Trip to Utah

Last year I told Ben that I really needed a trip home before the baby was born. We bought tickets for February since Ben would have accrued some time off by then, but we wouldn't have to pay for a plane ticket for Nayeli.

Thus a few weeks ago we boarded a plane back to Utah. Ben stayed only four days while I stayed a whole week. The trip was so great- just what I needed to recharge my batteries and reconnect with family.

Watching the planes with Dad at PDX

Relishing in all the toys at Opa and Grandma Rita's house

We spent the first two days with my family in Provo (I'm ashamed to say that I didn't get any pictures of us with my family. Boo). Wednesday night we did dinner at my parent's and Laura and Christina came up with their families. Thursday morning my mom watched Nayeli while we went to do a session at the Provo Temple. It will always be sentimental to us since we were married there. In the afternoon we visited some of our old friends from the Provo 6th ward. It was great to see some of the people who we loved so dearly and worked so closely with. Then that night we did dinner at my parent's house again with Laura and Tina's families.

Friday Ben got to go skiing at Snowbasin with his dad and brother Sammy. They had a riot, like always.

While Ben was skiing, I bought cupcakes at Sweet Tooth Fairy (divine) and had lunch with my friend Jessica. I then drove to Bountiful to see my father's mother- my Nana. She is 97 and still lives alone and independent. It is hard to see her age but I know death will be a welcome relief for her. She has been a widow for 27 years and I know can't wait to be reunited with my grandpa.

A picture from a visit in June of 2013. Nayeli has changed so much since then.

Chelsea, Lacie, Nayeli, Lydia, Jace

That night we had dinner with Ben's dad and grandparents at their home in Ogden. Nayeli loved playing with Aunt Chelsea and all the cousins while we had a great time chatting with all the adults.

Saturday Ben went skiing again (that's what his family does when they get together) but this time at Deer Valley. He's been super spoiled this year- already he's skied four different resorts. I keep telling him that as long as he thinks, "I have the greatest wife ever" every time he boards the lift, I don't mind him going :)

A few of those that came to the shower: Laura, me, my cousin Lorianne, Aunt Margaret, and my cousins Jen and Anna

While Ben skied I drove to my sister Laura's house in Mapleton for a baby shower that my family threw. My sisters Christina, Julia and Laura together with my mom put together a beautiful shower. We had so many cousins come and it was so fun chatting together. It was one of the highlights of my trip.

That night I drove back up to Salt Lake to Ben's mom's house for dinner. They had spent the day skiing at Deer Valley.

I love this picture Ben took with a GoPro he had borrowed.

 Anyway, sfter a delicious dinner prepared by Jane we all went swimming in the pool. Nayeli was in heaven.

Nayeli and Grandma Jane

Sunday we went to church with Jane and Gary and spent the afternoon chatting. Some of Gary's family came for Sunday dinner and it was great to see them, as well as Ben's great-aunt Esther. She was kind enough to drive him to the airport that night when his flight left at 10pm. I may have cried when he left. Seriously, you can chalk it up to pregnancy hormones, but he's my other half and I hate being apart from him.

Monday morning Nayeli got to go swimming with Grandma Jane again, which she of course was thrilled about. I later drove back to my parent's house for the last few days of the trip. Being there is such a breath of fresh air. They built it more than forty years ago and raised all seven of their children within it's walls. Each time I walk through the door I think of the Miranda Lambert song, "The House That Built Me". It'll always be home to me.

I apologize for the nostalgia. Monday night my mom and dad took me to dinner at Kneader's, one of my favorite restaurants. I offered to drive so we wouldn't have to transfer Nayeli's carseat, but soon regretted it as they began to give me directions to the restaurant. I had to remind them that I had only been gone for six months and prior to that I had lived in Provo for 26 years. In their defense, I wasn't driving the way they drive there, so they felt they needed to intervene :)

Tuesday Ben's mom met me at Wal-mart in Orem so she could watch Nayeli while I got my haircut. Nayeli loved getting spoiled by Grandma Jane and still refers to "Jane, store" whenever she wants something. After, we had lunch with Gary's daughter-in-law Michelle at Jason's Deli. It was a great time to get to chat together. Plus, they have free ice cream, which Nayeli proudly paraded around on her white shirt the rest of the day.

That night my family had dinner together again and then I bid them all farewell. My high school friends and I had planned to get together for dessert, but each had to cancel due to various reasons. The only one still able to see me was my friend Ryan. She drove up to my parent's house, just like old days, and we chatted until about 1am. It was wonderful to catch up... we hadn't seen each other since before Nayeli was born. It's funny how those who you love will always be those you love, even if you don't see them often.

The next morning I packed up our bags, drove to Jane's, then she dropped us off at the airport. I paid the $3 to curbside check our bags (worth every penny), ate lunch at Cafe Rio one more time (I couldn't resist), then boarded the plane. 

Considering that I was 32 weeks pregnant with a toddler on my lap, the flight was fairly uneventful. That was mostly thanks to the mass of activities, games, puppets, and treats that I had packed. I also told myself that anything that fell on the floor, stayed on the floor until we landed. That rule came in handy when Nayeli dropped an entire pack of flashcards onto the ground mid-flight. Nothing that a sucker can't fix, right?

