Mexico, baby!!

The hubby and I found a great deal online for an all-inclusive resort in Mexico. We decided this would be a perfect time to go. We didn't have a little baby or small kids that we'd have to bring with us, we had babysitters at our house (our awesome in-laws) that could watch the kids, and we had a week left of vacation time to use up....it was perfect timing of us really.
We've never been to an all-inclusive resort before, so I was super excited.
What made it even more awesome is that several of our close friends decided to come also, 12 of us in total booked it.


Here's our week in detail:

Day 1-

Check the weather, it's supposed to rain all week...NOOO!! We drive to the airport in plenty of time to check-in, eat and visit with all our friends. Board the plane....looooong....plane ride, ha ha, I'm a wimp, I know.
Arrive to pouring rain!! Like, really pouring. Manage to find our way to our travel rep, and board a bus to the resort. It's raining so much that the bus is leaking all over our heads.
Unpack, room is awesome!! Resort is awesome!! Eat Mexican food with really yummy green soup. Go for a late evening swim in the ridiculously warm ocean. First day= fabulous.

Day 2-
Wake up and attempt to go for breakfast, but are stopped by the timeshare people. Decide to go on timeshare tour, that includes breakfast. Takes WAY longer than they say, like usual...sales rep is annoying...like usual...we don't buy it...like usual. Get $56 off of a tour we really wanted to go on. Book the rest of our tours for the week.
Spend the afternoon swimming, eating and hanging out. In LOVE with the awesome warm water. Figure out the address to the church in the morning.


                             
Day 3- 
Somehow subconsciously convince another couple to come with us to church. Get a taxi driver named Nacho who knows exactly where the church is. Drive the crazy roads through major puddles (more like rivers) and crazy potholes...somehow make it to church in one piece.
Don't understand anything being said at church, that has already started. Realize that we got the wrong time, when what we think is the opening prayer, is in fact, the closing one. Stay for Sunday school, understand a bit, enough to know what the topic is at least. Meet lots of cool people. Takes pictures with the giant Book of Mormon and admire the sweet outdoor basketball court.
Back at the resort, we have a sand sculpting contest. We lose...but our sculpture is still super awesome, a sea turtle. My fave was the loveseat, but only because it made for such awesome photos!
Swim some more, really learn to boogie board. Eat more food (the hubby thought all the food was good, I disliked almost everything I ate).
We walk around late at night randomly looking for somewhere to dance, but never find anything.

Day 4-
Go on a "canopy tour", which is a whole bunch of zip-lines(15 in total). The bus ride there is long, but really neat...we drive through some cool mountains. Start zip-lining, and scream at the first 3 we go on. After #4 I'm practically enjoying myself, and by #8 or so I'm going upside down and spinning. Awesome views!! I almost die with all the walking and the crazy heat/humidity, but somehow I survive.
We finish the tour and buy the video. We feed monkeys, super cool! We eat. We swim down some rock water-slides into the crazy river. The river is super strong, and I almost get swept away.
We head back home and stop at a big flea market on the way. It's much hotter downtown than it was in the jungle. We shop for a while and see some cool street preforming-type people. We eat yummy ice cream. Someone notices were Mormon, weird? This happens almost every day we're in Mexico.
We head home.
Karaoke night, I think? I'm getting my days confused.

Day 5- 
We hung out at the resort tanning, eating and swimming. We didn't too much during the day today. Our big tour today is Rhythms of the night. Its fantastic!! Like something off of a movie...so awesome. The food was pretty good too, but still not a huge fan of anything we are eating. After the show, we eat an awesome candle-lit dinner and are serenaded by some amazing singer/drummer/guitarists. After dinner we peruse the torch-lit island and find some hammocks, a beautiful beach and really pretty views.
We walk home from the tour, once back in PV, and are almost eaten by crocodiles, spiders, rabid dogs...and zombies? Who knows, it was a crazy night.

