Cruise down the Mexican Riviera

On January 20th, we left for Los Angeles and headed to the pier to Royal Caribbeans' Vision of the Seas cruise ship for a little trip down the Mexican Riviera for 7 days. It was an amazing trip! We went with around 30 people from our neighborhood and ward. Even my parents, Mom and Dad Hatch, ended up going! Having so many people that we know and love with us took an incredible trip and raised it to the best trip ever! We did a ton of things together on board, from playing shuffle board, cards, dancing, eating, hot tub, shows, kareoke, etc to just spending the one-on-one time with our spouses. I'm not going to post all of our pictures (because there are so many) but here are some pictures of our trip:

Dave and Jody in front of our cruise ship

One of the MANY pina coladas Dave drank while on board. We both loved the drinks!1st formal night dinner. We had a 4 person table with mom and dad. So fun!Mom and Dad Hatch On one of the outer decks, there was always something going on. Here we watched a gentleman do an ice carving in about 10 minutes. Incredible!
The stateroom attendant would make our beds twice a day, leave mints on our pillows, pick up the stuff on the floor and cleverly arrange the towels. We laughed out loud when we walked in one night and saw the hanging "chicken."
Dad and Dave in Puerta Vallarta: We rented dune buggies for an afternoon and went into the jungle-like area for a dirty ride, tour of a tequila factory, and glance at some of the sad poverty that Mexico has. It was overall a great afternoon.

One of the several rivers we drove through. Dad- we had to wear scarves to keep the dust out of our lungs. You'll love the next few pictures of how dirty we got!
Dad and Jody- halfway through the trip at a little hidden waterfall.
Lood how dirty and wet we are!
You thought we looked bad in the previous pictures....check us out after the return trip! We were surprised the crew didn't squirt us down before letting us embark! Mazatlan! We loved our day here! All of our friends booked the same excursion- a boat ride to Deer Island where we played sand volleyball, rode the banana tube and kayaked in the ocean. Lunch was delicious fajitas and fruit. It was one of our favorite days!

Mom and Dad trying out the kayaking.
Dave taking a dip in the cool water!
Mom, flirting and dancing with the coolest tour guide!
Ruben, Dad and Yolanda! (I have to insert here that our friends LOVED mom and dad. We did a couples kayaking race where Dad and Ruben beat us all hands down!)

Dave and Jody
Sea Lions on a little rock several miles from Mazatlan.
A picture of the friends and us on our way back from Deer Island.Dave, Mom and Jody in Mazatlan Cabo San Lucas: This was a beautiful little city. Here is a picture of the harbor with mom and dad.

Jody and Dave in CaboWe decided to test our courage and signed up to do the canopy zip lines while in Cabo. Most of the lines ran over a canyon with heights around 300-350 ft high! It was quite a thrill! Just looking at the pictures made my heart race a bit!

Dana, Jody, Dave and Yolanda before we suited up for the zip lines!

Group picture of everybody!Here goes Dave on his 1st zip across the canyon!

Here is a 4 person tandum ride with Yolanda in the front and Dad in the back!
Jody, zipping across the ravine!
Dad loves adventure so the zip lines were a blast for him!


Here is a shot of Dave going across the canyon.

Jody, arriving safely again!
On Dana and Yolandas 3rd zip (1st tandum), they got stuck and had to be rescued! It made all of our hearts race! Dad
After a fun day, we were happy to head back to the ship!

At the end of our trip, Ginger and Josh met us at the airport with our kids! I opened the door to hug and kiss the kids, who were so excited to see us! We jumped in the durango and took off for home. The kids were so quiet, just staring at me while I was telling them about the big ship etc. Finally, after about 4 minutes, Taylor said to me, "Mom, it's like we know you're our mother but we don't know you very well." I laughed and said, "I know, sweetie, it's like I don't know you guys very well either!" Taylor responded, "Well, mom, my name is Taylor and this is Jaxson and Austin." Priceless!

Now that we're home, Dave is already searching for the next cruise to the Caribbean this time! He wants to bring our kids and his parents along with our friends and family members! Watch for the deals, Dave!

Jaxson Fractures Upper Arm/Shoulder

Yesterday, around lunchtime, I was answering a call from Cheri and putting pasta in bowls for the kids by the phone. All of the sudden, I heard a smack and chocolate chips went flying everywhere around me! There lay Jaxson, right behind me, on his stomach on the floor crying loudly. I quickly told Cheri I had to go, picked up Jaxson and hugged him. He cried and cried, left my arms to go the bedroom to find his Daddy. Dave jumped out of the shower and we took off Jax's shirt (which sent him into hysterics) and it was obvious that his right shoulder was injured as there was a huge ball forming over the blade.

Luckily, Cheri called again in that moment and said she was just minutes away and could take Austin and Taylor while we went to the ER. She and Steve had just happened to be on their way over to suprise us with their new jeep. We took Jaxson to the ER and learned several things. First, there was a good fracture in us upper Humus, next to the shoulder joint. Second, the area where he got the fracture has a huge cyst (which subsequently made the bone fracture more easily). We waited for the orthepedic surgeon to come in and talk about our options. He is sending the X-rays to Primary Children's Hospital for them to look at it since he only sees cases like this maybe once a year or so. From there, they'll decide if they want to go in and chip out the cyst and graph back in bone or what to do at this point. He told us not to freak out since it doesn't look like a spreading cancer but we'll know more next week. We'll keep everybody posted.

Jaxson- hurting most of the time, even with pain pills right now!

It is hard for him to sit...but he is so much pain when he tries to play with his left hand that he ends up howling and on the sofa chair!

Enjoying the pain pills at their height of numbness!

A thoughtful Princess.....

Just a few nights ago, I went in to kiss Taylor one more time before bed and found this! The next morning, she informed me that she had wanted all of her dolls and rabbit to "feel safe at night."

Christmas Day Party #2- Lindsay Family

Christmas Day Evening with the Lindsays- the picture I didn't get was the amazing spread that Cheri decided to create for us to feast on! Crown Pork Roast, Roasted Brei Cheese with caramel walnuts, Spinach Artichoke dip, shredded rice/carrot dish etc. At the end, we sat around and opened presents. It was the perfect end to a great Christmas day!
The kids LOVE the train going around the front room Christmas tree!
What did you get, Austin? Cute clothes from Poppie and Grandma Barbie!
Aunt Cindy and Jaxson, listening and answering Grandma Barbie's questions about the symbols and real meaning of Christmas.

Another great head shot of Dave!

A very happy Poppie!


Fun Aunt Cindy!

Fun Aunt Cheri!

Christmas Day Party #1---Hatch Family

Around noon, the Hatch family headed over to our home for a Christmas Day Dinner of Ham, risotto, several salads, cranberry slush and pumpkin roll for dessert. We played playstation and Rook (of course) and sat around for hours talking and enjoying the day. Around 5:00pm, Dave and I took off for the Lindsays for a family party while the party continued. Here are some pictures of the afternoon together. Mom and Uncle Doug, ready for some tromping in Rook.
Patrick's new look, one that Jenny is trying not to encourage! :)

Cousin Dane and Brandon
Cousin Doug and the play station