Sunday, July 20, 2025

     After church, Tim and I had an hour before our flight to Utah.  We wanted to see the non touristy area of Puerto Vallarta.  We ubered to a hospital.  Outside the hospital were people sitting in the hot sun waiting for their loved ones.  We saw an ice cream vendor and gave him $80 to feed the waiting patrons ice cream.  At first, it was just the family members in the ice cream line.  Then it was the security patrol, the nursing staff, and then the hospital administration was in line. We wanted to be anonymous but some recipients knew we were the ones orchestrating the free ice cream.  They came over and thanked us.  It was a perfect activity before leaving for home.

    Tim and I got to have a get away to Puerto Vallarta for our 26 year anniversary.  It was an amazing trip.  On Sunday, July 20th, we went to church.  There were about 25 people total in sacrament meeting.  It was a small congregation and the services were in Spanish.  Regardless of the language barrier, the spirit was universal.  After sacrament meeting, we met some of the members.  One individual had a little dog in her bag.  The dog's name is Tootsie.  The member said that Tootsies goes with her everywhere...even in the temple. 

       Part of the fun in Puerto Vallarta was getting pictures with street performers and the random statues.  Here I am playing chess with a man covered in sand next to the beach.

      Here we are in a swing at a restaurant at love beach.  We ordered a big dish of guacamole and chocolate cake.  It was yummy.

     On our beach day, we went snorkeling at Los Arcos.  There were many beautiful fishes and coral mounds.  It reminded me of the 100 island park in the Philippines.  It was phenomenal.

Tim got a sweet juicy mango to enjoy on the beach.

     No vacation is complete without a massage.  We had plenty of them.  Here is one of them on the beach.  Thank goodness for the shade umbrellas because it was hot.

     One of the days we got to see witness a show called, "Rhythm of the Night."  It was filled with acrobatics, fire dancing, shadow puppets, and a trampoline routine.  It was an amazing show.  We had to take a ferry ride for 45 minutes to get to Caleta.  Once there, we watched the show and then had a candle light dinner.  The food was really good.  There were lightning bugs that would flash every once in a while and the cicadas would buzz occasionally.  It was like being in a magical jungle.

     One of my favorite activities was parasailing.  I was nervous at first but came around and tried it.  It was so amazing being 600 feet in the air sailing over the water and feeling the wind blowing in my face.  It was peaceful and all I could do was offer a prayer of thanks for having the opportunity of being in a different country, surrounded by beautiful environment, and spending time with my man.

     At the resort, there was a lady walking around the pool area with a hawk.  We asked her about the bird and she said that the hawk is trained to scare away the pigeons.  We watched in awe as pigeons came over to the pool area and the hawk flew from the trainer to the pigeons.  The pigeons immediately flew away upon seeing the hawk.  The hawk then flew back and perched on the lady's arm.

     Had to take a moment and sing some karaoke.  I sang, Son of a Preacher Man and Have you Ever Seen the Rain.  Tim then joined for a song of Country Roads by John Denver. We had to represent Jacinda. It was super fun.

     Mexican chocolate is really yummy and rich in cocoa.  We went to the chocolate museo and made some chocolates.  Tim selected cinnamon, sea salt, and pecans to put in his chocolates.  I selected cinnamon, coconut, and sliced almonds for my chocolates.  We put the chocolates into molds.  They were fun little sea shapes, however, when we got back to the hotel, the chocolate had melted into a big blob.  Regardless of the shape, it was still really good.

     We stayed at the Hacienda Krystal.  It was a tropical paradise with a variety of trees and beauty surrounding us.

     Outside our hotel room was a private pool.  One night while in the pool, we noticed a raccoon next door.  He was just chilling keeping himself cool.  It was so ridiculously funny.  He looks like a lounger trying to pick up women.

     What a fun surprise, we had chocolate covered strawberries dusted with gold waiting in our hotel room.  The chocolate was perfect and the strawberries were sweet.  It was a great treat!

