Enjoying the Season!

We have been enjoying the holiday season by attending lots of Christmas parties and visiting the Elves at Gardner Village. Taylor doesn't like Santa very much this year but hopefully that will change is years to come. I had to sit on Santa's lap with Taylor for him to be okay.

Maybe I will take a picture of our tree and post. We did decorate one and Taylor loves to have all the lights on around the house. Everyday he says "Wight, Wight, Wight." Unfornately our live tree didn't last long and is already very dried up and I get very nervous having the lights on all the time. Oh well!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season.

Happy Birthdays!

Emily and Bob put together a birthday dinner/party for Carter and Grandma. Thanks for the cake. Carter was so good at unwrapping his gifts for a 1 year old. The remote control car that Taylor gave Carter scared him at first but I hope he eventually enjoys it. Grandma had lots of help opening her gifts.

Taylor Randomness!

I decided to post a few pictures that were on my camera. They are just random pictures of my little buddy.

This is his bank (blankie) and he always want it close by.


This is Taylor destroying an old computer with a hammer. For safety he has his helmet on.


This is the hat Dave purchased Taylor for the BYU vs Utah game. Its a little big.

Giving THANKS!

Dave: Everything!

Tracie: My family! I am so grateful for my wonderful husband who is so helpful, so fun, and any amazing father. I am grateful for Taylor who brings a smile to my face everyday. I am grateful for two little babies that will be joining our family in June. I am grateful for wonderful parents who taught me everything and led me in the right direction. I am grateful for wonderful In-Laws that raised an amazing son and are so kind to me. I am grateful for our home, our jobs, and all that we have. I am very grateful for the knowledge of the gospel and for the opportunity to be sealed for eternity to my family.

Taylor: Mama, Dada, Boggie, Dre, Bank (Blanket)

New Jersey in the fall

Dave has always talked about going to New Jersey in the fall and this year we were able to do it. It was a little late in the fall so most of the leaves had changed colors and were falling but it was still beautiful.

While we were there we got to do so much. The first day Dave and I went to the Washington DC temple with his home ward. It was a great experience and it is such a beautiful temple. Then we were able to eat dinner at the Willis home. They were so kind to feed us. Also Dave, Mike and some guys that they grew up with in the ward got to laugh about the old days. While we were gone to DC, Grandma and Grandpa took care of all the children. THANKS!!!!

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday we just relaxed and enjoyed being with the family. We got to rake leaves, play in the trees, and go to the Aquarium. Taylor loved seeing all the fish, the hippopotamus was fun to look at but he did not want to be close.

Wednesday we left Taylor again and headed to New York. Dave had to drag me around because I was not feeling well. We saw Grand Central Station, the UN building, Statue of Liberty, Ground Zero, a lot of Central Park, FAO Schwartz (I wouldn't play the big piano), Ray's Pizza, and the highlight of the night was the Dave Letterman show. While we were in line for the show they asked us a few questions, Dave acted all excited and full of enthusiasm. Well, he did a great job, they liked him so much we got put with the crazy crowd that gets to sit in the first rows. We got front row seats right next to Paul Shaffer and his band. We had so much fun and really enjoyed the overall experience.

Thursday we left for Palmyra, New York. On the way we passed Scranton (the city that the tv show Office is based out of), we were excited to see it. Friday morning I woke up with the room spinning and needing to find the bathroom. Needless to say everyone went to Niagara Falls without me because I couldn't leave the toilet. I knew I was pregnant but had not been this sick, I thought something was wrong. Anyway, Dave and Taylor went to Niagara but Dave forgot his camera, so we have no pictures.

Saturday we explored all the wonderful LDS sites in Palmyra. It was an very spiritual and amazing experience (it just would have been better if everything wasn't spinning). Then we headed back home. When we got back to Mt. Laurel we said our goodbyes and then next morning we jumped back on the airplane and came home to Utah. I can't tell you how happy I was to be in my own car, my own house, and my own bed. I hate being sick when I am around others.

Sorry to all those that had to witness me being sick. Thanks to everyone for such a great trip. We love to visit New Jersey, especially the family!! Taylor absolutely loved hanging out and just watching Isabel, Cecily and Bentley. THANKS!!!

