December is always a busy month for everyone but this year it seemed even more so. Our wedding anniversary is December 7th and this year marked 20 years. Joseph has ALWAYS gone out of his way to come up with creative ways for us to celebrate 'our day' but since our kids were born we haven't actually taken a trip like we did before kids. This year he surprised me with a cruise to Cozumel to celebrate 20 years. It was awesome and a much needed escape from the daily routine and busy-ness. Of course getting ourselves ready to take a tropical vacation in the middle of December and getting ready to leave the boys with my parents for 5 days was crazy on top of the usual Christmas decorating, shopping, parties, etc. Let me just say that it was HEAVEN. While on the cruise ship we did absolute nothing but lounge on the Serenity (no-kids-allowed) Deck and sleep, read, eat, & sleep some more. Pure AWESOME-NESS! No laundry calling my name, no homework to check, no basketball practice, no snacks to make or dinner to prepare, no beds to be made... you get the picture. Honestly, I didn't realize just how much we needed it. Don't get me wrong... I love being a wife & mom and I realize how very blessed I am to have been given these roles to fulfill. But a break from the constant demands was much needed and much appreciated.We left on Thursday morning - December 8th and drove to New Orleans, boarded the Carnival cruise ship - Elation at about 12:30, explored the ship, found our cabin, and had lunch on the Lito Deck. The food was awesome and let me just say that we were never hungry the entire time! We pulled out of New Orleans at 4:00 and the journey to Cozumel began. Friday we were at sea all day and were docked in Cozumel when we awoke on Saturay morning. We spent the day exploring Cozumel with our very own, very nice, Cab Driver/Tour Guide, Victor. He was very personable and we loved hearing about his family and their traditions & we really enjoyed spending the day with him. He took us around the entire island, he took us to a beautiful out-of-the-way spot (Playa Palancar) to snorkel, we had lunch on the back side of the Island at Cocunuts with the most beautiful view you could ever imagine. There is no electricity on the back side of the island but it was one of the best meals we have ever had! We made a quick stop to stick a straw in a coconut for a refreshing treat later that afternoon & hit some flea-markets to pick up some souvinirs for the boys and headed back to the ship.
The boys LOVED all of the excitement their costumes received this year! Samuel counted over 20 people who called him "coach" or asked him if Bama was going to beat LSU this weekend. John Michael loved yelling "Roll Tide" and "Auburn stinks" to anyone who threw a comment his way. There were cars slowing down and rolling down their windows to talk to "Coach Saban". It was great! Samuel said he thinks he will be Nick Saban for Halloween again next year. He also said "I wonder what it's like to have someone dress up as you for halloween?". We had a wonderful time trick-or-treating with our neighbors and the boys loved the hay-ride. 
After the Fall Festival we carved pumpkins and made Halloween cupcakes for the Trick-or-Treat hayride we host at our house each year. We are excited about that tonight!
The cupcakes (a few of them, anyway) ready for the party tonight. We didn't get very creative... just some orange icing and halloween sprinkles.
Samuel's masterpiece... designed by himself.
The Alabama Athletics Halloween Extravaganza hosted at the indoor practice arena.
