A New Poll

Have fun with this poll, but keep in mind this is my blog and I can get rid of anybody who has a higher vote than me. AUHHHAAAHAAAHAAA (Evil Laugh) Also keep in mind that Sarah can't be every bodies favorite. You can vote for as many people as you want at one time.

Teresa, Eric and Rachel's Visit

Teresa, Eric, and Rachel have been visiting SoCal and they just came to my house and went swimming after we went to Golden Spoon, here are the pictures of them there. As Rachel didn't win the poll this time I'm not sure if I should be showing these photos since for now Kerri's kids are my favorite.

Ginger Clinton's Funeral

As many of you are aware Ginger Clinton's funeral was yesterday and I went with Mom and Dad. It was a really nice service. Her brother talked about her life and her sister told some really funny memories of her. One of the stories was about how she and Ginger had planned a "camping" trip in their parents backyard for Thanksgiving. But a few weeks ago when the whole family was in town for a wedding Ginger changed the day to that night. So Ginger and her two oldest girls and Ginger's mom and sister all spent the night together and one of her daughters said it was the best night of her life. Hopefully they will remember that night their whole life. Then her brother-in-law talked about the plan of salvation and how Ginger will be with them forever. He did a terrific job of explaining it, he used an allegory about a trip he and his wife took with Jason and Ginger and travelling down an river on an inner tube and going into rock tunnels. It made me wonder if the talk was for non-members or to remind all the members of the blessing we have everyday.

Cruise Ended and Slide Show

So after we cleaned up from Cabo we had our last gala dinner, a little caviar and baked Alaska goes a long way. But we were so exhausted we went back to our room and crashed till our wake up call at 11:15 p.m. so we could go see the gala midnight buffet and take pictures. The buffet was such fun they created these amazing creations out of food, vegetables, and fruit. But we were to exhausted to stay and eat instead we went back to bed only to wake up in the morning with aching muscles, but a quick dip in the pool quickly took care of that. Our last day was a simple day of relaxing and reading, what a break. Last night we got a call from Sarah asking us when mom was coming home because she was very nervous. Mom calmed her down by promising her a present. This morning we said or goodbye to our beautiful balcony our final meal and waited to be called to debark. We quickly got to our car and the first thing Sarah said to me when she saw me was where is my present. We have trained her well.

Our Vacation Cont.

As our ship starts to move away from its final port, it is time to catch you up on our adventure. We finished day three with reading, relaxing, and getting ready for our first day in Puerto Vallarta, we had to get up early to get to our activity. It was called the 4x4 Tropical Safari, we were in Mercedes Benz All-terrain vehicles. It was basically a large truck with seats that run parallel to the road. It had loops in front of you to hold onto when the car rocked back and forth over the very unstable ground. And believe me it rocked. At one point I leaned so far out that it cracked my back. Our first stop was at traditional Mexican square where our tour guide a very funny man named Manuel told us the history of the Spanish in Mexico. Then we stopped at “the ladies house” where they showed us how to grind corn, and made fresh tortillas for us and gave us tacos (mom liked this much more than I did) then mom decided to use the bathroom there, where she had to bring a bucket of water in with her to flush the toilet (this is of course after you have thrown out the paper in another bucket by the toilet) I decided I could hold it in. Our next stop was our “hike” which was really more of a walking tour of the flora and fauna through tons of mud (mostly I wondered where Merryweather was). Mom held a wooden stick to help her along, as Manuel demonstrated the various trees and growths and then ate a few termites. I again passed on this option. Our next stop brought us to a grocery stand where we used the sort of normal toilets. And once back on board Manuel passed out the beer, showing them how to drink while also rolling in the car. Our last stop was at a secluded beach that was obviously owned by the tour company because various groups doing the tour all came to this spot. They had a really great meal for us, with grilled meat and chicken and so forth. We put our feet into the water and boy was it warm. Then we got back into the truck and Manuel brought out the tequila and then proceeded to demonstrate how to drink it properly. Then we went back to the ship I jumped into the pool and cooled off a bit before showering for dinner.
Our next stop was Mazatlan, where we decided to go to the Hacienda and lay around the pool, it was about 40 minutes from downtown. It was very warm and the hacienda was very nice. It was interesting how just on the other side of the mountains we were in the tropics but here was mostly desert. It was fun and we just read by the pool and they served us a very traditional Mexican meal, which again mom enjoyed much more than I did. Caesar was our tour guide and he was funny, but not as crazy as Manuel. When we returned to Mazatlan, Caesar gave us a brief tour of the city and then back on the boat for dinner and another comedy act. Caesar’s favorite saying was Okay-Dokey and probably said it about 300 times in the 5 hours we were with him.
Our last stop today was Cabo San Lucas, we had to take the tender out to the land because the port is not deep enough for the ship, it was a perfect day and we went to shore and mom did a little shopping before our next adventure. It is called America’s Cup Sailing, where you get onto a real yacht that has competed in the America’s Cup. We had to help with the sailing. They had use grinding, tacking, and jibing, and hoisting the sails, so basically they have you turning very quickly this crank and then the boat would tip to one side and everybody would hold on for dear life. It was so much fun. After a while of sailing really fast as it was tipping they evened it out and they let people captain the boat, mom took a turn. Then they again tipped it to the side and hoisted three of the passengers up in a harness over the side and we would raise and lower them into the water and then swing them forward. This was all done by us turning the cranks. I would highly recommend this to anyone going to Cabo! Wait til you see the pictures. Until next time.

