We had a wide variety of costumes this year. It was fun to see everyone dress up and enjoy the holiday.
McKay dressed up as MC Hammer. He even got down some of The Hammer's moves. Can't touch this!
Jaxon made a last minute costume change and dressed like a missionary. His buddy was supposed to dress like a missionary too so they could be companions, but he backed out last minute. When he went out with his friends later Halloween night he dressed as a basketball player--sadly I didn't get a picture.
Kayden dressed up as a Star Wars Flame Trooper. He wasn't aloud to wear his mask at school, and wanted to make sure we had a photo of him with and without the mask.
Josh grew his hair out from a buzz cut for two months so he could shave his head like male patterned baldness and dress like an old man for Halloween. He got more compliments on his costume and shaved head than ever before. He played the part well!
Jeremy's office dressed up this year as 80's punk rockers. He found himself a nice mullet and tattoo sleeves to dress his part.
I love the Halloween parade at the boys' school. It is fun to watch the kids parade through the school so I can see all the costumes.
Kayden with his mask on his head.
Josh acting the part and drawing lots of attention.
That night all the boys went their separate ways. Josh and Kayden went and had pizza at a friend's house before trick-or-treating. Josh went out trick-or-treating with his friends (above) and Kayden decided he wanted to go out with his dad. Jaxon met up with some friends so that left McKay and I home to answer the door and do homework. It was the first time I didn't go trick-or-treating in 17 years!
Jeremy and I met up with some friends from dental school that we hadn't seen in several years and went on a cruise through the Mexican Riviera. We had a great time!
Here we are boarding the boat. This was our first cruise.
Proof that I did some exercising on the ship. We were at sea the first three days and we tried to get in some exercise each day. Heaven knows we ate more than enough food to make up for it. I fell in love with the soft ice cream machine.
At dinner with our friends that we were traveling with--the Berchtolds and the Wellmans. We were enjoying some lovely steak, especially Tom. His steak was huge!
Our first stop was in Puerto Vallarta. We took a boat across the bay from where our boat was docked and then took a jeep ride to a zip line where we had a grand adventure. We started out the zip line tour by riding a donkey up the mountain. Then the there were several zip lines and a couple of water slides. It was a great time!
Heading back to the ship after our tour was over. The boat drove us close to some of the famous sites in Puerto Vallarta.
Arriving back to the Norwegian Jewel.
Some of the insect life in Puerto Vallarta. That beetle was huge! We should have put a coin or something by it so that you could actually see how big it was. The butterflies were just beautiful and vibrant.
The first night on board the ship put a show on that showed us the
variety of shows that they would be putting on throughout the week.
Part of the show was dancing and I couldn't stop giggling! One dancer
in particular was extra animated. I went to a zumba dance class one
morning and he was our instructor. I had to concentrate hard on my
moves so that I wouldn't burst out laughing. I learned that his name is
Sasha and he is from Ukraine. The night the show was dancers only, my
friend Melanie and I decided we couldn't pass up a picture with him.
The only thing was that he put his arms around us and he was drenched in
sweat! I had to then concentrate on smiling for the picture instead of
being completely grossed out.
Our second stop was in Mazatlan, Mexico. We decided to enjoy a beach day. We camped out in front of a restaurant ate food and read books and talked and laughed.
Melanie and I enjoying some Pina Coladas.
Jeremy and I on the beach enjoying the view. It was a spectacular day.
All of us enjoying lunch together. They name of the restaurant was Lety's and it was both tasty and relaxing. After enjoying most of the day on the beach, we decided to venture into town and do some souvenir shopping.
Our last stop was in Cabo San Lucas. Jeremy and I did some diving with
Jeff and Tom while Melanie and Julie did some snorkeling. It was the
strangest dive we had ever done. It consisted of swimming around and
finding a place to put a statue as part of an effort to "rebuild" a
reef. The dive was quite shallow and there wasn't a lot of sea life or
coral and the visibility was horrible. But it was interesting. Our
bottom time was over an hour and I had had it. I was thirsty for water
(which wasn't available) and needed a restroom. Despite my best
efforts, I couldn't pee in the ocean. I am sure the fish were
thankful. So the boys decided to do another dive and I went into town
to do some shopping.
Me with my shovel swimming around looking for a place to put the sculpture.
Tom (above) and Jeff (below). As you can see the visibility wasn't great.
Digging around in the sand preparing to place the sculpture. This made the visibility even worse.
The sculpture all placed and ready for fish. We placed sand inside it and rocks all around so it wouldn't float away in the current. Like I said, it was a strange dive.
