Halloween: A Michael Jackson Moment

Wes has to dress up for work. So what does my husband want to be??

MICHAEL JACKSON OF COURSE! 

He is a dork but I love the fool!

Cancun--aka picture overload

Wes and I are back in America....although several times we considered having Rupert Fed-Exed to Cancun so we could just live there.

It was beautiful!!! 

First we flew to Denver then to Cancun. During our 2 hour layover i ate and Wes played Temple Run and Angry Birds on his Ipod.....we both got on the plane happy. 

 

We checked into our room and were greeted with Strawberry-Banana smoothies....they were delicious! The room was huge and the staff always left us cute little animals made out of all our towels and washcloths and a mint everyday. We also had a balcony (which i forgot to take a picture of) overlooking the Nichupte lagoon which was gorgeous!! One of our favorite things about the room was the fridge they kept stocked with juices, waters, and sodas everyday! 

                                     

We then threw on some swimsuits and went for a walk on the beach! The water was beautiful! Wes kept saying that it felt like bathwater it was so warm! We found a huge conch shell and then I enjoyed a colada :)

We I woke up early the next morning (made Weskley wake up) and we went for a walk on the beach and saw the sunrise! It was sooo pretty! We then took a walk along the beach then went in for breakfast. The rest of the day we sat chillin on the beach and by the pool...we also took some incredibly long naps. wonderful naps. i enjoyed being able to hibernate in the sun and occasionally wake up for some more smoothies, fresh fruit, and french fries. 

 The next day we went on a fun little excursion to several different places. The first place was a Cenote called Ik Kil. it was gorgeous. The 1st pic is the view from the top, the second from the middle of the cave, and the third is from the inside. The last picture is Wes jumping into the Cenote (150 ft deep). i was not allowed to cliff jump for obvious massive belly reasons. But Wes did enough for the both of us! it was awesome! We went back to the top of the cenote and ate lunch at a Mayan Restaurant. They provided us with a massive delicious buffet. AHMAZING buffet. Their habanero salsa was the best i have ever tasted.

The vegetation in the jungle was incredible! It was extremely green and it was perfect weather so after lunch we went for a stroll through the trees.

 The next day we went to Chichen-Itza...if you have never been there and you have the chance to go i HIGHLY recommend it...especially if you love history. It is very neat to learn about it! The tour guide was very knowledgeable in the subject matter. The picture above is one of the hieroglyphs.

 This is the pyramid. Wes really understood a lot of the different symbols and history behind it a lot better than I did and explained them to me. Its crazy to think that we were standing somewhere that Jesus Christ may have been many years ago.

 This is an Iguana that Wes spotted and was extremely proud of for sighting. the tour guide made fun of him for being so impressed calling iguanas "pollo" saying they were as common as chickens.

We walked around and saw the rest of the buildings Including the Observatory. One of the crazy things about this place is all the mayan people trying to sell you things. We did get a sweet Mayan Calendar carved out of bone for 5 bucks because I still had mad Spanish speaking skills i forgot about and bargained with the guy. I also caved and bought a hanky for a dollar that was embroidered from a little mayan girl who was too cute to say no to. Dang those people and their well thought our ploys. We thought it was hilarious that the vendors kept saying "1 dollar...almost free. lady buy this. its almost free" They also kept yelling to us saying "honeymooners...buy this for your mother in law" All in all it was awesome! 

On the way back we stopped to see the city of Valladolid They have a very old church there that we walked through then we walked around the town a little bit and took a walk through their park. It was a neat little city to visit. totally worth going out of our way a little bit to see it.

The next day we went Snorkeling in Puerto Morelos...we were going to go to Isla Mujeres but we had it suggested while we were at our hotel to go to Puerto morelos instead. We loved it! They took us out on a small little boat with 5 other people and the guide took us to some beautiful places. I thought I would get tired before anyone else on the boat but Wes and I were the last ones out there with the guide. We didn't have an underwater camera so we didn't take any pictures ... not that i think pictures could ever do it justice. it felt like we were in a nature documentary. The guides showed us a small shark in a cave of coral, a live conch shell, beautiful schools of fish, and some of the prettiest plants i have ever seen. After snorkeling we went and ate at a very yummy restaurant where we got some chicken taquito thingys and some beef fajitas with homemade salsa. It was delish! That night we went to the Isla Village Mall

 To get around town we took the bus. Its 85 cents to ride a bus and a heck of a lot more for a taxi. Things you should know about the buses in Mexico. A new one comes every five seconds, they give you about 5 seconds to get on, you have to stand up when you want to stop, and they drive like mad people through construction zones and traffic.

 I liked the frog statues. they made me happy.

La isla is a huge open air mall and it was gorgeous. the lagoon ran right through it. Later that night we went to an aquarium...again i was unable to get pics. It was really cool because we attended the dolphin show and we were pretty impressed with the mad skills they possessed.

The last day we chilled on the beach till we had to leave. I miss the glorious weather already.

I know...2 posts in one night. this one is short.

Today i was at second dam taking some pics of an awesome family...while i was waiting i snapped some pics of the scenery!!!

I also caught a guy fly fishing..its kinda blurry because i didn't have the right setting on (i am still getting used to my new camera) but you can see the outline of his line (its green)

I had to post these because you should all be jealous of how pretty Logan is...i know it can't compare to Oregon BUT i still love it here. ESPECIALLY when the sun is shining and the leaves are so gorgeous.

Pumpkin Carving 2011 part two! And a corn maze....

