Vacation: Puerto Vallarta

The next port of call was Puerto Vallarta, Mexico on May 19th. We splurged and decided on all day adventure in the so called Mexican jungle! We got on an inflatable speed boat and headed toward the other side of the city, where the open air mercedes trucks were waiting for us.

Here we our in our life vests!

The ride in the trucks was 'fun'--it gave me an appreciation for the roads in the USA. Needless to say, if I didn't have back problems before that truck ride I would have had them afterwards--a little bumpy would be an understatement! We got to ride through the city and the farmland and laughed at how the animals would lay in the middle of the road and would not move out of the way! Lots of roadkill to be seen for miles.

Wanting to use all types of transportation on this excursion we hopped onto mules to carry us up the mountain. I hate to be the mule having to carry Nick! My mule was pretty well behaved thankfully I didn't have too many close calls of thinking it was going to throw me off the ledge of the trail.

Nick is showing this mule who is boss

Once at the top of the mountain--let the fun begin! We spent the rest of the day racing down zip lines, repelling down waterfalls, walking tightropes, and getting soaking wet! It was great, and we all agreed it was worth every penny! Here are a few of the great pictures that were taken. So many too choose from, but these made the cut for the blog!

Awesome day...more fun ahead!

Vacation: Cabo San Lucas

Our Mexican Rivera cruise continued with two full days in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico-May 17-18th. The cruise ship dropped anchor in the ocean and we took little tender boats to the dock. Upon arrival we were hounded by tons of little mexicans trying to get us to take their water taxis to see the sights. The best sign was written on cardboard, "welcome, LDS!" Too funny-just shows that people will do anything to get some business down in Mexico (either that or, he got the memo that 50% of our ship were mormons).

Here we are on the tender boat with the cruise ship behind us

We decided on a little boat tour of the where the Sea of Cortez meets the Pacific Ocean with a stop for snorkeling at Pelican Bay. We saw Lover's Beach and tons of seals along the way.

Nick is enjoying his boat tour with Lover's Beach behind him

Lots to smile about-the water was perfect

Taking a break from snorkeling

The water taxi dropped us off on the other side of the bay where we at lunch at a restaurant on the beach called "The Office" and of course had the best chips and guacamole.

We decided to walk back to the dock so see all the shops, enormous condos, and ridiculous boats. I couldn't believe they rolled out the red carpet for us! :)

We headed back to the ship after day one in Cabo to shower and have dinner, but we couldn't even make it back to our rooms with out TJ having the urge to get an airbrushed tattoo! Yep, he got a dragon to represent his high school mascot. Haha--who does that?? Anyways, we all loved giving him a hard time about it--especially the last minute addition of the red outline, which was his idea!

Here is the 'tattoo' in all its glory! (Nick's face in the background tells you how he feels about it)!

Day Two of Cabo was kicked off with some shopping at the street vendors. Nick and TJ got t-shirts and of course we got our mandatory magnet.

Due to all the food that we had been consuming thus far, we decided we would walk to the beach instead of taking a taxi. Along the way we saw some great sights! Nick was in awe over the mexican methods of construction. He was wanting to count all the code violations, but we would have been there for the rest of the week if we let him do that.

And how could we pass up great signs like this!!???

Once on the beach I got suckered into getting a henna tattoo from this persistent mexican. I got it on the top of my foot, and what was supposed to last for two weeks-finally scrubbed off after a month! We enjoyed the sunshine, but the harassment to look at shells, little dresses, necklaces, or "senorita-me, braid your hair" didn't let me fully relax. I guess that is one of the downsides of Mexico--they want to sell you everything!

Cabo was great! So much to see and do. Definitely need to head back there again. We finish up Cabo by heading back to the cruise ship to shower up and get ready for the night.

Up next: Puerto Vallarta!

Vacation: Part 1- Sea Days

Before Nick headed off to Texas for the summer we decided we needed took go on vacation. So we called up two of our favorite people, Michelle and TJ, and said, "Pack your bags, the four of us our going on a trip!" We decided on a cruise, and off the Mexican Riveria it was for 7 great days-May 15-May 22. We flew into California the night before and stayed at Michelle's parents house, and then headed down to Long Beach the next morning. Once of the ship the eating games begun! No joke, I think my body is still in shock from all the sweets-but hey, it was vacation, right?!?! Here we are after we got on the ship. Yes, it was cold in California pretty much the entire time.

Sunday and Monday were sea days where we slept in, laid out, ate, and played Bingo! As usual, Nick (who wins everything) won bingo! As you can see here, he was pretty excited :)

Nick and TJ were sure to do some late night karaoke. After a poor rendition of "Save A Horse Rid a Cowboy," TJ declared that never should have try to do a country rap song! Haha-I about died laughing. The highlight each night of karaoke was the host, who was very eclectic to put it nicely, and was sure to comment that everyone's performance was W-O-W!! Here at the boys in action.

