The Florida Keys

 What a way to kick off summer! Just after the kids got out of school for summer, we dropped them off with my sister Hollie and her family (my kids had the time of their lives and still talk about it/ask to go live with them often- they seriously had a vacation of their own...another post!) and Jus &I headed off to the.....

Florida Keys

Justin has a client that owns this lovely resort there and he "had" to go there for an audit. (And of course, he didn't have to twist my arm to come along for the ride.) I know...I can hardly believe our luck. Who knew the life of a Rexburg accountant could be so glamorous? We are so grateful for opportunities like this. It's what I call a work/pleasure trip...work for Justin, pleasure for me.

No, this is not a screen saver. I took it with my cell phone out the back door of our resort. Isn't it lovely? Who wouldn't want to wake up to this every morning? It's seriously such a dream of mine to live somewhere so beautiful. I just love the whole Island feel...the laid back atmosphere, sand in between your toes, island music in the back ground, the sun hitting down on your skin, the soothing sound of the ocean, taking life at a slower pace....not a care in the world is how I feel when I'm in places like this. I love the simplicity of it all. Of course, once you throw reality into it all..it kindof takes the paradise out of it. Who would want to go to work if you lived here? Who coud afford a house on property like this? Who would want to cook or clean or do life in a place like this? I guess that's why it's so dreamy on vacation because you can just enjoy it!



The resort is called "Cheeca Lodge". It's located in a quaint little fishing village called Islamorada- in the Florida Keys. It's full of history and the walls of the lodge were scattered with old photos of people who have enjoyed Cheeca for generations. George Bush Sr. would frequent the resort and they used to do a fishing tournament named after him. A few years ago, the original resort had a fire and they had to re-build it, so it's all new and nice, yet has all this history, which made it so charming. 

 Ahhhh...we did a lot of this.

And the resort had some fun ammenitites- like these canoes that we took out on the ocean.



Or these cruisers. The resort is on a lot of acreage, so you can ride the bikes around the different parts of the resort as well as on the paved bike paths outside the resort, so we took a little ride around the town. One day I went out on my own and did some shopping in the local shops. I love a day where you can just take the time to see what you stumble upon.



We got a little golf in. And I mean "a little". Sorry, but I just don't really get golf. A few swings of the clubs was enough for me. The course was at the resort, but the greens weren't very green. Golf was short lived for us.

This tree was on the property at the resort. Like I said, this place had history. It's a very old tree and the roots have essentially grown outside the trunk of the tree- very awesome! It reminds me of something that would be found in a swamp...or a haunted house.

 



 It had two pools- one was right off the ocean and one was attached to the spa. It was absolutely beautiful. I love to people watch at the pool- this resort particularly had a lot of "sugar daddies" there. I couldn't believe how many younger women were with a lot of really older men. The men seemed to be trying to re-live their youth and well, the women seemed to be enjoying the perks of having someone pick up the tab on a lavish get-away. I liked making up stories in my head about these wealthy business-men who were having affairs on their wives...taking their Brazillian beauty to a quaint resort...soap opera stuff like that. Makes for an intriguing day. (I wouldn't be surprised if some of it were true though.) It's kindof a pricey place to stay, which was a little fun for me to observe how the wealthy live. They have a clothing boutique at the resort and I went in to browse. While I was blown away at how expensive it was, other guests were simply "charging" loads of clothes to their room. No worries...the sugar daddy will get it. {Reminds me of a time when we were first married. We went to Ruby River one night when we lived in Salt Lake. We opened the menu and started cringing a bit..."$20 for a steak?!" Then an older couple next to us sat down, opened the menu and said, "the prices aren't bad." I guess it's all perspective- what's expensive to one, is affordable to another.}

Another thing I observed was how entitled and bratty some people act. There was a seemingly wealthy woman and her daughter lounging in their big hats at the spa pool, drinking drink after drink. The mother gets up to move her lounge chair to another angle and she realized some glass on the pool deck. The next thing I know, she's got the manager out there just gasping at how she can't believe there is some broken glass and goes on and on about how she could have easily been cut. She is just in disbelief. I'm peeking behind my magazine, just laughing at how dramatic she's being. The pool hop/waitress comes over shortly with supplies to clean it up and the lady goes on and on about "be careful when you're sweeping that up, not to get cut, etc." The waitress looked at her and said, "don't you worry about me honey, even if I did get cut...it wouldn't be the worst things thats ever happened to me. I'll be just fine." I liked her response- I hope it brought that lady back to reality. Of course, the manager compt all their drinks, etc. I swear some people act like everyone owes them something. Pa-lease- it was a ridiculous encounter.

