Disney Cruise - DAY 2

The 2nd day was a full day out at sea which meant that we spent the entire day in the middle of the ocean with no land in sight.  So first thing in the morning we opened our door and spent some time out on our balcony admiring the vast ocean.  It was an amazing sight!! 

 

 We then went to the fully catered breakfast where the kids just pigged out on whatever food they wanted to have.  Several times during the trip Brayden and Logan both said, "so we get all the food we want and we don't have to pay for it?"  It was like their little minds couldn't even comprehend the idea. 

After breakfast the kids wanted to go straight in the pool and water slides.  Why not??

 

We then took Logan to a cooking class where they were teaching us how to make creme brulee.  This is Logan and Camille watching a real Executive Chef teach.  After about 10 minutes of that and he realized it was more designed for adults.  So he decided he wanted to go into the KIDS CLUB.  The kids club consisted of 2 huge areas where they had computers set up along the walls, tv's everywhere, and they constantly were playing games, doing science experiments, and getting visits from Disney characters.  Our boys sure loved going to the kids club. 

After a few hours we pulled the kids out to watch a really fun magic show.  The magicians had a lot of kids come up on stage and even showed all of us a magic trick that we could impress others with.  BTW our kids performed that magic trick every night for the first week we were back :)  They handed everyone a string as we came in and then taught us the trick during the show.

After lunch we caught the Disney show called the Golden Mickey's.  Before the show a woman was outside of the doors interview people acting like they were walking down the red carpet.  Well Brayden and his cousin Tate were among those interviewed and it played on the huge screen in the auditorium for all to see.  I had to capture the moment.  The show was AWESOME again!!

After the Golden Mickey's show we dropped our kids off at the KIDS CLUB and joined Johnny and Aliceia playing shuffleboard.  We had so much fun!!  And it wasn't just because Camille and I beat them in 3 straight games, although that was fun.  But it was a blast just enjoying the beautiful view of the ocean, playing a fun game and hanging out with our family.

After a few hours of shuffleboard it was time to get ready for dinner.  But first I had to get Brayden from the KIDS CLUB.  I had to take a picture of the area where he was playing because of how cool this place was.  I didn't realize at the time that they prohibit people from taking pictures of the kids club so this might be the only picture anyone has.  Brayden is playing some pirate ship game on a computer here.

Dinner was again amazing this 2nd night.  We dressed up a little bit more than the first night.  When we first sat down we were surrounded by all of these pictures and paintings of the Nemo characters.  Then after we had been sitting there a while the pictures started to swirl around and the pictures came to life.  It was amazing!!  Crush and the other turtles were talking and swimming all around the room through all of dinner.  The most amazing part was when crushed stopped right in front of our table and started having a conversation with us.  He was asking us questions and then commenting on our answers.  It was awesome!  He called Brayden little green shirt dude which was fitting with Brayden's green shirt that night. 

 

We finished the night watching the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl on the HUGE screen on the top deck while swimming and eating as much pizza, ice cream, and french fries as possible.  YES we were still hungry :)

Although we don't have pictures my brothers and I finished the night playing 2 on 2 basketball on the 12 deck until about 12:30am.  It was another amazing day and EVERYONE enjoyed themselves!!

Disney Cruise - DAY 1

Without a doubt the best gift received this Christmas was a Disney Cruise with the Stevens side of the family.  So the week after Christmas we flew over to Florida, met the rest of my family and set off on the Disney Dream cruise ship.  We decided that it would be a little bit more difficult to have our 2 little ones there with us so we left Connor and Dylan at home.  We had scheduled for Joyze, Camille's sister, to come and babysit.  Boy was it worth it!!  No diapers, no naps!!  AWESOME!!  There was so much that we experienced each and every day that I decided to break it up into blog posts for each day.  We also took so many pictures that we had to spread it out over each day.

After waking up and eating breakfast in our hotel in Orlando we all piled in a shuttle that took us to where the Disney Dream was docked.  It took us about 45 minutes before we could see the ship in site.  It was a beauty!!

WE ARE READY TO GO!!!

We checked in and this was the first view of our room...

After we got unpacked from the room we all wanted to hit the top deck....Logan was in the pool within seconds and the rest of us just took in the whole scene.

THEN WE HAD A SAILING AWAY PARTY!!  This consisted of the whole entire upper deck turning into a dance party with many Disney characters coming out on stage. Even my Dad was working it :)

 

As we were sailing away we went to lookout at the Florida coast to waive goodbye.  They gave everyone these colored waivers to wave goodbye to all the people watching us depart.  Whenever we would leave anywhere we would sound a loud horn and it always played a Disney song.  It was fun!  Beautiful view as we are leaving.

