Mexico pics

Two weeks ago we went on a family vacation. Now that I'm feeling better I've been dying to get out and go somewhere, somewhere warm. I was first thinking about Costa Rica because there was this incredible place we stayed at for one night on our honeymoon that we've dreamed about going back to. But once I looked into the flights (10-12 hours) and then driving a car to the beach from the airport (a few more hours) I decided that was too much for an almost 3 year old and pregnant woman to do. So then I looked at where we could go on a direct flight on Delta (Shaun has miles). That narrowed it down to a couple of places in Mexico and finally settled on Cancun. In just over 4 hours we could be in a tropical place with warm ocean water and tons of things to do. It was perfect. We asked my parents to come, they have done so much for us, especially with this pregnancy and we thought they would enjoy the vacation too (which they say they did). We swam in the ocean, played on the beach in the super soft white sand, snorkeled in caves and caverns and in the ocean with fish and turtles, saw some Mayan ruins, watched a Mayan fire dance, saw tons of butterflies and different kinds of birds, and were woken up by a flock of flamingos. All of which Cecilia was able to do. Not to mention the yummy Mexican food we ate. Only when we vacation to Mexico do we come home and want to make/eat more Mexican food. Shaun and I want to go back to Playa del Carmen just so we can go back to Yaxche and try more dishes. He wants to convince the owner to open a restaurant in the states :) It was that good.

Playa del Carmen was the perfect vacation and the only reason I got on the plane to come home was I wanted a good night sleep without being woken up by a ton of birds at 6 am (Cecilia needed it too, she slept almost 15 hours the first night we were home). I was also hoping my swollen ankles would go down (which thankfully they have, but probably only temporarily). In fact I felt really good the whole time we were there. I hardly had any nausea despite waking up at 6 am every morning. I don't know if it was vacation, the elevation, the warmth, the humidity or what, but I felt great. The few days after we got home I felt really crappy and wanted to hop on a plane to stay in Cancun 'til this baby is born. But my doctor told me I really didn't want my baby born in Mexico and that I should stay here. We'll just have to keep Cancun on our list to revisit someday, there was so much we didn't get to do, the zoo, Chitzen Itza, swimming with dolphins, and of course more food :)

Here are a few pics at Tulum.

Engagement!

Shaun's brother Mike came to visit us two weeks ago and I've been meaning to write a long post about the excitement we had while he was here. But then I noticed he did it for me, and better than I could do it. So head over to his blog and read all about it, it's worth your time.

http://ritchierambler.blogspot.com/2011/10/so-big-news-is-that-on-october-8th-i.html

Cecilia on the 80 yr old carrousel

Shaun had free tickets to lagoon so we decided to invite my parents and go. Saturday was the perfect day to do it too. The sun was shining, and warm. I'm sure it was the last short sleeve and flip flop day of the year. We really couldn't ask for a better day and tried to take advantage of it. Ceessa got to ride every ride she wanted to, include her favorite, the carrousel. The adults got to ride several rides too and fun was had by all. Couldn't ask for a better mid-October day!

Albuquerque

I almost forgot to tell you about our trip to Albuquerque. We went down to see the balloon festival. It was the most fun I've had getting up at 4:30 in the morning. They were trying to set a world record for the most hot air balloons set off in an hour. I don't know if they made it or not but I heard there were about 500 balloons that took off in two hours. It was so much fun and I went crazy taking pictures. Here are a few.

The next day Shaun, his mom, his brother, and his girlfriend (now fiancee) went on a balloon ride. They said it was really cool and got to touch the river with the bottom of the basket. Here are a few of their pictures.

It was another sleepless weekend with the Ritchie's, but again so fun.

Jungle Jims

We were planning on going to Lagoon on Saturday because Shaun's company had tickets. But it was cold and rainy so we decided to put it off until next week and hope it will be nicer. We told Cecilia about it and needed to deliver on some fun rides. I remembered a friend once posting about a place here in SLC with indoor rides so I called her and found Jungle Jim's. It was just the thing we needed. Perfect for an hour or two, but not more because the grownups get sick of riding the spinny rides after that. There is a carousel, swings, tea pots (what put Shaun over the edge, good thing it was the last ride), bumper cars, a train, and the airplane ride featured below. Cecilia loved everything except the bumper cars. I did it once with her and then let her ride by herself, which was a mistake. She wasn't quite old enough to get the steering thing and rammed right in the side full speed. Much wailing but a quick ride on the swings and she was right as wind again. When we left we asked her which ride was her favorite and she said "all of them."

