Baptism

We think that 8 is great!

Eight brings so many wonderful things!

 

Underfoot decided that he wanted to be baptized a member of

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

We had talked as a family that this was his decision.

He asked Sweetheart to baptize him.

He invited his Grandpa L and Uncle T-Bone to be the witnesses.

Before he was baptized, he greeted people that he had invited.

He invited his school teacher, friends from Daddy's work, 

and friends from school and church.

His Grandpa came from California as did 

Aunt Mimi and Cousins from Utah, and 

Auntie M, Uncle T-Bone, and their family from Arizona

He felt really LOVED and SPECIAL!!!

After his baptism and confirmation of the Holy Ghost, 

we hosted a lunch.

Underfoot called his Kirky and Jilli to tell them about his baptism

since they are missionaries in Cancun, Mexico.

Cancun to Dallas to Home

Our last morning was bitter sweet. 

This experience has been eye opening. 

We said our goodbyes after finishing our packing. 

We hugged and were saluted as we drove away. 

We are THANKFUL we came to see 

and have a clearer image of what Kirky and Jilli are doing.

We miss them as they in turn miss us.

We love them even more.

 We drove to the airport, returned the car,

boarded the plane and flew away.

We flew to Dallas. 

Dallas had been drenched delaying our flight by 3 hours.

We got into home VERY LATE and very tired.

My parents are busy with the lives of over 130 missionaries,  the people in the assigned mission areas,  and the ecclesiastical leaders serving there as well. At times, they are talking the different missionaries' parents, bishops, and stake presidents. That's a lot of people.

Kirky and Jilli are not on vacation. 

Sweetheart wrote to his mission president, Derk Pelton, after we have returned home. President Pelton replied back and shared this insight.

Every mission is unique with its own set of challenges and blessings.We had several visitors while in Spain, but it was always with the caveat or clear understanding that they were welcome to come join in the activities of the Mission Life, but that we had no time to be tour guides and there were no vacation days in our benefits plan.  Most took that and fit right in, some didn't quite believe it until they were there and found out they either got on the wagon or got left behind.

We found that to be very true. Kirky and Jilli miss their family more than they want to say because they are focused on their current path. I wanted to go and see if my parents were okay. When I would talk with them on the phone I was concerned because they sounded so overwhelmed.

They are immersed fully and totally in what they are doing. Hopefully we fit into the "Mission Life" while we were there.

Thank you for letting us come!!!

Glass Bottomed Boat and Costco

Today we started getting ready to go back to Tucson. 

We went to a Mayan museum. 

The boys and hubby were tired.

The museum had an indoor part

with pottery and skeletons.

 The outdoor part of the museum is manicured paths.

They wrap around the different builtings 

that were mostly likely part of the port of Cancun for the Mayans.

We then went to the glass bottomed boat to see the underwater museum.

The boat wouldn't start when we first got on.

The captain hot wired the boat so it would start.

Underfoot, Hurricane, and I snorkeled. 

Underfoot came back to the boat after swimming a bit, 

but Hurricane stayed out with me the whole time.

Mama didn't feel well on the boat. 

She gets sea sick but thrown in the salmonella 

and that's quite a combination for a boat. 

The boat captain looked at her and asked if she wanted to vomit.

He put a cool rag on her neck and dumped water all over her head. 

She never ralphed for the fishes.

Before we went to the museum we stopped at Costco to get pictures made. 

Mama asked her siblings to send photos. 

She wanted to update the photos her parents had in the mission home.

Dark Hair, Superman, Liv, Mama J, Spice

Dark Hair, Spice, Mama J, Liv, Superman

Doc, Sunshine, SisterSuzy

Doc, Sunshine, SisterSuzy

Mr. Awesome and Sweetness

After the glass bottomed boat we went to a little flea market.

Mama got three t shirts for us boys and a ladle holder. 

She looked for a dress for herself but didn't find one.

On the 2nd round at Costco we got the pictures and dinner. 

I am so grateful for fresh fruit and veggies. 

