Viva Mexico!

It finally came!! Our long-awaited, much-anticipated trip to Cancun, Mexico finally arrived and we had a BLAST! We went with our friends, Dani & Jared, and we all left our kiddos at home to enjoy some adults-only R&R. Thank you again Daven & Rebecca for watching Bridger!

This is what we were able to fit into our 5 day excursion:
Lounging on the beach: The weather was perfect for us - sunny when we wanted to lounge on the beach, rainy when we were in transit or didn't care about getting wet, and breezy when we needed a little break from the 90's+ humid conditions.

This was our transportation, a Chevrolet Monza (not really familiar with this model in the US). We could not figure out how to put it in reverse for the first few days of the trip, so we resorted to pushing it whenever we needed to backwards. Finally, one of the locals (who did not own a car, and was our guide for our snorkeling expedition) showed us the trick.

We visited Tulum, which are Mayan Ruins right on the coast.

This site was mainly used for religious purposes as evident by the various temples and structures found within. For this reason, we felt okay about visiting the site on Sunday. (And we felt okay about jumping into the ocean beacuse it was blazing hot while we toured).

I could see why the ancient Mayan civilization would choose this as a cool location to worship and have a trade route in the water.

One of the local Mayans, showing off his stuff.
We caught a beautiful SUNRISE. We intended to do this a few times while we were here, but in reality, I could only pull myself out of bed once-we were not dissapointed. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort, which means we had all the guacamole and fruity drinks we could handle. The bartenders were really confused when we insisted that we did not want alcohol in our drinks - I am sure this did not happen very often. Some of the waiters thought it was hilarious to pour our water and say "More Tequila-light?" We had a contests to see who could consume the most fruit drinks or daiquiris, I lost count at about 15.
Our nice, big Jacuzzi tub in our room.
Our two tragedies occurred to Jim as we set out for one of our Catamaran sails. First, he lost his wedding ring as we were setting sail. This is the second time he has lost a wedding ring - the first time being while surfing in Costa Rica. Since this is only our second international trip, it is becoming a tradition for him to loose his ring in the ocean of a foreign country. The second tragedy occur as we were navigating back to the catamaran dock. The water became a little more choppy, so Jim jumped out to save the boat from crashing into any of the other boats and stepped on a Sea Urchin. He still has little spines in both his feet. Thanks for your sacrifice, Captain Jim!


We also had a blast snorkeling. I will post more on this when we get our waterproof camera pictures developed. This was when we went snorkeling in front of our resort, but we also did a full afternoon excursion where we snorkeled in a Cenote, with some sea turtles, and in a lagoon.

We had such a great time, I think we are ready for a move. We found this little piece of paradise (aka hurricane-ravaged property) right on the beach - ready to move in! It certainly would have a great view of the sunrise each morning.

1 on 1 with Grandpa & Grandma

After the Utah trip, Bridger & I went to AZ to prolong the time my parents officially became empty nesters.

We had a great time swimming (in 101 degree weather)
Helping in the garden
Found some markers...

And took lots of walks. Thanks for a great week Mom & Dad!

Back where it all began...

For the first time in about 4 years, Jim & I went back to visit BYU - the only place in the world that Jim & I were ever destined to meet and fall in love under the light of a lunar eclipse. My parents were dropping off my younger brother & sister at BYU, and it worked out that my older bro could make it to Utah as well at the same time. We couldn't miss out on the fun, so this is what we were up to.

We made friends with the locals (in Park City). Bridger has had a thing for bears ever since we went to the fair with Chad & Misha, and Chad gave Bridger a bright orange bear he had won beating Jim at Whack-a-Mole.
Jim got some good outside time. Here he is getting ready to go up the lift for some downhill mountain biking. The day before this the menfolk hiked up Mt. Timpanogos. The day before that Jim took a "short" run in the canyon and ended up getting lost on top of a mountain and found himself on the side of a cliff. Three hours later, he had managed to bushwhack his way down and made it home safe & sound. I thought this would have gotten some of his wiggles out, but he ended up running a marathon the next weekend in Oregon.
Bridger & I got some good hang out time with Uncle Steve. It is really fun to listen to a BYU game with announcers from the area and that are actually pro-BYU.
The gang: Mel, Sam, Dad, Mom, Ang, Bridger, Steve & Jim. (We missed you Lori & the girls!).
Ahhh... Utah sunshine.

And of course after all this playing, we rested hard, too.

#2 makes 2 + 2

I am not a patient person. That is what this all comes down to. I apologize to my family and friends whom I pledged my commitment to of keeping the gender of this baby a surprise, but I broke. I hope you can still trust me.

I don't know if it was the weird pregnancy dreams, lack of sleep due to the Olympics, marathon reading of "Breaking Dawn", overall hormonal anxiety, or a combination of all of the above, but I couldn't do it. We found out. (Honestly Jim never really wanted to keep it a surprise, so it was an easy choice).

It's a GIRL!!

She is about 5 inches (head to rump), 12 ounces, and all the correct body parts are there.

(Whew, no vampires for us after all.)

LHFP Company Picnic

Last weekend, it was all fun & games at the LHFP company picnic.

We raced with eggs and tossed eggs (a fun game we seem to keep trying to do at home).
We scored candy from the pinata.
We ate ice cream.

And rocked the sack race competition. Leah and Bridger are contenders for London 2012.

After the picnic, our friends took Bridger to play at their place (thanks again Heather & Michael), so we could go jump off a cliff at Punchbowl Falls without the distraction of a toddler. :) Thanks for joining us Chad & Misha!

Don't worry mom - I only jumped from the small cliff.

Fun in the Garden

This summer have been moving by fast. However, I look back and realize that we really haven't done much, we just have been enjoying our OWN backyard and our OWN dirt and our OWN little try at a garden.

However, I am at the point that I am willing to fully admit that I am no green thumb. Below is attempt #1 at growing something. There were originally 5 little Basil plants in this container, carried over from our apartment. Didn't go so well.

Attempt #2. I picked a little corner of our backyard and planted some more basil, parsley, 2 tomato plants and a red pepper plant. I know, a random selection, and certainly not something we could sustain ourselves with, but I was still recovering from the killing the basil. And look! Success! The beginnings of life. The fruits of my labor. They did not die!
However, my little helper (the innocent looking one below) picked up on the fact there was something cool happening in the corner of our backyard. He climbed up 2 feet of tire tracks, climbed into the coveted garden bed, picked all the little green tomatoes he could find, threw them down to the ground, climbed down from the garden area, and gathered up his loot. This is the point where I caught up with him. I could tell all the budding tomatoes were history, and asked him what he was doing.
He very sweetly, held up the green tomatoes in his hands (some had little teeth marks on them), and said very resolutely, "Appoes".
How could I resist this little guy? Oh well, the good news is there has been a few more tomatoes pop out. I guess we will wait to see if they actually stay on the plant long enough to turn red before they get picked.

Concerts in the Park

One of the things I do love about the summer here are the outdoor concerts in August. We went to the Rose Garden to hear the Portland Symphony.

This is Bridger playing peek-a-boo with the lady sitting next to us. He thought this was a very clever way to hide himself.

For the last song of the evening, they invited all the children to go up near the stage and play along with the symphony. Despite the chaos of the kids, you can still hear some nice music in the background (thank goodness for the professionals). Bridger had a great time and has a nice, new noise maker!