Ensenada, Mexico Cruise

Thanksgiving weekend my mom took Nick, Allie, and I on a cruise. My brother also came. It was a short cruise that only stopped in Mexico, but since it was Allie's first we thought it had better be a short one so we could see how she would do. Also, I was still in school and my mom was busy with work, so a little weekend cruise was perfect. We had a blast! Allie was so good and loved being on the "big ship"! The first couple of days she kept saying she wanted to go on a big ship, so we had to keep reminding her that we were on a big ship and show her the water out the windows so she would believe us. Those cruise ships are so big sometimes it doesn't feel like you are even on one! We went with Carnival cruise line this time and decided we liked our Royal Carribean cruise line cruise to Mexico better. But at least we know which one we like better now. We went to see "La Bufadora", the blowhole, again (we saw it last cruise too), but along with La Bufadora there is the open air market where you can haggle with prices. My mom and I both got Coach purses that look completely real. They have the leather patch on the inside, it says Coach on everything, and there are "C"s on the purses instead of Gs or Os. The guy told us we were getting genuine Coach bags and not Ooach or Goach bags. That made us laugh. Whether or not they are real, they look real and we got them for like $65 instead of the couple hundred we would have paid in the states. Mom and I had fun seeing how low we could get them to go. The guy started off at $120 so I thought we did pretty good. Nick and I really enjoyed just getting away. Nick said he was going to be sad to go home and find the bed unmade, no towel animal sitting on our bed, and no chocolate on our pillow. Cruise life is definitely the way to go. Thanks Mom! We had such a good time! My mom has a lot of the pictures so I'll have to post more later of Allie mini golfing on board the ship and a few other things.

Lifeboat drill!

She thought she

was pretty special

drinking out of

these glasses.

Dinnertime!

We took a charterbus

to La Bufadora. Allie

thought it was really

fun.

She was very impressed

by the water shooting

into the air. She is

so dang cute!

Nick packed her

all around and squeezed

in between people

to get her closer to

the blowhole. She

loves her Daddy.

She wasn't quite

sure what to do

with this seal.

She sat like this

for a good 5 min.

before going closer.

One night there

was a bunny on

our bed. She liked

that one so much

she read it a Pooh

bear story.

Like a big girl she

slept on a pull

out bunk bed. We

lined it with pillows

and if she rolled off

it would have been on

our bed so we weren't

too concerned.

She loved jumping out of the windowsill. This is what kept her entertained while we were in our room.

Thanksgiving

I'm sad to say I forgot my camera on Thanksgiving, but maybe I can get some from my brother and post them later. We had a really good Thanksgiving. We truely have so much to be thankful for. I was supposed to work 7p-7a the night before so I thought I was going to be totally exhausted Thanksgiving day, but I went to work and it was super slow so they let me go home. We woke up and watched the Macy's parade (it just wouldn't be Thanksgiving without it!) and then my cousin Erin came over to help me make the gluten-free greenbean casserole. We had to use a different cream of mushroom soup and since the fried onions you usually put on top are covered in wheat we had to fry our own onions. It turned out so good, but we smelled like fried oil! We ate dinner at my grandma's house with all the aunts, uncles, and cousins. After being there a few hours we went to the Powell's for dinner #2. We enjoyed being with all of Nick's brothers and sisters and Allie liked playing with her cousins. They had a bonfire in their backyard for some, while others watched a movie or played a game. It was a fun day to be with family. Nick and I have been so blessed this year. He has a stable job that is still getting him at least 40 hours a week, I have a really flexible job that brings in a little extra money each month, we have our sweet Allie Mae, we are happy and healthy, we have a beautiful home, a reliable car, I am almost done with nursing school with no student loans, we have no credit card debt or other debt besides our home and car, we have strong testimonies of the gospel, we have a love for our Savior and Heavenly Father, we have an amazing ward family, and we have loving families who support us and love us back. There are many more things we are thankful for but these are the few that come to mind right away. We look forward to the year ahead and pray we are prepared for any challenges it might bring. Darn economy!

TWILIGHT!!

My friends and I went to the midnight showing of Twilight. One of Jaime's friends designs t-shirts so he made us all Twilight shirts. I thought they were way cute and we didn't match everyone else who had a Twilight shirt on. We met up with some of Jaime's friends that had been in line since 11:00am. Needless to say, we got a really good place in line that was inside the theater. We were probably in the first 50 people. We passed time snacking, reviewing the NCLEX book (ok, we really only did a couple of questions), taking turns to go out and get dinner, and talking. We ended up being on the news since we were so close to the front of the line. I don't know if that is something I should be proud of or not. I liked the movie. I know there are a bunch of people out there that were sorely disappointed, but I went into the movie realizing it wasn't going to win a grammy. There were some cheesy lines, the special effects weren't all they could have been, and it was way too short, but hey, I go to be entertained and I was entertained. It probably helped that I was there with a bunch of friends. Thanks Nick for not thinking I'm too lame and for staying home with Allie that night. Don't worry, you still win over Edward!










