Bon Voyage....Cruising the Caribbean!

We were excited to get out of the cold and snow and go cruising to the Caribbean....except in Miami it was only 35 degrees and we were freezing before we even got on the boat (and we only brought our shorts--Yikes)! We had a wondeful time! We went with my brother Kelly and his wife Patty...we enjoyed all the port stops at Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, St. Thomas and St. Marten! The beaches were just beautiful and we came home with some nice tans! It was fun getting to know all the people on the ship our waiters and cruise hosts were a lot of fun and made for a memorable experience!

Parasailing...........

The Highlight of our trip--WE WENT PARASAILING!!!

WHOA... we were way out there!.. and what beautiful views

of the Island of St. Thomas!.. Neat pic with the other parasail

right beneath us.. we were hoping our ropes would not get tangled!

awwww.... all is well... and Don is happy and relieved to

be back in the boat safe!... What an experience!..Yeah, we

would do it again!.... Definitely!...

One of the few days it was warm enough at sea to actually

go out and enjoy the sun on the deck!... For the most part our days

at sea were rocky and rough!.... A lot of seasick people those days!
Getting off the ship and going on to the Island of St. Martin--it was hot there!

Arghhhh!.. a REAL Pirate of the Caribbean!!

The beaches in St. Martin were absolutely beautiful.. Weather was wonderful! and people so friendly. Half of the Island is owned by the Dutch and the other half by France. We took a tour

around the whole island and were able to go to a Beach on the "French" side.. (if you know what I mean)...

The last day of the cruise... here we are in Miami.. We had a wonderful time, but were

kind of excited to go back home to Idaho.. even if it is cold and snowy!.. haha.. now we are

having a hard time walking straight.. we keep swaying back and forth like we are still on the ship!..

Cameron, Connor and Tanner were so excited to get their souvenoirs from the Carribbean.. They were pretty impressed that Grandpa and Grandma had been in the area of the Pirates of the Caribbean!

Christmas Day 2008 !!!!

Looks like Santa found us all this year!!!!!

It was fun to have Ryan, Val and her boys from Vegas with us for Christmas morning...Santa found them in Idaho!

Heather was excited to use her new mixer she got for Christmas and made us a yummy chocolate mousse.....and who knew Heather could cook----hee hee.....hopefully she will do it more often!

We were snowed in and barely got Kevin and ALy down with us before it got any worse....we just rocked out to their new band they got for the Wii and ate and ate and ate.....It was a nice Christmas for all of us....definately one to remember!

Christmas Eve Pjs

The boys absolutely loved their red flapped old fashioned long john pajamas....It made for some good laffs cause the backs had the actual button flap....too funny! A surprise visit from COWBOY SANTA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Tate was soooooo excited to see Cowboy Santa....it was pretty special and made all our night!

YW Caroling

We went caroling with the YW on a horse drawn sleigh...it was a lot of fun and made everyones night that we went too.....it was just too cold!!

What's this White stuff?

Sofie did not know what to think of our first big snowstorm.. She was soo excited to get outside and see why the world was all white outside. .. But once she was in it she was like "What the Heck is this white stuff....it feels colder than heck on my little paws......and it doesn't even taste good!....Merry White christmas everyone! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!! Victor and Shelly were able to come and be with us this year. They flew in last night from Colorado! We were all able to sit around the table this year because we were few in numbers. Valorie and Ryan and family went to Arizona with his family and Heather and Casey didn't make it up, she was in charge of dessert and real mashed potatoes....and we didn't think Heather could cook...hmmmm. We have so much to be thankful for and we are especially blessed to have such a wonderful family!!!