Jeremy's second dive the water was much more clear. They did a shipwreck dive and really enjoyed it! Top left is Jeremy with Tom, bottom left is Jeremy with Jeff. Right is Jeremy hanging loose.
I got back to the ship first and took a shower and then went and walked around on deck. The views were amazing. I also was able to call and talk to my family. We sure missed them!
For our last night on the ship we got some dinner at the Teppanyaki restaurant. It was so fun being all together.
Catching a piece of food in my mouth. I caught it on my first try.
Jeremy's turn catching food in his mouth. He didn't quite have the skills that I did.
It was a great vacation and I was sad to say good-bye. Hopefully we won't wait another 14 years to all get together and hopefully next time all our friends will be able to come. We had such a great time making memories together!
Back at home we showered the boys with the souvenirs that we had bought. McKay thought the viking helmet we picked up for him was pretty cool. I knew he would.
Jaxon looked cool in his new RayBan shades that we picked up for him. Josh received a funny t-shirt about the Star Wars force and sharks. Kayden loves baseball so we got him a baseball carving from wood. It was good to be home. They boys are now looking forward to when we take them with us on our next cruise!
Jeremy made a video of highlights of our trip to share with our friends. Sweet Caroline is the chosen soundtrack because our friend Tom put on quite a show singing that song one night at the karaoke bar. Good times!
He said that friends and acquaintances wished him a happy birthday in the halls throughout the whole school day.
Jaxon's brothers love to give him a hard time and Jaxon eats it up (mostly). Josh is sitting on Jaxon's lap as we are getting ready to open presents.
Jaxon's gifts were very basketball related. He got a nice indoor ball and some Spurs socks. He also got the new Lego Star Wars video game--his brothers especially enjoyed that gift.
Singing Happy Birthday and blowing out the candle.
Celebrating September birthdays at Grandma White's house with Jaxon's cousin Nick.
15 Things We Love About Jaxon:
He is a great friend and loves to be with his friends. He has become good friends with a boy named Kaleb in our ward that is a year younger than him and has cancer. Those two are good friends and I am glad they have each other. Jaxon watches out for Kaleb and loves to hang out with him.
He is still passionate about basketball. He has worked hard this last year in preparation for the Jr. High basketball tryouts. He played summer league this year with the Lone Peak Bantum team and enjoyed getting to know and play with the boys from Timberline--the other Jr. High that feeds into Lone Peak.
He makes his bed every day. I never have to ask him to make his bed.
Jaxon still loves the Spurs. Even though he is given grief about it from his brother and friends at school, he is a loyal fan. He has plenty of Spurs swag from hats down to his socks.
He works hard in school. He always gets his homework done and stays on top of things. It has paid off as this last term as he received straight A's.
He is a good brother. He watches out for his brothers even when they try his patience. Jaxon and Josh have been doing some basketball training together and are great at giving each other encouragement. Jaxon and McKay have especially gotten close and are best friends.
He comes into our room every night to wish us a goodnight and gives me a hug. Love that boy.
Jaxon decided to not cut his hair this summer. His hair got quite poofy. He finally agreed to a haircut in time for school pictures.
He is a confident kid. I think that is one reason why people (both kids and adults) like him so much. I think some kids his age may even find it a little intimidating. I don't know of many 15 year olds that have his kind of confidence.
His smile and his laugh. I will never tired of the sound of his giggle.
Jaxon finally finished his eagle scout project, eagle papers and eagle application. It was a lot of work and a lot of time spent, but he got it done! We are super proud of him!
I appreciate when Jaxon helps around the house whether it is mowing the lawn or cleaning bathrooms. He snaps on his headphones and gets to work!
His big heart. Everyone loves that about him.
He talks things through with me. When something is bothering him, he is willing to talk to us about it and work through it. I hope this will never change.
He is one handsome kid. I love the sparkle in his eyes when he smiles. He is a lady slayer and doesn't even realize it.
Happy birthday Jaxon! Not a day goes by that I am not thankful for you and all you bring into our family! We love you!
This handsome guy went to Lone Peak's Homecoming dance:
He asked a girl in our ward and they had a great time together on their date. This is when he went and picked her up at her house. Her parents were gracious enough to text me a picture, and I was grateful!
He was able to go in a group with his friends. They all had a great time together. What a great looking group of kids!
I think McKay and Brenna looked great together!
Silly group of boys.
McKay (center) with his friends. Man these boys clean up nice!
