Holiday Traditions!

I'm sad that the holiday's are coming to an end. This is definitely one of my favorite times of year. I love celebrating the season with my family. I am so grateful that my parents established traditions through the years that we still do today.

My favorite tradition is celebrating the 4 advents before Christmas. Each Sunday we light the candles on the advent pyramid, read the Christmas story from Matthew and Luke, eat treats, and end with a game or activity. It's a perfect way to remember the true meaning of Christmas and spend quality time together.

We also have a tradition of spending the night in Salt Lake. A few days before Christmas we get a couple of hotel rooms. We visit Temple Square, eat until we're sick, swim, and of course unwrap Christmas PJ's. This year we mixed things up a little and went to Pioneer Village instead of T. Square. All the cute pioneer houses were decorated and each had a craft or treat for us. We ate some scrumptious taffy and drank hot cider. We even saw "Father Christmas" and his reindeer.


Later that night we opened our pj's (my favorite part of the night). I loved them this year! So comfy... and cute. I think Annie and my mom looked like characters from a Dr. Seuss book.

On Christmas Eve my family gets together for a big Christmas dinner. When we're stuffed full we bundle up for a visit to the Provo Cemetery. About ten years ago we started putting ice candles on family graves. It sounds kind of morbid telling people we visit the cemetery on Christmas Eve, but it's turned into a special tradition for us. Our first year we were the only ones with our solitary candle. Through the years we've seen more and more candles appear on graves and we now bring 5-6 candles to light. The soft glow of candles can be seen in the snow throughout the grounds.


Christmas Day! My sisters and their families were all here this year. We spend the night at my parents and woke up to a tree overflowing with gifts. There were lots and smiles as gifts were opened... my favorite.

Before...
During....
and After...
It's always a little sad for me to realize that the day has come and gone. I love the season and the feelings of excitement and love. We were very blessed this year with everything we need and more. Good health, stable jobs, family, and friends.

Christmas Carol

This week I went on a field trip with my 4th graders to the Hale Center Theater. We watched the youth production of A Christmas Carol. I was reminded how much I love this story. It inspired me to go home and watch my favorite version... The Muppet Christmas Carol. I love everything about this movie!!! I laughed, cried and of course sang. Brandon even joined me in singing. I'm sure it was a sight to behold... the two of us laying on the couch singing our hearts out to "The Love is Gone" and "Marley & Marley". It was a good night.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! (a little late)

Better late than never, right? I love Halloween
and couldn't let it pass without posting something.
Even if it is a few weeks too late.

Halloween night my family got together for dinner,
trick-or-treating, and to celebrate my dad's birthday.

Oh, and i know that the pictures are too big for
this slideshow and everyone's head is cut off... sigh.
But I've been working on this ALL night and I really
don't want to re-do it!!!

Cancun - The longest post of my life!

After years of talk, planning, and fundraising (including a pie-sale disaster and a HUGE garage sale), the Roper Cancun vacation finally arrived!!! The trip was planned to perfection. My dad, being the organizer that he is, created our agenda weeks in advance. Nothing was overlooked, this would be the PERFECT vacation. Unfortunately, life does not go as planned… we were thrown a “little” rain, several temper-tantrums (mostly from the children), a few sick stomachs, and one family member hospitalized. Even with all of this I must say, the trip was amazing!

We stayed at the Iberostar in Cancun. There are several of these resorts in Cancun and the surrounding area where we were able to spend the day and play.

Coming into Mexico was stressful three small children, but worth it in the end!
The lobby was AMAZING! Everything was open (no walls) and surrounded by pools filled with flamingos, fish, swans, and even turtles.

On Sunday we attended church in Playa De Carmen. The meeting was in Spanish, duh, but it was still amazing to see the church in a different country. We spent the rest of the day at an Iberostar in Playa. They had the best beach! That night the family went back to the resort while Brandon and I shopped on 5th avenue. It was fun to spend time with my hubby and watch him barter with the locals. He got a guy to come down to $20 from $100 on a mask. I was proud of his bargain shopping.


Monday we relaxed at our resort and played in the ocean. I am such a happy person on the beach! That night Jacob, my brother in-law, was extremely sick and missed our specialty dinner. He received a blessing later that night and we all prayed that he would regain his strength and be able to join us the next day in Chichen Itza.

