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.  

Piano Prodigy

Sometimes Ben likes to put together little shorts about Nayeli- today he shot this while I did the dishes. She is 10 months and so cute. Although she's not yet walking, she pulls herself up onto everything now, including my legs when I'm cooking or cleaning and she wants my attention. It melts my heart.

And so does this video. It's nothing extraordinary, I know, but I love to see her little fingers in action. I love how they barely reach the keys. I love her babbling. She sent me for such a loop when she was born, but now I can't imagine life without her.

Without further adieu, here is our little piano prodigy.

Princess Party Success!

On Saturday my sisters and I threw a Princess Party Fundraiser for the Children's Organ Transplant Association (COTA) in honor of my nephew Anthony. It went great! We had a great turnout (we filled both our lunch sessions up), the girls and parents had a great time, and we raised over $1,300.

We had Cinderella and Snow White there for the girls to take pictures with, as well as face and fingernail painting. We also had games like "Kiss the Frog" and "Fish the Moat" to win princess prizes. Lunch was served and we finished with a red carpet fashion show. The girls all received a flower as well as an autograph book with autographs from the princesses.

It was a ton... a TON of work but so good to do it. Imagine the time it takes to plan a wedding reception, plus having to solicit all the businesses to donate what you need. See what I mean about work? But besides the money and being able to support Anthony's cause in all this, the greatest blessing that came from it was the unity it brought to my family. My sister Julia put together the greatest face-painting station you ever saw and drove all the way from Perry to help. Tina helped us with party-favors and put together a nail-painting station on the spur of the moment. My mom did all the food and came more-than-prepared, like always. Even those far away contributed. My sister-in-law Marilyn made hair clips for all the girls and sent a centerpiece, and my sister Emily sent glitter for the face painting. And last but not least, my sister Laura. Laura was my partner in crime and I couldn't have done it without her. And I feel I can say she couldn't have done it without me. We were a great team.  We all earned honorary princess tiaras together.

And that doesn't even mention the family and friends that donated prizes, money, time, and came to support our cause. It's so amazing to see the generosity in people in situations like this.

Princess Nayeli with Snow White and Cinderella

Funny story: we were running around before the event trying to get ready and Julia asked me if she could put a princess dress on Nayeli. I said "No" because I was stressed and didn't want to think about it. About a half-an-hour later I went to go find Nayeli and to my surprise... she was wearing a princess dress and her face was painted! What?! I laughed and laughed because she looked so cute and content. I told Julia my children will never be allowed to visit her because they'll have so much fun with her they won't want to come home :)

The girls who were Snow White and Cinderella are both elementary school teachers at my nieces school. They were fantastic. The Cinderella had been Cinderella at Disney World for a few years before she began teaching. She knew all the poses (see the above photos), the lingo, etc. It was the cherry on top and I think the girls loved it.

A Fundraiser for a Great Cause!

This is the fundraiser my sisters and I are putting together in honor of my nephew Anthony. He is currently 16 years old and a wonderful boy. Although he's had three open-heart surgeries to stabilize him to this point, he is currently on the heart transplant list at Primary Children's Medical Center. He could receive a heart any day, and transplant-related costs are (as you can imagine) rather high.

That's why we're putting this together. We are working with a great organization- the Children's Organ Transplant Association- to make it a success. Please share this flyer with anyone who would be interested in attending. We are putting a lot of work in to make it a great event. Thank you for the support!

Anthony (far left) is a great kid who we love very much

More on Fashion Sense: The Episode of the Boots

A while ago I posted our family pictures on this blog and Facebook and I had three people comment on the boots I was wearing. Why? Well, those boots are rather famous. It's been two years since they redefined my marriage with Ben and they are still an icon. Allow me to tell the tale.

Once upon a time Ben and I were more newlywed than we are now. We were in a budding relationship, discovering each other and learning about marriage. And then one day... Ben discovered something about me that he wished he hadn't.

We were about to go to Washington DC for Ben's internship. In fact, we had been invited to a party with all the other students we'd be living with. Being the mild-fashionista that I am, I wanted to buy something new for the party. The recent style of skinny jeans with knee-high boots had really caught my eye. What a perfect way for someone with short legs (like me) to look tall and lean! It was just the look I had been waiting years to catch on!

So I went to the mall and bought the cutest pair of skinny jeans and knee-high boots I could find. And I only spent $55. I was so proud of my bargains that I couldn't wait to come home and show my husband. I wish I hadn't.

As soon as I put the jeans and boots, Ben looked at me with disbelief.

"What?" I asked. "Don't you like them?"

"You look like all the dumb girls on campus".

I was shocked. Ben had never said anything like that to me. So I retaliated.

"Well I like it. Besides, I didn't marry you so you could tell me what to wear".

Ben was shocked. I had never said anything like that to him either.

And thus began the battle. While our typical arguments usually resolved within the hour, this one festered. And wouldn't go away.

It was two full days of tears, harsh words, and nights on the couch (not really, but with the cold shoulder Ben got in bed he might as well been sleeping on the couch). And then I decided to go to my parent's and discuss the matter with them. I was sure they would take my side.

But they didn't. They took Ben's. My mom suggested I return the boots saying, "Those boots aren't worth your marriage". At the time I felt betrayed, but I can now see that my parents were teaching me an important lesson. They were letting me know that if I came crying to them, they weren't going to provide me refuge. They wanted to get the message across early on that I needed to solve my marital problems within my marriage. 

Ben's mom Jane did the same. After discussing the matter over, she suggested Ben show me he was sorry by having me wear the boots while taking me out to dinner. In typical Ben humor he asked, "Could I just take her through the drive-through?" Ha ha.

Eventually it got sorted out, we forgave each other, and I now own three pairs of knee-high boots. In fact, for Christmas I even bought myself a pair of neon-pink skinny jeans and Ben didn't even flinch. He has come a long way.

Besides, it serves us well to have at least one of us keep our fashion sense up to date. And with Ben as an unlikely candidate, I gladly step in. They may be tough boots... I mean shoes... to fill, but somebody has to do it.

The boots with us at the Bureau of Engraving and Printing in Washington DC.

At a lunch with friends. Please notice that 50% of these girls are wearing knee-high boots (and one calf height! Which is almost the same thing).