The most common fruits here are pineapple, papaya, jicama, and watermelon.

There are not many vegetables. None were very good.

For dinner we ate salad and blueberries and raspberries. 

They were delicious, and the first good produce we´ve eaten while here. 

We have made some really good memories.

Beach, Tulum, and Coba

The day started with a continental breakfast provided by the hotel. 

Hurricane was very independent getting his food and leaving. 

Underfoot was obedient by staying closer. 

After breakfast, Sweetheart took the boys to the beach.  

They built a sand castle and snorkeled and swam. 

Underfoot loved to sit in the surf.

He would just sit down and float.

Hurricane built a castle that he wanted to buried in.

After he was buried, he wanted to break out.

I started the day with a upset stomach 

and joined the group when the diarrhea stopped.

Unfortunately, I got a stomach bug that lasted the rest of the trip.

I took pictures and played. 

 We stayed the majority of the morning 

coming back to shower and get packed. 

Packing always takes longer than I think it should. 

We walked into Tulum almost a kilometer.

We started to tour the ruin on our own.

During the tour, we met a guide 

whose brother is a mission presidency counselor to my Dad. 

He took us on a tour. 

He asked the boys about the gospel 

and provided how Tulum could be what he said. 

Everyone has their own spin. 

He "gave" us 3 tree of life necklaces and1 jade. 

Sweetheart paid a handsome tip. 

We left feeling pretty good and took a taxi. 

We went to the grocery store for lunch and vanilla. 

We traveled to Coba. 

Once there we rented bikes and rode down to the temple. 

We climbed to the top.

Yet again I don't care for heights.

Ixmoja is the name of the pyramid.

The pyramid is the tallest in the Yucatan Peninsula.

 We rode back just before the park closed.
The bikes were great except the brakes didn't work too well.
Underfoot crashed into the jungle with no injury.
Hurricane decided he needed to race everyone there.

The 3 boys wanted to do the zip line just outside the park.
I said no. They cried and were disappointed.
I wanted to drive down the main street in Tulum just to see.
After that we returned to Cancun after dark.

When we arrived at the security gate,
the guard wanted to keep Sweetheart's license again.
Sweetheart told him no and asked for it back.
Sweetheart said, "Trick me once, shame on you.
Trick me twice, shame on me."

The boys swam in the pool until very late.

Xel-Ha

We woke up and finished packing to leave for Xel-Ha and Tulum. 

We have gone pretty hard, and the boys are tired. So are we.

They got up with some coaxing, and we were off. 

Hurricane likes to push limits and needs to know why. 

He would try to do the opposite of everything we asked. 

We arrived at Xel-Ha to play all day.

Sweetheart writing:

We started with breakfast. 

All food and drinks were included in the admission price.

We started with snorkeling 

so Hurricane and Underfoot could learn 

how to breath with a snorkel and not blow out their nose. 

Underfoot took to it very quickly. 

Hurricane struggled a bit.

At Xel-Ha and Xcaret, the park has cameras set up to take your picture. 

You scan your wristband and have your picture taken. 

The boys loved to stop and get their picture taken multiple times at each stop.

After snorkeling, we went to a zip line. 

Hurricane was afraid of the zip line. 

I had to coax him to try it for about 30 minutes. 

After the first time down that is all he wanted to do.

Mama and Underfoot went repeatedly while I tried to convince Hurricane. 

At one point Underfoot lost his flipper as did I when coming off the swing. 

Mama dove down to the bottom to get the flipper. 

She tried to do it with her life jacket and got within inches of the flipper 

until the jacket forced her up. 

We ate three times. I stuffed myself. 

At the end of the day we did snuba. 

It is snorkeling with a hose. I really liked it. 

Hurricane tried really hard but was cold. 

The water at the bottom of the inlet was much warmer than at the top. 

I touched the fish. 

The underwater photographer took a bunch of pictures.

We paid $79 to get 140 digital images on a thumb drive. 

We would not have bought the pictures if we had not done the snuba.

At the end of the day we wished we had taken more pictures. 

We did not buy the pictures at Xcaret.

