Dressing up in the Dining Room

Sometimes it's fun to get dressed up and go to dinner! We enjoyed eating in the dining room almost every night of the cruise. It was always an adventure when ordering because you never really knew what you were going to get! Sometimes it was "normal" and sometimes it was, well, "artistic"! My favorite part was the dessert menu. They should've just brought me that first!

Our Room

Do you see the little red circle to the upper left of my head? That was our stateroom. We were on level one, room 1265 and it was a perfect room. The lower the level and the nearer to the middle of the ship your stateroom is, the less movement you feel. For someone who gets seasick (me!) this is the best place to be! It's also no where near any of the common areas on the ship and very quiet. The carnival towel animals were fun "guests" in our room each evening. Later on in the cruise we took a towel folding class. Photos to come of that very soon! We loved our room!

90 Miles to Cuba

First Stop: Key West & the Butterfly Conservatory

Nasty weather in the northern US was slowly pushing its way south the week before our trip. Biloxi had been much colder than usual and so had New Orleans with temps in the 30Fs and 40Fs. We left port feeling very, very chilly and very, very hopeful things were warmer in the caribbean! We were very happy to wake up in Key West, FL with temps in the 60Fs and the high in the low 80Fs! It was perfect weather. We rode a trolley all around town and learned all about Key West's history and famous residents. We hopped off at the Butterfly Conservatory and got to see some very amazing butterflies and birds. The photos don't do the exhibit justice. The butterflies were flitting and flying all over the place. I was very glad we made a stop here.

My Week Off! Finally!

I missed Dustin's birthday this year because I was on a cruise to the Bahamas with my mom! Dustin promised me a cruise when he got home from his deployment last year and with the move and life it just seemed like it was never a good time to go. I looked online and saw that the further we got into the year the more the cruise prices went up so we booked this one in February with Dustin promising me it was ok to be gone for his birthday. I kind of felt bad but he reassured me it was fine and since he missed an anniversary back in December it all evened out in the wash! :) So here we are leaving New Orleans, LA on February the 5th ready for a lazy, yet fun-filled week!

Happy Birthday, Dustin!

Here we are celebrating Dustin's 34th birthday a little bit early this year! We celebrated the big day on Friday the 4th since I was going to be out of town on the 8th. We had a nice dinner and then did cupcakes and presents afterwards. Jenna made the cupcakes and they were super yummy. Dustin's favorite gift was tickets to see Tim Allen live at one of the casino resorts here in town. It was that same night so he got changed and off we went. It was a very funny show, although Tim the Toolman Taylor sure uses a lot of naughty words we never heard on Tool Time! Then on Tuesday, Dustin did whatever he wanted which included eating lots of yummy things, taking a nap, going for a walk, and partying with the kids! Happy Birthday, Dustin!

A long, long time ago...

Ok, maybe not that long ago, but still where does the time go? Back in January Dustin took the 3 older children to visit his friend Jake while Jake was training at a nearby Army Base. It was just me and Kelsey all weekend! I realized that sometimes 4 children are easier than one little one! The big kids entertain her A LOT! She wanted lots and lots of my attention, which was just fine with me until Sacrament Meeting on Sunday. Good grief! Give me all 4 over just her anyday! Anyways, on Saturday Kelsey and I headed to the beack for some fun photos. It was sunny and clear at our house when we left but there were lots of gray clouds just a few miles south at the ocean. These four photos are my favorites. After our photo shoot we headed to the commissary to buy something for dinner and then shared a quiet night at home. We were both happy to see everyone come home safely on Sunday afternoon!