Disney Cruise, Part 1

We are back from the cruise. We had so much fun! Naomi loved it! We did so many things that my cruise posts are going to come in parts that way it doesn't have to be one giant post. So we'll start with Saturday and Sunday.

We flew out Saturday January 23 and landed in Florida around 8:30 pm. We got to our hotel around 9:30ish and got settled in and hung out with cousins for about an hour before going to bed.

Sunday January 24 we woke up and while Cory and I got everything out of our hotel room Naomi was running around with her cousins watching the alligator in the pond outside the hotel. So we get to the port around 10:30 so that we can get all registered so we can board early (you board based on your arrival at registration). Well while we were checking in we had to fill out a small questionnaire asking if anyone had been sick at all in the last few days. Naomi had had a runny nose and a slight cough so we answered yes. Yeah for honesty, we had to we 45 minutes to see the doctor, so that Naomi could be cleared to board the ship. And she was cleared since she was basically better. While we waited for the doctor, Naomi got to meet Mickey and see Chip and Dale and I registered her for the kids club.

Naomi and Caleb with Mickey Mouse

Finally we were allowed to board the ship, Naomi was so excited!

Once we boarded the ship we went to the buffet for lunch and then went to our staterooms. Our room was upgraded from the cheapest to the second cheapest room so the were a good size.

The cool thing about the TVs on the boat is that every channel only played Disney shows. They had a Disney classic cartoon channel, new movie channel, classic animated movie channel, Playhouse Disney channel, and so on; I wish that is how my TV could be at home.

After settling in we went to the Oceaneer's Club (the kids' club) so that Naomi could become familiar with the place.

She liked it there (as long as we were close by). It was a really neat place; the play area was like a pirate ship and they had an area for movies and a stage for other activities and the counselors were really nice.

After checking out the club we went to our room to get our life jackets and then headed to our meeting area for the mandatory boat drill.

Naomi fell asleep right before we headed up for the drill so she was really tired.
After the drill was over we went back to our rooms and changed into our bathing suits so we could see the Adventures Away show and then go swimming in the Mickey pool.

Part of the Adventures Away show

Naomi and cousin Zoey had so much fun in the pool.

After swimming, we got ready for dinner at the first restaurant in the rotation of 3 restaurants. Our first dinner was in Animator's Palette. The food was delicious and our servers were awesome. (The cool thing is that our servers rotated with us as we switched from restaurant to restaurant.)

Our servers were Zinzani (on the left) and Chakkapong (on the right)
After dinner we went back to our stateroom to find our room ready for bed, and this cute little bunny (the first of many towel animals)

Naomi fell asleep shortly after, so we hung out in our room and watched "The Golden Mickey's" (that night's show) from our TV.

Before I went to bed, I went to the lobby atrium to get Princess Tiana's and Snow White's autograph for Naomi (even though she was sleeping).

After getting their autopraphs I was ready for bed, especially since Cory and Naomi were already sleeping.

Well that is Day 1 on the cruise ship. Coming up, day 2 in Nassau, Bahamas.

One Week From Today

One week from today we'll be boarding the Disney Cruise ship. I'm so excited!! But I'm not quite done getting everything ready, luckily we have a whole week left and we only need to buy a couple more things for the trip. I'm pretty sure Naomi is excited for this trip because she tells people she's going on a boat, an airplane, and that she's going to see Mickey and Goofy. She even likes to wear her water shoes almost everywhere we go, she likes to call them her ocean shoes.

I know I haven't posted very many pictures lately (mostly because I forget my camera), but after this trip I'll have many pictures to post.

New Year's Resolutions

2009 was a good and crazy tough year for us. We graduated, we moved, then we moved again, adjusted to drastic climate changes, and adjusted to life changes. I'm so grateful for all that we were blessed with last year, but I am glad that that year is over. 2010 is going to be a great year, full of even more changes. I've been thinking about my personal resolutions and family resolutions and I feel if I don't write them down I may lose sight of my goals. I like how Brian Tracy put it, "Goals in writing are dreams with deadlines." So here goes.

