Happy Halloween 2023

We had a fun Halloween/Boo Day this year. Aunt Greta and Brittney were our guests. We ate Jack o lantern pizza, gruesome greens, bloody beverage, candy corn fruit cups, and had BOOberry torte for dessert - complete with flaming ghost eyes - which singed Laynie's hair! Lol!

I was a Hawaiian girl and Brittney was an old, Southern lady that loved the color pink! Lol!  

Alayna was Stitch from the movie, LILO and Stitch. 

Gavin was a Whoopie Cushion. 

And Matt was the man on Lilo and Stitch who always drops his ice cream. 

 

The kids had school on this day, and I taught preschool.  Matt and I weren't able to go to their costume parade due to work.  I was a little bummed.  I don't have many of those left...  Gavin had a really hard day at school.  He was playing with a group of kids that were chasing a kid in a banana suit.  He somehow got pushed down the slide (face first) at recess.  On his journey down the slide, he grappled for anything to grab onto.  It ended up being another kid's foam sword.  The young kid was part of a sped class and I'm sure he has autism too so he immediately started clawing at Gavin's face so he'd let go of his sword.  Gavin went into flight mode and took off from the school.  I got the call, but couldn't leave my preschool class.  Luckily Matt didn't have any meetings and was able to go and bring him home early.  Party days at school are so hard for Gavin.  I'm slightly relieved this is his last - once he's in middle school, he won't have them.  In fact, I'm okay if Gavin chooses to stay home on Halloween in the future...

Laynie and I went to the school carnival after school got let out at noon.  She had fun going to the different activities.  That is a really fun tradition that LVA has.

We came home and got ready for BOO DAY!  Brittney drove Aunt Greta up and after we ate, the kids went trick or treating with friends.  Matt ended up at the Bryner's/Jarritt's home and just talked to the men there while Laynie hobnobbed it with Frank, George, Atley and Dak.

I stayed and passed out candy with Aunt Greta and Brittney.  We played a few games and talked.  Once the kids got back, we ate BOOberry torte for dessert and sang "Happy Boo day to you!"  I love our Boo Day tradition.  I hope the kids will always think back on our Boo Days with fond memories.

Matt turns 40!!

Matt is officially Over the Hill!

(He's got a sore back to prove it!)

Matt went to his church meetings in the morning and surprised us by coming back early.  Luckily, we had decorated the house with signs that read:  OLD LIVES MATTER, Old Fart Parking >>, Old Geezer X, Over the Hill, etc. etc.

We had Matt open his gifts - a phone holder for the car from Laynie.

a space heater to keep his toes warm while working,

beanie hats,

and a painting for his office.

I had made blueberry torte (his requested cake), but we couldn't eat it until Grandma/pa Anderson came the next day for dinner.  So Matt got a spider cupcake instead!  We sang happy birthday and he blew out the candle.

The next day, Matt's parents came for dinner (Saucy Meatballs per Matt's request).  The kids carved their pumpkins afterward.  I introduced Laynie to etching and she loved it!  

Gavin carved this creature...

and Laynie carved/etched this one - with a little help from me.

 

Mexican Cruise - Ensenada

After Mazatlan, our ship bee-lined it back north to avoid the hurricane.  The waters were pretty choppy and I had to take a Dramamine pill for motion sickness that night.  We enjoyed more time on the cruise ship:

visiting the helm of the boat,

archery,

silent dancing,  (This was actually really fun!)

Rock climbing,

crafts, laser tag, learning to fold napkins in fun ways, and going to a few different shows:  an ice skating show which was phenomenal (We went to the same show 2 times, it was that good!), a comedian (Kiki Rogers), a juggler (who was a bit dodgy.), and a talent show.

Someone knew it would soon be this handsome guy's 40th!

We even ate at a super fancy restaurant!

Our final destination was Ensenada.  We went on a little excursion to see 10 of the top sights in Ensenada.  The first sight was to see La Bufador - a blow hole.

