Aruba

Lisa and I spent the last week on a wonderful vacation in Aruba.  The weather was fantastic.  Sunny, highs in the 80's, gorgeous sunrises and sunsets.  Just the perfect break and opportunity for us to escape the mayhem in Park City during the Sundance Film Festival (the city gets turned into one giant circus, so I chose to avoid it this year).  We decided to try Aruba to go somewhere new and because the hotel option through my SPG credit card points got great reviews.  This was another one of those vacations for us that we were able to get free airfare and hotel through my business card points.  One of the perks of being a small business owner.

We arrived Saturday mid-day and showed up at our hotel, the Westin at Palm Beach.  This is the view we had from our balcony.  So amazing.  Check out that Caribbean water!

We toured the hotel grounds to check out the fun pool area and the beach.

The beach in front of our hotel was fantastic.  So beautiful.  It had the soft, powdery white sand.  The gorgeous, brilliant blue water, and no surf or undertow which made for easy swimming conditions.

Our hotel had a casino.  We dressed up for dinner that first night and decided to go hit the casino for a little bit before our dinner.  We played roulette for a little bit.  Had some fun, made some money, then lost it, but when you're playing with 5 cents each time, it makes losing the money not hurt so badly.

We ate at the fancy restaurant in our hotel, Pago Pago, and had some delicious seafood dinners.  Here's Lisa showing that she can pull silly faces too in a photo.  Maybe I'm finally starting to rub off on her.

The next morning we got up and decided to do some snorkeling.  We first went to the beach Boca Catalina to check out the reef and fish.  The mornings are so calm and quiet on the island.  I think most people are sleeping off their hangover from the night before and end up getting a really late start each day.  That made it nice for us because in the mornings we would have the beaches to ourselves.

There is an old lighthouse on the north end of the island that we checked out after Boca Catalina.  There are some great views of the island from that spot.

After the lighthouse, we went and found a secluded section of beach that was part of Arashi Beach.  It was so calm and peaceful.  We did some more swimming and snorkeling, and then read our books in the sun.

We saw tons of different tropical fish.  Some of the coolest looking fish wouldn't sit still for me to get a good photo of them, like the barracuda, parrotfish, cowfish, and surgeon fish.  And then my batteries died when I saw some of the other cool looking fish like the lionfish, some lobsters, and a moray eel.  But we did have some that cooperated.  

Like the French Angelfish.

Boxfish

?  Not sure but it looked cool

French grunts

Blue tang

Spotfin butterfly fish

Showing off my muscles.

Lisa enjoying her book on our quiet beach we found.

These signs were all over the island.  Lisa really wanted her picture taken next to one.

Monday morning we got up and went out for some authentic Dutch pancakes.  Our good friend Jessica who grew up in the Netherlands recommended the bacon and apple pancake, which I tried and loved.

Then after our great breakfast we went to the butterfly farm.  They have about 100 butterflies hatch each day.  It's incredible how many different species we saw there.

The Tree Nymph.

Mormon Swallowtail (I promise that's it's name)

The Postman

Mormon Swallowtail

The Blue Morpho and a Monarch

Scarlet Swallowtail

Blue Morpho

Malechite

Orange Tip

Swallowtail

Another of my favorite, the Blue Morpho

In all it was a very peaceful place.  Very fun to see that many different butterflies in one place.  After the butterfly farm we then decided to go into Oranjestad and do some shopping.  On the way into town we stopped by the famous divi divi tree on Eagle beach and took some photos.  The tree is leaning sideways because the wind is constantly blowing on that island.  I mean constantly.  All day, every day.

The architecture and paint colors in Oranjestad are very fun and festive.  Lots of bright colors everywhere.

After getting our fill of shopping (we got some fun gifts for the kids and our parents) we headed back to the hotel to do some more snorkeling.  This time we went to Malmok beach.  We had a great time snorkeling there as well.

Tuesday morning we had a scheduled sailboat trip.  Like I mentioned before, the beaches were generally vacant in the morning, so I took some cool photos of the beaches at our hotel.  This platform that you see in this photo was really fun.  We would swim out to it and jump and dive off the platform in the water.  

This is the hotel we stayed in.

We went on a fun 5 hour sailboat trip that day that took us to some secluded coral reefs.

They dropped us off at this boardwalk that would get you over to a secluded and protected area of reef that had incredible visibility with some cool reef formations.

Four eyed butterfly fish

Lisa and I spotted a flounder.  This photo will show you how well camouflaged they are.

