I'm on a BOAT!

My parents started going on cruises for their 10-year anniversary.  (I was almost 8.)  They'd been on 7 cruises total (before this one) and they would always come home and say how amazing and fun they were.  They LOVED their cruises.  We, as kids, longed to go on a cruise because of how much my parents enjoyed them.  My parents always said, "Too bad, cruises are for adults."  So we dreamed of the day that we would all be adults and could go on a cruise.

Not that my parents didn't take us on vacation, they did.  We went on lots of fun family vacations to lots of awesome places.  Just never a cruise.  (Do we sound spoiled?  Maybe a little.)

Apparently Merrisa's graduation from highschool made her an adult because my parents finally decided to take us on a cruise this year!  It was a big year for our family with both of my sister's graduating and my Dad turning 50, so we had cause to celebrate.  (Plus the fact that I'm neither pregnant or nursing helps.)

Anyway, we went on a 7-day cruise to the Western Caribbean and it was amazing!  We stopped in Cozumel, Belize, Isla Roatan (Honduras), and Grand Cayman.  Each stop really deserves a post of its own so I'm just going to post about the ship festivities today.

The ship was unlike anything I've ever seen!  It was like a massive floating hotel with pools, a waterslide, lounges, bars, a casino, theatres, restaurants, a gym, mini golf, dance clubs, a spa, an arcade, a library, a chapel, etc.  It was basically one big party.  And the food, let's just say we all gained a few pounds.  You literally never stop eating.  And how can you resist the warm chocolate melting cake when it's free?  Anyway, let's get to the pictures. 

Exploring the boat.

Some of the elevators on the ship.

My sisters loved the towel animals.  Is this one a frog or a crab?

 This one was my fav.

 A dog? Maybe?

Relaxin.

In the dining room.

Cheers!

We loved our waiters, Kishore and Hadi (pronounced like hottie.)

They loved us too, mostly because we danced with them.

Livin the life of luxury.

Misty and Merrisa loved to dance and karaoke.  I mostly just watched and danced. 

At dinner.

We took a few pictures on the second formal night.

Stay tuned for Cozumel!

Witchcraft and Wizardry

We recently got back from an awesome vacation with my family.  We went on a CRUISE!  But first things first.  We couldn't go to Florida without seeing The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios! Yes, we are nerds.  (Except for Zack who would rather die than go to Harry Potter World.  His words.  He came to Florida a day later.)
My cousin Lindsay and her husband Joe live just outside of Tampa so we took them along.  Here we are at Universal.

We were seriously giddy when we saw Hogwarts!

And Hogsmeade was amazing!  They seriously captured every last detail.  It was literally magical.

We loved Honeyduke's and Zonko's!

Merrisa went on a quest to find the perfect wand for her.  
And I daresay she found it.  (Without the help of Ollivander.)

The Hogwart's Express was there.

And the Weasley's car, still alive.

We had lunch at The Three Broomsticks.

 And we HAD to try some of this.

The butterbeer was delicious!

The pumpkin juice was alright...
The Hogwarts ride was fantastic!  We loved seeing the inside of Hogwarts, the fat lady and other talking portraits, meeting buckbeak, the mandrakes, and hearing moaning myrtle in the bathroom.  It seriously was better than Disney. 

2011= The Year of the Graduates

We had several family members graduate in the past couple of months.  First was Zack's Dad, Drew.  He graduated from Weber State University with a Bachelor's in Computer Science. 

Then my sister Misty graduated from the nursing program at Weber State University. 

And we went to Tepanyaki to celebrate.

About a month later, Zack's baby brother Carson graduated from Weber High School.

And my baby sister Merrisa graduated from Bountiful High School.

We love all of our scholastic family members and we're proud of all their hard work!  Congratulations you guys!

Smarty Pants

Every parent thinks his/her child is the cutest, smartest, and funniest thing to walk the planet.  I am no different.  I captured Berkley showing off some of her alphabetical skills.  This video was taken at 16 months old. 

Pretty good right?  Now, a month later, she knows almost every letter, almost all of the numbers 1-9, and she's picking up colors pretty quickly too.  She points out letters and numbers everywhere we go, it's so cute.  She's also starting to string 2-3 words together.  Most people may not care but we think she's a genius. 

Oopsie Daisy

Zack sprained his ankle playing basketball.  It was pretty bad.

This picture doesn't even do it justice.  He had to wear a boot for a while and then a brace.  Even though over a month has gone by it's still swollen.  It wasn't his first basketball injury and I'm sure it won't be his last.

Woodbury Family Pics 2011

Until just recently, this is the family picture my parents had hanging in their home.  It's approximately 12 years old.

That plus the fact that they now have two more family members convinced them to get some updated pictures taken.  Thank goodness.  Here's how they turned out.
The whole family:

Three Generations:

Sisters:

Daddy-daughter:

The girls:

The boys:

The parents:

The Morbys:

Berkley:

Merrisa had her senior pics taken:

And a few more randoms:

And that should last us another 12 years right?