Galivan Center Ice Rink

We checked the big boys out of school early yesterday and headed down to the Galivan Center to Ice Skate. My Dad's work is rebuilding the entire ice rink and was giving out construction passes to the workers and he shared one with us. We had so much fun. We were really nervous about the boys crying because it was hard or it was cold, but it was a beautiful day--we even ended up without coats--and they loved it. When I told Brax we were going he said "Thank You, Thank you, Thank you mom I've always wanted to ice skate. They asked if we could go again today. It was a really fun family day. Cameron loved to hold the rail and also to have Shane hold him in between his legs and skate around.
There were a few falls in the beginning, but they became professionals and were even trying tricks.

Just over the fence on the right side of this picture is where my dad was working. The boys loved to see what he was building, landscape bases for trees to be planted in, and wave each time they saw him.

Dakota wanted to play Ring Around the Rosie's.

This was our resting spot.

Three amigos watching the other ice skaters.

We can't have a cold day ice skating without stopping for some cold ice cream on the way home.

And this is the way we all felt afterward, even though Cam and I were the only ones who slept on the drive home, everyone was exhausted--just the way we like it!!

I saw an elderly couple there with their own skates going around and around. I chatted with the woman and she said they come every Friday afternoon and have for years. It was the cutest thing, what a great way to spend retirement--it made me smile :)

Christmas

We had a wonderful Christmas and the boys got spoiled as usual. We had a party Christmas eve for my moms side of the family and the boys were off to bed not to late. Braxton could not sleep much past 1. He came in our room 5 times before 6 and finally we got up. Well now he had been up all night and had got himself so worked up that he was sick and could not even open gifts. He laid on the couch and ate some oatmeal and said he was good enough to open a few presents. About 4 presents in, he puked all over the couch, his stocking, his new zhu zhu pet, and the carpet. It was not a fun experience for a mother who had to clean it up, I can assure you it is one I would rather live without on Christmas morning, but such is life. He felt sick for about another 30 minutes and then seemed fine. He gets so worked up, next year we may trick him into thinking it is on the 26th :) (If only he wasnt getting so big and so smart!)Cameron got plenty of Thomas stuff that he is absolutely obsessed with and it made him very happy!
Dakota got zhu zhu pets, clothes, and a DS.

The family got a race car track that we have had many a fun evening racing on.

Here Braxton is 1st thing in the morning. He got a DS, a skateboard ramp, and some clothes.

Here is Dakota with all the loot before we started. It is so fun having little kids on Christmas. The magic is so real and they get so excited. Shane gets nearly as excited as them and it is just a really fun time to be a family.

Christmas Sunday Best

Cancun Highlight

We went to this awesome beach in Puerto Morales (the same on we got the massages) and I felt just like a little kid watching these kids playing soccer, I wanted to play so bad and was hoping they would ask me to play. Then Shane came out of the water from snorkeling and just asked them if we could play. I loved it!! The kids were so cute and nice and we were playing soccer on the beach in Cancun, can it get any better. I would love to take my boys there to do the same thing someday. I can't remember how you say goalie in Spanish, but they kept saying that over and over. They would let me be goalie, then if I missed one, they would take over my spot like they could do a better job, it cracked me up.

I was in heaven and would say this was my favorite day and favorite part of that day on our vacation in Cancun.

On that same beach a lady came along selling food out of her bucket. Everything was $1. She had tamales, peanuts with lime juice, mangoes, and cucumbers. We bought some and enjoyed it two feet from the water, and it was DELICIOUS. I haven't ever tasted such a wonderful tamale. We looked for her to come back the rest of the day.

In my mind it just does not get any better!!

Cancun #3

Every vacation that we go on my favorite part is the relaxing. We chilled out on the beach, drank pinas, and got a massage. I loved going on long walks checking out the resort and even talked the whole group into doing a bike tour around the resort that I thought was awesome.

It is amazing to go from being a mom thinking about others all day, picking up after many munchkins every day, to someone who relaxes and thinks only of what to do for entertainment that day. I think that is why vacations are such a necessity in life, they help us keep our sanity, because some days sanity feels so far away. I got out of bed when I wanted after getting a full, uninterrupted nights sleep. I did stretching on the beach in the morning to get going, then after that it was a day full of fun, my favorite kind of food, and my favorite man by my side. We were able to reconnect and remember why we fell in love in the first place. He is fun, full of spunk and fire, and quite handsome if you ask me.