Finally - Halloween!

I have been a little slow with everything lately. I have finally decided I need to post about Halloween and our New Jersey trip.

We unfortunately did not celebrate Halloween too much this year and I did not take too many pictures. Taylor was a dragon for a few Halloween parties and a dragon Halloween morning. That afternoon we flew to New Jersey and on the airplane he was a cowboy. We did go trick or treating at G&G Draper's and Great Grandma Lee's but that was it. Oh, he did get to do a little trick or treating in the airport.

The pilot for our flight was really nice and let Taylor sit in his seat and pretend to fly. He absolutely loved it. I think that beat out all the candy he got.

GO BIG....OR GO HOME!!!

Well if you know Dave, you have most likely heard him say the above quote. A quote to live by...hehe!! So look below and see what you see and then read the rest.

How are you at counting?? Look close at picture!!

We went to the Doctor today and got the news...not one...but two little "buggers" are in there. We are very excited, but a little nervous!! Wish us luck they will be here June 17th or sooner! Most likely sooner!!

Weekend in Logandale!

I got a little lazy last week and did not post about our awesome weekend with the Statheli's.

I drove down to Logandale with my parents and Carrie Thursday morning. Dave came down Thursday after work. We got to watch Makenzie and Drake play soccer that night. They were both so awesome. We had so much fun cheering for them. Friday Nikki was nice enough to take us to Boulder City to get ready for Dave's triathlon. On our way past Vegas we stopped by to see Fireman Uncle Steve at his station. We were lucky enough to get a private tour of the station and the fire truck. Steve let Tyson and Taylor play in the truck, go up top to the bucket, and he even let them ride in the truck. Taylor absolutely loved it. THANKS Steve!



After our trip we got to watch Sawyer play football and he did a great job. Saturday morning Dave and I took off at 5am to go to his triathlon. Taylor stayed with the rest of the family (THANKS). This triathlon trail was a little more difficult than previous races this year so I was a little more worried about Dave. He did awesome though and finished 7th in his age group. This triathlon had a lot of athletes. I believe his race had about 550 participants. Good job!



After the race we went to a Fiesta and watched Sawyer play his saxophone and got some snowcones. Right after that we headed to the ward Elder Quorum activity at the Warm Springs. The water was warm but the air was cold. I wish I would have got a picture of Steve wearing my jacket.

Thanks to the Staheli's for hosting us and letting us take over your house and beds. You guys are awesome. We loved spending time with you. Here are two pictures of future triathletes.

BYU

Dave isn't happy that Taylor's first football game was a BYU game but hey we had free tickets. Saturday afternoon after a lot of deliberation we decided to all attend the freezing cold BYU vs New Mexico game. By brother-in-law Shane is on the BYU team and his parents and my parents have season tickets they were not using. So, Dave, Taylor, myself, Cindy, Cindy's friend, Uncle Jeff, and Logan got to attend the game. My parents got to use player tickets and sat on row 7 with Carrie and Kace. They had great seats.

Taylor actually did fairly well and we had a lot of fun. We wished the game would have been a little more exciting but the overall atmosphere was awesome. We took a walk in between every quarter to relieve some or Taylor's energy. I got a serious work out carrying Taylor up and down the stairs.



This was a really fun time as a family and I am just glad it didn't rain or snow.

Thanks to my parents and the Hunters for the tickets. #47 is Shane!

Snow Badgers

I got to spend some time with a few Badgers this Friday. Michal, Marilee, Nicole and myself were roommates (we counted Marilee as a roomie) while attending Snow College. It was really good to see Nicole's new baby girl, Savannah.

Thanks for a great time. We need to get together more often.

Garden 2008

Our garden this year was not that big but we got a lot of tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers. Taylor loves to help pick the vegetables. Sometimes he picks the green tomatoes on accident but he is trying his hardest to help. Every time he picks a vegetable he says "Yum, Yum .... Yum, Yum." The irony is he will not eat any of them. He won't even try them.

TAG

This tag is quite simple and fun. Just go into your picture folder on your computer. Find the 4th folder, then the 4th picture. Post it and describe the picture.



