Petersen Sibling Christmas Party

This year's Petersen Family Christmas Party was just the Petersen siblings and their spouses. We met at Steve's brother Doug's house and had a wonderful dinner that Steve's parents had made. 

We laughed and caught up with each other. We had great food and wonderful conversation.

Later, we had a little program where Steve's father shared stories of his grandfather and shared his journal with everyone as well as some pictures and mementos. I love hearing about Steve's ancestors. Thinking about how much that journal means to this family makes me more aware of how I need to be better at journaling and documenting our family's lives. I know this blog does some of that, but I can be better at writing more.  

We had a great time celebrating with Steve's siblings and their spouses. It is always fun to see the brothers and sisters get together and reminisce. We are so blessed to be all within 30 minutes or so of each other. 

Since his brother Brett and we are the only ones who still have small children, our children joined us. Reagan and Cole LOVE to play with Drew and Megan. It's funny that Brett was 3 days old when Steve came home from his mission at age 21, yet we have children the same ages.

Ward Christmas Party

We always enjoy our Ward Christmas Party. This year was better than the last two years; however, because I was NOT in charge of the entire thing!!!!! I thought I would just enjoy it and visit and eat breakfast with friends - it would be a relaxing party. Well, it was not to be :) The Primary was put in charge of the program. Those who were in charge this year, wanted a nativity program. So, we had the children come early to rehearse, we dressed them up and helped them say their parts and sing their songs. It turned out great. Reagan was an angel and Cole was a shepherd. 

The big man in red turned up at the end of our party and we were able to register our wish list. Before the party, I told Cole that I heard something about Santa coming to the party. I asked him what he was going to ask Santa for. He replied "an electric toothbrush". Really? Alrighty then. He must have been faking me out though because when he finally made it to Santa's lap, he looked right at me and said "I want a puppy". Santa then looked up at me and I informed Cole that parents have veto rights when it comes to live animals from Santa. Santa assured him that this was true, so, he changed his request to a drone. Ugh! Reagan asked Santa for a telescope..... interesting.

We sat with our good friends the Bowmans and saw lots of our neighbors and friends. I love that our ward has a breakfast instead of a dinner. Things are so crazy this time of year that I relish being able to go to a party and still have the rest of the day to do other things. Christmas is coming and we are, in large part, not ready. Being off the grid slowed down my online shopping and we haven't quite gotten back into the groove from our trip. Well, we will just have to work fast. 

Merry Christmas everyone!

Robotics Class

Cole started an after school robotics class in October. He said they basically play with Legos and make machines and use gears. The parents were invited for the last class - in December. I had to laugh that when I walked in and saw Cole, he was really hard at work. He had taken off his tie, his shirt was all unbuttoned as well as untucked and his cardigan had been thrown on the floor. This is seriously business people!



He was teamed up with his friend Ava and another student - Matthew I believe???? Anyway, they had a "free building" day and could build whatever they wanted as long as it had a gear. They ended up building "Squacky Duck" - that is what Ava named it. Their teacher explained how they build the machine and then they use USB plugs and cords to attach it to her laptop. Then, they have programs on the laptop with which they design which way the gears turn and for how long.

Cole really enjoyed this class. I'm hearing rumors that they will return after the first of the year - we will see!!!

Disney World/Disney Cruise - Days 13 & 14

Today we woke up docked at Disney's private island - Castaway Cay. It is in the Bahamas. Apparently 80 people live there full time and ships come in 6 days a week. It was only our ship and we were loving it! The island was also decked out for Christmas - loved that!

We put our swimsuits on and headed off the ship. The island has an adult area (which we, of course, didn't visit), they had water slides (which we also didn't visit), and a great big beach (where we stayed all. day. long). There was a fort and ropes course in the water. Reagan and Cole loved that. Reagan even made it all the way across the rope monkey bars. They also had a snorkel area where there was a sunken ship so you could see it under water. Reagan and Cole had a blast and so did we.

