Paradise...

Our summer family vacation was AMAZING!!! We went to the Flordia Keys/Everglades.I didn't keep up my journal while we were on the trip, so this is going to be my journal for the trip. I just hope I can remember everything accurately! WARNING: This post is going to be extremely detailed and probably boring to anyone that didn't go on this trip. There now everyone is warned. So here goes:

DAY ONE-TUESDAY: For me day one began on Tuesday at 0000 hours at work! If I remember right it wasn't too bad of a night at work which was good because my mind wasn't in it! I got off at 0730 and went home and slept until 1230. Then I ran errands, went birthday shopping, packed, helped a new roommate move stuff into the house, and tried to stay busy until my family arrived. They arrived at 2030 and I was so excited that I was waiting outside so that I could hear the squeaky brakes on the suburban! I quickly put my stuff in the suitcase my family brought and my dad was amazing and fixed my car! Thanks Dad! Then we ate some watermelon and nobake cookies that I made for the trip and we were on our way to Salt Lake. We stayed the night in a ghetto Ramada Inn.The best part of this was that there were two king beds in our room and so we slept 3x3!!! It was pretty hilarious!!! The sleeping arrangements were Mom, Dad and I in one bed and ERic, PReston, and Cameron in the middle of the other bed. I don't know how much sleep any of us got that night, I know I sure didn't, despite only having slept for about 4-5 hours in the past 30.

PICS of DAY ONE:

DAY TWO-WEDNESDAY (Sorry No Pics):

Day two was a travel day! We were up by 0500 and were in the air by 0750. The only incidental thing that happened at the airport was that I got searched by security and they took away my little gadget thing with a 1/2 inch blade! Whoops! The first plane ride was great because they had TV and personal screens on the back of every seat. We had a layover in Atlanta and then the boys had an earlier flight by about and hour. So they went and got the rental car and were waiting for us girls when we arrived in Miami. Then it was a matter of driving from Miami to Key Largo. By the time we found our condo it was what, like 2200-2230 or therabouts. It was really too dark to see much but some of us instantly discovered one downside to Florida-small biting bugs! They ate poor Mom alive. Despite the bugs we dropped off our luggage and headed outside to walk down by the beach and enjoy the 85+ weather and humidity! Love it! So we stayed at this awesome condo at a yacht club. It was really nice and it worked out so well for us. Thanks Mom! There was a nice little pier out into the water and the beach of course. Eric and Preston wasted no time in getting into the ocean which was so warm. They also tried out the pool for a few seconds. The bugs drove us inside and we figured out sleeping arrangements. The boys had a room, the parents had a room, and Andrea had the hidabed in the living room...which was great! Definetly the best view when I woke up each morning!

DAY THREE-THURSDAY:

So we woke up more or less refreshed and raring to explore our home for the next week. The view from our 5th floor balcony was amazing! Soon everyone was awake and most of us went for a run to the grocery store to get breakfast. I couldn't believe how warm/humid it was all the time! Any time of day or night and it was about the same. It was great! Our run was very nice and it was nice to explore the island a bit. Mom and I saw a crab scuttle off into the very thick jungle by the road. After breakfast we loaded up into the van and we set off for John Pennekamp State Park. We were soon in the water which was unbelievably warm. Dad and Cam got snorkel gear for early bday presents. We soon decided that we were all going to need snorkel gear for this trip, so after about two hours in the water we left the park, ate lunch (we ate at Arbys and discovered their strawberrybanana split shakes which has to be one of the highlights for Cam especially) and bought some snorkel sets for the rest of the family. We reentered the park armed for war! The snorkeling was very awesome and we rented fins which made it even better. We saw lots of cool fish, grass, and STING RAYS! Totally out of the blue but it was so awesome. There were also some large fish-tarpon that were sighted as well as some barracudas. We really, really enjoyed this first day in the water. The boys also got to climb some palm trees, and they saw a really "cool" car that I don't remember what the name was. Mom unfortunately struggles a little with salt water and got sick from snorkeling which was very sad. We probably stayed in the sun a bit too long because we were all sunburned the next day! That was the main highlight of Thursday, hopefully I'm not forgetting anything.

PICS of DAY THREE:

The views from our balcony!

Home Sweet Home!
Inside of the condo.

Flowers I found on the run.

Pres with the boogie board.

Dad's BIG fish he saw while snorkeling!

Dad and Ann

PRes up a palm tree. He brouht those coconuts home and ate them later that night. Oh, and Mom made a really yummy tropical drink to sip on while we played games that night

This is my favorite beach of any that we were on. It really does look like paradise!

Susnest that night from our balcony!

