Our month began with my brother, Dave, getting married. He and Susette finally tied the knot on a Saturday morning in Pleasant Grove. The simple wedding was held in the club house of their condominium unit. She looked beautiful and Dave was ecstatic with this amazing woman now his wife. The wedding was performed by Susette's brother who is a stake president in Arizona. Only Dave's two boys, Andrew and Taylor, could be in attendance but thanks to modern technology, they were able to Skype in the other children of both Dave and Susette so all could witness the event. We were glad we could be in attendance. Kathy and Kurt Morgan were also able to come so we had a nice visit with them after the ceremony. We are so happy for Dave.
The very next day, we flew to Texas for a 5 day cruise out of Galveston. It was a 'free' cruise until we upgraded our room, booked airline tickets, and paid for two shore excursions. It was nice to get away but the cruise itself was a bust. We flew out on Sunday morning, landed in Houston, rented a car, and drove to Galveston. Our hotel was down by the dock and, when we arrived in that area, we realized there was a Mardi Gras parade going on. It was impossible to get to our hotel so we just parked the car and walked to where we could see the parade. Every float and group that went by threw out lots of beads into the crowds. We even caught our fair share of them. As the parade ended we walked to our hotel where we checked in. The hotel was housed in a lovely historical building and was very nice. We loved the old fashioned decor in our room, especially the high ceilings and crown moldings. The excitement of the night was watching the super bowl on the TV in our room and walking to Fuddrucker's for a quick hamburger during half time.
The next morning we checked out of our hotel, parked our car in the cruise parking lot, and walked to the Carnival cruise line terminal building. Check in went pretty quickly once the ship was ready to be boarded. We did have to wait a couple of hours for our room to be ready so we ate lunch at the ship's buffet. We had high hopes for this cruise but were quickly disappointd when we were greeted by a letter telling us that our shore excursion to Tulum was canceled. That was one of the reasons we had booked this particular cruise. Luckily, they didn't cancel our tour of the Mayan ruin at Chitzenitza.
Our next disappointment came at dinner. One of the reasons people go on cruises is for the wonderful food, especially at dinner in the formal dining room. Our first experience at dinner was a tough steak and a béarnaise sauce that was not a béarnaise sauce. We also noticed that the better cuts of steak and the lobster were an additional charge. This has never been the case on any of the other 5 cruises we have taken. The menu was also abbreviated offering only appetizers, entrees, and desserts. The very few salads and soups were listed with the appetizers. Other dinners were equally as disappointing. The prime rib was tasteless and covered with what they called an au jus but was more of a gravy or bitter wine sauce. There was not one dinner from which we left saying that was an incredible meal. There also was no flaming baked Alaskans on formal night like there had been on every other cruise. What was done instead was the waiters dancing on tables and that was done on two nights. The lunch and breakfast buffets were not too much better. We tried their Mexican chicken tacos and the first time they were ok. The second time I tried a pork taco and bit into a big lump of gristle. Not good. On the last day at sea it was advertised that there would be a chocolate extravaganza in the buffet area between 12:30 and 2. Thinking this would be something we should see and maybe even find a good dessert, we decided to check it out. Another disappointment. The display of desserts was no different than had been there all week and the desserts were no better. On other cruises the displays have included ice and fruit sculptures, flower arrangements, linen clothes and table runners with the desserts placed on fancy platters and on different levels throughout the display. Not on this cruise. The one good thing was their ice cream machine that served soft ice cream as well as frozen yogurt. At least we could satisfy our sweet tooth there.
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| The pool area. |
To be fair, neither Paul nor I were feeling very well as I had a cough and the congestion of a cold while Paul had the congestion. Nevertheless, the cruise was far inferior than any other cruise on which we have been.
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Our first selfie!!!
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We did enjoy the two shore excursions we took even though the one we wanted in Cozemel was canceled.....in fact, our second choice was canceled the morning of due to weather. I had always wanted to see the ruins at Chitzinitza and was thrilled when we were able to walk the grounds and listen to the guide tell about all the things I used to teach my sixth graders when we studied Mexican history. The Mayan ruins we went to at our second port were not as impressive but we did learn more about the Mayan culture.
