Goliath!

A couple weeks ago our Primary had a quarterly activity. At our meeting when we were planning, Elizabeth volunteered Brian to be Goliath. I think it turned out pretty well. He had fun dressing up. I told the story about David and Goliath and then all the kids had a turn with a slingshot to shoot ping pong balls at him. One child even got him in the forehead, then took his sword and pretended to cut off his head. I think he was the hightlight of the party!

A couple of the younger kids were a little afraid of him until I whispered to them that it was just Abby and Elizabeth's daddy dressed up. Then they were okay.

Finally!

I have had many requests for vacation photos. They are finally loaded. You will probably want to scroll down to Day 1 and start back up from there. We had a great time. A big "Thank You!" to Grandpa and Grandma for suggesting the idea!

Cruise - Day 7 - At Sea, Day 8 - New Orleans

Saturday, 3/27: We spent another relaxing day at sea. Everyone was tired and ready for a quiet day. The girls spent some time back in Charlie's Child Care Center. They got to be pirates and go on a treasure hunt.

Pretty scary pirates, right?

It was a nice day. We got our stuff all packed up and ready to go and enjoyed our last day together.

Sunday, 3/28 - Back in New Orleans. We had a very prolonged disembarkation. Customs was checking every singe person's passport and talking with every single group. We were supposed to get off the ship around 9:30 a.m. They didn't call our group until after 10:30 and we didn't get out of the terminal until almost 11:45. Luckily Grandpa and Grandma still made it to the airport in time. We had a fabulous vacation and love spending time with Grandpa and Grandma especially. Here's one last photo:

Cruise - Day 6 - Cozumel, Mexico

Friday, 3/26 - Cozumel. We were hoping to go to the beach at an all-inclusive resort, but weren't sure if Elizabeth was feeling up to it. She said she wanted to go, so even though she still had a fever we went to Playa Mia Resort and to the beach. It was a little rainy while we were waiting for the bus, but it cleared up and was a beautiful day. The girls had fun playing in the sand. Brian and Grandpa went snorkeling and I just sat on my beach chair and relaxed. The water was beautiful.

Abby even tried out her snorkel, but it didn't last very long.

After lunch, we got back on the bus and headed back to the ship. Elizabeth still wasn't feeling well and hadn't had much to eat or drink for most of the day. Brian and Grandpa took her back to the ship while Abby, Grandma and I did some shopping in Cozumel. Elizabeth slept for a while in the afternoon and seemed a little better at dinner time. But she ended up getting sick at dinner. Brian and I took her back to the room to get cleaned up while Abby stayed with Grandpa and Grandma. After a shower and fresh clothes, she was feeling much better and her fever was gone. She wanted to watch the show that evening, which was a combination of magic, acrobatics, and music. Abby loved it and once again tried to imitate everything she saw.

Cruise - Day 5 - Belize City, Belize

Thursday, 3/25 was spent in Belize City. It was also Grandpa and Grandma's 33rd Anniversary. Mom chose to spend the day cave tubing with Brian and me and Grandpa offered to watch the girls since on the ship since they weren't old enough to go.

I think the girls had a great time with Grandpa. They got to know a lot of the staff on the ship since most of the passengers had gone into port.

I don't have any pictures of Belize. The couple that I tried to take as we went by tender to port didn't turn out. And I didn't take the camera tubing because it would have gotten wet.

So...cave tubing. We took about an hour bus ride to the caves. When we got there we were told that all the guides were busy so we had lunch first and then saw the caves after. We were each given a tube, a life jacket and a hardhat with a miner's headlamp on it. We hiked for about 45 minutes thru the jungle carrying all our stuff. We were glad to finally get to the starting point. The river was very cool and refreshing. As we tubed down the river, we went into the caves. It was very dark. Mom and I had a hard time paddling the right direction and Brian or our guide had to keep pulling us back on track. Eventually our guide just towed us most of the way thru. It was very relaxing that way :) After the caves, we tubed down the open river back to the place where we started our hike. It was a nice day and fun to be with Mom.

