Vacation Here We COME!!!...

This vacation to the Riviera Maya has been 2 years in the making! For 2 years my siblings, mom and dad, and shane and i have been looking forward to this moment with GREAT anticipation! We researched and researched and researched to find the best place. Shane and i are ESPECIALLY excited b/c this is going to be an awesome vacation of relaxation. Our kids won't be with us and that will be a first! My parents decided we all needed one last BIG vacation together....though i still think they will do this again for us one day!!! hehe. :) They booked this awesome all-inclusive resort. We fly to Riviera Maya on the 28th and will spend 6 days and 7 nights. Cannot wait! aahhhh!
Here is another little picture of a section of the pool area at the resort. They have swim up bars where i can get my virgin maragarita's. Will i be in the pool ALL day? Absolutely! We are gonna have to visit Chichenitza...i don't know if i spelled that right...anyway, we were supposed to visit this site on our Cruise that we went on 1 month after we were married(our honeymoon)...but the winds were so high that they couldn't dock and therefore we couldn't see the sites. Shane was very bummed about it, but now he gets to see it and cannot wait!
BUT before we head to the Riviera Maya we leave tomorrow to go visit Shane's family! We are sooo excited to see everyone! TRULY! It is like Christmas. aaahhhh!!! Some of them we haven't seen for a year and there are 2 new babies in the family that we will be seeing for the first time and both of them are just about one year old!!! sheesh! I can't wait to see those little girls!!! We will be camping at Lagoon tomorrow night and spending all day Friday riding rides and going down water slides. We love camping...now that the boys are older it works out a lot better for us. :)While we are there we are going to Bear Lake for 2-3 days. Beautiful lake! I cannot wait! Chill by the water while enjoying family...what else could you ask for? Oh and did i mention that we will happen to be there the same time my best friend is there?! Yup. So i will get to see her for a few hours! Cool huh?!!? Her little daughter and Gavin are best friends. They get along so well and Gavin even calls her his best friend. Sooo cute.
Don't mean to make anyone jealous, but i had to post this b/c i am just so dang excited. It is going to go by way too fast, i know, and when we get back it might be a bit depressing. Seriously. But we have been waiting so long for this and it is finally here. We leave tomorrow(17th).
I will be posting tons of pics when we get back. I am gonna be taking family pictures for my family and of course of all our activities so let's just say i will probably have about 1000 pics. Sounds like a lot, but it really is quite easy for me to take that many. :)

Let's PLAY!!

This will be fun especially if everyone and I do mean EVERYONE will join in!This is just too fun to pass up.Here are the directions:
1. Add a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together or that you have of me. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember, good or bad but be nice!!!!!!!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments. Let's see who can come up with the funniest memory and who has the most memories. Please keep it going. ENJOY :)

Tanner Baby...

My little Tanner is staying sweet, but i can tell he is getting closer to his terrible 2's. The sweet side: He LOVES cuddling and giving hugs. He is a momma's boy. He loves to help me CLEAN. He is very EXPRESSIVE. The signs of terrible 2's creeping in: Runs the other direction when i tell him to come to me(i know, every kid does it, but i just had this hope that he might be different). Screams SO loud when his space is being invaded. He is getting an attitude problem. All in all, he is such a good boy. Both of my boys are. I am lucky and i wouldn't have them any other way.

Unexplained phenomenon...

Okay, so there are times where i wake up in the morning and have complete anxiety in my stomach and i have NO CLUE WHY?!?! I have nothing to be anxious about. Well, it got to the point where i realized a pattern. Every morning that i would feel an unexplained anxiety were the same mornings Shane was feeling anxiety about something that was coming up in his day. This morning i woke up with anxiety, and finally realizing a pattern i asked shane, Do you feel anxious this morning? He said, "Yes, why?" I said, "Well b/c i have anxiety and i don't know why...and that seems to be the only explanation these days for it." Isn't that so weird? Like, i have gotten nervous for people...you know, like when you watch some intense thing on t.v. and you put yourself in their position and get nervous for them b/c you know how scary or nerve wracking what they are going through is. Well, with Shane, it is the opposite. I don't know about his anxieties. I just start feeling major unexplained anxiety and then later find out he has anxieties for the day b/c their is a test, or something new that he is nervous about. I literally feel his pain. That is so strange to me. Anyone experience this with your own spouse? How is it possible for me to feel his anxieties before i even know about them? By the way, check out my photography blog.... www.ashspassion.blogspot.com

The Latest Sayings and Doings...

Tanner's thing lately is:
1. Saying "pee ewww" when i change his poopy diaper. He says that while he waves his hand in front of his nose.
2. Repeating EVERYTHING we say. If he can't repeat the sentence then he repeats the last word of the sentence. It is so funny.
3. He kneels down for every evening prayer we have. He is so good. He gets on his knees like the rest of us and folds his arms and the majority of the time he is good at holding that position for the whole prayer. I will get a picture of him doing it, i am just waiting for the right time and perfect lighting. :) eeww, i can't wait. He even says "Amen". Cute cute.