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| The temple at Chitzinitza |
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The hoop at the ball field where players tried to
hit the ball through the hoop. The losing team's
captain was sacrifice |
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The sacrificial pool where many Mayans
jumped to their death |
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| The market place |
On the two days at sea it was good to just sit at the pool or walk the small outdoor track on the top deck of the ship. We have never been anxious to get off a cruise ship before. In fact. we have always been sad when the cruise ended. Not the case with this cruise...we couldn't wait to be off the boat and on our way home. Sure hope this won't affect our desire to cruise again.
We returned home to a houseful of company. Deon and Gary and five of their grandchildren had driven to Utah from Las Vegas for a little get away. They came up to see the Provo City Temple and took in the ice castles in Midway as well. They needed a place to stay Saturday and Sunday. We didn't get back home until late Saturday so they were all settled into bed in our home by the time we arrived. It was good to see Deon and Gary but I was a little overwhelmed when I ended up having to cook dinner for 18 on Sunday. Jon and Mindy brought their 7 children up so that accounted for the big number. Ordinarily it would be no problem but I still wasn't feeling well. I had a ham in the freezer which made for a little easier dinner.
Everyone left on Monday morning. Monday night, Todd and Kailee and Aria came up to spend the night and have sourdough waffles the next morning. It had been Valentine's weekend, so Todd wanted to take Kailee out to dinner and needed us to babysit for a couple of hours, which we delighted to do. It was then that we discovered that the heater on our hot tub had gone out. Todd and Kailee had wanted to get in the hot tub when they came back from dinner but there was a thin coat of ice on the water inside the tub. To make a long story short, the hot tub was now ruined due to frozen water in the pipes.
On Wednesday, we went to Provo to meet Todd and Kailee to find a blessing dress for Aria. It was an easy shopping trip as Kailee fell in love with one of the dresses in the first shop. With time to kill before going to lunch, we decided to go to a couple of hot tub stores to check out prices and styles. Todd and Kailee would love to put a hot tub in their backyard so they were interested in going with us. We got some ideas but decided we best check with the spa place in Park City, where we had purchased out last hot tub, to compare prices. We had lunch at a favorite Mexican place of Todd and Kailee's.
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Aaron's children building a sledding
area out of our water feature area |
On Tuesday, Deon called and asked if Aaron and his family could come crash at our home on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Angela's grandmother had passed away and the funeral was to be held Friday. They came in on Thursday afternoon just as we were returning from having purchased a hot tub in Park City. It was snowing and their children were having a blast in the snow by the time we got home. Again, we were glad they felt comfortable in coming in and getting settled without us here. With the viewing, and the funeral, and other activities planned with didn't see much of Aaron and his family until night time so their visit was easy on us. I only fixed them a big breakfast Saturday morning before they cleaned up downstairs and left for home.
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A picture taken off of Facebook. Jake broke his foot
hence the wheelchair |
The rest of the month was filled with basketball and a beautiful blessing. The BYU basketball season wound down this month with the big game between BYU and Gonzaga being the the last Saturday of the month. Jon was able to secure tickets for his whole family as well as court side seats for 4. He invited Paul and I to take Olivia and Carli to the pre-dinner event and then sit in the court side seats for the game. We were delighted as they were wonderful seats. The game was an exciting one even though we lost. During half time, the girls and I went into a special area behind the court where tons a treats had been set out for all those in the court side seats. The girls were in heaven as they piled their arms full of soda pop, pop corn, candy bars, ice cream, and brownies. It was a fun night.
