The best tubing pics!!

For some reason they didn't post last time...









Yep that's me. Dan got them right on!

Tubing with Devin

Pictures say a thousand words!! We had a blast!

Gratitude and Greatness

Wow it's been a while since I have posted. November and December get so busy, with Thanksgiving and Christmas.

We have had a great opportunity to spend loads of time with our families, lots of food an love.

Every year for Thanksgiving we get to spend some time with both our families. Which makes for full tummies. Both families have their own food traditions, its fun to compare these. Ashley Jesse and Bennett were able to come to the family party. At my parents house it's very formal and fancy. Mom pulls out the china and silver and fancy fabric napkins. She really out does herself every year.

At Ana's house we have a more low key dinner, with great food. Ana is one of the best cooks that I have ever met. It is always exciting to go to her house and see what masterpiece she has created! (sorry no pictures :(, next year I will remember my camera.)

Every year I am more and more grateful for the family that I have always had, and the family that has accepted me as theirs from the moment Dan brought me into their lives.

I am staring to realize how much my family means to me and how important it is to have them in my life.

Christmas is one of my most favorite holidays. It is a time not only that I reflect on my Lord and Savior, and all that he has done for me, but I also take the opportunity to be reunited with family and friends and the ability I have to give to those around me. I now have 4 nieces and nephews and am always excited to get something fun for them.

Nana has been in town for the past 2 weeks, and it has been really great to see and spend time with her. The older she gets the more I realize that I need to spend as much time with her as I can.

XOXO!

Saturday Dan and I went to take some pictures of Thalia, our niece, who is 8. While we were there I asked Dan's sister Rachael to take some pictures of us to potentially use on our Christmas cards (and the fact that we haven't really had our pics taken since our wedding almost 8 years ago). While Rachael was taking the pics, Thalia was posing us and eventually took the camera from Rachael (again Thalia is 8) and took the following pictures. Dan set the aperture and shutter speed, we showed her how to use the zoom and here's what we got... These haven't been edited at all.

Remember she's 8!! This was the greatest thing! She posed us, told us how to hold our heads and even smile (or not). She is going to be a great photographer!

Edited pics - Mexco

For Young Women we as leaders as well as the girls have been given the opportunity to share one of the projects we have been working on this year for our young women in excellence. I have decided to share some of the pictures that I took in Mexico. I also decided to share them here.

Memory Game!

So here is how it works....

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses.

If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. Happy Thinking!

Puerta Vallarta

Dan and I had the opportunity to go to Puerta Vallarta Mexico from Sept 6-11. We had a great time relaxing, sun bathing and had many adventures.

On Saturday we arrived and were checked into the hotel by 4:00. It was great to have an early flight so we could sleep on the plane and have as much time in Mexico as possible. When we got to the airport in Mexico, we hadn't pre-planned on how to get to the hotel from the airport (would highly recommend pre-planning). Normally you can take a shuttle, but we ended up needing to take an expensive taxi. We stayed in Busaras (a small fishing town 20 miles from Puerto Vallarta), It is an all inclusive resort with 6 buildings. We were in the farthest building from the ocean (about 7 min walk), but still had a great view of a pool and palm trees (that we don't see on a regular basis).

We settled in and headed to the beach. It is beautiful! Busareas/Puerto Vallarta is in a small gulf, which is why, I think, the ocean was really warm. Waves were large enough to just be relaxing (until the storms come in).

On Sunday and Monday we again relaxed, hung out at the hotel, beach and pools.

Tuesday we decided to go on the "Outdoor Adventure". This is a repelling, and zip lines adventure - through the water? They told us we would get wet...

We started at 9:30am and got onto a Speed Boat, they said we would be going fast, and boy did we. We traveled for about 20 min and arrived at a really small fishing town. - Did I mention that the scenery here is very beautiful?

Here we hopped onto a large truck with BIG wheels, we sat in the back and buckled our seat belts. Dan mentioned that this was great for show. But we soon discovered that it wasn't just for show, It was necessary. I was laughing that it was like riding an amusement park ride, very bumpy.

20 min later... We arrived at this destination we then got on our equipment, harnesses, gloves and helmets. We were each given a mule, they said they matched our personalities, but I don't think I always want to be the first in line... Dan's mule decided to take a detour or two. The guides that we had with us were so fun and energetic.

We finally got to the top of the mountain. Where we were attached to the first of about 8 zip lines, some short and some REALLY long. There is just something about flying in the air 50-100 feet above ground that is liberating, and scary!

One of the most unique and amazing things about this adventure was repelling through a waterfall. I have only been repelling once or twice before, but this was a new experience. They said we would get wet, and by the time I ended this, and zipped to the next location (into a pool of water) there wasn't a dry spot on me.

Except for the mules we got back to the resort the same way we came in (big truck, and seed boat).

To view additional unedited pictures click here.