We sat in chaise lounges on the beach, under our umbrella, ordered a tub of ice and bottled waters and watched Reagan and Cole play in the sand, make friends in the ocean and play, play, play. When they wanted to snorkel, Steve took them over to that area and they had a great time. Then, Steve started up a football game in the ocean with the ball we had brought. Several friends joined in and Reagan and Cole had a great time!

Today had the best weather we've had during our entire cruise. It was sunny, warm and not windy - YEAH!!!! We had a huge barbecue lunch with great food and then we returned to the beach to continue our fun.

At one point during the day, I looked at Steve and said "This is the BEST day!" He replied "Yes, but this is what we do in Hawaii EVERY DAY!!" He's right - this is what we love to do.

We could look over and see our ship - the Disney Fantasy - docked at the pier. (We learned from our friends the Moxeys that Disney is the only cruise line that has a pier at their private island. All the other cruise lines, you have to take a tender - or a small boat - from the ship to the island. With Disney, you just walk off the boat and you are on the island.)

That night we were back in Animator's Palate. This time, we were treated to the animation show. Each of us drew a character and signed our name. Then, the staff collected the papers and at the end of our dinner, there was an animated show which included Disney characters and all of our drawings. They even put up our signatures. It was pretty cool. 

Since we had come full circle (again) with our restaurants, we were seated next to our new friends the Moxeys. They have been so kind to us and especially to Reagan and Cole during our trip. We have really enjoyed them. They had a gift for Reagan and a gift for Cole - they were so generous. We had to take a last pic with them and to promise to keep in touch. So sweet!

That night, we packed all bags but the ones we would carry one the plane. We put them outside our stateroom and Marvin took them somewhere. We didn't see them again until Salt Lake City. The next morning, we got up and got ready, we had to be at breakfast at 6:45 and had to be off of the ship by 9. Our friends, the Moxeys, skipped breakfast in order to get to the airport earlier. We saw them when we were on our way to breakfast and Reagan and Cole ran over for one last hug. After breakfast, we disembarked, had a quick pass through customs and rode the Disney bus back to the Orlando airport. There, we had a several hour wait until it was time for our flight. We were so happy to have internet service that we almost didn't mind the wait.

So, the bottom line is that the cruise was super fun and we are glad we did it, but we probably won't do it again. It was really hard for us to be off the grid. We couldn't check in with family or our business, we had no idea what was happening in the world. I must confess that at this time of year (the first week of December), I'm usually doing a fair amount of online Christmas shopping and couldn't do any of it. We just didn't like that part of it. Add to it the sickness and the rocking of the boat, falling over as you walk down the halls, and not being able to work out. We were told when to eat, how to dress and whom to sit with. There were activities every second of the day. Of course, you don't have to engage in all of them, but if you are there, you want to. I mean, who doesn't want to have a meet and greet with four princesses? The weather was a bit of a damper and the fact that Reagan and Cole couldn't swim on the ship was a negative. There was good food, we are big Disney fans, so it was fun to have the activities and characters and everything. Disney seems to do everything right - it was really fun, but perhaps we are just not "cruise people". We have friends and family who love, love, love to cruise. I think we know what works for us and that is to go and relax on a beach somewhere .... preferably Hawaii. So, we did have fun and we are glad we tried it, but we missed Hawaii. Steve kept asking me all week "So, how is this better than Hawaii?" We think for our next trip, we will combine our favorite Hawaii with our favorite Disney ..... Let's hit Aulani!!!!!

Disney World/Disney Cruise - Day 12

Today we had an "at sea" day and we started it off by having a "meet and greet" with four princesses. Yes - 4! There was Cinderella, Ariel, Tiana and Jazmine. We were all waiting in the ship's lobby when we looked up and saw all 4 princesses on the balcony waiving to us. They came down the stairs and lined up and we were able to go one by one to each of them .... so cool! They signed our autograph books and we had a nice little chat with each of them.

After that, Cole wanted to hit the kids' club while Reagan wanted to stay with us. We went to the pool and hung out for a while and Reagan swam while Steve and I sat in the sun (and wind).

Reagan had a great time. She went on the yellow slide, she went into both pools, she hung out in the hot tub and hit Nemo's splash pad. We also watched a Disney movie on the jumbotron. I kept checking with Cole to see if he wanted to join us, but he wasn't interested in hanging out by the pool. 

After we finally picked up Cole from the kids' club (and ran into Captain Hook!), we returned to our room to find one of our blankets and a towel turned into a seal, sitting on our bed, reading that day's newsletter. Silly Marvin!

We changed and headed to dinner in the Royal Court. It was Captain's Night, so, the dress was semi-formal. We did see our friends the Moxeys. We shared stories of our day. They are so kind to us and so very sweet to Reagan and Cole. We made sure to take some pics with them and with Marvin - our steward. We will always remember them. 

I had to snap a pic of Reagan and Cole in front of the life-size gingerbread house. It was beautiful! Tomorrow, we hit Disney's private island in the Bahamas .... YEAH!!!!!

Disney World/Disney Cruise - Day 11

Today is our second port - San Juan, Puerto Rico. Again, we didn't make a specific excursion reservation, but we got off the ship and found a tour guide who would take us (and a bunch of people on a bus) to famous sites, to a historic fort and to the beach for a while. We were ready to go except for Cole who was still not feeling well from the night before. I offered to stay on the ship with him, but he wanted to get out and see Puerto Rico. Unfortunately, before we could even hit our first stop on our tour, he threw up. Ughhh - poor guy. At least I had a bag and some towels. So, at our first stop, which wasn't far from the port, he and I opted to leave the tour. The tour guide hassled us a lot, but I wasn't backing down. Cole didn't want to continue the tour, I didn't want to continue the tour and I'm sure the people on the bus didn't want a kid throwing up on the bus. So, Steve and Reagan continued on the tour and Cole and I took our sweet time walking the few blocks back to the ship. 

Steve and Reagan saw lots of fun things on the tour. They visited this historic fort which had a cool, very old, cemetery. They also got to see several cultural sites and some beautiful, tropical birds. Meanwhile, Cole slept and watched Disney movies in our room. He said he felt better, but he didn't want to eat. After a while, he was sick of being in the room, so we went to the ship's theater and watched Big Hero 6. It was pretty good. After our movie, Reagan and Steve had returned to the ship and Cole was feeling well enough to swim. (Again, there isn't really "swimming" on the ship, but they could play in the water.) Reagan and Cole decided to try the AquaDuck water slide. We could see them go all the way around the 11th deck - it was really cool!

Then, there was a deck party (there always seems to be some sort of party on the ship), so we hung out there for a while. 

When we returned to our room, Marvin had a frog made out of towels waiting for us and we sat on our balcony as we pulled out of port. We actually sailed right past the fort that Steve and Reagan had visited - cool!

Tomorrow, we are at sea all day and then we have our last port which is Disney's private island ... can't wait!

Disney World/Disney Cruise - Day 10

Today is our first port - St. Thomas!! We haven't visited this island before. We didn't book a specific itinerary, but we spoke with the Activities Desk and the lady there suggested shopping "downtown". We wanted to take a gondola ride to see the views later in the day and decided we would just figure it out. We went downtown and - wow! A whole lot of nothin'. People were talking about the great deals and all the stuff you could buy. I didn't see one thing that I was interested in. Cole was in search of a watch (for some reason) so, we went into several stores looking for him. Then, we saw Tiffany's. "Alrighty - now we're talking." I thought, but it was just a regular Tiffany's store - no deals, no sales, no nothing. We did find out, though, that they had an internet cafe above them, so, we hung out there long enough to check e-mails. That is, until their internet went down. Cole did eventually find a watch he wanted, so - someone was happy with our shopping trip. 

After that, we met a tour guide who would take us to the hilltop to see what we would have seen from the gondola ride and then take us to see some other beautiful spots. He would then take us to a beach where we could stay for about 2 hours and then he would come to get us and bring us back to the ship. We agreed and got into his outdoor taxi. What an adventure. 