We got back to the ship and checked on the girls and Grandpa. Elizabeth was asleep, but Abby was super excited to see us. When Elizabeth woke up, she said she wasn't feeling well. We checked and she had a fever of 101.7. We gave her some Tylenol, which helped a little, but she didn't feel well for the rest of the day and most of the next. I think it was too much sun the previous day.

Here are some photos of the towel animals. The girls loved these!

Cruise - Day 4 - Santo Tomas, Guatemala

Wednesday 3/24: Guatamala is beautiful. This is what we could see from the ship. It was more hilly and lush than Costa Maya.

After seeing it, we kind of wished we had scheduled a tour, but everyone was kind of tired after hiking around the ruins the previous day so we decided to spend a quiet day on the ship in port at Santo Tomas Guatamala.

At the pier there was a big building with booths of handcrafted goods. After a quick tour with the girls, they wanted to go back to the ship and swim. So Brian took them back and Mom and I when shopping! I got some bracelets for the girls and Mom got some souvenirs for all the grandkids. Elizabeth is wearing her cute dress today - so here is a photo.

Dad even went back later in the afternoon to get a new belt. It was a nice relaxing day.

At the end of the day Grandma had anothe special gift for the girls -super soft quitls. They love them! Thanks Grandma!!

Cruise - Day 3 - Costa Maya, Mexico

On Tuesday, 3/23, we were in Costa Maya. We had decided to take a tour of the Kohunlick Mayan Ruins. We had a 2 hour bus ride to get to the site from the ship. Suprisingly, the girls did pretty well on the long drive. They were busy looking out the window and eating lunch. When we got there our guide showed us around the ruins. They were amazing! I think most of the pictures we took the whole week were taken here. Here are some of my favorites:

According to our guide, the Mayans called the type of tree shown below "The Tree of Life" because it showed all parts of life: the roots (underworld), the branches (afterlife) and the trunk (the present). (Our guide explained it better - I'm lucky I remembered why I took a picture of this tree!)

The girls really liked the ruins. They loved exploring them and checking everything out.

Here they are in front of a Mayan bed - yep, just a slab of rock. They stored skins and other items underneath that they spread out for sleeping. Still seems like it would be pretty uncomfortable.

I can't remember what our guide told us this little cubby hole was for. But we did get someone to take a photo of all four of us - which doesn't happen very often.

The girls loved this tree with all the pretty flowers on it. (Abby loves showing off and dancing too.)

The building below holds one of the main features of the ruins at Kohunlich - masks. I took a couple pictures (see below).

The masks are on each side of the main stairway (pictured above) and covered by a grass roof. There were three or four on each side. Each mask depicted a different stage of life, from infant to old man and everything in between.

We all hiked to the top - even the girls. It is really high and they did a great job. It was a little scary coming down, but we all made it safely.

At the bottom of the stairs was a convenient stump with the jungle in the background. I thought it made a great place for photos!

After a busy day at the ruins, we got back on the bus head back to the ship. Elizabeth fell asleep almost immediately and slept most of the way.

That evening's entertainment on the ship was acrobats. They were amazing. Afterward, Abby enjoyed showing off her new acrobatic moves. She loved trying to imitate all the performers. It was fun to watch her.

Cruise - Day 2 - At Sea

On Monday, we spent a beautiful day at sea. We had fun exploring the ship, the Norwegian Spirit, and hanging out with Grandpa and Grandma.

Brian and the girls had fun swimming in the kiddie pool, "Buccaneer's Wet & Wild".

The girls also spent some time in Charlie's Child Care Center. They had a lot of fun on a jungle safari. Elizabeth got a Monkey visor and Abby got a Tiger visor. We saw them parading around the ship with all their new friends.

We all enjoyed an afternoon Magic Show. I think Abby loved all the entertainment on the ship the most. She tried to imitate everything. For the rest of the day she was doing "magic tricks" and trying to make things disappear. It was pretty cute!

