Stephanie's Birthday

For Stephanie's 27th Birthday party this year, she decided to have an 80's dance party. Of course, I was really anxious to pull out my NKOTB button. (By the way, I heard today that the New Kids may be having a reunion tour soon... No WAY am I missing that. ) Anyway, I totally made this Birthday cake - inspired by the neon that was the 80's!

And... just in case you thought she couldn't get any cuter, here is a picture I found of Stephanie, actually in the 80's, with her younger brother Spencer...

my first slideshow

I figured this was the best way to share more vacation pictures. I have some good shots from kayaking, snorkeling, and rafting too, but they were on our underwater camera so they aren't on the computer. Guess I'll have to show you those in person!

The Long Journey

We're finally back in Lincoln after 24 nights away from home. Our trip started out with 10 days in Utah for Christmas. We had fun seeing the whole family and going to the Nutcracker, and Brett went skiing while I had a nice lunch with Brooke and Sarah. New Year's was spent in Missouri where my mom helped me finish the quilt I was making for Jason and Crystal. Then we flew to Florida to head out on our Caribbean cruise. The warm weather was a welcome change, and we enjoyed seeing new parts of the world. In Panama we saw the canal and went kayaking on a nearby lake surrounded by trees full of sloths and howler monkeys. In Costa Rica we went white water rafting down a river in the middle of the jungle, and we saw lots of the countryside with bananas, pineapples, and coconuts growing everywhere. Our anniversary was spent in the middle of the sea--hooray for 2 years of marriage! We finished up in Belize where we snorkeled by the barrier reef and explored a tiny island surrounded by crystal clear water. Then it was back to Missouri for Jason and Crystal's wedding, which was beautiful, and we finished up by being present for Aubrey's blessing at church today. Here are a few pictures of our adventures...

Puerto Rico

We have been so lucky this year with many opportunities to travel. Dec 16-23 we went to Puerto Rico. For the first 5 days of the trip, I was working at the VA Regional Office in San Juan, while Doug enjoyed his much deserved vacation. We stayed a few extra days to spend together laying out on the beach and sightseeing. It was really amazing to lay on the beach in 85-90 degree weather in late December. We also hiked at El Yunque rainforest (the only official rainforest in the US), toured Old San Juan, learned to dance Flamanco (sadly we forgot the camera this night), and enjoyed lots of local Christmas music and food.

Hope everyone had a great holiday with their families. I look forward to seeing all the pictures. Miss you guys!

A Funky Christmas to All

Thanks New Kids for the holiday cheer! I miss my over sized "Joe" pin I used to wear. Enough NKOTB. Merry Christmas! Easton and I are headed to CO tomorrow and Rob will come out before Christmas. I have not been home for Christmas since before we were married so I am excited. No news on London yet...we are actually supposed to hear today so we'll see....
This last weekend was Rob's holiday party for work. We went to Universal Studios. It was pretty fun. Here are a few pics...
I hope that everyone has a great Christmas. Love you guys.

Christmas Cheer

You'll have to pause our festive Chritsmas music for this one... I just wanted to share one of the fabulous videos I came across this weekend on You Tube. Thought it might instigate some conversation on this thing since it seems we have forgotten how to use it lately ;)



For those of you who do not remember 1994, this was the New Kids on The Block's Christmas performance on the Aresenio Hall show.

The big 27 :)

Hope you were able to celebrate in style Brooke!!