The highlights of my week

You will be able to tell how sad my week has been when you see the highlights. First, it's finally close enough to Christmas to dress Addison in her new Christmas dress from my mom. She looks like Mrs. Claus, only much younger and much cuter.

Then I attempted for the first time to put all of Addison's hair in one ponytail and it was a success. Not because it looked good, but because I got all of her hair in the holder for more than 5 minutes. It only stayed for about an hour, but a success none the less.

These were the high points only because we've been stuck at home most of the week while the plumber came to fix our leaky pipe. Ahh, the joys of home ownership! He had to drill under the tile and concrete in the master bath to get to the leak, which resulted in my WHOLE house being covered in concrete dust. Now I get to clean it up. Now you know why the high points of my week are so simple. It's been a rough week.

What a whimp!

I had a scary, yet angering experience last week. I went to Walmart about 1/2 mile from my house and was waiting in the self checkout line when I noticed the guy in front of me taking software out of a box and trying to hide the box behind stuff on shelves in the line. I wasn't positive that I saw right, but I'm sure he knew that I noticed because I was right there! I pretended I didn't notice, but I could feel my face turn bright red. I also watched him move the envelope with the software to several different places in his cart to try to hide it better. When he went to pay for the other item in his cart he didn't have the extra 56 cents he needed so he called over the woman who helps the self check-out customers and she called another worker over, but they either didn't notice or didn't care! I feel bad that I wasn't brave enough to say something to him and I even waited til he was out of view before I grabbed a worker and told him that I was pretty sure that guy had stolen some software. I'm not even sure if they caught him, but I was super scared as I left the store and got into my car. I kept looking to make sure no one was following me. (This isn't easy to do when strapping a toddler in a carseat.) You may think I'm paranoid, which I am, but let me defend myself by saying that there was a shooting (possibly gang related) at this same Walmart in the middle of the day just a few months ago. I was also angry because I had heard that shoplifting is a problem, but I'd never seen someone in action. He must have thought I was ok with what he was doing. That angered me too, but not enough to make me say something. Anyway, maybe someday I'll get some guts and be able to tell the guy to his face that stealing is wrong.

Fun with cousins

I forgot that we got these cute pictures with Addison's cousins during Thanksgiving. She had so much fun with them. She can now point to Tallie in a picture and followed Brayden under a desk at Katie's where I was informed that they were hiding. If only she had an older sibling...

Thanksgiving

We had such a great Thanksgiving this year. Dave's parents and brother Dan and his family and his uncle Bruce and his family all came in town and we had a big family dinner at his Aunt Pam and Uncle Steve's house. There were a total of 28 of us (I think 29 if you could my sister's baby Ladd) and it was perfect. After dinner I gave up trying to keep Addison out of the fountain in the backyard. In just one big splash she was soaked so I just took all her clothes off. It wasn't freezing outside because it is almost never freezing in Phoenix, but it was chilly and the water was really cold, but she didn't seem to care. By the end she was shivering so hard she couldn't even walk, but she just kept laughing and squealing with joy. When she tried to climb in the fountain is when we decided she was done.

We love weekends!

We had such a fun day last Saturday. First thing in the morning Addie went outside with her dad and helped clean windows. Her "assignment" was to get all of the suds out of the bucket. That was so much fun that she stuck her head in the water as well. She was sopping wet by the time they finished.

After a nap we went to the Arizona State Fair. Addison wanted to camp out in the petting zoo the whole time.


This was a fun exhibit where little kids get to "plow" a "field". She didn't care what it was. She loved riding on the tractor.Lastly she rode the Carousel. She looks so old in this picture.

Little Bumblebee

I am finally finding time to blog about Halloween. Addison was so excited to wear her bee costume. When I first bought it I put it on her to make sure it would work and she thought it was really funny. When I pulled it out of her closet on Halloween, she couldn't stop giggling. She was so excited to wear it. I had to take these pictures quickly because she wouldn't stop running around the house. She was already way too hyper, even before the candy came out. I think she likes this holiday. There aren't any good poses, just action shots.



At our ward trunk-or-treat she rode on a train with this girl named Chloe. You can't tell from the look on her face, but she absolutely loved it. She screamed when I took her out.

Dominican Republic

After 5 years of talking about going on an exotic vacation, a destination list which is several pages long, we finally did it. We chose to go to the Dominican Republic because Dave served his mission there about 10 years ago and I wanted something tropical. We made an excellent choice and had a great time. For those who want details, or even those who don't, here is a day-by-day description or our vacation.

Day 1

Technically this day started at 11:40pm the night before. That is when our flight left from Phoenix bound for Atlanta. We arrived around 6am not having slept a wink and all we could think about was finding a quiet corner to spread out. There were plenty to choose from, but unfortunately the Atlanta airport is kept at Arctic temperatures.

We gave up on that quickly. It was the latest we've stayed up since college. At least for me. For those that knew Dave, you know he never went to bed past 10:30.