Cruise Photos (finally!) Day 1 - New Orleans, Lousiana

We were all very excited to go on vacation - especially with Grandpa and Grandma Kimber. We took a 7 night Exotic Western Caribbean Cruise on Norwegian Cruiseline. We met Grandpa and Grandma in New Orleans on Saturday, 3/20. We had a nice dinnner at Mulate's and spent the night in New Orleans before the cruise left on Sunday, 3/21.

We all took the hotel shuttle to the port. It was a little crowded. The girls were squashed on Grandpa and Grandma's laps. Luckily it wasn't a very long drive.

We had some great views of New Orleans from the ship.

Bridge over the Mississippi River. It took about 8 hours (I think) to cruise down the Mississippi River to get to the Caribbean.

The girls had fun "driving" the ship. They were practicing while we were still in port.

The safety drill is always fun. Elizabeth was quick to check out the whistle on her life vest before we could stop her. We were told later that they don't sterilize them after each drill - yuck!

It looks like we were all ready to go!

One more note: The entertainment onboard was fantastic. On Sunday night we saw Jo-EL Sonnier "King of Cajun". The music was great.

Snow!!!

It snowed here today. We had some of the biggest snowflakes I have ever seen. The girls were very excited to go out and play. They ran around the backyard trying to catch the snowflakes. It was very cute to watch them.

Updates...

Well...it has been months since I've added anything to our blog. I've had lots of requests for pictures so here are some photos of what we've been up to lately.

Elizabeth split her chin open at Kindermusik. It was traumatic at first with all the bleeding and crying, but once we got Brian - and he stopped trying to put ice on it - she was fine. She didn't cry at all at the emergency room and didn't even need stitches. (photo 11/13/09, ER trip 11/11/09)

Abby finished the soccer season and loved it. She especially liked her trophy! (11/14/09)

We went to SeaWorld San Antonio for Thanksgiving. It was a great time to go. We all had lots of fun. (11/26/09)

This is Elizabeth showing me how much fun she is going to have on the Shamu Express. She is finally tall enough! It is the favorite ride of both girls. (11/26/09)

All the girls at SeaWorld. (11/26/09)

It snowed in Texas (two years in a row now!) We were in Old Town Spring with Grandpa and Grandma McPheeters. Cold but very fun! (12/4/09)

We had a very good visit with Grandpa & Grandma McPheeters. Everyone is now asking when we are going to visit them. We are working on a plan to see everyone... (12/7/09)

I can't resist taking picutres of Elizabeth's crazy curls after her naps. They are so cute! (12/9/09)

Elizabeth saw Santa at the library. You can't really tell, but she refused to look at him, because if she can't see him, he isn't really there. So she just sat super stiff! (12/10/09)

Elizabeth at her friend Mae's birthday party. She LOVED riding the ponies! (12/11/09)

Elizabeth had her very first dance recital. She did great! (12/14/09)

Abby danced beautifully as well! (12/14/09)

Happy Birthday Elizabeth! Elizabeth turned three and I got a picture of me with both the girls. Doesn't happen very often.... (12/20/09)

Beautiful Christmas dresses! (12/20/09)

Elizabeth loved her Tinkerbell cake! (Thanks Joeby! You are the best!) (12/20/09)

We had another fabulous princess party at our house with a couple of Elizabeth's friends. She loved it and they were all so cute dressed up. (12/21/09)

Christmas Eve! Thanks for the cute pj's Grandma Kimber! (12/24/09)



Merry Christmas! Now we can do concerts at our house. Thanks Santa for the pink and purple and sparkely guitar and keyboard! (12/25/09)

Well...that's what we've been up to. I'll try to do more timely updates this year. We'll see how it goes!

P.S. I just realized I don't have many photos of Abby. That's because she is loving Kindergarten and I don't see her as much during the day. She is having lots of fun learning to read and do math and making new friends. It is amazing all the things she has learned.