Josh, Disneyland!

Wow, three of our kids were able to go to Disneyland this past year -- and none of them with us! Josh went with the Madrigals. They left Thursday morning and came back Saturday night. He had a good time. Although he DID throw up after the Incredi-coaster. He unfortunately inherited his mom's stomach! They performed and had a workshop where they sang along to a movie trailer or something. He thought that the workshop took way too much time away from their play time!

Josh and Bridget

Mamma Mia!!

 Jenna and Clarissa made these cute canvas paintings of Mamma Mia!! 

Swing Dancing!

 Janelle and Bryton on their swing dancing double date! 

 And a temple group!! 

Las Vegas!!

Rick and I went to Las Vegas for the ASL Communications party and so we decided to go indoor sky-diving while we were there! The reason we went is because our kids gave us a gift card for it for Christmas. It was fun! Are arms were so sore the next day though! the second we did it the guide turned us around so that we were looking up instead of looking down. Neither of us liked that because it made us really dizzy. So if I ever do this again I will only do it facing down instead of up. It was cool to be able to experience it though and nice of our kids to get the gift card for us! 

We went to the ASL Communication condo afterwards to take a nap and change and get ready for the party. The party was fun and we met lots of new people. We drove home afterwards, arriving home arrive 1:00. At first we were planning on staying the night (which is why they arranged access to the condo for us). 

Ellen's 25th Birthday

Jase and Ellen's family and Janika and Brandon's family all came down for the long weekend (MLK Day), so that was fun! Jase and Ellen were able to celebrate Ellen's 25th birthday while they were here. They played laser tag with friends Friday night and then went to the temple Saturday morning and to Sakura that night. We got to spend lots of time with the boys over the weekend and enjoy some outside time at the park!  

Food Board Party

Jenna had a food board party with her friends, not really a charcuterie board, but a variety of foods.  Jenna and friends did the fancy fruit and vegetable platter. You can probably tell which ones the boys did, ha ha. 

Cruise

Rick and I went on a work cruise over New Year's Eve like we did last year. Everything went smoothly and we had a good time! The ship was SO nice! We loved it! It was an older crowd over all and the new year's eve parties were pretty chill. We walked around and went to a couple of the parties for a while, but then decided to go back to our room and watch a Hallmark movie instead, ha ha. We LOVED that the ship had streaming services that connected to your phone. That's the first time we have seen that on a cruise ship. 

The first stop was San Juan, Puerto Rico. We arrived after dinner and so it ended up being an evening tour, which was nice because it wasn't very hot, in fact it was very pleasant out. Near the end we saw this huge Christmas tree lit up that had statues around the tree. We were looking at the tree when all of a sudden one of the statues started walking! We were like, "wait -- that's a real person!" There was this person dressed up like a statue and he would maintain a frozen pose (and he did indeed look like a statue) until someone put money in his can and then he would come to life and move around. It was so cool!!! 

Other ports included Tortola, British Virgin Islands and Basseterre, St. Kitts and Nevis. In Tortola we went on this tour that included a taxi drive around the island and then a trip to the beach. The taxi was this open air bus that fit around 4 or 5 people on each bench -- around 20 or 25 total. The ride was so nerve wracking! I can be a very anxious passenger even in more typical driving situations, and this definitely wasn't typical! 

They drive on the left side of the street, instead of the right side, but that wasn't the scary part. The streets were very narrow and windy, going up and down hills, with sharp corners that you couldn't see around. The streets seemed only big enough for one vehicle, not two! It looked like cars were coming right at us and then would pass us in a way that was way too close for comfort! At least we were driving on the side next to the hills and not next to the cliffs -- that would have been even more terrifying!

When we were heading towards a sharp turn the driver would simply lay on his horn to notify anyone coming the opposite direction that we were coming. This would definitely not be a good place for a deaf person to drive! One time after our horn blared we could hear a horn coming from the other direction. I was pretty much praying for our safety the entire time and was very relieved when we finally arrived at our destination! The views and beaches were really pretty though! We went swimming in the ocean at two of our stops. 

The theater on the ship was amazing. There was a big rounded stage with a huge panoramic screen behind it. The screen would show various animated backgrounds that matched that musical numbers. They looked so real! There were scenes with trees with leaves blowing or flowers swaying in a breeze. One of the backgrounds included a brick wall with clocks that had moving hands. The scenes look 3-D. It was really neat! The talent was amazing as well. The singing and dancing were incredible and the acrobatics were breathtaking! 

We went on a behind-the-scenes tour of the ship, which was interesting. Since we were working we stayed busy -- interpreting several shows, tours, and other events. It was fun to get away with my husband to share in new experiences and have some time together!  

Janelle Weekly: Stranded in Beaver

Monday 1 : Janelle went on a Razor riding group date at the sand dunes. (See previous weekly).

Tuesday 2:  Janelle planned a group friend activity -- Tellestrations, Snake Oil, Hunger Games simlulator...

Wednesday 3: Janelle planned a night hiking date with Bryton and they had their first kiss! 

Friday 5: Janelle went cliff jumping with Bryton and his family (in January!!) They wore wet suits, but it was still freezing!! She then went to the temple with Bryton's family. 

Saturday 6: Janelle taught her MTC class online and then started driving to Provo and her car broke down and she got stranded in Beaver! Thankfully Bryton was also driving up a little behind her and was able to pick her up and take her!!