Cayman Islands

This face says it all..

We had a blast.

We pretty much spent our time going between eating, beach, and pool.

The beach was perfect.

Joshua is happy here and he would be happy for a bit in the water, but for the most part he was not too happy with the water temp or the bright sun. :)

We got to watch the sunset almost every night.

Grandma Miggy was able to join us for this trip!  Hooray!  We sure loved our breakfasts at the hotel.

We went on one excursion while we were there.  We sailed on a large catamaran.

to Stingray City.  It is a large sandbar in the ocean that is home to more than two dozen "tame" Atlantic Southern Stingray's that enjoy the company of humans. The Stingray's swim freely with humans in only three feet of water at the shallow Sandbar area.

  We got to get in the water with them and touch them.  The boys both did it it, but Eli got nervous after about 5 minutes.  It was a little freaky for me too.  Doesn't the water look like pool water?  Crazy.

ON the same excursion they took us to another stop to snorkel.  Gavin was a little nervous about doing it, because it was deep water, but he was very brave and decided to try.  He loved it and he had snorkel and flippers on pretty much for then on out, even in the pool.  The underwater life there was spectacular.   At the beach we were staying at there was pretty incredible snorkeling.  There was a reef not too far of the beach that you could swim to.  Boyd and Eli took a kayak and Gavin and I attempted to swim out there.  It was a bit much for Gavin, so luckily Boyd picked him up in the kayak.  We were swarmed by a large school of fish while we were out there.  It was pretty cool, but again, made me feel a little vulnerable. 

WE at a place called The Warf and it was delicious.

Every night after sunset we would have this beautiful view of the moon and 2 planets.  (Jupiter and Venus?) 
Of course, one of the best parts was catching up on our sleep.  We would go to bed shortly after the boys every night.

Here's gavin in his full Snorkel gear. 

This was our last night there and it was the memorable.  We stayed at the beach until it was almost dark.  The sunset was spectacular.  The water was perfect.  We just couldn't get enough. 

Happy half birthday Joshua!

Joshua turned 6 months this week.  He is such a special little boy.  I can hardly express the joy he brings me ( and the whole family).  He is so quick to smile.  Sometimes, I can feel him watching me, just waiting for me to turn and look at him.  As, soon as I do, he gives me a great big grin. He will smile at almost anyone and he wins complete strangers over in a matter of seconds. 

He doesn't laugh readily, but he squeals with excitement.   If anyone can make him laugh though, it his two older brothers.  One day he just busted out laughing when the boys were dancing.  He loves his brothers and his brothers absolutely adore him.  It is fun to watch the interactions they have. 

He so easy going.  His favorite past time is pictured above.  He loves the Johnny Jump-up.  Which is a really good thing since he is the 3rd child and there are lots of things to get done.  :)  He will start "talking" (cooing) back to you if start talking with him.

He isn't in a hurry to meet his milestones. But, that's ok with us.  He finally started rolling over about one month ago from back to front.  He still hasn't rolled from front to back.  He really hates being on his stomach, so tummy time has been a struggle. Though, Gavin loves to do tummy time with him, so we have been doing it more. 

He cut his first tooth about a week ago. It is his bottom front tooth.  He is not quite sitting up.  He will start solids after we get back from our trip and I think is really going to enjoy that.

He has started sleeping in with his older brothers.  It works fairly well, though there are times where they wake each other up.

He goes in another week and half for his check-up, so we will get his weight and height.  I am guessing he is close to 18 lbs because he was 16 lbs at his 4 month.  He is a pretty solid little guy.

He still doesn't have much hair, but I love his beautiful bald head.

I really can't imagine my life without this little guy and we are looking forward to all the exciting things he is going to start doing in the next few months..

It will do for now..

We have not had a family picture for a while.  We hope to get some in the spring.  But, we have needed a family picture for a few different things so we ran down to Riverside Park and set up a tripod and took a series of pictures in about 10 minutes.  I still can't believe we are a family of 5!  I love my family.

Baseball and Football

Gavin and Eli have really been into sports the last month. Gavin has developed a love for baseball and Eli has followed. Gavin is taking a baseball class with his school buddy and now can hardly wait for Wednesday evenings. Eli was sad he couldn't take the class too, but has been satisfied in just watching. Gavin has made significant improvement since he started the class. I still get a little chuckle watching the 6 year olds play. They are so silly in class as well.

Eli is taking a soccer class with Brandon and is loving it. He is getting more and more aggressive. He started the class by just running and around and following the ball. Now, he actively attempts to kick and score. It has been fun to watch.

These pictures were taken a few weeks ago when we met up with his friend N and played baseball. Gavin asks every Saturday to go play with N.

The boys also got into football this season.  They were so excited about the Giants in the superbowl.  They stayed up and watched the entire game.

Eli was so excited about Eli Manning

2011 Baby Playdate

Fourteen ladies in our ward had a baby last year. I hosted a playdate in attempt to get them all together to "play" and to take a picture. We only got 8 of the 14 babies plus we had a few others who just missed the cut off. :)  It was really fun and I love the pictures.  Joshua is the 3rd from the right.

View

One of the greatest things about our new apartment is that we actually have a "view" and actual sunlight.
When we first moved into the apartment, a friend came to visit us. Upon entering the apartment Gavin quickly grabbed our friends attention and said, "You HAVE to see this". He led her back to his room and led her to the window and told her, "LOOK, LOOK out there. See that? That's the city. You can see the city in our new apartment." " In our old apartment you looked out the window and saw the Garbage."
It was true. We were on the first floor apartment and you could only see the building next to us and the back alley down below where they kept the garbage. NICE. Needless to say, we are VERY happy with our view.

Preschool Fun

I love these little friends!