TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY CRUISE. . . at 11 1/2 years:)

When I was pregnant with Owen, Brett and I visited our dear friends Lee and Jaclyn Snyder. After the kids went to bed one night we started planning our ten year anniversary, since we were married around the same time.  That means five years of anticipation! When I was diagnosed with cancer Jaclyn was one of the first people I called because I knew we wouldn't be able to go on the cruise when I was in treatments. They were so nice to put it off until we were ready. With cancer treatments, our big move, and everything else going on we were finally able to make it work the second week in April 2017, only a year and a half late.  The cruise didn't disappoint.  The first day was a little rough on me because I missed the kids so much, so I cried on the way to the airport and I frequently looked at pictures of the kids on my phone. After the first 24 hours though, I was able to really relax and thoroughly enjoy our vacation. This is the first real vacation we've been on since 2007, when I was pregnant with Hyrum.  Going on trips with the kids is great, but we're always needing to worry about the kids, pack for the kids, plan for the kids, clean up after the kids. This vacation was all about letting go, relaxing, nourishing our marriage and souls, and renewing our parenting battery so we can better tackle all that life entails when we got back home. While we were away I kept note cards so I could write down everything we did during the day, so I wouldn't forget anything. Here's the run down of the days events:


Day 1:

• Check in - this went pretty smoothly. The lines weren't too bad. This trip was the first time I've ever used my passport.
• Lunch at the Windjammer Cafe (This is the all you can eat buffet dining area.  The food was amazing, although the cafe was very busy and packed with people
• upper-deck look out - We walked up to see the views before we took off, which were incredible. It was strange being that high up from sea level looking down. It was very windy so we didn't stay up there long.
• Solarium Laying Out - This is the adults only serene deck. This was my favorite area to relax in. It was quiet, bright, clean, and there were snacks and juices or water available.
• Dinner at My Fair Lady-This is the more formal dining area that's set up like a nice restaurant. We met our servers for the trip (Jessela and Kenroy)The food was incredible and it was a very fancy 4-5 course meal.
• Jazz Singer - We sat and enjoyed listening to this performance. There was a fun Puerto Rican couple that danced.
• Karaoke - Brett and I thought about signing up to sing, but there weren't great music options, but still fun to watch other people
• The non-comedian show - We mixed up our times on the schedule and accidentally showed up at the end of the comedian's show and missed it. 
• Song Trivia- We weren't picked as contestants, but we would have rocked:)
• Late night Nacho Bar/Pizza - need I say more?

Day 2:

• Suprise Wake Up! - For some reason my alarm didn't go off and Jaclyn kindly knocked on our door to wake us up so we didn't miss our first land excursion.
• My Fair Lady Breakfast
• Nassau- We walked around the Library(which was beautiful from the outside, the City Building, and the infamous "Watch Ya Tings" sign. 
• Ferry to Paradise Island
• We walked through Atlantis Resort and went to the public beach next to it. The beach was beautiful, with fine, soft, white sand. It was a bit windy and the waves were big and strong.  Brett and I swam in a little bit. I got caught in a rip tide and was pulled away. I got ashore, but was pretty choked up and exhausted so I didn't attempt that again.  We laid on the beach and just listened to the waves. It was perfect. Brett got some pretty funky tiger stripe burns on his legs during this sit out. Locals would walk by every once in a while trying to sell us water or snacks. This one guy was trying to sell us beer and after we declined a few times he offered us weed, that was a first. We kindly declined that as well.
• Nassau shopping-gifts for kids, Bahamian money, Del Sol
• Formal Night Dinner - It was so fun dressing up and feeling fancy, without worrying about kids wiping dirty fingers or mouths on me. This is the night that between the four of us, we ordered eight desserts. . . . mmmmm
• Card Game - Ripple
• Broadway Musical Night -After the previous nights late arrival we didn't want to risk it, so arrived extra early. We were the first to be seated, by about 30 minutes. While we waited we looked at the casts pictures and made up who they looked like a mix of, we called it 'mix baby face mashup'. Fun times. The show was great.
• Marriage Game - When it started they asked for couple volunteers and Brett and I went up. Each of the couples then acted out a little Tarzan scene, and the couple with the most crowd feedback go to be in the game. We were second runners up, but didn't quite make the cut. We were glad we didn't because, although the game was pretty fun to watch, near the end it got a little embarrassing and I wouldn't have wanted to participate. Inside Joke for the trip: ANTS

