Halloween 2009

This year the boys couldn't decide what to be for halloween. The day before I found some shirts and a bandanna, but the little boys wanted their face painted. They ended up being skeleton pirates and Landen was a KISS Rocker! I think they turned out pretty good! Berkley decided she was too old for dressing up, and I didn't get a picture of Maddy, who was dressed up as herself?! Whatever!

We walked the Downtown streets in the afternoon and Trick-or-Treated the stores. They got their free pizza from Papa Murphy's and went to our wards Trunk-or-Treat! They had a good time! When it got dark I took the kids to a different neighborhood and they came home with a haul! I'm not a big fan of Halloween, but the kids had a good time!

Last Game.....of the season!

Berkley had her last game of the season on Thursday the 29th! They had a good season playing together even though they didn't win alot! All the girls improved on their skills, which was very fun to watch! I will miss watching them play!

As a thank you gift to their coach, Berkley and Brittanee gave her flowers and candy! She cried when they gave them to her. She was a great help to them! I'm excited to watch every year and can't wait till then.

Back to Cruising.........

Barcelona, Spain

Day 7

We joined a tour guide in Barcelona, she took us first to the top of a hill to overlook the city. We drove around some of the Olympic Venues, which was pretty cool to see.

We walked Las Ramblas, which is a shopping district with many colorful flower stalls and animals shops. Our tour guide told us we needed to closely watch our bags in this area.

Marta, our tour guide, took us to a fantastic market place. They had all kinds of fruits and vegetables. Fresh and dried. I wish I could have brought some back for the kids.

There was all kinds of sea food........

fresh meats........they also had all kind of breads, nuts, eggs and mushroom. It was very fascinating!

After walking through the marketplace we went to the Gothic Quarters, narrow cobblestone streets with historic buildings built from the 13th to 15th centuries. We visited some old Roman columns that are 2000 years or older.

We took a lunch break at a little cafe, where Marta visits quite often. There we shared Tapas, a Spanish tradition of different appetizers. It was very good!

After lunch, we made our way to Guell Park. The works of Antoni Gaudi. There was some interesting architecture here. My girls recognized this place because it is in one of the shows they use to watch, Cheetah Girls.

By now, the temperature was very hot and we were parched. We were going to just stay in the van and drive by the next site, but I am glad we got out to see the Cathedral.

La Sagrada Familia

Gaudi's church, started in 1883. The work continues today on it. Gaudi never saw it's completion, because he was killed in 1926.

They estimate it taking another 40 to 50 years to complete.

The back side of the cathedral had sculptures depicting the life of Christ, from birth to death. It was beautiful!

09-09-09

What A Lucky Day.......

......That turned into three!

Landen's birthday was on Wednesday, he turned eleven years old. Life has gotten so busy we ended up celebrating Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. I guess the 09-09-09 was a lucky day because he got to extend the celebrating an extra two days! On Wednesday, Landen had visitors and birthday cards in the mail. On Thursday, we went to Fredricoes for his birthday dinner. Which ended up being really late! On Friday we sang to him and ate brownies and brownie ice-cream! I ran out of candles so if you look close enough you'll see I had to use matches. It was the fastest singing to Happy Birthday before the matches burned down to the ice-cream!

Happy Birthday Landen!

I don't know what we will do tomorrow......I guess we can just keep celebrating!

First Game.......

Berkley had her first pre-season game last night! The game was suppose to start at 4 pm, but the team wasn't there on time, so it started an hour and a half late which made the girls even more nervous than they already were!

Berkley got the number 8 as her number, she really wanted 14, but she missed three days of practice because of girls camp. Her and her friend Britt didn't get to pick, and they didn't get to play either because of the missing practice rule. Their team didn't win and it was hard for the two of them to just sit and watch.

After the freshman game they got to go help out with the Varsity Team. That was fun to watch......man, I miss playing high school sports! But am really excited for Berkley to have the experience!

Back to School..............

The kids are all back in school now, except Zach, he will start on the 31st!

