Halloween and Fall Fun

Billie Jean is not his lover...nor is any other.

He has too many lady friends and his age is a big issue right now.

I was too young for MJ's greatest years and never mourned his death back in June.

Yet oddly, I felt like paying tribute this Halloween. Regardless of my fan status, we all had fun.

Wearing the glove long enough to snap a picture.

Notice the glove is now in his pocket.

The sunglasses, though, lasted just fine.

Workin' it

This is just one of those pictures I could stare at forever.

He could not decide.

Finally, and it was tough!

What a cheeser!

Love the effects.

Learning to love the camera.

Hands down, my favorite.

Our Central American Cruise

With a few people knocking at my door to see some cruise pictures, I could not wait any longer. Amongst our friends, we are working on sharing the pictures from our travels. Until then, I hope you enjoy some shots from our camera.

It started back in April when Sean and I were deciding how to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary this past August. Being the mad internet researcher, Sean found an amazing deal for a Central American Cruise. We thought about it for exactly one day and booked the trip of a lifetime.

To top off the trip, we had the greatest fortune of our best friends coming along. Oh, and did I mention we were all children free for nine days? A big thanks to Grandma Forbes and Grandma Miner for watching our sweet and energized son. Really, the little man never stops running around.

Abroad the Carnival Valor, we spent seven days of rest and relaxation. And for the record, it has taken us twice as long to get out of the vacation funk. Our itinerary included Grand Cayman Island, Honduras, Belize, and Cozumel, Mexico. Once the gather the others' pictures, we will post some more. Until then, the pictures...

Leaving Miami

Sean and I were addicted to the sunsets before dinner

Snorkeling in Grand Cayman

Taming a giant, friendly female stingray

Typical sexy Tanya

Does anyone else spot a Manatee on the right of this picture?

Oddly, there are several pictures in our camera of Alex making his presence known.

The fake Honduras

Tanya and Aaron Smith

The real Honduras

Aaron shopping the street vendors in Honduras.

Before departing Honduras. One of my favorite shots.

Leaving Honduras before dinner.

Before cave tubing in beautiful Belize.

Walking through the rain forest. Who knows what we will see?

Kris, I feel like I got no pictures with you. Just lots of your husband.

Jeana, this one is for you. He was crawling on the ground.

Tanya's sexiness again

Inside the caves

The pregnant Tanya rope swinging.

Playa del Carmen, Mexico

The colors were amazing there.

Tulum Ruins south of Playa del Carmen

No joke. Look at this beauty.

Cozumel, Mexico

Zusanna, our head waitress and Gil, the secondary. We just adored them!

Tanya snaps her fingers, and magic happens. Really.

Happiness.

Real Simple Quote of the Day

One Week Ago

We were in Honduras, and it was nice.

(Complete details of the trip are coming soon.)

Gavin's First Trip to Maryland

A word to the wise: If you only make it back to some where you hold dear every five years or so, take some good pictures! I am sorely disappointed in quality and quantity I took this past week while we sojourned back to Maryland. However my lack of photos made up for the incredible trip we had.

Why this trip was incredible?

1. A daddy's girl got to see her dad.

2. If we could pick our grandparents, I would pick my Great Aunt Helen.

3. I visited the Washington D.C. temple as an adult.

4. Reuniting with great friends whose friendship takes no effort at all.

It always picks up right where it left off and always just as strong.

5. And finally I got to experience it all with my mom.

I am a city girl. I love the aesthetics of buildings and traffic.

Grandpa Forbes and Gavin in the Inner Harbor in Baltimore.

More of the Inner Harbor.

A priceless shot at the National Aquarium.

Gavin, my mother, my Great Aunt Helen, and me.

I love this shot since it looks like Helen is saying one of her favorite words, not the best of us though. Use your imagination.

My life-long dream made possible by the kind service of a good friend.

The one picture I got of Anna. Gavin loved her laugh (and so do I)!

A view near Cara's house. Quite different from Utah, huh?

The one picture I got of Cara and Sasha. Don't get me started.

Cleaning Off the Camera Card

In preparing for our big trip, it was time to clean off the card to the point and shoot.

Here are some random pictures for your enjoyment from the summer.

Obviously since this is a still shot, you cannot see Gavin getting his groove on to Metallica Guitar Hero.

Sean received some awesome fishing waders from my father for his birthday.

Visiting Grandma Miner at work one day. And no, Jeana I am not going to delete it.

A very sunny afternoon at Thanksgiving Point (no relation to the holiday).

Post-Boating with the Steiners!

Gavin's Swimming Lessons in July

Riding the big slide. So brave!

Sean making it look easy. Our house is in the background too.

Same boating trip with our good friends, the Steiners. One of the twins even made it into the picture. Nicole will have to correct but I believe it was Samantha. Why I did not get pictures of both, I do not know?

Where Will You Be Thursday Night?

If you ring and we do not answer, you at least know why.

In Five Days Time

Gavin and I will get to see Grandpa Forbes again!

Gavin will get to meet this sexy lady, my Great Aunt Helen.

This was the perfect picture to display Helen's sass.

And Gavin will get to meet my best friends from high school, the fine Miss Anna and Miss Cara.