Day 3:

• "Housekeeping" Call. Brett pranks Lee and Jaclyn
• Breakfast
• CocoCay - This is the Royal Caribbean's private island. As soon as we got off the boat we walked past all the little vendors and activities and went for the far out beach that was quiet and away from chaos. It was stunning, peaceful, quiet. The water was calm and clear. We could walk out probably half a mile before the water got up to our chest. 
• Seashell Hunting - Lee, Jaclyn, and I had fun hunting for shells and taking pictures. Brett relaxed in a chair with a book. Perfect.
• Snorkel (Brett, Jaclyn, and I) We saw sea cucumber, sea urchin, angel fish, conch shells, and ray)
• Reading/Laying out
• Lunch-the cruise provided a big BBQ buffet lunch. We were sitting at a picnic table with a Chinese man saving seats for his family, who didn't seem to speak any English. Brett and I were talking about the food and I asked Brett if he liked the chocolate muffin and he said that he only had a bite, but it was good. I asked him why he only had a bite and he said because he ate the whole muffin in one bite. The Chinese man at the end of the table started hysterically laughing. He kept cracking up and saying "just one bite. he ate it in just one bite." He had us all laughing, and then we teased Brett about his hilarious one bite muffin for the rest of the day. 
• More relaxing on the beach
• Check in to the ship Sea Shell Gate scandel (we weren't supposed to take home shells. We did. They confiscated Lee's shells, and he snuck them back)
• Nap/Reading - we were pretty zapped from being in the sun all day
• Dinner at My Fair Lady - The staff sang a Happy Anniversary song to Brett and I and gave us a yummy cheesecake with a chocolate banner that said Happy Anniversary on it. After taking a bite, it just said Happy A, so that's what we stuck with. Happy A
• Cards - Spanish Cards Inquisition - Lee had to get his cards back from some hispanic people who took them, thinking they belonged to the ship.
• 'If You Know It, Dance It' Game - Jaclyn and I had so much fun letting loose and dancing to all the dance hits (My Girl, Butt Dance, Chicken Dance, YMCA, Ghangam Style) I had SO much fun!
• Magic Show - The magician was incredible and very funny and entertaining. These were his one liners that had us cracking up: That's my mothers name, it might just be gas, viagra prune juice. . . you had to be there:)
• Solarium table swap - We had to go to the quiet deck to talk out the magic show and try and figure out how he did it. While we were up there Brett got up to get a drink and Lee, Jaclyn, and I sneakily switched tables to trick Brett when he got back. That never gets old.

Day 4

• Sleep in and Breakfast
• Immigration check through
• Visiting most Southern Tip of the US in Key West
• Key Lime Pie on a stick
• Lunch at Windjammer
• Solarium Salt Pool- the pool had so much salt that our bodies were completely weightless and we just floated around. It was the coolest feeling
• Star Wars Trivia game
• My Fair Lady with a Happy A for Lee and Jaclyn
• Dice game Farkle
• 'Ciao for now' Music in Movies - another great production by the cast
• Guys vs. Girls circle of trust cluster - early walk out as it got inappropriate
• Toilet overflow -fixed quickly by staff

