Cozumel, Mexico

Back in January Will and I went with some of both of our families to Mexico. My parents, older bro and his family, and my younger brother and sister were there...as well as Will's dad and step-mom. We had so much fun! Although I complained that the weather was overcast and rainy the first 3 days, which really does put a damper on what you can and can't do...the ocean was too rough to do anything in, and the wind was too cold to let us stay out and swim for very long...but it was A LOT warmer than it was back home! I always secretly wish it would snow 27 feet while we are gone, in hopes that it will be done for the rest of the year :) but it never seems to happen that way! This year it was just plain COLD while we were gone and man did we feel it when we got back. I wanted to wear a couple short sleeve shirts to show off my tan (which is just tan for my pasty whiteness), but instead I layered as many clothes as I could to keep myself from going into some sort of shock from the cold! While we were there we spent lots of time walking back and forth to town...it was so nice to have such a short walk from our condo. The grocery store was right across the street, and the walk to town was a ten minute leisurely stroll. Most everyday there was at least one, if not 3 or 4 ships docked, so going into town on those days was just insane! You'll find that the store owners will not give you the best price, because they think that you are from the ship and if you really want something you will choose to buy it, since you have to be back on the ship by 4 or 5:00. I got pretty good at my bartering skills this time around...I would tell people, no way...this is my 3rd time here and I've never paid that much for anything like this ever! It's all fun and some of the shop owners are pretty fun to talk to and tease. Will and I walked away with some great finds...I wanted to find a Mexican hand painted plate, with the Aztec calendar. Betsy got one a few years back and there was one in our condo in Cozumel, so I decided that was the item I really wanted to leave with. Unfortunately there are things that come in and out of style and the plate was one of them. I couldn't find one anywhere! After a couple of days of shopping Will and I came across a wooden Aztec calendar...It has a bunch of wooden pieces put in to make the whole plate stay together in one piece. You'll see the picture soon, to know what I mean. Some of them were so beautifully made, while others were sloppy and not worth the money! We spent a good couple of hours walking from store to store to find the best deal. It's funny to hear a store owner telling us the same stories of how the plates are made (all made by hand, no machines) and how some of them have such outrageous prices on them! Some people would more than double the prices of someone else's...In the end we went back to the first store we'd been to. It had the best deal and the best quality of work.

Click on this picture to bring up the bigger photo, so you can see each piece...It's a beautiful calendar.

The whole trip was so much fun. Will got the chance to certify to go scuba diving while we were there. He used the first couple of overcast days to his advantage to get certified. His dad has been bugging him for months to get him to go scuba diving with him, and the silly boy waited till the last possible second. We've known we were coming on this trip since June. He loved scuba diving and seems to think he's going to talk me into getting certified for our next years trip. But until you can get me to enjoy snorkeling for longer than 20 minutes, I don't think it's going to happen! The mask always hurts my face and head (I have a tiny head so the mask always let water in, so I cinch them up as tight as I can stand it, which only last 15 or 20 minutes). I have a fear of drowning, so asking me to dive so many feet under water just isn't gonna happen! :) We went snorkeling a couple of times, Bryce, Clayton and my dad went everyday that they could and most days a couple of times. We went to the Money Bar and The Wall...at the Money Bar we saw a sting ray and followed it for quite some time. Seeing those kinds of things is so cool.



I read 3 books while we were there, and got to take naps most any time I wanted...there was the one day that Will literally dragged my out of the bed to go to the ruins with him and his dad. I'm so glad I had Kylie to come with us! I have never cared about history, so spending a couple of hours walking through some old run down concrete houses is not my idea of fun. Will and his dad loved it, so it made it worth it...I made Will do a lot of shopping with me, so you won't hear me complaining.


I had so much fun being around my niece and nephew the whole trip. I teased my siblings that when we got back Elsie and Colt would call me their favorite aunt...that was not the case. I forget just how much they love Gammy and Gimpy (my parents)...sure they love me and I have fun playing with them, but if those two are around no one else matters! Elsie has such a big personality and is such a hoot to be around! There wasn't a day that passed without laughing at her hundreds of times. She knows she's funny too, so the more you laugh, the more she'll entertain. Mary and Bryce are such good parents to those kids too. They were so fun to watch interacting and doing day to day things with. I am so glad Mary was there for me one evening after having a little bit of a bad day...she is truly a sister to me and knows what to say to make me feel better.




