New York

Less than a week after we came back from our trip, we (myself and the kids) went up to NY.  

The kids made the most out of the snow that was left from the last snow storm.  

Alexis got to NY the day after we did.  It was so cute to see her playing with Audrey and Phoenix.  She loved chasing them around the house, and she would giggle the whole time.  It was adorable!  Twinkle, our Christmas elf, brought the kids these elf pajamas.  I think Audrey was the most excited.  She loves to play "elves" during the Christmas season, and now she has a perfect outfit!

Michelle and Kevin spearheaded the gingerbread house making.  The kids were so glad that they got to make their own.  

We visited a victorian mansion that is open for tours.  I found out that they have a masquerade ball every New Year Eve.  I was devastated disappointed that I didn't know about it ahead of time.  

They have a train set with a mini set up of all of the downtowns close by.  Elk's bakery was the best, but they sadly are no longer in business.  

A vintage elf on the shelf!  Who knew??  I love visiting old, grand houses.  Sometimes I wonder if I was born in the wrong era...and then I think about things like modern medicine, the internet, and hair dryers.  

Children's Choir

Our stake does a Christmas Nativity event every year, last year our kids were part of the children's choir, and Audrey wanted to do it again this year (I had to bribe Phoenix with a Lego set).  I snapped a few photos at the temple before we went in to the stake center.

The dress code was white and black.  Audrey chose her outfit herself, including the belt.  I was really impressed!!

Christmas Parade

I was only in town for 6 days in the month of December, luckily we were there for the Christmas parade.  This is Audrey's third year that she could walk in it, it is fun tradition.  

Turning 30

When we came back from our trip, the kids and Diane had decorated for my birthday, and Audrey had a scavenger hunt for us to find her and Phoenix.  It was so cute and thoughtful, and it was quite the homecoming!  My actual birthday was spent on a beach, but we celebrated when we came back.  

I almost always get a strawberry cupcake from the cupcake shop, I love them!  I am blessed to have so many loving people in my life.  I had so much love for my birthday, from texts, facebook, cards, and local friends and family.  Turning 30 wasn't nearly as traumatic as I feared, and I still feel like I am 25 for what it's worth.

Cruise

After two days at Universal, our cruise was next.  We went on a 3 night cruise to the Bahamas.  

It was the craziest thing, and probably not obvious in this picture, but we could see a rain storm and we weren't in it.  

This picture is so funny, Bill and his beloved soda cup in the sunset.

This picture was taken 15 minutes before his snorkel broke, and 30 minutes before he lost his goggles to a wave.  

Looking back, we all wish we would have done an excursion in Nassau, but we did have a fun beach day.  

Hands down, our favorite day was when we went to Royal Caribbean's private island, it was so relaxing, so peaceful, and so fun.  We all went snorkeling.  I found a conch shell in tact, and I went to the bottom to pick it up, and sadly, there was something living in it.  

Someone from our ship made this.

We had a super fun time on the cruise.  I realized once we were on the ship that I booked us the least desirable room on the ship that a passenger could get.  It was on the lowest passenger deck, no window, and at the very front of the ship.  And it was totally great!  The food was edible, and the entertainment was pretty good for the most part.  The low light was when the stand-up comedian asked the audience to sing Itsy Bitsy Spider (while looking at his watch, no doubt trying to kill time).  I am so glad that we went with friends, it made everything funner.  

We had such a fun trip, it felt like 2 trips in one.  We are so grateful that Trav's mom could take care of the kids, the kids told me that they had more fun with Grandma than we did on our trip.  

Universal

We have been long overdue for a couples trip, and my 30th birthday was the perfect time to get away.  I have wanted to go to Universal Studios to check out all the Harry Potter stuff for years now, and I wanted to be able to ride any ride I want freely (aka...no kids allowed).  We went with our friends, April and Bill, and we met up with Leah and Patrick in Orlando.  

April made me this bag for my birthday...I squealed when I saw it.  I fully agree with what it says!    

You have gotta dress the part when you go!

Check out how the conductor is photo-bombing us!  

This is one of my favorite pictures - so many fun memories, and there is no logical reason that 5 full grown adults squeezed into a teacup, but we did, and it was so fun!  

The dragon blows fire every once in a while.  Crazy cool!





Weird picture (thanks Trav), but I believe this is the actual car from the movie...I may be mistaken.

So, was Universal everything that I hoped and dreamed it would be?  All that and more!!  I honestly am still in awe with how well they did everything.  It was an experience that every Harry Potter fan needs to experience.  The rides were awesome, the attention to detail was incredible, and I really felt like we walked into the wizarding world of Harry Potter. Me and Trav got selected to pick out wands at Ollivander's (I think it is because we dressed up), it was awesome and a dream come true.  I want to go back!!  We had so much fun with our little group, we made tons of unforgettable memories, and we have a few inside jokes now.  Oh, and for the record, the girls totally out-rode the guys!

Thanksgiving

Travis's parents and Janae and her family came for Thanksgiving this year.  I shockingly did not get any pictures to document.  It was a lot of fun to be together with family for Thanksgiving.  We had a great time with each other.  We went bowling, and we finally tried a trampoline place out.  It was awesome!!  Fun for both kids and adults.  We want to go back again.  Diane stayed for another week after everyone else went back to their lives to watch the kids for us.  Audrey and Phoenix had a blast with Grandma!!  They are still talking about the fun that they had!