The Taylor Family: November 2012

Friday, November 30

Decorating the Tree

Usually we get the tree up and decorated the day after Thanksgiving but it was so early this year and Peter and I really weren't feeling it last week. This week we weren't really feeling it either but we knew it had to be

done. The girls were all excited, as usual, which I am very grateful for. I see it more as a chore but when they get all excited and really want to help put it all together it makes it a lot more enjoyable for me. Once Peter strung the lights up I told the girls they could start putting their ornaments on. They each have their own box of ornaments which makes it nice and easy for them to decorate without fighting each other.

I took out a few of Javan's for him to put up and he did the first few just like he should and then he really just wanted to play with them all. I can't blame him, they are very cute, colorful and some are noisy. He also like to hang all of his ornaments from the same limb so after he got distracted I hung up some of Daddy's and mine and then put the rest of Javan's up and did a little rearranging to fill in any holes and declutter an area. The tree is all pretty and lit and it's starting to give our house that Christmas feeling.

Thursday, November 22

Happy Thanksgiving!!

After our cruise earlier this week everyone went home and resumed life as normal. I went back to work

just for Tuesday and Wednesday. The girls only had school on Tuesday after missing it on Monday but they still went to class. Peter had lots of work to do and the rest of family all went to their own homes. We didn't have much going on for the holidays since most everyone was planning on being out of town. Christina and Noah were putting together a

nice dinner with family and a few friends and invited us to join them. We were happy to still celebrate Thanksgiving but not have to do the bulk of the cooking. We stopped by my mom's earlier and said hi and hung out for a little while but then headed over to Christina's. Noah had already set up the computers so the girls could play a video game and Javan played with some toys and then my phone and maybe an

iPad or two. Christina and Noah always go all out when it comes to cooking and this was no exception. There was a ton of food and everything was delicious. We filled our plates and then our bellies. The children did really well. I gave them just a taste of everything so that they could try it all but weren't stuck eating a bunch of anything they didn't enjoy. They all finished and got to have wonderful dessert of brownies and, of course, pumpkin pie. We stayed a bit longer and helped clean up some and then got Javan ready for the bed

(it's a long car ride home) and then said our good byes. This is the last Thanksgiving that Tina and Noah will be in FL for before they move back to Ohio next year. We were happy to be able to spend it with them.

Monday, November 19

Departure

We decided to take our own luggage off the ship rather than checking it and having to pick it up before customs. Mom was up pretty early and was ready to go. Once us Taylors were dressed we all headed to the buffet to grab some quick breakfast before we left. Our last meal on the ship and we were back in our rooms to brush our teeth and pack our last few things up. It didn't take us too long since we had really done all the real work last night. We gathered the kids and the suitcases and then went down the elevator to the gangplank where we had our key cards scanned one last time before we walked across onto US soil again. The weather outside was much colder than we had expected, I don't know why I guess we all just assumed the weather would warm like it was the day we left. We walked around the building we had check-in at and into the baggage claim area and customs. It didn't take us long to get through customs, the line moved pretty quickly and the lady that checked our passports didn't ask us any questions at all just looked at our photo ID's and sent us out. Once on the other side we waited for Steve and Heather who were just a few people behind us. Janell texted me and said they were at the parking garage. We had thought they had left hours ago so they waited for us and we all met there. Peter and I were taking Steve and Heather back to the airport so they could catch their flight home this afternoon so mom decided to ride back with Janell so our van wouldn't be so crowded with luggage and people. Turns out the airport was just down the street from the cruise port so we were hugging Steve and Heather goodbye just moments later and then we set on our way for the 4 hour drive home. We took a different route home because we had to go through Orlando so we could stop at Ikea. We needed a couple more chairs for our kitchen table and since we are never out that way this was the perfect opportunity. We made it all the way to Orlando without stopping and then ate at the food court of Mall of Millennia before going over to Ikea. We got an awesome deal on the last two wooden chairs in the store and then drove the last hour to our house. Shortly after we walked in and told Goose how much we missed her and she told us how much she missed me we were all unpacked and laundry was running. We had things in the house that I could have made for dinner but I really wasn't in the mood to cook so Peter ordered a free pizza he had and then ran to bank to drop off our passports and then picked up dinner. Tonight is an early to bed kind of night. The girls have school and I have to be up at 4:30 am to get to work in the morning. It's only a two day workweek though so I think we will be alright until Thanksgiving.