This is a picture taken from the Quicksilver boat in Port Douglas, Australia. Dave and I went on vacation after he graduated to my dream place - Australia. We went with a tour group (which is always entertaining) and on this day we were heading out to the Great Barrier Reef (more specific - Agincourt Reef) to Snorkel and ScubaDive. This picture is of the scenery. The overall vacation was an unforgettable experience.

The picture is kind of boring but there is a good story behind it.

I tag anyone who wants to do this.

My Taylor Favorites!

Taylor loves to climb on everything and ride on everything right now. This is a favorite of mine. He looks so big sitting on the truck.

Taylor is very loving right now. He loves to kiss and hug and cuddle. What a sweetheart.

He has learned how to be silly and runs around doing a fake laugh, yelling "No."

His "Hi" and "Bye" to everyone and everything.

His willingness to help me clean my house, cook dinner, change his diaper, and everything else I do or Dad does around the house.

I love that when I ask him to do something, he does it and he likes doing it.

And I just love his smile especially this smile...

Conference in Idaho!

We were so excited to spend the weekend in Idaho with Grandma and Grandpa Allred. Dave's mom flew in from New Jersey and Bob, Emily, Carter, Cindy, Dave, Taylor and myself joined up in Burley. Thanks to Cindy for entertaining Taylor on the way. Thanks to Grandma & Grandpa for hosting. Thanks to MaryAnn and Grandma for the delicious food (Bob thanks for puffy pancakes). Emily thanks for taking me to Children's World.

We spent most of our time watching all the wonderful speakers for the LDS General Conference. It taught or reminded me to live on less, be kinder, smile, reach out to others and so much more. To read more, click here.

What a great weekend.

A Missionary Miracle

We received a letter in the mail a month ago and it was from a girl that Dave baptized on his mission in Brazil, over ten years ago. She is currently serving a mission at Temple Square in Salt Lake City. After writing back to her and letting her know we lived in Utah and would love to come see her she replied and was so excited to see Dave again. We met with her at Temple Square (which was approved by her mission president) and she gave us a tour. It was one of the neatest experience I have had. She was so overwhelmed with graitude towards Dave. She was so grateful he had the spirit with him on the mission, that he found her, that he baptised her and that she got to see him again.

She gave us a great tour and discussed the "Proclamation to the World" with us. We were all strongly touched by the spirit.

Dave was very happy to see that she was still a member of the church and that she was now spreading the gospel. Isn't it amazing what can happen when a seed is planted in someone. When we were saying goodbye she wanted to make sure Dave understood how grateful she was. Not only was she blessed with the gospel in her life but it will continue on with her children and their children and so on. She is also spreading it to those she meets at temple square.

What an incredible experience we have had this last month! We love Sister Pacheco and can't wait to see her again.

New Bike

I know Taylor is not quite big enough or old enough to ride a bike but he loves to play with every bike he sees. So Dad could not resist a good deal on KSL Classifieds and Taylor got his first bike. It is a Huffy and it is pretty sweet. Taylor absolutely loves it. We have to go ride on it every day.

Burrrrr Cold!

We didn't have any plans for Friday night so for a last minute idea we decided to go camping. We had been wanting to go all summer but just hadn't found the right time. Friday afternoon I put together our camping stuff and we headed up American Fork canyon. We found a spot near Cascade Springs, assembled the tent and started a fire. Dave was a good boy scout so he had the fire going quickly but not as quick as I put up the tent. Chalk one up for the women!

Anyway, we had a lot of fun. It was Taylor's first camp out. He loved his fire roasted hot dog and our chicken tinfoil dinners were awesome. The best I have had. Taylor fell asleep fairly quickly, all bundled up in his new mummy bag. Around 2am Taylor woke up and flipped out. He was scared to death and couldn't get out of his restricting bag. Poor guy! He eventually went back to sleep and we woke up around 7am. When Dave opened the door of the tent I couldn't believe my eyes, everything was frozen. I just hadn't thought about how cold it was going to be and we were all warm at night. Our tent was frozen over on the outside, our chairs that we left out were covered in frost and the firewood covered in frost. It made for a cold morning but a fun adventure. We ended the morning by stopping at the reservoir. What a great family weekend.