Day 6-
We wake up bright and early to take a little water-taxi to Vallarta Adventures. Due to a pool closure, we all got $50 vouchers towards a tour, and so we all decided to go on the Marietas Islands tour. It was super beuatiful! We are all a little disappointed because the tide was too high for us to go to Hidden Island, like we had hoped for. The snorkeling was okay, but not nearly as great as some other places we have been to.
The worst part about today is getting sick!! A combination of sea-sickness and heat-stroke leads to me getting seriously sick for 2 days...no fun! But the beach that we went to was beautiful  and we got some great shots. 
I'm super bummed to miss all the dancing that everyone else is doing downstairs...apparently even my hubby brakes it down on the dance floor! Too bad I'm sick in my room attempting to watch TV...sad night.

Day 7-
I was sick all day!! I couldn't hardly leave the hotel room, and when I do, I can't eat. I just lay in the room or in the shade the whole day. Luckily, I'm able to start feeling better by the evening and get to join this SUPER fun night called "Miss Occidental". They pick 4 ladies to compete, and through a series of really silly, slightly embarrassing and ridiculous tasks...I eventually win the title of Miss Occidental...and a free t-shirt...sa-weet!

Day 8-I am pretty ready to see my kids by today!! And way more than ready to eat some good old Canadian food. We spend the day hanging out by the pool and beach, taking pictures and having fun. The funnest part of today is the pool volleyball game we got going...SO much fun, which is surprising because I suck SO bad....seriously, ask my friends:)

We take some more cool pics, and are off on our way home! The long flight is made longer by the fact that my flying-home novel isn't nearly as good as my flying-there novel. Also, the TV's are down completely....not cool. 
We make a pit-stop at Peter's and run into my family....so weird?! They are going through the drive-thru as we are at the drive-in....such a nice surprise!

After a long drive home, in which I manage to stay awake...we are finally home to our kiddos! It was all I could do not to wake them up....I missed them SO much!!

And that's our week in a nutshell! SO super fantastic! We both love the sun and the beach. In fact, the hubby stated tonight that we should save up money to move to Hawaii, sell mini-donuts at the swap meet and buy a laundro-mat and start a jet-lev company...now that's the life! :)

Thoughts on Conference

If you don't know what conference is, go here: www.lds.org, where you can listen, read and watch the General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We watched it live this weekend, but you can watch it after also. 
I loved that we got to stay home all weekend listening, and hanging out with the boys, who've we've really missed being gone this last week. 
I also love that it coincides with Thanksgiving weekend, and is reminds us how much we truly have to be thankful for. I mean, what's more awesome than the Gospel. 
Every 6 months we get this opportunity to listen to our modern-day Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and his apostles. It is always a great weekend:)
We made candy buckets, so the kids would pay attention...it always works like a charm. They listen for the corresponding word, and get a candy each time they hear it. They sat through almost 3 whole sessions, that's 6 hours!! I was pretty impressed. 

Here's some pictures of the weekend:

