Still learning after 3 years. what ATVing will bring out of you :)

 The first group out

Me, Dad, Ethan, Mom, Nataleigh, Tyson and David

 

 The 2nd Group of the Day

Cameron & Jana, Brittany, my brother Tyson & Jen, Brooke and Mackenzie

Kicking up dust on the trails out to the ocean

 Tyson

 Brianna
Maybe it's silly but I loved that fact that my ATV was the only yellow one, my favorite color. Even though it was spurting oil out of one side and had war wounds all over, it was a great little ATV that kept up with me the whole time...just as soon as I figured out the whole gears without a clutch thing.

 Tyson and our nephew Ethan rode together for about half of the journey

 

 

 My brother Tyson

 

 Mackenzie in the back, Brooke steering (and only one wheel on the ground!)

 

 The day after Christmas we were back on Cabo and up in the desert for some great ATVing. It was so much fun to have this huge vehicle to myself (and a little scary too!). It was about the time that we hit the open beach and sped around going so fast that Tyson realized he hadn't seen all the sides of his wife. When we took a break, he told my parents, "I had no idea Brianna was so daring!" Either I've been doing something wrong for 3 years or we just haven't been ATVing enough :)

I really tried to get as much fun out of that little machine as possible (without tipping it unlike my little sisters!) 

I loved the feeling of speeding so fast down the open beach with Tyson and my family. And let me tell you what, my parents really know how to put the pedal to the medal! I tried to keep up with them and not eat their dust :) I was screaming "Yeah! Woo Hoo!" the entire time.

My sister Megan was the absolute saint and stayed with 6 kids while the two groups over lapped by about 2 hours. I was happy that Taryn and some of the other babes slept for a good amount of time. She gets the biggest gold star in my book! I was happy that Taryn and some of the other babes slept for a good amount of time. She gets the biggest gold star in my book!

Para Sailing on Christmas Day in Cabo San Lucas

 Christmas Morning in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico

Our nephew Merrick, being super brave!

 Riding out on a water taxi to our para sailing boats.
Our family lots of Spanish  speakers and I am SO grateful for it. We definitely used their skills while ashore to get around. I LOVE listening to Tyson speak in Spanish, making every day conversation with the locals. And I also LOVE watching their expressions as they look at Tyson, hear him speak, and in shock ask how he speaks Spanish so well. It's great to have even those small missionary moments. Having Tyson's Spanish also helped us get a great deal on a little Mexican dress we bought for Taryn ( those cute pictures to come!)

 We had two big groups in two different boats so the drivers tried to get us close to one another whil up in the air and it worked! Brittany & Brooke below with Cameron & Jana above.

 Brittany and Brooke landing

 

Me and my sister-in-law Jen

 Jen & I had a lot of fun being up in the air. I saw a HUGE fish near the surface of the water (my brother said it was probably a shark- ugh!) while in the air and we got kinda creeped out. But it was so peaceful up there and so incredibly beautiful. I had never been para sailing before and I would absolutely go again! When the boat started pulling us in, the driver started to go slower and slower. We got even more scared and started screaming, "NO NO NO NO!!!!" but before we knew it, our feet were being "dipped" into the super warm ocean water!!! It was awesome! I'm just also really happy that it was just our feet :)

 Tyson and our nephew, Ethan (11 years old). Tyson has been para sailing before but with a start from the beach. He said this as great!

Taryn slept for most of the time we were on the boats para sailing. I was holding onto her for dear life. Seriously I thought with the crazy choppy ocean water and the scary driving that she would be over board in seconds. I had my sister Brittany help me put a life jacket on her the second we got in the boat. But she was just fine and slept the whole time in my arms and in Grandpa's while I was in the air.

WOOHOO!!! We para sailed in Cabo!!
(Can you spot Tys jumping w/ Taryn?)

 Lands End at sun set.

Where the Pacific Ocean meets the Sea of Cortez

 

  

We went down the water slide after getting back on the boat and then headed to dinner.  

 

 Cabo looked so beautiful at night from the top deck of the Cruise Ship.

 

The amazing Christmas date and fig pate I mentioned in the previous blog post.

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!