 

On our way to dinner we ran into Captain MICKEY and had to get a picture!!

We ate dinner in the Royal Gardens restaurant the 1st night.  It was spectacular and the food was incredible.  I had 3 entrees and 3 desserts almost every night and the 1st night was no exception.  

It also was CAMILLE'S BIRTHDAY on our 1st day of the cruise.  What a way to celebrate her 28th birthday!!  The funny part was that for some reason our waiters thought that she was 21 so they came with a 21 sign and gave her a speech about how now she could drink and drinking is so wonderful :)  Haha!!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAMILLE!!  WE ALL LOVE YOU!!

 

Right after dinner before going to our 1st show we had to sneak in a quick game of miniature golf....

After a delicious dinner and miniature golf we went to the Disney broadway production of The Villains.  It was an amazing show that all of us really enjoyed.

After our show it was time for bed.  We were exhausted and ready to sleep.  We were so excited to walk in and see that a bunk bed had appeared for our kids!!  Seriously Disney thought of everything.  We took a few pictures and then crashed.

Dylan's first I Love You

Just recently Dylan started making noises after I would say certain things.  When I would say words like hi, hello, uh oh, or wow he would make a noise.  Sometimes it has sounded a little like the word but mostly it is just him trying to repeat it.  Well the latest noise started coming after I would say I love you to him.  Just yesterday it started sounding very clear.  SO ADORABLE!  Without further adieu, here is Dylan...

Christmas Eve Ice Skating

We decided to take the family ice skating on Christmas Eve for a few hours with the Fisher's.  It turned out to be so much fun!!  It helped us to feel a little more like we were living in a snowy winter location while still in San Diego.  Our boys had never been ice skating before and so in the beginning they were slipping all over the place and falling down.  But it was fun to see that by the end of the day they were able to skate a lot better and were having so much fun!

Brayden's Big Day

Brayden turned 7 on November 16th and we were able to celebrate it while at the cabin in Lake Cuyamaca.  It was fun to enjoy his birthday with friends and while on a weekend getaway.  We brought all of his presents up to the cabin and we opened them there.  Brayden wanted pumpkin pie for his cake because that is his favorite and it works well being around Halloween and all.


I can't believe Brayden is already 7 years old and that we have a child of that age :)  We have loved having Brayden as our first child.  He has been a great example to our other boys, very bright, obedient, always tries to be the entertainer, and loves to play and watch any sport.  We love you Brayden!!

Christmas 2012

As our boys grow Christmas becomes more enjoyable.  As they grow up their faces seem to glow with more and more excitement through the Christmas season.  This year we enjoyed our favorite Christmas traditions: reading out of our Christmas story binder each night, decorating our Christmas tree while listening to Christmas music, visiting the temple lights in Arizona,  wrapping a gift for Jesus with our service acts for each other, opening our new pajamas on Christmas Eve, and the latest and greatest...waking up as early as possible Christmas morning to enjoy the excitement of opening stockings / presents and seeing what Santa brought our children.

Each year this time of season is a great balance for us as parents to keep the magic of Christmas alive while ensuring that our children understand the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.  Although it is a time of service and giving it is also a time of worldliness and selfishness.  We just try as often as possible to ensure we focus attention on our Savior.  Each year I feel such a closeness with Him during this season and feel such a gratitude for the knowledge I have of His existence and all that He has done for us.  

On Christmas Eve we had a visit from someone mysterious who put these bags with lit candles out all along our cul de sac.  Then Santa Claus came and wished everyone a Merry Christmas.  Christmas day was so much fun.  We stayed in San Diego to enjoy a quiet day together as a family in our pajamas.  That way we can play with all of our gifts all day as we lounge around lazy.  The kids woke up this year at 5:15am, which is a personal record for us.  We had a lot of fun playing with remote control cars, helicopters, all different shaped sport balls, and watching Connor ride his scooter.  

The other gem we received on Christmas day was a live Google + chat with Elder Jared Curtis from Bolivia. So the whole Curtis family got online and had a video chat with Elder Curtis together.  It was so much fun to see him and see how he is doing in the mission field.

Overall Christmas was a huge success.  We were able to visit Arizona the week before and see our entire family and then spend a quiet Christmas day together just as a family together.  Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!!