Halloween!

TRICK OR TREATERS!
(Cowboy Sam, Ice cream Sudae Jacob and
Hawaiian bunny Oreo with Hawaiian girl Kelsi)
Kelsi chose to trick or treat as Hawaiian rather than Domino style.

Karissa graduated to the job of handing out candy
to trick or treaters.
(Karissa, Sharisse)

Sam had a great party and parade at school.
(Sam, Mrs. Oxley)

Jacob had an AWESOME Halloween party!
I wouldn't be biased or anything...
...I was only in charge of the whole thing.
(Mr. Horan, Jacob)

And So the Dressing Up Begins...

Domino Kelsi, Ice Cream Sundae Jacob, and Cowboy Sam

Minnie Mindy, and Ice Cream Sundae Jacob

We had our ward Halloween party last night--the kids all had a lot of fun. Sam dressed up as a cowboy. Jacob was an ice cream Sundae, and Kelsi was a domino...and I was Minnie mouse...first year I ever dressed up, it's my neighbor's costume, I'm borrowing it to wear at preschool. And Karissa helped out with all the stations (the YM and YW get to help out at the party.)

Kelsi and I set a taylor family record for making a costume in 20 min. or less...her domino costume. It was a pretty rough night...her original plans for a costume didn't work out,...so we got creative fast. Plus, she had her pre-orthodontist appointment, where you get your bands on, which was not fun--doesn't feel too great and they said she can't eat gum or taffy, etc...not the greatest news to receive just before Halloween. She gets her actual braces on Tuesday. (I thought they'd just be doing X-rays, etc, at the pre-appointment, I purposely scheduled her braces for after Halloween....it didn't quite work out as I planned :(

Sam went on a field trip to Hee Haw farms, which he LOVED!

Karissa finished her first term at Junior High, with straight A's!!!

I'm in charge of the halloween party for Jacob's class on Fri....Jacob has had a lot of fun helping me plan it!

Bryan is looking for a new garage door for our house. It is very sadly broken...we're hoping to find something SOON...this snowy COLD weather is not fun without a garage!

And so the DREAM comes to an end.

What a WONDERFUL vacation for two sweethearts...our first in 14 years.
I LOVED the beautiful beaches, they reminded me a lot of Hawaii beaches...this trip full of beaches and beautiful sunsets cured me of my itch to go to Hawaii :) --something I'm sure Bryan's happy for.
The cruise ship was wonderful...great food, nothing to think about, everything's simply taken care of for you! We loved all the night shows on the ship--we saw shows like a great comedian juggler, and performances of Andrew Lloyd Weber's music. We also went to the cinema and played games, read books, relaxed....It was such a great vacation!!!

Sunrise...Sunset

Loving the Sunrise...

I woke up early to see the SUNRISE, and then
sunk into one of the HOT TUBS on deck...a most relaxing morning...

...led to a RELAXING day, hanging out on the ship...
...well, OK, so it was relaxing until I decided to try the ESCARGO.
All the food was wonderful, with one exception---Escargo--I certainly do not recommend it to anyone! It's not even worth being able to say that I've eaten snails.
No worries though--there was more than enough other good food to make up for the SNAILS.

Bread Art Showpiece

...yet another SUNSET

...and the final night...

...say Good-bye.

LUCKY NUMBER 25....I've decided that OUR lucky number is 25. Our cabin number was 8525 and our hotel in CA also ended in 25.
Good things happen with us when number 25 is involved.

CHASING the Sunset

As our tour ended, we arrived back to the port in plenty of time...so we went shopping until Bryan was shopped out...and then I realized that the sun was about to set...and buildings all around me were blocking my view--I simply had to get on our boat. So Bryan graciously stayed behind with our things and headed to the ship at a steady pace, while I RAN as fast as I could to get on the cruise ship for the sunset. People kept calling after me saying things like: "It's OK, your ship is not leaving...you have plenty of time." I simply ignored them and kept RUNNING, and I made it on deck just in time for this beautiful SUNSET....

Final Port - Puerto Vierta!

Puerto Vierta was my favorite--packed with LOADS of fun!

We booked a full day excursion here. One that would take us snorkeling, to a waterfall in the jungle, and to a beach. As we boarded our tour boat, I asked when they thought we'd be back. The casualness of the Mexican shone through as they responded lightly, "Who knows...maybe tomorrow." I have to admit my heart sunk with worry as I watched how very far away we sailed from our cruise ship--afraid we would not make it back in time to board and we'd be stranded in Mexico, without passports. However, reassurances from Bryan, and an offer to stay with our new found friends (if we did get left), and the relaxation and fun of the day pulled me through.

This Sea Otter gave me a kiss, while we waited for our tour to start.

Bryan opted to wait here,
away from the slobbery kisses of the sea otter.

Our first stop was SNORKELING!
We snorkeled HERE in this beautiful, blue water.
IT WAS SO FUN!--the fish were all around you--
you could reach out and touch them, it was really cool.

Sailing off to who knows where with the Mexicans!
(Bryan and Mindy)

We soon found friends aboard: Debbie and Tom, from Rhode Island. Debbie taught us how to snorkel, since our Mexican guides don't like to give much instruction. Debbie and Tom were great company...we spent most the day with them.

(Debbie, Mindy)

Bryan and IGUANA!

Hiking through THE JUNGLE!
...we went on a hike in a beautiful jungle--one they use for movies!
Our hike's destination: WATER FALL.

It was such a GREAT, beautiful hike!

The best part is here...
THE WATER FALL!

I HAVE TO SAY THIS WAS THE FUNNEST THING I'VE EVER DONE. We hiked to a water fall, with a pool of water around it. The water was WARM AND WONDERFUL and we got to play in it. I DOVE right into the water fall several times! It was so much fun!! I always wanted to PLAY in a water fall...natures jetted tub!

Puerto Vierta was so BEAUTIFUL and BLUE!

ANOTHER WONDERFUL BEACH...
-This was a VERY NICE beach. We played in the water and ate lunch on the beach.

At each stop, we rode this little boat to our bigger boat. They'd load everyone on, and then the guides would hold on to the boat, timing it just right as they pushed us into the waves. Our friend, Debbie, swam all the way to the big boat at our last stop--wow, what a great swimmer.

This was our AWESOME guide.

Believe me it's WARM here...don't let the jacket fool you. I got such a bad sunburn in Mazatlan that I ended up wearing either a wet T-shirt or wet jacket all day to soothe my sunburn and protect me from the sun.

BIG Thanks to Puerto Vierta for a great DAY full of fun!

Most Incredible Sunset

It starts out so simple...

and gradually,

...ever so gradually,

the colors begin to explode...

...and explode...

...into the most amazing,

incredible

beautiful

...WORK OF ART.

This was the most amazing, most incredible, most beautiful sunset I've ever seen.