Western Caribbean cruise

Here are the long awaited pictures from our cruise. Sorry there are quite a few pictures. It was a western Caribbean cruise on Carnival. Our ship was called the Freedom of the Seas. It is the largest cruise ship in the world. It was awesome to be on such a big ship, but the drawback was having so many people on board. On The few nice days that we had it was hard to find a lawn chair. It was also difficult to find a seat at the buffet. (yes we were not discouraged and we did frequent the buffet.) Janelle and I had an especially memorable snack run to the buffet at about 6:30pm. We were still in our workout clothes and no makeup, ect. People that were there for dinner were looking at us funny. We were starving though and couldn't wait until our 8:30 dinner time. This is the wave rider. We don't know this guy, he was just demonstrating how it worked. Jeff got to boogie board on it a few times and he thought it was really fun. The pictures didn't really turn out because it was dark.

This is the H2O zone. We thought our kids would have had fun there. But then we would have been stuck there and that didn't sound fun at all.

This is our welcome aboard photo. Yeah!

This was one of the formal nights.

Another formal night.


Labadee Haiti was our first stop. The weather wasn't great. Most of the day it was overcast and we had a few sprinkles. We decided to wait out the line for the tender boats in the hammocks.

The market in haiti. We didn't buy anything here.

This picture doesn't show it very well, but this is the zip line that we went down. It is the longest, tallest, zip line over water. The lines you see are almost to the landing zone. Up on the hill is the starting point. It was really fun and I am glad that we did it.



Jamaica

This was the third stop. This was my favorite day, I think. I would be sure, but we had cool rainy weather again. We were freezing in the water. We took a two hour bus ride to the falls and we got to see a lot of the coastline and hear the culture and history of Jamaica. we had a wonderful guide that made us laugh.

Here we are starting the falls hike, The guides wanted us to sit in the water and get wet, I wasn't quite ready yet!

This gives an idea of the amount of people going up the falls. Yes we climbed up the falls in the water. It was a cool hike. Our videographer (pictured in the yellow shirt) was a nut. He made us Yell "Ya Mon" and "No Problem" throughout the hike. He also had us kiss each other a lot and do group cheers. I really could have done without so much cheering. I also didn't love the water fight that he made us participate in.

We are soaked by this point and starting to shiver. I don't know where Craig and Janelle are in this picture. Hmm

This sign was on the side of the road as we were heading back to the ship. It is hard to read, but it said "strickly No Dumping"



Cozumel

Jeff in front of the Liberty

This is after our Scuba Dive excursion. We went with Rob and Janelle. It was so fun. It was a drift dive and I loved it. Oh and the weather was nice and hot this day. Too bad I couldn't work on my real tan at 80 feet below the surface.

One of the fun towel creations left in our room.

I also don't have pictures from our sting Ray snorkel on Grand Cayman, Janelle and I went with Glenn & Annette. Jeff and Rob were diving. It was a really great experience, especially once we stopped squeeling like 12 year old girls. It took us a while. Janelle even got a nice souvenir after she fed the sting ray a squid. This was also one of my favorite excursions. Cayman was a nice day too.

we also had a fun time before our cruise left in Miami. We went on an airboat tour through the everglades. I also got to hold an alligator. I have some pictures, but they didn't down load, and I am tired of blogging, so sorry, I am done. Boy this is rough.

Spray tan 2

As promised here are the pictures from my spray tan before my cruise.

This is right after I got sprayed. Sorry for the belly shot. I thought it gave the most Hawaiian Tropic/umpa loompa effect.

This is the next morning before the shower. It is quite nice looking don't you think?

Okay so this is about 6 days after the tan. I didn't have any pictures from the few days after, but as you can see I am definitely not that tan. Just enough to take the bright white away. When I get the rest of the pictures downloaded I will post about the cruise. We had a great time.

Fun kids craft kit

This is one of the gifts that our kids got for Christmas. It has been a lot of fun for my girls(mostly Kaylee) so I thought I would share. There are a lot of different activites and crafts included. I love that you don't need anything additional for the projects, not even glue. They are simple things and can be as quick or long as the attention span lasts. Just thought I would pass it along. I love when moms recommend good products to me.

Island Park

We had a great trip to Island Park with our dental school friends, The Thunells, over Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. We had to snowmobile in to a freezing cold cabin. Inside it was about 40 degrees when we got there. We turned everything on and played outside as long as we could. I watched the temperatures slowly rise and tried to keep the kids warm. Of course Taylor didn't want to be covered up or wear her gloves. She is so independant. Her hands were so cold! I used Dora as a tool to have her sit on my lap and try and keep her warm. By the time we went to bed about 10 hours later it was about 65 degrees in there. It felt great the next morning. The Thunells didn't get to the cabin until late on Friday night. So they had to snowmobile in in the dark with their 2 month old baby. It was so brave of them. We had a great weekend of snowmobiling, sledding, eating, and playing wii. The kids loved playing together and riding in the sled behind the snowmobile. When we got back to our car to load up and go home we had a flat tire on the tahoe. What is it with Island park and flats. The last time we were up last summer we got 3 flat tires. It was a great trip. Thanks Thunells.

Ryan and Kaylee trying to stay warm. Ryan actually tolerated Kaylee sleeping in the smae bed as him that night because he said he was going to steal her body heat. What a nice brother.


Taylor is mad because I was making her sit by the fire.