Gavin's latest thing:
1. Dinner has turned into a competition for Gavin to see who can eat the fastest. Horrible. Anyway, Gavin says at the beginning of the meal, "you guys can't beat me. I have a BIG mouth." I want to say, "you are right about the second part there." haha. :)
2. This is something i have noticed for awhile, but need to get it into my journaling. He can be very clumsy. It is very funny. When we leave the gym in the morning he waves bye to the guy at the front desk. Well, he will be waving bye to him and doesn't pay attention to where he is walking and runs right into the door. He seems to do this often.
3. Gavin could sit down and read books all day. He loves reading to me and having me read to him. He can't really read, but after i have read a book to him 1-2 times he remembers the words! He is going to be like shane...awesome memory. Wish i had that ability.

Shane's latest:
1. He is enjoying clinic.
2. LOVES LOVES LOVES being with ME and his kids. hehe. :) That is nothing new though. :)
3. Just had an Atypical mole removed. They are going to do a test on it and let us know within a week what the results are. It is scary. Melanoma seems to run in Shane's family, but i am staying positive in thinking everything will be fine. :) The doctor told him that he should really start wearing a hat and shirt in the sun. I am not one who likes to put on sunblock, but i think i will start now. I never really have put it on unless i knew i was going to be in the sun all day long. With this happening and then hearing some RECENT stories of people who have died in their early 30's from melanoma and doc's saying that there are a lot more cases these days...well, let's just say i think i should start wearing sunscreen. The tan isn't worth the risk. :) I can look good without a tan. pssh. Tan shman. Who needs em.
4. Shane rode his motorcycle home the other day. I thought he would have gotten a ride with friends since it was pooring down rain, but NO. I turn and see him pulling into the driveway completely soaked. It was as if he jumped into a river...seriously. I felt so bad for him.

Ashlee:
1. Nothing new with me. Still getting into my workouts. It relieves stress and makes me feel healthy and good for the day. My spinning classes are my most challenging workouts. I love it though.
2. LOVE being with my husband and two boys. :) Nothing new.
3. Cannot wait for vacation to arrive! It is much needed!!!!!! :)
4. Need more time in my days!

4th of July Weekend...

THE KIDS PLAYING 'PRINCESS' AND 'HOSPITAL':
The first night there the girls started playing princess. They would lay down and die and then one of the other girls went over and kissed her so that she would wake up. There is a picture in here of Bailey and Emma doing this. We eventually told them to stop and then they played "hospital"... They would lay on the ground again and then the kids would go over and pick the up the wounded person by the legs and hands and carry them off. It was really funny. The first night there, we caught Avery and Gavin dancing in the dark by themselves. It was really sweet. Gavin was her prince that night. :)














































THE BEACH:



We had lots of fun at the beach. They had real sand and everything. It was a nice beach but the water was kind of mossy and gross. Gavin had a fishing pole that he borrowed from his friend and he LOVED fishing with it. I know what we need to get him now. :) Tanner enjoyed playing in the wet sand and mud.







Gavin let avery have a go at fishing and just sat back and watched her.















fishing.



















Tanner playing in the mud. :)

Avery playing in the sand!
































Enjoying her juice!!



































Watching the fishermen go by.
















Bailey in her cool sunglasses. She had stylin glasses on and she looked so cute in them.























Macie is so cute! Just chillin in the mossy lake playing with the mud.



















BREAKFAST:


For breakfast on the 4th of July we all made cowboy breakfast. We cooked up sausage, eggs, and hashbrowns, mixed it all together with cheese. It was yummy. We all were busy cooking something up. We had to feed a lot of mouths. There were a total of 8 families to feed that morning.

Nancy and Becky are cooking up hashbrowns.
Loralee and Kyla are cooking the sausage and eggs.



Shane was cooking up hashbrowns on our stove. We love our stove. We sold our original one when we moved to Ohio and regretted doing that. We finally were able to get one again and LOVE it! :)

THEIR MOUNTAIN OF FUN:

There was this little hill that the kids loved playing on. They rolled down it a lot and just hung out on top of it.

JUST SOME FUN PICS:

Here they are using their "popits"...you know, the little things that pop when you throw them on the ground. They loved it.

Bree in her 4th of July outfit.

The kids doing sparklers. They had a blast with those.

Tanner ate way too many sweets.

She loves he cherry limeade!! Sooo cute!

Bree drinking out of the fountain.

The fun was not over. We got up on Saturday morning and went to the Pioneer Waterland and dry Fun Park. It was lots of fun. We spent about 5 hours there that day. They had big slides that the adults had the chance to go on and fun little water slides for the kids to go on. Of course they had the lazy river we had to go on. The water was freezing by the way! They also had sandy playgrounds that the kids could play on if they were tired of the water. They also had paddle boats and we all took a try at that. The guys went over and did the batting cages and some golf as well. It was the funnest weekend!! p.s. Dear friends who went on the trip, i will be posting some pics of your kids on my photo blog. If you do not want me to post them on there then please let me know and i will take them off.