DAY FOUR-FRIDAY:

Happy Birthday to Dad!!! Yes, we got to celebrate a birthday while on the trip. Dad woke up an dwent on a run by himself that morning- he is amazing! We ate breakfast then loaded up in the van to make the 100 mile drive to Key WEst, the southernmost key. It was a fun drive. We stopped at anything that caught our eye and saw everything from hippies in a trailer park onthe ocean, to dolphins at a place we almost stayed at. We ate lunch at 7 mile bridge a historical point where the bridge between keys really is 7 nmiles long. Imagine driving on a bridge with nothing but water on both sides. It was awesome! When we reached Key West we found a beach and went snorkeling again. This snorkeling was a bit different and so it was awesome to see new things. We snorkeled aorund this pier and saw tons of fish, tons of conch shells, and mom got sick again. We wanted to bring some conch home but there was a 500 fine and too many people around. Oh, and on this day we decided to stop trying to be "cool" and we all wore white tshirts while snorkeling to keep our backs form getting any more fried! So instead we went and walked around on thepiers by the ocean and looked at the strange, fun, and exciting sights. We ate dinner at a pizza place that was very yummy. Then we walked down to the piers again and watched the sunset. It was a lot of fun. There were all of these peddalars and street performers and sailboats going by every few minutes and a gorgeous sunset. Dad got his groove on to the local music and you can see the picture below for proof. On the drive back home there was an amazing thunder/rain storm. There was lightening every night we were there which was awesome. We got home around 2300.
PICS of DAY FOUR:
Like I said, hippies!!!

Happy Birthday DAD!!

We stopped at this fishing store where we saw an iguana , oh and lots of cool fishing stuff.

What wonderful parents i have!!!

The family at Key WEst.

PReston and I crashed a wedding at a fancy club by takind pitures of their awesome plandscaping! JK the weddin was in back!

Two of the conch that we saw and the two we tried to take home. This is the only tangible proof we have that they existed!

Living the Dream!

Cool octupus mad eof blass bottle necks that we saw in an art gallery.


Dad's moves.!

DAY FIVE-SATURDAY:
Saturday was a chill day. We kind of just stick around the condo. Eric, PReston an dI went swimming at our beach, Pres an dI went on a walk, Mom and Dad went grocery shopping, and Cameron watched TV. In the afternoon. we went to the "Anything that Floats" Race. It was very interesting. The locals tying pieces of junk together and then racing them in the water. Towards evening it started getting a little stormy and so we did what all normal people do and went snorkeling on our beach. This was another fun experience. WE saw more fish, an dLOBSTERS! Lobsters galore. The boys tried really hard to catch some so we could eat them for dinnerbut they move quicker tha one might hink! We also met a nice man originally from Cuba who gave the boys some tips on how to catch lobsters. That night Mom made us a yummy dinner and we chilled.

PICS of DAY FIVE:

Our beach. (Or as Preston would say in imitation of what-his-bucket, THE BEACH.)

Oh we also had a reapeat of the ARby's shakes on day five!

DAY SIX-SUNDAY:

We woke up early and headed back to the mainland for church. Coincidentally we attended a Spanish ward, so the only people who could understand a workd that was said was Eric, Preston, and probably Dad. It was a very special ward however and the people were very friendly and welcoming to us. The girls thought Eric an dPreston were something else! After church we drove to the Everglades to have a more relaxed day of sightseeing and keep the Sabbath. The Everglades were amazing, but the mosquitoes were terrible!!! Mom got bitten again and actually so did all of the rest of us. We listened to a ranger talk about alligators and their diets. Just watching his imitation of an alligator eating was enough to put one into hysterics. "When he runs out of energy he stops, waits, and then gulp, gulp ,gulp" ( with his head bouncing up and down in the air in imitation of an alligator!) It was pretty funny. Then we ewnt on a short walk and were able to see five different alligators. Three were stationary and two were swimming. It was so cool to see alligators in the wild like that! We were so colose too, so I was able to get some good pictures. We went on few other short hikes but the bugs were eating us to death. It was very beautiful however. After we got home that night Mom made a seafood dinner along with one of those frozen pizzas for those of us without mature taste buds.
PICS of DAY SIX:

Apparently they are attracted to the rubber around the window and on the tires!

We had an extended conversation on cyprus trees and what were or were not cyprus trees. I am not sure it was ever resolved!

Our hands are all reaching out. how easy would it be for SNAP, and no more fun vacation!

This is an example of hos the "true" everglades are supposed to look. Shocker to me!

Cam and his lizard, or rather one of the many lizrds that he kept trying to get bite his ear. Notice the sweat on his lip. Yes, it was hot. I was about all I could do to stop running from the bugs long enought to take a picture!

Case in point...this was a picture ruined by the sudden swatting of a mosquitoe! no joke!