Some things I loved this weekend:
-Be a true Disciple of Christ. It always amazes me that conference talks flow so smoothly into each other...considering that every speaker chooses their own talk, not knowing what anyone else is speaking on. The underlying theme of this one seemed to be this, Be a Disciple. I loved the story of Peter that was told and re-told, "Feed my sheep. Feed my lambs." This is something that we can definitely work on as a family, and I've thought about a lot lately. Maybe we'll make it our family goal.
-Share the Gospel with all. I loved the changes they made to missionary ages, this will make a huge difference to missionary work, and is SO exciting! As my hubby is currently working with all the Ward missionaries, and Elders in our ward, missionary work has been on our minds a lot lately and we've been really striving for more missionary experiences in our lives. 
-Family History work is not just a suggestion, but a commandment and is an essential part of temple work. I've never heard it been talked about like that. I've never felt like I was missing out on a commandment. As was explained, family history work and Temple work go hand-in-hand, and we need to be doing both. Merely attending the temple, though essential, is simply not enough.
Wowza, I need to start working on that one!
-Become truly converted to the Lord through studying the scriptures and gospel truths, and don't seek truth through others accounts of what truth is. I really felt that this was an underlying theme also. Many people spoke about finding truth through becoming clean, seeking real truth  and strengthening your testimony. In the wake of so many people falling away from the church, this was really needed, and I hope that many people heed the call to come back. 
-Truly teach the Gospel in the home through uplifting media and gospel centered conversations. Many people spoke about how simply teaching the gospel on Sunday is not enough. This also goes along with uplifting media in the home, and not letting bad influences into our home in any way. This really hit home as well, as I know I can do a better job at this, and need to be careful about what kind of media I'm watching or being a part of, not just the kids, as it all affects the Spirit of our home.
-Avoid negative entertainment, media and websites. 
-Find joy in the journey, don't wait until the end of something good to start enjoying it. I loved this!! I find myself over-busy way too often...and just hoping for the week, month or even year to just be over! We wouldn't go to a carnival, and not enjoy any part of the night, pining for the end of it...we'd enjoy it! I need to enjoy things more, especially when it comes to my own children and family.
-Serve others. Don't be too busy to miss the promptings of the Spirit to serve. I always enjoy Pres. Monson's talks. One of the things I enjoy most though is hearing about the numerous occasions that he felt a prompting to serve someone, and heeded it...almost on a daily basis. He just drops whatever he's doing and obeys the prompting to serve, no matter how much it will disturb his own day. I need to be much more self-less, and not worry so much about my own to-do list, but worry about what I can do that day to serve others. 
-You can't rely on others testimonies, you have to consistently work on strengthening our own. I loved when Pres. Bednar spoke of the parable of the Ten Virgins. Maybe the 5 wise virgins couldn't give their oil to the others because it's not something that can simply be given, it's something that each person gains on their own, line upon line, precept upon precept. 

LOVED it all:) The weekend, my family, the beautiful and uplifting words...what a great way to celebrate Thanksgiving. 

My kids are crazy...

I forgot that one of the reasons that I used to LOVE writing in this blog was to document all of the awesome things my kids say...because, let's face it, their crazy! 

So here are a few from the last week or so:

I forgot that it was brown day at school, and this is the first thing A said to me when I went to pick him up:"mom...it was BROWN day, you forgot! I was the ONLY kid in the WHOLE school that wasn't wearing brown!"...ha ha, I'm sure. 
I took Roo to spanish this morning, and he was really sleepy, just cuddling me and not paying attention at all. He gave me a HUGE hug and said, "I love you to the TOP of the moon!"...so precious:)
Roo constantly walks around saying, "protect the world from evil!!"
A told me all about his scary dream last night...it consisted of him trying to fix our van. While he was trying to fix the van, he was standing outside of it and the windows started going up and down, and the seats started going up and down...apparently that was just the scariest thing ever! 
Roo was downstairs and calling up to A, "Big brother! Big brother!"...and then he told me..."My big brother is up there, and I'm my big brother A's little brother Roo, did you know that?" ha ha...nope, didn't know that one;)
Last but not least...this came from his primary class yesterday...
Question: Have you ever had to be brave when you chose the right?
A's answer: There was never a time I had to be brave. It's always been easy to choose the right because I just always say a prayer to Jesus. 


I have the greatest kids...man, I love 'em:)

THE first day of school...

I may have shed a few tears today...maybe more than a few. 

All I know is that at the end of the day I am so grateful for wonderful loving friends, crafty distractions and my sweet little A and how well he knows his mamma. 

He has been SO excited for this day...counting them down really, hoping that one day the seemingly mythical first-day-of-school would actually come, and he would become a BIG kid. That day was today.