Wasatch 100 Mile Endurance Run

Who would run 100 miles? That is just simply crazy!

Dave has a co-worker/friend, Jeff, who runs a lot. He does a lot of ultra marathons. Dave had mentioned a few times that Jeff was doing the Wasatch 100 but I hadn't asked many questions. Dave also had mentioned that he might go run with him to support him and be a pacer. Once again I didn't ask questions and hadn't heard too much about it. About three days before the race Dave tells me he is going to go run with Jeff. At this point I got curious. So, I asked the questions. What is this race? How far is Jeff running? How far are you running? When are you running? Have you trained? What the heck are you thinking?

Jeff ran 100 miles over the mountain tops of the Wasatch Front on dirt trails for 32 hours. Dave ran the last 25 miles with him from Brighton to Midway. Dave met Jeff at 4:30am and ran until 1:30pm the next day. My amazing (or is crazy a better word) husband did not train for his 25 miles and has only been running up to 6 miles to train for his triathlons. And lets be honest he wasn't been running very often.

They both finished the race (Dave as a pacer) and I was absolutely amazed. Dave had a knee that bothered him but otherwise felt great. He said he wasn't that tired and really enjoyed it. Jeff just blew me away. I don't know how he can run a 100 miles but he did it and he is my hero for doing it.

I love the outdoors and one of my favorite things to do is hike through the mountains so this race caught my attention. I decided this might not be a bad thing to train for. Then reality hit me, they have to finish the race is 36 hours or the participant is pulled off the course, I am not a fast hiker! And one thing is for sure, I would not want to hike/run through the mountains all night in the dark - SCARY!!!

Way to go Jeff!
Dave way to go on running your first ever consecutive 25 miles!

The Nie Nie Story!

If you haven't heard about Nie Nie already take a look at this blog.
http://www.nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/

Wow Animals!

Dave's parents were in town the last couple of weeks and it has been so much fun. We love to have them here and love spending time with them. Taylor really enjoys hanging out with Grandma and Grandpa. They spoiled us and took us to dinner a few times, to the Outlet Mall and to the Hogle Zoo. Taylor loves animals and could not stop saying "Wow" at all the amazing creatures. We got to see a white alligator, the cutest baby orangutan (that was so playful, curious, and darling), a leopard (that kept pacing in front of the window scaring Taylor), and so much more.

THANKS Tim and MaryAnn, we will miss you! It was also so much fun to spend time with Bob, Emily, Carter, Cindy, Big Mama and Aunt Suz.

Climbing!!

Taylor has found a new favorite thing to do, CLIMB! He has enjoyed climbing for a long time but he has figured out how to get on all counter tops and now he loves to climb. We took action pictures of him climbing on top of the kitchen counter tops. The part you don't get to experience from the photos are the sounds he makes. He loves to grunt as he climbs, it is so funny.

He's 29! Happy Birthday!

I hope Dave had a good birthday. It was definitely a day full of action. Dave had his third triathlon of the year at Jordanelle. The race started at 10am and my dad, me, Taylor, and Dave's parents were there to cheer him on. It still amazes me every time he gets out there and races. All went very well and he ended up taking 3rd in his age division and getting a medal. Way to go Dave! It was so fun to see him do so well and get something for it.

After the race my parents had a birthday lunch and cake for him and then we went to visit our brand new niece Kelly Ann Hough. Congrats to Lesa & Steve on beautiful little girl. She is so tiny, Taylor looked huge next to her.

Then we went to dinner with some neighborhood friends. Thanks to the Broadbents, Eberts and Princes for throwing Dave a party. It was so fun to spend time with them. We have wonderful people that surround us, we are so lucky.

It was a long exhausting day but so much fun.
Happy Birthday Dave!

1998 - Wasn't it Great!

I had my 10 year reunion on August 9th at Soldier Hollow and I dragged Dave to the party. Luckily a lot of my great girlfriends were there and Dave knows all the husbands. The boys had a little too much fun together, especially Joe and Dave, but they entertained us. It was nice to see a lot of people from HS that I haven't seen for awhile. I can't people how time flies. We are now all grown up, have families, and are approaching 30!

