Christmas Lights at Temple Square.

Each year that Kiera and I have been together we have made a trip to Downtown Salt Lake City to see the Lights at Temple square. Last year we added on that tradition by going with our friends Valisa and Kyle and also taking the Frontrunner to SLC. This year we continued that tradition. We also asked my sister to come as well. However due to her pregnancy at the time she was too sick this evening but we still offered to take my Nephew Jaxon with us as it would be his first time at the lights.

 

 

 

 

 

We got on the Frontrunner in Layton. Valisa, Kyle, and there daughter Berklee were already on the train. In addition to the lights this was also Jaxon's first time on a train. Needless to say he loved it as He really liked walking around the train in circles. Going up and down the stairs, and just loving the experiance.

 

 

 

 

 

The weather in SLC wasn't too bad this year. It was fairly warm although it was lightly raining. The train must have really worn out Jaxon though as he fell asleep on the Trax going from the Frontrunner to Temple Square.

 

 

 

 

 

The lights were as pretty as ever. We walked all around the square looking at all the lights, watching the Nativity, and seeing the Christus Statue in the visitors center.

 

 

 

 

 

For dinner we continued another new tradition made the year earlier. That being eating at the Lion House Pantry. This home cooked style eatery never dissapoints.

 

 

 

 

 

Jaxon seemed to have alot of fun at the lights and enjoyed everything he saw. On the train ride back he and Berklee played a little bit but he seemed to have more fun with somebody elses little boy instead lol. Oh well thats what little boys do I guess.

 

 

 

Fall of 2010

Not a whole lot happened with us upon the return from our vacation until Christmas time. Halloween was soon upon us and as always it wasn't anything too exciting. We once again spent part of the night at Kieras parents house. Where her dad unfortunatly took a break this year from his usual crazy decorated scary house. Kiera and I both dressed up this year. Myself and as a Hufflepuff Hogwarts student and Kiera just as a witch.

 

 

For the rest of the Halloween evening we went over to my Aunt Julies house to spend the night with my family. Kelsie, Colby, and Jaxon were already over there with Jaxon dressed up as a Pirate for this Halloween. It was a hard evening as this would be the last holiday we would spend with my family while they still lived in Utah.

 

 

Why was this the last holiday we would spend with my family while they lived in Utah? Well thats because 2 days later they would be packing up there vehicles and moving all the way across the country to Charleston, South Carolina. As my step dad looked for work for over a year it was evident that he wasn't going to find it in Utah. So unfortunatly that ment packing up and moving to where there was work. He got a job with Boeing and moved back east to work on there new 787 Jet.

It was a sad final night at my grandmas spending the time with my family before they left to make the cross country drive. It was a night filled with sadness and many tears. Although it was hard to loose my Mom and Family. Especially where we would go from seeing them many times a week to maybe once a year we knew that it was the right move for them. Everything feel into place for them to make this move and its where the Lord needs them to be. My mom said whats always been the hardest was not so much leaving us. As all her older kids would be fine. The hard part would be leaving her grandchildren. She only had 1 when she left and now just over a year later she has 3 with a 4th on the way. My mom says that making the adjustment to Southern Living has been a hard one. They were far removed from the Utah bubble and living in a place completly different. It was tough on the younger boys Tanner and Kory but they seem to have adjusted the best having made new friends and being very active in sports and other activities. However though no matter how adjusted they might get Charleston will never actually be home.

 

And lastly of course its never a Fall/Halloween type season without getting the Papa Murphy's Jack'o Lantern Pizza.

 

2010 Vacation Part 6: Ocho Rios Jamaica

The months leading up to this vacation was filled with research and seaking out the best possible excursions. After much reading we had come to the conclusion and booked the excursions that seemed the most fun. So you could imagine how we felt when the announcement was made by our ship captain. "Due to Hurricane Paula we will no longer be making port in Cozumel Mexico, Isle Roatan Honduras, or Belize City Belize". 3 ports gone. Months of planning down the drain. Quick emails made to ensure we would be refunded for the Excursions we would now no longer make. In the place of 3 cancelled ports we were only able to secure 1 replacement port. That being Ocho Rios Jamaica.

 

 

 

 

 

The 2 days leading up to our stop in Jamaica was filled with what limited research we had. I browsed Carnivals message forums frantically looking for something to do in Ocho Rios. In only a matter of hours we would be in a port that we had no idea or intention of visiting. And I still had not found anything to do. The only thing that I knew was there were the waterfalls that you could climb. That sounds fun. We should do that. We could only hope that our prayers would be answered and we would be guided to something to do in port.

 

 

 

 

 

As we walked off the ship we still had no clue of what to do. Our first impressions of the island scenary was positive. The island itself is very pretty. Very lush, green, and mountainish. Pretty much everything that the Grand Cayman wasn't. However we heard that Jamaica was scary and they weren't kidding. Upon walking off the ship we found ourselves in a small courtyard surrounded by tall walls with barbwire and guards with machine guns standing at the gates. As we were wondering one of the security ladys came up to us and asked if she could help us with anything. We told her that we were intersted in going to the waterfalls, doing some shopping, and seeing the Island. She asked us to follow her where she took us to one of the waiting tour buses.

