Our day in Santa Barbara

On Tuesday, we ported in Santa Barbara, CA.  They tendered us to shore where we found a place to rent bikes and went for a ride around town.  

It was a pretty place and the weather was pleasant.  I didn't know what to expect from Santa Barbara, but the only thing that DID surprise me was all the homeless people along the beach.  I guess since it is such a warm climate all the time, it makes sense why people would live there like that.  Other than that, it was a beautiful place and we had so much fun riding bikes around and finding different parks, gardens, and shopping.  

 We got back on the ship just after lunch and took a nap, did some reading by the pool, and then enjoyed a yummy dinner.  The show for that evening was a comedian, it was funny.  The ship always had live music and dancing, karaoke, or some type of entertainment.  We also enjoyed watching movies in our room and watching the view from our balcony.  

 That night, after we had dinner, they brought us a cute little cake and sang to celebrate our anniversary.  Despite the off pitch singing, it was very nice!  And a great way to finish the evening.

13th Anniversary Cruise

I haven"t posted for a while because we have been having way too much fun!!!  Nick and I left for our cruise last Sunday morning, the 10th.  That was our actual anniversary!  My mom dropped off my dad on her way to choir so he could watch the kids so we could leave early Sunday.  We decided to drive to Vegas Sunday night and then head into LA Monday morning.  On our way down south, we stopped in Delta to visit his Gpa.  His Birthday was on the 11th and he turned 90!!!!  He is such a cute man!  We had a great visit with him and Gma Pace.  We then got back on the road and made it to Vegas in time for dinner.  

We stayed at the Stratosphere and just found some pizza in one of the hotel restaurants.  We had a relaxing evening just watching a movie and going to bed early.  That was the whole point of this vacation....total relaxation!  We got up early and worked out before heading south to LA.  We made it to the Port of LA (which is actually in San Pedro) around 1 PM and got onto the ship with out too much waiting in line.  Once we got on board we found some lunch and started exploring the ship.  We got a room with a balcony this time and it was so awesome.  We really enjoyed it!  

 They had balloons by our door and a cute Happy Anniversary sign on our door.   We spent the afternoon eating and dancing.  I even won a bottle of champagne for doing some awesome line dancing!  It was hilarious!  Especially since we don't drink!  We ended up giving the bottle to one of our couples we ate with each night, Jon and Mary.

 The show on the first night in the "Princess Theater" was a tribute to all the artists from England.  It was great!  It was a great day!

First part of November

It is crazy to think we are in November!  And with all that is going on this month, I have a feeling December will be here super fast!  We went to bed Halloween night on a sugar high and woke up with a sugar hangover!  It wasn't 9 AM yet when Kaylee was asking for candy!  Since it has been a week or so, they aren't as crazy about wanting to eat candy all the time, but we still have a ton of it left!  They ended up filling 5 gallon size bags of all their candy!  

The kids had the day after Halloween off for teacher prep day.  So we mostly did some chores around the house and the kids played.  Nothing too crazy.  That night, Nick and I were able to go to the temple for date night for our Stake Temple Day.  Stake conference was that weekend.  It didn't start until 2 that afternoon, so we spent the morning just being lazy before we all got ready for stake conference.  When we got to the regional center we saw the missionaries, so we sat by Elder von Kampen and Elder Clark.

It was a good conference.  Nick spent most of the time dealing with Preston in the hallway so I was able to listen to the speakers.  President Lingard gave our stake a challenge for November.  For the next 4 weeks, on FHE, that we all make cookies for someone and deliver them with a note that says, "Thinking of You".  So we did just that on Monday for FHE.  We made pumpkin cookies and took them to Lois Larrabee in our ward, who is an older lady who had knee surgery.  She also used to be one of the ladies I visit taught, so I know her well.  Then we took a plate to a lady named Emily T. who just found out she had breast cancer a few weeks ago and was going to be having surgery this week (which was Thursday and I heard everything went well and they were optimistic with the biopsy results!).  She is married and has three kids.  I can't even imagine what that would be like!  We are all praying for her and hope she is able to beat this!!!!  We have also been busy with lots of school work and projects.  Kaylee brought home a turkey project that we all helped her with.  We got to decorate a turkey with things that we have around the house.  I think it turned out cute!!  Carson has been working really hard practicing his typing every night and trying to pass off the last two subtraction numbers.  We have also been working really hard on his reading.  He reads very well and fast, but his comprehension still needs some work.  

He is doing fantastic with his spelling and has gotten 6 100% in a row, including the one he took just this Friday.  I am so proud of him.  He works so hard all week practicing his words and it pays off!  Since we are going to be on our cruise next week, during SEP conferences, I made arrangements with both of their teachers to meet with them Friday after school.  Both kids are doing great!  Kaylee is doing so well in math, that her teacher is putting her in an SEM Math group.  Kaylee recieved all 3's (the highest you can get) and the teacher especially praised her for being such a nice and attentive student.  She never is disruptive or rude and is doing great socially!  Carson is the same way, which makes me so happy as a parent!