Catch up

Has it seriously been since August since I last posted? How embarrassing. I guess we were so caught up in enjoying the summer that I really let it slack. I didn't really even finish our Oregon trip. We got to see Shaun's grandma, and two of his aunts (one of which we stayed with, Thanks again Barbara) and a cousin (who we also stayed with, thanks Cherice). It was so much fun and is one of our favorite yearly trips. In fact, the other day I took Cecilia apple picking at a U-pick orchard here and she said "We're not picking blueberries, we're picking apples." It made me sad. I'd much rather go blueberry picking than apple picking. But I'll just have to wait until next year.

Well let me catch you up a bit. At the end of August we did another yearly trip to Island Park with Shaun's parents. It is also fun, although Cecilia got cold the last night we were there and didn't sleep after 4am. I think everybody was glad we were going home so we could all get some sleep (including Shaun's parents who didn't get any sleep either). I don't seem to have any pictures of the trip though...

In September I took Cecilia to the State Fair. We had great Fair food (see picture) and Cecilia loved the Little Hands exhibit where she got to be a farmer for a day and do chores and then get "paid" at the end with a small box of sugar cereal. Something she never gets around here. It was a fun afternoon activity and we'll have to do it again next year.

Also in September Shaun and I went to the Inc 500 conference. This is the second year in a row he has made the list and it was fun to have a vacation sans Cecilia to attend the gala. I am so proud of what Shaun and his partner Dan have accomplished, and they keep going! Here is a picture of Shaun at the Air and Space Museum we attended in our downtime. And one with Dan at the gala.

That catches up on the most of what I should have been posting for the last 6 weeks. I'll do a couple of separate posts about our adventures this week. Happy Fall!

Blueberry picking

Last weekend while we visited Shaun's family we went blueberry picking. I was really excited to take Cecilia. I thought she would really get it this year. Last year she kept trying to eat them off the ground. She took right to it and I only had to tell her once to pick the dark ones and she got it. She definitely got her fill of blueberries though because we went back later in the day to pick more and she didn't want to eat any. Between the two pickings we had 26 pounds. I know we are crazy, but they were 86 cents a pound! That is practically giving them away! Which we did lots of after we picked 26 pounds of berries.

Daddy's little helper

What more can I say. They are so cute!

Soccer game

Last week we took Cecilia to her first soccer game. She took a nap that day which is a rarity these days so we decided to let her stay up a little to catch part of the Real Salt Lake vs Dallas game. We were excited to let her experience something new. I forgot how loud the games are! But she warmed up after awhile and had fun. So much so that she threw a full on temper tantrum getting into the car and wouldn't go to bed. Maybe next year she will be old enough to handle it better. Anyway we bought her a churro which was terrible. She took one bite, decided the best part was on the outside, and then just licked it. I thought it was quite ingenious of her.

Strawberries!

Over the 4th of July we went to visit some friends in Seattle. We had a great time. One of the highlights was they took us to a U-pick berry farm. It was the perfect temp for berry picking. Their daughter entertained Cecilia most of the time so Shaun and I were able to pick lots of berries. Here is Cecilia with one of the two boxes we picked. As you can see she also had fun sampling the berries (notice some on her forehead).

Success! We ate lots of these berries during the trip and managed to transport the other box home. You know how Shaun and I are with our berries, we'll find a way.

After strawberry picking we headed to lunch. On the way we found a place that sold "indecent" ice cream cones and had to stop. Nothing like dessert before lunch on the 4th of July. This is the "kiddie" cone that the three of us shared.

Lighthouse and families

During our trip to Seattle we went to the beach to watch the sunset. It was a beautiful day and this was a great way to end it. We walked down to the lighthouse to watch the sun set over the water. Not something we get to do very often. Here we are with the Brubaker family, who were gracious enough to drop their weekend plans and entertain us.

Cecilia adores their daughter Sophie and had so much fun following her around. Here they are being silly as only little girls can be.

Powdered donut face

Wednesday we went to what felt like the first real BBQ of the summer. I guess what made it feel like that was because it was at a park, of course grilled food, and lots of people chatting while their kids are running around playing. Cecilia has decided to stop napping. I was really hoping she would take one that day since we would keep her up for this party, but she didn't cooperate. Once we got there and she starting running around I decided to let loose and make this a "special" day. Keep her up past her 6 pm bedtime (no naps remember) and let her eat junk food for dinner. She was actually really well behaved and pretty much entertained herself the whole time. Which was surprising given her tired nature and affinity for latching onto mommy's leg in unfamiliar situations. She did find one little boy to play with and they had a good time running around screaming. She ate watermelon and chips for dinner and topped it off with a powdered donut smeared all over her face below. In the end I reminded myself this is what summer is all about, running around playing and eating junk food for dinner. Yeah for summer, don't ever leave me!

