Marissa goes Cross Country

Marissa ran in her first cross country meet of the year. It was the first time she's ever competed in a cross country event. The course was had several hills and the weather was warmer than expected. She did excellent! Here she is coming down the home stretch! She's the head runner in this picture.
Go Marissa!

Here is the medal she won!

First Day of School

The kids are all back in school. It's a very odd feeling after having the joy of having them around all summer. It was also strange in that Jessica's school didn't start for three days after school started for Devon, Marissa and Robert. I was able to have some fantastic one-on-one time with Jessica over those three days.

Today Jessica started her second year of seminary. She is now a sophomore. Devon started 8th grade and already loves it. Marissa is the shocker - 6th grade student in middle school and already running cross country for the school. Robert is in 4th grade - NO WAY. Jessica entered 4th grade when we moved here. I can't believe they've grown up so much.

Fantastic Family Fun

Hi,

Family is great, and it's even better when more family gets together. This past weekend we were blessed to have Kevin, Shauna and Brian come for a visit after returning from their missions. Kevin and Shauna served in the Las Vegas mission, while Brian served in the Mexico City (ish) mission. While they were here Tami, Steve, Dallin and Jackie came as well. Tami is our neice, the kids cousin, but her kids are close in age to my kids. Dallin and Devon are the best of friends and share a special bond. Dallin and his ward came to do temple baptisms, so he invited Devon to go with them. They had a very special time together. We also watched historical events happen on the Olymics, and played soccer, badminton, and wii games. It was so great to see everyone again. Tami and family welcome back to the area! Kevin and Shauna - good luck in St. George! Remember, you are welcome to visit any time.

We are YELLOW (belt that is)

Today, Betsy, Jessica, Devon, Marissa and Robert earned their Yellow belt! YIPEE! We are onto the ORANGE level.

All Casts and Splints are gone

How could I forget, just before leaving for Cancun Marissa got her cast off. We were all so happy for her. See, she wasn't allowed to swim in the ocean or lakes with it, even though it was waterproof, so it had to come off before going to the beach.

We are break free, accident free (knock on wood).

Cincinnati was a blast

Hi all,
I'm going to start in the middle and then bring you up to speed...confusing but fun...

Have you ever not been in touch with someone for so long and then when you got back in touch with them it was just like time had stood still all those years - You pick up right where you left off and don't skip a beat? Well, that's what I experienced this past weekend. One of my best friends from high school's senior year was in Cincinnati for a conference, so I drove up to see her on Friday and we spent the weekend together there. We had so much fun remembering the past, sharing about what we had missed and enjoying the present together. We even planned for the future. We toured around the city, got our nails done and took in a Reds game (too bad they lost). If you've lost touch with a dear friend - it's never too late to reach out and find them. I had such a great time and treasure the renewing of our friendship!

Cancun

Hi, We have just returned for one of the most wonderful family vacations we have ever taken, our trip to Cancun, actually just south of Cancun in the Riviara Maya. What an amazing experience it is to go on vacation and not have to worry about naps, bed times, dishes, laundry, etc. I think we enjoyed this vacation so much because we were all able to join in the activities and the kids were old enough and mature enough that we could trust to "not" have them in our sight at all times...if that makes any sense. We still did the buddy system, and mom had to know where everyone was at all times, but I didn't have to be with them. I was even able to jog with Mark along the beach and leave Jessica in charge of the kids at the pool. I can't tell you how wonderful it felt to have a bit of peace and freedom.

While on vacation we enjoyed relaxing by the pool, building sand castles and playing in the ocean. Robert and Marissa were burried up to their necks in sand. Robert enjoyed every minute of it. We also played beach volleyball almost every day, pool volleyball, and beach soccer. Boy, playing soccer in sand is much harder than playing on the grass. Everyone was amazed (first) that I would play beach volleyball with the family and (second) that our kids wanted to play with us. We had a great time. Just so everyone knows, Betsy's soccer team was undefeated 3,0.


We took the family on several activities outside the resort as well. Betsy and Mark's favorite activity was sailing out on a catamoran and snorkling along the 2nd largest barrier reef in the world. The water was warm and beautiful light teal. The fish were amazing. We saw a sting ray and a few eels.

As for the kids, their favorite activity was having an amazing adventure swimming with dolphins. Since Marissa and Robert were both under 12 years of age, Mark and I were required to swim with them.

We decided to join in the fun (and expense). It was great! We got to pet, stroke, kiss and hug the dolphins. They gave us all belly rides and foot push rides. We also got free time with them to play in the open water.

The first adventure we took was on a field trip into the Mexican jungle to tour the newest 7th wonder of the world, Chinchen Itza. The temperature at Chinchen Itza was over 100*. I think everyone in our family last 10 pounds of water from sweating so much (just kidding). We had a wonderful tour guide that explained the ancient civilizations culture and habbits. We loved being there.

Best of all we had a great time with each other. We learned that Marissa likes virgin strawberry daquaris (like her mother) and nobody expect the grown ups like virgin pina colata. The food was great at every meal. We took photos galour (Betsy's addiction). The funny thing was that almost every day strangers would come up and compliment Mark and I on how well our family gets along together. It was amazing that people even noticed us. I've added some pictures at the bottom of my blog of us swiming with the dolphins, standing in front of the temple at Chinchen Itza and playing with a squirrel monkey right on the beach at our resort.