Here's a close up where you can see their goofy looks.  They have both eyes on one side of their face so they can feed on the bottom and keep their eyes upward for predators.  Amazingly, flounders are born with their eyes on both sides of their face, but as they grow the one eye migrates to the same side as the other.

The owner of the sailboat brought his Jack Russell Terrier, Buster, along.  Such a funny dog.

We also did an open water drift snorkel where they took us out of the protected area from the reef and let us snorkel along with the current pushing us.  They followed along in a little boat as we drifted with the current.  Very fun adventure and a great day of sailing.

On Wednesday we decided to go check out Arikok National Park.  Aruba is kind of a unique Caribbean island because it is a desert island.  Not tropical and lush like most Caribbean islands.  It actually reminded me of my mission in Sonora Mexico.

There are a bunch of goats that just roamed around everywhere.

Here is a cool leaning tree that illustrates how harsh the terrain is there.

We rented a little, cheap Toyota Yaris to run around in and unfortunately took that compact car where it shouldn't have gone.  We didn't read the map really well and ended up taking that poor thing down this incredibly rough, rocky road.  Thankfully we didn't break it and we were able to make it back up and out of there.

We came to this beach called Boca Prins.  Very beautiful beach, but very dangerous for swimming.

They don't allow swimming because of a nasty undertow that is here, so we didn't go in the water, but we did enjoy the beauty that it provided.

My smokin' hot wife!

After touring the National Park we went back to our hotel to enjoy the beach and pool for the afternoon.  These lizards, the blue whiptail lizards, are only found in Aruba.  They have an amazing turquoise blue color and can be found all over the island, especially around our hotel.

This big iguana was chasing off all the other iguanas near the pool.  He was quite the bully.

The sun sets around 7:00 in Aruba, and unless you like to go to bars and drink, you are pretty limited on options for entertainment.  We did however find a bowling alley and went and bowled on Wednesday night.  It was really  fun to go bowling together, kind of like we were dating all over again.  Lisa gave it a valiant effort, but I ended up beating her both games we played.  That BYU bowling class I took paid off.

Thursday we decided to take a drive to the south end of the island to spend the morning at Baby Beach.  It's a protected cove with beautiful views and really calm water.  It is only about 3 feet deep still 100 yards out.  It's a great place to teach people to swim.  In fact, while we were there we saw some local Arubans there teaching there little kids to swim.

We found our own palapa and kicked back for a relaxing morning.

That's what 30 pull ups every other day will do for your back.  Grrr!

I went out and did some more snorkeling.

Lisa made a friend while out wading in the awesome water.  A cool lady from New Jersey.

That night we went to a show called Aruba Sinatra, Lisa bought us the tickets for an evening out.  This guy pictured here, Fred De Jong, sings a bunch of Sinatra songs while you eat dinner in the Old Cunucu House.  He was really good, and sounded just like Ole Blue Eyes himself.  It was a fun evening.  I'm not the biggest Sinatra fan, but I still enjoyed our evening there.

Lisa really wanted this photo of our license plate.  All the plates down there say "One Happy Island".  It is in fact, one happy island.

All in all it was a great vacation.  I really enjoyed Aruba and would recommend it to anyone that might be interested.  Here are my positives- It's a very laid back island with the best beaches I've seen.  The temperatures are perfect, there is very little humidity, there are plenty of good snorkeling opportunities, and you have a wide variety of food options to choose from.  There are fantastic sunrises and sunsets each day. The island is a melting pot and has Europeans living there because it is a Dutch Island, has lots of South Americans because of it's proximity to Venezuela and Columbia, has tons of Caribbean people from places like Jamaica and Haiti, has a lot of Philipino workers, and of course plenty of Americans too.  Each culture brings it's own flavor and flare to that island.  The people also speak 4 languages fluently.  School is taught in Dutch and Dutch is the official language.  Around town and in their homes though they all speak Papimento with is a mix of many languages (thanks for the heads up AJ).  They also speak Spanish fluently because they are 70 miles off the coast of Venezuela and they all speak English fluently because of the American tourists.  Tourism is their #1 industry there.  It's impressive how multi-lingual Arubans are.  I can't forget either that you can drink the water from the tap.  Aruba has one of the cleanest water systems in the world.  It's nice to go on vacation and be able to drink the water.  Because it's a small island, you can see the whole thing easily.  It's only 20 miles long and 6 miles wide at it's widest point.
Here are my negatives though- the wind is always blowing in Aruba.  We had a constant 10-15 mph wind there.  It can get a little frustrating at times always having the wind blow.  Also, it's a little too laid back for me.  I like to be fairly active on my vacations and Aruba is not the best place for active individuals.  There aren't as many active options as some of our other vacations.  If you are a very laid back person that likes to just sit at the pool or beach the whole time on your vacation, then Aruba would be perfect for you.  I'm not knocking that style of vacation (to each his own), I'm just saying that's not quite how Lisa and I are.  Another problem is that the food is quite expensive, but that is usually the case on islands.  The melting pot aspect can also be a negative. There is no dominant culture or cuisine because of it.  I love how in Mexico or Hawaii you get a very distinct culture and cuisine.  You don't really get that in Aruba.
If I had to give it a score of 1-10, I would give it a 7 (only one place I have been gets a 10, and that's Akumal Mexico).  It's probably my fourth favorite tropical destination we have been too.  Not too shabby.  Like I said, we loved it and really enjoyed it, but I don't think we will go back.  We want to see some other places next and keep exploring.

