What are you doing New Year's Eve?

Tomorrow is the last day of 2012.  I can't say that I will miss 2012, but I also can't say that I didn't enjoy all the things we did this year.  We had a great year, laced with some not so great things towards the end of the year.  But, I must say that I am incredibly grateful to my Heavenly Father for blessing me with such a wonderful little family.  I'm so grateful that Jon still has employment.  I'm so grateful that my puppy, Shylowe, is still here in our home with us.  And I am grateful to be sitting here listening to the sounds of my children laughing together and loving each other so much.

So with that, and not even trying to attempt to sum up 2012 or try to make up for lack of blogging this year, I say goodbye, 2012.  You were good to us.  And I am looking forward to what comes our way in 2013.

Have yourself a beachy little Christmas

We finally figured out a theme for our outdoor Christmas decorations.  And I love it.  Hope you do too!

(Yes, that deer is wearing a life jacket.  Ha ha ha.)

Christmas at the Springs Preserve

We haven't been down to the Springs Preserve to see their Christmas light display in 3 years.  So we decided to head down there this year.  And it wasn't a disappointment.  In fact, this is the first year we've been where all of the "attractions" were free!  It was cold, but we had so much fun, we didn't even notice it.

Celebrating 7 Years - Day 6, 7, and 8

I wish I had more pictures to share with you on the remainder of our cruise, but unfortunately my camera went swimming in the Pacific Ocean on our last day in Puerto Vallarta.  The rains had cleared out, it was again MUGGY, and the beaches were just crazy with waves and an enormous amount of silt and debris that had been washed up from the day before.

We took a cab into downtown to take a stab at the flea market (which we made out of very successfully).  Then we headed over to the beach for a stroll and some lunch.  That was all we had in mind for the day since we had to be back early afternoon to get back on the ship.

I loved the buildings there - very old, Spanish style.  But there were still some newer designs in place that just gave Puerto Vallarta some wonderful character.

This is where our camera died.  So please excuse the quality of the following pictures - we had to snag a couple disposable cameras for the remainder of the trip.

We had lunch at a little restaurant right on the beach.  We had, again, fish tacos, ceviche, and lots of chips and salsa (and water).  We had smoked marlin fish tacos.  The best fish tacos we've ever had.  I SO WISH I had written down the name of the place we ate at because it was so incredible!

Then, Jon decided to try his hand at parasailing.  I think I forgot to mention that at the zipline I had injured myself - I got a little too over zealous with the speed of the last line (Predator Line), and came in super hot.  I   scraped up my arm pretty good, gouged my thumb, given myself a little whiplash, but thankfully I had a helmet on.  So, I opted out of parasailing the following day.

Afterwards, we just relaxed on the beach, grabbed some drinks from McDonald's so that we could use their bathroom (by the way, their $1 drinks here in the states are $3 there!), and headed back to the ship so we wouldn't be left behind.

Our steward, Arnold, left us another lovely animal towel treat - Elephant.

The next 2 days were lazy days for us.  We slept, a lot, hit the spa, a lot, sat on the deck, a lot, and ate, a lot.    They had a full on chocolate buffet that day, which was taken advantage of by myself.

All of the relaxing areas were full from the beginning of the morning.  Everyone had the same idea as we did. This was out on the Lido Deck.

The last day, the crew was already getting things cleaned up on the ship, preparing for the next group of travelers.

The dining areas were virtually empty (Lido, Splendido Buffet)

They had closed off most everything to clean, including the splash pad for the kids (bummer for the parents!)

 and the waterslide.

This was a view of the center of the ship, looking upwards from the 3rd deck.

Our room, small, but more cozy than anything.  It was awesome.

Our last animal towel from Arnold.  Wow.  Impressive.

Sitting on the deck, drinking Pina Coladas.

And one of the best things we did on our cruise?  We bought a spa package and spent every day in there.  This is the Thelasotherapy pool.

Finally, home, back in the Long Beach Port.  The seagulls were there to greet us, and the crew were very curious.  This guy, from the Philippines  I think had never seen one before.  He was very eager to feed them some bread.

Goodbye, Splendor.  We'll see you in a few years.

It was a fantastic vacation.  I would highly recommend a cruise for anyone looking to get away and disconnected from life for a week.  I know I want to do it again, very soon.  It has been hard to come back to reality, but these 2 little cuties make it all worth it: