It was so beautiful, even before it was done, that we had to take family pictures. Michael decided to re-enact the top right picture with his mommy and daddy. He looks like a lollipop kid.
We were very excited to do it on December 1 so we were able to enjoy it all month long. Good times!
and going to South Coast Plaza.
On Thanksgiving, we woke up and headed for the Turkey Bowl. It made Thanksgiving complete even though Michael did get a little banged up.
We each had assignments for the feast. Michael signed up for sweet potatoes... oh my word... BEST SWEET POTATOES EVER! I think he might have to make them every year because they were so yummy!
Thanks Char and Bill for letting us come play with you all week. It was a wonderful vacation.
We went at a perfect time. There were a number of times that they mentioned the infamous 2002 World Series. I'm pretty sure Michael would have shed a tear if he wasn't still on the high of the current World Series Champions.
After the tour was over we got side tracked by the life size diamond in front of the stadium. Houston and Brooklyn had been so good during the tour that we decided to run the bases with them for a mock inning. I was proud of Tiff, the catcher, for even getting in on the action (bottom right)!
We thought it was a pretty great little activity for under $10. Thanks for coming with us Conleys.
The next day we headed out to the Happiest Place on Earth. Again, shout out to Tiff for tapping into her Facebook friends to hook us up with tickets. Houston and I went back in May, but it was so much better with Michael and with Houston being just 6 months older to enjoy it a bit more instead of him getting excited by the sewer drains.
It was also a big plus to be there in November so we could enjoy the Christmas decorations. It had been a while since I had seen those. It really is amazing the power this place has. There is something truly magical that just makes me giddy and excited.
We headed straight for Mickey's house. The line was like 1 hour plus and I paused like, "are we sure" but Michael would NOT have it! He made it very clear that we were there to watch Houston see Mickey and McQueen, even if that is all we do! Houst and Brooklyn didn't seem to mind too much. They just liked being together. We also played a little Connect Four on Tiff's smarty phone.
Other highlights of the day included Toy Story Mania (my personal favorite) and
Houston's other favorite, the carousel.
How great are those pictures of my excited little boy? Well, that leads me to possibly my favorite thing which was Michael- I love it when he lets his inner boy out. Going with Tiff and Ry, the Disney experts, they know where every camera is. Michael doesn't. So all of the ride cams captured true little Michael boy glee and I love it! I was kind of bummed when he finally got the hang of it and started acknowledging the cameras (middle bottom).
We took the kids home and had dinner at Char's house. Then Michael, Tiff, and I headed back to use up our fast passes we had been collecting all day. I was a little bummed that I had not realized the restrictions of being pregnant, but I just sat and watched Fantasmic while Tiff and Michael did the "non-prego" rides.
It was a VERY fun day! Thanks to Tiff for finding us tickets. Thanks Char and Bill for coming and providing your classic lunch. Thanks Cole and Bright for hookin' us up with handicapped access. It was an AWESOME day! A great transition from cruise life to relaxing in Orange County for Thanksgiving.
We came home to read and re-enact the Nativity. Houston re-enacted it using the nativity set, but we couldn't find one full set so we had to combine characters from 3 different sets :) It was fun to think of how many different times, places, and people I have shared that tradition with. Then to think that all those people that I love are doing the same thing at the same time at different places in the world- even Mom and Dad in the Congo!
Christmas morning was wonderful! Houston got a new track suit and a roller McQueen bag from Grammy and Papa Hock and a tool workbench from Grammy and Papa Gates. The hit might have been his dollar stocking stuffer- the bath time basketball hoop. He loves it! Michael got the Ken Burns Baseball history DVD set and his Championship AFL ring (even though it won't come til March). I got new comfy cute sweats to fit my prego body.
Both families did service this Christmas which made it even more special (Gates and Hock). It was a wonderful Christmas season. We are so grateful to have the knowledge of the Gospel and the reason for the special season.
We were quickly called to serve in our ward. Michael worked with the 11 year old boys in scouts and Sunday school. I worked with the 16 and 17 year old girls in the Laurel class. We fell in love with our classes immediately. We enjoyed camp outs, dinners at our house, baptisms, and lessons of true love of service. Michael got called at the very end to be Elders Quorum President and it broke his scouts hearts. When he said, "well guys, I am moving in a few months anyways" they looked on the verge of tears.
Michael was a ROCK star at Gonzaga. A two year MBA program, he attacked and finished in 15 months! I was so proud of him and how hard we worked. Often putting in 12+ hour days, we missed him a lot but were proud of his dedication. He worked for the Arena Football team, the Spokane Shock, in charge of on-the-field entertainment during the games. It was a wonderful franchise to work for and we were grateful to be a part of their Championship season.
In February we decided that it was time for me to become a full-time stay-at-home mom. It was hard for me at first, but I soon found it to be the most rewarding and best job on earth. I kept busy getting in shape, having play groups, hanging out with friends, and playing with Houston.
Houston went from baby to little boy in the last year. He loves anything that is round and hints of being a ball and always has. His favorite activities are shooting hoops and playing catch. He loves playing with other kids and accessorizing. We went walking almost everyday that the weather was higher than 20 degrees. We loved our beautiful walking path and our walking buddies.
In July we found out the great news that we are expecting our 2nd in March 2011. I am excited to meet our new addition as well as see how Houston handles the change. He is WONDERFUL with babies! I just hope he stays that way when he finds out this baby lives with us!
We will miss our time in Spokane but look forward to our next phase of life... Employment! Our lives as students is officially (and FINALLY) over! We have no idea what it will be like without one of us being in school We moved back to San Ramon, CA with Michael's parents while we start the job hunt. Houston thinks he runs the house already! We are excited for what the future holds for our little family and look forward to seeing what exciting things we will have to report for 2011.