The most eventful moment came when I saw the flight attendants at the front of plane handing out drinks and told Nayeli they would bring her a drink. She then proceeded to yell for a "yummy soda" for the next 15 minutes until they arrived at our aisle, 20 or so rows back. Luckily, a few people later mentioned to me that they thought it was "really cute".

Ben left work early to pick us up and we merrily drove home. It's funny, when you juxtapose it with a trip to Utah, Oregon doesn't totally feel like home yet. However it's where we're supposed to be for the time being. And although that doesn't make it Utah, it makes it enough.

The Greatest Vacation of 2012 (Part 2) - Naples, Florida

On Tuesday we took an early morning flight out of New Orleans, through Nashville, into Ft. Lauderdale. 

Nayeli was a champ on all the flights. Luckily, this time we had an empty seat next to us.

After renting a car, we drove an hour and a half across the peninsula of Florida to Naples. Surprisingly, we were welcomed by a torrential rain storm. Literally, water pouring from the sky. We were hoping for sunny, warm skies but I found myself drenched after running around Emily's townhouse to find her hide-a-key. Emily and Darren would have been there to greet us, but they were in Utah until the next day for Darren's sister's wedding. So we had an evening to show ourselves around.

We took a sunset cruise that takes you past all the million dollar homes in the area. It was amazing. I'm going to model my mansion in heaven after a few of the homes I saw (that is if I keep working to deserve it, of course).

 On the cruise. There was a Brazilian couple that were obsessed with Nayeli. They kept taking pictures of her, so I finally offered to let the woman hold her. She was so excited and ended up holding Nayeli for part of the cruise. It gave Ben and I some "us" time, so I didn't mind.

Cloudy Naples cruise, but we weren't complaining. It was beautiful.

The next day we drove to the Everglades. Luckily, we happened upon the greatest tourist attraction ever- Wooton's Tourist Center - and had a blast. We got to visit the mini-zoo and alligator farm, go on an air-boat ride, and drive through the swamp in a swamp buggy.

 My other favorite picture ever. Aren't they so cute together? 

I have this picture framed by my bed I love it so much.

Ben and Nayeli standing in front of 50 alligators. Nayeli is not taking her eyes from them.

Yes, they were the most terrifying thing I've ever seen. Especially when they threw chicken to them and they jumped for the food. The video clip below will give you an idea of what it was like.

After the alligator show we got to hold baby alligators. Here is Ben holding the smaller one.

Me holding the small one... and super nervous.

Don't ask me why, but I have always wanted to hold an alligator. So after I finished with the mini one, they handed me the big one. Are you kidding me? He was practically my size! I had to shove my elbows into my ribs to sustain the weight. But then I got this sweet picture. 

Another item on my bucket list checked off.

 

Air-boat ride!

 

I plugged Nayeli's ears and she took a little nap. I guess she liked the hum of the motor. 

Crusin' through the Everglades.

After the ride. It was so much fun.

 

And last but not least they took us on an awesome tour of the swamp in this swamp buggy- a glorified tractor. We saw alligators down by the tires as well as racoons in the trees. 

I felt like it was such an adventure- the whole thing. So much fun.

That night Darren and Emily flew back into Florida. We ate Chinese take-out and chatted while watching the Presidential debates. I love Emily and Darren. They have always been so kind to me and this trip was no exception.

The next morning Emily got the kids off to school and then all the adults plus babies drove three hours to Key Largo. Ben and Darren were going to scuba dive together and Emily and I were going to hang out, but the scuba visibility was really bad so we all ended up hanging out together.

We had lunch at Sundowners, a fun restaurant right on the water in Key Largo. After, we fed the tarpon and seagulls. We threw the food high in the air and the fish and birds battled. 

It was great to watch.

 Ben with the tarpons

Then after lunch we decided to go scuba diving at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park.

Darren and Emily at the entrance

 

The guys watched the babies while Emily and I snorkeled together. We had a lot of fun, except that our husbands made fun of us because we held hands as we swam over a deep, dark trench. It was deep and dark and scary! Of course I was going to hold Emily's hand!

I love my sister Emily.

Wearing daddy's hat in Key Largo

The next day (Friday) Emily and I went shopping while Darren and Ben went back down to Key Largo to go scuba diving. Naples is retirement area with a lot of wealthy people. Everywhere you looks there's a Bentley, Rolls Royce, Mercedes, etc. Anyway, she took me to this upscale mall and we went to lunch. It was so fun to spend time together and everywhere we went people admired our babies. They asked if Nayeli and Gabe were twins. Speaking of the babies... that night they had bonding time.

They were the best of friends...

and worst of enemies :) But they had a great time together.

Our last full day in Naples we hit the beach... Barefoot Beach to be exact.

Ben tried out the paddleboard, although the waves were a little intense.

Yes, I let my child eat sand sometimes.

