What Big Feet you have! and other stuff

It's official.

Caitlyn is wearing the same size shoe as I am. I have a feeling she hasn't reached her full potential yet. Maybe she won't be able to steel my shoes forever afterall!

Casey likes to have Caitlyn imitate the local artwork wherever possible. She happens to be wearing my shoes in this picture.

and on a side note - you might have noticed that Caitlyn got her hair cut.

It's sad, but not (if you ever had to comb it out, you'd relate) She looks really cute with the new cut (this pic. doesn't really do it justice).

Cruisin' It's the Way to Go!!!

11 days of royal treatment can go a long way to spoiling a person!! Wow. I think we may take all of our vacations on cruise ships from now on. It was so much fun to get on the giant boat, be waited on hand and foot, fed extremely well, all day long, entertained at all hours, and get to see so many cool parts of the world in the same trip. I never made a bed, did a dish, or washed a towel (I'm definitely making up for it with 11 days worth of laundry times 5 people now).

We boarded the Costa Serena on Jan 7 with the Lazenby family of four (our friends)and cruised to Barcelona (Spain), Casablanca (Morocco), Funchal (Portugal), Tenerife and Arrecife (Canary Islands) and Malaga (Spain) before returning to Savona Italy on Jan 18. Our favorite stops were Funchal with some amazing tropical gardens and views and Tenerife where we spent the day at a marine park. Had we had more time, we'd have spent some time at the beach too. That's probably the main downside to the cruise - limited time before it sets sail, with or without you!

We survived having all 5 of us sharing a little cabin (We got special permission because Alisea is still so little). We lost count of who bumped their heads the most often on the kids bunks. We got some pretty funny looks from people who would see all five of us file into the room. I'm sure some of them felt cramped with just two of them. Thankfully, there was so much to do on the boat that we didn't spend too much time in the room at the same time! We actually feel like we are a little closer as a family after this adventure!

Now we turn our attention toward a visit from our good friends, the Strombergs, and then to getting ready to move to Texas in the first week of April.

Hanging out

I caught Ethan kicking Alisea off her pillow. I thought it was cute how they were laying side by side in the same positions.

Happy New Year

Hope everyone brought in the New Year with a bang! We hosted a game night at our house and filled it with good friends! What could be better? I will really miss the awesome people we have met here! I have a huge list of resolutions this year - mostly menial stuff I should have mastered years ago, like not leaving dirty dishes overnight, but this year, I won't give up on them just cause I slip (there are dirty dishes from last night-what can I say??)

The kids are all sick with colds, Ethan especially. He's really been under the weather. I think he has slept 30 of the last 33 hours. Has a fever, etc. I hate when my children feel bad and I can't help them get better fast enough! He seems to finally be on the upswing, but We're off to the doc for him this afternoon since he's been fighting this for over a week! Alisea has a cough and runny nose. I sure hope they all recover before Monday when we leave on our cruise to the Canary Islands!!!

WHOO HOOOO!!! Never been on a cruise! We are heading off for 11 days - hitting Casa Blanca, Barcelona, Gibralter, the Canaries, and several others I can't think of right now. I have been so spoiled here.

Alisea is eating solids like a champ. Gotta love mushed up peas! maybe I waited too long, cause she devours the stuff. She weighed in at 15 lbs 8 ozs. at her 6 month well baby check and 26 inches.

Once again

God Bless you all in this NEW YEAR!