Shane gets out of bed at 6:00 every morning to go outside and medal detect the beaches for treasures and watch the sun rise, he spends countless hours in the water discovering a whole new world under the water, he could drink 10 pinas a day if he was rich, he says funny things over and over like "I don't know about you guys but I am starving", and every night he loves to take a long stroll along the beach to enjoy the sound of the waves and soak in the joys of being so close to the place he loves the most--the ocean.

One to many pinas (just bad timing really, but it looks good!)


Massages right on the beach and they felt soooo good.

On the bike tour there were alligators and flamingos to stop and see.

Stretching with Alayna

Shane's head was getting FRIED so he sat with this shirt on his head most of the day.

A self-photo with a portion of the biggest pool I've ever seen.

One day after the morning beach run Shane and Cody took this picture of me sleeping.

More pool shots

This is what the room looked like, I noticed after I uploaded this that Jake is crashed out in the bed. He spent a lot of time sleeping, it was quite the joke of the trip, he never sleeps at home, but in Cancun he discovered the joys of a good sleep!

Cancun #2

One day we went spear fishing with Leo in Cozumel. My pictures are backwards so this is us enjoying the fish that we (he) caught and made into Ceviche at a local restaurant. It was delicious! Shane, Jake, Cody, and Shannon Spear fished and me and Alayna snorkeled. They all got some good shots at fish, but it is harder that it seems Shane says. We spent all afternoon out at 4 different parts of the reef snorkeling and shooting at fish. Leo, the guide, shot two, but one got away as he was putting it in the boat. It was a great experience regardless of the fish, and we had some fabulous guacamole on the boat made by the captain Juan. I got a little sea sick because one stop felt like a washing machine, but I just enjoyed the ride on the boat.

This is just us relaxing in the condo while waiting for our next adventure.

Shane was obsessed with coconuts, and he wanted me to take this photo of him posing with his coconut. (I know he is a dork!)

Alayna swam with the dolphins one afternoon and this is the best still shot I have because the rest is movies. It was really cool to see the dolphins and have her check something off her bucket list! I was going to do it, but I am a tight wad I tell you and it was too much for my blood so I chickened out.

Good Food, Good Friends, Tons of Fun!!

We were lucky enough to spend a week in sunny Cancun the week of Dec 13-19. We went with Jake and Alayna Weston (Shane's Cousins) and Cody and Shannan Weston (Shane's brother & wife). We had so much fun relaxing, eating good food, laying by the beach and the biggest pool I've ever seen. We stayed at the Mayan Palace in Rivera Maya. It was a huge resort with a two bedroom condo that we each had our own bed and room, except Cody and Shay had the pull out couch in the living room. (I tried to start at the beginning of the vacation and upload in that order, but they came out all over the place, so I will just explain each one.)

This restaurant was in a place called Akumal that was south of our resort. It had a great beach, but it was stinking windy, so we were freezing.

This is me enjoying a beautiful view of the ocean while I waited for Alayna's turn to swim with the Dolphins.

Iguana sunning himself on a rock.
One night (well many nights) the boys wanted to take coconuts off of the tree. They spent many hours trying and scouting out places to find new coconuts. Jake showed us his awesome monkey skills he learned in Fiji and climbed up this tall tree near our beach, Alayna only had to boost his bottom one time. All of the rest us tried the same climbing and we failed miserably only getting about 3 feet up the tree.

We left on Sunday on the red-eye that took all night to get to Cancun. This is Jake crashed out in the Airport in Atlanta where we had a 2 1/2 hour layover. It was FREEZING here and we could barely stay warm let alone catch some shut eye.

Every night we had Pinatas (Pina Colada's without alcohol) and tried out some new restaurant. We never ate at the resort it was too expensive and the local restaurants taste much better. We took many a picture while eating.

We ate a lot of Cheviche (raw fish cured in lime juice with tomatoes, cilantro, and onion), sometimes it was on a tostada and sometimes we just dipped chips in it. It was really tasty!

The whole gang!

Cody and Shannon showing of thier delicious Ceviche!