The island is beautiful, but very run down. There was junk everywhere. I saw water trucks, which I guess means that some people have to bring in water from trucks. People would call out to each other as they drove past on motorcycles or in these outdoor taxis. The places our guide took us were perfect to get familiar with the island. He showed us where Fmr Pres Clinton stayed and where the most famous beach on the island was. Apparently they have no exports of any kind on the island. I guess tourism must be their biggest income producer. I saw no farms or growing of any kind. Steve asked the tour guide - the residents here do not get to vote and they do not serve in the military, but they receive Obamacare and all government subsidies as if they were a state - only they are a territory.

Then, we hit the beach. This is what we like. We didn't know what we would be doing on the island, so, I brought swim clothes, but no snorkel gear. Drat! Reagan and Cole quickly made some friends on the beach and started playing in the sand. There was also a wooden dock type thing out in the ocean. They would swim out to it, talk with their friends, jump off and swim back. It would be sunny for just a few minutes and then the clouds would come back and cover the sun. It rained for just a few minutes, but was nice and warm. 

After our tour guide came back, he took us back to the ship. When we returned to our room, we found a towel monkey with Cole's sunglasses on him hanging over our bed - Marvin always has some fun for us. That night was Pirate Night, so, we all put on our costumes and went to dinner. We were back in the Animator's Palate and were able to sit next to, and talk with, our friends the Moxeys. They, having been here several times, had gone to a restaurant that had free wifi and they were able to have lunch and check their email, etc. Then, they went shopping and took a walk.

After dinner, we went back to our room and Cole wasn't feeling very well. There was a Pirates of the Caribbean Party and Fireworks on Deck 11 at 10pm. Cole didn't want to go, so, I stayed with him while Steve and Reagan hit the party. They danced and had fun and saw great fireworks. 

 Well, I can't say that I'm thrilled with our visit to St. Thomas. It was beautiful, but I was sort of anxious all day long. What if we miss the ship? What if this tour guide is not dependable? What if we get sick? We did love our time at the beach though. That is always our favorite thing to do. Reagan and Cole love to swim and we love to just relax in the sun and watch them and play with them. Maybe tomorrow, we will be able to have more beach time - we will be in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Disney World/Disney Cruise - Day 9

Up and at 'em early today, but no workouts. It was just too hard yesterday. I actually felt better in the morning - maybe these wristbands really do work - or maybe the medicine finally kicked in. Whatever it is, I'll take it! Our cute steward, Marvin, had traded out Reagan and Cole's sheets for Cars sheets and Princess sheets. That was so sweet except that the kiddos had agreed to switch beds every night to share the chance to sleep in the fold down bunk bed. So, we laughed that last night Cole slept on Princess sheets and Reagan slept on Cars sheets. Cole was embarrassed - Reagan couldn't have cared less ;) We had breakfast and went to meet Elsa and Anna. Reagan - and even Cole - are big Frozen fans. It was fun to see them and to have them sign our autograph books.

After meeting the Frozen princesses, Reagan and Cole wanted to hit the kids' club again. We took them there and Steve and I returned to our stateroom to read and watch some tv. Well, the tv was a bomb - there were Disney movies and 3 other channels - Fox News, CNN & BBC. We watch Fox, but not all the time - at least we could see the headlines of what was happening in the world while we were on the high seas. Steve got a sampler package to access the internet, but it wasn't very helpful. He said it was slower than dial up and as soon as he pulled up an e-mail, it would drop. Oh well, I read some of the books and magazines I had brought. Then, we went in search of the internet cafe we had heard about - but it turned out to be the same thing. You could purchase a package and it was the same, slow connection that Steve had tried out. Oh well, hope everything is going well at home.

Steve and I headed out to the pool to try to get some sun. It was not as cloudy today, but it wasn't exactly sunny and warm. After an hour or so, we picked Reagan and Cole up from the kids' club. Well, we tried to pick them up - Cole had no interest in leaving the kids' club. He was playing a video game with like six other boys and they were having a great time. I kept going back to check whether he wanted to come out. He didn't want to leave to go swimming (well, to sit in the pool) - he didn't even want to leave to have lunch (actually, they also serve lunch in the kids' club). Okey Dokey - you have fun Cole! Reagan swam and kicked it in the hot tub and we sat and watched a movie on the jumbotron and had lunch. 