The next morning we were sad to hear that Jacob was getting worse. Millie stayed behind with him (what a good wife) while the rest of us loaded into a van and made our way to Chichen Itza. During our tour the guide figured out we were Mormon and gave us more religious insight to the ruins. Even though it was the hottest day of the week and we were tired and hungry, I was captivated by this place. My testimony of the gospel was strengthened and I stood in awe of God’s love for ALL of his children.
That afternoon we swam in a cenote. (A giant sinkhole) This particular cenote was something like 180 feet deep. It pretty much freaked me out to think that if I drown my body would sink to the bottom and never be found. Luckily they rented life-jackets… best $4 we spent on the trip! The cenote was breathtaking. The drop from ground level to water was a good 100 feet. The rock walls were covered in tropical greenery and vines hung down to the water. It was like a movie… I felt like we should be filming Indiana Jones or Goonies.

Unfortunately, the place was packed with people. It was total chaos… people jumping… pushing and shoving their way up and down the walkway… snapping pictures… AAHHH! I thought I was going to have a major panic attack! Once I was in the water (with my lifevest) I felt better. There were nasty black fish swimming with us, Brandon said they were some kind of catfish. Gross. Maybe it's a good thing Millie wasn't there, come to find out, she's afraid of fish...

While we were swimming it started pouring rain. The water rushed over the side of the walls and doubled the beauty.





When we made it back to our resort Millie met us and informed us that Jacob was in a hospital. He was dehydrated and needed an IV which the resort medical clinic couldn't administer... go figure. Before they would even admit Jacob they required $2,000. On top of that, the hospital charged Millie $120 to spend the night (they didn’t inform her of this until morning). Plus they had several taxi trips to and from the hospital which ended up costing over $200. Isn't Mexico fabulous???

(Sorry Jacob, I couldn't help myself!)
(I hear they severed a scrumptious breakfast!)
Wednesday morning we were so grateful to see Millie and Jacob walking up the path to their room. All I can say is, prayers are heard and answered!

That afternoon Jacob was out playing beach volleyball. Pretty amazing considering 24 hours earlier he couldn’t even walk.

We all spent that day playing on the beach! It was therapy to the soul!


That's got to itch!

Thursday we spent the day in Cozumel. We took a ferry over to the island which was an interesting ride. We had three members of our party lose their breakfast... Ellery (Millie's little girl) threw up three times, Meggie (Annie's daughter) twice, and my dad once. (between filming of course) I just layed on my bench with my eyes squeezed shut while taking long deep breaths and praying it would soon be over. We were all a little pale and somber as we disembarked.

As soon as our stomachs settled, it was time to aboard yet another boat, this time for snorkeling. We all thought Rob (Annie's husband) would be the one to freak out about the fish but instead it was Millie. She started flipping out because the fish were "so close" and right in front of her face... all around her... swarming her!!! For some reason she thought the fish would be down at the bottom of the ocean and we would enjoy them from a distance. I laughed...

I loved swimming with Brandon and my family in the ocean, experiencing this together. We laughed and played. Even Brinley (Annie's oldest) put her swimming skills to the test! She couldn't use the snorkel but she was still able to stick her head in the water to see the fish. Brave girl!

Back on land we rented scooters and a sweet green VW bug. We drove around the island and what a beautiful drive! The other side of the island is not as populated. There were a few small shops and shacks, and the beaches were covered with tide pools. All of us regret not having the time to stop and explore.




On Friday we relaxed back at our resort. I took 2 or 3 naps. It was awesome!

Saturday was our last excursion. We spent the morning in Talum. We had an LDS tour which was very cool. During the tour we got caught in yet another downpour and it was a cold one. We huddled under some trees as my prepared mother distributed 5 ponchos. The rain wouldn’t let up so we continued the tour in the rain. The ruins were fascinating, amazing even in the rain.





Our last dinner was best meal of the trip. (the food was pretty nasty most nights... Mexican version of American food) We played on the dark beach remembering and laughing about the week. It was the perfect way to end the trip.

lIttLE BiT Of thIS... LIttLE bIT oF THat!

lOTs of ThIS...


tOns oF TheSE...



NOt eNoUgh oF tHIs..




tOo MucH of THIs...


aPParEntlY nOt ENouGH oF ThIS...