Paradise: Part 4

As much as I loved our adventurous excursions, the days at sea were a perfect combination of relaxation and fun!

These pictures speak for themselves! Please take me back? 

 We tried a variety of new foods! From lobster tail to frog legs to alligator to shark.

We even celebrated New Year's Eve aboard the ship. We rolled the new year in with style by playing countless spirited rounds of pounce, popping open a couple bottles of (non-alcoholic) bubbly, and smooching at midnight.

HAPPY 2014!

Paradise: Part 3

Is it possible to choose a "favorite" part of such an extraordinary trip?

If I had to choose, I would pick our day in Belize. 
It all started with a hike through the tropical rain forest to a river that runs into the country's natural cave systems. 
Armored with inflatable tubes and headlamps, we spent the afternoon exploring those amazing caves! 
After that, we ate a traditional Belizean meal of beans, rice, and spicy chicken thighs. Not to mention the fresh coconut. I may have eaten 1.5 of those things all by myself and have been craving it ever since! Perhaps it is time we invested in our own machete...I'll suggest that for Valentine's Day.
Anyways...
Unfortunately, most of the pictures from this day were taken on little waterproof disposable cameras and didn't turn out so well. Darn it! But we still managed to snap a few coconutty gems.

Paradise: Part 2

Every day of the cruise was a new adventure!
At our stop in Mexico, we rented jeep wranglers and took a scenic drive up the coast. 
On the way, we spotted a live crocodile and some ancient Mayan ruins. 
Our final stop was at a pristine little beach for an afternoon of snorkeling. My courageous husband dove to the ocean floor to touch a live stingray! Be still my soul, I was terrified that thing was going to kill him dead. Fortunately, he emerged unscathed. I, on the other hand, was perfectly content holding the starfish we found. Seemed pretty harmless...

On the way home the rain started pouring down. 
It made for plenty of puddles to speed through. As you can imagine, my husband, the driver, was in absolute heaven.
We ended the day dripping wet because our jeeps were windowless and had cloth roofs, but boy, did we have the best day.

A huge perk of marriage is inheriting an amazing bunch of baby siblings! Isn't Emma just the cutest with her stylish glasses and cheeky smile? Please stay 9 forever. 

Paradise: Part 1

Sunshine, pina coladas, salty hair, and ocean waves.

We set sail for Honduras, Belize, and Mexico a couple of days after Christmas

and I've been trying to convince J to pack up and move back ever since.

Not that I don't love the subarctic Utah winters.
Oh wait, I don't love them! 
But I digress, let the pictures speak for themselves. We had an absolutely smashing time!

First stop: Isla de Roatan, Honduras

Winter Wonderland

Adjusting back to reality has been a bit challenging after returning from our cruise.
Come on people, I spent an entire week thinking about nothing but my next diet coke and the current chapter in my novel. But I digress, our week in paradise had to end eventually and before we knew it, we were back in the blustery winter of Provo.
So we decided to jump back in with both feet!

Cue: Date to the Midway ice castles.

As though it wasn't cold enough outside, I convinced the mister to stop at Dairy Keen in Heber for a milkshakes.  It seems absolutely crazy unless you had had one of their milk shakes. But if you have, you definitely understand...Those things are to die for!

Next stop, Midway. 

The second we walked into the ice castles I felt like breaking out into my own rendition of "Let it Go" like I was Elsa herself. I'm not kidding, I thought I had stepped onto the set of Frozen or something! The castles were beautiful; we explored every inch of those things. What an amazing night! Even if our toes and noses were frozen by the end of it.

Cheers to being back. Cruise pictures will be coming soon!

Camper World

A little weekend "camping" trip? 

Don't mind if we do. 

After Nana and Papa officially moved out of their Utah house, they camped around Utah for a couple months. You better believe we soaked up last minuets with them while they were still in the same state as us.  

One weekend we scooted on up the canyon for a weekend in the wilderness! (And by wilderness, their trailer. And by trailer, their mini house on wheels.) 

Coalville Utah is possibly the tiniest town in the world, but hey, I'm not complaining! Sometimes it is nice to be surrounded by nothing by trees and mountains. Not to mention that I had been itching for ANYTHING outside of Provo borders for a couple of months. 

As always, Nana and Papa spoiled us rotten with home cooking, campfires, fishing, and a fridge stocked with diet soda. Top it all off with long walks, baby cousins, and fresh mountain air and you've got yourself one heck of a weekend. 

Huzzah!