Sunday, November 18

Last Day

Today is our last full day on the ship. The weather is pretty weary and there have been rains and high winds all day. You can feel the ship rocking especially when you are in the aft or the very forward of the ship. A couple weeks ago we all signed up for the Shrek Character

Breakfast that was set for this morning. My mom was too tired to come so she stayed in her room and the rest of us met at the dining room. They seated us adults together and we put all the kids at the table next to us. We received a special menu for our meal and the waiters brought the children chocolate milkshakes. They looked really good so I asked the waiter if I could have one and when he brought it everyone else at the table asked for one too. I think that was the best part of the breakfast because the food (at least what I ordered) wasn't very good. One by one the characters came out and the children all had their pictures taken with

each one. The girls were excited to see them all but Javan only got out of his chair to see Puss and Boots. He loves kitties. The characters went around to each table which was nice because the children didn't have to fight off other kids and had plenty of time to eat their meal. Once we were all finished we decided we would go get mom and take her to the towel folding event. She was excited to see how the crew made the cool towel animals that they left in our rooms so we headed back down and watched. They didn't give us towels to fold along but

just showed us which was kind of lame but at the end they did hand out instructions for a few animals. The girls were very interested in this so they each took a handout and said they were going to fold our towels when we got home. Janell and Wyatt left to get massages and Mom took their kids back to her room. The rest of us decided to drop the kids off at the kid club area and then the four of us went up to deck 14 to the lounge. The room isn't too large but it was just big enough to accommodate the people there and it was pretty quiet. It is in the center of the ship and has windows on three sides of it so you can see down on the pool decks and out to the ocean on either side from one seat. We just relaxed there for a long while and then decided to pick up the kids and eat lunch. We ate at the buffet and you could really feel the movement of

the ship since we were in the very front of the ship. It made me a little dizzy but not so bad I couldn't stand it. Once again we put the kids at their own table and us four adults ate together. When we were about half way through Janell and Wyatt found us and ate lunch too. We went back to our rooms when lunch was over and got the kids cleaned up a bit (they have a tendency to get messy at each meal) and then headed to the Encore Ice Skating Show. We had reserved tickets for the show though I am not really sure why because they didn't check for tickets when we walked in. I thought the show was kind of cheesy but the girls really liked it and Javan liked the juggler. Afterward, Steve and Heather wanted to go to the pool and so did Abbi. Bresa really wanted to go back to the kids club because she was told there would be a hula-hoop contest and she is excellent at hula-hooping so she wanted to enter it. Peter took her and Javan back to the kids club and I took Abbi to the room so she could change into her swimsuit. When we got to the pool deck it was a little

windy but it was still nice out. Steve and Heather met us there and Tyler and Abbi ran off to swim in the whirlpool. Steve and Heather went to the hot tub and I just sat in a lounge chair enjoying the peacefulness. It wasn't long before the sprinkles started up again and the wind increased. It was pretty cold out but I had my jeans on and Peter's jacket so I was pretty warm. The sprinkles turned into rain drops so I sought cover on the side of the pool deck and rain into Peter as I was trying to get to the other side. Abbi said she still wanted to swim and Steve and Heather were enjoying the hot tub so I left Abbi in their care and Peter and I went up to our room where we were hoping Javan would get a little nap. No such luck but I got cleaned up for dinner and we watched a movie while we rested a bit. Peter ran down to get Bresa when it was time and she told us that the contest would be sometime during 6:00. Bummer, that's our dinner time. She was disappointed but not dramatic about it which was nice. Steve dropped off Abbi and she got changed and then we all went down to dinner with mom. We were on time tonight so we didn't have to rush through our meal again and took our time and had a nice conversation over dinner. It was nice that we all got to sit together at the same table (well us adults and the children at the one next to us). Since tonight was our last night I wanted to walk the Promenade again to make sure there were no last minute purchases I wanted. It didn't take long for me to decide I didn't want anything and then we headed up to our room to start packing everything up and preparing for our departure tomorrow.

