This post will have MANY pictures of our most recent adventure. We had a lot of fun and my blog is the best way to document and save the memories! I apologize for the length of this post in advance. I am sure most of you will just skim down through the pictures and that is just fine, you will get the jist of the fun we had. Some of the pictures will need a little explanation.
Ok...November 23rd was the start of this story. It starts at 10 a.m. when the flakes started to fall like crazy. I knew that Grams, Mom, my sis-in-law and her two children needed to get to my house so we could begin our journey, but with the impending storm our plans were altered slightly. Mom and Grandma made it to Logan, but the roads were closed before my sister could make it through. We kept in touch through the night and the rest of our group made it to Logan by 11:30 the next morning. We were on the road! Our first destination was Pahrump, NV (located one hour outside of Vegas)...we made it on November 24th by 9 p.m. Vegas time (so 10 p.m. here in Utah). Not too shabby with 5 kids and 5 adults that all need breaks.
November 25th was Thanksgiving and we spent it with my Uncle John and Aunt Susan in their home. It was DELICIOUS! The kids played outside on the playground in their back yard for most of the day.
What a yummy Thanksgiving Dinner shared with family in semi-warm weather with NO SNOW! We Skyped with some of our other Cokeville family and heard from others via the phone. It was excellent. Thanks Pahrump family for a very fun Thanksgiving.
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| Yee Haw! Giddy Up Jordan, Hailey, Kysa & Alexa. |
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| Mmm...nothin' like Thanksgivin' pie! |
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| Hangin' Out in the Howard Johnson |
On Friday we all (Pahrump fam, Grams, Mom, My fam & my sister's fam) ventured to Anaheim to get ready for our Disney adventure. We met Alma and Kristi Nelson at the Howard Johnson Inn Express in Stanton California.
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| Havin' some fun motel time! |
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Getting ready for Disneyland!
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We went to the Land of Mickey Mouse on November 27th. We left at 8 a.m. and did not return until 10 p.m. It was a fun, long day at Disney Land. Here are a few photos from the day!
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| On the tram... |
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| Ready to enter... |
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| DISNEYLAND! |
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| Our fam glam shot on the main square Disneyland. |
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| The whole group (minus John, Susan, Nolan, Krista, Eric & Alexa). |
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| Tarzan's Treehouse |
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| Sailing on the Ship Columbia |
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| Entering Fantasy Land |
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| Kirina, Alexa and Hailey with Fairy Godmother |
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| Kysa on the carousel |
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| Kysa and Hailey with Ariel...don't ask who the other kids are. We don't know! |
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| Kysa, Kirina, Hailey and Alexa with Rapunzel! |
My friends, Alma and Kristi, met us in Anaheim and joined us for Disneyland through the rest of the vacation. It was a blast! Unfortunately they have all boys and they weren't interested in PRINCESSES...so we didn't see them for most of the day at Disneyland.
November 28th was a restful day and the John Toomer family joined the rest of the group for a lunch at Olive Garden before their trek back to Pahrump. We were seated in 10 minutes and our group consisted of 11 kids and 9 adults. It was so fun!
On November 29th we headed to Long Beach and started our day at the Aquarium of the pacific. Here are some amazing photos from that adventure.
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| Huge SHARKS! |
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| Petting the Sharks! |
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| Huge Sea Spiders! |
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A really cool Sea Dragon.
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We then had lunch on the pier at Chilis...
Part of our group headed for home...we said good-bye to my sister-in-law and her two beautiful kids right before we got on the Carnival cruise. They had originally planned to come with us but had some things come up that kept them from joining us. Michelle and I spent quite a few hours planning this vacation with the intent to bring some well due happiness into children's lives after the tragic loss of my brother a little over a year ago. I think we accomplished this! It was a memorable trip with minimal tears! We were sad to see her adventure come to an end (after she endured the Anaheim/ Long Beach/ LA rush hour), but our adventure continued another week!
We headed for the Carnival Cruise Line Pier!
After a few minor mishaps in the boarding terminal were were on our way. Here are some pictures from our first dinner.
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| Jordan has a different photo because he liked the pretty lady! |
November 30th was our day in Avalon on Catalina Island and my birthday! We went parasailing and checked out Avalon!
Then back to the ship for formal night!
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| The ladies on one side of the table. |
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| The other side of the table |
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| Beautiful Grandma Shirley! |
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| Kysa and I |
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| Beautiful Grandma Barb |
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| Adorable Kirina |
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| Stunning Kysa |
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| Handsome Jordan |
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| My good lookin' boys! |
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| Grandma Dancing with our waiter. |
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| The Johnson girls. |
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| The Johnson Family |
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| The Johnson's and the Grandmas |
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| They might as well be family...I love them like family...the Nelson's (missing two of their four boys)! |
December 1st was our Ensenda, Mexico day. We played some miniature golf featured below. Then went on an excursion to the Blowhole (which never blew). But we enjoyed some Mexican atmoshere and shopping. We are very grateful to be from the States! What an eye opener.
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| FORE! |
ENSENADA
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| A view of Ensenada from the Carnival Paradise |
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| A seal showing off in the Ensenada port. |
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| Downtown Ensenada from our bus window. |
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| The Blowhole - LaBufadora |
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| A lion cub Jordan wanted to hold. |
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Cactus' everywhere! A little funny truck! And Whale watching at LaBufadora! |
December 2nd was a day at sea! We enjoyed some ship entertainment and a lot of food!
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| Enjoying the Mexican Midnight Buffet! |
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| Hey...this is alright...even at Midnight! |
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The girls headed out for a night out on the ship!
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Fun seated & served lunch (instead of buffet)with all of us at the same table!
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I am not eating calf scours...it is a yummy chilled avacado soup.
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| Ready to go to the show! |
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| Enjoyed some fun times and laughter in the Queen Mary Lounge |
Some more fun pictures on our last day!
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| Some of the fun things Jordan did in his Age Group at Camp Carnival. |
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| Jordan as Patchy the Pirate! |
We were reluctant to get off the Ship the morning of December 2nd, but we did and home we headed. We stopped in Pahrump to let the kids play some more and prepare ourselves for the long ride home on Saturday. We appreciated again the hospitality of John and Susan. We enjoyed a delicious prime rib dinner! We can't wait to see the Toomers at Christmas!
For those of you who endured this entire post, you know that we had an amazing trip! We planned our next cruise for June 2015 and are headed to the Islands of Hawaii for 2 weeks! I love my family and I have to say, I love to vacation! Looking forward to another fun one in 4 1/2 years. Let the count down begin!