We arrived in the D.R. around 2:30pm where we checked out the grounds of the resort and relaxed. We fought to stay awake until about 8:30 when we crashed.

Day2

This was a Sunday so we awoke early and went to church in the city. I didn't understand more than a few words during the 3 hours, but it was quite the cultural experience. Dave didn't bother to tell me that women like to kiss cheeks when they meet. I think it was more of an ear on the first attempt. Dave was surprised that even after ten years there were still several people in the ward who remembered him, including this family he taught. The father is now the second counselor in the bishopric.

The rest of the day we relaxed and went for a walk on the beach in the evening. This is a picture of the sunset.

Day3

This was another day of relaxing. We spent this day on the beach and planning out the rest of the week. We thought it would be fun to take before and after photos to show off our newly acquired tans. Here are the before shots (WARNING: due to glare, sunglasses are advised).

The beach at our resort was really nice. There was plenty of room for sun, but there were also a lot of palm trees for shade when it got too hot.

Day4

Today we went on an "Outback Safari" tour. They fit 24 people in the back of a jeep/truck and get to experience different facets of Dominican life.

First we drove through the countryside to see lots of Dominican vistas and typical rural Dominican lifestyle. This is a picture of a typical Dominican home. This experience definitely made us grateful for all that we have.

Next we went to a river where after being pestered by a few local boys for Pesos, Dave taught them a lesson with a 5-on-1 wrestling match.

Next we had lunch and saw some Dominican wildlife on a riverboat ride, including tarantulas, snakes, iguanas and alligators. For those who haven't seen Dave in a while, he's the skinny one...without the tale.

Lastly we were off to the beach for some fun boogey boarding. Our beach at the resort didn't have great waves, but this one did. Carly got wiped out by several before calling it quits.

Dave had a blast.

We arrived back at the resort exhausted.

Day5

Today we woke early and took a 2 1/2 drive up the coast to the western end of the country. Here we hopped on speed boats and drove through a maze of government-protected mangroves. It was pretty cool how we could see the the roots growing right into the water.

The boats took us to "Paradise Island" or as we prefer to call it "Paradise Sandbar". Here we spent a few hours watching our tour guide makeout with his girlfriend. We did manage to pull ourselves away from the excitement to go snorkeling, which was pretty amazing. These pictures don't do it justice. Unfortunately the coral reefs were about 30 feet under where the lighting wasn't sufficient for our disposable water-proof camera.

We finished the day the same as we did most days, playing one-on-one Cribbage and Gin.

Day 6

Today we decided to be adventurous and take a self-guided tour of Puerto Plata. Tourist price: $90. Tour guide Dave: $20. This included catching a ride into the city in a small van with 8 Dominican locals in a Guagua. These are the D.R.'s version of public transportation. We visited the Fort San Felipe where Dave fails to mention for the countless time that he is the one that speaks Spanish, not me. So the 90 year old caretaker proceeded to give me a very detailed history of the site. Dave's translation lasted all of 15 seconds.

Next we took a motoconcho (three adults on a small motorcycle, I bet the people who paid full price didn't get that experience) to the base of Mount Isabel de Torres. We took a lift to the top of the peak, where there were miles of trails that we wandered for about an hour. It was a beautiful sight.

Apparently Dave wasn't exagerating when he said there were wild chickens everywhere in the D.R. We even saw some at the top of the highest peak in the area. According to our Paradise Island tour guide, once you eat steroid-free chicken, you can never go back.

This is us posing on a bridge at the top of the peak. Because we didn't want to pay any of the oh-so-helpful "guides" to take a picture of us, we had to place the camera in strategic places with a timer. This was the best picture we got. The rest were a little awkward.

Day 7

On the last morning before heading home we relaxed on the beach. Here is a shot of Dave sunbathing. Notice this is the same shot as the before photo. Due to the wonders of SPF 30 we decided to conserve film and use the same photo for the before and after shots.

All in all we had a great and relaxing time. Thanks again to Katie and Darci for watching Addison. They've agreed to do it again next year, right?

Congratulations Jenni and Eric

Two of our very best friends are finally parents and we couldn't be more excited. LDS Family Services alerted them last week that they were chosen by a birth mother. They now have a beautiful baby boy named Matthew. Congrats you two, we know you'll be great parents.

Dominican Republic, here we come!

It's been a while since I've posted, but I've been busy planning for our trip to the Dominican Republic. We leave in just 4 days. My wonderful sister Darci, and Dave's awesome sister Katie have agreed to watch Addison so we can go and enjoy ourselves alone. Dave served his mission in the Santiago, DR mission, so we'll be staying in one of the areas he served in. We are so excited. It will be my first time out of the country.

I'm starting to get a little sad about leaving Addison for so long, but both Katie and Darci are great with her so I know she'll be fine. I'm more worried about Dave and I. We'll just have to focus on having fun and enjoying our time alone.