Skiing

One of my favorite memories growing up was skiing together as a family.  I loved to ski.  My mom and dad taught us at a young age and took us every year up to the slopes.  In college I had an amazing job that allowed me to work in a ski shop, get ski gear for cheap, and have a season pass at Canyons.  While Lisa and I lived in Maryland, we really yearned for the mountains to go skiing.  The mountains were the biggest reason why we moved back west.

Now that our kids are getting older, I am really enjoying teaching them to ski.  I find a lot of joy and pleasure in watching them learn, improve, and begin to have fun with one of my passions.  We usually start our kids out at the age of 5.  We stick them in ski school for 2-3 days, until they can ski down the mountain on their own and turn without the aid of the ski clamps.

We just started Cole out this year, and so far he has been a champ.  He has been picking it up really quickly and has been enjoying it.  We went up as a family last Saturday to Brighton.  Well, all of us except Blake.  He had a one on one day with grandpa Calderwood that both enjoyed immensely.  The reason we go to Brighton and pass 4 ski resorts on our way there is because it is the cheapest, and because they have, in my opinion, the best ski school around.  It is less of a day care and more of a school.  We put Cole in ski school for the day, and Lisa and I hit the slopes with Tucker and Aubrey.  Aubrey struggled her first run out.  It was her first run of the year and her ski legs were quite rusty.  I sent Lisa and Tucker on ahead and I worked with her for a bit.  After a couple of runs, she had her swagger back and was rocking it down the mountain.

Tucker has been skiing for 4 years now and is getting really good.  He loves, loves, loves jumps and skiing through the trees.  Here are a couple of videos I took on the mountain.

The three amigos!

Tucker and I have matching outfits.

Last month when I went with Tucker and Cole the snowflakes that were falling were incredibly beautiful.  There were some that were perfect!

We try to make it especially fun for our kids and we usually get them some fun food at the lodge at lunch time.  We get them a hot chocolate and nachos.  Here is Tucker displaying his satisfaction with our nachos grande that are smothered in chili.

Me and my little ski bunny.

Lisa and Aubrey enjoying their hot chocolate during our lunch break.

Next year we will start Blake, and then our whole family will be skiing together on the mountain.  Having a winter hobby that we all love makes the winters go by quicker, helps us to love snow storms and all that magical white powder that falls, and gives us another fantastic outdoor activity to participate in as a family.  If anybody wants to meet up with us on the ski slopes, let us know.  We would love to go together.

Tucker Wrestling

Tucker really wanted to take wrestling this year, so I signed him up for the local kids wrestling program.  It is very laid back and low key.  Every kid is a winner and they don't keep score.  It's meant to be an entry program for kids into wrestling so that they can learn some of the basics and get a feel for it.  For those that don't know, our valley is filled with die hard wrestling programs.  Our high school wrestling team has been nationally ranked, and was even in the top 5 in the country back when I was in high school.

Tucker did really well for it being his first year.  He is a quick learner, an aggressive wrestler, and loves to rough house.  I told him there are three rules when it comes to wrestling: 1-give it your all.  No loafing it or going half speed.  2- be tough.  There is no crying or whining associated with wrestling.  It is a sport that will make men out of boys in a hurry.  3- most importantly, have fun.  That's what it's all about after all, finding the fun in the sport.  

I enjoyed going to his practices and matches and helping out.  They even asked me to help coach the kids when Tucker's coach was gone or some of the high school wrestlers weren't there to help out.  It brought back some great memories of my wrestling days.