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| Olivia trying to get noticed on the lip sync cam |
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| Cosmo was full of tricks |
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Beautiful Aria on
her blessing day
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The next day, we drove to Lehi for Aria's blessing. Todd gave a beautiful blessing with Paul, Jon, Kailee's Dad, brother, and brother in law standing in the circle. Aria looked celestial in her white dress and dark hair and was an angel all through church. After sacrament meeting, we met back at Todd and Kailee's for a lunch. They served barbecue chicken on rolls, fruit cups, chips, and vegetables. I brought brownies, rice krispy treats, and a cookie pizza for dessert. We had to leave right after lunch as we had a 1:00 meeting with a ward correlation committee to discuss the single adults in their ward. We also had to teach our primary class. We were glad when Todd called and asked if he and Kailee and Aria could come up for dinner that night. They really wanted some of the leftover desserts as Jon had taken all the ones we left in Lehi. We had teriyaki chicken sandwiches and sweet potato fries that came real close to tasting like Red Robin's teriyaki chicken sandwich and fries. We are glad Todd and Kailee like to spend time with us old people.
And thus ends another month.
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| A beautiful Heber sunset |
Our month began with my brother, Dave, getting married. He and Susette finally tied the knot on a Saturday morning in Pleasant Grove. The simple wedding was held in the club house of their condominium unit. She looked beautiful and Dave was ecstatic with this amazing woman now his wife. The wedding was performed by Susette's brother who is a stake president in Arizona. Only Dave's two boys, Andrew and Taylor, could be in attendance but thanks to modern technology, they were able to Skype in the other children of both Dave and Susette so all could witness the event. We were glad we could be in attendance. Kathy and Kurt Morgan were also able to come so we had a nice visit with them after the ceremony. We are so happy for Dave. 
The very next day, we flew to Texas for a 5 day cruise out of Galveston. It was a 'free' cruise until we upgraded our room, booked airline tickets, and paid for two shore excursions. It was nice to get away but the cruise itself was a bust. We flew out on Sunday morning, landed in Houston, rented a car, and drove to Galveston. Our hotel was down by the dock and, when we arrived in that area, we realized there was a Mardi Gras parade going on. It was impossible to get to our hotel so we just parked the car and walked to where we could see the parade. Every float and group that went by threw out lots of beads into the crowds. We even caught our fair share of them. As the parade ended we walked to our hotel where we checked in. The hotel was housed in a lovely historical building and was very nice. We loved the old fashioned decor in our room, especially the high ceilings and crown moldings. The excitement of the night was watching the super bowl on the TV in our room and walking to Fuddrucker's for a quick hamburger during half time. 
The next morning we checked out of our hotel, parked our car in the cruise parking lot, and walked to the Carnival cruise line terminal building. Check in went pretty quickly once the ship was ready to be boarded. We did have to wait a couple of hours for our room to be ready so we ate lunch at the ship's buffet. We had high hopes for this cruise but were quickly disappointd when we were greeted by a letter telling us that our shore excursion to Tulum was canceled. That was one of the reasons we had booked this particular cruise. Luckily, they didn't cancel our tour of the Mayan ruin at Chitzenitza. 
On Wednesday, we went to Provo to meet Todd and Kailee to find a blessing dress for Aria. It was an easy shopping trip as Kailee fell in love with one of the dresses in the first shop. With time to kill before going to lunch, we decided to go to a couple of hot tub stores to check out prices and styles. Todd and Kailee would love to put a hot tub in their backyard so they were interested in going with us. We got some ideas but decided we best check with the spa place in Park City, where we had purchased out last hot tub, to compare prices. We had lunch at a favorite Mexican place of Todd and Kailee's.
The rest of the month was filled with basketball and a beautiful blessing. The BYU basketball season wound down this month with the big game between BYU and Gonzaga being the the last Saturday of the month. Jon was able to secure tickets for his whole family as well as court side seats for 4. He invited Paul and I to take Olivia and Carli to the pre-dinner event and then sit in the court side seats for the game. We were delighted as they were wonderful seats. The game was an exciting one even though we lost. During half time, the girls and I went into a special area behind the court where tons a treats had been set out for all those in the court side seats. The girls were in heaven as they piled their arms full of soda pop, pop corn, candy bars, ice cream, and brownies. It was a fun night.