Happy Holidays to all! We hope that you have a 2011 as perfect as our 2010 was!
Matt and Michael took advantage of the climbing wall, including the cool assigned safety outfits (helmets and climbing shoes)...
eating, book reading, eating, card playing, and eating. Meg tried to teach the old dog new trick... AGAIN... as many family members know- it isn't going to work. Michael was not made to work in Vegas.
Friday night was formal night... always fun to have a dress up night! I enjoyed my favorite- prime rib and we also enjoyed the lobster tail.
We joked a bit about it at the end of the cruise about the lone wolf Matt. Matt likes to be very independent and would sometimes just disappear and nobody would know where or when. We also laughed that the lone wolf was always the first at dinner. So even though he likes his space- when the wolf knows it is feeding time... the WOLF will be there! Even without Mrs. Wolf (top left).
We LOVED our dinner table friends; Debbie, Dave and Ron. The first night when we saw we weren't at a table of 6, I thought, "oh, we can ask the maitre'd after our first meal to switch us". But after the first meal we were too in love with our new friends! So we loved our little table of 9! I miss our friends already. Our server and assistant waiter were excellent! I think cruises that don't have assigned dinner seatings would be so boring because dinner with our servers and friends was always a highlight of my days.
We were also proud of Debbie, Dave, and Ron and their taking gold, silver, and bronze in the putt-putt contest- way to represent table 688 guys! We hope all is well in AZ!
We had a wonderful week! We can't wait til the next one- hopefully someday with Kev and his wife too! Tomorrow... reuniting with the Little Man!
We were so relaxed after our massages we decided to just head back to the ship to read. It was perfect timing for us to read for a bit then enjoy the breathtaking sunset. There was a pirate ship that went right through the sunset and shot off its cannons. It was very enjoyable.
After dinner we played some intense ping pong (Eileen and I were quite the pros beating the Nelsons and the Hock men!) and the show of the night. I think this show was the Coasters, which is the group that sang "Charlie Brown" and "Yakity yak"... 2 classics! They were quite old and some of them were not the originals, but it was entertaining
Farewell Puerto Vallarta... next up... 2 days of relaxation on the ship.
In researching, we kind of got the impression that Mazatlan was going to be a bust. So we decided to go and see what we could make of it. It ended up being many of our favorite part of the trip.
We visited the cliff divers, the cathedral, and a house while we enjoyed listening to our tour guide Carlos tell us different facts (and possibly fairy tales) about the area. 
We asked our driver to take us Parasailing. I had seen a lot of people advertising it in Cabo and it is something I have always wanted to do. It was so much cheaper than doing it in the states. I asked if I could go in Cabo since I am pregnant and they made a call and I found out I could (maybe by Mexican standards only- but I felt ok about it). So I was really tempted and then gave in.
It was actually very relaxing even though it looks a little nerve racking at the beginning. Instead of being reeled off the boat, we just left on and off the beach. It was really cool! I was a little bummed because I couldn't work down the price except $1! I felt a little defeated! In Cabo it was $30 and here it was $35. But it was fun so we just paid and enjoyed it!
So we lasted till about 10 I think then headed to bed... Excited for Puerto Vallarta!
Kayaking was a lot of fun. We went all the way across the channel around our boat. Lovers Beach was really pretty with huge crashing waves on one side and snorkeling on the other. The snorkeling was not great. The snorkel boat broke down so our beach/snorkel time was kind of cut short and our time floating in the choppy water increased and we didn't get to see our stuff (including camera and towel) the whole time. Due to complications, we were able to get a $30 discount so that made it a little better. These were all taken with our water camera.
We were all pretty pooped by the time we got back to the pier so we decided to head back to the boat. On our way I checked my texts to see how Houst was doing and see how Eileen was. Tiffany was a super hero and let us know that Mike and Eileen were there! She had helped them find flights and taken them to the airport way early. Tiff you ROCK!
Mike and Eileen were relaxing and reading on the ship. We were SO excited they were there! It was like we were complete! At dinner, we finally had a chance to celebrate Eileen's birthday. Even though she had staples in her tummy, she was ready to enjoy the cruise!
Cabo was wonderful, now off to Mazatlan!
We enjoyed getting to know our way around the ship and took advantage of the ice skating rink.
We took naps and got ready for the first formal night. Before heading to our yummy formal dinner, we enjoyed the ice show performance which I thought was AWESOME! I thought it was going to be a cheesy 4 person cast but it was a full on ice show with like 12 people and cool moves. I totally forgot we were on a ship and how small the ice was that they were performing on.
It was a wonderful first day and formal night but we did miss Mike and Eileen. We looked forward to the next morning and our day in Cabo San Lucas.
After picking up a few items, we headed to the hotel to check-in. Houston and Brooklyn played around and made themselves comfortable, especially in the bathroom. Then we headed to dinner at the Claim Jumper. Of course we all overate and so we headed home for a good night's rest... or so we hoped. We all rolled out feeling very full but Eileen in particular was having an extremely bad stomachache.
We headed to the Conleys while the Nelsons and mom and dad headed to the hotel. We tried to get Houston adjusted to his new home for the week. He did great.
We headed to the hospital to say our good lucks and happy birthdays... and then... the four of us... feeling guilty yet knowing the ship was leaving with or without us in a few hours... headed to Long Beach. We were a little somber knowing that Mike and Eileen wouldn't be there for our family vacation that we had been planning for a year. I was grateful that the ER was just minutes from Tiffany's apartment so I knew they would have someplace to stay and could be with Houston.
We tried to touch base post-surgery to see how things went before hitting expensive international waters but she was still in surgery. So in honor of Eileen and a Happy 30th anniversary to Mike and Eileen... we set sail to party for the week. Stay tuned for the rest of the cruise soon!