I've been dreading the day, knowing it would come, and wishing the days to slow down...all summer long. How can it already be that day? Wasn't it just yesterday that he was a precious little sleeping(well, not-so-sleeping) baby? 

Our kindergarten does "staggered entry" where only a few kids go to school a day, and then come back again a few days later with the whole class. It's supposed to be less overwhelming for them...I think it's really meant for the parents. 

Staggered entry...so only a few kids and their parents see me at the drop--off, teary-eyed and forlorn...so that I don't get overwhelmed by the masses of children...so that I have a few more days left with my sweet little A before he is gone all the time...

Today was sweet. Full of beautiful tender mercies.

He woke up early, and was right ready to go, well before he needed to be. Tugging on my shirt, incessantly asking when we could go, bounding out the door as fast as he could and running into his classroom...I could barely keep up with him. 

He looked so sophisticated in his cute new back-to-school outfit that I had carefully planned. I asked him shoes he wanted to wear with it, and he let me pick out everything, right down to his socks and belt...he knows me so well:) He knew I would love that, and he was so unusually compliant with the whole dressing ordeal. 

I walked into the school, realizing I had no idea where to go, but first tender mercy of the day was that a friend from church was there...her son in the same class as mine, one of the few kids going today...I followed her, trying to keep calm, and fight back the tears that had been on the verge all morning long. 

We turned into the hallway, and the second tender mercy appeared..in the form of a great friend waiting beside the classroom door...knowing that I would need support. As soon as I saw her, I teared up again. 

Third tender mercy of the day...I asked little A if he wanted me to stay for a while. His response, "Only if you need to"...how does this boy know me so well? Know how much I yearned to stay all day, every day? Know how much I would miss him? He is so precious. 

Fourth tender mercy of the day...being distracted by Roo starting joy-school, forgotten school supplies, quick morning crafts...and a great little cry with a friend on the sidewalk...who was feeling all the same emotions as I. 
She asked..."does it ever get any easier?"...I knew exactly what she meant...as I kept thinking about what she'd said earlier.."when will leaving this boy ever not tear my heart up?"...and we both had a good cry. I love that my friends are just as sappy as I am:)

As I picked him up, he told me about his craft, the "kissing hand". Someone kisses you right on the middle of your palm and then you put it to your cheek. It makes you feel nice and warm inside, and helps you not be scared. 

I think I may have to use that kissing hand a few times this year. 

Final tender mercy...as we are filling out his "homework" for the night, a sheet with questions all about his first day...what he was wearing, what he ate, what they did...he filled out:
"When kindergarten was over I felt good inside...because my mommy came to pick me up":)

So I made it through the day...driving the kids crazy with pictures...fighting back tears...and realizing just how much I love that kid. 

I made a human...impossible as it may seem...a living, breathing little boy with so much potential...a sweet child of God that is already growing up to be an amazing, compassionate young man. 

What a day...

The boys all ready for the first day!!

This is what he does when I ask for a happy-to-be-going-to-school smile:)

His new kindergarten classroom

We made it!!

The End of my shampoo-less hair (with before and after pics)

Well...it's over. 

I had been feeling for a while that I should just go back to shampoo-ing, as I was not getting the results I had hoped for. 

I was waiting to do this until I got a nice salon-style healthy shampoo, and not just a junky over-the-counter like I used to use. I figured my hair had probably gotten pretty healthy over the last little while, and I'd like to keep it that way. 

I have a friend who owns a salon and she was dying to wash my hair, ha ha..it probably grossed her out seeing it every other other day! Lucky for me, I got the full treatment...scalp massage included:)
She had to rinse it out for a long time and shampoo it three times! It was pretty full of oil. 

It did look super healthy though, which has never happened with my hair, so I do think that it really helped in that regard. 

It just didn't help make it drastically less oily. Better than before though, it doesn't starting getting oily for a couple of days after a shampoo, when it used to be oily daily. 

So YES, I'm glad I did it. 

And here's some pictures throughout the process...