Great Job to those that put it together and thanks to Kye for being the MC(I wouldn't want to be up there).

We had a picture taken with some of the classmates and it is unfortunately blurry but I thought I would post it anyway.

I'm Free

I have been wanting to get my hair cut for a long time. I saved up birthday money and finally went to get it cut. Deep down I wanted to go short. The problem is will it look good? I had an internal struggle for a month - short or just a trim, short or just a trim. After a referral from Natalie I went to a new stylist, Tracy, at Olivia Jade Studio in Saratoga Springs. She did a wonderful job and she cut it short. I am now free of all my hair. I love it!

I hate having a picture of me on the blog, especially a close up, this is for you Mindy!

Taylor Thinks He Can Dance

Here is the last post of the night. The other night Taylor went crazy and was dancing all over the house. I caught a little bit on video. We could not stop laughing at him. He danced around the house for about a half hour.

Yee-Haw

On Saturday Taylor and I went shopping at the outlet stores in Park City while Dave went biking with Fro & Kade up Deer Valley. After shopping, and waiting a long time the guys finally found their way down the mountain and we headed to Heber. We went to the Wasatch County Fair Days parade and then to the rodeo. Taylor loved the parade. He really enjoyed the horses, the candy and all the excitement. Then we went home and changed into our rodeo outfits. Dave usually dresses up in wranglers but he wussed out and said it was too hot. Taylor was so cute in his wranglers and boots (thanks to Nikki). It was the funniest thing to watch him walk, he was a true cowboy that night. The rodeo was so much with with everyone there. It was fun to see Grandpa in the turck, the bull riding, the clown act, the candy and the fun light flasing glasses and that someone bought. Unfortunately Stevie got a little injured but was a tough girl. Amazingly enough Taylor lasted throughout the whole rodeo and the firework show, which I think is one of the best fireworks shows around. We didn't get home until 11:45 that night.

Bear Lake

Bear Lake was so much fun this year with the Draper Family. We love being with everyone, being up late, eating raspberry shakes and having wonderful adventures together. Thanks to Lesa & Steve for putting it together, Mom & Dad for the house, Amy & Duff for the boat, and everyone else for just being there.

Memories
*The Red Rooster
*Dave's broken coccyx
*Raspberry Shakes - 3 times
*Dave and Brady giving Kace and Drake some tips on picking up girls
*The flashy red boat that attracted the bear lake cops
*Dave & Steve S. always talking and giving everyone a hard time and driving me nuts
*Drake winning the golf game - with a 3 stroke subtration on each hole, replacing a few balls that were hit in a bad spot, and not playing part of the last hole
*Dave & Steve S. in the same golfcart together (bad idea) and getting it stuck in the mud
*Dad almost hitting Drake & I with a golf ball
*Taylor getting sick from drinking too much lake water
*The girls making our bed each morning
*All of the amazing talents - Carrie can fit way too many grapes in her mouth (Duff comment - she's crowning)
*All the wonderful meals
*Listening to Kace and Drake wine on the water wienie
*Sierra always watching out for Taylor
*Getting to surf - thanks to Duff

And so many more. Thanks everyone!

Finally - Pictures!

I finally downloaded the pictures of hiking to Stewart Falls, Dave's Echo triathlon, and a few extra summer pictures. Enjoy!



There are two pictures of Dave and Kimball having a water fight. They had a water fight with water wienies made out of surgical tubing. That brought back a lot of memories because when we were growing up we always had surgical tubing and half a pen to make water wienies for our water fights. Good Memory! I had forgotten about them. Anyway, we got to spend a Friday night with the Hansen family. We love this cute little family and really miss living close by them. They are so much fun and great friends. Thanks for everthing Hansens!

No Camera!

I haven't been carrying my camera with me the last couple of weeks so I don't have any new pictures. I decided to update my blog though with a little bit about my family.