Jaime, Shaela, Me, Jess, Sharla
People in school call us
"The 5 Musketeers".

Gilbert Day's Parade

We went to the Gilbert Day's Parade this year and invited Nick's family and my brother to go with us. Allie had a fun time running around with her cousins. Rick's (my mom's boyfriend) sister-in-law works for an Orthodontist and was passing out toothbrushes. I'm pretty sure this was the highlight of the parade for Allie. She also loved seeing all of the horses and marching bands.

Poor Chris kept

smelling something

foul. I'm pretty

sure it was all the

presents the horses

left behind.

Allie loves her cousin

Emma. She couldn't

put the toothbrush

down once Nick

unwrapped it for

her.

Nick was good at

keeping the girls

out of the street.
Allie is going to

brush those

teeth right out

of her head!

Nick wouldn't mind

cruising around

town in one of

these.

N*E*R*D

Well, I'm officially a nerd. I just bought my ticket for the midnight showing of Twilight at the Cine~Capri. For those of you not from AZ it is the largest theater in AZ and can hold 500 people, so the screen is HUGE. My friends and I are going and I'm pretty darn excited. No worries, we're not dressing up as vampires or werewolves. I've never been to a midnight showing before. The only time I came close was when I worked at Harkins and had to work during the midnight showing. I can guarantee you this will be way better. Fingers are crossed that the movie will at least be almost as good as the book, but we all know that the books are usually way better than the movie could ever be. I hope Hollywood doesn't mess with it too much. Nick is an amazing husband and told me to have a fun time while he watches Allie. I am so lucky to have Nick. He is a way better husband than I deserve. I'm so grateful for our marriage and how much it has grown in 3 1/2 years! I love you sweetie!

November Birthdays!

Last Sunday we celebrated November birthdays on the Davis side. Dallin turned 9 and Parker is turning 5 at the end of the month. My aunt Wendy made a really big and really good gluten-free cookie and decorated it with frosting, and my grandma made a gluten-free pumpkin pie. I have never liked pumpkin pie, but for some reason I'm really liking pumpkin flavoring lately so I had some. It was so good and even had a flaky crust. We're starting to perfect this gluten-free cooking thing! Allie had a blast playing with her cousins and at one point we found my 3 year old cousin and Allie in the bathroom. Cami said she went to the bathroom and then helped Allie go. Cami has just recently been potty-trained and Allie is in the process so who knows what really went on in there. Cami walked out with her pants buttoned, zipped, and all the way up but inside out. So cute! Her mom and I had a good laugh. Who knows if Allie actually went, but I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall. Happy Birthday Dallin and Parker!

And....blow!

What bunch of

fun kids! Is

Allie nervous

about those

candles??

(Click on it

to make it

bigger)

Apparently I

missed the

"Wear Green"

memo.

And the
"Wear Blue"

memo.

I love this kid!

Look at that

carefree grin.

Oh to be 5 again.

Caleb is one of

Allie's best

friends.

JDRF Race for the Cure

Last Saturday Nick, Allie, and I walked with 16 other members of my family in the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Race for the Cure at Tempe Town Lake. My cousin Samantha was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when she was only 5. After she was diagnosed they tested her for other autoimmune diseases and diagnosed her with Celiac Disease, too. She is such an awesome kid! I remember when she was really little asking if things were gluten free before she ate it. She could also tell me that she was allowed to have 15 cheetos for a snack. At such a young age! She blew me away! She has the best attitude about it and it such a good example to me. I am always asking her about things to help me understand it better for school. This was our second year walking and it was sometimes overwhelming to see all the different shirts. Almost all of the teams make matching shirts and some were very moving. My mom and I being the bawl bags that we are got a little teary eyed reading a few. Especially the ones that read "In Loving Memory of". Samantha designed our shirts and they said, "Samantha's Mission Possible" on the front with a footprint under the lettering and "Target the Cure Juvenile Diabetes" on the back. There were over 26,000 walkers this year and it was decided that they needed to have two seperate walks on the same day next year. Our family agrees :) We had a fun time together on the walk and look forward to doing it next year! Thanks Samantha for inviting us and for having such a strong spirit! We love you!

My cousin's husband

works for GoDaddy

who is a major

sponsor so he and

his wife wore the

orange and white

GoDaddy shirts

with green hats.

These are Samantha's

parents. They are

amazing. They have

had to learn to be

mathematicians,

chemists, nurses, and

Samantha's emotional

rocks.

Samantha and Allie.

If Samantha is

around this is where

you will find Allie...

in her arms. Allie

adores her cousins.

This picture is pretty

dark, but I love

Brittany's face in it.

We had to keep

stopping and make

sure everyone was

together. There

were so many people!

Good 'ole Daddy

pulling that wagon

again. Most of the

time it had two kids

in it and Nick pulled

it the whole time.

Thanks honey!

Brittany and her

husband, Eric.

We had to stop

and refuel with

some trailmix

and water.

This picture cracks

me up because

Allie and Caleb

have the same

face and they look

like what we all

felt like at the end.

Those free

hotdogs and chips

at the end make

it all worth it!