Cruisin' on Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve morning we were already sailing on the ocean headed to Mexico and it was still pretty chilly outside but it was beautiful. All you could see was ocean when we woke up. All of our rooms were right by each other and we were able to open our balcony doors to have one big shared balcony. It was so awesome to have the whole back of the ship to our family and to wake up, head outside, and see a familiar face next door. This morning we saw whale spout a few times and then jump right out of the water! It was incredible! It was the first of many whale sightings during the trip.

 We spent the day splashing in water, miniature golfing, exploring the boat, and going to the different shows. There was a special Holiday Show that the whole family met up for. I still can't believe that Taryn fell asleep with all that loud music again!

 My brothers Tyson & Cameron and Tyson

 Sitting pool side with her ice cream

By the end of the trip, Taryn knew exactly where the frozen yogurt machine was and when ever we walked by she would ask, "mommy, I want ice cream!" and because she really only likes the cone and takes all of two licks of the actual frozen yogurt, we let her have one. That's why you go on a cruise, right?! :)

 This girl knew just what a cruise was for. Relaxing.

 Our table picture taken with a fish eye lens

Dinners were amazing! Every night we came together as a family and talked about what we did during the day. We also tried to eat the most adventurous items on the menu like

Shark 

Alligator

Ahi Tuna

Chilled Fruit Soups

Oysters

Shrimp

Lobster

Chateaubriand  

Cheese platters

Salmon

Ginger & Date Pate (actually my favorite dessert of the whole week!)

 and everyone's favorite,

the Chocolate Melting Cake. Seen here with my youngest sibling, Brooke (who will be getting her mission call next week!!!)

You could see this amazing cake on our tables every single night.

 Christmas Eve Dinner was a "fancy" night so everyone dressed up for dinner and in the middle, the Maître d' had everyone stand and dance together.

They showed the movie "Elf" after dinner on the Lido deck which was perfect for all the little kiddos we had.

And a cruise documentation is never complete without showing some of the towel creatures. Taryn loved every single one just like this every night.

Many of our family members had done Christmas before with their families so they wouldn't have to do it on the boat and bring extra stuff along. Us? We decided that Taryn as too young to remember a specific Christmas celebration any way and we resolved to have Christmas next year for sure. (Horrible parents? Nah. We took her to Mexico instead!) Our Christmas Day was going to be different for sure!