Monday, January 28, 2008

Love this island!




On Saturday afternoon we went with some friends to the center of the island, near Adjuntas, up in the mountains to a forest area. We stopped at a little shack and had some awesome ribs, arroz con gandules, batata and lots of other good Puerto Rican food. Then we hiked through a beautiful forest. The boys also found some little caves that they were pretty excited about. Nearby we found a stream that emptied into a little swimming hole area with a little waterfall with big boulders for the boys to climb on. My little safety monitor Jett always surprises us at how adventurous he is and he climbed up the giant rocks and jumped off and also did the rope swing. Luke and Tommy just had fun throwing rocks in and a few at eachother.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Tommy doing dishes

So I am doing the dishes and Tommy wants to help so I pull up a step stool and give him a scrub brush and some bubbles. I left him for a minute to change the laundry and I come back to this...





I guess he decided to climb into the sink and finish the job. Not sure where this kid comes from.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

My favorite thing about Mexico
















Here are a few more of favorite things from our Mexico trip. First the market. This is a huge tourist trap where the Tzotzil Inidans come down and set up their tents with all of the textiles, jewelry, wood carvings etc that they have made and try to sell as much as they can. It is pretty amazing and you could spend hours going through all the tents and trying to decide what to buy and bargaining down to a good price. We also saw some beautiful waterfalls, one of which we even got to walk behind. Of course my favorite thing in all of Mexico is my parents. They love their mission and I can see how much their missionaries love them. They work so hard and go the extra mile everyday. I could not be more proud of them!

Naturally selected out of the Mayan gene pool



So how many of these indians actually died from step climbing related injuries? That's what I wanted to know as I climbed up these pyramids that were pretty much straight up and down. The steps were so narrow that I had to climb up sideways (granted I have big feet and some of you size 6's probably would have been fine!) My kids were up at the top in no time and once I reached the top it was a pretty awe inspiring. You can't help but sense the incredible amount of history and civilization that happened thousand of years ago. Coming down was the scary part!

Most spectacular thing I have ever seen?!?




Agua Azul. Even if you have never even eaten at Taco Bell you can probably translate this. But just in case, it is means blue water. On our last day of our trip to Mexico my parent took us to what I think is the most spectacular thing I have ever seen. The pictures don't even come close to how pretty this is and how blue the water is all the way down this river. I live in the Caribbean for crying out loud and I still have never seen water as pretty as this! Of course my four boys (3 sons and husband) had to jump in! To top it off we got to sit alongside and eat some of the best tacos I have ever had in my life. Incredible site- definitely took my breath away!

For all you Johnny Lingo fans



One Sunday my parents took us into the mountains to visit a branch of Tzotzil Indians (descendants of the Mayans). We drove to the end of a dirt road and parked the car. We walked down a dirt trail for about 20 minutes passing corn fields and very humble adobe homes until we reached the little church building. The branch members all of course all walk to get to church too, many having a long hike to get there, but they always come and they are always on time. They speak Tzotzil (nothing like spanish!). It was so neat to interact with them and see how they live. We had brought little bags of toys and candy to pass out to the children and they were so grateful for something so simple. My brother in law took off his own tie and gave it to one of the little boys and the boy was so proud! My parents had told us so many stories of these wonderful people and it was so neat to finally meet some of them. The little branch has been through so much. Just a year ago their branch president was murdered on his way to deposit the tithing money. But still they come and with so much reverence and faith. We also had bags of groceries that we delivered to some of the members home. It was very humbling to walk into their home with dirt floors and a fire pit in the middle of the room to cook on. And I complain about what?....
On a lighter note for all of you Johnny Lingo fans... In these communities you don't buy your wife with cows- you buy your future wife with cases of coke. Which begs the question....how many cases of coke are you worth?

Bet you don't know where Tuxtla Guitierrez is!

I love reading everyone else's blog so I figured I would give it a try too. I'll probably make some things up to make it sound as cool as everyone else's... but the following is true-
For this past Christmas we went to visit my parents in Southern Mexico. They are in their final year there as mission presidents in the Tuxtla Guitierrez Mexico mission for the states of Chiapas and Tabasco (places I would have never known about and certainly never visited had it not been for their mission call!)
It was our second visit there and we absolutely love it. The people are warm and friendly and the weather about the same. My parents mission covers some pretty spectacular sights and terrain, reminding us a lot of Puerto Rico. We had some pretty incredible experiences and things I know I will probably never see or do again. I wanted to post pictures of some of my favorite places but I am still trying to figure this blogging thing out, so more to come....