Seattle Adventures...Day 2

So this day was my favorite...both because of where we went, but also because of perfect weather. Our first stop was the Woodland Park Zoo...and we loved it! Our highlights include: feeding giraffes, holding birds, Dippin Dots, and the Gorillas. The girls loved it and were so excited to look at their maps and helps us run from one animal to the next. Addie made us laugh because she was fearless almost putting her hand in a giraffe's mouth because she wanted it to finish eating her lettuce...and when she saw the zebras she said, "Zebras, Mom...Lets EAT 'em!" Random...

After a great day at the zoo we went on a Boat tour of the Seattle Harbor. It was beautiful that afternoon with a great view of Mt. Ranier and the guide told us a lot of great information. Addie was rocked to sleep...and Aana practiced taking pictures and took a million. We all enjoyed ourselves!

Seattle Fun...(Day 1)

This last weekend, we went for four days to Seattle for a fun trip with the girls! We have been through Seattle several times but hadn't taken the time to really EXPERIENCE it!

Day 1: We loaded up and headed out. The girls watched movies on the DVD player and the drive there was a breeze. We had purchased a City Pass which allowed us to do six of the major attractions in the area. The first thing we did was the Space Needle. I am personally VARY scared of heights, so the glass elevator got to me, but I was fine once I was up there. It was a beautiful view.

After that, we went to dinner and headed to Pike's Market to show the girls the fish tossing and beautiful flowers. That night we stayed at the Sheraton downtown. It was a great hotel with a pool on the 35th floor overlooking the city. (I would recommend it except for the $38 daily parking fee!!)

Our Girls...

A couple of quick pics before church! I love these girls...

Easter Morning...

This morning, the girls found their eggs and we had a nice breakfast. After that, we had a great time as a family discussing the true meaning of Easter. Aana and I had one of the most tender conversations about the atonement that I have ever had. We each shared our testimonies with eachother and discussed how the Holy Ghost bore witness of the principles we were talking about. I can't explain it well, but it was a beautiful moment that I hope to forever remember. Aana has such a special girl and is so sensitive to the spirit...I hope she always retains that amazing quality!

We had a nice time at church and came home just in time to head off to a dinner at my parents house with the family and some neighbors. Dinner was great...and now we are home...I am exhausted, but my heart is full.

Poor Eggs...they started out so white and pure...

Some people make beautiful for Easter...they do intricate designs and make them masterpieces. In our family...we just get it done.

We do write messages on some of them in crayon before they get colored...but this year they ended up particularly lame. (ie, Braithwaites are cool! Mom is hot! (I was hoping Larry meant me...not his actual mom :), our names, pictures of very ugly bunnies, eyeballs, and more) I wish I could say we were more artistic in the egg department...but we weren't. The girls enjoyed it, though...and the bunny hid them just the same. Maybe next year we will up our game!

What a day...

Saturday's schedule was FULL from the time we woke up to the evening... Larry had to work, but the girls and I were off for a full day of fun. There were alot of fun activities in the community...and we tried to support them all!

We went to an Easter Party at the gym where we made bunny ears, decorated cookies, played games, and more...we left early to head to Lowes to build another bird house...from there we rushed to the mall for a "Handy Manny" Earth Day celebration where we planted an egg carton garden. After that we picked up sandals for the girls, got some food for Easter dinner...and we got ready for a big egg hunt in our neighborhood. The girls had a great time there and we came home to dye some eggs to leave for the bunny.

At the end of the day...I know I was tired, but I think the girls could have kept going...
It was a good day!

Build them and they will come...

We were hoping that if we added some birdhouses to our backyard that the birds (and SPRING...) would come!

Aana and her friend Camryn had a great time building these birdhouses (thanks to predone kits from HomeDepot)...and painting them. I was pretty impressed that these girls knew how to hammer nails straight better than me!

What Happens in Vegas...

Well, Nothing too crazy happened in Vegas but we had a great weekend with Larry's staff at the Dental Town Conference.

We flew out Thursday night and came back Sunday Evening. There were 10 of the staff from his office there and it was great getting to know everyone. Not being in the office, I hadn't previously had a chance to get to know them as well. We were picked up from the airport in a limo... which amazingly held all 10 of us and our luggage.

We stayed at Ceasasrs Palace and enjoyed it. The Conference was a great source of good info for the whole staff...and it served at a great teambuilding experience. I think Larry's favorite moment of the conference was meeting Lee Corso (Analyst of ESPN's College Gameday Football and former college coach.) Lee gave a great speech on the lessons he had learned in life, but afterward he opened it up to questions, and, of course, Larry's hand shot up. As if that wasn't enough...Larry later got a pic with him and he also had a long conversation with a dental legend who is credited to being the "Godfather of Oral Surgery."

My personal highlights were the Cirque show: Le Reve...which was amazing! I can't even describe it...but it was fantastic!! It combined, music, acrobatics, diving, comedy, dancing, and so much more. It is a must see if you are in Vegas!

We also got to see some old college friends that are doing a residency in Vegas...and it is always great to see friends. They took us to Mandalay Bay's Shark Exhibit and it was fun...and they also took us over to In-N-Out...which just speaks for itself.

I also was in the gift shop of Ceasars when Bette Midler walked less than a foot away from me. I wasn't prepared to take a picture...and I only noticed her because the cashier froze and stared...