These are our three most recent pumpkins. I did Zero (the dog from Nightmare Before Christmas) and the Mina/Cupcake one. Wes of course did the super amazing Iron Man pumpkin! We had lots and lots of fun!! After we were done carving we decided to go to a corn maze and haunted hallow at The American West Heritage Center here in Logan. The Corn Maze was VERY confusing and we got lost for quite some time. Luckily, we had a map and found our way outta there. Then the Haunted Hallow was OUT OF CONTROL! I was terrified! lol. The worst part was when a guy snuck up behind us on a LIVE horse!! He chased me...i was sure i was going to go into labor :/!! We were so busy having fun that we only got one picture!

Wes is now a UTAHRD!!

Wesley became an official Utahn yesterday. 

He passed the test and lived to tell the tale.

 Here is Wes with his license!! 

He only gets a paper one until his plastic one is mailed to us.

Although he was sad to give up his Oregon License.....he is secretly happy to be a Utahrd!

Maternity pictures..

Wes and i got maternity pics done!! We got them done early because we will not be home like ever for the next few months and such! Envision Image  took them and they so far are looking amazing! We get them back in about two weeks and I am super excited!!! These are the few she got done!!

I love being LDS!!

I love that people are fighting FOR our religion even if they themselves are not part of it. I love that our doctrine stands on its own. I thought i would share this from Anderson Cooper.. He doesn't let this guy get away with it.

Our 3rd Halloween Together

This is the 3rd Halloween Wes and I have been together!

For those of you who don't know...i LOVE halloween!! LOVE IT! 

why do i love halloween??

-i love fall

-i love candy

-i love times a million love carving pumpkins

-i love costumes

Yes it is weird most people are obsessed with Christmas. Christmas is not so much my favorite holiday anymore....maybe it will change when i have kids...but i feel it's overrated....when stores starting putting Christmas stuff up in October....yuck! 

Anywhoo...i was anxious to get our Halloween on. 

today we bought a MASSIVE pumpkin. 

Wes took the lead on this one because i was re-purposing a frame! 

Here is what we got 3 1/2 hours later when he was done!

                            {I keep telling you all Wes is super crafty and talented....i mean look at that!}

 {Poor Rupert will be relieved of picture duty all the time when Mina is born....lol}

{And look at this handsome son of a gun.....what a hottie!}

There will be many more halloween-ish posts this month i am sure....tis the season! 

p.s. 3 years has gone by crazy fast!!!! 

Imagine: GENERAL CONFERENCE

For those of you who did not grow up in Utah...that is a quote from the movie Single's Ward :)

I haven't ever blogged about General Conference. It is awful...i am sure ... but to be honest i have never listened as closely as I have this year.

This year a lot of things are different.

I am married. 

I am pregnant. 

I am starting school again...because i want to...not because i feel obligated to.

I know how I feel about the church.

I know how lucky I am to have been blessed with so much.

there is one talk I got to hear. that stood out. i am sure you saw everyone tweeting/facebooking about it. i did too. thats why i went back and listened to it online. 

Elder Neil L Andersen.

he spoke of children and families. now this is a long bit coming up...you don't need to read it if you don't want to ...my main purpose of blogging is journaling.

i grew up in one of those big families he joked about. the one where when we went somewhere (especially out of state) people would look at my mom with big eyes in a REALLY? kind of expression. 

it was crazy. it was out of control. most days it was pure INSANITY! but guess what? i am thankful i have every single one of my siblings. we may not all get along all the time. but at the end of the day...we love each other. 

through the hardest time of my life, my little sister (who was only 17 at the time...i think lol) would text me and see how i was doing. my little brother ten years my junior always asks about how my adoption stuff is going...even though i am pretty sure he doesn't quite get it. 

through the happiest time of my life, my little sister (who is 19 now...i think ;p) texts me to see how my morning sickness is coming along. my little brother (who is 6) tells me he wants to the name the baby "lips" (which i am still not quite sure where he came up with that) my sibs in colorado have drawn me pictures.

through it all my siblings are awesome. now i am married and through my husband got four more siblings. who are all awesome! (to be honest i was terrified to blend in with another family...but now i love it!) without my sister in law...i would not have any maternity clothes to speak of...or half of the amazing advice on how to deal with a baby. or my brother in law who always hangs out with Wes and I and occasionally helps him babysit the younger siblings i talked about previously. or my other brother in law who gets us internet at our first apartment or entertains us for hours on end with a laser...yes a laser (i laughed for literally HOURS) 

now i get to see my sweet baby Mina grow up with way more aunts and uncles than she count. i am so glad that my mother, my stepmother, and my mother-in-law USED the time the Lord gave them for children to raise such an awesome group of kids...(to be honest my husband is my favorite...don't tell anyone ;p) I am thankful that motherhood was important to them. and they used the spirit of discernment on how many children to have. 

Wes and I have read eachother's patriarchal blessing and in both of them it talks of "many children" when i think of many children it freaks me out. but i also know that we need to use the spirit of discernment and do what the Lord tells us. if the Lord tells us to have 6 children GREAT! if the Lord tells us to have 3 children GREAT! (i personally lean more towards three....im patient but i am not a saint.) I am just thankful the Lord is letting one child into our home. like Elder Andersen said. she may not have a fancy schmancy nursery with a designer crib (although my mom seems to have wonderful plans) but she will have the most important things:

a mom

a dad

a huge family immediate and extended

the priesthood in her home

a knowledge of the gospel

and

love

i am thankful for my Heavenly Father. i am thankful for this gospel and for the ability to have it in my life from the day i was born. i love my husband. i love this church. i can't wait to be a mommy. life is just good.