Just another day at the office for Justin.... {In all reality, this was rare. He really did have to work.}

When Justin was working, I would lay out, read or take the bike and go exploring. I would have to stop just to take it all in. This picture just captures how it felt to be there- beautiful, carefree and so relaxing. Loved it!

Of course, we had to walk around the resort- seeing how cheesy of pictures we could come up with. Mine on the leaning palm tree.
 

And Justin's...surfing. He won! Oh my heck, I can't even look at this without dyeing of laughter. Cheese Ball!

One night, we ventured away from the resort and drove down to Key West, Florida. I believe it was about 45 minutes from our resort. Yes, we were at the Southernmost point of the U.S.

Just a skip, hop and a jump away from Cuba.

That Key West is one colorful place (people included). I wish I would have gotten a picture of this whole street, but every house was a different, vibrant, cute color. Loved it- look how cute and charming this house is. Key West has a bunch of fun shops and interesting people. It's artsy and crazy and probably a good place for the party-ing crowd. I bought a few things: a pair of blinged out sandals, hot pink sunglasses and a giagantic chocolate chip cookie. You only live once, right? So fun seeing how out-loud some people live.

The drive to Key West was beautiful as well. Seriously..how can you not love a place that has turquois guard rails along the high way? Talk about Color Splash. I really did come home inspired to add some more color to my life- my home, wardrobe, etc.

{Nothing sticks out in the Florida Keys like a fully clothed white girl in neutral colors.}

We flew in and out of Miami and then drove down to the Keys. After we got our rental car, we went over to South Beach, drove past Dash (you know, the Kardashions store- Khloe & Courtney Take Miami? Anyone?) walked along the beach for a bit and ate at the colorful restaurant called Mangos. We had a front-row table to a live Jamaican band playing- wow- that place was loud. But I had an awesome salad. In fact, I ate so many good salads there. Before we went in, we had a star- sighting right by our car, however, it was some supposedly famous rapper that neither one of us had ever heard of. I can't even remember his name now. That makes us sound so old. I had to text my little sister and ask her what he sang. Still didn't ring a bell to me. We're not heavy rap listeners around here. 

Just a side note to remember: Justin was lucky he even got there or home. When we went to rent the car, it was discovered that Justin's license was expired. News to us! Luckily I ws there to get the car. Then on our flight home, they barely let him through to board. He already gets double looked at any time we fly (he looks like a terrorist, apparently). Luckily I had went first and they asked if he was with me and well, the lady just kindof let it slide. People apparently trust me with potentially dangerous people. Ha, ha.  



And there you have it...our vacation to the Florida Keys. (And another cheesy picture :)

Of course the best part of the whole get-away was spending some quality time with this guy. It's so fun being married to my best friend- always a good time.



Good bye Cheeca Lodge.....it was simply wonderful!

Wanna know the saddest part though.....Cheeca Lodge was sold last month to someone who is not Justin's client. I had visions of bringing the kids back with us to enjoy it and making this an ongoing vacation. Bohoo. I'm so grateful that I got to experience it atleast once. Who knows...maybe one day we'll go back.

Rylee's Preschool Open House 2011

Rylee completed her first year of preschool! At the end of the year, they celebrated with an open house for all of the families. It was a pajama party for all of the kids.

This is her and one of her teachers, Miss Jenny.

And her teacher, Miss April

And also Miss Dawn.

Her teachers were great and Rylee had a great experience. I was so pleased with all that she learned and the fun projects and activities they got to do. We are just pleased as punch to see Rylee doing these really normal things. We're grateful, really.

She went with such a fun group. 5 little girls from our neighborhood all carpooled and went to school together. (Rylee, Annie, Ella, Candice and Kylie). This is Candice, Rylee and Ella posing in their jammies.

They served Ice Cream Sundae's, which Jace and Jaden thouroughly enjoyed as well. It's so fun for the siblings to come along and be part of the preschooler's little world for a bit.