Gingerbread House

This year for Christmas my mom gave each family a gingerbread house kit to put together. I was really excited about it because I had been thinking about doing one with Cecilia and took her around town showing her some on display. One Sunday after church we sat her down for this activity. It took her a little bit to figure out what she was supposed to do, but Shaun was really patient with her and showed her that we don't eat it, or lick it, but build with and on it. Soon she was directing the activity, handing me candies to put on the house when she couldn't reach. Here is a cute video of it. Thanks Grandma, it was so fun!

Penguin Encounter

We had the opportunity to have a back of the scenes tour of the Living Planet Aquarium in November. My sister and her family came for it as our Christmas present to them. Cecilia was sick so we had her come for the first part (the part I was excited for her to experience) and then went home to bed. It was so much fun and I learned so much! One of the things we got to do was the Penguin Encounter. The aquarium offers this to anyone who wants to pay extra (you do have to schedule it with them) so the penguins are used to it. They dressed us up in coats, it is 40 degrees in there, and told us DON'T TOUCH THE PENGUINS!

Cecilia has a favorite toy she sleeps with every night and nap, it is this silly squishy penguin we got in a box of clothes from my sister (who doesn't remember anything about it). Many a night Cecilia will wake up, search around in her crib, find "Peno,"clutch him in her hand, and go back to sleep. I was excited for her to meet real penguins. The only thing I didn't realize was how much she would want to get down and go play with them. That was the one forbidden rule, they can touch you, but you can't touch them. Shaun and I spent the whole time wrangling her trying to keep her from mauling one. I don't think it was nearly as fun as I envisioned it would be. Maybe next year...

Women's Weekend

The weekend after the Inc 500 conference was Women's Weekend. I've mentioned it before, but this was the real deal. For the first time in years we all actually went somewhere. This was the most exciting place of all, Mexico. We flew to Phoenix, rented a car, and drove to Shaun's parents house in Puerto Penasco. They were generous enough to let us overrun their house for the weekend. The weather was perfect, the water was warm, everything was perfect (except our car was broken into). We went out on Dennis' boat, we swam in the ocean, we walked on the beach, we saw dolphins, and snorkeled and of course had yummy Mexican food. Can't wait to do it again, once we have all saved up enough vacation days with our husbands :)

Here we are enjoying lunch and I'm sending a picture of it to Shaun, trying to make him jealous :)


This is our version of going crazy in Mexico. What silly mothers I have!


My sister Tammy buying presents for her kids from an adorable Mexican child.

Summer!

Life goes fast in the summer! We have been enjoying the weather and fresh produce. These are the times I look back on in December with longing. We had the opportunity to see both sets of grandparents last week. Cecilia says "papa" and signs grandpa really well but I think she was a little confused when we said grandpa for my dad in the morning and then saw Shaun's dad in the afternoon and said grandpa again. It is a difficult concept for a 1.5 year old to understand that two people can have the same name. But so fun to see so much family.

Shaun and I went to a fundraiser for the Living Planet Aquarium on Saturday. It was a lot of fun. I recently bought a dress for the formal banquet in DC for the Inc 500 conference and was able to do a trial run with my ensemble at this fundraiser. I learned I need more than 10 minutes to do my hair, makeup, and get dressed. But a few extra minutes in the car and I looked presentable. Next time I'll have to take a picture and show you the new hair style I learned. It is fun to get dressed up sometimes. The event was a La Caille, probably the most expensive restaurant in SLC. It is really gorgeous though. We were able to "gamble" for a while and then our winnings translated into raffle tickets for 4 prizes. Shaun and I did well with some major help from a friend of Shaun's but we didn't win any prizes. That is ok we were able to bid on some silent auction items and came home with some great Christmas presents and help a good cause at the same time. Win win. Plus we had fun and I learned I don't understand the first thing about gambling :)

Cecilia is adorable as always. She is really into the spices lately. She loves to take every spice off the shelf and put it on the ground somewhere in a pile. The really good thing is that if you tell her to put them away at the end she will! It gets lots of energy out running back and forth and she is really good about putting them right side up and fitting them all back on the shelf. It is so fun to watch her. Here is a short clip of it.



That is about all from our neck of the woods. Hope you all are doing well!!

Cherry Hills

My moms extended family had a reunion at Cherry Hills last Saturday. My sister came from Manila (Utah) so Shaun and I decided to go up too. We have never taken Cecilia to a water park but she loves to swim so I thought it would be a lot of fun. I bought a life jacket for her and we packed a lunch and went up after her nap. It was so much fun. It was super crowded! We went in the lazy river and she had a great time and then I found this little slide just perfect for her. It goes into this little kiddy pool that is only about a foot deep and she loved it. The first couple of times down the slide I went with her. Then I saw a little boy about her size go down by himself and I thought she could do it. Especially since she had her life jacket on that kept her up right so she wouldn't fall over. I took her to the top and Shaun stayed down to catch her and she loved it! We did it several times because she enjoyed it so much and it was something she could do on her own. Shaun caught this video of one of the trips.



