ryan's senior pictures....

Ryan graduates next week!! I really am not this old. I promise. He is such a good looking guy, not that I'm prejudiced or anything. I can't think too far in the future or else I just get emotional. He has acted like an adult since he was six, but the fact that he is very soon going out on his own is always at the back of my mind. I just want to rewind the last few years and make them go slower and enjoy them more. Time passing is so different at this stage of my life. I just want to hit the pause button and catch my breath, but it isn't to be. I am so proud of Ry and the incredible person he is. The next pictures I post of him will be in a cap and gown.

mark advances in cubs....

Last night at Pack Meeting Mark received his Bear award. I can't believe this is my last time going through cubs! He had his serious face on and was all business last night. He is such a cutie. I am proud of his hard work. When he sets his mind to something there is no stooping him. Congratulations Mark!

the long way home.....

I should start this post saying be careful what you pray for, or perhaps, be very specific what you pray for. Our flights to and from Cancun were very early morning flights. I chose them because 1) they were cheap and 2)they had short layovers and were cheap. Our flight a week ago left Salt Lake City at 6:00 am, and the one coming back left at 7:00 am . Which meant both travel days we were up at the wee hours of the morning heading to the airport. Kelly kept giving me a bad time about the fact that on vacation we had to get up so much earlier than on days we were working. Did I mention the flights were cheap? :)

Getting back to praying. I was very worried on the way back we that would miss our connecting flight in Dallas because we had the shortest layover and had to get our bags and go through customs. I had heard stories of people recently needing more than the ninety minutes we had to clear customs. I remember saying a little prayer about it and praying we would land in Dallas on time and make our next flight. I did fail however to mention to Heavenly Father, that we didn't need nine hours in between flights to make it through customs. He sent hail and rain which cancelled and delayed flights. I don't recall asking for anything quite so drastic, but at two in the morning, I can't actually be sure what I requested.

Seriously, we had a long day yesterday. We finally walked through the door to our home at 11:00 pm last night. Most of our time was spend in gate C33 of the Dallas Airport. They had about a 30 minute freak storm that managed to shut down all flights in and out for a short time and then the rest of the day was spent playing catch up. There were times we didn't know if we would make it out of there yesterday, but eventually we did. When we finally landed in Salt Lake it was to find that our bags didn't want to come home from our vacation and were still hiding in Dallas or somewhere in between. We are still waiting to see if they will find there way home.

I told Kelly that yesterday didn't ruin our wonderful vacation, we will always have incredible memories of Cancun, just not great ones of gate C33 and American Airlines. :) Right before we finally boarded our flight, I was so tired and frustrated and then I saw this little three year old Asian girl. She had long pig tails and a bright pink tu tu playing leap frog with herself in and out and between the line at the gate. It made me smile. She had been waiting just as long as we had all day, and yet had managed to turn it into an adventure. Her little smile and joyful antics brightened up the long line of tired travelers. It was a little sunshine in a long day of storm clouds.

So if I have any advice at the conclusion of our long day yesterday it is to be careful what you pray for, because you just might get it. :) I just hope if you have a long hard day sometime, you get a little girl in a pink tu tu to make you smile. Oh and by the way, if you see any lost luggage by the side of the road, let me know.

day 6...tulum and xel ha

Today we went on a tour of Tulum. It wasn't even close to the quality we had with Helaman. We should have scheduled with him again. Tulum is right on the coast. The water is so clear and beautiful you almost get drawn to the ocean views and disreguard the ruins. We saw lots of iguana's there, I think they have taken the place over. I never thought I'd say lizards were cute, but I'm kind of partial to iguana's. Who would have thought?

We spent the afternoon snorkeling at Xel Ha. A ecological park here. We saw all sorts of fish, and I was proud I didn't scream when than swam close. Of course I was worried about inhaling salt water at the time, so that could explain it. Kelly would probably like it if I snorkeled more often. I am actually still and quiet for a few moments. After listening to me non stop this week, I think he enjoyed the break. :)

I can't believe our week is coming to a close here. It has truly been so relaxing and remarkable. For my first international trip, I have loved every minute. It has been great to spend so much time with Kelly. Life gets so busy sometimes, that we don't always get time for just the two of us. Hopefully we will have the opportunity to take another trip before the next twenty years go by.

day 5...at the beach

We enjoyed another relaxing day at the beach. We sat under our palapa, drinking non alcholic banana momma's, reading, playing in the ocean, walking on the beach. The breeze feels amazing at the beach, and the water is so warm. We go to the far end of the resort and it is so quiet and secluded. Our poor waitress always says, "why do you take the last, last, last palapa?"

