Jamaican Me Crazy 2014!!!

So, how lucky am I that I was asked to go to Jamaica!!! Well, my mom just turned 50 and a bunch of her high school friends all planned a trip to Ocho Rios in Jamaica to celebrate their 50th. With my step-dad Steve not being the biggest traveler, my mom asked me to join their crazy group! Crazy is just that, there were 17 of us total (me being the youngest...ha) and we had a blast! We left Jan. 25th and just got back last Thursday. The hardest part about the trip was definitely leaving my boys. The rest of the group stayed for 7 days in Jamaica, but my mom and I only stayed for 5 days. A week away from Gavin and Court is just TOOO LONG! I knew Gavin was in great hands though, as he had his dad for the week plus Dudie and Papa came to visit for a few days to help out. Ok, so here is a recap of our "Jamaican Me Crazy Trip"

To start our trip off right...mom and I enjoyed a few cocktails on the plan! It was a crazy view seeing all the water below us! I definitely paid attention to the flight attendant's emergency landing instructions for this flight!

Landed safe and sound and started enjoying Airport "Margaritaville" right away!

Resort: We stayed at the Jewels Dunn's River Spa and Resort in Ocho Rios. It was beautiful!! Here is our view from the room

Here is another view from one of our group member's room. 

Sunday: Ok, our first "full" day we spent the morning on the beach enjoying some cocktails, free back messages on the beach, and some sun. However, it did get cloudy and start to rain in the afternoon. So, we spent the rest of the day playing beach volleyball and drinking at the bar! We then all meet up in the evening for dinner at the Moonstone Italian restaurant...followed by a little karaoke! :)

Carl was one of the barterers there at the resort and he made the BEST citrus drink....I looked for him everyday to make me his "carl special" drink 

Monday: We spent the day on an all day excursion: snorkeling, tackling the "Dunn's River Waterfall", and enjoying a booze cruise. It was a full day of fun, but a long day to say the least! We started every morning off at the same table enjoying some coffee and great views. 

The Dunn's River Falls was amazing....we climbed up this HUGE waterfall! It was dangerous, wet, slippery, and super fun! They enough took our picture for us!

Ok, so the booze cruise got a little crazy....a lot of dancing and a lot of drinking! We had too much fun!

And to be honest....I'm not sure why I kept flashing the "peace sign"

Tuesday: Well, since it rained and was cloudy Sunday, and we were gone all day Monday... we decided to make it a beach day! We also got to see a beautiful peacock try to win over his lady! I guess it is mating season for peacocks. That night we enjoyed dinner on the beach with everyone along with some great resort entertainment. 

Ok, so I had 5 different desserts. I couldn't decide, so I had then all! :)

Wednesday: With this being our last full day we decided to have another beach day. I tried to make a "saying" in the sand, but it did not work the best with the tide. No, it does not stand for Monday....it says "Mon" Courtney thought I was trying to spell out monday....lol! The lines out of the head are for dread locks, in case you were wondering. lol. That night we all went out for dinner at the Jade (a Japanese steak house restaurant). Of course we had to have sake bombs! 

This is Jeff one of the group members who is my dad's best friend from high school....so I had to get a picture of us two to send to my dad. It is crazy to think that Jeff was there when I was born and now I'm sipping cocktails with him on the beach.

A picture of the group...what a wild and crazy bunch of 50 year olds!

During the trip I made some friends of my own that were not "50" (no offense mom and to the group) However, my group tended to go to bed earlier than I. So, I meet some pretty cool people from Minnesota, Ohio, and New York!  

Thursday: Our final day and leaving for the airport. I'm not going to lie I could not wait to get home to Courtney and Gavin!

Of course there had to be a Pandora store in the Charlotte Airport....so mom had to get a bead to represent the trip. She then surprised me on the plane with a bead for my bracelet! Gota love Pandora!!!! Thanks mom, love my bead!

Home Sweet Home....I didn't know who to kiss first!

Happy 2014!

Happy New Years everyone! As I think about 2013 I realize how many wonderful things we were able to enjoy. We made some great memories with family and friends, and we are looking forward to making so many more great memories in 2014! As for 2013 it was a year of many "first" experiences with Gavin and our family. The main one being that we finally bought our first house! Here is a quick recap of all the first things we got to experience.

1.) Our First Home
2.) Gavin's First 4th of July Parade
3.) Gavin's First Swim Class
4.) Gavin picking out his First Pumpkin
5.) Gavin's First Birthday

Here is a recap of Gavin spending some time with his grandparents in 2013, including celebrating Gigi's 50th Birthday! He is one lucky little boy to have such amazing grandparents in his life.

This year we celebrated the New Year with our good friends Jake and Rachel and of course Gavin. I went to high school and college with Jake and they just recently moved to KC from Minneapolis. It has been great reconnecting with him and his wife! We had a wonderful time celebrating the New Year with them....we played some games, drank some amazing Sangria that Rachel made, and of course enjoyed some great food! We are looking forward to spending many more good times with them! Also, our amazing realtor Sherri stopped by to say hi and enjoy a glass of Sangria....she sold both Jake and I our houses in KC!

Christmas 2013

Christmas always makes me realize how blessed we are to have each other and to have the wonderful family that we do! However, this Christmas was not as "merry" as we would have liked. We spent most of the holiday sick unfortunately! Courtney had taken the entire week off and our plan was to head up to Iowa on that Monday before Christmas and return Saturday after Christmas. Well, it all started the Saturday before Christmas when Gavin woke up with a cold and runny nose and then Sunday Courtney got the stomach flu. We ended up cutting our trip to Iowa short, we headed back on Tuesday and were home by Friday afternoon! It still was a great trip and we are so glad we got to spend some time with everyone! However, with Gavin being sick the entire time it was a little hectic to say the least!

