josh's genius idea

josh and i are hanging out tonight

not doing a whole lot

and out of the blue he says,

"i was thinking... maybe we should get you a new car.  an audi.

you know, because you're going to be an audi-ologist"

i think that hubby of mine is on to something!

congrats, kids!

these two love birds got engaged on saturday and we are so excited for them!

yay for adding another sister to the family on march 19th!

congrats spencer and blakely!

when i grow up...

i'll be the audiologist who does the programming on cochlear implants

8 years of school, but it will all be sooooo worth it

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

silhouette?

i've wanted a cutting machine for quite some time now.

i've considered the cricut, but those cartridges are so gosh darn expensive

i've looked into a silhouette and it seems like a better choice

but i want to know...

do any of you actually have one?

is it worth the $?

i can't get one for a little while longer 

because for some reason they don't have any software that is mac compatible

but supposedly it is coming sometime this fall

until then, i want to hear what you think

mexico day 7 and 8

day 7 (tuesday) was our last full day in mexico

we told my dad we wanted a beach day, and that's what he gave us.

again, we spent the day at our favorite spot on the beach.

we did some snorkeling, some eating, some reading, some kayaking, some pina-colada drinking, some sleeping, and some more eating.

funniest moment of the day is when we told my dad we wanted a "jumping" picture on the beach.  he had no idea what we were talking about and struggled big time trying to get us in the air.  

as we were attempting the jumping pictures (and laughing hysterically at ourselves and at my dad), these two little amigos were watching us and laughing at us.  we ended up inviting them to join us.  pepe is the one in the white shirt, and flores is the one in the yellow.

they had never taken jumping pictures before and were more pro at it than we were.

they became our new bffs

that night we got all dolled up and ready for our last dinner at the japanese steakhouse (think tepanyaki).

we decided while we all looked so tropical and pretty that we'd take a few family pictures on the beach

the next day we got up early and got things all packed up.

the gang went miniature golfing while i did some last minute shopping

we made it to the airport in cancun by about 3pm and made it home to logan that night around 1am

we had an amazing time on this trip and i am so glad my dad put it all together.

my family is the bomb diggity and we loved being able to play with them for 8 days straight with no telephone or computer distractions :)

thanks again mom and dad for the trip... you're the best parentals ever!

and that concludes our fabulous mexican vacation

mexico day 6

day 6 (monday) we planned to go to akumal bay

akumal is known as "the place of the turtles" and is a protected ecological marine research and turtle protection area.  

we took the collectivo again, but this time only about 10 minutes south of our resort.  akumal beach was gorgeous with perfect white sandy beaches and practically no one was there.  we had to watch a wildlife protection video before we could enter the water, but then we rented some snorkel gear and headed out to find us some sea life.

we saw lots of sea turtles and sting rays!  not too many tropical fish, but that's ok because we've seen those plenty of times snorkeling in other places.  i've never swam with turtles before (or stingrays for that matter), so it was quite the experience!

that night we ate at the resort's italian restaurant and watched the nba playoffs in one of the lounges.  i guess even on vacation in mexico you can't get away from the nba

mexico day 4 & 5

saturday (day 4) was our first full day of relaxation.  we found our favorite spot on the beach at the resort and didn't leave except to get in the water, get some food, and get some pina coladas.

this was also the day that a few people in our group started feeling a bit sick.  we think it was the fajitas from the mexican buffet the day before because only a few of us were feeling yucky.  lucky for me, i passed up the fajitas.  sadly enough, josh did not.

day 5 (sunday), we decided to head into playa del carmen for church.  well, those of us that felt good enough to go.  my dad did some research and found out how the collectivo (public transportation) system worked and where exactly the church was.  it started at 9 so just to be safe (remember, no one in my family speaks spanish) we decided to leave plenty early so we would make it on time.  well, we were at the chapel much than we had expected to be- like an hour early.  while we were sitting there, we joked about how one of us should go and practice playing on the piano because they'd probably ask us to play.

well, it wasn't really funny anymore at 8:55 when the bishop came up to us and asked if one of us would play all 4 songs for the meeting.  somehow i got chosen to play (instead of my little sisters and mother who can all play the piano and actually have one that they practice regularly).  pretty sure i'm a little rusty anyway, but add a completely full congregation, two songs that i don't know very well, and one song that isn't even in our english hymnbook, and you have one very scary, intimidating experience.  well, the lord was on my side because i was able to make it through the songs ok, even the one i had to sight-read.

it was an interesting experience, and one that i will always remember, even if we have no idea what was said because it was all in spanish.

after sacrament meeting, we decided to walk to the wal-mart to get some pepto-bismal for the rest of our group back at the resort.  we were in mexico while the world cup was going on and it was quite the sight to see all of the men sitting on patio chairs in the electronics department cheering mexico on.  classic.

we also shopped around a little bit on their 5th avenue and bought some jewelry and a few souvenirs.

best line of the day:

mexican jewelry store owner to my dad (wearing his long sleeve white church shirt in 100+ heat/humidity):

"amigo, are you loco?!  go buy a tee-shirt next store, you crazy gringo"

and so we did

and he changed in an alley way

and he was sooooo much happier!

the rest of the day was spent being lazy on the beach and with dinner at the resort's steakhouse.