New Orleans 2011

Carter and I got to go to New Orleans in April. He qualified for another fun trip. I am proud of how well he has taken to his new career. He still amazes me after sixteen years of marriage. The trip was a blast, but New Orleans is probably not a place we will visit again. A great big thanks to Carter's sister Jackilee for coming all the way from Logan to tend our kids. She did such a good job and the kids had a blast with her!


We were within walking distance of the Mississippi River and we saw some beautiful river boats like the one behind us.

When you go to New Orleans, apparently the thing to do is take a swap tour on air boats. So we did. Have you seen the show Swamp People? It is not an exaggeration. Believe me. We lived it. our tour guide had a thick N'arlens accent and at one point dove from our boat into the swap after a gator, which he handily wrangled and brought back to the boat for us to handle(see below).





The swamp was actually pretty amazing, the stuff you see hanging is soft Spanish moss. We saw lots of alligators. Guess what? Alligators LOVE marshmallows. Who would of thought?

This gator may look small, but holding this guy was a bit more frightening than I expected. These little guys are strong. It was a once in a lifetime experience....I hope.






I may or may not have gotten a bit to close to this guy, plus I was wearing my marshmallow scented perfume. Awesome.



You can't escape the Mardi Gras feel. Boas and masks were everywhere. This cute girl is Jerika. This girl is a good time!

Here is Lou Lou. She had a little moment with this street performer. This girl has some serious moves. I think Mr. Shiny was JEALOUS. I know I was.

Here we are at the New Orleans School of Cooking. My saint of a husband chose this as our daily activity instead of a sea plane excursion. He knows how I love cooking, so he took one for the team. We learned how to make all kinds of local goodness, it was delish!

We stayed at a beautiful hotel in the French Quarter. The French and Spanish influence can be seen and felt everywhere. It is amazing. The city is not a clean city. DIRTY in more ways than one (I held my had over Carter's eyes 90% of the time) . Not a place for your little ones for sure. It was fun to see a city and a part of the country we have never seen before. Carter's company always take such good care of us, amazing meals, accommodations, activities and much more, but boy are we glad to live in little old St. George, Utah!