Saturday December 21st:
We did manage to squeeze in our own little family Christmas that Saturday morning before everyone started to feel bad. We decided to let Gavin open is stocking and his "big" gift from Santa.....he was thrilled!

Wednesday December 25th: Christmas Morning with Gigi and Papa Steve:
We spent Christmas morning at my mom's and despite Gavin's cold he had a smile on his face most of the morning ripping into all the packages. It was so much fun watching him this year....

Grabbing a little breakfast and some coffee before all the fun started!

Even Ellie got a gift from Santa...she could not wait to get her paws on it!

Merry Christmas from our family of three!

Wednesday December 25th: Christmas Day with Dudie and Papa's: 

Christmas afternoon we headed up to Sumner to spend the day and evening with Courtney's family at Dixie and George's house. Vicki came up with this crazy idea for everyone to wear "ugly sweaters" ;)

so that is exactly what we did! Everyone looked great! However, our evening got cut short when Gavin ended up running a fever of 104.7. We were able to get his fever down with a cool bath (which he hated), but we decided to head back to Waterloo and stay at mom's just in case his fever spiked again and we needed to get him to the hospital. My mom only lives minutes from Covenant. It was a crazy and scary night, but everything turned ok. We still enjoyed our day at Dudie and Papa's and Gavin LOVED all the John Deere tractors that he got from Dudie and Papa! 

Thursday December 26th: Celebrating with Grandpa Pat and Grandma Rose:

On Thursday we headed back to Sumner for the afternoon to celebrate a quick Christmas with Pat and Rose since we did not make it back at Thanksgiving when they celebrated Christmas with the rest of the family. Unfortunately, I woke up that morning with a nasty cold and Gavin was also still not feeling well on Thursday. He was running a slight fever, so I did not get a chance to take any pictures while we were there. All he wanted to do was sit on his mommy's lap! Gavin was a very lucky boy this Christmas....he got an all oak table from Pat and Rose to complete his table and chair set! Since we have been home he has enjoyed playing with his new tractors at his new table. 

Later that night back at my mom's we were able to spend some time with Michael (Steve's son) who came back from Arizona. Courtney's sister Vicki also stopped by for a quick glass of wine since our "partying" time with her on Christmas night was cut short due to Gavin's high fever. We all had a great night finally relaxing and drinking some good wine! Gavin even sported his new pj's from Gigi and Papa Steve. 

Friday December 27th: GOING HOME!

Friday morning before we loaded up and headed back to Olathe...Steve's parents stopped by for a quick visit to see Gavin. It was nice seeing them and Gavin enjoyed his Mickey Mouse book set from them!

I'm not sure if the trip back was a fast three days or a long three days....lol! Either way we are happy to be home and sick in our own beds! ;)  I hope everyone had a great Christmas! Despite us not feeling well a Christmas spent with family is a perfect Christmas!

Tis' the Season....

Well, with Christmas just around the corner we have been busy getting into the Christmas spirit! After Thanksgiving we came home and started putting up our Christmas decorations. I love decorating for Christmas with some music going and a glass of wine....doesn't get much better. Gavin was even a big help with putting some of the ornaments on the tree. I really enjoyed decorating this year since this is "our" first house. Now, we don't have much decorations on the outside. So, my plan is to get some on sale after Christmas this year. We will be ready to compete with the neighbors next year. LOL

What better way to get into the Christmas spirit than to visit Santa. I have been looking forward to taking Gavin to see Santa this year now that he is older. Unfortunately, with Courtney still traveling it was just Gavin and I. I thought I would test him out with Santa during the week since the crowds are less, and he did great! So, we may try to go back on Saturday with Courtney if we have time. I had heard that Bass Pro had a really neat "Santa's Wonderland" display, so I decided to take Gavin there. It was awesome....they had lots of activities and displays for kids to do. So, Gavin got to enjoy some coloring at the North Pole, riding the carousel, and of course sitting on Santa's lap. He also really enjoyed the talking reindeer....lol. 

Last weekend Courtney and I headed to Branson to get into the Christmas spirit. His company Crossland had their annual Christmas party on Saturday, so we headed down on Friday for a nice weekend getaway. This was the first time we had left Gavin.....and it was kinda tough! Luckily, he was in great hands with my mom (Gigi), and I know the two of them had a blast. Courtney and I enjoyed the time away together and celebrating with his coworkers. Here are a few snap shots taken during the weekend. 

Thanksgiving 2013

For Thanksgiving this year we headed up to Nebraska to celebrate the holiday with my dad and Kim and my grandparents. It was a wonderful, relaxing trip with a great BIG surprise! My birthday fell on black Friday this year and the Hawkeyes just happened to be playing Nebraska in Nebraska. So, what better birthday gift than tickets to the football game!!! It has been years since I have been to a game and I LOVED every second of it. Thanks dad and Kim for the surprise tickets! It was such a great day....I got to spend the day with my hot/sexy husband, the Hawks WON, I got to spend the evening celebrating with my family, and then gifts and chocolate cake. What more could a girl ask for? It was a wonderful birthday! 

The rest of the time we spent taking gator rides, sitting in a deer stand, and eating lots of great food!!!! I even made "turkey" cupcakes.

It was so nice spending time with my parents and grandparents.....I love watching my dad with Gavin too. Gavin seems to really like Grandpa D. It is always great spending time on the farm and of course Gavin can't go to Grandpa D's house without wearing his "pioneer" hat.