Taylor is growing so quickly and I am starting to think I don't have a baby anymore. He goes off and plays by himself most of the time and is starting to watch movies and loves to be independent. He is very interested in cooking and has to watch me prepare meals, which makes me nervous because of the stove and the knives. He also loves to help with loading the dishwasher and loading the washer and dryer. He is becoming a great helper. He loves pulling everything out but also loves putting it away. One of his favorite new things to do is folding his arms. In church he sees everyone folding their arms and he loves to copy them. Every time we say, "It is time for prayer" he folds his arms (it never lasts throughout the prayer). He doesn't say too many new words but his most recent is "Banpa", translation - Grandpa. He is really into climbing and has found out that if he pushes his fire engine up to the couch he can climb on it and then onto the couch. Swimming has been a lot of fun these last few weeks. Today we went swimming with Amy, Kassidy, Lesa, Jake, Stevie, Natalie, Sara, Issac, and Colin. Taylor loves trying to follow everyone around but doesn't want anyone to touch him. He is learning to float on his back, kick his legs, blow bubbles, and how to hold his breath.

That was a lot about Taylor, now a little about Dave. He did his second triathlon and this one was at Echo Reservoir in Coalville. Dave said he didn't feel great during the swim but I think he did an incredible job. He took 5th in his age group and 49th overall. This triathlon was much larger than his last one. This one had over 900 participants. Way to go Dave! His next triathlon is on August 23 at Jordanelle Reservoir.

As for me - nothing exciting. I have started working out everyday which I haven't done for awhile. Taylor and I have been going for a lot of long walks, bike rides, and hikes. These are not vigorous workouts but at least it is something. I do have pictures of our hiking trip to Stewart Falls with the Drapers I will have to post those another time. I have been working a little more. I have been running a day camp program where I work. I have only done a two week session but it took a lot out of me. Everyday I was running to WalMart or a craft store and staying up late at night trying out different crafts and games. Dave really helped me out with testing everything. Right now I have no more day camps scheduled but we might have one in August.

I hope you enjoyed this little update about our family.

Swim, Ride, Run

Last blog for the day is about my machine Dave. He has more energy than anyone I have met and he blows me away when it comes to his endurance. Last year he did one (his first ever) sprint triathlon and he just finished his first this year. He has been doing a little training but nothing too serious. We went to Logan and he competed in the Cache Valley Triathlon and took 29th overall and 4th in his age division. Afterwards he doesn't seem too tired and he doesn't get sore. I don't understand that, who can do that! Well, he can. Great Job! Doesn't he look hot in those tight spandex shorts and tight shirt!

On the Thursday before the triathlon Taylor got really sick. He threw up more than I thought possible. It was my first experience with a sick child throwing up all over the house, in his crib, all over me and anything in his path. It was miserable. Friday he threw up a few more times in the morning but it eventually stopped. That night we headed to Logan for the triathlon. He was so sleepy and so quiet all night and all day Saturday. At the tri it was so easy to take care of him because he didn't want out of his stoller and slept part of the time. It has taken him a long time to get better. I think he is finally there. His energy returned just yesterday afternoon and he is finally eating everything again. Anway, that is why he looks so tired and sad in the picture with Dave.

Summertime Fun

I love to hike and be surrounded by nature so on the 14th we headed up American Fork canyon to enjoy the beauty. The ride was a little long with Taylor screaming in the backseat because he got sunscreen in his eyes. Poor guy! The tears subsided as soon as we got out of the car and he could roam. We got to take the dogs with us which is always a treat for them and they get overly excited. We had a good day relaxing outdoors and eating our picnic.

Afterwards we went to my niece's birthday party and had dinner. She got a Hannah Montana wig for her birthday and everyone tried it on, I like Kace's picture the best.

At the end of the slide show I through in two random pictures of Taylor. We love checking out his sleeping position and this is one of our favorites, look at him hug the animals. The other picture is at Thanksgiving Point, of course we love that place. I didn't think much about the water because we went at 7:30 but he couldn't resist playing at Noah's ark and got soaked in his clothes.

Lake Powell

I know it has been awhile but things have been just a little crazy and I put blogging at the bottom of the list.

