Aldergators and such....

After our few days of being beach bums in Florida we headed towards home with a short detour to New Orleans. We went to the French Quarters, which was fun, but tiring! We did lots of walking around, looking in shops, etc. Our favorite part of French Quarters was the French Market, which is like a flea market. There were tons of booths to look at with neat Mardi Gras souvenirs and such. We also went to the New Orleans Aquarium where we got to pet a shark and stingrays. One of the stingrays got a little riled when Dan went to pet it and it jumped out of the water at him. It was quite hilarious to see the look on Dan’s face!

After coming back home for a day we set on yet one more adventure….the Natchitoches Alligator Park. Dan is just like a little kid when it comes to alligators. They fascinate him in everyway. The boys even got a chance to hold an alligator as well as taste test some fried alligator, which has become a favorite of Dan’s since we moved to the south.

Overall, we had a great week with Rueben. It was so nice to be able to spend so much time with him. He has grown so much since we got married. Moving away from family has been tough so I am extremely grateful for any opportunity we have to spend with them. We learned a lot about him this week and what a great young man he is becoming! He will be a great missionary. I look up to him a lot and I am grateful to have such a wonderful brother. My favorite part of the whole week by far, was just getting to talk and joke around with my brother. We had some great conversations and made great memories to look back on. Although it was sad to see him go, we look forward to what the future will bring.

Florida Beach Bums

So this past week my parents suprised my brother by sending him to see us as a graduation present. Lucky him!:) We had a great week. We don't often get a chance to spend one on one time with my brother so this trip was extremely special for all of us.

The week started off with a few days at Pensacola Beach in Florida. Dan's Dad and Donna reserved a beach front condo for a week and invited us for part of the trip, as well as a few of Donna's kids. We had a great time! It was my first time as well as Ruebens to ever see the ocean. We were just like little kids! Rueben and I collected seashells, built a sand castle, etc. The boys also got to do a few adventurous things such as kayaking in the ocean while us girls floated are lazily in the water. Our favorite part by far were the jellyfish....YEAH RIGHT! There was a big storm the day we arrived in Florida and well the storm decided to bring in the jellyfish to join us on the vacation. The first day we were quite nervous around them (becuase I don't know about you but there isn't much fun in getting stung by a jellyfish) but by the end of the trip everyone was getting in the water constantly regardless of the jellyfish....To say the least, we loved our stay there...it was extremely relaxing and great to be able to spend so much time with family.

This picture was taken on the last day when I
was a little more brave around the jellyfish!

Rueben and I building our first Sand Castle...

Dan buried us in the sand....there was so much sand
in our swimming suit afterwards. It was ridiculous!