Happy thoughts

I am SO sick of hearing about a certain quarterback, so I need to bring on some positive thoughts to help me forget about it.

1. These two crazies. They've both had their naughty moments lately, but today they've both been fairly good and they've been playing together so well. They've been chasing each other around the house screaming and laughing. So cute.


2. These funny girls. They mean trouble when we gather at the Squire home, but they have so much fun together.


3. These ladies. This is my book club. There are actually only six of us now. This was taken right before Rachel (back row, far right) moved away, and Melissa (back row, second in), a former member and co-founder, happened to be in town visiting. This gives me something to look forward to every month and it forces me to read outside my comfort level, which is a good thing.


4. Christmas! I love everything about this time of year. December starts tomorrow and we already have most of our Christmas shopping done. We put the tree up on Friday and the girls are loving it. Christmas really is the best when you have kids. I got them adorable Christmas dresses (two, actually) and I hope to do some fun things with them this month. I also hope to focus more on Christ instead of getting presents (though I do like playing the "Santa's elves are watching" card). Ada has already offered to give some of her favorite toys to other people.

5. This guy. He's lots of fun and always makes me laugh. We've been reading a finance book together and we can't seem to get through a reading without laughing hysterically about something.


6. This girl. Tyler's sister Rachelle is one of the funniest people ever. She put on an Oscar-worthy re-enactment of a family joke last night that had us all rolling. I haven't laughed that hard in ages.

Belize and comin' home

Our last stop before docking in Fort Lauderdale was Belize. We docked, found our tour guide (who Tyler had just e-mailed the night before), and got in a van that took us way into the jungle. He was just going to take us cave tubing but we had time to do zip lining too. Zip lining was fun, but I probably wouldn't do it again. We then got into our suits, grabbed the tubes, and hiked a while to start cave tubing. There were several huge groups doing the same thing but for us it was just Tyler, me, and our two guides. We sat in our tubes, grabbed the feet of the person behind us, and floated down the river in a train. We had lights on our heads so we could see inside the enormous cave we floated though. After the cave we floated through the jungle and got to swim around before ending our journey. It was lots of fun. Too bad we didn't get any pictures of our adventures!





Proof that we were actually in Belize:





The only monkey we saw on the whole trip


The fun people we ate dinner with every night and hung out with on the ship (minus one couple)




Farewell, Enchantment of the Seas!

The trip home was an adventure in and of itself. We were supposed to fly from Fort Lauderdale to New York to Long Beach to Salt Lake, but again the Long Beach to Salt Lake flight was completely booked. Rachelle got creative for us and figured out a way to get us home: fly from New York to Vegas, where Tyler's parents happened to be. They picked us up from the airport and we went straight to the UNLV/Utah football game (the reason they were in Vegas). Tyler was thrilled to say the least. After the game we rode to La Verkin where we stayed the night and then they drove us home from there. Crazy! I was so anxious to see the girls by that point. I missed them so much! We got home more than 14 hours later than planned, but everything worked out. A gigantic thanks to everyone who helped with Ada and Kate. They were juggled around about eight different times, but they're good kids and handled things well. Kate was especially clingy for almost two weeks after got back, the poor thing. We were extremely fortunate to be able to go and have everything work out. It was a trip for the ages!

Tyler and his enormous piece of pizza at JFK

Cozumel

On the island of Cozumel we rented a scooter and drove around the city. It was a little freaky at first since Tyler had never driven anything like it, but luckily he got the hang of it pretty fast. I just held on for dear life as he cruised the Mexican streets. I wish we would have gotten a picture! We drove a ways to see some Mayan ruins. It was cool to explore our way around the ruins that were surrounded by jungle. We saw plenty of iguanas and even a hermit crab while we were there. We then hung out downtown and decided to drive to the beach. On our way it started POURING. We drove a while longer, but we were soaked and it was hard to see. Since we were driving along the coast, we pulled over and put our feet in the water before turning around and heading back. Good times!



















I've never seen anyone so excited to have two guns pointed at their head


Another view of our ship

Key West

We boarded Enchantment of the Seas Monday afternoon and enjoyed eating and exploring. Our ship had a theater (pictured below), several pools and hot tubs, a rock climbing wall, bungee trampolines, a casino, shopping, a spa and fitness center, and several places to eat. We thought the ship was huge, but we've since learned that it is Royal Caribbean's second smallest!


Our new friends



Our first stop was Key West, Florida. We had no plans when we got off except to find a place where Tyler could get his hair cut. We found a little barber shop and the old man in there happened to be LDS. It was quite a coincidence. We walked around the city a bit and went to the southernmost point in the continental U.S. Then we ended up renting a jet ski for an hour and going crazy in the ocean. It was tons of fun.


This place had tons of statues all around it


Near the southernmost point



The southernmost beach




We didn't pay to get in, but I would have liked to


Our nice ship


I couldn't leave Key West without eating key lime pie ice cream!


Formal night (my hair looks horrible!)


The little friend we found in our room


Our room, which was much nicer than the one we stayed at in Fort Lauderdale


We could have consumed all this for only $42.35