In the evenings it's nice to spend it at the resort eating dinner and watching one of the shows. Sometimes there are vendors in the plaza here and I have gotten pretty good at bartering. The first day I bought something a little higher than I should have, and then got smart. Now they are fun to talk to and see what deals I can come up with.

I love this man I have been married to for the past twenty years. He is always making me laugh and see things through a humorous perspective. He has this great hat and it makes him act all Indiana Jones like. I grabbed the camera and had some fun.

day 4...horseback riding

Today we were taken to a nearby beach club to go horseback riding. We had a little bit of a wait before they were ready for us so we relaxed on the beach. I can't get over how beautiful the beaches are here. There is always a great breeze down by the water which makes me not notice the heat.



As I mentioned earlier I have not had a lot of experiences on horses. I told our guide I wanted a gentle obedient horse, basically one that worked on auto pilot. He had a good time teasing me, telling me all his horses have names like Jack the Riper, Lucifer, WidowMaker and so on. We had to wear a little wristband to show we had priveleges at the club for the day and our guide joked that it had a GPS in it so when my horse came back alone, they could come find me. What a comedian!!

I was given a horse called Poker. His nickname is apparently pokey poker which made me feel a lot better than widowmaker. He did really well except for the last half of our ride. Then his cruise control started malfunctioning, he would slow way down and amble along, then all of the sudden start trotting to catch up. My balance and grace is non exisitant so I'm sure everyone got a laugh at me trying to stop the running horse and convince it to speed up a few minutes later all while trying to stay upright in the saddle. Kelly's horse was named Simba, and it liked to stop and eat. I identified with it quite well actually, especially if they would chocolate coat all the foilage around here.


We had a great time on our ride, part of it was on the beach and part went through some jungle areas. There was only one other couple with us and three guides. They must have been forwarned I was coming and made sure I had sufficient supervision. Now we are back at our room relaxing and getting ready to go out to one of the restaurants here for dinner. So far we have tried a seafood one and an indonesian one. It's strange to come to mexico and have different types of food. We have italian, mexican, french, japanese and a steakhouse left to try.



Thanks for your comments, I feel bad for our friends back home who have had nothing but rain. I wish all of you could be here with us. Friends would make this vacation all the more enjoyable. By the way, ignore typo's and mispellings. I didn't realize how much I depend on spellcheck until I come to another country and it doesn't recognize English words. Everything comes back highlighted. :)

day 3...at the beach

Today we planned a relaxing day at the beach. It's a short walk from our room and we are right on the water. I love all the walkways around here, they are all beautiful maintained.

We love to sit under a palapa, and just read and relax. The breeze was cooling and the water was incredibly warm. Again, it was quiet and open at the beach and for most of the day we felt like we were on our own private beach. We had a great waitress who kept bringing us tropical virgin drinks. The banana momma is our current favorite. They are getting used to seeing us and say..."sin alcohol" and we just nod and smile.

The weather has been so beautiful, although the humidity is having fun with my hair. Kelly is always laughing at what crazy curls I have each day. Tomorrow we are horseback riding in the jungle. Wish me luck. My experiences on the back of that four legged animal have not always been positive. My first experience was on my grandparents horse named speedy. He had trouble living up to his name, but I loved him. I could sit on his back and he would just stand for quite awhile and then I would get down. In College I had a life biology class and we went on an overnight horsebacking trip. I was the only girl on a horse named blondie, the five guys that came had to keep rescuing me as my horse had a mind of it's own and I wasn't sure how to "steer" it. Quite a few laughs on my behalf. Hopefully tomorrow I won't take off full speed in the jungle like some indiana Jones want to be. Maybe I'll discover another ancient myan site?

day 2...mayan ruins

We were picked up at our resort just before 8:00 a.m. to begin our day looking at some Myan ruins. We had previously booked with an LDS tour guide named Helaman (yes, that is really his name and he has a son named Nephi) and went with two other couples from nearby hotels. We had heard so many good things about Helaman tours from friends and were so happy we got Helaman himself as our guide. He was so knowlegeable and fun. He kept us on our toes with questions from the Old Testament and Book of Mormon. So much about the history that I never knew.