Steeler Nation

Okay, in honor of the Steelers going to the super Bowl I will take us back to 2006 when the Steelers won the super Bowl. We were living in Pittsburgh at the time and enjoyed every minute of the hype and excitement! We only wish we were closer to enjoy it again. We will just have to be there in spirit! Go Steelers!

Here is Ryan with his Terrible Towel. The kids loved to get them out for the games. Notice the TV on with news coverage about the Steelers. That was the only thing that got annoying, was the constant coverage. I had no idea there could be so many angles taken, and stories brought forward about the game and players. I was glad when the news got back to reporting the usual shootings, murders, and house fires. (Sorry for those that haven't lived there, for those that have you are probably smiling)

Hines Ward, MVP, and winning smile

Stefanie Lambert and I went to the Super Bowl Champions parade for the Steelers. It was so cold! we got there early to stake out our front row spots. We fought the crowds and drug our four children out. We were in perfect position to see, but that was not to last. The people just kept creeping farther and farther out into the street. They didn't care that they were crowding in front of little kids. Stefanie and I were mad, but what could we do. We didn't want to be a side note on the news about a shooting or stabbing at the parade. I did get some good pictures by holding my camera up above the crowd.

Big Ben

Chris Hoke, He was in our ward for a little while, nice guy, played at BYU.

Bill Cower and his family.

Emma, Ellie, and Stefanie Lambert (before the mass of people arrived)

Kaylee, Emma, and Ellie

Ellie & Kyle Lambert

We also went to the pep rally a few days before the big game. It was really fun, I am so glad that we went even if it seemed a little cheesy. We weren't the only ones, the stands were about half full.

Stefanie & Kevin at the rally

Here we are rallying!?

Heinz Field




Here is Jerome Bettis, holding the championship trophy. It was fun to be a part of it all and we look forward to 2 weeks from Sunday. Can't wait to watch the Steelers do it again!

Spray Tan

In Preparation for our upcoming cruise I thought It would be a good idea to get a tan. For those that have been around me in the winter know how scary white I get. So you are all nodding your heads, saying yeah great idea. Save the eyesight of your fellow cruise passengers from blinding glare off of your body. Okay one problem with the conventional tanning beds. I have had a few moles removed that were precancerous so I can't go tanning (well I can I just choose not to). Anyways so I figured I would try out the spray tan. I was really scared of the spray booth( anyone remember Ross's spray tan on friends?) so I decided to be airbrushed by a live expert. I asked a lot of questions to the receptionist on what to wear or not to wear ect. She said people even go completely naked, but that she won't spray men in the newd. I thought how very thoughtful of her. I decided to give it a trial run before the cruise since it doesn't last more than a week. Last Friday Jeff went and spent his 7 minutes in the tanning bed(he got a little red) and I spent my 10 minutes getting misted with an airbrush tan. The woman who sprayed me warned me not to panic about the result the first day. She said it would look bad and may even look green around the neck. It was a good thing that I didn't need to go anywhere but night skiing the rest of the day. The actual tan was painless, if you don't count standing in your skivies in a cold room being misted by cold sray tan that smelled sweet and felt sticky. I was informed that the spray tan contained sugar beets, who knew?
Okay I am sure you want me to get to the point. Well I looked like a Hawaiian Tropic girl, minus the bikini and hot body. I had never been that tan in my whole life. I got home and got in front of the mirror and just laughed my head off. I invited Jeff to come and get a laugh. He didn't disappoint! Later that day he was asking me a question and he couldn't look at me without laughing. I am sorry that we don't have pictures. maybe next time I will have Jeff take a picture so that everyone can have a good laugh.
After that spray tan you can't shower or bathe for at least 8 hours so I had to wait until the next morning. Thankfully the ugliness washed down the drain and I was left with a normal looking tan that I will be proud to show off on the cruise.

Christmas

I am finally getting around to posting about our festivities. So many pictures it is very overwhelming. We had a great holiday filled with family and friends. It was relaxing at times and stressful at times. I am starting to realize that The holidays can be a very stressful time for moms. Any one else notice this or am I a little crazy?

Taylor helping herself to the treats.

My mother and I on Christmas Eve.

Some of the McMinn cousins. Notice how happy Rylee is?

Kaylee on Christmas Morning.

Our front porch got plastered with the blowing snow. It was definitely a white Christmas.

Ryan and his loot

The kids with Grandma & Grandpa McMinn

Merry Christmas Jeff! Even though we have moved from Pittsburgh, the steelers are still our number one team! Go Steelers, hopefully they will win on Sunday, Beat the Chargers.

Taking the kids sledding behind our house. It was nice to have a few days of playing with the kids.

Here are our little cuties!

This was our Christmas with Grandpa Byington before he left for his job in Alaska. He works for 3 weeks on and 3 weeks off. Unfortuantely we didn't get to see him on Christmas. It was fun to celebrate early though, and he will be home on Friday. Yeah!

I did a fun little photo shoot with the kids one Sunday morning while they were dressed in their holiday clothes. It was fun and they were laughing really hard. I got some really cute shots. Kaylee kept pushing Ryan down and laughing. Normally he would be mad and yell at her, but this time they had a lot of fun.

This is when Kaylee pushed Ryan. They did it over and over. It is amazing to me how kids can think the same thing is funny a billion times. It was funny for me for about the first 5 times.