Red Riot

Caitlyn gets so much college mail, at least a couple of pieces a day.  Last week she opened a letter and started screaming in excitement.  She got a letter from SUU offering her a $16,000 scholarship, $2000 a semester for four years.  They have automatic academic scholarships based on either your ACT score or your GPA and she qualified for one of the highest ones.  Nice work Caitlyn! 

Caitlyn and Amarie both want to go to Southern Utah University next year and room together. They were having a Red Riot, where people can come check out the school and stay over night with a host,   so Mel and I took them down there.

I love that they wanted to stop for Happy Meals for lunch on their way to college, ha! 

We went early so we could take the housing tour.  We got to see the different on campus housing options.  

It really hit home that Caitlyn will be moving out soon.  It makes me sad and really excited for her.

I'm so glad Caitlyn has worked so hard and will have some scholarships because college is expensive!  I think I was in denial about just how much it was going to cost until this weekend.

After the housing tour they had a question and answer session and then a campus tour. 

The campus is beautiful.  It really does seem like a good fit for Caitlyn.

After the campus tour Mel and I left and went to our hotel.  Mel and I went to dinner and then hung out at our hotel that night. 

They had fun activities. They played games, had scary stories and danced. 

Caitlyn and Amarie were happy that they got to stay together.  Here they are with their hosts, they both really liked them.  The next morning we picked up the girls and headed back home.  Caitlyn was excited about SUU before, but I think this weekend sealed the deal for her, she loved it!

Fall Colors

 

Last week I drove up Provo canyon to enjoy the Fall colors.

I drove up to squaw peak.

Everywhere I turned was just beautiful!

I opened the sunroof in the van and enjoyed the cooler weather and I was able to stick my phone out the sunroof to get pictures along the road.

It has been so warm and then all of the sudden last weekend it turned cold and even snowed some.  

The overlook was beautiful!

I pulled off a couple of times to get pictures. It was just beautiful everywhere I looked.

After that I drove over to South Fork and walked around a bit.

It doesn't get much better than the mountains with all those Fall colors. 

After that I went over to Vivian Park.  The pictures don't do this justice, the yellow trees were so vibrant. 

I walked along the river trail for a couple of miles.

I could have taken a thousand pictures.  Everywhere I looked was just beautiful.

I wanted to walk to my favorite part on the trail because I knew it would be beautiful and it did not disappoint! I'm so grateful for the nature and the boost it gives me.

Pumpkin Patch

Hallee really wanted to go to a pumpkin patch during Fall break.  I was hoping I could take her Monday or Tuesday when Caitlyn was feeling better.  Keith got home late Monday night and I told him it would be great if he could take Tuesday off work.  I think he could see I was at my breaking point, so he took the day off.  It was nice for him to be able to catch up on sleep too.

We all slept in a bit and then Keith and I took Hallee to Jakers.

I was worried she would think it was boring without any other kids, but she said she liked having me and Keith all to herself. 

She helped me so much while Keith was gone, so I was glad we were finally doing something for her.

We had fun on the tractor ride and in the corn maze. 

Hallee had fun playing in the corn box.

She wanted me to get in the corn box with her.

We buried Hallee in the corn.

It was nice that it wasn't crowded that day. 

Hallee wanted to make a corn angel.

They have a little haunted house.

The one advantage to not having any other kids with us is Hallee got to chose everything we did.  She would ask us what we should do next and I kept telling her it was up to her and we could do whatever she wanted.

She picked out these three pumpkins.

We had a great time! It's nice that we still have one kid that thinks it's fun to hang out with mom and dad.