They showed a darling slide show of the year's activities at the end. It was so fun to get a glimpse at Rylee at school- I'm so glad they did this. It's fun to see your child in their own zone, without you. Great perspective! I got a little teary-eyed through it. Just feels good to have her at this point. When she started in the fall, she was still in treatment and I wondered if I was pushing things to have her go to preschool. Within the first few weeks, her teacher called me and said I better come pick her up. She was not feeling well and had went over to the bean bag and curled up in a little ball and fell asleep. She was out when I got there. I went and got her and cried as I carried her out to the car. Normal just felt so out of reach-it seemed like it was too much, too soon. You just ache for them to feel like all the other healthy, thriving children who are enjoying the preschool activities.

But...I just decided to take it a day at a time, knowing that she might miss a lot or I may very well have to go pick her up early every day. And guess what? It only happend that one time and otherwise, she did thrive. It was a wonderful experience for her. She learned to write her name. She had fun with her friends. She went on a field trip to a farm. What more could I ask for?

She has worked really hard this year. In addition to treatment and preschool, she did speech therapy 4 days a week. She was burned out by the end of the school year, so we're having a break for the summer, but she has come so far. And we are so proud of her and so glad that we got to go to her preschool open house. We're 7 months post treatment and things are looking really good! She just has to get monthly blood work to make sure nothing suspicious in creeping back in, but so far, so good. We have arrived....back to "normal".

Soakin Up Summer!

I LOVE Summer!

We've been soakin up the sun and having so much fun.

Does it get any better than lounging around in the hammock on a lovely summer night?

So many fun things to post....stay tuned

Cancer Revisited....

You just never know what life is going to throw at you.

Exactly one month ago, on March 7, a day after his 63rd birthday, my dad was diagnosed with colon cancer. The following week he had a baseball sized tumor removed from his colon and they biopsied everything so we knew exactly what we were dealing with. We found out that it is stage 4 colon cancer that has spread to the liver.

His outlook is not great. Statistics say a lot (life expectancy anywhere from 2-5 years with chemo). However, I know that faith is often able to tell a whole different story. Right now my dad is trying to heal and recover enough to be able to start chemotherapy. He should be good to go in a few weeks. His regimine will be to get accessed and start pre-meds at the office on a Monday, then be sent home with a chemo pump that will distribute the chemo throughout a 48 hour period (so he will be continuosly attached to the pump), he will then return to the office on Wednesday to get de-accessed (from his port inserted into his chest- just like Rylee has) and turn the pump in. He will then have the rest of the week off (but not really, because he'll be dealing with the effects of the chemo on his days "off" the pump) and do it all again the next Monday. This will be a two week cycle per month.

So....cancer is not new to me. In fact, cancer is getting very old for me. Just when we thought cancer was getting behind us, it in fact is not. Besides Rylee, Justin's grandma was diagnosed with breast cancer about 8 months ago and now my dad. We have 3 generations seeing the same oncologists. Rylee & my dad have apppointments on the same day at the same time next week. Life is so surreal and unreal sometimes.

I wish more people really understood the far-reaching effects of cancer. The toll it takes on lives. I had this epiphany at Relay for Life last year. Rylee was pretty tired, so during the survivors lap, I packed her on my back. As you do the lap, everyone there claps and cheers for all of the survivors and families/caretakers, which is nice because it's a very taxing trial. It takes a lot of sacrifice and endurance and some encouragment is nice sometimes. It was an emotional moment for me because it truly encomplassed how it feels to go through something like this. It's like this load on your back that you carry around with you and even though it gets very heavy at times, you keep going because it's not an option to just drop the load and walk away without it. The load can never be dropped, only eased and lifted by those willing to help, love and serve you.

I've just been feeling this burning within myself to figure out a way to help more in the fight against cancer. In encouraging others to give to the cause and reach out to those affected by it. I'm becoming more and more interested in links to cancer- in the things we eat, how it's packaged, etc. I'm getting more and more sensitive to the foolish things people do that have known links to cancer (like tanning, not protecting skin with sunscreen, smoking, drinking, etc.) And wondering why so many people ignore recommendations for screenings like mammograms and colonoscopies. My dad's situation could be so different if he had been getting regular colonoscopies for the last 13 years as recommended (age 50!). Colon cancer is the 2nd leading cause of cancer death, yet it is 90% preventable! It's troublesome at times- ignorance. Cancer is affecting so many people, yet it seems that everyone feels invincible. Rylee is an innocent victim- there was nothing she or we did to cause her cancer, yet there are so many people out there willingly taking the risks or ignoring recomendations.

