Thursday, February 21, 2013

Dominican Republic

When February rolled around we were ready for a vacation to the Dominican Republic!
We traveled part of the way on Tuesday and stayed that night in Newark.  We had some time to kill so we headed into New York City!
We had dinner at Carmine's...
...and then explored Time Square.
It was freezing...we even got a little snow!  Which made us anticipate the warm beach coming the next day even more!
My pictures are kind of mixed around cause they're taken from 2 different cameras and stolen from other family blogs...thanks guys!  But they're memories none the less!



Ohhhh...this makes me want to go back!
Not my favorite picture but this is how you would have found us most of the time.
The resort had a guy that would take around an iguana, snake, or monkey for people to see.  Then the guy in the yellow would take a picture for you to purchase.  So you weren't supposed to take your own pictures...but we had sneaky Courtney with us!  Here I am with the iguana on my head.
And then the snake wrapped around me.  The guy wanted me to do a couple more poses with the snake but I was good with one.
Courtney and Elayna.
Matchy, matchy...creepy Dallin.
Dallin and Cassie brought the star of the show!




We stayed at the Hard Rock all inclusive resort.  With beautiful weather, food, and relaxation at our fingertips we really didn't have any reason to leave!



More Dominican Republic

We joined Dad and Andy at their conference in the DR for a few days.  It was so much fun to have all my siblings and (almost all) their spouses there...we missed Mitch!
We left the girls at home...with the most amazing (and brave) Chelsea!  Knowing they were in such good hands helped me to enjoy this vacation a thousand times over!  You're the best Chels!
We played some volleyball on the beach one day.  We attempted an all Hague team but you can probably guess which one of us isn't part of the family...red speedo kind of gives it away!
Mostly we completely enjoyed the beach, reading our books, visiting with family, and eating a lot of food!


The sand was AMAZING and the beaches were beautiful.  We stayed at the all inclusive Hard Rock resort so we didn't ever leave!  Maybe we were a bit too relaxed...is that possible?
I had a very sweet (and quite unique) snuggle with Kylie...we bonded!
This is the view we had from our room.  We could see the beach but we would take a shuttle to get there.  Remember...I said we were REALLY relaxed!

Some fun in the snow...

We enjoyed a winter wonderland at Cocolalla over MLK weekend with Dean/Sarah and family.  We had a LOT of snow over New Years but it had snowed even more when we went back up there...which made for some fun sledding!
Alissa had no fear and usually led the way!
Eliza and Bella were quite the sledding partners!
Talia took a few runs on her own...
...and so did Maddox!
I love Eliza's smile!  She kept getting braver with each ride!
Such a cute little man!
Fun in the snow!
Thanks for a fun weekend cousins!

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

A little prayer...

We were reading books today before nap/quiet time just like we do every day.  Talia was fidgeting and accidentally poked me in the eye.  But it was one of those pokes where your eye waters like crazy and you can't open it for a few minutes.  I told the girls to wait just a minute before I could finish the book.  

Silence.  Then all of a sudden I hear, "Heavenly Father, thank thee for this day, bless the food, Name of Jesus Christ. Amen."  I opened my eyes to see Talia's face in mine, "There mom, you all better now."  Why and how my 2 year old thought to say a prayer to bless her mom's eye to see so she could finish the book I don't know!?  But I don't care either...it was the sweetest, most thoughtful thing she could have done.  And those moments make it all worth it.

Cable Bridge Run

And just because I need record of this...
Me, Julie, and Cassie at the Cable Bridge Run!
On December 15th I ran my first 5K!  For me that was a big deal!  I'm so glad Julie convinced me to do it!  I completely surprised myself and was quite proud of my accomplishment.  Cassie and Dallin ran the 10K...crazies!  If only I had kept it up during the holidays...sigh!  New Year's resolutions, right?

A New Year in the snow!

While we were at Cocolalla we did a lot of...
 sledding...
 movie/tv watching...
 ...and game playing.  Eliza was so excited because she celebrated New Year's Eve by staying up late to play games and eat treats with the adults.  When she went to bed at 10:00 our neighbors even started setting off fireworks!  Her New Year's Eve was complete!
 We had a great time playing in all the snow!
 Jon and Audrey.
 Brayden and Julie.
 Eliza and Talia...they had a blast!  They were even sledding down the hill by themselves!
 Talia loves the snow!


A few of us even went skiing/snowboarding (on Saturday).  
Jon, Audrey, Dallin, Me, and Darran.
Happy New Year!

Sunday at Cocolalla

We headed up to Cocolalla for New Years.
 Everyone after church!
 Jon and Audrey.
Last family picture of 2012...bring on a new year!