My My My Mexico Part 2

Everyone watching Justin fly in the sky

The Kids playing in the sand

Thursday Kim, mom and I took a yoga class which consisted of the three of us and the teacher.  It was an awesome class and though I was apprehensive at first of the small class size, I was glad in the end because I feel like I probably got a better workout because of it.  After class we met the boys and the kids for a late breakfast, and then the Rush's headed home.  We decided to trek over to the Marina that afternoon for some shopping and dinner and were enjoying the wandering and dinner when a huge storm hit.  It was awesome at dinner because the restaurant was open so we saw and heard amazing lightening and thunder, but the walk home was a whole different story.  We were walking in flooded streets with the water well up to our shins.  Because mom had a white shirt on and I had kaki pants on (see through when wet) we opted for the trash-bags we'd seen a few others wearing.  Not really sure what Bill's excuse was!  And the night was closed out with some Olympics; did you expect anything else!?!

Bill doing his best Nacho Libra

My Turn

Mom Always trying to one up!

Nice Family Dinner

Trash-bag Trio

The damage

Friday was another day of nothingness which was just the way I liked it!  We had more pool time and after mom and Bill headed off for their afternoon at the spa, Justin and I headed to dinner and then back to our room for the exciting 100 Fly with Phelps taking his 7th Gold!!!  Kim Rush actually called us soon after the race to find out what had happened because through the husle of the night they missed the race.  So of course we were more then happy to fill them in!  Oh, and there was another storm on Friday evening; Justin say lightening strike the building right next to ours, and the thunder was so loud I jumped/fell out of my chair!

Enjoying my lime smoothie 

Justin enjoying his banana smoothie 

Pool Girls

Saturday was a late morning, breakfast at the buffet that we'd been having breakfast at pretty much every morning (oh, how awesome is a vacation in Mexico when you can eat things like tamales, beans and quesadillas for breakfast among other things like the worlds best waffles!)  

Roses on the Roll

The water running through the hotel

After packing up we played a few rounds of card before heading to the airport and back on to SLC.  Mom and Bill had to rush through to their connecting flight but Justin and I met up once again with Timbra and Al.  Timbra took us on a little downtown SLC adventure and to dinner before we headed home.  

It was an awesome trip, and while usually we do more on vacation then lounge by the pool everyday, I think this was exactly what everyone need that week! Thanks Bill and Mom for an awesome vacation!

My My My Mexico

So there's not much I can say about my trip to Mexico except that it pretty much rocked my world!!  A lot of relaxing, lounging by the pool/ocean, and soaking up the sun with an occasional evening sea turtle adventure!

Saturday we headed out for our adventure far too early in the morning; I believe that I set my alarm for somewhere around 3:45 am, but I've tried to block that out of my memory!  Justin and I headed to the airport and flew to Salt Lake City where we had about an hour to go out and visit with Mike, Timbra and Alani in the airport.  It was sad that they didn't go on the trip with us so it was a nice treat to get a little visit in.  

Me at like 4:15 am

Justin getting us gas at 4:40am

Al stealing auntie Haley's shoes

We flew on from there to Mexico and after waiting a bit for the parents we headed on to the hotel.  Can't complain about the view from the room that's for sure!!

We happened across the turtle nursery after talking with just one person about where we could release baby sea turtles and that pretty much set the rock'n pace for the rest of the week!  I mean, come on, how lucky were we that there was a whole baby sea turtle farm right at our hotel!!  I'll give the sea turtles the respect they deserve by posting a whole different blog about them, for now an overview of the week!

So Saturday night after dinner we watched some Olympics and then mom and I headed out to do some sea turtle sighting and were excited to see a few different turtles in different stages on coming up to the beach to lay eggs and going back to the water!

Sunday (like most of the days to come) was a lazy/relaxing day by the pool.  We found some lounge chairs between the pool and beach and camped out for the day.  We enjoyed chips/salsa and blended drinks while lazing around!  We pretty much spent most of the day going back and forth from the pool to our lounge chairs, and the most exerting thing we did all day was play a little 2 on 2 water volley ball (quite a sight to behold!).  That evening we ordered room service and watched the Olympics (you'll notice this to be a recurring theme!)

Monday Mom and I made our way to the spa where she enjoyed a facial and I enjoyed the best hot stone massage I've ever had - a fire opal massage!  After that we did more lounging by the pool, under the umbrellas trying to recover from our Sunday sunburns!  After having dinner at one of the hotel restaurants and watching the olympics ( it was a sports bar type place) we check to see if any babies might be ready to release and were pleased to discover that there would be a nest ready in about an hour!  So you can bet that we were there an hour later ready to let them go!  We also saw a few more turtles coming up to lay their eggs while we waited for Oscar (the turtle master!)!

Aww, brother and sister 

Tuesday morning we did the room service thing again and watched the olympics over breakfast!!  Around noon our friends the Rush's arrived for a overnight visit, so we said our hellos and took the kids into the pool while everyone worked on catching up in the water!  It was someone's grand idea to do room service in our (Justin and I's) room and watch the Olympics so I ordered up some pizzas and the 9 of us crammed into our room to enjoy good company, good entertainment (the Olympics as well as Tim and the Kids!) and good food!

Wednesday we pretty much hung out by the pool yet again, taking the kids swimming here and there.  There was a storm coming in so we got out of the pool fairly early that day, plus the Rush's were all suffering their Tuesday sunburns.  Justin did have the opportunity to go parasaling in the afternoon so that was really fun to watch.  And in the evening we all had dinner at a nice Japanese restaurant (the type where they cook in front of you) and after that went for a walk on the beach to see more turtles coming up to lay eggs.  And of course the evening was concluded with some Olympic coverage!

