Don't be Jealous of our Cruise!

This is our first night of the cruise, its always fun to get onboard a cruise ship!

(Its the 2nd night on stormy seas that will get ya!) I didn't make it to dinner that night! The waves went from slight (1.5 to 4 ft waves)  to moderate (4.5 to 7ft waves) to 'rough' (7.5 - 12 ft waves). I was in bed the rest of the night! But heres what we did during the day before the storm rolled in:

We had flown into 'rainy' Vancouver on Wednesday afternoon and sailed out of their port to stop in Victoria the next morning for a shore excursion. We had to be back on the boat by 1:30 so we quickly got off at 9am and quickly found a bus to take us on a trip! (Only had to wait 45 minutes for the bus!)

Don't ask! He made me do it!

So I made him do it too! We are soooo grown up! (Hey, we're tryin to kill time here!)

We took a bus right to Butchart Gardens. (Really great history behind this place if you care to Google it!)

The weather, of course, cold. But it was perfect for walking around for an hour.

Oooh! Pretty fountains!

Look how tall they grew these flowers!

It was so beautiful here! I thought I died and went to heaven!

I have to mention how much my husband hates to get his picture taken!

I am so mean! And so weird!

We have so much fun though!

Still stormy and cold. Notice no more scarf? I left it on the bus and was too lazy to walk back up the street and get it.  Hey, I already walked around for an hour people! I was tired! (And lazy!)

I miss my scarfy!

This was our ship, the Island Priness. Its part of the Princess Cruise lines where they filmed the show, "The Love Boat". Remember that show? Remember handsome Captain Stubing?

Oh look! Its Gavin McLeod! (Captain Stubing!) He was on our ship, doing some advertising for the Cruise Lines, and a little entertaining as well. We spoke with him a few days later. Such a cutie!

Did I mention it was cold all four days? We had no visibility past the boat because of the fog the whole way from Victoria until we got into the LA harbour. This cute bird took refuge on our balcony of our room.  Aw! So don't be jealous! Not one person sat at the poolside (except in the hottubs)! But it almost looked like a ghost-ship since people stayed inside the whole time.

Does it look like someone went somewhere?  Unlike the looks of this picture, the kids were happy to see us, as was Maggie! We got into the SLC terminal and came outside to 78 'F and Brent said "I think this is the warmest its been on our whole trip". We both laughed!

Cool-N-Da-Gang (Class of '91!)

"Celebrate good times! Come on!"

Last week Kelly (my BFF from college) and I flew down to So.Cal. to join up with some of my best friends from High School. It was the weekend of our 20th H.S. Reunion. (Except none of us went to the 'actual' reunion.) I heard it was fantastic though! So I feel a little bad that I didn't actually go.

We had a little 'reunion' of our own though! I SWARE WE ALL LOOK RELATED!

(From Left to Right: Koko, Makiko, Nicci, Nikki, Jen)

Next to Jen is MY! Kelly (Look at THAT Sangria!) She looks like she fits right in!

We had so much stinkin' fun! Poor Makiko's husband ran in and out of the room! But he was sweet enough to add Margaritas to the Sangria circle, which everyone loved! 

(I 'heard' they were good... No, I did not try it and yes, I am still a "Mo-Mo" - everyone always wants to know!) The last time I saw these girls was at our 10 yr Reunion! Too long!

Whats that?!....

Did someone say 'Nicaragua'?!?  (Private joke!)

Hey Lauren! - Koko wanted me to tell you: SHE MISSES YOU!

(She made sure I wouldn't forget to give you the message!)

Got it?! She really misses you! (She was so cute btw!)

Jen and Kiko both both got married this summer (not to each other!) and had beautiful pictures they brought to share! All these girls are beautiful! On the inside and out! I feel so fortunate to know them all!

Wendy moved to Riverside in the middle of High School... we missed her tons! Koko thought she had some 'black-soul' in her with all her hip-hop dancing. (You'de never guess it to look at her - but she could 'busta-move!) We learned all our good dance/cheer moves from her!

Kelly had so much fun! And everyone just loved her - as usual!

I think she just might get adopted!

Shelly Lily joined the pack after High School but is a permanent part of the gang now. We love her to pieces! And look how they're lovin' those strawberry/banana margaritas!

Maybe there were too many margaritas, or maybe we were just up too late!  Hey, you start feelin 'old' when you get 'old'! The party ended WAY too early for me, but I was sooooo sad to go! Miss you guys! Vegas 2013 - Here we come! Woop woop! (Thats for you Koko!)

Look Who Came to Visit!

Breanne needed to borrow my house as a stopping point tonight. She was trying to get a desk to her house and didn't know it would be too big for her car... Michael and Jane got THE BOOT!

Just kidding! We ate a yummy dinner while Breanne drove all over the valley picking up a desk and driving it home and then came back for her family. (Yes, she got some of the yummy dinner too!) I am so nice! :-)

We had a fun visit with cute little Jane who ran around the house exploring all the crooks and crannies... and even my bananas! (and apples... and fajitas!) This is the place to eat I guess! (And explore!)

Another self portrait of "You-Know-Who"!  Moving on...

We were sad to see Jane go... that reminds me of a book: 

"See Jane come! See Jane eat! See Jane eat bananas, and apples, and fajitas!

 See Jane chase the dog! See Jane run (all over the house)!

See Jane go!" (We were soooo sad to see Jane go!)

Keala says she need a baby sister now!  See mom faint!

Keala's First Day of 1st Grade!

Keala was so excited for 1st Grade! (So was mom!) She met her teacher at an appointment the first day of school and then started school the next day. She couldn't stop talking about it! I think she's having fun. So far all I hear about is the cute boy named Tyler, and how often she gets in trouble. (But we're working on that!)

Fishing Cousin-Style

Maddox caught a fish.

Brayden caught a duck!

Keala didn't catch anything.  :-(

Kai caught a fish.

Granpa caught his finger in the picture!

It was Brayden's idea to go fishing and he didn't catch anything but a duck! He was so bummed!

Fishing in Kamchatka Russia

Why Kamchatka you ask? Because its world - renown for its incredible fish and abundance of them too! Brent said it was amazing fishing... even better than Alaska! In addition to that he saw over 70 bears! (Glad I wasn't there.) He and Brian went on a tour group with 9 other people from all over the world. Fun!