Berkley and Madison started on Monday, and Landen and Logan started on Tuesday. They all went on Wednesday. It is nice to break up the days, even though I get confused as to who goes at what times with them all being in different schools.

Berkley started High School, yes, I said High School. She is in ninth grade and so far liking it! She also tried out for the Volleyball team and made it, which keeps her really busy. I am so excited for her and her new adventures!

Madison is now in the seventh grade. Still enjoying middle school! She is also taking dance again, but this year decided to not do competitive. A little less busy, but still busy! She loves it and we love to watch her. She finally got her cast off after 10 weeks of having it on. Just in time to go back to school!

Landen is in fifth grade. He was apprehensive and about the teacher he got, but after the first day he told me that he is an awesome teacher, I already knew that! We got Landen a new bike for his birthday, which is still a couple weeks away, but we thought he could enjoy it more if it was early. I can't keep him home, he is always asking if he can ride to Macey's to get my groceries for me! He is a good kid!

Logan started with the first grade. He is struggling with going all day. I'm sure it is hard for these little kids to stay all day, what a long day for them. He enjoys getting a lunch and everyday after school he tells what they ate. This year he doesn't like homework!

Alicante & Guadalest

Day 6

We didn't spend too much time in Alicante, but we did walk the Esplanade and did a little souvenir shopping. The Esplanade was by the seaside with multicolored pavement. You could sit and wish you owned one of the many yachts sitting in the harbor! We also walked along the beaches. As you can see they are a busy place to be, with clothing optional.

Castillo de Santa Barbara fortress

From the summit it is possible to see the entire Bay of Alicante and the surrounding stretch of land. The origins of the modern fortress date from the late 9th Century, the time of Moorish rule. We didn't go inside, we only saw it from the walkway below.

We took the Princess tour to Guadalest. A little village perched on a rocky outcrop 5,000 ft above sea level.

It was such a tropical looking little village. One of my favorite stops!

We had to walk to the top and on the way up you could see the white bell tower. The old village and castle is accessed through a tunnel carved from the rock and when you reach the other end and see the ancient houses, you seemed to have been transported to another age.

It was a beautiful sight once at the top.This is what we looked down on. A beautiful turquoise blue reservoir.

The weather was very hot in the upper 90's with a slight warm breeze.

Some of the most beautiful scenery I've seen.

*Gibraltar*

Day 5

Gibraltar was our first port city.....it is less than three square miles in area. Although it is located in Spain it is still controlled by the British.

We had a few hours to tour this city, so we walked around, did a little shopping, I bought some shoes and candy!

Because of time we didn't do too much at this stop. We walked the streets and visited an old cemetery, where most of the people died from fever, which were probably associated with some other disease. Gibraltar was small in size, had a few beautiful areas, but not much to offer. We could have taken a taxi to the top of the mountain and see the barbary apes, but we were nervous for time and we didn't want the monkeys to take our possessions. We now wish we had gone.

-Onboard The Grand Princess-
Day 2-4

We boarded the ship around 4 pm, which was a new experience for both of us! We found our cabin, then enjoyed taking a short nap before we explored the boat and hit the buffet for dinner.

This was one of the pools on top of the Princess. The busiest pool out of all of them! Although we never did swim, we sure enjoyed sitting out in the open air, while we ate our hamburgers, pizzas, or ice-cream cones! I did get quite windy a couple of days, but the sun was always out!

On the back of the ship, there was an adult only pool. If I did swim, this is where I would have gone.

Enjoying one of the many ice-cream cone we had! They were unlimited all day long. Loyal, Deven's dad, was in heaven! We had two sea days that we caught up on our sleep and rested for the busy agenda ahead!The second sea day was formal night. I was nervous for this.....I don't know why! We got all dressed up, then headed out to the many picture stops. We couldn't decide which one to get because we liked them all!

This one with us standing is Deven's favorite, the one above or below was my favorite!

This one we couldn't leave behind.

We had a good night dressing up and going to dinner in the dining room, then out to see a production show. My feet hurt at the end of the night, because I don't normally wear any kind of heal. There was a beautiful color in the sky that night after dinner!