At the welcome aboard show the first night they had the men in the audience stand up and be loud if they love their wife. 5 guys from an audience of at least 1,000 got selected to have a "I love my wife competition." Of course Nick was one of those guys, and then he had to give his best Tarzan yell, and whoever did the best one according to audience applause wins. And as usual (going back to Nick winning everything) he WON! He got to go on stage, do this whole dialogue about how he loves me with the cruise director, and at the end he had to show his love by jumping up and down three times with flair and end it with his best booty shake! It was laugh out loud one of the most stomach aching laughs I've had in a long time. The crowd goes crazy, and of course he is told that he has to do this several times throughout the week, and if he does then he will win some prizes. He was given a piece of paper that had all the times he had to be on the ship to 'perform' each time trying to top his last booty dance on stage! At the end of the week and 5 performances later he was showered with everything Carnival makes that has their logo on it! Not to mention the entire cruise ship (3,500 people) knew who he was and how much he loooooves me! I'll have to post some video when I get a chance. The best part was that they record everything on the ship. So 24/7 there is a channel on the televisions in everyone's room that plays a loop of the activities on board. Since Nick was professing his love for me and shaking his butt at everyone, he was on that TV a lot!

And this was only Day 1 and Day 2....more to come

Texas Bound Y'all

With Nick leaving for 3 months we of course had to have a party. For those of our friends here you know we are always having parties, so why not throw a going away party for Nick. So on May 12th we had about 40 friends and neighbors over for a cookout. It was so much fun, but the highlight of the night had to be one of the little kids (about 4 or 5 years old) say to his dad while pointing to Nick, "Dad, is he a real cowboy?"

The food was terrific with Nick of course being the grill master, and I must give a huge thank you thank you to Cali for making the most delicious chocolate chocolate cake your taste buds have ever encountered. Wow--it was really that good and had to have weighed at least 20lbs!

The best thing about this party was all the offers people gave to help me with the yard, fixing anything in the house, and making sure I stayed entertained. We sure do have some great friends and family. Hopefully this summer goes by quickly.

Graduation

Here's that face we all LOVE! Now, we have to call him Mr. Graduate!

Haha-notice I'm holding on to it too. Pretty sure I did some math problems that help make this thing a reality!

Domenic with his proud momma!

On May 13th, Nick graduated with honors (Phi Theta Kappa) from Mesa Community College. He was all excited to practice up for the big ASU graduation next year. Thankfully it did not start until 8pm so it wasn't burning hot outside, and we had nice chairs and waters to keep up comfortable. He has certainly come a long way from saying "college isn't for me" to getting his associate degree in.........humm? None of us are really sure in what! I guess when the real one comes in the mail soon we will see what it is in :) Only two semester to go at ASU and then the real party can start. I'm so proud of you Nick! Way to being the best looking graduate in those costumes they make you wear. Love you!

Visitors

The month of May has been the busiest month for us hands down ever. Unfortunately, I spent two weeks of it sick with a head cold/flu followed by allergies-so I tried to find a way to smile through it all. The second week of May, Nick's mom-Christine came to visit. It is always great to have her out here. Nick is always so excited, and was lucky enough to have most of his finals down before she arrived in town. They spent the majority of their time down at ASU: touring the campus, picking out a class ring, and taking some great photos like the one below!

One of the reasons Chris came to town was for Nick's graduation from Mesa Community College. He wasn't planning on walking since he is graduating from ASU next year, but since his mom was in town he was excited to do it. She was one proud momma! It was great sitting next to her seeing how excited she was. More on the graduation in another post. Not many things have been crossed off the places to visit and things to do while in AZ list, but that just gives her another excuse to come visit again.

At the same time Chris was here, a roommate of mine from BYU, Rochelle, was in town from Boston! As always--it is like time never changed when I see her. This next photo is evidence of that. It was at BYU in the dorms that we learned the art of perfecting our hair, makeup, and style--with all those things being done together. So why should things change 10 years later? Let us not forget that this photo below is taken at 10pm with no place to go, but it was by far my favorite part of her trip.

Since Rochelle was in town, Bethanie drove down to my house to meet up with us. We had a bbq and had fun spending a few hours together. Just like the good ole' days.

Finally, for Mother's Day we had a BBQ with Chris, my Aunt Carol, my Uncle Jim, and my Grandma Goodrich. The three of them drove up from Tucson and spent the afternoon. It was perfect weather, and we all had such a nice time visiting. No pictures taken sadly, but Grandma was looking as glamorous as ever.

I can't believe that as I write this there are only two more days left in the month of May! Where has the time gone?--oh wait, I guess we've played the month away with friends and family. More to come on all the playing we've been doing.

Freeport, TX

Nick found out today that he is headed to Freeport, Tx for the next 3 months as he goes to work for T.I.C. (The Industrial Company). He will be joining two other interns while working on a marine construction project the company has underway. Here are a few facts about Freeport, Tx:

-50 miles south of Houston, right on the Texas Gulf Coast

-The shrimp capital of the world

-Population is just under 13,000

-The city is only about 13 square miles=12 miles of land and 1.5 miles of water

-The median age of residents=27.4 (I think he'll fit right in)

-The city is located at sea level

-Construction is the #1 sector for employment

-Surfside Beach and Quintana Beach are the main tourist attractions

Freeport is the tiny red dot on the map above!

I'm sure I'll find out a lot more about this place in no time! The extra bonus of Freeport, TX is that two of my best friends live in nearby Houston! Yay!! I will get to see Taylor and Julia several times this summer! Only 20 days until Nick leaves. Don't worry I've already booked a ticket to visit the first weekend of June.