Keith's Work Cruise

I have been with Vasayo for 5 yeras now and they have been a great company to work for. They have been very generous with us and even took Allison and me on a cruise to the Bahamas a couple years ago. A few months ago my boss, Daniel asked if I would be interested in going on the cruise again this year. Of course I jumped at the chance to go. Later I found out that only employees would be joining our Brand Partners, which was a bummer that I could not bring Allison along this time. It was even harder to go knowing that it was during Fall break and Caitlyn would be getting her Wisdom teeth out the same day I left. I felt bad to leave Allison home to deal with all that while I went on a cruise, but Allison was supportive and encouraged me to go. I love and appreciate her so much for her sacrifice so I could go. Corporate staff flew to Miami the day before the cruise and got in late that night. Some of us were hungry and so we went out that night and found this awesome New York Style pizza joint. 

Friday morning we headed over to get on the cruise ship. When I first got on I went up on the top deck and thought the view of Miami was amazing so I took this pic of the city.

Of course I had to make sure to maximize my free drink package Vasayo paid for and ordered myself my first Pina Colada of the cruise!! It was so refreshing, especially since it was so humid in Miami.

This is a pic of our Corp staff that came on the cruise. They are all great people I get to work with every day and it was fun hanging out with them on the cruise. Friday, our first day on the cruise was a busy day helping to check in our 130 Brand Partners that earned the trip. We gave them Name tags/Lanyards, T-shirts and beach bags with a towel, sun screen and other goodies they could use on the cruise. 

Our main contact on the ship was able to seat all of us at one table each night at Dinner. The food was amazing and I sometimes found myself ordering two entrees or desserts. Later that first night we also attended a fun reception with everyone from Vasayo to celebrate earning the cruise with music, drinks and a dessert bar.

After the reception we had some free time, so we went up on the deck. It was the perfect temperature and not too humid. We hung out talking and enjoying Pina Coladas together.

On Saturday, the ship stopped at Royal Caribbean's private Island called Co-Co Cay and we all went to the beach for an amazing beach day!! The water was so clear, blue and warm. I spent most of my time in the water behind me in this pic. The food and drinks were free on the island, which made staying here all day even better.

I don't normally take selfies but I wanted to get one of me relaxing in my lounge chair on the beach. It was such a great day and so much fun. 

On Sunday we docked in Nassau, Bahamas. That was our ship in the pic, Freedom of the Seas. I planned an excursion with a few peeps I work with to travel on this ferry to a separate island called Blue Lagoon. It was such a fun trip over there and we were excited to spend more time at a private beach and our fun excursion. 

This is the beach we hung out at and they even had a fun obstacle course you could do if you wanted to. The water was amazing. After we swam and lounged for a while we decided to get lunch and prepare for our fun activity.

Our excursion we signed up for was to swim with Sting rays. It was so fun to get in the water and have ten or twelve Sting rays swimming all round you. One even swam between my legs, woah!! We spent 40 minutes with these beautiful animals. Some were so playful and would just swim circles around you.

Here I am with the other peeps that did the excursion with me. We all had so much fun!!

After we swam with the Sting Rays we got to hang out near the Dolphins and see them interact with people. They were doing all kinds of tricks and even sprayed one guy in the face, LOL. 

On Monday morning we were back in Miami and left the ship early. Four of us did not have a flight back home until later that afternoon so we signed up for an excursion to visit the Florida Everglades, ride an airboat and see Alligators. It was a nice excursion cause they picked us up at the ship and dropped us off at the airport afterward so we did not have to worry about booking an Uber. Here is a pic of the boats we rode.

The Air boat was fun and we learned that the grass that is in the Everglades is actually very sharp and can cut you to the bone if you touch it the wrong way, crazy. The boat went fast and we got to see some cool birds along the way. We were hoping to see some Alligators in the water but no luck there.

After the boat ride we visited an Alligator rescue farm where we got to see a lot of gators and even got to pet a 3-year old one. We ate lunch there and even tried a gator nugget. It was a fun time. After that we headed to the airport and winged our way back home. It was a great trip and I am glad I got to go. But I did miss the family and wished they could have been there with me. Hopefully we will be able to do it in the future. Thanks again for taking one for the team Babe!!