Crandon Beach (thanksgiving day)

WE HAD VISITORS FOR THANKSGIVING!!!!!

It was sooooo awesome. Thank you so much for coming Megan and partying with us!!! (Okay, so mostly they came to Orlando and went to Universal and Harry Potter World...but they did come see us so that is awesome.) Plus---they convinced my mom to come with them and there is nothing better than seeing your mom!

They drove from Orlando and met us at the beach. Unfortunately, we did not go to what I consider Miami's "best" beach, because on the cdc website it is colored red, which means it has active zika. And...I'm pregnant. So we're trying to avoid zika as much as possible. So we skipped out on South Beach and went to Crandon. A little choppier and not quite as well kept, but still beautiful. Let it be known that I, was freezing. But all of Megan's family got in the water. It was fairly chilly--only like 78 degrees. Yesterday it was 90, so I guess they should've come a week later! (or Miami needs to CHILL OUT already this year! 90 degrees is TOO hot for December!)

Anders and Kiersten pretty much kept Will and Molly occupied and playing all weekend long. They are rockstars. I want to move back to Utah just to have cousins occupy my kids so happily as that all the time.

My beautiful mom.

Sterling took a test the day before they arrived, and actually WAS NOT GIVEN NEW MATERIAL. Huzzah. So he could completely relax for the weekend with us. This has not happened in...my memory. It was the best.

It was too cold for my kids. Luckily, it's never too cold to play in the sand. Which they happily did.

Because they wanted to get as much out of the few minutes they were in Miami as they could, we headed straight from the beach to Bayside Market. It's basically a little marketplace on the docks. With some cool things like live music and dancing and every person coming up to your face and trying to sell you something. It's cool.

Kiersten. Come back and be Molly's nanny. Full time.

I didn't take any other pictures that night, it's hard keeping your babies in your sight at all times amidst the crowds in the marketplace, but Danica and Myles took some good ones on their phones, haha. After strolling around we drove through some sketchy Miami to get to Little Havana where we ate at Versailles, which had been recommended to us for Cuban cuisine. I was REALLY nervous because they didn't take reservations, and it was Thanksgiving Day, so we had a little bit of back up plan of leaving if the wait was some ridiculous amount (also, pregnant here, so I was worried about not eating and getting more sick). Sterling and I have found Miami customer service to be...nonexistent. So we were VERY PLEASANTLY surprised when we --all 14 of us--were whipped in to this big long table, and served appetizers, all our meals, and desserts all in a very timely and happy manner. Almost everyone got brave and ordered some real Cuban dishes that we have never tried. Sterling loved his. Myles and Jared both got this massive dish of seafood and rice that I just kept wishing my dad had been there to try. Everyone took bites of everyone's food (minus me, who was nervous about puking it up...dang pregnancy) and had a lovely time. I recommend it to everyone. Sidenote:

The next day Fidel Castro died, we were staying at a hotel by Key Largo, but it was on the news, and people were all out celebrating, and the one newsreel that kept showing the most people was right outside Versailles, where we'd been the night before. Haha.

The highlight of the night was the guava pastry I ordered for dessert. When we first moved here one of the first times we had Cuban was the 4th of July breakfast for our ward. I was disappointed when we walked in that everything was unfamiliar. Then I ate a guava pastry. Then I ate seven. They are divinity. And the ones at Versailles ruined me for ward functions ever again. They were BEYOND divinity. It was kind of like baclava, but warm, and moister and filled with guava. You have to try it someday.

That night everyone came over to check out our apartment, which was pretty fun. And then they headed over to a hotel by our house, and we all went to bed since we had a full day planned in the morning. We loved having Grandma stay at our house so she could sing goodnight songs to the kids and just make Ruth's whole life. She loves grandma soooo much more than she loves her mama, haha.