Almost every night I got to have Will to myself for dinner and a walk around town. We got real churros almost every night, oh what I would do for a churro right now! I love being around my family and his, but sometimes it gets to be too much. I can't please everyone, and someone always ends up hurt. I wish there was an easier way to figure out these family vacations. I have a hard time trying to please everyone, and also need to learn that I have to do what makes me and Will happy, and if that includes everyone else, then great! We had a great time with both our families and were so glad we had the chance to go. I can't wait till our next vacation, already!

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At the end of the trip I think we were all happy to come home. Being away from home and the dogs for 10 days is hard. I was fortunate enough to have my best friend Stacey and her fiance Ben spend the week and a half with them. They stayed at our house, so the dogs had constant interaction and attention from them. They love Stacey and can't get enough of her baby, Garrett. Ben is a little bit more relaxed and allows Mia and Bosley to kiss Garrett here and there. :) They love their little cousin!

CHRISTMAS 2008

Who cares that Christmas was almost 2 months ago, right? Our Christmas was great! I had to deal with Will being gone up till the afternoon of Christmas eve, but was just grateful to have him home, while a couple of his co-workers ended up being at different ski areas for the holidays. There was a chance that Will was going to be gone too, but instead he left the weekend after Christmas to head back out and finish his work.

The evening of Christmas eve, we headed over for our annual Christmas party at the DeMann's house. It was a lot of fun, although we missed having Brant there...He's been working with the Park City fire department and was one of the lucky few that got to work that night. We had a great time eating delicious soups and just enjoying every one's company. After dinner it was time for the gifts to be opened...Which is just a madhouse in itself, but we all have fun with it. It's also a good laugh for all of us when my grandpa is trying to get every one's attention (which takes quite a few "can I have your attention, please"'s) and him asking us over and over to please fold our wrapping paper up nicely so it will fit into the recycle bin. Gosh, I love Grandpa! Unfortunately for me, I know I'm already on the path to having some of his quirks! I might be laughing now...but give me another 30 years to be exactly the same! This was my first year of buying a gift for all the cousins and aunts and uncles...since this is usually a chore done by the "old and mature" married couples. Will and I spent a good hour at All a Dollar wondering what to get everyone that they may actually use. We got the old ladies (the moms) magnet shopping lists, the old men (the dads) got bungi cords and the older boys got a screw driver set, the older girls got small notebooks, and the kids got an assortment of puzzles, books, and coloring books. I tried to go for things that I could use, but these guys may have just chucked them the day after Christmas! :)
It was fun to watch the kids (Elsie and Colt, my niece and nephew) open their presents. Elsie got this doll that my brother Jared and I had when we were kids. It brought back such great memories!




Most of us older kids spent the night over at my parents house that night...More to save time from having to drive to my mom's house so early in the morning! Mary and Bryce needed to head over to Mary's parents house at 9:00, so the morning started for us at 7:00. The gifts seemed endless! We all got duffel bags and laundry baskets full of household items that will all be put to good use! Thanks, Mom and Dad!! Again it was so much fun having Elsie and Colt (although Colt doesn't get into it much yet) opening their presents. Elsie was intrested in all of her gifts and was so fun to watch! She got a "Spongebob" umbrella and kept pointing out "Bob bob" to us. After opening the gifts, we had a yummy breakfast of Cinnamon Rolls, hash browns and cereal. We spent the afternoon into the evening at my Grandparent Kirby's house. It was great to see family we haven't seen for a while, although we got there a little late after taking our "Christmas Nap"...so people ended up leaving shortly after we got there, and the food was pretty much gone by the time we got there. But the best part of the whole day was hanging with my family. My siblings are my best friends, and I can't imagine it any other way!




The rest of the evening was spent with Will. We opened our gifts to each other...He treated me so good, even though we said we weren't doing Christmas for each other this year. He got me a pair of diamond studs and a plain white gold wedding band to wear when my diamond ring isn't appropriate. (Like when you travel to Mexico). I didn't do so well for him...I really wasn't expecting such a nice gift! I got him some shorts, a couple of button up shirts and a pair of tennis shoes. We returned the shorts and half the shirts because they didn't fit right...Don't worry he has already replaced those items. :) To end the night, we braved the snow storm and went to the theater to see "Four Christmas's".

I've got some catching up to do!

So I know I haven't been the best at blogging lately...I'm not sure I have any good excuse, except laziness! :)

I'm not sure where to begin. I guess Christmas is a good place to start....Here goes!

