Mexican Riviera Cruise: Part one

In January Joseph and I took a cruise to the Mexican Riviera!  We had such a good.  The first few days were on the sea and I spent those days eating, sleeping and reading, it was fantastic.  Our first port was Puerto Vallarta.  It was beautiful and the weather was nice and warm, but not to warm.  We had a great day walking around and seeing what the town had to offer.  We did spend a little bit off time hanging out on the beach, but the swarms of vendors selling things were a little overwhelming for me to be there too long.  Along the ocean there were tons of these beautiful sand sculptures.   Really it is hard to put into words how amazing they were.  We even got to see one a few in the process of being made.  Hard back breaking work in the sun.

This guy was doing all the detail work that is hard to capture in pictures:

There were also all the weird and fascinating sculptures all over the place.  Joseph got on this one to join the aliens waiting for the mothership:

Lots of street performers added to the entertainment of the day.  These guys climbed up this tower, tied ropes to their legs and jumped off while they rotated in the air and glided down slowly to music. It was really cool:

Snow!!!

The first of the year brought us a great surprise. Snow!!!! The weather forecast kept saying snow was coming but I did not believe that it would come down so low. When it started Joseph kept saying, "its snowing!" But I thought it still looked like rain. But right before our eyes the rain changed to snow. The kids were taking a nap and we ran in to get them up before the snow went away. The put on their coats ran outside and saw snow for the first time. In Southern California!!!! It continued to snow for about an hour or more and we had a great time playing.

Christmas Evening

After our great morning we went over to my parents house for more Christmas fun. We opened more presents and played. Later we rested and them had a wonderful dinner together with family. It was a wonderful day. As the kids are getting older, I see that this day will get better the better.

Christmas Morning

This year Christmas morning was so joyful! The kids were really into and excited for Santa to come. So first thing in the morning they came out to see what Santa had brought. We opened our presents and played all morning with all the exciting toys. Joseph got a handheld golf GPS. It has maps of the courses and lets you know how far away and what angle the hole is. I was very excited to give this to Joseph. It was a great surprise and a hit! Bridget got Disney princess dolls and a tea set and instantly set everything up for her princess tea party:

Ethan got his very own Woody and Buzz!

And they got a trampoline!!!!

Christmas Eve

For Christmas eve we hung out at my parents house. My mom decided to give the kids a present that they can open. They got some fun games and we spent the evening playing them over and over. It was a great way to hang out and get ready for the big day!

Don't Break the Ice:

Hungry, Hungry Hippos:

Cootie:

After fun games we got home tucked the kids in and got the house ready for Santa!!!! Yeah!!!

Temple Lights

One of the best things about Christmas are the lights at the temple. This year we made special effort to take the kids to see them. Every time we thought about going, it rained. So one night it stopped and Joseph was home early so we jumped in the car. It was so wonderful! The kids were so excited and we were able to see the new renovated visitors center.

I love this picture. All of a sudden all the children around ran up to the statue of Jesus and were touching his feet. It was a beautiful site to see.

Gingerbread Fun!

Getting ready for Christmas we had a wonderful time making our first Gingerbread House and Train. It was such a fun time. I was surprised at how the kids were really into it. They knew exactly where they wanted to put each candy piece and what color they wanted where. It was great and they loved showing off their gingerbread creations to everyone who came by.