Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Here is what I have been doing on the street corners

This is how I spent last Tuesday and Saturday. It has been very empowering standing on the corner with groups of people standing up for something I believe in! It has helped build bonds in our ward and community as we try and pull together to preserve marriage between a man and a woman. Please visit www.protectmarriage.org and get educated!!! Vote
YES
on
Proposition 8!!!!

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

"Bee"hives

Tonight was our youth Stake Halloween Dance. This was Mackenzie's first Halloween dance (she was lucky and got to go to the Roadshow Dance right after she turned 12). The youth had a "pre-party" at the Bishops and ate some dinner. Since we live three doors down I was able to go down and take a few shots!

While there I was shocked to find that the Jonas Brothers came to the party :o):The beehives took their level at church literally! Don't they look as sweet as honey? (gag!)
I thought that their leaders should have been the "hive"- wouldn't that be cute?





Castaway Cay

The last day of the cruise was spent at Disneys private island in the Bahamas- Castaway Cay. It is a beautiful island! I did learn from one of the ships lifeguard that it is not naturally beautiful-it takes a lot of work to make it look that way- you know, the Disney way!

It was a beautiful day- we were able to feed and swim with the stingrays, go on a three mile bike ride, relax in the water and go snorkeling. Our favorite part is taking the cruisers on a bike ride around the island. Meredith had a little bike with training wheel and we were nervous about her making the trek. It is hot and training wheels can really slow a four year old down! Lucky for us there were lots of "watering holes" along the way. When she started getting tired I just had to remind her that there was a watering hole coming up and she would imediately get another burst of energy. I was so proud of her determination and making the entire trek. I am not sure how long it is but I would guess about 4-5 miles.











This is the ship used in the Pirates of the Carribean. Disney is using there island to store it!





Here is the post office:









Monday, October 27, 2008

Pirate Night

One of the nights on the cruise was Pirate night. Everything is pirate themed! The kids went a little crazy with there tatoos :o)! Check out the earings:
Here is one of the captains that got to know our family pretty well:


It is amazing what they can do with fruit:


Disney cruise line is the only cruise line allowed to shoot off fireworks (what would a Disney experience be without fireworks)! On the top deck there is a party with all the characters dressed up as pirates. Mickey Mouse flies from one smoke stack to the other and then fireworks blast off. I absolutely LOVE FIREWORKS!!!!









Here is Becca and the kids dancing at the dance party:











Thursday, October 23, 2008

Young Women's In Excellence

Mackenzie had to do a 10 hour project for Young Womens. She wanted to do something that would benefit her now and later in life. She decided to choose a project under Knowlege. She was suppose to have her mom/grandma/etc teach her a new skill. She decided she wanted to sew an apron like I did when I was in Young Womens. We went to the fabric store, found a pattern and material and here is the finished project:Look at the cute details!
Here she is infront of her display at YW in Excellence. She made pumpkins bars to put on the table to go along with her apron.

Some may say that it does not take 10 hours to make an apron, but if you are us it does! It was a learning experience for both of us! I was trying to teach her, but we were learning together. Luckily my mom helped out in directing Mackenzie!














Monday, October 20, 2008

Ally and AJ Concert

After spending a beautiful day in Aruba we rushed back to the boat so that the girls could go to the Ally and AJ concert. These girls are sisters who have starred in a few Disney movies and who have an album. The concert made me laugh watching all the teenybobbers crowd the stage, cry and scream. Since my children do not fall into that group we all got a good laugh together :o)! These girls were realy good- I only knew one song, but the girls were so sweet to the audience. Plus the theater is not that big so it was pretty cool for my girls to be so close up to them!
Here is what Trevor thought of the concert. It was so loud that I am amazed that he was able to sleep through it!
Ally and AJ came on the boat in Aruba and stayed through the rest of the cruise. We were able to see them by the pool, in the elevator, etc. I was impressed at how friendly they are. They did sign autographs one day and my girls were able to get a picture with them also. Funny thing about the autographs- they were scheduled to sign for one hour and three hours later they were still signing because the line was so long! Luckily my girls were one of the first 25 in line so they did not have to wait long.