DAY SEVEN-MONDAY:

Cam and I went on a run in the morning, just the two of us and that was really nice. Monday was Miami day. Oh it had rained most of Sunday and looked bad on Monday, so we decided Miami was a good way to spend the day. We drove to some famous street that was very ritzy and walked around until we found our way to the...beach! No snorkeling this time! However the kids did swim for a couple of hours at the fmaous Miami Beach. It was fun. Kind of different from the beaches in the keys because there was actually sand and waves. however, no good surfing which was a disappointment to Preston! On the drive back we stopped and ate at the Olive Garden which was another big highlight for everyone. Never ending pasta bowl, need I say more. We spent the night semipacking and trying to avoid thinking about the fact that it was our last night!

PICS of DAY SIX:

DAY SEVEN-TUESDAY:

Tuesday morning we woke up and went...SNORKELING! Surprise! No this time we went out on a boat to the reef. This was our last day of snorkeling; our last day period, and it was the awesomest ever! Thereef was unbelievable. We had to just soak it in as fast as possible in an hour. Oh the fish! There was this awesome rainbow colored, coral eating, parrotfish that I loved. There were also eels spotted, barracuda, and once again unbelievable amounts of fish in every shape, size, and color. The coral was awesome too! The shapes and beauty! It was a definet highlight for everyone I think. Mom got sick once again and spent some time on the boat but we were glad she could see a bit of teh reef before she got sick. It was so cool and thanks so much for taking us mom and dad! I can't wait to see the underwater pictures! All in all, snorkeling was a highlight of the trip for me. I loved every second spent in that warm water! I could definetly do it more often! After the boat ride back we packed up, drove back to the Miami airport, and started home. Unfortunately our flight was delayed in Minnesota, toatlly out of the way! We were all on the plane and the captain made an overhead to the effect that he didn't feel like th eplane was safe to fly. So everyone off and two hours later we wre on the way again. We got into SLC at 0130. We drove back to Ogden and I got home about 0300. My poor family had to drive home still and got home at 0530 where they slept for two hours and then realized that both freezers and stopped working during the week! Oh life after vacation is brutal! I worked Wednesday night and lets just say I would rather be in Florida!

PICS of DAY SEVEN:

Pres on the snorkel boat.

Ditto Eric.

Ditto Cam.

Beautiful house, complete with hamok, right on the ocean. Hello dream house!

Inside shot of the condo during packing up.


Long and short of it is that is was a fabulous vacation. It was nice to have time off work, be in such a beautiful place, but most importantly to spend time with my amazing FAMILY! I love you all so much and it is all I can do to stay here in Utah without you all! Love ya! Thanks for the fun vacation!

Summertime Fun!

Summertime! It is what I live for. Winter is endured, fall is enjoyed, spring is anticipation and summer is fantabulous!!! This is my first summer having a "career" or in other words "a real job". Guess what? You don't get to take the summer off as a nurse! But I have found a way to enjoy myself still and get some fun squeezed in. Actually working 3 twelve hour shifts a week works out rather nice as it leaves most of 4 other days in which to work, play, or weed the garden! Yes my garden still grows. The tomato plant was an utter failure, and my onions died a few weeks ago, but other than that all is thriving. I did actually pull some golf ball sized onions today and I will enjoy those I am sure. Lesson: plant onions deeper and water them more often! :) My roommate planted two tomato plants and then left them to my care to water and weed. They have been remarkably successful and so I believe I will partake of those as freely as if they were my own. Especially because she got married and moved out!



Other summer fun: Early summer kayaking trip with Grandpa's kayaks. Very fun although it was freezing and rained on us!

Random beautiful sunset from my house. It was a Sunday evening and I laid on the grass and enjoyed it all by myself!
Eric came to visit me in Ogden and stayed at my house overnight. I wasn't actually there because I was working but i am sure he had a lovely time with my roommates! Awkward! Sorry Eric! We did go to the pioneer day parade in Ogden and saw this beautiful horse drawn hearse!!!

Eric in front of the Ogden temple. Side note- our stake did a fun service project at the temple, painting the fence, pulling weeds, and deflowering plants. It was fun and it felt good to help beautify the temple grounds!

Eric and me in front of the temple. (I had worked all night, slept 10 minutes and then left to go to the parade so that hopefully explains the exhaustion in my face!)

Eric the cowboy! We rode horses on one of my trips home. It was a lot of fun.

Cameron the cowboy! Poor horse got confused with so many amateur riders!

Preston the cowboy! He looks pretty good up there!

Andrea the cowgirl! I love horses!!! This reminded me of how much fun they are!


This is our Armenian friend Arthur and his daughter Stella. He met my grandparents on their mission to Armenia and they became dear friends. He and his adorable family came for a visit and we had fun riding horses, kayaking, jet skiing, water skiing, and eating delicious Armenian food with them!

Stella was my little friend! Such a sweet girl.

