Caribbean Cruise

On December 18th Scott and I celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary. We celebrated it a month earlier when we went on a Western Caribbean Cruise with some of our friends (kids left home). Here is a quick account of our trip with some pictures.

Day 1- Travel

We spent the day flying out to Florida. Nothing too eventful until Scott and I got bumped off a flight we booked 9 months previously because they changed aircrafts to a smaller plane and our seats didn't exist on the new plane. After some tears and a long wait we got on the flight and made it to Florida.

Day 2- Setting Sail

We got on the boat and set sail. It was warm and sunny, the sea was calm. This was going to be a wonderful week. We started off doing what any sane person does on a cruise.... eating until the buttons popped off our pants and playing shuffleboard.

Pulling away from Ft. Lauderdale at sunset. Scott and Jeff starting the intense shuffle board competition that continued all week. Rachel and Scott at dinner.

Day 3: A Loooong day at sea

Our third day started at about 2am when I woke up feeling terribly sick. I jumped out of bed to run to the bathroom and it was then I noticed I was being thrown back and forth across the cabin by the rocking of the boat. I quickly learned that wind=waves=rocking of boat=a lot of sick people. It seems the weather took an unexpected turn during the night and became overcast and windy. When we left our cabin the next morning, after a long night in the bathroom (I had filled my stomach with plenty of ammunition the night before), we were greeted by a ship full of green-faced passengers. Barf bags and carpet cleaning crews were stationed at every corner. Everyone in our group was feeling miserable, but me being 8 weeks pregnant and battling morning sickness on top of the sea sickness was the worst. We spent the day at the center of the ship where rocking was supposed to be the least. We bought some playing cards and spent the day perfecting our Scum and Hearts strategies. That night was the formal dinner. By that time we were feeling a little better and were at least able to enjoy dinner, although much lighter than the night before.

Katie, Dan, me, and Ali playing cards. Notice the barf bags safely placed across my lap. The girls. The guys.

Day 4: Grand Caymen

I don't think I've ever seen so many people fighting to get off the boat as we did the next morning. Solid ground sounded pretty great to all of us at this point. We were planning on going to Sting Ray City but there were still really high waves which made it unsafe, so it was closed for the day. Instead we went to 7 mile beach which was beautiful. I love the beach so much. We just walked up and down the beach for a while and then when the sun peeked out from behind the clouds for awhile we took a dip in the ocean. We then headed into Georgetown to do some shopping. It was a great day!!!

Scott and Rachel on our walk up 7 mile beach.

Scott and Rachel on 7 mile beach.Us playing in the ocean. Really the only reason I included this picture was because of the guy in the speedo. Welcome to Mexico!! Katie and Rachel sipping Pina Coladas on the beach. Unfortunately, this is the only sting ray we got to pet this trip.

Day 5: Cozumel

The next day was Cozumel. This was by far our favorite day of the trip. The weather was the best it was all week and we actually saw quite a bit of the sun. We went on the funnest excursion where we got to drive mini jeeps. I got to drive because Scott lost his driver's license the day before we left on the cruise. We traveled in a caravan along a highway and then along the coast. We stopped and saw a crocadile named Max, saw some Mayan ruins, went snorkeling, and went to a lighthouse. The snorkeling was AMAZING!! We had a guide who led us on a 1/2 mile loop out into the ocean and along a coral reef. Neither Scott or I had ever been snorkeling before and we LOVED it. We have promised ourselves we will go again soon. We finished off the day with some shopping and eating at Senor Frogs. Apparently not too many mormons eat there because our waiter acted like we were the first people ever to eat there without ordering alcohol. It really was a perfect day.

Ready to go in our "Mexican Lamborghini". Scott looking good. Rachel impressing Scott with her mad driving skills. The road along the beach. Us with Max. Look down in the water right below us and you can see him. A close-up of Max. This is a place they used to use to tell them when a hurricane was coming. The whole group after our snorkel. Scott and Rachel. All of us enjoying Nachoes at the end of a long and fun day. Day 6: Another Day at Sea

This day wasn't near as bad as the first, but I had not seen my little boy in a week and missed him so much I was just counting down the hours until I could at least call him on the phone.

Day 7: The Journey Home

We were supposed to get home in the early evening but due to some plane troubles we didn't make it home until 1 am making it so I didn't get to see Mason until morning.

All in all it was a wonderful trip. Scott and I were able to spend time together without worrying about work or Mason. We were also able to spend some time with some of our closest friends. I loved being on a cruise because we were completely removed from everything with no phones or computers. I didn't like how much something as uncontrolable as the weather effected everything. I realize now I was overly confident in my "never had any form of motion sickness" and "wasn't sick a day of my pregnancy with Mason" mentality when a got pregnant before our cruise we'd been planning for 8 months. I realize how long 7 days actually is to be away from your kids. (Just a side note, Mason stayed with my parents and he never even noticed we were gone... thanks Mom and Dad.) Overall I loved our cruise and can't wait to take a trip again.

