Western Caribbean Cruise

 We took our kiddos on a much needed vacation last week!  We went on a 7 night Western Caribbean  cruise.  We had a great time & loved every minute.  We were able to board the ship at 12:30 Sunday afternoon.  We spent the rest of that day getting acquainted with the ship . . .

We were on the Carnival Magic.  It was huge & so much fun!

 

The kids were all in a cabin together & Dave & I had a cabin down the hall from them . . . 

 

  

The first 2 1/2 days we were at sea.  The kids all met friends & were busy swimming & hanging out at the kids club which gave Dave & I a lot of time to relax.  It was fabulous! 

 

The second night on the ship, was "formal night" so we all got dressed up for dinner . . .

 We all ordered lobster.  Yum!

They had family friendly comedy shows, adult only comedy shows, & magic shows that we went to every night as well.  It was just what we needed!  Next up, our day in Jamaica!

Funny Carter!

We were driving by the elementary school that my kids went to and the conversation went like this:

Carter:  "Hey Lauren, do you remember that school?"

Lauren:  "Of course I remember that school Carter."

Carter:  "That's the worst school ever.  It looks like a prison."

 

Me:  "No, it does not.  I don't see razor wire."

Carter:  "Well, it has double fences, just like prison."

Me:  "And how do you explain the playground?"

Carter:  "That's for all the crazy inmates."

Me:  "I've never seen a prison with a playground."

Carter:  "Well, it sure felt like prison."

 

Funny Carter!  I'm so glad he had such a great experience at his elementary school! :)

Spa Girl Triathlon

Last weekend, my friend Laurie & I . . .

did the Spa Girl Triathlon!  It was so much fun!  It was at the J.W. Mariott Resort & Spa in San Antonio.  We took our families and stayed Friday & Saturday nights.  The race was Saturday morning.  Laurie & I got up super early (5:00 a.m.) and headed down to get our "body markings". . .

(race numbers)

(our ages)

& fuel our bodies . . . 

The race didn't start until 7:00 a.m. but the transition area closed at 6:30 a.m. so you had to have all your stuff ready to go . . .   

We lucked out as it had rained the previous two days and most of Friday night.  We were worried we were going to have crappy weather but it turned out to be perfect.   

 Our next door neighbor, Mo (she lives right in between Laurie & I) was there too!  We didn't even know she had signed up & was doing it too!

~ Halli, Mo, & Laurie ~

The thing that made this triathlon so much better than previous tri's I've done is that we did not have to swim in the lake!  Instead, we swam (400 meters) in the lazy river at the resort . . .

It was so much better! 

 then we biked 10 miles . . . 

(Isn't this picture hilarious?!)

 And ran 2 miles . . . 

 Last year, 300 women participated in the race.  This year, there were 900 women.  We loved it and plan to do it next year too!

Laurie's husband, Gary, was the designated photographer (thanks Gary!) while Dave & the kids all slept in.  This is what they were doing when I got back to the room . . .

We spent the rest of the weekend chillin' with our families!

~ Katelyn & Lauren ~

It was a fabulous weekend with fabulous friends!

Mother's Day Lunch

I took my beautiful mother to lunch at the Olive Garden for an early Mother's Day lunch as I'll be out of town over Mother's Day weekend.  We had a great time.  I love her so much.  She is definitely the best woman I know.  They are headed back to Wyoming soon.  I'm sure going to miss her!

Turkeys Hunting . . .

Over the past few weeks, Dave has been alternating taking Carter & Taylor turkey hunting.  Carter didn't get one but had a great time!  He said, "This is intense!"  

~ Carter & Dave ~

Taylor, however, did get one!

As did Dave!

We grilled the meat and made fajitas.  It was fabulous!  And we still have some in our freezer.  Yum.

Prom

Taylor's first Prom . . . 

~ Taylor & York ~

 They went to dinner, to the dance, and then to a friends home to play games.  She had a great time & looked gorgeous!

Bang!

Our families favorite game is Bang!  What's your favorite?

Visitors, Baptism, & our fifteen minutes of fame lived vicariously through Luke.

We had three special surprises in March.  First, Dave's sister's little boy decided he wanted to be baptized into our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (a.k.a. The Mormon church) .  They have been inactive most of his life but have recently been coming back to church., and taking the missionary discussions.  None of their kiddos have been baptized so we were all really excited when Matthew decided he wanted to be baptized.  Which leads us to our second surprise . . . Dave's parents came down for the baptism meaning we got to see them again!

And third, while they were visiting, Dave's cousin, Luke Matheny, happened to be in Austin for a panel for the sitcom Maron.  Luke directed several of the episodes.   In 2011, Luke won an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film for his film God of Love.  So, we all met up with Luke for dinner.    He is the spitting image of a younger version of Dave's dad (with lots & lots of hair).  He looks more like Dave's dad than any of the Matheny kids.  It is almost uncanny!  :)  Their mannerisms, etc, were the same too.  Wild.

~ Kevin, Katrina, Luke, Halli, & Dave ~

~ The whole gang ~

 Taylor is really into all things theater so she was beyond excited to meet him!  Dave hadn't seen him since they were in high school and I had never met him so it was so fun to all get together.  He's quite the character, that Luke. (If you want to see his Oscar Speech, click here.)  He's currently producing his first feature film starring Chevy Chase and Matt LeBlanc.  So, not only am I related to someone  kinda famous (in a round about way) but I now have the inside scoop on Chevy and Matt!  Ya baby.

Taylor still plays with dolls . . .

Just kidding!  She's never played with dolls which saddened me a bit as I loved dolls as a little girl.  Taylor is taking Child Development this year.  For one of their projects, they get to take home a baby for the weekend.  These are not regular dolls, they are little computers.  They record everything from feedings, sleep, amount of time spent crying, diaper changes, etc.  If you drop their head or accidentally hit their head, it's recorded.  You can not turn them off.  They cry, coo, etc.  It's pretty funny.  Their grade is based on how well the baby is taken care of.   Taylor & her friend, Emily, chose to bring home their babies on the same weekend.  It was so funny to see them try to get through a two hour movie . . . I think it took 3 1/2 hours!  :)   

 By the end of the weekend, they were exhausted!  :)  

Basketball

Have I mentioned that Carter LOVES basketball?  He eats, sleeps, breathes it.  We just finished a league and have started a select team.  He has his first tournament this weekend.  Luckily, it does not fall on Sunday.  When we signed up for the league, we did not realize they played on Sundays.  Carter was upset when I told him, "we don't play basketball on Sunday so if the games fall on Sunday, we'll have to miss them."  He thought we would make an exception . . . sorry bud!

Solutions

Our dog, Maggie . . . 

. . . was eating all of the cat food.  So, I asked my dad to make me a top for the dog crate so I could put the cat food on it.  This is what he made for us . . .

Isn't it gorgeous!  He's so talented.  And it keeps Maggie out of their food!

 Problem solved . . . thanks dad!