We had to walk through this market place where the Mexican people were practically BEGGING the tourists to buy their wares.  I almost cried.  a day's wage in Mexico is equivalent to $18.  One sale could mean they are set for the day.  Laynie bought a Stitch shirt that became colorful in the sunlight, and Gavin bought a cute little marionette, which he affectionately named Pablo.

The Ensenada coast

The blow hole!  Water would come up into this crevice and get "blown" upward.  I think they said it was the 2nd largest blow hole in the world.

Another destination was this old cultural center.

It highlighted a the Catholic missions, and apparently, Lucille Ball was a regular here.

Beautiful Spanish architecture.

I took this photo from the bus.  I wanted to remember the common scenery and remind my children how lucky they are to live where they do.

We visited another market place (Laynie really wanted to buy a name bracelet, so we ended up going back to the cultural center for a lady to make it for her there,)

We then got back on the ship and enjoyed our final day of the cruise.  Uber took us to our hotel close to the LAX airport and we stayed one day there.  There wasn't much to do except walk to a nearby McDonald's for lunch and a Subway for dinner then watch a movie and use the hotel's gym.  We headed out to walk 30 minutes to a grocery store, but there were a lot of homeless men hanging around and we didn't feel too safe doing so.  We stayed the night in the hotel then caught the shuttle to the airport and flew back to SLC.  Grandma/pa Anderson were there to pick us up and drive us home in our van.  They checked in on our chickens/bunny/hamster while we were away.  

I really enjoyed this time with my family.  I had my yearly appointment with my oncologist just a few days before leaving on this trip.  My CA-125 levels had risen quite drastically.  They were consistently in the 4-6 range the last four years and I then tested 28 at this appointment.  It's still in the "normal" range, but Dr. Hunn wanted me to get a bunch tests done to rule out everything.  I put it all off and out of my mind because I just wanted to enjoy this time with my family.  I love them so much, and going on this trip was an experience I will treasure forever.

 

Mexican Cruise - Mazatlan

We made it on board Royal Carribian's The Navigator!  We had a cozy little cabin where the kids slept on bunks that dropped down from he ceiling.

The Navigator had so many fun things to do while we sailed!  Pool, hot tubs, mini golf, endless ice cream cones, ice skating, shows, etc. etc.

Our first destination was Cabo San Lucas.  I was so excited to step foot in Mexico (one of my bucket list items).  HOWEVER, a Carnival cruise ship parked parallel to land instead of perpendicular and our our cruise liner couldn't get close enough to shore to tender (take small boats of people to land).  The water were choppy and after trying to get the first 300 people off the boat, they called it quits.  I was really disappointed and started feeling trapped on this boat!!  They refunded us some money, but I would have much rather gotten off the boat to see Cabo.  They also announced an impending hurricane that was projected to hit the coast of Puerto Vallarta in 2 days - the day we were supposed to get there.  So plans had to change.  We did go to Mazatlan as planned, but had a shorter day there.

You can see our cruise ship docked at the port in Mazatlan.

We took a trolley to another place where we hopped on to the back of a truck (They have a word for this vehicle that means spider b/c it fits 8 people on it, but I can't remember the word.) and drove to the base of a very large and steep hill that we would soon hike up!

At the base of the hill.

Our tour guide told us about the flora and fauna in the area.  This rock is white b/c it's covered in bird droppings! lol

This cactus grows dragon fruit!

It was extremely humid.  You can't tell, but our clothing was drenched in sweat!  We hiked up this hill and once half way there, the tour guide had a surprise for us:  over 300 stairs!  LOL!  There was one point I thought I was going to throw up, but persevered and made it to the top!

There was a lighthouse on the hill.

As well as spectacular views of the city below.

We then explored Mazatlan's city center.

Visited an old cathedral.

And got rid of the crumbly muffin in my pack by feeding the pigeons!

This was a fun day!

We walked back to our cruise ship but stopped at some shops before boarding the boat.  We got a magnet to put on our fridge, Gavin bought his friend a keychain, and Laynie got a stuffed little Stitch.