Family Pictures

After our weekend in Rock Springs we headed home to Salt Lake for our DeMann family photos. My mom tried to get a color scheme for us, but it just didn't end up working out that way. So in the end everyone just wore "whatever looked best on them"...you know how that usually turns out. :) The pictures turned out okay, but it's hard to try to get everyone to focus at the same time! If you've met any of the DeMann's you know we all have trouble concentrating on one thing for a long period of time! We had some laughs and decided that for prints for my parents home that these were the ones to pick and leave the boring formal ones for my grandparents houses. Here's a couple shots:

Thanksgiving Weekend

On Friday morning, the day after Thanksgiving, Will and I headed to Rock Springs to spend the weekend with his Dad and Stepmom. His brother David and wife, Autumn and their two kids, Christian and Sophie were already there. Friday right after we got there the guys decided that they wanted to take off and go shooting. I somehow got tricked into going and was told if I wanted to be part of the "man club" I had to shoot a gun. I've never shot a gun in my life. The first gun they had me shoot was a shotgun, and they made me shoot it 3 times to be part of the club. Because I must really need that validation I obliged and did pretty good. I shot 2 of the 3 targets in the air. But the gun did hit my shoulder and hurt a little.

Here I am nailing the clay pigeon!

Here's Will's dad with the gun, his brother pulling the target thrower thing (clearly I still don't know much about this stuff) and Will watching.

After we were done with that gun, they got the .22 out. Now that is a fun gun to shoot! Again they told me I had to shoot this gun to be in the "man club" so I went ahead and did it. But I really enjoyed it and once I got the hang of it I was pretty good at hitting the targets! Because I had so much fun on Friday, I went out again with the guys again on Saturday. This time we go Dave's wife Autumn to come, she also hadn't ever shot a gun in her life. It was pretty fun and now Will says he's going to buy me a .22 for Christmas...I'll take something else, please!

I am a pro with this thing! :)

Here's Autumn, she did well too!

That afternoon David and Autumn left to go back home and Will and I stayed one more night. We had so much fun, just hanging out and playing Mexican Dominoes. If you've never played that game, I recommend it! It's totally a game of luck, ok and some skill, but really more luck! I ended up winning overall and it felt good!


This is one of Kathy's (Will's stepmom) mini schnauzers...Rosie reminds me a lot of Mia. She constantly wants attention and wants to lick you all the time.

Photo Tag

My friend Shantel tagged me a while ago to do this picture tag...I haven't wanted to do anything on the computer lately, so I put it off. Here's the first picture from my folders...

I absolutely love this picture. This is with Mistie and Betsy, two and a half years ago, a big group of us headed down to Vegas to celebrate our friend, Ashlee's birthday. We were at some club (I seriously can't remember the name of it) and had this picture taken of the 3 of us...that was back when there were no worries or cares. We had so much fun together! That trip was one of the best ever, and we still talk about it!
The next one is from that same year...Just another birthday.

We still claim that 2006 was a year for GREAT birthdays! We went to Vegas for Ashlee's bday, then for mine, in May, Betsy planned a big extravaganza and everyone came and we danced the night away! Then in July we planned a surprise camping trip for Betsy's birthday and again...all the right people were there and it was a blast. This is my brother Jared playing his guitar. I love to hear him play and always beg him to play John Denver or I've always love when he played and sang Green Day's "Good Riddance". Jared is in a band called "Last the Winter" and their music is awesome. I love to see him get into something he's so passionate about and good at.

OUR NEW PRESIDENT!

I just wanted to post real quick and say how excited I am for Barack Obama to be our president! I actually took the time this time around, to really read up on our candidates and was proud to vote for President Obama. I may not agree with everything he stands for, but the things I do agree with, really outweighed the things I agreed with on McCain. I am excited for the changes that will take place and am glad we have such a good man leading our country! After hearing the he won, I couldn't take my eyes off the television during his speech! It made me so happy with my choice and I loved every second of his speech. "Yes, we can!"


Our new first family.

My 7 things...

So after putting some thought into it, I've come up with 7 things to tell you about myself. Heather, who tagged me, said I had to tag 7 people after I completed mine, but I'm just going to tag a couple and they can keep it going. :)

1) I don't like to cook. I am bad at it, and it always discourages me after I've spent an hour or so trying to prepare something nice. Even the simplest things never seem to come out right. I either put too many spices in, or not enough. Or burn it, or undercook it. I will say, that our stove SUCKS and there are times that really contributes to something not turning out right, especially in the oven.

2) I treat my dogs like my kids. I talk to them like kids, I laugh at their little antics or reactions to things. I take a million pictures of them, especially while they are sleeping, because they look so sweet and peaceful. I love letting them sleep in my room with me, while Will is gone, even though "dogs aren't allowed on the bed". They are my sweethearts and I worry about them all the time and just want them to be happy and healthy.