And since I do not make it back to Maryland very often I am hoping the leaves already

look like this picture taken from Google Images.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot!

Another set of tiny hands will be welcomed into the Miner home in March 2010.

Ouray and Telluride, Colorado

Over the Labor weekend, we drove five hours to visit the neighboring state of Colorado. Along with my mother, we had a fabulous weekend of relaxation and beautiful scenery. Here is the quaint and charming town of Ouray, Colorado. It's also known as the Switzerland of America, not for the culture but the enormous mountains that surround the town.

He's like a kid in a toy store! Oh wait, he is..

Looking north to Ouray and it's seven streets. It was that small.

We took a day trip over the mountains to Telluride. It just so happened to be the Telluride Film Festival too.

Riding high to Telluride Ski Town.

What a great idea! It's a free box where citizens place unwanted items in these boxes.

There was everything from a computer monitor to a baby swing to a lonely white sock!

Note: We did not take that sock home.

Now back to Ouray, we hiked to the Box Canon Falls. We heard in the spring these are unbelievable due to the snow melting. In the fall, the falls were still impressive.

Sean hiked all the down while I stayed up top to take pictures.

There were very, very friendly chipmunks for Gavin to terrorize.

A family shot with Ouray's mountains in the background.

Fast asleep on the car ride home. Whew! Having fun is exhausting!

It's a day we never forget!

In the Miner house, we are grateful for the heroes who served eight years ago today. We are grateful for our freedom and the lives we have in America. We will always remember the innocents lost. We mourn with the rest of the country in this memory.

However...today is Sean's birthday and we have to celebrate!

After all, he was born first. No need to mention age, but he has two years until a three appears again.

We love him! I realized I have not taken a single, decent picture of Sean by himself over the years. Thus I could only find pictures of us together. In no chronological order, here we are some very random shots of us at Huntington Beach, Graduation, Moab, Richmond, and Halloween.

Photo Album Question

Remember when your parents used to keep photo albums for the entire year? Sure, you look back and cannot believe how much time has changed. Or maybe you look back and question that favorite t-shirt of yours that you would not take off for weeks. No New Kids on the Block t-shirt glued to you? Just me then.

My point is that at least our parents kept a picture record of the past. Due to this digital age, I have thousands of pictures on my computer and cannot remember the last photo I ‘developed.’ Gone are the days when you sent away that roll of film, and could not wait to see the shots from your wild vacation. No wild vacations? Just me again I guess.

Is anyone successful out there with a certain website, book maker, publisher that will create a photo album? My goal is to create a photo album for each year and just of photos. No blog entries or journal entries. I am looking for a book, maybe, the size of a piece of paper that could hold as many pages that I throw into it. Something to record the memories and get the pictures off my hard drive.

Let me know if anything out there works for you. Thank you in advance! Oh, and since I do not believe in posts without pictures here is a random delight! In honor of college returning to P-town, I decided to post a picture of Sean and I when we were dating 6 years ago. It was my first semester in college when I met him. This picture was taken in an IHOP probably at midnight or later. We were late-nighters back then.

Utah County Fair and Demolition Derby

Real cows, lambs, chickens, pigs, and rabbits! Gavin thought he was in hog heaven! Well once he got over the size of these animals in real life, Gavin was happily watching and mimicking their sounds. But really Gavin could not wait for the Demolition Derby that night. Oh wait, that was Sean. We had great seats for all the action and were quite pleased with the show. Gavin never complained once the whole night (of course) but immediately fell asleep in the car at 10:30pm. He was exhausted from the night's activities, but wait that was us too.

May your weekend start off better...

...than poor Noah. His outlook is not so good at the moment.

Currently his animals are scrambling around in panic.

No worries though they are have learned to weather such storms.

Happy Friday!

May you have a fabulous weekend!

Thanks Bridget!

Just listen to this song...twice. If you are not addicted, I will return your money.

Five Years Ago Today

Sean and I were getting married.

Time flies when you are having fun.

July 24th Fun

We celebrated Pioneer Day, a Utah State holiday, by watching the Spanish Fork City Parade. Gavin seemed to enjoy himself with all the family, and he especially enjoyed trying the sugar candy Fun Dip for the first time. The weather was perfect as well. This is why I love summer.

Gavin reaching for more Fun Dip from Sean's Aunt Natalie.

Still enjoying the candy...

Uncle Chase and Gavin

Gavin giving out kisses to Uncle Chase and Kortney.

Breaking News

Gavin is not strong enough yet to support the weight of a newly opened dried fruit bag.

Do not leave it sitting on the edge of a table for he can still reach it.

He ran away from the scene of the crime with a strawberry stuck to his left foot

and a mouthful of blueberries.

Where was I during this crime? Watching every moment and laughing of course.

July Updates

Fourth of July Freedom Festival Parade (Provo)

Gavin finally has two bottom teeth.

Gavin took swim lessons and does awesome in the pool now.

Gavin officially became a boy and cut his forehead with dripping blood to prove it.

Kristen drove to Las Vegas and back in a total of 14 hours.

Kristen's dad came to visit from Florida (see previous post for a picture).

Sean started painting the garage to create a finished look.