Baby Girl Murray

We went for our ultrasound on Scott's Birthday (Feb. 11) and the baby was very cooperative in showing us that she's a little girl!! She wasn't as cooperative in positioning herself in a way the ultrasonographer could get a good look at everything she needed to so I get to go back for a follow-up ultrasound next month. She was so darling sitting in indian style with both her hands over her face the whole time. We are so excited to have a little girl!! One of each so the pressure's off. We're still completely undecided on names but we'll let you know when we have some options to choose from.

Mason's Announcement

Mason is going to be a big brother some time around July 3rd!!

Here is a little list I compiled that might help explain my lack of blogging lately.

Some signs you are experiencing "morning sickness".

*Taken from the last 3 months of Rachel's life

• 
  
  Your favorite foods are no longer based on how they taste going down, but instead how they taste coming up. (Gushers make for surprisingly fruity vomit.)


• 
  
  If you make any sudden movement in bed your husband jumps because he thinks your going to throw up on him.


• 
  
  You make sure every patient's room at work is adequately stocked with emesis basins even though none of them are nauseous.


• 
  
  You throw up so violently you pee your pants on the bathroom floor.


• 
  
  You skip Thanksgiving dinner for fear of offending your in-laws by gagging as you pass Grandma's famous stuffing.


• 
  
  Your little boy thinks it's a game to lean over the toilet and make noises.

Stay tuned for some exciting catch-up posts to come this week.

Let it Snow

Scott and I have often talked about how Utah winters have gotten wimpier over the years. We both remember school and church being canceled and playing in snow piles taller than us. Well mother nature must have been offended by our comments and has been proving us wrong this winter. It has lived up to our all our winter memories and expectations. Scott and Mason have spent many nights out shoveling the driveway, just to have it covered again the next morning. The snow piles literally have been taller than Mason. It has been an absolute blast!! So let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

Choo Choo Christmas

We went a little overboard with Christmas this year. Mason fell in love with the train table at toys r us. He didn't forget about it that night, the next day, or even the next week. When some big boxes came in the mail he got so excited and was saying, "My choo choo!" He was heart broken when it was just our new computer. We had fun setting up the train table with the help of Vance and Steve on Christmas Eve. When Mason came out Christmas morning he just looked at the table as if he couldn't figure out what it was doing in our house. Then he jumped right in and started playing. We put way too many presents under the tree. We got him a vacuum because he is terrified of the vacuum. He ran away and hid when he first opened the vacuum and saw what it was. Once we got it out and showed him how it worked he fell in love. The vacuum stole the show and once it was opened he refused to open any more, so we decided to put them away for his birthday. Mason also got a big boy bed for Christmas.

Going Private

I'm not really the overly cautious or paranoid type so it has never bothered me having a public blog. Sure I hear stories about creepy people, but I've never experienced any myself.... so why worry? But with a recent breach in our blog security along with several news stories on the dangers of public blogging, I have decided to make my blog private. So please leave me your email address if you would like to be an invited reader.

Happy Halloween!

Halloween was a lot of fun this year. Really we just did all the ordinary stuff, so I will just let the pictures explain what happened. Back at the beginning of October when Halloween decorations went up Mason found a love for pumpkins. Every time he walks past our pumpkins he stops and points to them one at a time and I have to say, "Mason's pumpkin, Daddy's pumpkin, Mommy's pumpkin" as he points to each one. He would point out pumpkins at the grocery store, as we drove down the street, on TV, anywhere there was a pumpkin he knew about it. I guess we can just add this to Mason's obsessions list. When it came time to carve his pumpkin Mason would not stick his hand in it to pull out the seeds, but once we got the seed out he loved playing with them. Then he decided to scoop all the seeds back into the pumpkin where they came from. (Sorry about the pictures, our camera was on some funky setting.) Mason was thrilled when his pumpkin had a lid he could take off and on. The finished product. Mason was a monkey for Halloween. His favorite part of the costume was the "Nana" he got to carry around. Mason was Curious George and I was the Man in the Yellow Hat. Scott dressed up as Mickey Mouse for Trick-or-Treating because Mason just discovered Mickey Mouse and loves him!! He realized Mickey Mouse is on his diapers so if you ask him where Mickey is he will point to his diaper (most of the time it is his pants he actually points to, but he knows Mickey is under them.) Mason enjoyed Trick-or-Treating but didn't really understand the concept of filling his pumpkin bucket with candy. He would get a piece of candy and when I would try and help him put it in his bucket he would hold it out and babble something to me. I'm pretty sure he was telling me, "Mom, why do I need to go get more candy when I have some perfectly good M&Ms here I haven't eaten yet." We would end up stopping to eat the candy then going to the next house, then eating the candy, then going to the next house. I don't think Mason ever had more than 2 pieces of candy in his bucket and we didn't end up going to very many houses. We went down to Scott's work to go trick-or-treating around the office with Mason's friends Jackson and Halle. We were sad Katelyn wasn't there.