Piano Recital

Jacob had a piano recital back in December, and I took a little video of it. He worked really hard on the song, and played it very will. He has been taking piano for a little over a year, and can't wait until he passes off level 3, because that is when I told him he would no longer have to take piano. I just want him to at least know the basics. He tell his piano teacher that his mom plays SO well, and if he could just play like that he would never take another lesson again. I really don't play all that well, but I will let him keep believing that. I need all the positive press I can get while he is still young, teenage years are fast approaching!

Wet and WILD

Grandma and Grandpa Rick visited this past week for Alison and Cindy's Baptism. It was nice to see them. The boys were able to go back to Grandma and Grandpa's hotel and get some swimming in. Of course Preston came with them, along with Grandma Nell. They had such a great time with Preston and Grandpa. Alisa and Alison were there swimming as well, I am not sure what they thought of the crazy boys, but from my view point, it looked like everyone was having a great time!

Buenos WHO?

Paul and I enjoyed a full week in Puerta Vallarta. It was our slightly delayed honeymoon, but it was the best time for us to go. We sat in on a time share presentation, (we didn't buy!) and in exchange we were able to get 2 tickets for a full day cruise, hike to waterfall, 2 tickets for a night cruise, and 2 one hour long "relaxing massage", all for just $100. We think we got a pretty good deal. The day cruise left at 9:00 in the morning, and we went to a secluded part of Puerta Vallarta and hiked to a waterfall, ate lunch, and played at the beach. Kayaking was available, but since we hiked to the waterfall, we didn't have time to get it all in. On the boat back to the port, the tour guides started doing karaoke. They did a bunch of spanish songs, and then they wanted all the people from the United States to come up and do a very popular American Song....I LOVE ROCK AND ROLL. Paul and I, along with another American couple we met, got up there and "sang". We mostly just knew the chorus. It was pretty sad.We returned from the Day Cruise about 6:15 p.m. and had to rush to where we had scheduled our "relaxing massages". They took us into a quiet room, barely lit. Paul and I got ready to get our massages, (this was a first for me). Two little ladies came in and really worked us over. It was SO nice. Paul and I decided afterwards, that the massage alone would have been worth all the money. It is amazing the such little ladies can give such amazing massages.The night cruise we went on took us to an island called Los Calletas. Once we were there, we were able to see a show about the mexican culture. It was beautiful and amazing. Afterward, they had a buffet set up for everyone lit by candles and torches. It was a very beautiful night.Since we were able to get such a good deal on the tours that we went on, we decided that we would take the Pirate tour as well. It was a completely different experience than any of the other cruises. We went at night, but it was a PARTY! We stayed on the boat during the whole thing, but we were well entertained.We spent alot of time in the ocean, just playing on the beach, since our hotel was right on the beach, so that was nice. We had a really good time, and are looking forward to getting back there on a regular basis. We have realized however, that we probably need to take a quick refresher course in speaking spanish.

Back to Reality...

After a long, lazy summer, it is time to get back to real life. Paul starting back to work, assistant coaching for the Hillcrest High School Football team the 13th of August. Since August 20th, he has had to be at the school for meetings/getting his classroom ready etc, at 7:00 in the morning....he has to get up at 5:45! (I didn't even know there WAS a 5:45 a.m.!!) Students start on Monday, so here we are, on a Saturday morning, and Paul was gone by 7:30 to make sure he is ready to begin teaching on the 27th. All this, in addition to him coming home every night getting some more work done in the basement. It is almost done, and it looks really nice. A project 5 years in the making is finally coming to a close!I have been able to enjoy a few extra weeks of summer, however. Preschool doesn't start back up for me until after Labor Day. I have been getting up about 6:30 every morning this past week to get the boys off to school, but I have had the luxury of being able to crawl back into bed for a bit once they were off. There is alot of work to be done in our home, aside from the basement. Trying to merge 2 households has been quite a project. Very overwhelming to me, but slowly it is getting done. Mom and Teri came over the other night to help me straighten up and get my preschool room ready to go. I was so glad for their help. Had I been thinking, I would have taken some before and after pictures! It was bad!