But my absolute FAVORITE PART was when we were flying home. Larry was so excited because he had a "Priority Boarding" pass and he was so anxious to board that he was showing off in front of his staff and boarded a flight going to Springfield, MO....which was NOT our flight. We let him stay on for a while until I asked someone to go retrieve him. We all laughed so hard...it was hilarious. Even the others in the airport clapped and heckled him as he deboarded the WRONG flight. You would have had to been there...but it was great.

Random shot...

Youthful aspirations...

Aana has always wanted to be a Vetrenarian. She constantly is trying to learn about animals...she uses her doctor kit on her stuffed animals...and she just LOVES animals. This has come as a surprise to me, because I don't really encourage that. I like animals, but don't really want to touch them. (it stems from a deep rooted germaphobia...) Her love for animals surprises me MOST because she has been bit in the face THREE different times by large hunting dogs. I would expect her to be scared to death, but she isn't!

But yesterday, she informed me of a new aspiration. Occasionally she watches the cartoon "Higglytown Heroes" on the Disney channel. If you haven't seen that show, than I need to quickly explain. They glorify every different type of profession that you can think of ranging from hot dog vendor to trash man. Apparently she has recently watched an episode on someone that runs a laundromat...and now. That is what she wants to do. She says she wants to wash other people's laundry for a job. She is insistent...and has mentioned it to me several times. She has a very elaborate scheme and gets to excited to tell me about it!

I appreciate all of the diffferent positions there are in life and I am grateful for those laboring in all different fields...but honestly... I think I am going to quit letting her watch that show~ :)

Cruising...and Lovin' it!

So...Larry and I are trying to recover from an amazing 8 night cruise to the Eastern Caribbean. We went on the Independence of the Seas (Royal Caribbean)...and it is currently the largest, newest ship in the world. It was beautiful and we recommend it to anyone!!! We had way more fun than our pics show, because most of the fun things we did...we didn't carry around our cameras...so I apologize for all of the "posed" shots. It is the best we had.

We had a blast on the islands...we rented Segways in St. Maarten and cruised around the island.

This is the view from our balcony in our room.

We went Rock climbing on the boat!

I bought this hat in Haiti...at their market.


St. Thomas

Larry boogie boarding on the ship. They had an amazing surf simulator. I did this, but also did stand up surfing...and it was a blast. I think Larry didn't take a pic so that I wouldn't show him up! :)

We took a boat out to go snorkeling in both St. Johns and also in Haiti. I really loved that...the oceanlife is amazing!

Just beautiful...

This was the capital in Puerto Rico.

This was our favorite of the animals our room attendant made each night.








There are several things NOT pictured that were large parts of our fun. We ice skated, played volleyball, ping pong, minature golf, went to amazing shows, and so much more! The food...it was amazing. We both frequented the frozen yogurt self serve by the pool several times a day. Our last cruise was our honeymoon 8 years ago and we have decided we definitely aren't waiting that long again! It was amazing! (and I can't go without publicly thanking my parents who willingly and lovingly cared for our girls while we were away!)

Too important not to blog...LARRY TURNED 30!

March 5th, my amazing husband crossed a new threshold...into the 30's! It was a big and important day that I needed to recognize on our blog...but didn't have time as it was the day before we left for our cruise. We celebrated by having dinner at Anthony's with the family and he got a big Craftsman tool chest...

But I didn't want it to pass so quickly, so I wanted to list 30 reasons why the girls and I are grateful for Larry:

He looks good in a baithing suit! (he will kill me for posting that pic)

He is easy going.

He keeps us laughing (mostly at him..but laughing)

He works hard

He irons his own clothes.

He is always optimistic.

He is a great dad!

He isn't a picky eater

He is a great provider for our family

He changes diapers!!

He is full of cheezy jokes the kids love.

He is smart.

He is very proud of being a BYU fan!

He is the only boy in our house...and we need balance

He always figures out our video game, computer, and electronic problems.

He is good at reading bedtime stories

He loves chocolate as much as I do.

He read Twilight!

He shows us how much he loves us.

He never forgets to take out the trash.

He is a good "cuddler" (says Aana)

He is "naturally athletic" (inside joke!)

He is very good at soduko puzzles.

He supports the girls and I in all that we do.
He is easy to buy clothes for...if it is blue...he will like it!

He gets along with everybody!

He does great magic tricks!

He watches American Idol with us!

He is great at cleaning up the fridge.

He is a good example for our children.

We love you Larry...Happy Birthday!

St. POTTY's Day at our house!

No...that wasn't a misspelling...today was officially St. POTTY's day! I had put off potty training Addie until we returned from our cruise. So yesterday we began the fun. We had a Potty party, did several potty dances, sang potty songs, read potty books, bought potty candy...and lived by the toilet. You are all jealous, I know!

I must report that she had 8 accidents (unless that was the leprechauns "pot of GOLD" for me) and finally went in the toilet for the first time at 8:15 pm on the way to bed. (Aana basically potty trained herself at 17 months...so I had a sneaky suspicion that this one would be challenging...just because!) Addie knows exactly what to do...she is just stubborn....but I can't give in. She just turned 2, and I am done buying diapers, so the battle begins! I will keep you posted on our progress!

I know..I know!

My blog has tanked, but I am promising a strong return. February flew by....Aana and Addison's birthdays, Valentines, our anniversary, work, illness, etc.

At this moment, Larry and I are leaving for 10 days for a cruise. The girls will be at Grandma and Grandpa's house! This is our first real trip since our honeymoon 8 years ago. We are excited and will post pics.

I promise I will redeem myself as a blogger...just not until later!

PS- Kelly, if you read this blog in the mean time...Happy birthday on March 15th. I would call you, but I'll be out of the country. I am thinking about you though!