One of Rylee's nurses just lost her dad to melanoma last month. It started with a dark mole on his back that turned out to be cancerous. It then spread to his liver and lungs and eventually took his life. Yes, a dark mole. Have you checked lately? Why do we ignore this? Why do so many people feel that it will never happen to them or those close to them? Why aren't people more diligent in getting recommended screenings? I don't have the answer, but I hope it sparks some awareness. I'm here to shout it from the rooftops that it can happen to you- we are as normal and average as they come and it happened to us....more than once now. With no family history of it.

My heart has been breaking all month over cancer. Please excuse my passion about this subject, but it has been stirring me up. Shortly after my dad's diagnosis, my friend, Sadie Shippen Shanz, who is the sister of one of my best friends, found out that her 4 month old baby has a rare subtype of leukemia called leukemia cutis. Her baby just started chemo yesterday and it breaks my heart. I understand it all on such a personal level and feel deeply affected by what their family is going through. It's a road that I've been down and I feel their pain. It's a different type than Rylee's, so her baby, Graham, will be on a different treatment regimine and it's done in inpatient care. She and her baby will live at the hospital for 6 months! His chemo treatment yesterday lasted 12 hours. She has a two year old as well and their family will have so many sacrifices and adjustments to make. Most people just have no frame of reference for how much this affects your life. Visit her blog at http://www.sadieandherboys.blogspot.com/ to read their story so far. Their first post describes the reality of the situation. They will need help- from strangers and friends alike. They need prayers, to keep their names in the temples and are doing a fast this Sunday, April 10. Shower them with words of encouragment, send a monetary donation to help with the financial burdens. If there is any way you can serve them, do it. I cannot tell you how many times other people's willing generosity has blessed our lives- even from strangers, which almost means more. They are at Primary Children's. If you have anything to offer, if you live in the area, if you are aware of services that might help them, please do it, let them know or let me know and I'll relay it to them.

My cancer rant is finished. I hope it sparked something in you!

Please remember Don Price and Graham Schanz in your prayers and faith.

Born to Be Wild- Jaden Turns 2

Has it really been two years? Two years since we were in the trenches...trying to keep our heads above water? Jaden came in the middle of it....I don't blame him for screaming his guts out, I felt the same way! Two years has already passed though?

And now here he is- all grown up. The cutest 'lil rascal you'll ever know.

His babyhood is slipping away- no binky, no bottle, no crib and yesterday, he went pee-pee in the potty two times! He is a funny little guy. He says stuff like "Zooey Mama!" (from Diary of a Whimpy Kid), And "See ya, be ya" (meaning see ya, wouldn't want to be ya), he Sings the diarrhea song (you know, ..when you're sliding into third... diarrhea, Fhh, Fhh, etc.-he does the chorus if you can call it that), Sings Bieber's "Baby" song with some major hip rolling to go with it. He cracks us up. It's so cute too when he looks at pictures and names our family- he always calls himself my..."And there's my."

Sometimes he is perfectly sweet. He had quietly stolen Jace's Leapster away and came to his very own spot to play, uninterrupted. Jace and Rylee absolutely love, protect and adore him. They are very nurturing to him- Rylee is his second mom and Jace just melts around him. He can be very sweet to give hugs and kisses and make the older two feel like a million bucks when he wants them, or when he'll put his head on their shoulder or lay next to them on the couch or say something in a cute little pouty tone. He can also be sensitive and get his feelings hurt if one of the kids get mad at him or if he's in trouble by me. It's so cute when he has to apologize he says, " I Sorry."

But...boy oh boy- he gives us a run for our money too. He is INTENSE! If there is a mess to be made, anything to explore (he loves to touch, feel, see, try- very curious), a surface to climb upto, onto or into- he does it. This is him this summer- breaking into the go-cart race track at Riot Zone.

When he wants something, he goes for it....which I think will be a better trait for when he's older. That determination in a toddler is challenging. We are continually amazed at his agility and natural athletic ability- he is so cute to do little sports drills or to throw the ball or wrestle and can actually make a good little first and punch- he and Jace will play box and he's aggressive!