Of course it was fun to see family too and Cecilia enjoyed her cousins as always. Next time we'll have to go on a weekday though!

Flaming Gorge

This week we went to Flaming Gorge with a lot of my family. It was so fun to see everyone. I haven't seen my nephews that live in Washington for a long time. We all got together in Manila to go boating. Growing up 15 minutes from the lake made us boating people. It was fun for me to watch the next generation learn to water ski and knee-board and catch some air on the tube. The lake is as chilly as ever but you just suck it up and jump in. Shaun loved driving my dads boat and told me more than once that he wants one. I love it too so someday... Cecilia had the best time playing with her cousins, especially Chandra. She just loved her! You should have seen her lounging on her and following her around. I'm sure Chandra was happy when we left the way she mauled her!





We also took Cecilia on her first boat ride. She was a little timid at first, but then she warmed up and I was holding on to her life jacket for dear life as she leans out the front of the boat going 20 mph.



We stopped off in Green River (where I grew up) on the way so I could reminisce. It was so fun to drive around as a grown up and remember old times and look at the town from a different perspective. I don't know when we will go back so I'm really glad we took the time. I also wanted to stop by my old High School. I was in the last graduating class from it. They built a new high school and turned it into a middle school. It was interesting to see the changes and think back to that time of my life. Here I am by my old locker.


I remember standing in the main hall by the office on graduation day thinking I would never go to that school again. I showed Shaun the classroom where I decided to be a scientist. Here Cecilia are knocking on the door because it was locked.


It was this same classroom where I took anatomy and decided I didn't have the stomach to be a doctor :) But we did a course on genetics and I was sold. It is interesting how trivial High School is, yet at the same time you can make decisions that will shape your whole life. I know more than one girl who got pregnant and changed their life forever. My decision to go into genetics changed my life, I know I'm no great scientist that will invent the cure for cancer and change the world, but that decision has effected me and the way I think for the rest of my life. It will effect my children in ways unknown, and who knows who else. So I had a great time driving around town and looking at the growth along with the things that haven't changed since I was a kid. Just like me.

Family Pictures

We finally got more professional pictures taken of Cecilia. It has been too long. We have been shopping photographers for a while, but there are too many to choose from and I was overwhelmed. Recently I took Cecilia to work and my coworkers were bragging about their new niece. They showed me some newborn pictures taken of her which were so creative and amazing that I knew I found my photographer. I went home and booked a session. She took some of us as a family, but mostly of Cecilia. She does a 1 year old trash the cake session, which I was so excited about. I wasn't happy with any of the pictures I took at Cecilia's birthday party because the lighting was terrible. I know I'm obsessed about getting the perfect cake shot, but we really needed new pictures of her anyway.

I did get a few great cake shots to choose from and so many others. She really is a great photographer! Here is a link to her blog with C as the star. Below are a few others which we really love that didn't make it on her blog, too many amazing pictures! If you live in Utah you should think about using her for your next pro pix session.

Women's Weekend

Well last weekend we had an unofficial women's weekend. Every year my mother, sisters, and sister in law, and I get together for a weekend away. No kids (except nursing babies) and no husbands. This has dated back to my time at Ricks (it was Ricks when I went there so I won't call it BYU-Idaho even though that totally dates me). They had a women's weekend when mothers are invited to come and check out the school. It is really an excuse for them to come stock the depleting pantries of their college kids and to check up on their behavior. Anyway one year I invited my sisters to come too (no sister in law in the picture yet), two of my sisters went to school there so they were excited to reminisce. They all enjoyed getting away so much that we just had to make it a tradition. Anyway the reason it was an unofficial one this year is because my sister in law just had a baby and couldn't make it, plus I have this baby in tow with her own schedule which made me unavailable, a lot. My sister really just wanted to come for a visit and she hadn't met Cecilia yet but it worked out my other two sisters could come too. I had a great time, although I have to admit I will enjoy it much more next year when Shaun can take Cecilia for real. There is a reason why we say "no kids."

On Friday I took Cecilia up to my parents house and we (well they) made aprons. Everyone loved to play with her, clap when she rolled over, laugh at her funny faces and screams, you get the picture. And she ate it up! So much so that after the weekend was over she wouldn't let me out of her sight and only wanted to play if I would play with her. That girl just loves attention, attention, and attention! That is why she is so happy at church. Anyway it was so nice to see my sisters and I did get to do some shopping on Saturday. I even bought more for me than for Cecilia, which never happens. And like I said, I can't wait for next year, free at last!