December Misc.

It's amazing to me how busy I've been while I've been unemployed. Job hunting and interviewing takes time, of course. But it seems like something else is always going on. Did I just miss most of this stuff when I was working? :-)

We went on the annual trek to see the lights at Temple Square, with Kris, Sterling and Atticus, Hannah and Alex, and Kris and Sterling's friend Vicki and her kids. It was a pretty mild night, so lots of fun.

What a darling pair ...

Steph and Mickel went to Tucson for a job interview (haven't heard the results yet), and Kaiya and Teague spent the weekend with Grammie. We went to the library, to Dunford Bakers for a treat, out to breakfast at IHOP (you wouldn't believe how much those kids can eat when they want to!), to Grammie's first visit to Cabellas (and I think that will about do it for me), and to Thanksgiving Point for hot chocolate and to see the holiday lights. The kids said they didn't want to go home, but they were pretty happy after all to see Mom and Dad.

I found a bin of Kris' ballet and other dress up stuff ... which delighted Kaiya of course. She insisted on wearing this sparkly dress to Cabellas and Thanksgiving Point, and was very proud when people commented on it. Our girl LOVES to dress up!

We also took Kris out for a birthday dinner, at California Pizza Kitchen. Here's Atty and his "Popeye" face. Arrrg!!

The kids all came over for Christmas Eve. Here's Sterling playing the guitar for us. He's a very talented player, singer and writer.

And Kaiya and Teague dancing to it ...

... and our three little munchkins in their new Christmas pj's, happily awaiting Santa's visit.

LOVE these kids!!!!!

Oh, and it turns out that Kris misses her ballet and so she took her ballet shoes home with her to practice her "en pointe." Love my ballerina!!

"I Love You with my Whole Heart"

During one of our recent sleepovers, while in the bath, Teague held up a heart-shaped cookie cutter and said, "Grammie, I love you with my whole heart!" Well, of course I made such a fuss over the absolute cuteness factor of that, that Kaiya had to get in on it and insisted on being photographed as well. Please note the lovely pink washcloth inside the heart, which was her contribution. Teague, however, was not as interested in the paparazzi.

Kaiya's School Program

As I mentioned, one of the joys of unemployment is the ability to participate in things that I normally would not have been able to when I had my job - especially considering the fact that the job was in Provo and I live in Salt Lake. And one of those events was Kaiya's preschool Christmas program. What a treat! And Kaiya, as always, handled her parts in a very lovely and mature fashion.

Not a great picture, but here she is for her speaking part.

So fun to watch all the little ones, and their various levels of dealing with it - from polished to "deer in the headlights." I don't think the little girl in purple moved from this pose for the entire number.

After the program, we went to the cafeteria to have cookies and punch. Apparently Kaiya has a bit of a crush on one of her classmates, and she was getting all giggly about him. So I suggested that she take me over to him and introduce me. The next thing you know, she's doing just that ... although she got an attack of the giggles when we got there. Look out, Tate ... I think you have some competition.

Bear Lake

After enjoying a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner at Steph's (along with Kris and family, Nick and his girlfriend, and Alex), Stephanie and Mickel were kind enough to invite me to spend Thanksgiving weekend with them at Mickel's dad's place in Bear Lake. Though of course it was snowy and cold, we had a great time! Here's the kids getting their boots on to go for a walk (ha ha):

... and some pictures that Teague took of Mom and Dad. He's a pretty good photographer!

Cancun, Part 2

Well, a month later and I'm finally getting around to posting the rest of my Cancun trip. It's been a bit strange for me lately - the day after my return from Cancun I had the unfortunate experience of being laid off from my job. I'm still processing some feelings about that, but on the whole I'm excited to be able to take a different road in life. My job at NSP was a great one, but as my mom said as her first response to the news, that job wasn't the sum total of who I am. What a wise woman. And now I can say in hindsight that there was a lot of stress - both the stress inherent in any event planning job, and also stress due to political reasons in that particular job, that I will be very happy to leave behind. I have the good fortune - due to a severance package and also my own financial decisions - to have the luxury of a bit of time to find the right job. And to spend some time with my darling grandkids. When I told Kaiya that I didn't have my job anymore, she just clapped her hands and shouted "Yay!" Kind of puts things into perspective. Mom's right - there's more to life than your job.

So, back to Cancun ...

One day, we had the option of going to the Xcarret Park, or to the Xplor Park. Since I had already been to Xcarret, I chose Xplor. What a fun place!! The main activities are 4-wheel drives, zip lines, and an underground pool system that you can swim in and/or paddle a raft in. Not knowing what to expect, it didn't seem that there would be enough to keep you busy for a whole day, but in the end we only had time to do about half of everything available!

This is the heart of the property - literally. It functions as a central meeting place. Not to worry if you can't see it ... you can hear the heart pulse sound.

I thought the zip line would be just that - a zip line. Instead it was a whole series of lines, and took more than an hour to go through. You would climb to the top of one tower, zip down to another tower, climb to the top of that one, zip down again, etc., etc. I think there were close to a dozen different towers.

Here's the 4-wheel drive experience, with my new friend and driver extraordinaire, Ed. Again, it wasn't a simple short drive, but a 3 to 4 mile route that went through water, over very dicey bridges (I was driving for that one - freaked me out a bit), into caves, etc.

We also did the rafts through the underground caves. Not gonna post my pictures here - not my most flattering shots. But here's a generic shot. It was beautiful, and very serene (except when I couldn't make my raft obey).

If you're ever in the area, I'd say a stop at Xplor is well worth it. They also provide a surprisingly good buffet lunch in the price, plus all the beverages you could want (nothing alcoholic though, for probably very good reasons!). Just be sure to give yourself a whole day for it. They also have this ingenious photo system. You have to wear the gorgeous orange helmet everywhere in the park, but in it is a sensor. There are numerous points throughout the park where you pass by cameras. At the end, they are able to pull up all the shots with you in it, which is totally cool. I don't usually go for the photo package thing, but we all went in together so it was pretty reasonable. Note to self: if you ever open a public amusement thing, be sure to put this system in it.