Saturday, November 17

Cozumel

Last night we all decided to meet at Peter and my room at 10 this morning so that we could all depart the ship together. The ship arrived a Cozumel this morning so after we all ate

breakfast and were ready to go we headed down to deck one and walked out to the port. We walked through a couple shops that were right there by the port and then got a taxi to where all the real shops were. Janell

and Wyatt knew of a nice restaurant at the end of the strip so we walked along the shops, stopping in any that we found interesting. It was the typical lots of tourist souvenirs and some clothes with the owners standing outside each shop trying to get you to go in their stores. There were lots of diamond and silver shops and they all said you could get a "free gift, no purchase" but we kept walking on. I had a couple things that I wanted to find so I was on the lookout. We walked a long way, I don't know how far it was but it seemed pretty far,

before we made it to Pancho's Backyard where we went for lunch. The restaurant had free wifi so we all logged on and checked our emails and such. We sat outside under a covered porch which had beautiful plants and a fountain nearby. The weather was really nice and there was a constant breeze so it was the perfect stop to rest our feet and fill our bellies. Lunch was really good and everyone ate all they could take before we headed back down the walk. Now that we had seen everything we knew which shops to stop in to buy what we wanted. I had been looking for a purple dress that I saw when we first got there. Like just about all places we have been that have

shops like this we know that if one place has something 20 more will too. You just have to find the best price. Peter really liked the dress that I saw too and since he likes me dresses he wanted to find it also. I bought a couple things for the children and some vanilla for my kitchen. I also picked up a hand-painted ornament that said Cozumel for Lisa, who was watching Lucy-Goose for us while we are away. We made it to the end of the strip where we were first dropped off by the taxi and that is where I found the dress I had seen all day but not for the price I wanted to pay. I talked they guy down to less than half of what he originally quoted me (thanks, Hong Kong haggling!) and bought it. We grabbed a taxi back to our starting point Peter and I went to a

t-shirt store where I had seen t-shirts for $5 for the kids. I let the girls each pick out 2 and Javan picked out a nice pirate one. Peter found one and I grabbed a couple for myself. Steve and Heather found us (we had left them at another store) and told us that Janell and Wyatt already went back on the ship. We were all finished at this point so we headed for the ship and got on without any problems. Our feet

were really tired so we went back to our rooms to rest a bit and then took some showers to get ready for dinner tonight. After dinner last night the waiter told us that dinner tonight would be moved to 7 so we got ready a little later than usual and went to the dining room.

We were very surprised to see that people were already working on their entrees and looking at dessert menus. Janell and Wyatt were at our table and said they were wondering

where we were. They had left before the waiter announced our late dinner tonight so they came at the right time, 6:00. Peter talked to the waiters and they said we could still eat and we promised to hurry because we knew they had a dinner sitting at 8:30.

They didn't give us any grief and we hurried to make our selections and shortly afterward Steve and Heather joined us. We were all perplexed about how we had heard the same thing but some how that was wrong but we were happy we could still get our meal. My mom showed up after Janell and Wyatt had finished their dessert and left she too hurried

to make her selection so we could eat and leave. The waiters didn't rush us at all but we still tried to be quick because we felt bad for being so late. After dinner we walked around a little bit but then went to our rooms. Peter and I were exhausted

and I knew the kids weren't going to stay awake much longer.

Friday, November 16

At Sea

Once again I woke up early so after I was ready I went and got Javan and Abbi from Grandma because I knew they would be awake and Grandma would want some more sleep.

When everyone was all ready to leave the room we went to the buffet for breakfast. The children love buffets because they know they can eat as much as they want of pretty much anything they want. We have really good children so when they get what they

want they eat a lot of fruit and yogurt and other things that are good for you. We all got our fill and then headed to the kid's pool area. Since we were up early we were the only ones there. They kids all ran off to play but Abbi came back after a while because the water was too cold. She wasn't exaggerating.

