Trujillo Family Vacation

Last week Poppy took all 18 of the ENTIRE Trujillo family on a week long cruise to the Caribbean. It was not hard know that we were all with the same group in our matching spiffy new shirts.

My favorite Stop was Libadee, a private island off of Haiti.

The kids were just able to play, play, play, in the water for hours.

Katlyn made a beautiful sand Mermaid.

We had a nice line up of fine looking men, and a Katlyn, with some fine looking beach bods.

Next stop was Jaimaca. Love the Jaimacan people.

Then came Grand Cayman. We loved snorkeling and swimming with the sting rays and all of the underwater creatures of the crystal clear Cayman waters.

Callie wanted a Mermaid, but it turned out that after Katlyn decided that the redheaded green mermaid was her favorite, Callie had nothing to do with the blond pink mermaid I had chosen for her that matched her room perfectly. I did not realize this until I took the red headed doll away, and she teared up like I had broken her little heart to pieces. Needless to say, we got her the redhead doll, which she still loves.

Next came Cozumel, an island off of Mexico. We were so blessed to luck out with free tickets to the Mayan ruins, from 2 sweet women who were unable to get a refund.

Ragnar 2011

From top left to right: Timmy Boy, Brennon, Big Tim, Brennon, Becky, and Adam

Last year my brother-in-law's, Brennon's, accounting firm decided to put together a Ragnar team of accountants from the firm, but funny how things turn out... Only 3 people from the firm actually ran, and the rest was filled by family, friends, and (ha, ha, ha!) a whole bunch of Mormons.



But that's okay... Timmy Boy and Big Tim fit right in. We had a blast running around 200 miles of relay together, driving, getting hardly any sleep, and snacking on goodies that Amber got for us. There were 12 members total with 2 vans with 6 runners. We were Van #2.

We lucked out. An old friend Calob Boone joined our group with his fiance, Jenny. She is a sweetie and a half and was kind enough to be our designated driver after working a night shift and getting only 3 hours of sleep.

Below: Jenny and Calob

Exchanged took place by slapping a cool little band on the next team memeber. And yes, we ran through the entire freezing night.

But lack of sleep, freezing weather, and running many many miles did not take the smile off these boys. :)

And Finally! after 2 days of running... We made it!

Love this Kid!

Christmas

This Christmas in Casa Grande was really wonderful. Steven's gift turned out great. He had to go on a scavenger hunt with a series of clues. It was well worth it to him because he got just what he wanted, the watch he had been researching and wanting for weeks. I will admit the idea was not an original, he had done one for me last Christmas, but he still loved it!

Callie loved Christmas too. Funny, I think her favorite toy ended up on being the most simple, stacking boxes. But she sure made out good, and the other kids in town sure love coming over and playing with Callie and her new toys.

Pre Christmas fun

The week before Christmas was jam packed with family fun and laughter. That Monday the Crandell family had a nice big fat Christmas party at RED LOBSTER!!!!! The food was awesome and the company was even better. My mother had planned some cute games before the food came and then afterwards we exchanged gifts. One of the the games was a service exchange where everyone wrote on a sheet of paper a service they were willing to give. My mother told a story while the papers were randomly passed to those surrounding the table. I was thrilled to receive the service of a free night of baby sitting from my little bro Adam, and my grandpa Brewer will be receiving some scrumptious cookies from me.

Later that week Carriane invited Amber and us to go sing Christmas carols to a group of elderly folk and let the little girls see Santa (really Carriane's father, who does pull off a great Santa). I guess every year they do this with their father, cool, huh.

Christmas Eve Steven and I met up with the Trujillo family where, thanks to the superior planning of Poppy, we had another fun filled day which included hiking CG mountain, crafting with the kids, bowling, sharing presents, and eating real deal yummy Mexican food.

After Thanksgiving we still had a fun filled weekend, cutting down Christmas trees on the Rim, celebrating Nonny's birthday, and visiting Santa.

Ya, I know, I am married to one dang hansome man

The picture did not turn out very clear, but you can clearly see that Callie is freaked out by this weird man in a red suit. After she was off his lap and realized he gave away free presents, she fell in love with Santa and that became her favorite word that night. She now says "Santa, HO HO HO!"

Thanksgiving