Thanksgivings (Yes Plural)

This year Derek and I had the chance to celebrate Thanksgiving several times… and you don't see me arguing!

First I had a Thanksgiving potluck at work that was interesting. A lot of the people I work with are Latino so it was a fusion Thanksgiving with a lot of Latin food and some American food. Turns out it was really good!

Our Thanksgiving assortment

Pumpkin Cheesecake Dip I made… AMAZING!

My homemade stuffing

We also did a Friendsgiving with our medical school friends. It was such a fun night full of food and laughs. I am so glad we have these great friends.. they are definitely on my list of things I am grateful for this year! Thanks to Matt for having a great camera and taking lots of fun pics. And thanks to everyone for cooking up some amazing food for us to enjoy!

So. Much. Food.

The crew

Love these ladies

Our last Thanksgiving was with my family in Satellite Beach. My cousin came from North Carolina and my other cousins came with their kids. It was so fun to have the family together (minus Mike) and be together. I wish the day could have lasted longer! Sarah and I had a little photoshoot in the back yard because, well, thats what we do when we get together. It was awesome… so enjoy :)
 

Ryan's Christmas aura

 Our Christmas tree star fail

My sissy! 

Peterson/Estes Cruise: Day 1 and Day 2

What a week! We had the opportunity to go on an awesome Caribbean cruise with our good friends the Petersons. It was the perfect week of relaxing and having adventures. The night before we left we picked up Andrew and Caitlin at the airport in Fort Lauderdale. We came back to Miami and drove around the city to show them where we live. Saturday we woke up and finished packing before heading off to the airport. Jacki was awesome to take us to the port and get us on our way. We checked in pretty easily and before we knew it, we were on the boat! Our room assignment was perfect (we were on the main deck) and we had the chance to watch as we left Miami. After that, the excessive eating began! I don't think I have ever eaten as much as I did this last week and it was awesome!

Leavin' MIA

Goodbye Miami!

The next day we had a day at sea so we got to just relax and lay out. I got to read and enjoy the pool with Caitlin while Derek and Andrew played basketball. Derek won the free throw contest and Andrew won the 3 point contest. We love our athletic husbands! That night we had our first formal night so we got to get all dressed up and took some pictures on the deck. We played "Screw Your Neighbor", the card game, every night. It took me a few days to learn how to play but we all finally got the hang of it. Caitlin was definitely the overall champ but we all had our turn to win. Having a day at sea was the perfect way to start the trip and really relax. 

The girls

Happy vacationers

The whole crew

The U and The U (we know which one is better)

Formal Night

Peterson/Estes Cruise: Day 3

Day 3 lead us to Cozumel Mexico. We decided to go to a local ruin called Tulum. We got to walk around Cozumel in the morning and see a little bit of the city, which turned out to be really beautiful and cool. Andrew did a great job at researching all of our excursions and so we headed to the ferry to take us to the mainland where we caught a cab to take us to Tulum. I don't know if any of you have driven in Mexico, but man they are crazy drivers! We had some rain when we docked but luckily we drove out of it pretty quickly.

Getting off the boat early

View from Cozumel

Walking the streets of Cozumel

Just learning while we vacation

Tulum was gorgeous. The city is located on a mountain right on the coast so the views were to die for. I always enjoy learning a little while I relax so it was cool to be able to read all of the signs and see a part of history. 

 Walking into the city

The main part of the ruins

One of the ocean views

All of us

After we walked around the ruins, and sweated like crazy!, we walked down to the beach. That was by far the coolest part of the day. You could literally go swimming right at the ruins. The water was crystal clear and perfect temperature... it was incredible. You couldn't help but stop and just admire how beautiful everything was. 

The beach

The ruins in the background

Paradise

Lovin life

We had to get a toes in the sand pic

After we thoroughly enjoyed the beach, we took a cab back to Playa and took the ferry to Cozumel. We even got some authentic tacos along the way (sooo good!). We made it back with minutes to spare, but it was absolutely worth it. 

Peterson/Estes Cruise: Day 4

Day 4 took us to Belize. We docked in the capital and we met up with our tour guide, Junior who was taking us cave tubing. He drove us about an hour outside of the capital to the rainforest. In the rainforest, there are rivers that run through the mountains in these caves. Junior was an amazing guide. He grew up in this rainforest and has been guiding tours there most of his life. We had a thirty minute hike to the top of the river where we would jump in. On the way, he showed us which plants you could eat (which we ate), how to eat termites (which we did) and which plants to stay away from. We saw lots of bats, bugs and even saw a little rainforest rain storm along the way. Once we got to the top, we jumped into the river and hopped in our tubes.

Andrew wanted a picture with Derek and I 

It was so bright!

The besties chatting

We are ready to tube!

They were really excited :)

The tennis shoe and swimsuit look is very in this season

Andrew back flipped off the rock 

We were all hooked together and Junior steered us through the river. He explained the architecture of the area and told us some stories of the Mayan people who lived there. I really feel tiny next to all of the nature around me. It made me so grateful that I have a Heavenly Father who created such an amazing planet. I am so glad I got to see more of it this week! After we tubed the river, we went back to Junior's house and his sister's cooked us an amazing lunch. We all chowed down. Belize was amazing and I am so glad we got to see this side of it!

Junior our tour guide teaching how to eat plants

Loading up

A waterfall inside the cave

Exiting a cave

Entering a cave

The jungle of Belize

Hooked up and ready to see the world