She tried several times to get use to the water temperature but just couldn't do it. Bresa and Javan however went over to the kids hot tub where they enjoyed the warmer water. Abbi didn't want to do that I guess so she got a towel and laid out on a chair. A bit later Janell and Wyatt found us and then after that Steve and Heather joined us. Peter left to go upstairs and shower and read. After

all the cousins were there Abbi got up some more courage and finally got in the water enough to swim. After a couple hours I decided we were done. The area had gotten pretty crowded and the sun had found our seats. It was getting close to lunch time so I gathered the children and we went up to get dressed. Grandma was still in her room so we got her up and she started getting ready too. Peter and I took the kids to Johnny Rockets,

we were looking for Janell and Wyatt but they weren't there so we just headed back to the buffet for lunch. We went back to the room after lunch and I got mom who was now hungry and ready to go. I took her to the buffet and sat with her as she ate while Peter stayed with the kids in the room. We went back and got Peter and the children when mom was done and then we went upstairs and dropped all the kids off in the kid area. While we were up there we ran into Steve and Janell. Janell was going to get her nails done so Steve, Heather, Wyatt, Mom, and Peter and

I went down to the Promenade to do a little window shopping. I needed a day bag and Peter broke his sunglasses in the car yesterday on the way to the hotel. I found a bag that would work but sunglasses were too expensive and Peter didn't see any that he thought were worth the price. Mom wanted to go to the casino so I took her downstairs. Peter found me and him and I went up where we found Steve and Heather. The four of us walked around deck four that was open to the ocean on the outside and had very few people there. We stood at the railing for a long time and saw some land far away.

Peter looked it up and found out it was Cuba. As we were standing there Heather spotted some dolphins and then we all saw several more. It was really cool, I even got a video to show the girls. Mom met up with us after we had wandered around a while. At 5 we had to pick the children and then we went back to our rooms again to get ready for dinner. I wanted Javan to take a nap because he was so tired but he was too hyped up to relax enough. We got all dressed and then went to the dining room. Tonight we put all the kids at Janell's table so her and Wyatt could sit with us. Dinner tonight was delicious. I got beef tenderloin and it was perfect. I couldn't eat all of it but I ate until I was full. We all went back to Janell's suite afterward to see it. She has a nice two bedroom suite. Mom was going to watch all the kids so the adults could go out but we were so tired we wanted to go back to our room. Mom kept Bresa and Javan so we only took Abbi back with us. Shrek was on tv so we started watching that and Abbi was asleep in no time.

Thursday, November 15

Bon Voyage!!

I wake up at 4:30 during

the week for work so when I have the day off I still tend to wake up pretty early. Today was no exception, I got up and showered and dressed and made the kids follow suit. When we were all up we went downstairs for the complimentary breakfast. Janell and Wyatt came down a bit later. They weren't ready to go and still had to shower and such so Peter and I loaded up the kids and went to pick up Steve and Heather from their hotel so they didn't have to take the shuttle to the port. We still had a couple hours to kill before we could check in so we went

to a local mall and walked around. Later Mom and Janell and family met us there. We ate lunch and by the time we were finished it was time to head to the port. The children were really excited. We found the port and parked the car then we had to wait in a huge line that wrapped all around the building and then had lots more lines inside. We must have waited in line for almost 3 hours when we finally had our room keys and could board the ship. We all went and found our rooms. Mom's stateroom is right next to ours because we couldn't fit all the children in one room so we had to split them between two. Once we were a little bit settled in our room we decided to do a

little exploring. We went up to the kids club area but there was no one there and it said to come back. We walked around a bit then went back down to get mom so that we could go to the drill that they have to do before they could leave the port. The drill was long and boring and we were on the side of the ship that the sun was hitting so we got hot pretty fast. The children were very well behaved though and didn't complain at all they just stood in line very patiently until we were released. We headed back up to the kids club so we could register the children.

Once all the paperwork was done we went with Steve and family down to deck 5 where the Promenade is and watched a Dreamwork's Parade with characters and dancing. The children were very entertained by it and enjoyed the whole thing. It ended just in time for us to go down a couple decks to our dining hall. We are signed up for the early dining so we had to be there at 6:00. Janell had linked all our rooms together so that we could sit together but I guess they didn't have a table big enough so they put Janell's family at the table next to us. Dinner was good but not too exciting. I ordered a steak but it wasn't very tasty. Peter enjoyed his meal though so I think I just ordered the wrong thing. After we were finished with all three courses we all went back to our rooms to make sure the

luggage had arrived. Peter and I had gotten all of ours and the children's but Grandma's still hadn't come. After pulling in the suitcases from the hallway we went up to the pool deck and met Steve and Heather and Tyler and just walked around the different pool decks. We saw all the pools and hot tubs and then walked up to the next level and walked around the jogging track. There weren't many people out while we were walking which was nice. We walked around a time or two but then we were all very tired so we went back to our rooms to get ready for bed. Grandma said she wanted Abbi and Javan tonight so they got their stuff and headed over. Bresa stayed with us and we watch the last half of MegaMind before turning off the tv to go to bed.

Wednesday, November 14

First Leg of our Family Cruise to Cozumel

While I was at work today Peter was busy getting things ready for when I came home. We had plans to go on a trip but there is no way I will go on vacation until the house is all nice and clean. We had all packed our things yesterday but Peter went through everything to make sure we really were all packed and added a few things we had overlooked. He picked the girls up from school and everyone helped with the last minute cleaning until I got home. After I finished a couple things we got in the van and headed for Ft. Lauderdale. My mom turned 60 this year in August and my sister and my oldest brother decided to all pitch in and take her on a cruise for her birthday. The cruise we chose on Royal Caribbean left from Ft. Lauderdale so we decided to meet there the night before and stay in a hotel. Steve and Heather flew in with Tyler and Janell and her family rode down with my mom. We met at the hotel and all went to bed.

Thursday, November 8

Leaving Las Vegas

Our flight home left at 9:40 on time. We didn't see anyone we knew on this flight but everything went smoothly. We got up and checked out, grabbed some breakfast and some gas, returned our rental car and took the shuttle to the airport. We waited about 40 minutes when we got to our gate before we boarded but we took off in no time and were told the flight would only be about 4 hours. Peter and I were both excited to see our children again. We were also excited to sleep in our bed again. Just last week we purchased a Tempurpedic mattress and frame and we quickly fell in love with it. Usually sleeping in hotel beds doesn't matter to me but we definitely didn't get as good a sleep on the hotel mattress as we do at home now.

Wednesday, November 7

Las Vegas Day 4

I had been speaking to Sharon over the last couple of days and we were trying to arrange a time to meet up again. The twins had soccer practice tonight at 4 so we said we would meet at her house and go with them. The practice was really cute and the weather was wonderful. It felt good to get some fresh air after being cooped up in the hotel room for 2 days now. We just

sat and watched as the kids did their drills and we talked with Sharon. Afterward Sharon had us over for dinner so we went back to her house. The kids got all cleaned up and did some chores as we all talked. Dinner was delicious and it was so nice to have a home-cooked meal after all the take out we had been eating. We didn't want to leave but we had to hit the pharmacy before it closed and we still had to pack up our stuff so we could head out in the morning. We said goodbye hoping it wouldn't be for too long and headed back to our hotel.

Tuesday, November 6

Las Vegas Day 3

I stayed in bed just about all day. I got up to do the usual daily things but I didn't leave the room at. Peter went out a few times to get a cable and food as needed. There wasn't a whole lot to do in the room but since we don't have television at home I got to watch some pretty stupid shows

that I would never watch otherwise. After we knew the girls were home from school we Facetime'd with Grandma and all the children back at home. They always like to Facetime so I showed them all around our nice room and showed them the view we had and pointed out different things on the strip and to the mountains. I had some work that I brought with me and Peter did some work on his laptop too. For dinner we ordered room service. I was really craving a big steak and potatoes so Peter and I split a Ribeye and mashed potatoes. The meal was more than enough for the two of us and worth every overpriced penny.