3) My favorite thing to do is take naps. If I have an extra hour on any day, I take a nap. I even take naps in my car at work...it gets me away from the hustle and bustle of things and I feel great after I wake up. My younger sister always tells me she can't believe I'm always in a good mood after a nap...but why wouldn't I be? It's my favorite thing!

4) My goal in life (at this point in my life) is to have a nice house, with an even better bathroom! I absolutely love big bathrooms with nice big bathtubs! One of my best friend's houses growing up had a huge master bedroom. The bedroom and bathroom were all in the same room (with a water closet for the toilet) and there, in the room, was a big ole bathtub, that I always loved! I tell Will all the time, and he agrees, that our next house is going to have a huge bathroom! I love the house I'm in now (probably just because it's my first and I've put so much work into), but I hate the location and would really love a nicer home. One day...

5) I could eat at Chili's everyday, I love it that much! Our group of friends often goes to Chili's and we can spend hours there, just chilling and hanging out. We always sit in the same spot and get the best service, and we get whatever our heart desires, while there. But it's not just that, I love their food! Anything "boneless buffalo" is my favorite! Their queso dip and chips and salsa are delicious and when I save room, I love their Molten Lava cake! If I'm having a bad day, Will always knows where to take me to cheer me up...CHILI's!

6) I've been told I'm a "crazy fast reader". I never notice, but for some reason if I am reading the same thing as other people, I always get done reading it before them. I've used closed captioning (and can't stand watching tv without it, and realize just how much I really do rely on it) on my TVs since Jr. High and I think that's helped me become the fast reader I am today.

7) I know this might annoy some people...but I hate anything to do with politics. It bores me, and I don't have the strength to argue with anyone on anything. This presidential election has really bothered me...I get so bugged at all the negativity surrounding it all. I think that either of the candidates could do the job and run our country, and I think they both could and probably will do something that not everyone agrees with, while in office. I just feel like there's nothing I can really do about anything, so what's the point in letting it all bother me and dwelling on it? I know that President Bush made some mistakes (but what president hasn't?), but I can't let them get the best of me and become angry over it. I'll just keep living my life and doing the best I can, and hope that things turn out for the better in the end.


I hope you all learned a few new things about me. The people I'd like to see do this are: Mary Bess, B-Ritt, and Shantel!

I've been tagged!

My friend Heather, that I worked with for a while at Men's Wearhouse, tagged me. So now I guess I have to come up with 7 things to tell you all about myself...Unfortunately, I'm going to have to really dig deep to find 7 interesting things to tell you all about myself! Give me a day or two and I'll have something posted.

A couple of great days!

On Wednesday night, Will came home to hang out with me for a couple of days. He got home around 8 PM and it was so good to see him. I'm such an emotional person, I couldn't help but cry when I saw him. It just made me so happy! I hadn't seen him for 16 days, which is just a little bit too long! I took Thursday and Friday off of work to just be with him the whole time.

Thursday we slept in till about 8:30, till someone at work called with a small emergency they neeed my help with. After I got it taken care of we got the day lazily started and got a couple of small things done before heading to one of our favorite Mexican food spots, by our work. I don't know what it is about it, but I love their food and the people there are awesome! Usually Will and I will eat there for lunch every week, so I was starting to have withdrawals, since I try to bring lunch with me to work, when Will is gone. After lunch we drove up to Logan and stayed at a Bed and Breakfast! It was at an old Church called Providence Inn. It was really cute and cozy there. I love taking relaxing baths, so I had to find somewhere with a nice big jetted tub! The bubble bath was so heavenly! We got up today, earlier than Thursday, to be at breakfast, which was really yummy french toast, bacon, eggs and hash browns! It was the perfect little getaway, and I can't wait to head up there again! One of the rooms I really wanted was booked, so we will have to go again, to stay in all the different rooms!




I was sad to drop Will back off at the airport this evening, so he could head back out and get some more work done on one of the lifts. If everything goes good, without too many problems, Will should be back home by the end of next week. He's got a couple of things he needs to do here at home, so I may have him to myself for a week or so before he needs to head out again. I really am just grateful to have a husband that works so hard. It's nice to know that one day, if and when we have kids, it'll be possible for me to stay at home with them, because he is so good at what he does and really enjoys it. I love Will so much, and can't imagine life without him...spending these last couple of days with him, just made me realize it even more. You know that cheesy line, where people will say they love their spouse more than the day they married them? It really is true...I think the more and more we learn about our spouses, the more we learn to love them. I feel a deeper appreciation and love for Will daily. Just like everyone else, we're still learning and have our good days and bad, but he's my best friend and I wouldn't change any of it for the world!