Here are a couple of videos from his last wrestling meet.  He enjoyed it so much that we are going to sign him up next week for the local freestyle wrestling club.  We have bought him some wrestling shoes and soon will get him some head gear and a singlet.  I love how excited he is for this, and I love that he enjoys some of the same things I do.

Thanksgiving

Tucker, Aubrey and I began our Thanksgiving Day running the Midway 5K Turkey Trot. Aubrey did awesome like usual. Tucker was rocking it at first, and then got tired and cold. It was a very cold morning and they weren't properly dressed. Bad Mom. I let Aubrey run ahead and stayed with Tucker through the finish. I believe he has some exercise induced asthma like me. He was wheezing alongside me the entire time. He finished, we each received our hot chocolate, bagel and came home to shower and get ready for dinner. 

This is the first year in many years that we didn't host Thanksgiving at our house. We had dinner at my parents house. My sister and her boys were in town, my brothers family, Grandparents Grant and great aunts Marion and Lois. We all pitched in and brought food so my Mom wasn't too stressed.

 My Great Aunt Marion.

 My Texas cousins were able to come for Thanksgiving. Lindsey, Kyle, Dave and Tracy.

 Lisa Marie, Kevin and Parker

 My brother on a mission sent a package home for us all to open. He bought all the adults shirts for Christmas.

 After dinner our family drove over to Cody's sisters house for dessert and time with the Calderwoods. It happened to be Cerola's birthday too. We have so much to be thankful for. Cody and I both dedicated each day in November to something we were thankful for. I could/should probably do that every day.

Miscellaneous

I decided it was time to download some cool photos from my phone.

Lisa and I went to a local ski swap and picked up a helmet for Cole (he is going to learn to ski this year).  He loved it so much, he wore it the rest of the day, even when we went into 5 Guys for lunch.  Such a funny boy.

Tucker is now in Cub Scouts and loves it.  How can you not love a cute boy in a scout uniform?  So awesome.

National Bosses Day was this last month and my staff surprised me with two day passes to Park City Mountain Resort.  Lisa and I are really excited to go and are grateful for the awesome employees I have working for me.

For Halloween the kids asked me to carve a minion.  This was my attempt at a minion.  Not my best work, but not too shabby either.

Hands On Training Institute

As a dentist, I am required to take a certain amount of hours of continuing education each year to keep my license.  The number that is required is actually quite low, in my opinion.  I try to take several courses a year to continue improving my skills and knowledge to be the best I can be.  I actually enjoy learning more in my profession and improving.  The best courses are usually offered out of state (we usually go to Scottsdale Arizona).

One fun thing for me is to take courses along with my brother Carson.  Since he practices in Seattle he likes to try and go somewhere sunny and warm in the winters to escape his Pacific Northwest winter gloom.  This year Carson and I elected to attend an implant course in Orange County, California to improve our implant skills and take on more difficult cases.  Overall the course was pretty good, but the lecturer was a really pompous jerk.  Oh well, at least I learned more with regards to implants.

Here is a photo the institute took on the day of one of our lectures.

This was during one of the hands on portions.  You can see Carson and me on the upper left of the picture.  You'll notice my bald head on the back row.

When Carson arrived to pick up his rental car, they were all out of the economy ones that he had reserved.  Instead they gave him this convertible at the same price.  Hooray for us!  We got to drive around sunny Southern California with the top down.
We attended class from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm each day but the evenings were free to do whatever we wanted.

One evening we drove down to Huntington Beach Pier to eat some grub and watch a little beach volleyball.

It was the last stop of the season for the AVP tour.  The girls were super tall, but just so-so with their skills.

The guys on the other hand were really good.  They were impressive.

Lisa's youngest brother Spencer is serving his mission right now in the Irvine, California mission.  Carson and I surprised him at his apartment one night.  We dropped off a bag of home made elk jerky I prepared for him, gave him some hugs, chatted for a couple of minutes, then left to let him get back in missionary mode.  He was incredibly surprised to see us standing on his door step at 9:30 at night.

We made friends with some dentists from Colorado and New Mexico and they hooked us up one night with tickets to the Anaheim Ducks hockey match vs the Buffalo Sabres.  We had great seats and it was really fun.

One night we met up with our good friend Brandon Jergensen from dental school.  He and his family live in San Diego, so he drove up for the night and we had dinner at Dukes.  It was really fun catching up with him again.

I have a few more courses planned for 2014 that I am already looking forward to.