Provo Fury

We had the Provo Fury kick off yesterday.  It was a lot of fun. It was an exhausting day for me.  I had worked hard cleaning and doing yard work all day so I went into the event tired! I went at 2:30 PM to help set up and then the event was from 4-7.  We helped clean up a little afterward so I was there for five hours.  

Angie and I were at the prize booth.  We were on our feet almost the whole time.  I was so glad that Angie and I were together, it made it a lot more fun.

Tiff picked up my kids and brought them over.  Jonah ran off with his friends and never wants me to take pictures , so I don't have any pictures of him.  Tiff took Wyatt and Hallee around.  I was so grateful to Tiff for taking care of the kids for me!  Wyatt and Rockwell had fun meeting the REAL players.  Tiff said they were really nice and good with the boys. 

When Tiff and Rockwell left Wyatt and Hallee came and helped at the booth with us.  They loved handing out the prizes after people spun the wheel.  Wyatt loved playing soccer darts too.  He would go back and forth between playing and helping me.

Hallee was so excited when Asia showed up.  

They had a blast playing together.   

I loved watching them dance in the middle of the gym floor.  I hope Hallee stays uninhibited!  

The event was great.  There were a lot of people and so many fun things to do.  I'm so impressed with the women who have put this together and have worked so hard to make it successful.  I'm excited that I get to be a part of it.

Dixon Awards Night

We got an invitation to Dixon awards night.  They only invite the kids who are getting awards and their parents.  Caitlyn sure looked beautiful.  I kept looking over at her all night and telling her how great she looked!  She is looking so grown up.

Caitlyn got a Dixon Way Award.  She was nominated by her PAWS teacher, Ms. Glenn.  

I was so impressed with what Ms. Glenn wrote about Caitlyn and how well she knows her.  Here is what it says, "I have known Caitlyn Loosli for two years as part of the Kindness Club and my PAWS class.  Not only does she exceed standards in learning and attendance, but she also exemplifies all expectations of the Dixon Way.  She is kind and helpful and shows concern for others that is beyond a typical 8th grader.  Caitlyn faces challenges with optimism, humility, and perseverance.  I sometimes hear her talk about something happening in her life that will be hard or not enjoyable, and she usually ends by saying something like, "but that's okay.  Everything will be all right."  I really appreciate her genuine and valiant character, and I know she will be a light to others wherever she goes." Ms. Glenn

That note summed Caitlyn up so well.  I'm so proud of how hard Caitlyn has worked in Middle School.  It was a hard adjustment for her and it took a long time for her to make good friends.  I was so impressed with her willingness to talk to people and put her self out there to try and make friends. 

Caitlyn also got a Citizenship Award (for having at least 6 Outstandings every term), High Honor Roll Presidential Award (she ended with a 3.95) and an award for passing all of her I Can Statement Tests (they have these tests in every subject).

I was so happy to see Caitlyn get some recognition.  She is such a caring, thoughtful girl and a lot of it goes unnoticed.  She loves her teachers, so it was extra special to her to be recognized by them.  

Caitlyn was so excited and proud of herself.  We told her that we could get a treat and she wanted cheesecake.  

We grabbed some ice cream bars since the boys don't like cheesecake and went home and had dessert together.  I told the other kids about Caitlyn's accomplishments and they were excited for her.  Everyone needs days like this, where you get recognized for hard work and all of the good you do.  Way to go Caitlyn!

Nassau

We arrived in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, early Sunday morning.  We spent time on Saturday looking at the excursions and debating on doing one.  We read reviews and finally decided against doing an excursion.  We wanted to explore the town a little and do some shopping.  A lot of the reviews said that the excursions were too crowded and I bet they would have been because there were three cruise ships there that day.  It was also rainy in the morning, so we were happy with our decision.  We took our time eating breakfast and getting off the ship since we weren't in a hurry. 

There were a ton of shops before we got to border security.  I thought they were pushy, but the shops we went to later had so many people trying to get us to buy stuff.  There were a lot of people selling taxi rides, boat rides and other things. 

This guy stopped us and asked if we wanted to take a carriage tour around the city.  We thought that would be a good way to see the city so we did that.  Keith's co-workers told us to be careful and not go to far into the city, so I was a little nervous.  I felt better going into the city in the security of the carriage.

A guy walked by and asked us if we had a camera so he could take our picture.  After he took our picture he said we needed to tip him because that is how he feeds his family. 

