Baby Bumpers

I just couldn't find any bumpers for the crib that I liked and weren't ridiculously overpriced so I decided to make some. I borrowed my friend's sewing machine, dragged Bryson to Joann's to help me pick out the fabric, and made some of my own. Also, we found a great rocker at Goodwill for $25. It was a great find. I made a pillow for it to match the bumpers. The baby's room is starting to look complete. Now we just need the baby! Here is how they turned out:

My First Homemade Baby Toy!

So you all know, I am not a crafty person. I never have been. Those people that can make everything make me so jealous. Artistic ability was not something I was born with but I decided with the baby on the way maybe I would try it. I found this adorable infant toy that was shaped like an owl online and Bryson and I decided to have an owl themed baby room, so it was the perfect place to start. So I went out and got the materials to make it and with some sewing help of my wonderful friend Lisa, I made the toy! I think it turned out great and it wasn't too hard. I even had fun making it. Imagine that! I have some left over material so I am thinking I will make a pillow for the baby room. Maybe I can be a crafter too. :)  Here is how it turned out:

Kennedy Space Center

We got to go to the Kennedy Space Center for free a few weekends ago. It was open to all Brevard County citizens as long as they brought canned food to donate. They had some very cool 3D Imax movies about the Hubble Telescope and the International Space Station. We also saw all kinds of rockets used through the years, from the Mercury program to the newly planned rockets that will replace the shuttle program. We saw one of the shuttles, the launch pads, and the giant hanger. Also, there was a sweet alligator just chilling in the park's pond. We are both nerds so we had a great time! Mom (Merrell) and Grandma this first picture is for you. :)

These are the engines of the Apollo V rocket (the one that took the astronauts to the moon). It is huge!

The Brevard Zoo

We went to the local Brevard Zoo a few weeks ago. It is pretty small, but we were actually pretty surprised at how many cool things they had there. We got to see some monkeys, African cats, a bunch of birds, alligators, and a whole lot more. The whole zoo was beautiful. There were plants everywhere, it didn't even feel like a zoo. It was especially fun to feed the giraffes and see the three bald eagles they had (don't worry, they didn't cage them or clip their wings, they were rescued birds that cannot fly and would not survive in the wild).

This photo is dedicated to the loving memory of Steve Irwin.

Why we are loving Florida!

Okay..I am SO behind on our blog. I need to get up a post about The Kennedy Space Center, Halloween, the rapid growth of my stomach, and our trip to the Zoo but there is no time now. Those pictures will be coming soon but for now I just thought I should share some of the things Bryson and I love about our new home (besides Bryson's wonderful job that he loves!).

First of all, we have all of our windows open and our sliding door open wide in the middle of November and it feels wonderful in our apartment. Our place does not even have a heater. There is no need. We can use our apartment swimming pool all year long! Here we are in the pool last week:

Another thing we love: it is beautiful here. Everywhere I look there is something green or some beautiful bird flying by! I was driving our sister missionaries around a neighborhood here and saw a flock of wild peacocks! They were just roaming around. It was amazing. And there is no such thing as an inversion here!! :) I am so grateful for this beautiful world the Savior created for us.

We also love our ward here. All of the members are so welcoming. It is very different to be in a non-BYU ward but we love it. We have a lot more responsibilities but I really feel like I am really serving in the church. There are so many opportunities to serve those in our ward and also to help the missionaries. Bryson and I have been introducing ourselves to all of the investigators. We had a family home evening with one this week and we try to go teach lessons with the Sisters whenever we can. It has been such a blessing for me to have more opportunities to share my testimony.

I am so grateful for all the blessings we have. We are sad to be so far away from family and we miss you all but we are enjoying our new home.

Pupusas

Since we visited New Orleans in July, Bryson has had the craving for more Spanish food. He really wanted some Pupusas- a delicious stuffed corn tortilla from El Salvador. We had tried to make Pupusas before, but we didn't use the right beans or cheese. This time, with the help of our favorite Salvadoreño, Luis Chicas, we made a pretty good Pupusa. Yummy!

Cruise

To celebrate our second anniversary (which happened last month), we went on a cruise to the Bahamas. It was just a short little three night trip, but it was tons of fun.

Bryson left work early on Thursday, and we hopped up north to Port Canaveral and got on our ship, the Carnival Sensation. The ship left Port Canaveral Thursday at 4 pm and headed off to Nassau. We made it to the Bahamas around noon on Friday and stayed at the port there until Saturday morning. Then it was back to the sea to return to Florida. We had an amazing time. Here are some pictures:

The Ship

Here is a map showing where we went.  It is crazy how close the Bahamas are to where we live.

It was awesome sitting out on the deck and looking at how vast the ocean is. We saw some jellyfish at port canaveral, and we think we saw a dolphin jumping one night.

We had a lot of fun on the ship. They had shows and trivia games going on all the time that we really liked to go to. Especially with our good luck this trip (Bryson says it was all skill -no luck needed). There was a guy the first day who was talking about the best places to go shopping for jewelry on Nassau. And at the end they had a raffle for a Diamond and Saffire necklace. I kind of wanted to go but we got caught up doing something else but we walked by at the very end of the show and decided to go in. We put our names in the raffle, (only one, the people that were there the whole time got two tickets per person) and guess what? I won! After that we just kept on winning things. Bryson got called up to the stage to compete in a trivia game and he was so good! He was so far ahead the host decided to put him in time out for a few questions so the other contestants could catch up. But he still won, the other contestants were put to shame by a guy wearing a Ninja Turtles t-shirt (thanks Jan, for the t-shirt that made Bryson a cruise celebrity)! After that we won two or three more trivia games. Here is the proof of our winnings:

(Don't worry, we traded that wine in for two cans of Sprite!)

 For anyone who is thinking about going on a cruise our advice is: always eat in the dining room! The food is so good. Way better than the buffet food. We went for breakfast lunch and dinner. Of course we were stuffing our faces so much we only got around to taking one picture there. :)  We also took advantage of the 24 hour ice cream!

   

In Nassau we did not have any excursions planned. We just figured we would walk around and check the city out. Turns out this was a good plan because it decided to pour while we were there and most of the beach excursions were delayed or canceled. But we had a great time in the rain. The infrastructure in Nassau is not very good so all the drains clogged up about 10 minutes after it started raining.  The streets turned into rivers. 

I was not too confidant that the tarps would hold all the rain.

 When it really started to come down we took refuge in an ice cream shop. Here is the view we had from there.

After the flood waters receded enough for us to leave the shop we continued to explore the city and we came across a pirate museum! We couldn't pass that up. They had all sorts of information and pirate artifacts. I learned all sorts of things. Like that there were women pirates and pirates didn't bury treasure; they just spent it all once they got it! It was a great find. 

On our last day of the cruise we mostly just relaxed. We played a few games of mini golf, read some of our books, and chilled on the deck. 

Crazy wind hair.

Even crazier hair!

I won the first game but I have to admit Bryson won the best 2 out of 3. And he won't let me forget it!

Although I wish they could sometimes, vacations can't last forever. We are back home now, cooking and cleaning for ourselves.  

And just for fun, here is Bryson after they dilated his pupils for a laser eye test his work had him do: