Lots to Celebrate!!!

We just got back from my birthday cruise on Carnival's Elation. We went to Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada, Mexico. We had a wonderful time, tons of fun and mostly great weather. ( It rained in Ensenada) Here are lots of pics and fun things to share!


Life Boat Drill before we set sail from San Diego.
This was Sammie's 2nd cruise and she loved it. Brad and I have cruised lots of times before. My parents came with us to celebrate their anniversary too. Their anniversary is Dec. 17th and my bday is Dec. 18th so we always celebrated together when i was a kid.

Brad ordered this super yummy cake for us and got roses for my mom, Sammie and I. (We couldn't take them off the ship though due to US Customs laws. )

We did so many things on the ship. The shows were great. The kids at Camp Carnival did a holiday show on the last day which was cute. Sammie's group had on reindeer antlers and stood on the stage with all the other kids. At the end, Santa came out and gave all the kids a present. A ruldolph mug, candy cane, and some plastic sunglasses. She was so excited. This is Sammie with the Captain of the ship.

Our first port was Cabo and the weather was warm and beautiful. We didn't do any "shore excursions" and had fun just walking around, shopping, etc. There was a luxury mall with lots of expensive stores and then we went to the beach and Sammie had so much fun there. She didnt' want to leave but we had to. Right when we were walking to the beach, some locals put iguanas on our heads and we took pictures.




It was weird having them all over me but it didn't freak me out.. just made me giggle.

This is us on formal night. Sammie loved being all dressed up like a princess.
She made so many friends and fans on the ship. This is David, a bartender from Jamaica who adored her. He let her sit up on the bar, help him and even let her go behind the bar and play the

piano!!

(

The cruise directors had fun with Sammie too. Jeff, the "fun guy" had her come onstage during bingo and check to make sure all the balls were there. He lifted her up to check and then asked her where she was from and what her name was. She said " Sammie" from Cal-ya-fornia. He gave her a special medal with a picture of the ship and told her it was magic. Every time she lifted it over her head, the crowd would cheer. She kept doing it and everyone yelled SAMMIE!

The rest of the cruise, people recognized her.. "Isn't that the Sammie from bingo?"

The same thing happened at the horse races.. She was jumping all around at the "Carnvial Race Track" Stu, the cruise director chose her to name a horse and she named it Jewel. Her horse took the lead but then lost by one stride in the end. She still had a ball watching and cheering. We bet on Jewel but she didn't win. Brad and I entered the tournaments in the casino. Brad played in the final round of the slot torunament but didn't win. He got a t-shirt though. I made it to the finals in black jack but then got bumped out in the last round. Oh well, at least we tried.

This was a hard birthday for me but being on the ship and celebrating a whole bunch sort of took my mind off it. The boat docked on the 18th but we spent the day at Sea World since we have annual passes. It wasn't crowded so we were able to see lots of the shows and attractions. We ended the day meeting our friends Mark and Tracey and their girls for dinner. Tracey and I share this birthday and were born at almost the exact same time. This is what we got for dessert. It is called a "messy sundae" and it sure was messy. The entire outside of the glass was covered in chocolate and anchored to the plate with chocolate fudge. YUMMERS!!

Sammie's favorite thing to see at Sea World is the Clydesdale horses. They even have one named Sammy.

Here is Shamu jumping up to wish me a happy birthday!! Nothing like a giant whale to wish you well on a giant birthday!! :)

They have a great "pets" show at Sea World and I thought this was quite a funny pic of Sammie. She did the "doggie face" all by herself!!

So the reason I have such a hard time with my "age" is because I don't really want to "grow up". Those of you who know me well know that I do silly things all the time. Here is our 3 generation picture of silliness. My dad, Sammie, and I are the only 3 that can do this in my family.

Not only did we celebrate an anniversary, and a birthday but we also celebrated Hanukkah. We went to my Nana's house for a little party and then on Christmas Eve, we went to my Aunt's house to see my cousins and their kids. Here is Sammie and Jacob, lighting the menorah.

Then on to my inlaws house to celebrate Christmas Eve.

We open presents together on Christmas Eve and then go there for dinner on Christmas day.

Santa was good to us this year. Brad and I got money, and Sammie got horses, pj's, my little pony stuff, littlest pet shop animals, slippers, a sweatshirt, stickers, and lots more.

This morning she woke up and yelled and jumped around because Santa brought her "Snort" also known as "Smores" the pony. She said this is the best day she has ever had. She loves this horse so much and has been on it all day. It moves and responds to her voice, movement, etc. I told her she must have been a very good girl since this is so expensive, but I think Santa is a bargain shopper and got a really good deal on this... just a guess.. :) wink wink.

Brad and I didn't really buy any gifts for each other this year since we just took two huge trips in the last 2 months. We gave each other stuff to wrap. I got a bunch of scrappy stuff and he got some socks, ties, shoes, and shirts. Every year though, he puts lottery tickets in my stocking. I am usually bummed because he spends like $30-$40 and we get back like $11 and then it is sad. Well not this year!!! I was so surprised to scratch this little baby!!!


In case it is too small to see... I WON $100.... that has never happened to me on a lottery ticket. We actually won a total of $121. That was very exciting..

Oh, and on another lucky note, Christine told me to post on Everafter's scrapbooking blog because they were having a prize giveaway. She recently won a bunch of goodies so I posted too and I won a $20.00 gift card to the store..

Maybe 40 is going to be a lucky year for me???

Well, whatever you are celebrating.. I wish you a happy one and a healthy New Year. I do have more to say as usual, but will be back another day.