to let my hair down and just relax a little. I've been so super stressed out lately...and sometimes I wonder if it's that I just don't have the coping skills to deal with every day life, or if maybe it's that my every day life really is stressful. These last few weeks I've been particularly busy dealing with my church calling (i.e. visiting with sisters in our ward, planning a special breakfast for the Young Women coming to Relief Society, planning our upcoming activity this month and so on), I've been kind of busy with the girls and making sure they are in all the places they need to be (preschool, naps, baths, potty breaks, meals etc), I've been kind of busy with Ben working so much (i.e. last week we didn't see him at all...unless you count the time I spend in bed sleeping, because he eventually made it there), we've been busy buying a new vehicle (hello minivan), and we've been the MOST busy showing our other house, renting the other house, and getting our other house ready for our renters. Seriously, that was a LOT of work.

This is good news...and maybe this will be a huge stress reliever (because in case you were wondering, we've been paying 2 mortgages for three months. And in case you were wondering, it's not fun at all). Anyway, it's been the kind of month where I think I might just develop an ulcer, or the kind of month where I literally forgot to eat all day long, or the kind of month where I realize I haven't showered in DAYS.

So here's to a new month, one where our financial burden is less, one where I am driving my kids around in a nice roomy mini van, one where we might see Ben more often and one where I might actually get some laundry done, and shower, and make dinner and clean my house! Good things will come our way!

So...speaking of letting your hair down, this one sure knows how to:

I was cleaning the bathroom today and could faintly hear "Rapunzel Rapunzel let down your hair" So I snuck into the room and found my very own Rapunzel letting her 'hair' down. So sweet.

Also, while we're talking about hair, this one sometimes makes me want to pull my hair out:
Or at least give me some more grey hair with all the climbing and getting into stuff she does around here. She's kinda adorable though hey? We'll definitely keep her:)

You'll always be my BABY

A few days ago Ben took Hailey with him to wash the truck. Don't ask me why the truck needed to be washed, because it hasn't left the safety of our heated Garage for over a month...and it was clean when it entered it's hibernation. It was all beyond me. But I guess you can never really understand a man and his truck.
Anyway...the story. So he took Hailey with him. 5 minutes later he called and told me he left me a surprise in the mud room and to go check it out. I was pretty excited because he OWED me big time for the last 'surprise' he gave me *I'll tell you about it later*. So I ran down stairs and found this:


What a sweet little surprise. Even though this little 3 year old NEVER naps anymore - and hasn't for over a year, and even though she tells me to "get out of her room" regularly like she's a teenager, and even though she has the vocabulary of a 30 year old, and even though she's soooo grown up ALL the time...

She will still always be my baby.

p.s. the story about my last surprise. This last December I spent a LOT of money on clothes. I felt guilty so decided that they would be my Christmas presents from Ben. So Christmas eve I told him to wrap my presents...they were in a bag in our closet. So he did. Christmas morning, I saw that I had some presents under the tree...I also saw that MY presents were still in the bag in my closet unwrapped! YAY! That could only mean a surprise gift!! Ben's usually so great at Christmas time so I just KNEW he had bought me some amazing gift! I was truly excited to open the one present under the tree I didn't know about...what could it be? Imagine my surprise when I found a size 5T winter coat - meant for Hailey for next year - in the present addressed to me. Turns out Ben wrapped the clothes from the wrong bag in the closet (i.e. he wrapped the clothes I got on sale at Old Navy for the girls to grow into). Merry Christmas to me. Next year I'll let Ben do his own shopping...it seems to work better that way in this house.

Making Candy necklaces

So a friend of ours dropped of a little 'make your own candy necklace' pack for each of the girls. So thoughtful. So fun.We were so excited to get started. I figured this was an activity best left to the few moments during the day when Paige is napping...so we quickly put her to bed and Hailey and I got started.

The excitedment quickly turned to frustration. Is there anything more fun then 50 little tiny candy beads that need to be strung by 'three year old fingers' onto a tiny elastic string? This kind of thing is just up our alley...of course no one cried when the candies fell on the ground or the elastic moved a bit, I never tried to convince anyone that they should just eat the candy and forget the necklace part, I also didn't hide the other one from Paige. Nope. We just happily enjoyed making the necklace.




Actually in all honesty, the kit was really cute. We had lots of fun...and once we figured out how to work together (a little mommy daughter bonding here) it was really easy and fun! We definitely will buy more and make them again. Hailey LOVED it! She wore it for a whopping 45 minutes before all the candy was gone. She even begged me to buy her another one. And I will. Soon.