Finally, Cole decided to join us and he and Reagan played in Nemo's splash pad area and they spent time in the pool. It started to get pretty windy, so, we went inside and cleaned up for dinner. We were in the Royal Court that night but didn't see our friends the Moxeys. Oh well, maybe tomorrow :) After dinner, we returned to our room to find another animal made of folded towels - that Marvin is so funny! Tomorrow is our first port - we're excited!

Disney World/Disney Cruise - Day 8

Our first two days on the cruise were at sea. We purposely chose that itinerary so that we could have a chance to explore the ship and participate in the activities there before we got off at a port and left. First up this morning was workouts. I went to work out first while Steve took Reagan and Cole to breakfast. It was a nightmare - I was still seasick and couldn't get my legs under me. I decided to just walk - fast - on the treadmill. I felt like I was doing a dance - I couldn't keep my balance as the ship rocked side to side. The good part is that it was like a hills course - up a hill and then down a hill. I made it through the hour, but might have felt even worse afterward. Reagan and Cole wanted to check out the kids' club, so, after breakfast, Steve checked them in there and then he went to work out. (Just a side note - other than our gym, we have never put Reagan and Cole into any type of kids' club. We've just been concerned about their safety, the people working there, etc. We've been lucky enough to not have had to use a daycare or kids' club. So, the first day on the ship, I went and checked out every room in the Oceaneer's Club and the Oceaneer's Laboratory. All the rooms were very big and open, there were no doors on the entrance to the bathrooms and there were lots of young crew members right with the children, playing all sorts of games. Plus, they had a GPS enabled wristband on Reagan and Cole to check them in and out as well as to know what room they were in at all times. They also had a picture of Steve and me to verify that we were the only ones authorized to pick them up and a password to ensure safety. Yep - I'm good.)

Steve worked out while I showered and had breakfast. He was doing pushups and said they were either too easy or too hard, depending on which way the ship was leaning at that moment. It was just too hard - we didn't work out at all for the rest of the trip. After an hour or so in the kids' club, we picked up Reagan and Cole and returned to our stateroom to change. On our way to the pool, we stopped to see Buzz Lightyear and then Woody. Then, we went up to the 5th floor to see Aladdin and we just missed the Genie .... drat!

In anticipating our trip, I had visions of us lounging on the deck of the ship, soaking up the sun while Reagan and Cole swam and snorkeled in the pools. Well, it was not to be. There were two pools on the deck. One was for smaller kiddos and was only 2 feet deep. Plus, only 60 people were allowed in that pool. Reagan and Cole had no interest. The other pool was deeper but only allowed 68 people in the pool and so it was always full. There was no swimming - the children were shoulder to shoulder just sitting in the pool, watching Disney movies on the jumbotron. Add to that the fact that you had to fight for a lounge chair in the sun and that there was not a lot of sun (but a lot of wind, a lot of clouds and some rain) and it didn't make for my dream day. It was fun and Reagan and Cole liked the hot tub (again - very small and capacity controlled) as well as the Nemo splash pad, but it wasn't a relaxing day by the pool :) There was the Auquaduck slide which went all around the 11th Deck, but there was a 25 minute wait to get on it, so, Reagan and Cole passed, figuring they would try that on a later day.

I was not getting better, so, Steve asked about seasickness at the front desk and they suggested I get motion sickness bands. I bought some at the gift shop, hoping that - along with my medicine - they would give me some relief. By 4pm, I was still sick and wanted to just go to our stateroom and relax. Well, I forgot that it was formal night at dinner. So, we all got dressed up and hit the Enchanted Garden. We weren't sitting next to our friends' - the Moxeys, but we saw them as they were leaving. They are so sweet! They made such a big deal about Reagan and Cole and how well behaved they had been at dinner the night before (yep - the way to a mama's heart is to complement her children). They asked Reagan and Cole all about their day and we chatted about the upcoming ports we would visit as they had visited them many times before.