Personal Resolutions
#1 Exercise consistently 5 days a week. And with this goal I plan to train for a half marathon.
#2 Be happier. I'm a happy person, but I feel that I haven't been as happy lately and that I'm more easily irritated. So to help fulfill this goal I'm going to write down 3 things I'm thankful for everyday. So today I'm thankful for Naomi and her lively spirit, I'm thankful that Cory has a secure job, and I'm thankful for the good friends I have.

Family Resolutions
#1 Find the right house for us. We have started house hunting, which is quite the process and we're excited to be making this step in our lives.
#2 Save more money. I know that sounds kind of funny since we are trying to buy a house right now, but we hope to get into a house with a low mortgage so that saving will be reasonable.

Naomi's Resolution (which she doesn't know yet)
#1 Learn to spell her name. She has the ability, I just have to be patient in teaching her. But I know she can do it.

I've had a lot on my mind lately, but I'm glad I finally got that written down. Now I can start focusing on the two most important things right now, finding the right house and getting ready for our Disney Cruise in a couple weeks.

Christmas Festivities

**Beware this is going to be along post, December was a fun and very busy month**

On the 12th, Tempe holds a Christmas boat parade on the lake, so we went with some friends. I forgot my camera so sorry there are no pictures. We had fun and figured out what to do different to make next year even better. This is going to be a new tradition for our family.

On the 17th, we had the Collinwoods' and Cory's brother over for dinner and games. After we ate, we let Naomi and Caleb open their gifts to each other.

Naomi got Caleb one of those play cell phones and he was so excited. Caleb gave Naomi a bandana dress his mommy made. I was excited, but Naomi was more excited about the packing peanuts. Don't worry as soon as she wears the dress I will post a picture. We had lots of fun hanging out!

The next day I decided I would try and explain the reason why we celebrate Christmas to Naomi. She kind of got it I think. She was really excited when I told her the story of Jesus using our nativity. We spent the afternoon taking turns telling the story using the figurines. Here is Naomi's version (sorry the video is sideways, I couldn't turn it):

On the 19th, we went to a family Christmas party. We ate really good Mexican food. We had a gift exchange, and then Santa came with a bag a presents.

Naomi and Santa drew pictures together. And then she waited patiently, well as patiently as a 2 year old can be, for Santa to call her name so she could sit on his lap. She was really worried that he didn't have a stocking for her. But he did and they just sat and talked for a little bit.

Santa helped Naomi open her gifts from him. She got a harmonica and chap stick, which she loved.

Then after letting everyone else have their turn with Santa, Naomi and Katie (Naomi's kind of cousin) sat with Santa again.

Then they decided they wanted to go to the North Pole with Santa, so they got into his toy bag. Naomi had so much fun!

On the 22nd, we had fun playing at Naomi's cousins' house. It was a "scrap and wrap" party for all my scrapbook buddies at my sister-in-law's house. So while Naomi played with Caleb Cope and her cousins I worked on a Christmas present for Cory. I got the idea from Somewhat Simple, it's "The 12 Daytz of Christmas." It gives a date idea for each month of the year. Here is my final product:

I'm really happy how it turned out; I was worried I wouldn't like it. It was a fun day!

On the 23rd, we went to the zoo with Nicole and Caleb, Jill and her granddaughters, and Naomi's cousins Jessica and Riley. It was a cold day, but we had fun. We rode the train, went to the petting zoo, played in the play area by the wallaby's, and rode the carousel of course.

On Christmas Eve, I got to play basketball in the morning, which was so much fun! That afternoon, we decorated cookies for Santa. Naomi's favorite part was pouring on the sprinkles.

