Happy Easter

Easter morning the kids had just a little bit of time to check out their loot and get ready for church.

The picture tells the whole story right?  Just little Syd refusing to take a picture again!

Good Friday to go to the Zoo

The kids were out of school on Good Friday and Sam was off work, so off to the zoo we went.  

We happened to catch feeding time with the giraffes.  We bought all the kids lettuce and Sydnee and Shaye fed them, but Jaxson wasn't too sure.  He passed his piece on to Sam.

As always, a few hours at the zoo tuckers everybody out.  Sydnee got a nice ride out!

Egg Hunting

Sydnee had an egg hunt at her dance class the week before Easter.  As always, she was such a great big sister and made sure Paige got a few eggs!

She has been taking a tap/ballet class this year.  Her teacher, Miss Cathy has been wonderful.  Their big performance is in June.  I'm looking forward to seeing if Sydnee will dance on stage!

Cinco Ranch, our neighborhood, also had its annual egg hunt.  Of course it was packed with people, but the kids had fun anyway.  They each got a few eggs, and then they did some of the crafts.

Rodeo Time

The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo is one of the largest in the nation - of course it is, it has to keep up the Everything's Bigger in Texas reputation!  And its always lots of fun!  They bring great artist to perform, the rodeo events are fun to watch, the carnival is exciting, and the food is well, FRIED!  Last year we didn't get in a family night and the kids were bummed.  This year we took them to see Jason Aldean.  He was really good!  Great concert.  We went with a handful of families and everybody loved it. 

Before the show we took a quick tour through the livestock.  I couldn't get many pictures with such a big crowd in the way.

Jaxson sat like this through the whole thing.  He watched every bit of the rodeo, and when the concert started he starred at that too.  He looks bored in this shot, but he's more mesmerized.  After the show, some rode a ride, and of course we had a funnel cake.  It's still the best fried carnival food!

Spring Break Campout

Spring Break was the second week of March.  We went camping the first few days.  We went up Monday and spent two full days at Wolf Creek Campground on Lake Livingston, and came home Tuesday at bedtime.  One night in a tent was all we could handle with Syd and Paige.... and Sam!  He's as ornery as the babies when it comes to sleeping in a tent.    

Campfire cooking is always fun.  We keep it simple, hot dogs, foil dinner, smores.  But the Boyers went for a trashcan turkey, and the Richards were cooking gourmet meals!

The kids had a blast.  Which is the whole point of camping, right?  They were out and about both days playing with friends.  All the boys brought airsoft guns and spent the whole time putting them to use.  Shaye was excited to stay in her own tent with Brooklyn and Olivia, and even the little girls had a blast during the day.

With all the rain, we were lucky to have such great weather.  It was beautiful and it was a perfect way to spent some Spring Break - outside, as a family, enjoying the great outdoors!

Cruisin to Cozumel

At the end of February we went on a 4 day Carnival cruise to Cozumel.  There were 7 couples that went from our ward.  It was so fun!!  

And for journaling purposes I want to name the 6 other couples who came.

Rob and Nora Robinson, Jared and Kim Taggart, Yorke and Stacy Richards, Lance and Esther Boyer, Brandon and Andrea Martin, and Dave and Eleanor Bachrach. 

I swore I would never karaoke, and that was a promise I broke this trip.... Twice ! But there were 6 of us who sang, and I made sure not to actually sing, so I don't really count it!

And we did plenty of dancing.  We took salsa dance lessons one night, did some country dancing one night, and of course some upbeat dancing a few times.  That's what's so great about cruises - something for everyone.

The day we spent in Cozumel the weather was just okay.  It drizzled on us a few times, but we continued with our beach plans.  We took this sweet luxury limo, and by luxury I mean it even had an air conditioning unit attached onto the roof!

We laid on the beach a little, went snorkeling, and did a little shopping.  Can't go to Mexico without loading up on vanilla!

This is almost the whole group.  The Taggarts were talking to their kids.  I tried really hard to get a full group shot on the trip, but it just didn't happen.

Yes, we often get asked if we're sisters.  There are lots of tall, brown haired gals in our ward - nice change for me.

One of the best cruise moments happened at dinner.  The waiters had a fun song set up to play for a dance performance they were gonna do, but as soon as that song started rockin' half of our table jumped up and joined in.  Definitely awesome!  

 Vanilla Ice right there... karaoke!

This was our 3rd cruise but our first one with a balcony room.  We liked it, it was nice, but I wouldn't say it is a must.  We didn't spend hardly any time on the balcony, but it made the room a little bigger which was helpful.

And like usual, we set aside a few dollars to play some casino games.  I learned the basics of craps and realized quickly the stakes are too high for me in that game.

So back to the Roulette table where I could make 1 dollar bets.  Us girls played there and whooped and cheered for our 8 dollar wins!

Esther even showed us some of her clogging.... another awesome moment!  She rocked it, clogging away in front of everyone.