5/29/08

Oh man, these pictures are all out of order. Hopefully you can figure it out. Sorry!!

We spent the rest of our time on the island of San Pedro







I was holding a baby racoon here. I will post a picture of me petting a crocodile too. Yes, thats me getting a pedicure and my hair braided. I mostly did it so I could take a picture and learn to do it on Sadies hair. These are just a few pictures. Celeste took a ton on her camera and so I will post more later. Isn't this a beautiful place? We are all going thru paradise withdrawl. We had such a great time. And It was so fun to be with Mark and Celeste and Brad and Carena.

pictures of Tikal Guatemaula






This was Monday. We took a taxi from the border of Belize into Guatemala. It was a two hour van ride on a bumpy dirt road. It was incredible to stand in the same place that the Nephites or Lamanites could have stood. It brings the Book of Mormon to life. These temples were just amazing to see. It was kind of fun to see a bunch of missionaries there too. They were having a zone activity. Anyway, great day in Tikal, Guatemala!

Happy Birthday Chris!!

I know this is a day late. And I wasn't going to put it on the blog, but I have been thinking all day yesterday and today about how much Chris means to us. I just want to first wish him a belated happy birthday. I wish I was as good as Laurie at getting cards out. It means so much when you get a card in the mail. Sorry Chris. We love Chris because he makes us all feel special when we come visit. He loves to be with family. He has a certain protective love for his sisters. And we all know that he would do anything for us. I KNOW that if we needed something he would be the first to be here. He also stays until the job is done, even if it is 1:00 in the morning. When I think of someone who is unselfish I think of Chris. Thanks for being such a great brother and friend. We love you and your family. Hope you had a great birthday.

5/27/08

Our first two nights in Belize

This was where we stayed our first two nights in Belize. It was absolutely beautiful. And please ignore me at the end.

5/19/08

An amazing trip

We just got home this morning at 3:00am, but I wanted to write about our experience while it is fresh on my mind. We went to Belize in Central America with Travis' brother Brad and his wife, Carena and Travis' sister Celeste and her husband, Mark. We were soooooo lucky to have Travis' Mom, Tamara come and stay with the kids for a whole week while we were gone. She spoiled them rotten and they had a wonderful time. I was able to enjoy our trip knowing the kids were in good hands and were of course having a great time with Grandma. Thanks again and again Tamara.

So we flew into Belize last Sunday and enjoyed two nights at a cute little hotel with a beautiful view and swimming pool on the deck. Our favorite part of the hotel was the fun atmosphere of the restaurant and yummy food. We sat on the deck with the beautiful view of the city below us. With the swimming pool beside us and surrounded by the evening lights we talked and laughed and enjoyed both Sunday and Monday evenings outside. Then of course ended both evenings with a splash in the pool. If you know Travis, he never ceases to amaze us with how many competitions you can have in the pool.

On Monday morning we drove about two hours to Tikal in Guatemaula. It was felt to be the center of the Myan civilization which existed about 7oo bc to 1100 ad. It is amazing to think that it was the nephites/lamanites and their decendents that lived there. we were able to climb right up and walk around the temples.

On Tuesday we were excited to leave Belize and boat ride onto the island of San Pedro. We stayed the rest of our time in a beautiful condo and swimming pool right on the beach. Wednesday we got a guide to take us out to shark ray alley and hol-chan which are two supurb areas to snorkel. We were right in with nurse sharks, sting rays, grouper, trigger, barracuda and a ton of other pretty small fish. I actually touched a shark. Our guide was amazing. He jumped right in with us and was tackling the sharks and stink rays. Mark was on the other side of the boat and so Martin, our guide took the shark right over to him so he could see and pet it as well.

We spent Wed. just relaxing in the beautiful swimming pool. We also rented golf carts to drive around the island. Thursday the guys went fishing while us girls checked out the shopping of San Pedro in our fun little golf carts. After shopping there was plenty of time to swim and read by the pool before the guys came home and fixed us up some snapper, grouper, and trigger fish. If you know me, I have never been a fan of seafood. I wish I liked it because Travis loves it so much. But, I actually loved this fresh fish that they caught.


On Friday it was Travis' birthday and of course he wanted to go fishing again and so we had a guide take us out on an all day trip where we fished and snorkeled. Then for lunch the guide took us to a beach where he cooked up the fish (barracuda) along with rice and beans, fresh pineapple, sweet bread and some cold drinks. We all couldn't believe how good it was. Our guide was so nice and personable. Travis and Brad tried spear fishing too. They were like two little kids on Christmas with a new toy. They actually caught a few fish too. We came back to the condo from a long day out on the boat and all got ready to go out and eat. One of our favorite things to do was to clean up after a long day in the sun and to go out and try different restaurants. Saturday was another day of just relaxing in the sun by the pool. The best weather for swimming is when it gets too hot after awhile of reading by the pool so you have to dive in to cool off. We did this all day Saturday with an occasional contest or challenge from Travis and Brad in the pool. And then of course went out to eat again Sat. night.


We got home around 3am monday morning and the boys came into our room to see us at 5:30am. We had a wonderful time, but it was wonderful to see the kids again too. We had such a good time and hope to go back soon.