Pushing Chairs

Someone...the 18 month old...Paige, has learned to push the kitchen chairs around the kitchen to facilitate her getting into everything she isn't supposed to. Things like:

the rice
the flour
the candy stash
the chocolates (which are not the same as the candy stash in case you were wondering)
the chips
the sink
the dish soap
the dishes
the silverware
the recipe books
the iphone
the ipod

The list doesn't end there. And neither does the list of things she gets into without chairs, these would be things like:

the tupperware drawer
the toilet water
my toothbrush...
...and the toilet water
my toothbrush and anything dusgusting you can think of
bath soap
toothpaste
diaper cream
lotion
shampoo
conditioner
her clothes
my clothes
Bens clothes
Hailey's clothes

You get the picture...or shall I go on? Other things she does that are a little crazy include:

jumping off the couch
jumping off the stairs
dives and somersaults
headstands on the couch
climbing out of the bathtub...headfirst
climbing back into the tub...or jumping in from the ledge that is
climbing onto ANYTHING!

the one thing she hasn't done yet?

Climb out of her CRIB!

Honestly, how has this child (the child who honestly has no limits) not climbed out of her crib yet? I'm not about to ask her though.

So many reasons

There are just so many reasons why I love having two girls...and why I would love more one day. Girls are just so fun! I especially LOVE having these two little girls for each other - they LOVE each other (well, to be honest...there are times when the love's not so strong). BUT - the over all feeling is love and friendship, and I'm so glad they have each other to play with.

Now...today's reason why I love having girls is:

I just don't think boys would give you this kind of picture opportunity.... where else can you see Rapunzel brushing Tinkerbell's hair...while Tinkerbell is sitting patiently in a baby stroller. Do you see that little purse with a cell phone hanging out of it? Well, Rapunzel may have JUST finished her conversation with her Prince Eugene...I think they're planning to meet up to get married later this afternoon. Don't tell her Dad.Or:

Where else can you see Rapunzel giving Tinkerbell a ride in the stroller because her 'wings are broken'? Only girls. And that's why I LOVE mine.

The Year in Review

2010...what a year!! This has been the busiest, most stressful, yet most rewarding year of my life...so far that is! Our Year Consisted of:

Babies growing bigger, Girls growing older, Husbands turning 30, Wives turning 27 (not quite as exciting), Houses being bought (well just one), Houses (just one again) being rented - and then vacated, Camping...and more camping, and then when we thought we were sick of camping - even more camping, trips to Vegas, Missionaries coming home, Siblings getting married, weight lost - and then gained and lost again, 3172 Pictures being taken, a million hugs and kisses given....even more received, 7 years of marriage celebrated, good friends enjoyed, cousins played with, some said goodbye to (for the time being at least), Grandparents adored and loved, grandpas/dads retiring, and so on.

It's been a good year. So in honour of this Good Year we've had, I put together a little video of pictures. You've seen most of these pictures, but some of them are new. I mostly just enjoy watching how the girls have grown this past year.

Enjoy (oh...and I should warn - when I was uploading this video I accidentally uploaded the wrong one...which means it's got some stuff wrong - like the month of the Olympics and a few other things. I would upload the correct one, but I maxed out my weekly limit. So next week, I'll fix it, and you'll get to see the newer and better version - with correct dates, and a few more pics. OK?)



Now onto 2011...what are our plans? Maybe we'll go camping some more, maybe we'll travel somewhere fun, hopefully we won't be moving or selling or anything like that, maybe we'll start thinking about another baby? One day. But mostly we'll just enjoy being together.

Christmas...

Oh Christmas...how I LOVE Christmas! This year was just perfect! Maybe it was the brilliant weather, or all the snow on the ground, or the great family we got to spend the holidays with, or our sweet girls who were very excited - especially Hailey! She is at the PERFECT age for Christmas! I think she'll be the perfect age for a few years to come....which is great because soon enough Paige will be the perfect age. I can hardly wait!

I think one of the best things about Christmas this year was the "Santa Threat". You know, the "you'd better be good because Santa's watching" threat. LOVED it! One time Hailey was being exceptionally difficult (she's three it's normal right?), anyway, we told her she'd better be good or we'd call Santa. Her response?

"Santa doesn't have a phone!!"

Oh.

So we told her that we'd email him...and that did the trick. How times have changed.

Anyway, we were busy all month with our advent calendar activities. One of our favourites was making popcorn garland. The 1 year old dumped the bowl of popcorn on the floor, and the three year old vacuumed it up. What could be more fun? Needless to say, no popcorn garland made it on the tree. But honestly, this was WAY more fun for them!

We hosted Christmas at our home this year, which worked out great! Our kids got to sleep in their own beds - and nothing is more important then a good nights sleep. Ben's family all came up Christmas eve (except his sister and her family who are unfortunate to have to live in the Caribbean).