We went to Lake Powell June 7-10 with the Johnson Family, Brady, Angie, Casey, Lindsay, Carrie, Shane and Kade. I had a huge fear of Taylor falling in the water but Dave told me it would be alright and it was. Everyone helped to keep a close watch on him and Lesa let us barrow two forms of life perservers.

Taylor loves the water but the first time I put him in Lake Powell he screamed. It was a lot colder than he is used to. We kept putting him in a few times a day and by the end he learned that if he stayed in the water and splashed water on me it was pretty fun.

We had a really good time. Thanks to everyone especially Duff and Amy.

More Hondo!

I promised to post pictures of the rest of our vacation so here it is. But first I have a picture of our sweet, grown-up boy. Grandma Draper, Grandma Bramhall, Aunt Amy, and others helped watched him while we were gone. I hear that he was an angel but maybe they are hiding the truth. We missed him very much and are happy to spend every minute with him.

We headed out to Utila, an island off of Honduras, to enjoy beach life and to do a little snorkeling. The first day in Utila was not the most pleasant day, it was extremely hot and our hotel room was worse than being outside. Luckily they did have window air conditioning units that we quickly turned on and our rooms were a decent temperature by bedtime. Early the next morning we had George take us to our own private island - Sandy Cay.

We stayed here for two days and it was the most wonderful, relaxing part of the trip. It is just wonderful to be by ourselves to enjoy nature. The island was surrounded by reef and we did a lot of snorkeling. Dave and Tyler went at least 3 times a day for an hour each time. The last time snorkeling on the second day Dave and Tyler say a Sting Ray and I joined them before we saw a shark. Yes it was very scary to me. I wasn't so sure I wanted to be in the water anymore. Luckily it was a small shark and probably was scared to death of us. Tyler found an awesome star fish but it was still alive so we had to leave it. The sunsets were absolutely amazing, I have never seen something so beautiful. And the boys worked very hard on knocking a coconut out of the tree, ripping of the soft outside shell, and then finally cracking the nut to get out coconut milk.

Then the rest of the pictures are just of different parts of Honduras that we loved! First picture is of a truck with approximately 30 men in it drive down the highway and 60 mph - very stupid!

The second picture is of the awesome small trucks that are just my size.

Our last night in Honduras we searched out a place to eat Baliadas. Tyler and Mindy ordered the Super Baliadas. Believe it or not, Tyler ate the whole thing. Baliadas are mainly torillas, beans and eggs. The second picture is of a LDS church, all the churches are gated like this for protection. The last picture is a typical home in Honduras with clothes on the line. If you look to the right of the yellow cloth you will see a house, a very small house that someone was in we saw them peek out at us. Could you even imagine?

That is the end of the pictures I will post. Once again, I will say it was a wonderful experience and I hope to one day visit Dave's mission area in Brazil. He said Honduras brought back a lot of memories. Someday, Honey, we will go.

Buenas!

We are safely back in Utah after traveling to Honduras with our wonderful friends Tyler and Mindy. We were there for 10 days and had an incredible experience. It definitely reminded us how blessed we are to live in this country and to have a home with air conditioning, electricity, toilets that flush, carpet, and so much more. Also, I had a wonderful time with my husband. It was so great to spend that much time with him. He is amazing, funny, and very adventurous. Thanks Honey for a great vacation!

Anyway, we really missed Taylor and are very glad to be back home. I will share more pictures later. I didn't get them all downloaded.



We went to some beautiful waterfalls at Pulapanzak where we walked through and under the waterfalls and to a cave, rode the zipline over the waterfall, and jumped off some small cliffs. In the first picture Tyler is jumping off a cliff in the second picture I am on the zipline over the waterfall.




In the first picture we are standing on the edge of the 180 meter waterfall, there are no safety percautions - Sketch!








This is Dave&Tyler practicing their torilla making skills that Hermana Gloria taught us. We had just gone to church that is why Dave&Tyler are in a shirt and tie in 110 degrees and 100% humidity. In the group picture notice how tall I look - I like the short Honduraians:)

This is at the Copan Mayan Ruins. Simply Amazing!

These pictures were from the first 4 days of our vacation. I will post the rest another day.