     Girls night out!  Xadia and I went and got our nails done.  This is her first time getting acrylic nails.  After the nail salon, we went to Walmart to get a birthday present for her friend and got some cinnamon sugar pretzel bites for us.  We had a great time.

     Had to take a picture of Xadia and Teagan after they got back from spending a week in Texas with the Stubbs.  Teagan's outfit surprised me.  He reminded me of a t.v. pimp.  He is so funny.

Sunday, March 16, 2025

                 Valentine’s day was spectacular.  Tim and I went to lunch at El Matador.  While there, he surprised me with roses and mint chocolates.  It was super thoughtful, and he made me feel so special.  I hope our kids learn from his kind example of how well he treats me.

                Valentine’s day is also a day where we like to go to the temple to do baptisms for the dead.  It is usually very busy at the temple, but we learned that Valentine’s Day is not so busy.  So, Teagan, Xadia, Tim, and I went to the temple.  It was such a peaceful fun experience.  I love being there with my kids.  The temple is truly a great place to be.

                McCabe went to a dance with the theme of “Samba through the century.” He and his date dressed as people from the Roman Empire.  I got to take their pictures.  It looked like he had a good time.  McCabe does not share much about his dates.  When I asked how it was, he answers, “fun.”  I have to pry him for details like where they ate and what they did.  He took her to hot pot, a restaurant we went to with the Taiwanese foreign exchange students and then they went to the dance.  That was about all he shared.

                February 16^th was stake conference.  I got to sing in the choir.  It was great watching my family the whole time.  The speakers were all different ages, and each had something special to share.  I enjoy meeting with all the other wards; however, it seemed like the seating was only 50% full.  I hope people were watching it from home.  Later that day, Teagan and I did a craft.  We drew pictures.  I am not a good artist at all.  In fact, I’ll admit I did not get much of the artistic drawing talent when it was handed out in heaven.  But that does not matter.  We had a good time drawing and our pictures turned out decent enough to take a picture.

                McCabe’s high school wrestling career has come to an end.  We got the privilege of attending the wrestling banquet where McCabe was honored by his coaches and friends and got a letter in wrestling.  Of course, I cheered the loudest when his name was read and of course McCabe gave me the stank eye that said, “stop, you’re embarrassing me.”  But just like a good mom, I did not care.  I continued to cheer.  He is lucky I didn’t bring my cowbell because I would have used it.

                Xadia and Teagan are big into wrestling.  This is their first year and they are learning a lot of moves.  It is fun to hear them cheer for their team and to watch them in action.  It is a hit or miss of whether they wrestler or not.  It all depends on if the opponent has someone in their weight range.

                Every once in a while, Tim gets a moment to rest.  I had to sneak this picture of him and Fozzie taking a nap on the couch.  They both looked so comfortable and cute.  I had to catch this moment.

                Xadia and volleyball…..she is crushing it.  At her last game she was jumping higher than normal and spiking the ball to the other side.  I think she had a lot of adrenaline because she was playing against old teammates.  She is definitely dominating this sport.

                Happy 13^th to Teagan.  He had a birthday party where friends came over to hot tub, watch a movie and eat pizza and ice cream.  He got a lot of candy from his friends and a charcoal art set from his family.  I cannot believe my baby is a teenager now.

                Tim got called to be the activity committee chairperson.  His first assignment was the chili cook off which consisted of karaoke, chili/soups, cornbread, and a lot of fun.  I got a chance to sing, “Son of a Preacher Man,” by Dusty Springfield and Tim got a chance to show off his overalls.  He is so handsome.

                Happy birthday to Tim.  For his birthday, we went to Idaho to open Jacinda’s mission call.  It was an amazing day, and Tim was so kind to share is day with her.  We all gathered in the club house.  We served hoagie sandwiches, chips, cookies, and cornbread.  I was amazed at all the people who came to support her.  She got called to Charleston, West Virginia.  The spirit hit me hard, and I started to cry when I realized how amazing she is going to be and that there is someone in West Virginia waiting to meet her.  She is going to touch people’s lives in ways that other people cannot.  I am so very happy and proud of her.