Our Vacation Begins

Our adventure began with many lovely lines-the first of which was to check our luggage, of course unlike all the other smarter people we did not know the room we were assigned, thus our first line involved getting a room number attached to our luggage. If I had bothered to think clearly at that time I would have remembered the number we were assigned. But finally our luggage was loaded and we made our way to the next line in which we went through the metal detectors. Thinking we were moving right along they led us into a “secret room” where they had everybody lined up to slowly go to check-in. After about an hour we finally got to the check-in and they gave us our passkey. The next line was for our cruise photograph (which we are to cheap to buy) and then we walked along the gangplank and boarded our magnificent vessel. This of course reminded me of Love Boat when the special guests would board. Now because I did not bother to remember our room we had to go to the information counter/line. Luckily, our luggage was where it was supposed to be. Hurray. We then were blessed with the special project of the emergency exit method. The picture below is mom enjoying that adventure. Mostly the rest of the day was trying to find our way back to various locals. Following dinner we made our way the showroom and watched the comedian. He was pretty funny, but unfortunately his next show was the rated “R” version and mom was to much of a wimp to go. Our room is very pleasant (mom’s word as I am sure you are aware) with a lovely balcony. It is actually more spacious than I thought it would be. It has sleeping for five and yet I don’t know how they mange that, our luggage for just the two of us takes up the whole closet space.
Day two of the adventure brought us getting up to eat breakfast, then I went and showered, and then we went to a seminar on the various activities to do in port. Just wait till we talk about the adventures was have signed up for. Then we went to lunch, then mom showered and we read in our room till we were ready for our gala evening and meeting the Captain, he is Italian and mom loves the accent. Then we ate dinner. Mom had the lobster tail – two of them, and I had the prime rib. MUMUMUM. Dessert of course for all the meals is my favorite part, a chocolate cake with something that tasted like hot fudge in the middle so rich that you have to have a small bite of vanilla ice cream with it. Unfortunately, it was a cloudy day and we did not see the sun until about 6 p.m. (which of course was dinner time). So after we dinner we walked along the decks, and just relaxed.
Day three has started with beautiful weather, we got up and ate breakfast and then I went swimming in the pool we laid out on the deck for about 2 hours. We have come back from the pool and we have both showered and it is 12:30 and we are anxious to get to lunch. Also looking forward to dinner. I will have to come back to add some pictures it is not letting me at this time.

Let the Games Begin

As you may have noticed I have inserted a new poll. We shall see which parents can vote for their kids the most! AHHHHAAHHHAA! (An evil laugh)! I have now extended the voting till July 25th at noon, you can vote for as many people as you want and if you want to re vote you need to clear your cookies. AHHHHAAHHHAAA! (Another evil laugh!)