Robert, Stella, and me. Armenians produce beautiful children!

WATER SKIING!!! Love this sport beyond almost any other in the summer. I have been fortunate enough to go several time this summer both at the family reunion, with a friend, and with my family on this trip home! I hope my form is improving!

More water skiing.

We watched Robert and Stella while their parents went to the temple and we did something I haven't done in YEARS! We put the sprinkler under the tramp and jumped! Combine that with silly string and you have a PARTY!

Something else that I really enjoyed on my trip home was running with all three of my brothers in the early morning! I had forgotten how nice early morning runs are in Idaho. It isn't hot like it is in Utah! My brothers are all so handsome and strong runners, so it was a lot of fun!

Last weekend my ward had a super activity at Snowbird Resort in Little Cottonwood Canyon. I was scheduled to work Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights and this was to be all day Saturday. I was lucky enough to be able to get Saturday night off. So I worked Friday night, slept 3 hours, drove 1.5 hours and it was totally worth it! We went on a hike, swam, ate, chilled in the condo, danced at a free concert, and ate and swam some more! I drove back home at 10, got home and realized I had been up for over thirty hours with only 3 hours of sleep! I love working nights! This is my cute friend Melody. She is a nurse that graduated from BYUI as well, and she just moved into the ward and got home from her mission to Paraguay! It is fun to have someone with so many similar interests! The lake behind us is Cecret Lake which was our beautiful hike. ( "Cecret" because it was named by a miner who didn't know how to spell! ;)



Another view of the lake.

Pretty wildflowers! Notice I am sporting my BYU sweatshirt. I will be attending hopefully all of the home games this year!!! Go cougar football!!!

We also saw a moose on our hike! I took a picture but it got deleted on here and I am not going to reload it! There were so many people and it was just chillin. That was lucky because moose make me slightly uncomfortable-they are so big and mean!

These are some of the sisters in my ward at the concert that night. Notice the beautiful scenery! Love it!

Totally out of order, but this was the cute flower arrangement I made for the 4th of July!!! We went camping/kayaking in the Tetons for the 4th. Very fun!

What is summer without kittens?! Unfortunately the mama cat has since died as well as one of the orange cats, casualties to the road!

I went to an Asian festival with my friend Wendy! It was fun. The best part was there was a Chinese choir. They sounded really funny. Wendy informed me that because the Chinese language is so tonal it is very difficult to sing. That explained a lot!

These are some of my BYU roommates at a bridal shower for Ashley the girl in the gray with the glasses. It has been a summer of weddings: Ashley, my cousins Brent and Kirk, and my roommate Morgan.

I also got to go to a baby shower for my dear friend Jennifer for her adorable baby boy Tyce. He is such a cutie and it was so nice to be able to see them while they were briefly in Idaho.

Upcoming plans include a trip to Florida in 1 WEEK!!! I am so excited. After that it will probably just be working, try and squeeze in a bike ride/hike or two, hopefully another camping trip, and BYU football games with my brothers! Ahhh...summer you are so good to me!

Dad

I have the greatest father in the whole world! I didn't get to be home on Father's Day because I was working, but I sure did think of him all day. My dad is so much FUN! We are always having a good time together. He has been fabulous in teaching me to work hard when it's time to work and to play hard when it is time to play. He is such a good provider and spiritual leader for our family and we all trust him completly. Now that I have started working and supporting myself almost entirely I have realized that the responsibility to provide for others must be super stressful and I am grateful that he takes this job so seriously. I love going for runs or bike rides with my dad. I love talking to him on the phone and talking about all sorts of interesting subjects with him. My dad has always been so encouraging in my pursuit of an education and a career. I don't think I could have made it through school without his support and encouragement. I like how my dad enjoys the outdoors so much, I like how he makes up silly words or phrases and then uses them constantly for the next several months, I like how he pulls out the "dude rag" and wears it around the house, I like his laugh when something is really funny, I like how he always asks if he should wait for next Christmas to open any present, I like his leftover meals.

One of the best things about my dad is his spiritual leadership in our family. I have some very tender memories of father's blessings, prayers, family home evenings, and special events in our family. He has lead by example, showing us the best way to lead our lives. For example, I have never once heard my dad swear. He never has had to tell us that we shouldn't swear because he shows us that it is unacceptable. I want to marry someone who is like my dad. If I can find someone even close to as good of a husband and father as he is to us I will be the luckiest girl in the world. Thanks Dad for everything you do and for everything you are!
I like this picture of Eric and Dad. He is so proud of Eric and all of us kids when we do what is right. I love the love that I see coming from my dad to Eric and I feel that everyday from him.

The most important men in my life: Grandpa Waddoups, Grandpa Christensen, Cameron, Eric, Dad, and Preston. I love you guys and Happy Father's Day!