Happy 30th!

Mark turned 30 last week! 

But, if you ask Baylee how old daddy is she'll tell you he's 100!

I guess when you're 4-years-old 30 seems like 100!

We had a party last Sunday. I made dinner and invited Mark's family over.

His parents both got really sick though :(

So, just his brother's Micah, Philip, and our nephew Beau made it for dinner.

Mark got lots of fun presents! 

Like a new vacuum cleaner!

Ha ha! I know that is usually a present I would get for my birthday, but we really needed one, and I thought it would be nice for Mark to see how it feels to get a vacuum for a present! 

He actually really loves it though! It's an awesome vacuum! It's a Shark vacuum. It replaced my Dyson and I think I even like it BETTER than Dyson! It's WAY cheaper too! 

Mark also got a blu ray player.

We watched our first blu ray movie last night. It was Cowboys and Aliens! 

(A movie with Cowboys AND Aliens! 

Love it!

Why is that so funny to me? I don't know, but it really is!)

I didn't think I'd be able to notice the difference between DVD and Blu Ray, but I totally could! 

And the best 30th birthday present of all!

I took that little paper and wrapped it in a bunch of other boxes, so it would look like a really big present.

Because it is! 

We are going on a trip to Florida in April with NO KIDS!

We are going with two of Mark's brothers and their wives!
(Each brother has one wife. Thought I should clarify.)

Mark and Owen trying out the new vacuum!

Baylee LOVES her daddy! 

He's such a great dad to his two crazy kiddos! 

Owen jumped right into the big box after Mark opened it!

On Mark's actual birthday, he got to come home from work a little early. A couple of days before his birthday, his retainer that is glued to his bottom teeth, broke off. His birthday was the only day the dentist could get him in to fix it!

So, after he got done at the dentist he came home, then we took the kids to see

Beauty and the Beast in 3D!
(Told ya he was a great daddy! Taking his kids to a movie on HIS birthday)

Although, Mark and I were the only ones that left our 3D glasses on, so the kids just saw a slightly blurry version of Beauty and the Beast!
Oh Well!

 After the movie, we stopped and got some Chinese takeout!

Then, Mark's parents came over to see him. 

(And bring gifts)

I made some yummy brownie/strawberry cake cupcakes! 

They were really yummy!

(found them on pinterest)

I just used a box mix for brownies and for the strawberry cake.

I didn't want to eat a whole bunch of leftover ones (especially cause I had made a cake for his party the Sunday before). I Made 9 cupcakes, then I just froze the rest of the mix in zip lock bags!

I think I'll make more cupcakes like these for Valentines day with the rest of the mix :)


My parents gave Mark a Birthday card with some $$!

They are also watching our kids for us when we go on our trip! 

So, Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Happy Brithday Mark!
I love you! 

Cruise 2012!

 We went on a Cruise last week! 

My parents took our whole family for our Christmas present! 

It was Baylee and Owen's first time on an airplane! 

We flew to Tampa, Florida. It was a midnight flight and we had a 3 hour layover in Atlanta. 

Baylee and Owen mostly slept the whole way, so that was good. Owen only cried once and Mark got him settled down pretty quick.

 On our way to Florida, Mark noticed that my bag with most of my clothes was missing!

We called his dad and he went over to our house to see if he could bring it to us before we left, but he couldn't find it anywhere!

My sister and sister-in-law saved me by letting me borrow some clothes!

So, a big thanks to them! I wouldn't have made it without your help!

I had my swimming suits, shoes, formal dress, a pair of pants, and pjs.

That was about it though!

There really wasn't anywhere to buy anything either!

Mark did buy me one new shirt from the gift shop on the ship, but anywhere else I looked I didn't really see any clothes I liked.

When we got home we found my suitcase hiding behind the curtain in our room. I had brought some boxes in from the garage with some of the kids summer clothes in them while we were packing. They were in front of the curtain too.

That's why Mark's dad couldn't find it!

I was really grateful he tried for me though!

In the end Mark and I decided that it was actually a good thing we didn't have my bag!

We had our arms full enough in the airport with the bags we had, our kids bags, and the kids!

Mark keeps telling me this should be a lesson to me that I CAN PACK LIGHTER when we travel.

I don't agree though :)

It would have been nice to have some more clothes!

Anyway, after a long night of flying we were ready to get on the ship and get some food and settle into our rooms! 

Baylee made this shirt at camp carnival!  

 Mark and Owen on formal night! 

My handsome boys! 

 All of us on formal night!

Baylee wanted to order the Alligator! 

She's making her alligator face :) 

(she didn't like how it tasted though!)

Owen loved the Macaroni and Cheese! 

He had it every night when we ate in the dinning room! 

(he was so tired this night he was practically falling asleep in it!)

Our first port was Grand Cayman and we had to ride the boats in to the shore! 

We had planned on going to the beach, but it was a little rainy that day.

We went to the turtle farm instead and it was SO FUN! 

The turtles were so huge! 

It was really cool to see them!

Mark, Baylee, Me, Owen, Grandpa, Grandma! 

Owen loved the turtles! 

Baylee was not as excited, but she still liked them!

You could pick the smaller ones up! 

Pretty cool! 

Steph, Me, Karla, Owen!

Mark and the turtle!  

Baylee wasn't so sure about touching the turtles!

You can see she's thinking about it!

She has her finger ready! 

She was brave and did it!

She told me later, "Mom, I am not touching any more turtles today!"

Then like two second later we walked by a worker holding a turtle and she touched it.

Right across the street from the turtle farm was a dolphin place!

There were people who were swimming with them. 

It's free to just watch, so we just watched them! 

 The kids found this little playground! T

hey were more interested in it than the dolphins!

Pretty amazing! They were really fun to see! 

When we went to Cozumel we rented a Taxi for 4 hours.

When we were on our way to the beach Mark was sitting in the front by the driver.

Baylee, Owen, and I were in the very back of the van. Baylee wanted to know what Mark was doing, so 

I told her he was sitting up front, so he could speak Spanish with the driver.

Baylee started telling me how she speaks Spanish too.

She was counting in Spanish and telling me the few things she's learned from Dora.

I asked her how you say green in Spanish and she goes, "Greeno!"

Ha ha! 

We went to Paradise beach and went swimming.

Everyone else went to a different beach and went snorkeling! 

Paradise beach was beautiful! I loved it! 

There was a restaurant there, so we got some food cause the kids were getting hungry.  

Our yummy "Mexican" food! 

It was really good!  

Family picture at Paradise beach :)

(Owen was asleep!) 

On our way back to the ship Baylee fell asleep too! 

When we were almost back on the ship she woke up for a minute and said,

"Do you ever think about all of the things that are in your tummy like your stomach and your lunch?"

Mark and I started laughing then she told us she was just sleep talking!

Every night we had a new towel animal on our bed! 

Owen tore them apart pretty quick!

Baylee insisted that the towels should be hung up in the bathroom.

Not folded into animals!

They had a towel folding class on the last day we were on the boat!

Baylee and I folding our towels! 

We had  along wait in the airport on our way home. 

Mark was not feeling very well, so he was trying to get some rest.

Owen crawled right over him and snuggled by him!

So sweet! 

The Tampa airport is awesome because they have these little playgrounds!

It kept the kids busy!