Grandma read the girls a new book. Hailey LOVED it. Paige learned to say "ho ho ho".

We ate food ALL night long, then got the kiddos into their PJ's and took a picture. Paige of course sent death rays to Jaxson/his bottle. I forsee a great friednship developing between these two cousins:)

We had WAY too many presents under the tree...don't worry they aren't all ours (remember?Ben's family was here too)

We had to eventually wake the girls up Christmas morning - who sleeps in on Christmas? My girls I guess.

Hailey had a lot of fun opening all her million presents...here's the apron I made her (Paige has one too, and if I get around to it, I will as well)

The last present of the day was this beauty:

Yep...it's a pink camo quad! It's real too. Gas powered and all. Don't worry, they'll have helmets and we even have a remote shut down. I'm not sure who was more excited about it...Ben or Hailey. Ben probably. (p.s. it's obviously hard to keep clothes on our girls...whatev)

We spent the rest of the day relaxing - playing with Grandmas ipad.

Ok - I didn't relax at all for the rest of the day...because I was busy making my FIRST ever Turkey dinner! It turned out perfectly! We brined the turkey over night and then rubbed the bird with spices...it was divine!

Overall the Holiday was so wonderful. Can I get any cheesier? I don't think so...but it really was that great. We all got SPOILED! The girls especially. They deserve it though...right? The company was great. The food was delicious. The weight gain was worth it.

We're still looking forward to the get together with my side of the family. Our schedules just didn't work this year...so we haven't got together just yet. But we will!!

Anyway, I hope you all had a Merry Christmas...and I hope you have a Happy New Year!

The Gingerbread house

So we broke down.

We bought a pre made gingerbread house (because we're creative like that).

All we had to do was decorate it.

Somehow things went off course.

I'm not sure who started all the silliness.

Maybe it was Colonel Mustard...


in the library....


with the candlestick?


Or maybe it was this little person...


aiming for a little world dominance?


We had a fun night though, the gingerbread house got about half the given candy on it, and the Heating Technician in our house insisted it needed a HUGE chimney. I love my family.

It's beginning to 'feel' a lot like Christmas

Yes it is...maybe it's because I have Christmas music playing all day long (Boney M, Nana Mouskouri, Bing Crosby etc), or maybe it's because the house is decorated and ready to go, or maybe it's because I have a little three year old who is especially excited this year, or maybe it's because I have the coolest stockings in the whole world, or maybe it's because the Christmas shopping is pretty much done, or maybe...just maybe it's because the girls got to see Santa this weekend. It's Christmas time, and that's all that matters right now.



So, the stockings. My mom knit these stocking for my little family. And they are honestly the cutest, coolest stockings I've ever seen. I'm almost tempted to have another baby so that my mom can make another one....because I want MORE! They're that cute. Don't you agree?


They're also HUGE! So lots of stocking stuffing will have to happen on Christmas Eve.


I love advent Calendars (I've got quite a few and I want more) but this is the main one this year. Each tin either has either an activity or a treat inside, and the girls get so excited when we open one each day. Cute hey?

One of the activities was to make a snowman. However, the organizer of activities may not have thought this particular one through, since the day we needed to make a snow man the snow was all icy and definitely not in snowman making shape. So we make a snow inukshuk instead. It worked for Hailey and her friend Denver....I think.

The advent calendar also told us to make cookies and decorate them...yummy

Other activities in the Calendar include: Eating a special breakfast with Christmas music, drive around to look at lights, watch a special Christmas movie, make popcorn garland, hang a mistletoe and get kisses under it, and make gingerbread houses. We're excited!

In other exciting news, we went to my parents ward Christmas party this last weekend. Santa was there, and Hailey was soooo excited to see him. Maybe a little nervous too.

This picture I had to post for my own memory (it's a bit blurry and I wish I was better with my camera so I could avoid these kind of problems). Anyway, this shows just how nervous she was. She never makes this smile, she never stands this still, she never listens this well. But when she's in line for Santa, she'll do anything.

And Finally our picture with Santa for the year: Paige lasted for all of two seconds before she lost it. Hailey was mesmerized with Santa and could barely even talk she was so excited/nervous. Overall it was a fun evening...and my girls were happy with all the candy they got.

We're looking forward to Christmas this year...it just seems like it gets better ever year. Plus, there might be a very very cool gift for the girls under the tree this year...it's a secret for now, but I can't wait to post about it!!

Hailey LOVED this...your kids need one too

Santa sent Hailey a special message last night.

Follow this link and wait a minute for the video to load:

http://www.portablenorthpole.ca/watch/guest/FMzfZJgmEYifHh-HUAfZ4g

Isn't that so neat??