School has kept us super busy, but so have a lot of other things like illnesses.  I took Kaylee in to see Dr. Skedros since she had had two ear infections in the past four months, but he said that we should just be patient and not do tubes.  But while we were there he checked my ear and cleaned out some more gunk that was making it hard for me to hear.  He also put me on drops to help clear it up and then I get to go see him again in a few weeks.  Preston had his last k9 tooth come through and spent a few days with a fever and diarrhea.

 We have made a few trips to the dr's for Preston's flu booster shot and for Alivia who has had a fever the past few days.  She has had no other symptons other than that.  When I took her in they did a strep test and a urine sample and there was no indication of any infection.  So since it is viral we have to wait it out.  Today she finally started eating a little bit more than just crackers, but slept most of the day still.

I had to just add a few other pictures that shows what we have been up to so far this month.  We try not to take all the kids shopping if we don't have to.  It is just a lot of work and chaos!  I took this picture while we were at walmart the other day.  Talk about crazy!  Four kids and one cart.  It is exhausting! 

 It has also been a fun month to reflect on the things we are grateful for.  I have been trying to post on FB every day things that I am grateful for.  One of them was that I was grateful for the Activity day girls and their leaders for the sweet act of kindness they showed me.  They decorated our front door and left some sweet treats (cupcakes and a caramel apple) along with some sweet words of gratitude.  It was so sweet!

 Also, a picture of Preston sitting in time out for the first time.  I think it was because he hit Alivia.  I don't remember exactly, but what I do remember is that he did not like it one bit!  It was kind of funny!

 Here is Preston and me at the flu shot clinic waiting for our turn Thursday night followed by a picture of Alivia at the dr's office Friday.  Despite having a 103 degree fever while we were there, she smiled when she realized I was taking her picture.  You gotta love her!!!

Besides trying to care for my sick little Livy on Friday, I was also trying to make sure everything was getting set up for the Book Fair at the school.  It runs all next week during SEP's.  As a PTA Board Member, this is one of the things that I am over.  I have a great chairperson, Julie Garaycochea (our neighbors sister in law), who has been brilliant putting it all together and making sure everything gets done!  Instead of helping set up, I took Livy to the Dr, but when I stopped by it was looking great, and by the time I was done with SEP's and went to help with the teacher preview, it was awesome!  I am so proud of what they accomplished and grateful for all the amazing people who volunteered to help!

It has been a crazy month already and I am ready for a break!  Luckily, Nick and I are leaving tomorrow morning to drive to Vegas, and then head to LA on Monday to get on a cruise ship for four nights!  We are so excited to celebrate our Anniversary and get some much needed R&R!  Gpa Brower will be here tomorrow to watch the kids until Karen comes and stays with them tomorrow night until Tues.  Then my mom and dad will take over again and watch our kids the rest of the week, along with Marisa's two youngest kids since they are also going to be going out of town this week!  It may be a super crazy week for them, but I am sure it will be great and the kids are going to have a blast!!! 

Carson's 2nd Recital

This past Wednesday, Carson had his piano recital with his teacher and her students.  He did another fantastic job playing his songs!  They also got to dress up in their costumes and play.  I am so proud of Carson for working so hard on the piano.  He practices every day before school and hardly misses any days.  I just love that he is really learning to love it and feel so confident when he plays.  It is so fun!  Can't wait to see how he improves to the next recital.    

Monster Game

Clear back in October (I found these pictures on one of my cameras....I guess that is the issue having three cameras that get used all the time) I took the two older kids to Lowes Build and Grow to build a monster theme game.  They did great and had just as much fun as they did with the last clinic.  I have the three older kids signed up for the next clinic this next Saturday, so I think it will be fun for Livy to go this time!  Here are the pictures from our building time.

Halloween 2013

We had a super fun Halloween!  The kids had a blast with their class parties and we enjoyed some pizza for dinner.  The kids were super excited to get out and start trick or treating.  They left around 5:30 to start around the neighborhood.  We let Preston go to a couple houses and then he stayed home with me to help pass out candy.  He loved seeing the kids come to our door but hated to see them leave and he couldn't go out with them.  He would get upset every time I closed the door.  It was kind of exhausting having him home with me!  Once they made it around our block, Alivia came home and stayed with me while Nick took the older kids out for more trick or treating.  They were out for another hour or so and came back with TONS of candy.  I couldn't believe how much candy!  They had even gotten fresh warm donuts, hot chocolate, and hot dogs at a few houses.  The weather was perfect and the kids had such a great time!  It reminded me of when I was little and we would come home with just tons of candy and spend the next week eating, trading, and going through it like it was money!  I just think it is so fun for kids!  As an adult, I will admit it isn't my favorite holiday, but my kids love it and I am glad that they had such a great time!  Here are some pictures of our night!