Jaron and I just got back (alright it was a week ago) from a fantastic western Caribbean cruise. It was our last hurrah before going to medical school.

We left our precious girl in the care of Jaron's parents. And as much as I know she was excellently cared for, spoiled, and we got some alone time we needed, I don't think I want to leave her again anytime soon. It was so hard!! I cried more times that I would like to admit. And one day we were trying to skype her and having internet issues, and I thought I was going to lose it. I wanted to see my little girl! We were able to skype eventually and all was well.

Now that I made it sound like it was a miserable trip and all I did was miss Addie (although we did miss her every second we were away) we had so much fun. We ate too much, spent too much time on our private balcony, talked for hours and hours, got some amazing pictures, and enjoyed experiencing other cultures.

We went to Haiti, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. Fun fact, my dad served in Cozumel, Mexico on his LDS mission years ago, and we went there! We went to the Tulum ruins, which my dad also toured. Our tour guide was LDS and named Moroni, and my dad knew a family who were all tour guides at Tulum and all the sons were named Moroni....needless to say we got some wheels turning in our heads...it's possible my dad knew our tour guide! We will never know though, because we didn't find out about the Moroni's until after we had left. But still a way cool story.

At Grand Cayman we went snorkeling, and got burned as bad as you can imagine. Actually, worse than you can imagine. It was almost go-to-the-emergency room bad. Passing out, nausea, dizziness, pins and needles, giant blisters...you get the idea. Even now, a week and a half later, we are still suffering. And yes, we did use sunscreen. Next time though, I think we will skip the sunscreen and just go with long sleeve swim shorts and pants. And we are being serious. We will go to great lengths to not get burned like we did again!

We saw some amazing fish while snorkeling in the reefs. We also went swimming with giant rays, and that I think was Jaron's favorite part. Sting rays swimming all around us, between our legs, over our backs, completely surrounded. It was a really cool experience.

Addie is doing great. She is an excellent walker and I should say runner. She loves her new freedom. She can say "bath", sign "more", got another tooth, can wear her hair in pigtails, discovered the joy of slides, and can drink through a sippy cup. She is growing up too fast! She turned 11 months last Saturday, I can't believe where my little baby has gone. She's a little girl now!

The view from our balcony...we were very spoiled.

At Tulum.

Also from our balcony. Got a really neat shot of a storm that was rolling in. 

So long time no see!

We just got back from a trip to see my family in Ohio. It was a busy trip: we picked an apartment, toured Ohio State, and welcomed Alden home from his mission. Also in those two and a half weeks, Addie learned turned ten months old, learned to walk, got her first tooth, and learned to say "dog". Busy trip!

It was wonderful spending that time with my family. Addie got to know my parents and family better and met Alden for the first time. She also discovered she likes lollipops, courtesy of grandma Hilton. We are even more excited now to go to Ohio State for med school. We felt really good about our choice to go there; it was nice to have confirmed what we decided out of faith so many months ago.

Addie and her cousin Ivan took lots of wagon rides together.

Addie is a big fan of wagon rides.

Addie makes the best crocodile tears! Oh that poor little girl, just look at that face! What broke this little girl's heart? She got put down so mom could take a picture of her Uncle Alden and the Stake President after he was released from his mission. 

A four generation picture!! Addie's great-grandma (my mother's mom), Addie's grandma (my mom), Addie's mom (me) and the princess herself. I am really glad we got to take this picture of 4 generations of women. What a treasure!

Alden and Addie bonded quite quickly. Might of helped that Alden had glasses and Addie loves glasses. 

But in Alden's own words, he quickly became "best friends" with his niece and nephew after returning home from him mission. And those little guys do adore him.

Grandma Hilton and her two grandbabies: Ivan and Addie. Ivan is 6 months older (almost to the day) than Addie is. It is so fun having them so close together.

Aunt Sarah and Addie on the piano. 

Family pictures. Have everyone but Elliott, Kristina's husband, who is deployed. We haven't been this close to all being in one place since my wedding.

A very reluctant cousin picture. Ivan wanted to play with the dogs and Addie didn't want to look at the camera. But in this picture they are both holding still, not crying, and looking in the general direction of the camera. And when taking pictures of babies that equals success.

Hilton grandparents and the two grandbabies.

And of course, my beautiful family!

I sure do love these guys!