We traveled for about an hour and a half into the jungle and stopped first at Ek Balem. It was a great place, and not crowded with tourists as some of the other sites. It was hot and dusty but this was my favorite stop of the two we made that day. You could walk and climb on the buildings and temples and the views were amazing.

Throughout the day I was constantly amazed at the intricate carvings made by this people so long ago. I loved learning how intelligent they were in astronomy with their calendars, their numbers and symbolism. It was great to see how the scriptures made so many of these things make sense. I was facinated all day long.




This was our tour group for the day. One couple was from Salt Lake and one was from Calgary. They were a lot of fun to talk with through our travels. It was great to be with some other LDS couples.

This building was known as the palace. It is where the king and his priests lived. We were able to climb it (these Mayan's loved stairs!)

The next building was the temple. I thought the first set of stairs was tough. Good grief. My legs are still wondering what on earth I was thinking yet as I try to convince them it's ok to move today. It was quite steep and as I am afraid of heights I wondered if I could do it. Going up was easier than coming down. I found I did better when I only concentrated on the step below me. Less vertigo that way.

A view from the top

coming down

After leaving Ek Balem, we traveled about forty minutes to Chichen Itza. This site was very commericial and busy. We had a great lunch and began our tour. The thing that amazed me most about this site was how much the Mayan's became interested in idolotry. They were just a blood thirsty people and the human sacrifices that went on were very unsettling.

Years ago you used to be able to climb these ruins, but no so today. To tell you the truth I was very relieved about that by this point.

This is the observatory. Their ability to use calendars was amazing and this building still shows the change of every season.

At Chichen Itza there were lots of vendors selling things, and at times it was difficult to focus on the ruins. The hardest part were how the children came up to you to sing and sell things. They were hard to resist. At one point we stopped to hear these two sing a song in the Mayan language. We tipped them, but then they followed us around for awhile trying to sell us things. They were so sweet, and should have probably been in school, I just wanted to take them home with us.

There were carvings of the face of Caac, the rain god everywhere. When you walk through this hot, dry area with little foilage and no nope of water in sight, I would see how rain would have been a major concern for them.

Despite the twelve hour day, the heat and THE STAIRS, it was an amazing day. I learned so much and loved seeing places I had never seen before. Thanks Helaman, I would recommend anyone who wants to have an incredible day seeing the ruins in this area to look him up. You won't be disappointed.

Shortly before we returned to our resort Helaman said we had to try mexican ice cream. He pulled off the side of the road and got some. Perfect ending to a hot fun day.

viva mexico....

Kelly and I are currently on a vacation in Cancun. It's our first trip in a long time and our very first one out of the country. I not only have a passport (my first) but now I have a stamp in one! :) We are celebrating our anniversary a bit belatedly, but it's worth it. My sisters had traveled to this area in the past year and after doing a lot of research and planning, it is fun to be somewhere tropical. Sometimes you hear scary things about Mexico but this area we are in is very safe for tourists, and our resort make us feel very secure.

We are staying in a gorgeous tropical resort that is amazing. I feel completly spoiled and pampered and at times feel guilty for it. We are staying at the Valentin Imperial Maya resort just south of Cancun. As I am taking a few minutes to type this I hear birds chirping on the terrace and tropical flowers everywhere. Our kids wanted to see pictures, so when I get some time I will post about our adventures.

Our first day we arrived in Cancun about 3:00p.m. Our transportation met us at the airport and we were at our resort in thirty minutes. We were met with cool towels, and champagne. They always look at you strange when you don't drink at these all inclusive resorts. Our room is beautiful and air conditioned. With mid 80's and humidity, the air conditioner is great. I love our resort, it's part jungle and part beach. It's beautiful villas with pools and restaurants all spread out. Most of the time when we are walking around the resort we feel as if we are the only ones there. It's very peaceful.

mother's day...

Once again, it’s that time of year
when Mother’s Day arrives;
I sit in Sacrament meeting,
listening to the talks and wonder if I’ll survive.
You see, it’s always been difficult
to hear all the stories;
of the many super mom’s
and their amazing glories.
Tales of their service, faith
and leaping buildings in a single bound;
all while speaking in quiet tones and smiling all around.