 

However Ben lets her eat seashells :)

We left the beach just before a huge rainstorm hit. And so, Florida welcomed us with rain and bid us farewell with rain. However we have no complaints. Florida was paradise and even if it is raining in paradise, it is still beautiful.

The Greatest Vacation of 2012 (Part 1) - New Orleans

I've been procrastinating blogging about this... mostly because I hate waiting for pictures to upload on my blog and there are a lot of pictures to upload with this post. That being said, I hope you enjoy the photo smorgasbord that was our back to back trips to Louisiana and Florida last September.

When Ben & I married, we had a goal to visit each others missions before we had kids. About a month after the honeymoon we took an trip to Belize (although I was called to the El Salvador West mission I spent only 3 months there- I was in Belize the remaining 14 months of my mission) and it was amazing. I loved introducing him to the people, showing him the places I served, and also visiting the islands I couldn't visit as a missionary. It was a fantastic experience.

On Caye Caulker, a gorgeous island off the coast of Belize

Ben served in the Louisiana Baton Rouge mission (Spanish speaking). We kept meaning to get down there but with school, work, living in DC, a miscarriage, a second pregnancy, then having our sweet Nayeli, we never could squeeze it in. Finally when Nayeli turned 3 months I knew it was a now or never sort of thing and so I began looking at ticket prices.

Meanwhile another trip was calling my name. My sister Emily lives in Naples, Florida and kept telling me we should come visit. Before I knew it, I'd booked six flights. Two that would take us to New Orleans for a week, two to Ft. Lauderdale, and two to bring us home to Utah after a four day stay in Florida.

NEW ORLEANS and BATON ROUGE

 Flight #1 or 2. To save space, we had her sit on the tray table. 

It was the perfect solution to our space dilemma.

 Daddy and baby

We ended up staying in the home of the former Bishop of the New Orleans Spanish ward- Bishop Garcia. It was the perfect place to stay and we couldn't have had a better hotel.

 Our first night we went to dinner with the Vasquez family. They were great.

 Loved spending time with them.

 A beautiful home in the French Quarter

 The best place in the French Quarter to eat beignets aka french doughnuts aka glorified scones

 See my post about citizen photographers here. I asked a man near us to take a picture of us 

and our breakfast and this is what we got. Really? We're eating world-famous New Orleans

 beignets in the French Quarter and you take a picture of just us?

 So the woman with him decided to try. Good thing she got our sleeping baby in the shot too. Besides the fact that she looks like she's dead under a shroud, I guess it could have been a worse photo.

 

So I took matters into my own hands. Not an amazing shot, but at least you can see the beignets. 

Oh and fresh squeezed orange juice. Yum.

 Jackson's Square in the French Quarter

Ben as a missionary in the same spot a few years earlier

Fun New Orleans houses

One day Ben went to film with another YouTuber for work so I had time to entertain myself. I drove an hour or so to New Iberia, LA to see a sugar plantation called the Shadows on the Teche. It was cool, but not anything I would go out of my way to see again. Especially with a six-month-old screaming in the backseat with no way to console her. Needless to say, it ended up being a really long drive.

 Partial, lame shot of the house

 Amazing tree moss

 32" roast beef Po-boys baby! And yes, that is a piece of delicious Po-boy on my face.

And on Nayeli's face. We really really enjoyed them (I ate my whole 16").

Speaking of food, Louisiana has a lot to offer besides the 32" Po-boys. While there, I got to taste Voodoo Barbeque (on St. Charles Street- of Monopoly fame), Popeye's, Raising Cane's, and Sister Garcia made us some delicious Gumbo for Sunday dinner.

 

 With Amanda, one of Ben's favorite members.

Laura and Nayeli. She made us delicious pupusas.

 All of us together

 Ermalinda. Such a wonderful woman. They found her knocking doors, 

and she was baptized a year later.

Brother Laborde in Baton Rouge. He was the ward mission leader and made us spaghetti.

 

 

The Baton Rouge temple

 We didn't get to do a session because we had Nayeli, but it was fun to see it.

 Adreana and family. She is Garifuna, like the people in Ben's documentary.

 We went on a walk on a boardwalk in the bayou. It was so pretty and we even saw a baby alligator!

 The bayou.

  One of my favorite pictures ever.

 The Vasquez family. They looooooved Nayeli.

 A New Orleans above ground cemetary. And yes, I'm only wearing one earring in this picture. 

I lost the other one somewhere in the French Quarter. Tear... 

All the graves are above ground because the water table is so high.

 The fleur de lis can be found everywhere and on everything

 Jose & Saida, as well as Luis Chicas. Luis is from the same city in El Salvador that I lived in. 

We ate pupusas with them too (a typical dish from El Salvador).

 The last night there we ate at the Bustillo's home. He is the bishop of the ward now. 

They made us a delicious food from Honduras called baleadas.

It was such a great time to get to see the places Ben served as well as meet the people that were so dear to him. New Orleans is an interesting city- it is clear that certain areas have not, or will never recover from Hurricane Katrina. However, for the most part the city has begun to rise again and I saw a class and charm there that I'd never seen before. The Big Easy was a treat and I'm so glad I got to see it.