Justin checking the medal count

Mom and Bill relaxing by the pool

Justin Parasailing

Temple Trip

On the way home from Mexico Justin and I had some extra time between flights, so Timbra and Alani came and took us on a little adventure.  While trying to decided where to go eat Timbra came up with the grand idea of taking us for a swing by the temple.  It's been kind of a long running joke in my family because since my parents moved to UT a few years ago, I'd never been taken to the temple; which is one of the must sees for everyone else who went to visit them.  Timbra, in her grand attempt to get me to come out and visit always promises that she will take me to see the temple.  And true to her word she did!!

This is apparently Timbra's version of taking me to see the temple . . .

All I can say is I hope that on my next visit I might get a better tour!!

My Version of Packing!

So really what I should be doing right now is packing for Mexico, but seeing as my flight doesn't leave till 6am Saturday morning, I'll probably wait till about midnight tomorrow night to get it all packed up!!

And in the mean time, I've got important things to blog about.

I'm a huge fan of the Olympics, I wait with eager anticipation for them to come every two years.  I'm a fan of both the winter and summer Olympics so thankfully I don't have to wait 4 year in between!!  There has been so much going on this week that I keep forgetting that the Olympics actually start tomorrow night and not in a few weeks (where does the time go???).  Randomly I recalled this handy hand sign my sister made me for probably the last summer Olympics and realized it might be in my hope chest.  So I was very excited to open my hope chest up and find it right there (smelling like cedar!)!!  I've pulled it out and dusted it off and it's ready to go.  Go USA!!!! 

(Special thanks to Timbra for making me this Olympic supporting hand flag! *Please note that this flag is accurate with 13 red and white strips and 50 hot glue gun dots representing the 50 states!)

Exhibit #2 are these special boxers!!

I don't even remember who got these for me, it was either my step-dad or my uncle, and I'm pretty sure they were a free pair from some conference (yeah who gives out boxers at a conference!?!)  Anyway they are like 2XL and they have always been super huge on me, but they were pretty much my favorite sleeping shorts ever (probably because of the excessive size!).  A few years ago they got a rip so I tucked them away.  Well apparently the rip was much larger then I remember because the other day I pulled them out to wear and they are clearly unwearable.  Sadly they were placed ever so gently in the trash tonight :(

That's all. . . perhaps I'll try my hand at packing again!

Free to Be a Slave

So as I mentioned in my last post, two weekends ago was our CAYP Retreat for 2008, and the theme of the weekend was "Free to Be a Slave." (CAYP for those who don't know is College Age Young Professionals).  We rented a house out on the Cosumnes River to have the retreat which turned out to be both a blessing and a disaster all at the same time!!!  

The place we stayed

The Cosumnes  River

We were blessed because the house is out in the middle of nowhere with hills and trees all around, and of course the river ran right through the property so we had the river all to ourselves.   The disaster was that upon arrival the lady told me that there was a pipe broken under the house so we could use the water during the morning and evening but asked if we could turn it off during the day.  Sounds good in theory , but when you have 14 people who need to do things like go to the bathroom, wash their hands, do dishes and shower throughout the day it's not as easy as one might think to keep the water off.   I had people asking me every 5 minutes to turn the water on for something!!  The other big issues were the swamp cooler which needed to be manually filled with water at least once an hour because the pump was broken and the ants.  But seriously, other then that it was an awesome weekend, and those are the experiences that drive you nuts while your dealing with them, but you can't help but look back and laugh at later!!!

One of our Lessons

We had a retreat committee which consisted of Dustin, Brandon and I, and we worked really well together which was great.  Brandon planned out all the lessons on our theme which he picked out and did an amazing job at presenting thought provoking and scripture filled lesson on what it means to be a slave, what it means to be free, and what it means to be a free slave in Christ.  Dustin made our song packets and was the guy in charge of odd jobs/tasks in preparation for the retreat, and I did menu, schedule, coordination and general keeping everyone on track tasks!!!

Enjoying Lunch Around the Table

We had 14 people come which was an awesome turn out and it turned out to be 7 boys and 7 girls, and 7 people slept outside and 7 people slept inside!!!  The weekend turned out to be relaxing, enriching and a total blast.  We had lessons, river time, campfire/devo, resting and relaxing, and lots of time to get to know one another even better!  Campfires were some of my favorite parts; I don't know if a person can feel closer to God then sitting around a fire in the middle of nowhere watching stars fall our of a clear night sky (I saw 4 in one night) surrounded by loving brothers and sisters in Christ.

My Car Loaded heading out!

Exploring the River

Do you see the size of those paddles compared to the canoe!?!

Isaac found a sliver of Gold

Just about the best sign I've ever seen on a road!

There are so many great pictures to share and stories to tell but they can't all be shared here.  I'm so glad I had the opportunity to spend a weekend with our awesome college group!

Seattle

I'm a little late in the game with this post; and I'm blessed to say I've been doing so many fun things and going on so many fun adventures that I can't keep up on my blog.  I'm home today from my second of two camping trips in the past week, and I still haven't blogged about Seattle which was in the beginning of July!

But in an effort to not put too much effort into this post, I'm just going to post some of my favorite pictures from each day . . . enjoy!

Wednesday (Day 1, 7/2)

The Original Starbucks at Pike's Market

The Fartless Collection at a little Deli Mart we had a snack at

Aden and Lauren in their Rain Jackets

Thursday (Day 2, 7/3)

Aden leading the way with the map

The Space Needle

Lauren trying to get a better look

Katie and my Mom with their fancy glasses on!

Aden and the Mariners Game

Lauren at the Mariners Game

Friday (Day 3, 7/4)

Happy 4th of July!

Part of the Car Show (Read the Plate!)

On the Ferry watching the Fireworks

Saturday (Day 4, 7/5)

Old Ferry Dock

A baby Sand Dollar!