Sunday, October 19, 2008

Aruba

On day 11 we stopped in Aruba. Ryan, myself and the girlies took a snorkling/kayaking excursion. We left bright and early in the morning so sweet Becca slept in our room and took care of the younger two for us!
Our excursion took us to a beautiful white sand beach. The water was crystal blue and warm! We started out snorkeling for about an hour. Our guide let us out into the ocean. We had to swim in a line as to avoid the fire coral. Once past the fire coral we were free to roam. Madalyn and I did our traditional "holding hands" snorkel. I think we both feel some comfort in having someone else with us :o)! The fish and coral were so colorful! When we were done snorkeling we got ready for our kayaking adventure. None of us had ever kayaked before so we were so excited! I wish I had pictures of it because it truly was just like a postcard. We could see all the way down to the bottom of the ocean, the water was still and all different colors of blue! Words cannot describe. We will definetly kayak the next time we go back- yes the next time- who knows when, but someday!
Here is downtown Aruba. We did not have much interest in exploring all the shops so we only spent about an hour downtown. We did learn that all of Aruba's coastline is public. None of it is off limits nor do any hotels own the coastline. We also learned that lots of the taxi's in Aruba are "pimped" out! We sure enjoyed our rides in the taxi with the huge tv screens!
We also learned that aguanas run free here! They are everywhere- kind of freaked me out. After our excursion and shopping we headed over to the Westin to meet up with the rest of the Jones clan. Talk about iguanas- ugh! I wish I would have take a picture of all them them so you could appreciate what I am talking about! Where we were lounging out there were about 30 iguanas running around us. They would just stare at us like "you are in my space".
A funny story- my neice Rachel was sitting on her lounge chair eating her lunch. The iguanas started swarming around her. Soon one of the iguana's jumped right on her lounge chair to get her food! She of course jumped up and screamed- I wish it was on video! I felt so bad for her as I probably would have parked myself inside the hotel the rest of the day :o)!!!
Here is the beach front where we were hanging out. I loved this picture because it shows the European culture ;)!


Wednesday, October 15, 2008

"Food Glorious Food".....

As everyone knows there is no lack of food on a cruise! This being a two week cruise had plenty of "cruisers" on it (if you know what I mean)! Here are some of our favorite meals.
Character Breakfast
At the character breakfast the different Disney Characters come around to the table to take pictures. Our servers also made each of us these fabulous napkin hats!
Princess Tea
There was a princess tea held on one of the days. The girls were given "Princess" shashes and the boys crowns. Each of their names were announced as they entered the room and greeted with a cheer!

ALL the princesses came around to our table and we were able to get some great princess shots. The princesses also taught us how to dance, wave, bow and curtsie. Meredith LOVED this part of the cruise!!!
At each meal we had the same servers. They got to know what we and our kids like to eat and drink. For example- Trevor was served a whole plate of grilled shrimp almost every night and Ryan was served a mickey head ice cream after dinner (every single night). Too bad they could never remember that I like A LOT of ice.....
Trevor tried escargo here- or as he says snails- he liked them.
Here is Ryan eating ANOTHER Mickey head (with spinkles)!


Sunday, October 12, 2008

Cartegena, Columbia

On day ten the Disney Magic stopped in Cartegena, Columbia. The Disney Magic has never stopped at the port so the locals were so excited to have our ship at dock. It was truly an emotional event to look at the dock and see the locals dressed in traditional clothing. There were adult and small children. They were in awe of the Disney Magic and for most of them this is the closest they will ever get to anything "Disney". My heart was full watching the dances they were performing and seeing all the young children wave with big smiles on there faces. I was just as excited to see them as they were to see the ship.
Cartegena was one of my favorite stops because of the culture there. The only bad thing I can say is that the peddlers were obnoxious!!!! They were so pushy and would not leave you alone even after you kindly rejected them and walked away. They were chasing us down! These ladies greeted us with fruit and pinwheels:
Here were some locals that were performing on the dock:
As we walked to the end of the dock there was a children's choir that stood out there for hours singing:
Disney Magic really is a magnificant sight!
We hired a van to take all of us on a tour of the city. Our first location was La Poppa- a Catholic cathedral located at the highest location in Cartegena. On the way there we drove through middle class (reality check):
The views at La Poppa were spectacular- you could see the entire city! If you enlarge the picture below you can get a good look at the poorer areas. If you look really close you will notice the LDS church building in the bottom center of the picture:
We then traveled to old town Cartegena. Old Town is surrounded by a 12' stone wall. It was truly spectacular!!!! The streets were narrow with cobblestone, vibrant colors on the buildings, balconies, street vendors with quaint carts, and beautiful arcitecture! It is a photographers dream- I thought of Kamee the entire time there! My camera does not do any of it justice!



Aren't these doors great?
Here is the gang after our long day of shopping and sight seeing!
BTW: If any of you know my brother and sister in law ask them about there customs check as they were trying to get back on the boat. They had a hilarious experience, but it is not suitable for some viewers so I could not post it on the blog :o)!!!!