Cruise!!

Jake and I had the opportunity to go on a CRUISE this year. I never thought that would be a possibility, but we jumped at the chance and I'm glad we did it! We counted it as our honeymoon part two/early anniversary celebration! Although wonderful in every way, we felt we could have used a longer honeymoon... 5 days wasn't nearly enough time (including about 14 hours of driving). For me it was a much needed, far over due break from the stresses of mommyhood - don't get me wrong, I love my little dears. We definitly enjoyed ourselves and would do it again if the chance came our way and the circumstances were favorable, although probably not any time soon.
We stayed with Grandma Lineberry Saturday October 5th. It was nice to visit with her for a little while. Then we flew from SLC to San Diego Sunday Morning. Grant Hulse picked us up from the airport. Our first stop was the San Diego Temple. I wish we had the time to do an endowment session there. I have always wanted to but have never had the chance. This is where Jake had his endowments taken out - I did baptisms for the dead at the same time. We love this Temple.

We enjoyed spending time with the Hulses and are so grateful for them letting us stay there! We had a great time with you guys!

This picture was taken right before Grant left on his bussiness trip and right after the rest of us got out of bed... NICE! We look a little sleepy.

Jody showed us around old town San Diego right before we had to board the ship Monday afternoon. Good times!! San Diego is a nice place.

One of the best parts of the cruise had to have been Catalina Island. It was beautiful! Of course, pictures never do scenery justice... especially with my camera and photography skills. :)

This is the view from the ship.

From the ship to Catalina Island.

Right before we went snorkling - AWESOME! Too bad I didn't have an underwater camera... I LOVED IT! I had never been before so it was super fun for me. I want to go at least once a year. Jake had been before -in Cancun- so he had seen better. (Some day, if I'm lucky and if we're ever rich ;), he'll take me there to snorkle.)

Getting ready for formal dinner night... When do I ever have time to do my hair like this?! NEVER!! Even though my hair always goes flat 5 seconds later, this was a real treat for me. It's nice to feel pretty sometimes. Jake also liked it - it's nice to feel like someone else thinks you're pretty, too.

Our friends who talked us into going, Todd & April Itami, and Kendall & Deanna Johnson

I took a few pictures of the appetizers. The presentation was very pretty, but the portion sizes always made me laugh. The first one for example: One strawberry, one blackberry, one slice of honeydew melon, a few miniature ball sized cantelope pieces, and a couple drizzles of mango sauce. HA! When I ordered a side of fruit, I guess I expected a cup or bowl of fruit. It doesn't really matter, because you can eat any time, any amount you want while on the cruise, so it's not like I was starving.

I loved that I didn't have to cook or clean anything... A DREAM COME TRUE. Everytime we left the room we came back to either a bed made or covers turned down and a towel creature. Constant maid service. We had the option to have our food brought to us, although we didn't ever choose that route - it's nice we had the choice.

Surprisingly, Encinada, Mexico was the least favorite part of the cruise. I was so excited to go there. Everyone vacations to Mexico, so... of course it would be amazing right? I should have known. Neither one of us had heard of Encinada before, and now that I have, I wouldn't reccomend it to anyone... my oppinion, though. We had to take a bus to where we got a taxi. We gave the guy $4 for the two of us thinking he would give us change back if that was too much - we didn't know how much bus fair was. Turns out, it was only $1 per person. The guy just took it and sent us on our way. I know that isn't much but really bothered me. THEN we catch a van taxi, the guy tells us he'll give us a great deal, $5 to the blow hole $5 back PER PERSON. There were six of us... so I'm pretty sure that was a great deal for them! There was a long ally way of shops on the way to the blowhole. They were annoying to me... everyone just trying to get the highest amount of money for anything. It seemed dishonest to me, so I didn't end up buying any sovineers. I especially wanted at least a little toy for Andrew... the guy told us a little drum set was $5, we decided we wanted to keep looking and didn't want to buy anything until the way back. As we walked away, he told us we could have it for $3. On the way back we went to get it and the guy said we could have it for $15 and that was the lowest he would go. So we didn't give him anything. I don't know why it bugged me so much... I know that is the way those shops go... that's the way it was in China too. All the shops had basically the same items. Nothing too exciting, so I came away slightly disapointed. Oh well. There were several pharmacies with the shops, selling all kinds of drugs... they would always try to lure us in with the viagra... 'we have viagra, maybe for later eh? Just in case' WHAT THE HECK? So funny!

On the way to the blowhole.

The blowhole was pretty, but not worth the $24 bucks we paid to get there! :) We would have been happy to just stay on the ship!

With the Johnsons.

Last dinner.

Saying goodbye.

All in all, we had a GREAT time! We went to shows, tried to go dancing several times, but the music was always lame! I was so close to getting Jake to karaoke with me.... SO CLOSE. Our favorite was the hypnotist show - HILARIOUS!! We ate alot, especially the chocolate icecream. We both tried sushi. Jake loved it and I detested it, not because it taste bad but the thought makes me want to vomit! We layed out in the sun and just RELAXED as much as we could! Great fun! We would definately go again - despite the fact that I was sea sick for a whole week after we got off the ship - somewhere different, though. I heard Cabo San Lucas is an amazing cruise trip. Maybe in 20 years. :) It was so nice for us to get away from the kids for a while and have some time to ourselves, but we missed them too much by the end of the trip. It was great to get back to them. They didn't seem to miss us very much. It seems, they had too much fun playing with grandparents and cousins. Andrew cried when we got home, beging to go back to Grandmas. Thank you Grandma Sandy & Grandpa Leonard, and Aunt Brittany for watching them while we were gone.