Christmastime!!

This is my absolute favorite time of year!! I just love the Christmas season - and I especially love Christmas break! haha :)

Guess where we are this Christmas?
www.daggerdrawranchinc.com


But really, I do love this time of year very much. I love being with family; I love the feeling of Christmas: the lights, the trees, Christmas on the Pecos, and everything involved with this holiday. It truly is the best time of year.

Cruise: Day 4 - Cozumel, Mexico

We loved Cozumel! It was like a Carribbean paradise. :) The water was SO clear and beautiful and the whole island was very pretty. We got to swim with a dolphin and then spent the afternoon at the beach. It was such an awesome day!

The dolphin cove. They won't let you take your cameras in. :(

Sketchy Mexican taxi to the beach!!

Puerta Maya (our port)

Cruise: Day 3 - Progreso, Yucatan

Wednesday was our first Mexican port. We absolutely LOVED this excursion!! And we recommend that, if you ever take a cruise, that you consider the shore excursions offered, because we loved having a schedule, transportation arranged, etc. We felt a lot safer. :)

The ruins at Uxmal were so cool! We had a wonderful tour guide, Patricio, who was just so knowledgeable about the Mayan culture - and part Mayan himself! I learned so much about the culture and the people - James knew a lot of it from past classes at BYU. And I was shocked at how similar their religious beliefs were to our culture. Well, not too shocked, but I was surprised. I guess I shouldn't be though, since Central America is around where the Nephites and Lamanites lived.

This was such a fun excursion!! We just loved it and had so much fun! Admittedly, it was hot and humid and a lot of exercise, but I still loved it. It was such a great learning experience!! (Only a teacher would consider a learning experience FUN on vacation!)

Oh and sorry for the picture overload. I couldn't help it!

Progreso Pier, 7:00 AM Wednesday morning. SO EARLY! haha

Our bus that took us to Uxmal. It was a little sketchy but not too bad.

This was the bathroom on the bus....no one used it, needless to say. haha

At Uxmal! Inside one of the chambers.

This was the main city center, where people would meet and market.

Handsome boy.

Climbing up the stairs.

The ball court. And some random people.

James at the door of the governor's palace.

Fat iguana. Super fat.

Climbing up the steps of the pyramid!! James climbed all the way..I started 1/4 of the way up. :)

Us at the top of the pyramid!!

James thought it was funny to freak me out by pretending to fall of the pyramid. I was less than amused.

We ate at the Yucatecan restaurant on the grounds of the ruins. It wasn't too bad! James missed his DP, though. ;)

Cruise: Days 1 and 2

We absolutely LOVED our cruise!! We had the best time! The first night and the second day were days at sea, sailing to Mexico.

It was very windy on deck!! This was a lower deck, not the highest one.

The view from our picture window. We forgot to take pictures of the cabin, though! Oops!

Lido Deck. This was where all the activities were during the day.

Laying out in the sun. We LOVED how warm it was!!

If you like pina coladas...

View of the ship from the top aft deck.

Beautiful sunset!!!!

It was soooo windy up there!

It was so weird to look out from the deck and only see the ocean everywhere we looked! We loved it, though. We pretty much spent all of day 2 laying out on deck. It was so relaxing and warm! Our favorite. :)

Makeover

I have been down with a bad cough all day, so I decided to give our blog a little makeover. And I think it looks soooo much better!!

And guess what?? Only 21 days until . . . .

 

CHRISTMAS!!!! 

My favorite. :)