Basketball

Aubrey has decided to play basketball this winter. I have never had much interest in basketball aside from enjoying going to a couple of Temple basketball games, but I gotta say, this is the most fun sport to watch of all that my kids play. They do soccer in the fall, and softball in the spring (which can be painful to watch) but basketball is fast and fun! Aubrey says it is her favorite sport and she's pretty good at it! Next is soccer and softball is in last place, which has her daddy crying!

Aubrey is second from the right trying to get open for a pass

Aubrey dribbling the ball. Her coach was also her soccer coach, and her other coach was one of her softball coaches. She knew almost everyone on her team from school and other sports or girl scouts which makes it even more fun.

Our first Thanksgiving

This year we stayed home for Thanksgiving and and a couple of families over for dinner. One family made the turkeys and green bean casserole, the other family made sweet potatoes, homemade rolls, and about 5 or 6 different pies, and we made the mashed potatoes, cranberry sausage stuffing, pumpkin roll, and some other sides. This was the first time we ever used our china! I was so happy to use it but kind of surprised how little of it we used. I think I used more of my crystal than my china. The clean up was way more easy than I thought it would be and all the food was delicious.
This was all, of course, just in preparation for Black Friday Shopping! Since I no longer had Tip as my shopping buddy, I had to find a new partner in crime. And that person is my lucky friend, Lara. Lara slept over my house after sending her husband home with their 4 kids and we woke up at 3am and went shopping. This was Lara's first experience with black Friday shopping. I was surprised by how uncrowded the stores were. They were busy but there were plenty of places to park and the lines weren't bad at all. Lara was expecting to see people getting trampled and fights breaking out. Sorry to disappoint! But we did have to listen to a crabby lady in the toy r us check out line for about 30 minutes, so I guess that counts.
All in all, it was a great time, we got some good deals and kicked off the holiday season with a great start. Our friends are already planning our thanksgiving dinner at our house next year!

Cruise to the Caribbean

Here are some pictures from our trip to the Caribbean in November. We had an awesome vacation which included swimming with the dolphins which I don't have pictures on my camera to share on here. We couldn't have gone on this trip without the fabulous Grandma and Nonno and Nana Dana, so thank you so much! Looking at these pictures makes me want to go back on a ship!

Our $5 picture that we took with our own camera and didn't know cost $5 in Cozumel right before swimming with the dolphins

Apparently we are slow because we took another picture before we realized it cost another $5

My favorite animal - the seal lion

I got a crazy good deal on this Thomas Kinkade picture that is now in my family room! Merry Christmas to me!

Horseback riding through the rainforest in Belize. The best part was the guide letting a few of us canter ahead of the rest of the slow group!

Getting ready to head to Tabayana Beach in Honduras

Tabayana Beach - not as pretty as Magen's Bay in St. Thomas, but still beautiful

I got my hair did! It was extremely painful and hurt everyday that I kept it in. I was glad I did it, but never again! The massage on the beach that preceded it however was one of the best experiences of my life!

After snorkeling with the stingrays in Grand Cayman

we found an awesome candy store in Grand Cayman

My most favorite dessert - Baked Alaska! I told the waiter to keep them coming and he outdid me!

Grand Cayman - this is where we are moving too! We loved it here and we even met a LDS girl at the Del Sol store here!

Guys burger joint supplied us with lunch every day. They were salty, yummy goodness and one of Gavin's favorite foods on the ship!