Day 5

• Miami -checkout day
• Windjammer breakfast
• Disembarkation
• Uber to Gates Hotel where Lee and Jaclyn were staying for the night
• Miami beach boardwalk
• Colins Park
• Holocaust Memorial - we had no idea the amount of immigrants from the Holocaust are in Florida, but it is the largest in the nation. The memorial was raw, somber, and beautiful
• Botanical Gardens with leaping lizards
• Morenos Cuban Cuisine
• Ripple at Gates Hotel
• Uber to Airport and back home to Arizona
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

MIllenial Choirs and Orchestra

Brett has had the privilege to sing with the MCO since we moved down to Arizona.  It is such a great experience to be there among his friends Scott Wilken and D.J. Jones. Practices can be time consuming and difficult to learn new music, but he has persisted and the payoff at concert time is worth it all. The sound is incredible and powerful! I'm so glad that I've been able to take some of the boys to see their Dad up on stage and hear the amazing arrangements. The choir is so huge. In this picture it has all of the choirs (adult, youth, children) and the sound was loud and moving. Owen's favorite song was when the childrens choir sang an amazing rendition of Popcorn Popping. He sand along to parts of it, which was pretty darn cute. Noah really liked the 'Cowboy Song', because Dad had a solo part where he yelled "YEEEHAAAWW!" It was super loud and we easily picked it out, even when we sat furthest out from the stage. After the concert Noah, Owen, and I played on the fun floor lights outside the theatre.

April in April

We were so excited to have Mike, April, Camryn, Morgan, Logan, and Chase Felix come visit us the first week in April from Utah. We really miss our friends and the kids had so much fun playing with them. We even pulled Hyrum and Noah out of school early one day so they could have maximum play time together. We played and swam at our house most of the time, but we also went to Freestone Park to release some energy too.

Uncle Ted and Jenny's Farm

As part of Spring Break we visited Uncle Ted and Jenny's Farm. The boys absolutely loved playing with the animals and running around. We brought a bag of carrots to feed the horses with. They were so excited to hold the baby chicks and even see some newly hatched chicks still in the incubator.

Spring Break 2017!

Spring Break in Arizona is awesome. The boys get a whole week plus one day off from school. I've kept them busy with a lot of deep cleaning chores. Their bedrooms and the bathrooms in the house are now very clean, as well as dusting, vacuuming, and wiping down the rest of the house. I may not be a great mom, but I hope I can instill in them the importance of taking responsibility for the atmosphere and cleanliness of the home. Every person should contribute and take part in making a house a home. To reward them for their hard work, I've taken them to a new park every day and we went hiking at Popogo Park. The boys really loved the hole in the rock at Popogo. It was an easy park and the boys loved to explore.

Noah's Baptism

It really was a day to 'March Fourth into Righteousness'. Noahs baptism was scheduled for 3pm on March 4th. Grandma and Grandpa Rushton drove here from New Mexico, only weeks before they will be leaving to go on their mission to Lansing, Michigan. The program went great. Aunt Cassi played the piano, Katelyn conducted the music, and Brother Hamada presided at the meeting. Grandma Rushton gave the opening prayer followed by Aunt Amy's famous peanut butter baptism talk. Both the Grandpas were witnesses during the baptism while Dad performed the ordinance. Uncle Chase gave a great talk about the Holy Ghost and gifted Noah some special things to help remind him what the Holy Ghost can do for him. Grandma Partridge said the prayer to close the meeting. Afterward, we invited everyone over to our home for a little dinner. It is so nice to have so much family here.

Noah Baptism Preparation

Dad has been studying every night with Noah from the Book of Mormon leading up to his baptism. Noah has such a sweet tender spirit. His testimony is in the beginning stages, but is very sincere. He has prayed about the Book of Mormon and knows that it is true. He loves Jesus and trusts Him. Noah is always looking for opportunities to serve and help others and wants to do the right thing. We are very proud of his choices and that he has chosen to be baptized. We went to the temple to take some pictures at the temple to have for his baptism. He also wanted to make cookies to bring to Grandmama and Grandpa Long's house Sunday night to celebrate his birthday.