The tour was about 20 minutes.  He showed us around and gave us a lot of history about the island. 

This is the Parliament building.  There is a statue of Queen Victoria in front. 

He told us that you paid a lot of money to live downtown.  You could get a luxury apartment for $1000 a month.  He showed us the bank and the hospital. 

After the tour we were walking down the street and a lady asked us if we would come look at her shop.  I of course said yes, so she told us to follow her and don't stop or talk to anyone.  She took us into this giant building that was full of people with booths selling souvenirs.  I couldn't come close to getting a picture to do it justice, but you can get an idea.  She took us to her booth and showed us some souvenirs that she had handmade.  I really liked her, so it made me want to say yes even more.  They were all very quick to drop their prices especially if you started to walk away.  We bought some cute gifts for the kids and a hat for Keith from her.  We mentioned we were looking for our older kids and she said we had to see her mom, so she took us over to her mom's booth.  We couldn't get to her because of the crowds, but her mom saw us and started walking toward us.  As we passed by other booths one lady offered us a coin purse for $1. I stopped to look at it and "mama" was not happy about that.  She yelled at the lady and told her that we were her customers and told me that she had the same thing at her booth.  The lady argued for a minute and then told us we better go with "mama."  It was fun to shop and find some unique souvenirs.   

After we shopped we walked down the street.  We were told there was a beach there, but we could never find how to get to it.  While we were walking down there a lady came up to us and tied bracelets on our wrists and said they were free and were made by the school children.  Then she told us that we needed to donate some money to the kids for our bracelets.  Keith gave her $2 and she asked if he was going to give some money for me.  He told her that was good and she said, "Don't make me take off my belt." After that we were ready to head back to the boat.  We had seen what we wanted to and I couldn't say no anymore!  We went back to the boat.  I didn't realize that I had to have picture ID to get back in, so they sent us over to border security.  Luckily the guy was nice and let me through with Keith. 

It was so hot and humid so we decided to head back to the boat and go to the swimming pool.  We ate some lunch first and then relaxed in the pool for a while.  It was very cold water, but it felt great after being so hot.  Waiters came around so we were able to get Pina Coladas while we sat in the pool! 

That night Vassayo had formal night. We figured we better go since we ditched out on the dining room the night before.  I was nervous about another awkward dinner, but it turned out great.  Julie and Allison told us they were sorry, but we were going to be at a table with Dalin and Karree's kids.  They are the Co-founders of Vassayo and they went around and had their pictures taken that night with all of the brand partners so they wanted their kids to eat with someone else.  I was thrilled, I would take the kids over the brand partners any day.  They were cute kids.  Elise was 14-years-old and Dane was 12-years-old.  We talked about movies, video games and school.  I was impressed with how down to earth they are for being so wealthy!  After we ate, their parents wanted them for some pictures so we were able to leave.  We stopped at a bar and got more Pina Coladas and listened to a man sing and play the piano.   

After that we went up to our room and changed and enjoyed the view from our balcony for a while.  It was so pretty and peaceful.  Later we went down to the Promenade on the boat and did some shopping and got more Pina Coladas, I was bound and determined to make our money worth it! 

We took our drinks back up to our room and decided we better get some sleep, even though we didn't want the vacation to end.  

I didn't sleep great again so I was up early and I got to sit on the balcony and enjoy the beautiful view of Miami.  We got breakfast on the boat and then got off and headed to the airport.  We were hoping to catch an earlier flight, but it would cost too much money.  We debated on doing some sight seeing here in Miami, but we didn't want to drag our luggage around.  Our flight isn't until 5:55 PM today, so we have a long day here in the airport.  At least I got my blogging done!  It was a wonderful vacation.  It was so nice to know the kids are home having a great time with grandma. It was definitely a trip to remember. 

Perfect day in Coco Cay!

We arrived at Coco Cay, a private island owned by Royal Carribean, early Saturday morning.  We did almost all of our sailing at night.  We didn't get to enjoy a lot of the activities on the ship because the cruise was so short and because we were so exhausted every night.

We were so excited for our beach day.  It was so hot and humid.  We had to meet the rest of the Vasayo group on South Beach (that happened to be the farthest place on the island) for a group picture.  I got cranky because it was so hot and we had a hard time finding where to go.  I did have to apologize to Keith for what I said when I was hot!  He is a patient man! 