After we left Xel-Ha, we went to our hotel, El Paraiso. We found it at dusk. The hotel runs on a generator since it is the Tulum National Park. It is right on the beach and 500 meters from the Tulum ruins. Mama's dad recommended it. I am glad we found before dark. When we checked in, the mosquitoes came out to greet us and bit us numerous times. Then we dropped off our stuff and got fuel (the card worked this time) and hit up the grocery store for a few odds and ends. We got baby bug juice because that was all they had. We all got sunburned so we put on aloe. Hopefully tomorrow we won't get so burned.

Leona Vacario Branch

We went to church services at the Leona Vicario branch in Leona Vicario, Quintana Roo. This is a small congregation of the LDS church, and they have about 30 members. They meet in a home with a large front room, 2 bedrooms, and a large kitchen. Someone forgot to pay the electric bill so there was no electricity. It was terribly hot. The flies were buzzing in the large room used as a chapel. flies. All were hot and humid.

We found we have lots of reasons to be grateful. We are grateful for A/C and pest control. We are thankful for the opportunity to meet with other Christians and to learn about Jesus Christ and how to be better people.

Underfoot and Hurricane attended Primary with the other children in 1 of the bedrooms of the home. The nursery and older children met together. We learned about Radshack, Meshach, and Abednego. We laughed at the irony of it being a hot day like the fiery furnance. I went with the boys to translate. They participated in Primary and sang the songs in English when the Mexican children sang in Spanish.

After church, we came back to the mission home and planned the next three days. We will go to Xel-Ha tomorrow, sleep the night at a hotel on the beach on Monday night 500 m from Tulum, and Tuesday morning we will see Tulum and Coba. Wednesday we will be back at the mission home. Sweetheart hopes to go to the glass bottomed boat with my parents and maybe to the Mayan museum. 

Sweetheart and I had a good talk with Underfoot and Hurricane about making choices before being presented with challenging situations like being offered drugs or alcohol. My Dad called different missionary's parents to tell them how good their children are. It was interesting to overhear the conversation. 

We wrote post cards. The boys helped Sweetheart make orange juice. We had leftovers for dinner.

Chichen Itza

We got up really early like 6:30 am, got ready, and left for Chichen Itza. 

The doors opened at 8 am. 

We arrived at 8:30 am and took the free road instead of the toll road. 

Kukulcan (Mayan) or El Castillo (Spaniards)

The boys have talked about going to Chitzen Itza

since they found out we were going to Mexico. 

We saw all of it. 

The Ball Court

Hurricane had an almost accident in his pants, 

but pooped in the jungle with Sweetheart's assistance. 

We walked to all parts. 

A posed picture

The boys saw an iguana that we named Dinner and took many pictures of it. 

The public baths didn't have toilet paper so glad I brought wipes. 

The Observatory

We got 2 great pictures taken in front of the Observatory and El Castillo (top picture.) 

The boys wanted a chess set and jaguar whistle. 

Sweetheart negotiated for them and was happy about the price.

Next to the Sacred Cenote

We were leaving when most of the crowds started to arrive at 12:30 pm. 

We drove back to Valladolid. 

We hung out at the chapel for 2+ hours 

while missionaries talked with President Kirkham. 

Dinner is sitting on the snake's head.

We returned to shop at the plaza where 

my Mom bought me a fabulous shirt of sunflowers.

She bought hand stitched handkerchiefs from Antonia.

When I was about 10 or so, our family visited. I stood on the edge of the rim of the cenote. It is now fenced off.

We ate at a buffet and returned to Cancun. 

On the way we talked about branding our family 

and decided in part on a poem from Great-Grandpa Kirkham. 

They fell asleep from Valladolid to Cancun.

We had trouble getting 

through the gate at the community where my parents live. 

Sweetheart and my Dad resolved it.

After arriving, Hurricane swam and Underfoot played chess. 

I got laundry done and watched the LDS Women's Meeting with my mom. 

I liked Neill F. Marriott's talk and Dieter F. Uchtdorf's talk.