 A week or so in...before the baking soda rinse...

Right after the baking soda rinse...way cleaner, but not as soft...

Several weeks in...pre-wash

Directly post-wash...

(still baking soda)

Right before the BIG wash...really healthy, but not as soft and natural as I wanted...

Finally...11 or 12 weeks after starting this whole thing...washed and styled...and healthy!!

9 1/2 weeks and (NOT) going strong:(...my shampoo-less hair

Just in case you are new to this, and haven't read my previous posts on going shampoo-less....YES I do wash my hair, so it's not as crazy as it sounds. 


My Hair Today...

But NO, I do NOT use shampoo or conditioner. 
Once a week or so I rinse with a combination of baking soda and water, then do an apple cider vinegar rinse(ACV) for my ends, which is supposed to condition. 

Another shot of today, after the rinse...

I thought that the summer would be the best time to have "ugly" hair, since how I can get away with some sort of an up-do everyday, and my tanned skin makes my face look nicer, thus taking away from the fact that I have ugly hair, LOL. 
Well, so far, I'm just not sold. 
I'm sold on the fact that it can work...as is told by a variety of blogs that I researched before starting this on my own. I'm just not convinced that it will EVER work for mine. 
My hair is still really oily, for sure by day 4 after the baking soda rinse. I would have expected better results than that by week 5. 
My hair is also dry, brittle, gross...just not like it's normal self, that's for sure. 
So....I researched what you can do to fix it. Less baking soda for dry ends, less ACV and only on the ends for more oily parts. 
I implemented this new regimen a week or so ago, but am still not impressed. 
Thus, I think I'm going to quit(I think?, lol)!! 
I feel bad saying that, since I've given it such a good long try thus far. I REALLY wanted it to work, and hoped that my hair would get more healthy, more natural and WAY less oily...but either I'm doing it wrong, or my hair is just way to oily to be helped. 
I am however going to look into this link a friend gave me on some awesome natural shampoo that's coconut-oil based, or some sulphate-free ones...so we'll see how that goes!
As for now, I'm excited at the prospect of getting my hair back to "normal".

Our family vacation...

We just got home from one awesome vacation!! It was actually a multi-family vacation, with some of The Hubby's friends from highschool...it's their 10-year reunion this year, so it was great timing!!
We had SO much fun, I just wish we had taken more pictures, but we forgot our camera, so they are all from the ipad.
We went down to Columbia Falls and stayed at Meadow Lake golf resort. The golf course there is rated a 4 1/2 stars, and the hubby LOVED golfing there with his buddies...they golfed pretty much every day we were there. He even hit a 380 on the fairway!! (I'm told that is very far, ha ha, I really don't know the first thing about golf).
One of the many highlights was that A got to go golfing with the big boys on Friday night. He got his own set of clubs, and even drove the golf-cart. I wish I would have gotten pictures of that!!
We went to an indoor fun center and arcade, to an outdoor fun center with a maze, bumper boats, mini-golf and go-karts.
We went swimming almost every day in the outdoor pool and splash park there, which the boys absolutely loved.
We all went for the day to Flathead lake at a day lodge, which was a blast. They had BBQ's, fire-pits, kayaks, picnic tables, fireplaces indoors, a kitchen...everything pretty much, it was awesome! the lake was a little too cold for me, but it didn't stop the boys from having a good swim.
We went shopping, of course, which was great...I got some SUPER cute clothes, because everything is cuter and cheaper in Montana, ha ha.
My favorite part was the great weather and beautiful surroundings. It was close to 40 degrees everyday, and SO sunny and nice...I loved it.
The only downside was the lack of AC in our room at night, and a couple of sleepless boys...but not every night was that bad, and a lot of the days they would sleep in too, which was fantastic.
Overall, we LOVED our vacation, and loved that it was SO close of a drive, and that we got to hang out with our great friends!! Thanks guys!! We'll have to plan one again soon:)