A MOAB QUICKY

Lance has been wanting a Moab trip for just us for a VERY LONG TIME! Combining 2 of his favorite things, Me (for sure) and biking. He has been traveling a lot lately and so after a 12 day trip to New Orleans we took off the day after he got home. It was memorial weekend and the arts festival so there was no hotels and no where to take our trailer so we tent camped. It has been so long since we had done that but I was just going with the flow this weekend. Something I struggle with.

We also could not find a place to camp until we were going through the last camp ground and a lady flagged us down to say that someone from the campground office was saving a spot for some locals but they had not been there the last 2 nights. Then another guy came over to say it's yours basically so we kind of took over a fabulous spot hoping no one would come back to kick us out.

The next morning we rode Slick Rock. This was maybe my 3rd or 4Th real ride. The first 30 minutes or so I was shaking and so nervous. There are some big freaking hills and one small mistake and you are off a cliff. After that I was good to go and really did pretty good! It was about 4 hrs of kicking my butt and I loved it!

The rest of the time we wandered through shops, ate and found a shower at the aquatics center. We were suppose to stay till Sundee but a huge wind storm came in and sanded us completely out so we left late Saturday night. It was a much needed mini break and we loved it!

HOOPES & PINEVIEW REUNION

Amber and the boys stayed with us the week before the reunion. It is so different to have boys in my normally quiet household but I loved it and the girls did too. We did a TON of swimming, biking, eating and lots of playing outside. It was so fun to have them here and to squeeze baby Rome.
The weeks family reunion was a weekend get away to Pine view this year. For as big as the family is, it was a great spot for everyone to be able to fit. We did lots of jumping on the tramp, canoeing and falling in the disgusting lake, eating, games and some great classes. Lance and I even got in a bike ride. We don't get to see Lances big family very often so it was fun to catch up with everyone.

We ended up leaving late Saturday night with a very sick little Meggy. She had a throat infection, hand foot mouth and a temp for 103 for almost 2 weeks. Luckily she is now starting to feel better!

STARVATION 2010

Yeah! Another year at Starvation. We look forward to this trip all year long and even after 5 days there we are not ready to go home. This is one of my fav parts of summer and I cannot say how much I love this clan! We are definitely blessed with amazing friends!
With the exception of one tubbing accident and a couple windy days everything was great. The food, dancing, name that band, boating all were so much fun and I am already excited for next year. Now bring on all the pics...

ROAD TRIP

About a week before Christmas Lance told me he was going to take from Christmas to New Years off. I said what should we do, go on a road trip? I was just kidding but he was on it and that is what we did.

LAS VEGAS:

We left Saturday the 26Th and headed into Las Vegas to stay with Lances sister and her family. We got there about 4 and Adrienne made dinner for us, which is my fave cause I hate to make dinner then we all headed to the movie. I took the three girls to see Princess and the Frog while Adrienne, Lance, Kyson, Brooks and Ella went to see Avatar. I did not have my camera out yet so no pics which I am very sad about. The next morning we haded into California. We made a pit stop in Primm to shop at the outlets. NO GOOD! We will not do that again plus there is not really any good places to shop there.

HUNTINGTON BEACH:

We made in into Huntington about 5 and YEAH, Jenn had dinner all ready for us! That night we just hung out and chatted! The next afternoon, Monday, the boys went golfing while Jenn and I took the girls shopping and to lunch at South Coast. We didn't buy much but still had such a great time. That night we had dinner at the house and went hot tubbing. Tuesday morning we headed to Downtown and the beach. The weather was amazing and the girls LOVED the beach. We lucked out on everything falling so much into place this trip. That night we went to dinner to have fish tacos and it was $1.00 taco night! They were super yummy! Then they had blocked off Downtown and had a lots of booths and vender's there. The girls even got balloon animals from Cinderella.

We also got to meet little Jack! He is so cute and the girls loved him. I think Jack liked them too even though he hid from Ava most of the time. Also I think Lance un did all of the training that they had done before we got there. Jack loved to lick Lance's whole face and bite on his ears. We left Huntington about 5 AM the next morning and headed into ST George.

ST GEORGE:

We arrived in St George about noon to stay at the Brailsford house. I have said this before but it is so nice to have such a great place to stay whenever we are in St George. We met up with the Palmers and the Conders for the next couple days. The boys golfed and biked while us girls mostly hung with he kids and got in a bit of shopping and lunch. The kids just ran loose and played pool, pet shops, ponies and watched lots of movies.

New Years Eve we got pizza for the kids, take out for the adults and mostly reminisced about the good ol days! It was a great time and we LOVE these families so much! I was terrible with he camera in St George as well=(

I am not sure how everything turned out so great but we had an AMAZING time! A very much needed break from it all. Thanks to all for putting us up and I think we may have to do this more often.

STARVATION OVER THE 24TH

We spent 5 days at Starvation Reservoir again this year. I was recently reminded that great friends are hard to come by. We must be so blessed because we have the most amazing friends and are so thankful for all the great times we have together. We look so forward to this trip every year and it is always so much fun. We had 15 adults, 17 kids, 4 dogs, 3 trailers and 4 boats. Lots of horseshoes, wake boarding and eating great food! I have to say my fav part are the nights around the campfire with no kids just talking. What more could you ask for!

Duncans-Palmers-Conders-Tucketts-Wests-Helms-& Manolakis Families! All of the kids did really well considering there were so many of them. They played in the sand, loved to be on the boats and watched a ton of movies thanks to Hotel Tuckett! The Manolakis Fam brought a pinata for the kids and it was such a big hit!