That evening we went over to Cory's twin's in-laws for dinner and then we went to see the lights at Mesa Temple. Naomi had fun and loved seeing all the lights and the nativity. When I asked her what the baby's name was in the nativity she told me Leo. She's so funny

She fell asleep on the ride home because it was late, so I set out the cookies for her.

Christmas day Naomi woke up at 8 and was happy to see that Santa ate her cookies and she was even more excited to see the presents. She loved everything she got and loved opening the presents.

We went to Naomi's cousins' for lunch and then to Cory's twin's in-laws' again for dinner, real Chicago pizza.

The next day, I hit the sales and got some new Christmas tree ornaments (that I am so excited about), this is the first time since we've been married that I've gotten new ornaments so I'm way excited for next year. That evening we went to my Grandma Taylor's house for dinner and saw family I haven't seen in a long time.

Overall, we had a great Christmas. Busy, but lots of fun. We hope you all had a very merry Christmas!

Project Ornaments

So I've been feeling crafty lately and I found a really cute idea for making Christmas tree ornaments out of toilet paper rolls. I got the idea from the muffin tin mom, follow this link to check it out: Muffin Tin Mom.

So here is my finished product.

The next time I do a project like this I will use acrylic paint instead of spray paint. Reason one: I can't stand the smell of spray paint. Reason two: in order to make sure that the paint was even all over I had to use my fingers to rub it all around and some of my stars still have spots without paint. But it was fun and I'm glad I'm done.

Ho Ho Ho

The Sunday after Thanksgiving we told Naomi that we could set up the Christmas tree. She was so excited. She helped us put lights on the tree and put a couple ornaments on the tree and then she started playing with the stockings and the Santa hat.

(As soon as Naomi put on the hat she started saying "Ho ho ho")

(Naomi thought the stockings were big boots)

(Here is the finished product. Yes I know our tree looks a little bare, but this year I will finally get new ornaments during the after Christmas sales.)

Thanksgiving Recap

Thanksgiving was fun this year. My parents and my little brother came to visit us. Naomi loved having them here.

Wednesday before Thanksgiving we stopped by the ASU bookstore so my dad could get a running shirt to add to his collection. He convince Cory and me to get a shirt too so we could be matching for the race the next day. For lunch we took my family to Paradise Bakery (one of my fav places to eat) and they loved it, especially the cookies. We then went to my Aunt Jolyn's house and hung out with all the family. We had dinner there to celebrate my dad's birthday.

Thanksgiving morning my dad, Cory, and I ran in the Mesa Turkey Trot 10K. My dad was nice and ran slow with me.

(Here we are before the race)

(Here are Naomi and Brad waiting at the finish line)

(My dad and I are finally at the finish line, at 1 hour and 2 minutes)

(Cory finished 7 minutes after us, pretty good for not even training)

After the race we went home, showered, and made some pies. When we were all done with the pies we headed over to Cory's mom's house. It was a lot of fun because Debra (Cory's sister) and niece Zoey, Craig (Cory's twin) and wife Amy and Debra's friend and two sons came. We ate a lot of good food and just lounged around. That evening we went over to Amy's parents' house for pie.

Friday after Thanksgiving we did some Black Friday shopping, but we didn't go until 9 am. We got all but two items on our list (pretty good for not getting up at 5 am to shop). For lunch we took my family to Chipotle and they loved it. That afternoon we went to my Grandma Taylor's house (my mom's mom) to celebrate her birthday and hang out with all the family.

Saturday was my parents' and brother's last partial day here. That morning my dad wanted to go swimming. We warned him it would be cold because our pool isn't heated, but he insisted. Cory, Naomi, and I enjoyed the hot tub and watching dad get into the pool. After about 5 minutes of trying to adjust to the water he decided he'd come join us in the hot tub. We spent the rest of the morning just hanging out. Before they went to the airport we took them to In-N-Out for lunch.

Thanks Grandma Dorie and Papa Steve, oh and Uncle Brad too for visiting us.