Seems like we've been through about every "phase" with him- the climbing on top of phase.
The pulling things out phase

The putting things down the vents phase.

The dumping phase. The climbing inside phase.

The running phase- into the roads/parking lots, onto the soccer/football fields. (And his little mommy chasing him back-grabbing his hand in disgust.)

Let's not forget his exploring phase. Or his michevious stage.

And of course, his "messes" phase. Here's a look at his first year.

Let's just hope that in our case, his terrible two's came early.

If not....I'd hate to see what next year brings.

Happy 2nd Birthday Bubby!

You're one of kind (or atleast you better be :))

Lovely Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico

How tempting does this look? It was wonderful. Pure paradise. A dream vacation.

It finally happened- I left the United States of America for the first time in my life! Yahoo! Finally got that first stamp on my passport that's been sitting lonely in our cupboard, waiting for an adventure. Sad it had to miss Israel, wondering why I don't get away more often. It's one of those "seasons" of life things, I guess.

Justin has some good perks to his job. Required to get continuing education each year turns out to be a pretty good perk- especially when there's always so many fun places to choose from. This time we chose Nuevo Vallarta, Mexico (about 15 minutes from Puerto Vallarta). We spent a few fabulous days there back in October. {Pardon the picture quality- it's a picture of a picture we got at the resort}

We stayed at an all-inclusive resort called Vallarta Palace. And a palace it was...total VIP treatment and completely relaxing! When we arrived, they handed us a moist towel to relieve ourselves from the heat. Then they handed me a flower and gave us both a refreshing drink. I've never had such a warm greeting. :)When Jus was slaving away in classes, I got to sit poolside, reading my gossip magazines and books, completely uninteruppted, soaking in the sun and sucking up all of my new-found freedom. Loved every minute.

Especially when the pool waiter would come around and offer me a drink or one of these yummy fruit cups. It's nice to be waited on for a change. I don't know my way around drinks, but a friend had recommended I try a Miami Vice (virgin, of course) and turns out, they are pretty darn good. But...nothing beats ice water and sunshine!

Each night, the resort would host some type of show or activity. One night we attended this Mexican Circus, which was based around Halloween (since it was the week of Halloween). It had acrobats and a contortionist and this guy (who was a Mexican clown apparently) who did this bazar act with this puppet lady. A little unusual, yet pretty entertaining.

There were 5 different resaurants at the resort that you could choose to eat at. It was all-inclusive, so basically you could have whatever you wanted, whenever you wanted it. Although hard to not over-indulge, I loved the concept. Funny how cost or fear of not liking something that you paid for holds you back from trying new things sometimes. I liked trying stuff that I never had before because I had nothing to loose, if I didn't like it, I could always order somehing else. Fun to be so uninhibited.

Look how cute some of the meals (or dessert in this case) were prepared. It hardly makes you want to eat it. Of course, we spent some time on the beautiful beach. I love the Ocean- so soothing. We also spent some time in Puerto Vallarta. Loved seeing the culture and art there. Love all the bright colors And of course the shopping. "How much you want to pay?" "It's nice, isn't it." I'm not one for knick-knacks, but we found some fun stuff for the kids and a hammock that I'm so excited to put in my yard this summer. There were like 8 year old little kids working in these shops!Although we were spoiled enough at the resort, we did venture off for some real adventure as well. The zip line was a blast. Beautiful view from the top of the jungle.
Our guides were so fun and let Justin do some fun stuff- like Superman and going upside down! Ahhh- he was screaming like a girl the whole way across. So glad we got to do this.

Another adventure was going to this water park and experiencing Mexican water slides. Let's just say...they don't meet U.S regulations. Oh my goodness. This one behind us was made of pure concrete and was a total death ride. Such a thrill though. Jus & I were having so much fun and laughed the whole way down. They had this one slide that was like a toilet bowl- Justin came out with a completely scratched up back and I felt like I was going to drown when I got "flushed."

Probably a once in a lifetime experience, but we also got to swim with the Dolphins. I liked the double feet push one the best. The Dophins would come from behind and push your feet and you'd stand up like you were water-skiing on Dolphins. Here I am giving him a little shake.

Oh...and a sweet kiss for Justin. Our kids can't get enough of this picture- they think it's so funny.

We had such a great time! It's one of those vacations that are going to be hard to top. So glad we had the chance to go.