That night, in the ship's lobby, there was a huge party with dancing and music and a tree lighting ceremony for the enormous Christmas tree in the lobby. We didn't stay long as I was feeling awful. Ugh - I just wanted to feel better. I was hopeful that the bands would kick in overnight.

Disney World/Disney Cruise - Day 7

Today is the day!!!! We got ready, packed up, checked out of our hotel and returned to the Orlando Airport. We checked in at the Disney Transportation Desk. They took our bags and put us on a Disney bus that drove us to Port Canaveral. Reagan and Cole were SO excited. To make it even better, the bus had Disney movies playing during the trip. We are on our way!!!!

Once we boarded the ship - the Disney Fantasy, our rooms weren't ready, so, we walked around and checked things out. We also had lunch. After lunch, we hung out on the pool deck - Deck 11. We had brought swim suits in our day bag, but it was cloudy and a bit chilly. No matter, we are EXCITED!!!! 

We had to assemble for a meeting about safety, life boats and drills. It was sort of boring to do right after getting on the ship, but I'm glad that they do it in case there was any sort of emergency. It was a little break in our fun, but as soon as it was over, we headed back up to the 11th deck. 

Reagan and Cole found the I SCREAM area with a Monster's Inc theme. It is basically a wall of ice cream dispensers. We could choose vanilla, chocolate or swirl of those two, strawberry, vanilla or a swirl of those two. Whoa! All day long baby!!! As we were enjoying our ice cream, we started to sail away from the port - we are away!!!! Then, there was a Sail Away Dance Party on Deck 11 with Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Chip & Dale and lots of Disney crew members. We had music, pics on the jumbotron of our ship and of our party and lots of people dancing.

After the party, we were able to go to our room. Our luggage was waiting for us. From the only other cruise Steve and I have taken (Alaska), we knew that the rooms were small, so we booked a room for 5 or 6, rather than 4. We hoped to have more room than we needed. Good thing we did, it was bigger, but still pretty small. Such is the case on a cruise ship I guess. Reagan and Cole were thrilled to have a fold down bunkbed. They decided that they would trade off being in the top bunk. We also had a balcony and we were on the 8th deck, so, from our balcony, we had a great view of whatever scenery the ship was by. 

That afternoon, we were able to meet Mickey - in full cruise regalia - and Princess Tiana. Our friend Kelsey (Love her!!) made Reagan and Cole autograph books for the cruise. She is so kind and always has the best ideas! Every time we were waiting to meet a character, someone would ask about our books - where we got them, how much, etc. I proudly told them that a sweet friend had made them for Reagan and Cole and that we loved them :)

That night, we went to dinner in Animator's Palate. I guess they have a great animation show, but tonight, there was no show. Maybe that was because we just set sail and are all figuring out what is going on still. We met the people sitting next to us and they are wonderful. Deanna and Roger Moxey are from Texas and they a retired couple who cruise a lot! They were so sweet to Reagan and Cole and they gave us some great tips about navigating our cruise. I started to get motion sick and so did Cole. Our dinner servers were a woman from Romania - Boyana - and a man from Thailand - Chami. Disney has a great system in that these guys will rotate with us each night from restaurant to restaurant. They quickly learned what Reagan and Cole like and were so kind to us. Boyana said that the best remedy for motion sickness (other than medicine) was green apples and ginger ale. She immediately got some for Cole. Reagan and Cole didn't want chicken fingers or hambergers, so, they ordered steak off of the adult menu, which seemed to be funny to our servers and the Moxeys. There was great food and way too much of it. Unable to control ourselves, we had to try the dessert :)

Being very full and very excited for this new adventure, we returned to our room to find our beds turned down and the bunkbed brought down from the ceiling and a towel folded into an animal. Our steward, Marvin, was from Honduras and was very nice. He gave us some tips on cruising as well and helped us understand the schedule and the phones from our rooms. We hit the sack, ready for tomorrow's activities!!