We finally found South Beach and we were so happy to be able to get in the water and cool off.  We found a place right by a bar and we were able to use our drink pass on the island.  I was a new woman with a cold drink in my hand and my feet in the ocean.

Here is the Vasayo group.  After the group picture we had the rest of the day to ourselves.  I was so happy that Keith didn't have to worry about anything on the beach and we could just relax and spend time together. 

South beach was gorgeous.  We found some lounge chairs and set up and then got in the water.

It was the perfect beach, white sand and the ocean was a great temperature.  It took a minute to get used to it, but it was so refreshing on hot day. 

We stayed in the water for a while and just relaxed.  The views were amazing. 

I'm glad we started the day off at South beach.  We left after lunch so we could explore the rest of the island, but this was the best beach for sure.  We went to another beach on the island and the water was not as clear.  Keith ended up getting stung by a jelly fish. Poor guy, he was in pain.  The doctor on the island gave him some cream and Benadryl, but it was painful for him. 

We loved relaxing on our lounge chairs after we swam.  It was beautiful.  There were a few different places to eat on the island and it was all included with the cruise.  We ate a nice lunch and had some good snacks too. 

We went back on the boat to grab a few things that we forgot after lunch.  When we came back to the island we went back to South beach.  We took a back way and got to enjoy some incredible views.  

We got back in the water for a while and then enjoyed a pina colada on the beach.   

It doesn't get much better than this!  We were on the island for most of the day. 

When we got back on the boat that night we showered and relaxed for a while and then we decided to order room service instead of go to the dining room that night.  We had a great night relaxing and we got to see this beautiful sunset from our balcony.  I didn't sleep great on the trip, but that night I slept so good, it was great to sleep through the night and wake up feeling refreshed!

Welcome to Miami!

Keith’s company does a couple of cruises every year to reward their most successful brand partners.  Daniel told Keith a while back that we would get to come along on their cruise to The Bahamas. They take some of the executives on trips to thank them for their hard work.  We were thrilled for the opportunity for a free vacation! We are stuck in the Miami airport all day today while we wait for our flight, so I figured I might as well blog about our trip!

Wednesday night mom came to our house and we went to her house to stay the over-night because we had a very early flight.  We got up at 4 AM and got ready and left for the airport. We had a layover in Atlanta and we didn’t get to our hotel room until after 5PM!  It was a long day!  We traveled with the event planners and photographers from Keith’s work.  It was nice to have Julie take care of everything for us so we didn’t have to worry about getting to the hotel or anything like that.

I was feeling pretty nauseous after our long day of traveling.  Keith and I decided to walk downtown for dinner. Since my stomach was funny we just went to subway for dinner.  The fresh air felt great. 

After that we walked down to the bay.  The first two pictures are views from the bay.  We enjoyed sitting by the water for a while.  After that we went back to the hotel and went to bed.  We were both exhausted!

The next morning Keith went to a breakfast meeting while I got ready.  They told us this was our vacation, but they did need some help and Keith had some responsibilities.  We rode over with the group to the port and waited to board the ship.  We were able to get in the boat around 11 AM. Since we were getting a free trip we decided to splurge on the drink package.  We drank a ton of pina coladas!  

At 2 PM we were able to get into our room.  We had a nice room!  It had a couch and a balcony and we didn’t feel cramped at all. 

The boat was huge!  I knew they were big, but I had no idea how big.  There were so many people on the boat, I had to escape to my room sometimes to get some relief from the crowds!  We went to the buffet for lunch.  It was really good.  

We went right out on the balcony when we got into our room.  We loved sitting on the balcony.  It was really hot and humid, so we liked to do it at night. 

We enjoyed the view of Miami from the boat.  

We had to help direct people and Keith had to go to a kickoff event, but after that we got to relax for a while until dinner.  I sat on the balcony  and watched the boat pull away.  I saw two dolphins diving in and out of the water. 

 That night we went to dinner in the dining room.  Vasayo had a bunch of tables and they assigned us to sit with some brand partners.  It was the most awkward dinner!  I knew I had a sheltered life, but after this cruise I have realized just how sheltered I am.  I love my sheltered life!  It was hard to find things to talk about with people.  All they wanted to talk about was alcohol, gambling and marketing and I don't know about any of that!  Everyone was very nice though, I just got self conscious.  That night Keith had to go to a reception, I opted to stay in our cabin and read. It was a great way to end our first night on the boat.