Meg had a good time but struggles a bit went the boys wont play with her. Ava did pretty well but was a bit to whiny, surprise. As long as she was on the boat she was good to go and made friends with all the dads that had boats!

Until next year....

BOYS TRIP TO MOAB

MOAB FAMILY TRIP

We had such a great time in Moab with the Manolakis and Austin Families. Unfortunately this year the snow and cold weather followed. How crazy to hike Arches in the snow and we definitely did not pack bibs and coats. Even though the weather was so crappy we had amazing food, the boys did manage to get in a few good rides and the kids had a great time fighting over the strollers and toys. My girls also had their first community tub time. SUPER CUTE!

Sundee we did a family hike while the rest of the clan made their way home due to a bit of nausea:) and sleeping kids. Meg was such a great hiker this year and kept wanting to do more. Ava also loved her pack and did get to hike for a while.

Minus the snow the only drawback was the hot tub skin bacteria that Ava came home with. She was covered with soars and a nice 103 temp. I had to take her to the hospital to have her blood work done, not fun on a 2 year old, and has been on two antibiotics. She is still not really eating but is starting to feel better. Thanks for the great time all!

EASTERN CARIBBEAN

Lance and I just got back from a 7 day cruise to the Caribbean. He decided to book it and tell me about it about 2 weeks prior, he wanted to make it a surprise. It was the best surprise I have had in a long time. The last big vacation that we had together was almost 6 years ago to Hawaii, where I became preggo with Meg. None this time, Thank You!!!

Marchelle, my Mamma and Kee took over the girls for the 8 days we were gone. Everyone was so great to do this and all seemed to go smoothly. I don't think the girls even missed us much. Poor Kee was a bit delirious when we got home but hopefully it was some great birth control. I, Of coarse, left detailed instructions for all just in case. DON"T JUDGE, I already know I am OCD and anal. I had to keep record of it so I can remember how crazy I am!

There was about 25 people in our group. We only knew one couple to begin with, Scott and Krissi, but the whole group was so great and we had so much fun. Usually after that long being gone I am ready to come home but I can honestly say I could have stayed another week if we could have shipped the girls over to us. I am still sad about being home. What an amazing trip.
We started out by flying into Ft. Lauder dale where the airline lost our luggage. Luckily they tracked it down and we were only without it one night. The next day off to sea...


SAN JUAN

Our cabin was great and seemed a lot bigger than our last cruise. We were on the 1st floor which turned out nice because after hiking 9 flights of stairs 10 times a day it was a good workout.
We got into San Juan on Monday and mainly just wandered the town. There was not a ton to see but that night we were planning on Zip Lining, The Original Canopy Tour-La-Marquesa. This was the only thing Lance really wanted to do. I was so super nervous about flying
above the rain forest. It was so much fun, We loved it. The only drawbacks were that we did it in the dark. It made it seem more scary but we missed out on a lot of the scenery. Also Lance and I went very first of the group so no waiting and Krissi and Scott got stuck at the very end behind all the dumb, freaking out people.


The days that we were at sea were just as great and relaxing as being at the ports. The daily schedule ran about the same: Sleeping in till about 10-11. It is so dark and the boat rocks you to sleep, Love it!
Heading up to the gym. At the price of getting made fun of by Scott, Thanks!
Getting breakfast.
Laying by the pools and catching a few boat activities.
Getting ready and heading to dinner.
Playing at the casino.
Karaoke till it closes
Dance Club
Adult comedy show
Ice cream and Pizza
In bed about 2.
Lance found a new love, Karaoke! He sang Ice Ice Baby, The humpty
dance and Summer Lovin. It was great! We had the cutest little grandma that hung in the Karaoke lounge each night and joined right on in.
There was one drawback to the ship. There was at least 50 % of the ship that was 60 and older. I am all for senior citizens but they were so damn rude and slow. I also got into a fight one night with a grandpa at the comedy show, a big fight. He was pissed because I moved down one seat to make more room for our group and he wanted me to move. Had he been nice I would have but he was such a jerk that there was no way in hell my butt was going anywhere, so we duked it out. Lots of fun! He kind of eyed me the rest of the time on the ship.

The girls and I had so much fun. I am a bit upset because the boat loves to take a crap load of pictures for you so that they can charge a fortune to buy them. Krissi and I had piled all of our pictures together so that we could decide which ones to buy on the last day. Well on the last day they were gone, we think they were pissed we did it and threw them away. We had some great ones too.

MEGAN'S BAY, ST. THOMAS

Tuesday we hung out at the beach. This beach is suppose to be one of the top 10 in the world. It was really pretty. Lance chased the giant Iguanas and made friends with a great group of guys, the loved him, he had his spedo on that day!!! The rest of us layed in the sun and chatted, so perfect.

LA ROMANA-DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

ALTOS DE CHAVON ARTIST'S VILLAGE

Today we headed up to the top of La Romana. This was a super cool little village, shopping place. The scenery was amazing. We bought the girls coconut purses that are super cute. After we left there we went to Catalina Island to snorkel. It was ok. The water was murky and cold.

NASSAU, BAHAMAS

Our last stop. I wish we could have had more time in Nassau. There is so much more to do. We spent the day at Atlantis, which is amazing. I would love to go back and stay there for a week.

When we got home Meg had written us a note and hung it on the garage door. She is so damn cute.