During those moments,
in quiet reflection I sit;
and feel nothing but
totally and completely inadequate.
So today, when I was starting to slip,
into that comparison pit;
I thought of you and suddenly,
my perspective changed lickety split.
It’s easy to see the good in others,
when we stop thinking of where we fail;
so I’d like to talk about the good you do
and all that it entails.

You were my greatest teacher,
so many lessons I can recall.
I learned how to cook, sew,
and even shop deals at the mall.
You taught me to clean a room
and scour the bath,
change a diaper
and weed a garden path.
All the while,
putting up with my complaining way
and the many times I chose
to simply not obey.

Then were the lessons
that were the most important of all;
Of who I am and
where to turn when I fall.
The value of faith, service
and developing a strong testimony;
of prayer, scripture study
and fulfilling every responsibility.

I never fully understood
how grateful I would be,
of the things you took the time
and effort to teach me.
Until I was off on my own,
ready to take charge of my life;
And then times got challenging
and occasionally filled with strife.
Then I had to rely on truths I’d been taught,
examples of what I’d seen.

In those moments I knew to fall to my knees,
and wait for the spirit to intervene.
It was then I fully realized the blessing
your teaching did impart,
as I’d wait for the peace and comfort
that would always come to my heart.
So on this Mother’s day,
thank you for the memories that made me reflect;
That the importance of being a mother
isn’t found in being perfect.
(or leaping tall buildings in a single bound..I am afraid of heights anyway.)

women's conference

This post is a bit late, but a week ago, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend women's conference at BYU with some of my sisters and my mom. We had a great time. I will remember great speakers, hustling across campus to classes, mint brownies, chocolate covered cinnamon bears, shopping, being silly at all hours of the night, and fun memories with some of the best women I know. Whenever I get together with my sisters I am always acutely aware of my sisters who weren't there and it makes me miss them even more. We want to make this a tradition, so we need to see if we can fly Lucy, Cora and Anna out next year, so we can all be together.

Here are some of my favorite quotes from the two days I was there. First the funny ones.

"The Church is not “a well-provisioned rest home for
the already perfected” Barbara Thompson quoting
Elder Neal A. Maxwell.

"I didn't say it was your fault, I only said I want to blame you." Barbara Thompson

"Ideals are stars to steer us by; they are not a stick to beat us with." (Title of a class)

When speaking about our trials there was a quote about gratitude, "Be grateful there is no light at the end of the tunnel, because it could be an oncoming train." Nora Nyland

Some serious quotes:
"Keep it small, keep it simple, give it time." Virgina Pierce talking about prayer

"If our troubles lead us to God, then we can be grateful." Virgina Pierce

"Prayer doesn't miraculously change events or circumstances but instead teaches us how to converse with the Lord" Virgina Pierce

"When we compare ourselves with others, we don't become better, we become bitter...The only person I have to be better than is what I was yesterday." Barbara Thompson

Someone quoting President Hinckley, "Our lives are the only meaningful expression of what we believe and who we believe."

"We need to change the expression I can do hard things, with I do hard things." Julie Beck

"Gratitude is not a grateful gene but a grateful home, we can all learn to be grateful." Nora Nyland

"Articulating gratitude brings the divine into our lives and our relationships." Nora Nyland

"If we only concentrate on the stones in our path we will miss the flowers and streams." Janet Peer

Jewish saying, "To degrade and diminish ourselves, degrades and diminishes God."

"When we make right choices, even when they are hard, we become a portal to inspiration." Shauna Thompson

"Without a test there is no testimony." Shauna Thompson

"The pattern of doing small and simple things, even the mundane things, will bring about extraordinary things." Elder Bednar

Elder Bednar drew a comparison with irrigation. There are the powerful sprinklers that spurt lots of water quickly but then have long periods of time without doing anything. The drip systems bring sustained water to the root of the plant over extended period of times. Sometimes we are "spiritual spurters" we have high concentrated effort we can't sustain and then long periods of time where we don't do anything. We need to make small and simple efforts but make them continuous. "Measured steadiness is better than spurts and slacking."

I loved women's conference. It was a good motivation without making me feel overwhelmed and unworthy. I loved feeling the spirit and having a renewed determination to make today better than yesterday and when that doesn't always happen,to forgive myself and try again.

This picture is just to illustrate some of the silly things we did between the spiritual. We went out to dinner one night and passed by a bar, we thought we'd be funny and take a picture in front of it. Quite the contrast to our spiritual meetings. Notice we posed outside it, and didn't go in. We weren't completely corrupt. :)