Monday, November 5

Las Vegas Day 2

When we had checked into our room yesterday the resort didn't have any rooms with king size beds left so we had to settle for two queens. After we grabbed some breakfast and did a little bit of driving

around the more residential parts of Las Vegas we went back to front desk and asked if we could get a different room. The bed we had chosen last night was sagging and made our sleep very uncomfortable. The lady at the desk said she still haven't any Kings available but would shortly, she also gave us the option to upgrade to a suite. We thought over our options and ultimately decided on the upgrade. She made us new keys and sent us to our new room

on the 60th floor. When we got to our room we touched everything and played with all the switches and checked out our new view, this time of the Las Vegas Strip. This view was amazing! It was still morning so you could see as far as the horizon. We were excited to see the view this evening when all the lights turned on on the strip. Just after lunch time we headed out to Five Guys and then did a little shopping around for nothing in particular. I had a doctor's

appointment which ended up taking a couple hours and then we headed back to the hotel. My doctor told me I would be on bedrest for 3 days so Peter took me back to our room and then headed out to pick up some medication and grab some dinner. The night lights were absolutely beautiful from our room. We really don't care for Vegas and don't feel there really is anything (other than Cirque shows) that the strip has to offer us but we cannot deny how awesome and beautiful the night lights are. The rest of the evening we just watched some tv as we ate our dinner that Peter had picked up from Del Taco (our first time trying it ever).

Sunday, November 4

Back To Las Vegas Day 1

Peter and I had to go back out to Las Vegas again. This time we got a direct flight on Southwest which was great. No layovers or unnecessary traveling time needed. When we got on the plane we picked out some good seats (on Southwest you get to pick your seats when you get on) and sat

as the rest of the plane boarded. We weren't really paying attention to the other passengers getting on but when I happened to look up I saw our friend Paul from church walking by us. We called to him and he took a seat next to us. What a crazy coincidence! Non of us could get over the fact that not only were

we all going to Vegas today but that we had the same flight (Southwest Airlines alone had three flights to LV this morning). Our flight was just over 5 hours long but we filled it with conversation and laughing and before we knew it we had landed. Paul was staying at the HardRock Hotel for a convention and had planned on taking a taxi. Peter and I were renting a car so we told him to come along. Since we couldn't check in to our hotels for a another 5 or 6 hours

we stopped and got some lunch and then took Paul to the Hoover Dam because he had never been there before. This time we took a guided tour and got to go down inside the dam and see the huge generators that generate electricity for several states. After the tour we walked around the top of the Dam. The weather was beautiful this time and not near as hot as when we came a couple months ago. Afterwards we headed to a nearby mall where we met up with Sharon and her children (from my first surrogacy). It was great to see them again but we didn't hang out too long.

We dropped Paul off at his hotel and then checked into ours at Mandalay Bay Resort, the same hotel we stayed at in August. Once we were all settled in our room on the 29th floor we got dressed and headed to the Bellagio where we had tickets for Cirque Du Soleil's O. We had perfect seats and could see everything on the entire stage. The show was great but Peter and I were so tired from our long day we had a hard time staying awake. As we walked back to our hotel we grabbed a large piece of Pizza from NYNY and ate as we walked so we didn't waste anytime and could climb into bed sooner.

Saturday, November 3

Home Depot Fun

Peter and I are leaving this afternoon to go to Christina and Noah's house for the evening. Grandma is coming to stay with the children but since I won't be seeing them I wanted to have some fun first. Today is a

Home Depot workshop so amidst our usual weekend errands I found time to stop at Home Depot so the children could build a project. They made Turkey napkin holders, perfect for Thanksgiving! They also got a big bag of candy from the farmer's market and then a cookie at Publix when we went grocery shopping. At home they will have to clean their rooms so they can have more fun tonight.