Tenth Anniversary Cruise

Our tenth anniversary was actually in April, but we decided to wait until Rachel was a little older before getting away on a special trip. I am so glad we did it. It was incredible! We left from Seattle (Monday), then went up to Nanaimo, British Columbia, back down to Victoria, BC, then out into the ocean west of Vancouver Island, then back to Seattle (Friday). Here is a picture of Brent standing in front of our ship, the Celebrity Mercury. It was huge! Unfortunately, our room ended up being right near the front of the ship, where we felt the motion the most. This was actually fine most days because we were in sheltered straits and sounds. Exception: Thursday, when the captain decided to make a detour into the ocean west of Vancouver Island. This was done to keep the casino-lovers happy since gambling is only legal five miles away from land. We weren't expecting this, and both of us suffered some motion sickness. Otherwise, the trip was absolutely perfect. Here are some highlights.

With the local authorities in Nanaimo
Brent checking out some historical weapons at the Bastion (an old fort)
There sure seemed to be plenty of totem poles in British Columbia! This one was on Newcastle Island, which we took a ferry to from Nanaimo.
Newcastle Island was a beautiful place for hiking. We walked to Mallard Lake (in the background above), then across to this beautiful beach where we saw animal footprints in the sand and some interesting jellyfish.

Lion's Mane Jellyfish washed up on the beach at Newcastle island.

The local flora included lots of beautiful trees, moss, ferns, and oh, yeah-- these giant slugs that liked to cross the trail. Luckily we never stepped on any!

Formal night! It was so much fun getting dressed up for dinner each night and not having to worry about hurrying home to a babysitter!

Check out our "spacious" quarters-- they even included a porthole! The room was tiny, but cozy.

Victoria was our favorite port. Here we are standing in front of the provincial capitol building of British Columbia. It was built over 100 years ago.
We met another couple on our cruise (thanks to Brent's BYU hat) who are from Lehi. We ended up spending most of our days with them, which made it really fun. Here are Sarah and Tanya in front of the Fairmont Empress Hotel in Victoria, another beautiful old building.

Butchart Gardens

We took a bus to Butchart Gardens about 30 minutes outside Victoria. These photos don't really do them justice-- they are gorgeous! Even though it rained nearly the whole time we were there, these gardens were definitely worth the trip. We were so inspired, in fact, we bought several flower seed packets from the gift shop instead of souvenirs. We'll plant those next spring and see if we can recreate some of the beauty we saw there (hey, we can dream, right? These gardens were planted at the former site of a rock quarry for a cement plant!).

Aaron Family Reunion 2008

Emma playing in the water at Pinecrest Reservior. These tall evergreens grow right up to the water!

In June, we had the rare opportunity to gather together with the entire Doug & Rachel Aaron clan for a reunion near Sonora, California. We stayed at this great cabin with tons of room for everyone. It was beautiful!!! We celebrated Jackson's 6th birthday, played games, did karaoke, spent an afternoon at Pinecrest Reservoir where we did paddleboats and kayaking, spent a day at historic Columbia panning for gold and riding the stagecoach and exploring the old shops, visited Railtown at Jamestown, had the famous family talent show, and just had a great time making memories.
Emma, Sarah, and Elizabeth dressing up like gold rush pioneers
Panning for gold in Columbia. The kids thought this was so cool! They could have kept at it for hours, except it was getting pretty hot.
Getting ready to ride the stagecoach! Partway through our ride, an outlaw held up our stagecoach, demanding our gold and telling us to "Reach for the sky!". At the sight of his bandana and gun, Emma grabbed me nervously and said, "I want to get down!" The outlaw quickly backtracked at that point, saying, "Aw, your kids would be more trouble than they're worth!" Then, to Emma, he said, "I ain't gonna hurt you!" We had a good laugh once we explained to the kids that it was all an act.

Cute Kids

Rachel with her Grandma Aaron during a visit in May.
Emma loves to feel like she's "taking care" of Rachel. I like that she'll actually feed her baby food now and then while I'm trying to get dinner ready!

Elizabeth riding a pony at Thanksgiving Point Farm Country. This has become an annual activity my kids look forward to. Rachel lit up at the sight of all the animals; to her, every animal is a kitty.

We can't resist taking all of these adorable photos-- or sharing them!

Rachel likes the grass

Rachel is so happy to be sitting outside on a blanket in the grass. She'll spend a good 20 minutes picking blades of grass and watching her siblings play. It's kind of nice that she isn't crawling yet, in that respect (soon she'll be headed for the street)! I wanted to capture some photos of her in the natural light.

Our Dancer, Elizabeth

Elizabeth started taking a combination dance class in January. It has been the best thing for her! It has been a great way to redirect her energy away from constantly leaping off the couch. Here are some pictures of her after her dance recital and a short video clip of her performing at the Utah Valley dance competition (her class took first for her entire age division!). In the video, she is second from the left at the back (sorry we couldn't get closer).

Cute Videos of Rachel

Here's a clip of Rachel's "a-da" conversation with her daddy.



And here's one more, of Rachel clapping every time we say "yea!"

Emma rides a bike

I looked out the window yesterday, and noticed not Elizabeth, but Emma, riding her sister's bike! I was pretty surprised!