Blake and I just celebrated our 5 year anniversary last week with a Mexican Riviera cruise. We have been talking about going on a big 5 year vacation since we got pregnant with Ethan just 5 months after we were married. I did not think we were going to be able to go on a vacation because as usual things just kept coming up. Blake surprised me for an early anniversary present. He had put some money aside in a
separate bank for our cruise. Very
sneaky because it is hard to pull one over on me and he did. We had a wonderful time and here are some of the close to 200 pictures we took.
Our first stop was Puerto Vallarta. We went horseback riding through the
mountainous.
countryside. It was so beautiful. The horses road through creeks and even swam through a river. It was so beautiful to see Mexico on horseback. After the horse back we had some time to shop and view the city on foot. We even went to what they call the American Embassy -- Walmart. Yes I know my hat is a little silly but the sun was so intense I was avoiding a sunburn at all costs.
Our next stop was
Mazatlan, Mexico. This was my favorite port. It was the least
commercialized of the three cities we visited and it was
absolutely beautiful. We took a 40 minute boat ride over to an island called Deer Island (
Mazatlan used to be just over populated with White Tailed deer). At the Island we were able to play
volleyball, do the beach thing, hike and
kayak.
Here is Blake playing volleyball with all the Mexicans tour guides we had -- they loved having them on their team because he was head and shoulders taller than everyone else.
This picture was taken at the top of Deer Island -- this just gives you a glimpse of the beauty we saw.
The only thing I did not like about this day is that it was not long enough. The beauty was just breathtaking.
Every night we would come back from dinner and our Room Steward had made a little animal out of towels -- we took a picture every night with the creature he made -- this one was a Monkey hanging from the ceiling.
Here is one of the sunsets from the
balcony in our room.
Our last stop was Cabo and the only pictures we got where actually kind of
boring so I am not posting any of those. Our cruise made port in LA on Sunday morning and my very very very good friend, Brie, picked us up and entertained us until we left on Monday. Brie was in our wedding and I have not had the chance to see her since our wedding. It was so good to see such a good close old friend (no she is not old but she has been a friend for a long time). This picture is at the beach near her house.
We went out to eat with some other friends of ours from college - Me, Brie, Michelle, and Erin. Erin on the end just had a baby 3 months ago. Avery was born at 32 weeks gestation. She was 2lbs and ? oz -- she now weighs 9 lbs and is just adorable. It is so fun for me to see old friends as parents and Erin and Josh are very good parents.
Here is a picture of Avery -- the little thing just did not want me taking her picture.
It is amazing to think back 5 years and see how much God has blessed us. Thanks to all of you that have been apart of our lives and helped develop our lives over these past years. We love you.
Ella got this adorable Tinker Bell outfit for Christmas but would not put it on until yesterday. As you can see she loves it now. She thought she was just beautiful -- and for good reason - I think she looks beautiful also but of course I think she is beautiful.
Ethan has become a little social thing. He loves having friends over to play now and is getting pretty good about sharing his toys (except with Ella). Here is is with his friend Gavin. Gavin and his sister Nadia came over to play last week. While Gavin was over he hurt his foot and Ethan was very concerned about him -- he kept bringing him toys and snacks and just sat with him. 
Ethan loves his trucks and tractors and trailers. Honestly I think he gets this from his daddy. He watches Blake with his truck and tractor and trailer. Yes - I guess you could call us the modern day Clampets! Anyway - Blake bought him some very little bungee cords to attach all his stuff. He loves it.
Ethan just got a new pair of sunglasses -- he is always saying how his eyes hurt in the sun so I thought it was about time to get some sunglasses for his sensitive little eyes.
And some after pictures. Although you can't tell much of a difference - she did have half an inch cut off, light bangs cut, and just touched up all over. It makes it look a little better when she just wakes up and when I put her hair up in a clip. In about a month I am hoping that the back of her hair will grow out some and it will look like the above picture with the little curl but thicker -- she still has so much baby hair and fuzz to grow in. 
Yesterday Ethan's preschool put on a little Mother's Day performance for us mothers. It was adorable. Of course I loved it because it was Ethan's first performance ever. They sang about 5 or 6 songs and were oh so cute. They walked in and out in a single file line holding this cute little bag holding their "props". 
One of the songs they wore these silly glasses that kept me laughing the whole time. 
I video taped the whole thing and when we watched it back Ethan commented that he did not like people laughing -- poor little guy -- he thought we were laughing at him instead of with him. They also did a bell choir song -- I think Ethan liked this one the best. They all had different colored bells and when prompted they rang their bell. Ethan's was red. 
After the performance they took us back to their class rooms where they had set up a little tea party for us. It was adorable. They served us lemonade, cookies, and fruit. And we had an array of wonderful had made gifts: A corsage, a butterfly card with his picture on it, a magnet made out of clay that said mom and was hand painted, and some other little thing that I really don't know what it was. Ethan was so proud of himself for all the hard work. He was all smiles the whole time. What a great gift -- I know the teachers really put a lot of effort into making this a special memory for all of us moms. I wish I would have gotten some pictures of the tea party but my battery on my camera died - so sad. 
Oh and the Make a Craft Monday thing -- yes it is on hold - the weather has warmed up and all the kids want to do is be outside. I am sure that when the novelty of the warm weather, sprinklers, pool, sunshine, fairs, concerts... wears off from the summer we will start the craft thing up again. There is just so much to do this time of year now that we are not stuck inside.
