Thirty, Flirty and Thriving....

I am SO behind on blogging.
But it's my goal to catch up by next week.

This summer I turned 30!
I was so busy planning girls camp that it kinda just snuck up on me.
My birthday fell on a Saturday and camp started on that following Monday.
Chaos I tell ya.
Chaos.
But some how Romney got me out of the house...
to take me to a SURPRISE party he had planned.

We had Y U M M Y Y U M M Y food and fun
"minute to win it" games!
These games just NEVER get old.

"the M&M elevator"

"Eat the Oreo with No hands"

It was fun to see friends and take a little break from girls camp.
Thank you Romney for treating me so good.
You're a babe!

Now I am 30!
It's a weird number to see.
I know it's not old but seriously....
30?
Where did time go?
I have NO idea.
I just know it keeps going fast!

Am I where I thought I was going to be at 30?
No, not even close.
But, I wouldn't trade these 30 years for anything!

Thee going away party

And who is this going away party for?
Oh just my parents.
Yep, my parents who live 3 minutes away...(walking)
Yep, my parents who I see daily and go to dinner with weekly.
Yep, my parents who have lived in the same house for over 20 years.
Yep, my parents have moved.
Where?
Saint George, Utah.
Crazy?
Beyond!
As crazy as this sounds...they are so happy up there.
So that makes it very hard for me to be mad at them!

Anyway, before they left,
we had a going away party for them.

They were able to talk with old friends,

give lots of hugs,

hand out new contact information,

laugh more one time together,

eat delicious food,

and hug some more.

I am sad that my parents have left.
It is N O T the same around here.
I am so glad that I have my brother and his family around the corner.

My parents have promised to visit often.
They have promised that they will come on the drop of a hat if something happens.

And so far...
they have kept their promises.



Well that sucked.
Anyone up for a pity party ice cream run?

Fiji

Bula Bula!

Greetings from Fiji.
Fun facts:
-there are 300 islands in Fiji
-Fiji is not a third world country but....pretty close
-Those who live there are either Fijian or Indian
and
the fruit is delicious.

Romney loves to sail!
He was so happy with the chance to sail on our
man made island; Denaru.

We could NOT get over how the water felt like warm bath water.

We took a charter boat out to one of the islands in Fiji;
Bounty Island.

On Bounty Island we....

...snorkeled,

and saw BLUE star fish
(awesomely clear water)

and fun colorful fish.

We had a blast kayaking,

they were glass bottom kayaks at that.

we ended up Scuba Diving there too but our under water camera battery died.
We were super bummed.

On our last day we went to the Hindu Temple.

And our taxi cab driver gave us a little tour and showed us around
and explained different things.
Kinda cool.

(We were not allowed to wear shoes)

Fiji was A W E S O M E!
The weather was F A N T A S T I C!
The water was G O R G E O U S!
and the people were L O V E L Y!

til we meet again Fiji,
til we meet again!

Cairns, Australia

It's pronounced CANS.
Cairns is kind of like our Hawaii.
The scene was fantastic
and their accent
is fun!

One day we walked through the ManGroves.
We were the only ones there and we could hear the mud bubbles popping throughout our walk. It sounded like someone was taking an ax to a tree or maybe even the echo of a hammer hitting nails.

Another day we drove up the coast.
This was our view as we made our way to....

...the CROC farm.
This stop was by far the coolest place.
We learned so much about this interesting creature. They are dangerous and scary and the Australian People take CROCs very seriously.

After the croc farm we walked through the rain forest. We stayed a little too long cause the sun went down and we (I) needed to run back to the car.
Bats were flying and frogs were jumping.
Nasty.

BUT...
Our main reasons for Cairns was to SCUBA DIVE
the Great Barrier Reef.

We went down 60 feet.

The water was warm.

The water was so clear, we could see our boat from 60 feet under.

There were interesting things growing.

It wasn't as scary as I thought it was going to be.

I was terrified to do this. But I knew I would regret not doing it.
We did 3 dives and each one got better.
V e r y C o o l ! ! !
I was freaked out that some Great White Shark would come eat us. But we learned that the water there is too warm, and Great Whites live down in Southern Australia where it's colder.
Once we got down there I forgot I was even scared of sharks.

We had a great time in Cairns.
It was beautiful!

Now off to Fiji!

Sydney, Australia

First stop:
Sydney, Australia.

Sydney is fast pace with busy bodies.
We enjoyed the harbor every day and every night.
We took a boat ride through this awesome body of water.
It was pretty magical.

The harbor bridge ended up being our favorite.

Three weeks out of the year Sydney has light shows on different buildings.
The streets are full of music and entertainment just to celebrate "Sydney."

We didn't really think we'd be that impressed by the Opera House.
WRONG.
Obsessed is more like it.
It was fun to see the sails lit up during their annual light show.

Once we got enough of the city life we headed up to Jamison Valley.
On the way we stopped by the Animal Park where we fed
Kangaroos and Wallabies.
It was kind of gross but kind of cool.

After our little stop with the animals we finally got to our destination.
Our main reason for this day trip was to see the
"three sisters."
We were devastated when we arrived.
We couldn't see a darn thing!
We were so bummed that we weren't going to see the famous SISTERS.

We decided we'd grab lunch and see if the fog would clear.
Within an hour the clouds started to break.

And we were able to see those sisters.
Do you see the three peeks in the back?...There they are.

We were able to ride the steepest railway through the valley once the sun came out.
We were so happy mother nature did her job!

We were so glad that we waited for the sun.
It was worth the wait!
It was just a fabulous day!
There is more to Australia than a harbor, and we didn't even touch the surface of what it has to offer.

Were off to Cairns, Australia where we will scuba dive the Great Barrier Reef.

a little trip

While we are working on our pictures
you can guess where we just got back from....

hint: P. Sherman Wallaby Way

puppy school

Magnus graduated Doggy school.
We signed him up at Petco...where the pets go.

He can sit, lay, stay, wait, come...

all for a treat!
He is getting better by the day.
He will be attending the next doggy class...
How cool would he be if he were a therapy dog?
We think he'd be pretty cool if he could go to hospitals or schools to help!
Everyone already loves him and he LOVES everyone, may as well put it to good use.