 

 

 

 

 

Turned out the tour bus she took us too was the number one rated tour guide on Tripadvisor. Knowjamaica.com For only $25 they would take us to the waterfalls (they cost extra to get into), give us a tour of the city, take us up into the rainforest, and give us time to do some shopping. This tour sounded like the answer to our prayers that we were looking for. Before long the bus was finished being loaded and our tour had begun.

 

 

 

 

 

The first stop would be what I looked forward to the most. The waterfalls which is actually called the Dunn River Falls. As we were being driven we were given a word of warning though. That being not to give our names to anyone who asked. I guess the local street vendors would immediatly carve you name into something if you did so to try and guilt trip you into buying it. They also told us to beware of other locals looking for a quick buck.

 

 

 

 

 

The falls cost an additional $25 per person to get in to. If you want to climb them though you must have fully inclosed shoes. You cannot climb them in flip flops for safety reasons. They did have shoes you could rent. Luckly Kiera and I brought some water shoes from home to wear.

 

 

 

 

 

The area of the falls was very pretty. Possibly one of the prettiest places I have ever been. The Falls became famous after the James Bond film Dr. No was filmed there. I guess if you climb the falls from the bottom to the top it can make for a tough climb. So the falls is pretty much a continuous chain of people. The falls themselves are beautiful. I havn't seen anything like them before.

 

 

 

 

 

We made our way to the bottom of the falls where there was a beach on the Ocean. Before our route change we had a dedicated beach day and a dedicated shopping day. Now those would have to be merged into one. So this short time on the Dunn River beach would be our only beach time of the whole trip. The water of course was very pretty. Typical of the Caribbean. However the beach left much to be desired. Better then the one in the Bahamas last year but not as great as other Caribbean beaches we had been to. It was neat though to see the waterfalls running into the ocean. Kinda weird feeling the warm ocean water mixing with the cold river water.

 

 

 

 

 

After our time on the beach we headed back up the stairs. When nearing the top Kiera and I decided to get in the river to get some photos with the falls. Kyle came with us to take the photos but unfortunatly with Valisa only having Flip Flops she didn't get in. After the photos Kyle and I decided to actually climb up the rest of the falls while the girls took the stairs. It was actually easier to climb then I thought they would be and i'm glad to say that I got to do it. I mean where else can you climb a waterfall in the jungle. Once again another once in a lifetime experiance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Being done climbing the falls and time to kill until our tour bus would be back we decided to look around the vendor shops. And our guides weren't lieing. The locals were very pushy and tried to guilt trip you in to buying anything they had. I have never felt so presured before. They were by far the worst. Yes even worse then the street vendors in Mexico can be. Plus since it was Jamaica you saw alot more offers to buy drugs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our bus soon arrived and we continued our tour. The next portion would be the "city" tour as they drove us around Ocho Rios. There actually wasn't a whole lot to see. However just like it was when we took our tour in Nassau it really was an eye awakening experiance to see how these people live. You could tell that Jamaica is very poverty stricken as people were literally living in shacks. All the buildings looked like they would topple over if someone sneezed wrong. It so sad to see such poverity in one of the prettiest places i've ever been. While driving around the city we did pass the local LDS church which was located in a business building. Kyle and Valisa would walk down there later to get a photo and had a pretty scary incident. But thats a story for another time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After driving around the city we were drove up to the rain forest. Which is really where all the crazies live. They took us to some man who lived in a cave and sold different herbs and fruits. Very strange but we got our photo with him lol. They also passed around some of the things he sold such as coco beans and other fruits. We also went past the "fire man" A guy who came up to the bus and blew fire. Just seeing this guy you knew he must be crazy. In other countries we've been to it seems like the vendors seem to all be in the same general locations. Not in Jamaica. There would be random booths set up just on the side of the road. Even though they sold the same stuff as the more popular tourist areas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

They next took us to the top of a mountain so that we could over look the city and the ocean. The views were very pretty as you overlooked the island. We never got off the bus here but just in case we did there were not only more random vendor booths set up on the side of a mountain but also photo oppertunitys to take a picture with a donkey lol.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The final part of our excursion was the shopping portion. Which unfortunatly would be our shortest portion of the excursion. We now had to shrink what we planned an entire day for into 1 hour. So needless to say the shopping was a mad rush running store to store looking for the things we wanted to not only bring home for ourselves but also for our families too. We pushed it right to the last possible minute but we found pretty much everything we wanted. The tour guides were even kind enough to make an additonal stop for Kyle so that he could get another Hard Rock shirt in Ocho Rios.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We soon arrived back to the port to reboard ourship. Of course that wasn't until after one of the armed guards came aboard the bus to check our identification. With the tour over we were soon back on board the ship and our time in Jamaica was over.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a good time in Jamaica and we were so thankful that we found such an incrdible tour to go on. We seriously couldn't have asked for a better tour if we seeked out ourselves. We are glad that we got to go to Jamaica. The island is one of the prettiest we've seen and the Dunn River Falls is an experiance that is simply amazing. That being said though we don't care to ever go back. One time was enough. It was just very sketchy, the locals were far too pushy, and it just didn't have a good feeling there. We were happy to experiance it once but that was enough for us. At least we had an additional island to mark off our list.