Mexico Day 3 - Tulum

Friday 12 October 2012

Today was the first day of our 3 booked tours through a company called Alma LDS Tours (i'll tell you more about them later). We started our day early and took our journey to the Mayan ruins called Tulum. These ruins date back to 400 AD and are literally right on the coastline. 

As you can see from the pictures below, the jungle is super thick, even on the roads and walking into the Tulum ruins you can't see much of anything accept for green trees. It's such a different feeling going from mountains and hills where you see much of the land to a flat jungle area where you only see what is immediately around you.

There we learned incredible symbolism about the tree of life and it's protectors or guardians. Each Mayan city has three areas; the temple (considered celestial  the surrounding areas within the walls of the city (terrestrial) and then the outside of the city walls (underworld)

Our first stop before we got to the ruins was at this tree. This Yaxche tree is symbolic of the tree of life and was the only tree that grew straight up and was large. It was also hollow and held water inside. The spikes you can see were a protection and everywhere you would see a Yaxche tree in it's natural environment you would also find two other trees. One was poisonous and the other was the antidote and together they protected the sacred Tree of Life.

The Mayans had two entrances into their village. The entrances were build in the form of an arch which represented entering sacred or holy grounds. Something I found very fascinating was that the Mayan people were very short. Yes, the women averaged 3.5-4 feet and the men 4-5. So the arch was actually very child sized, the kids and I fit perfectly through them. Aaron had to crouch and make sure not to hit his head :)

The pillars you can see in the picture below represented power or nobility. The more pillars on their house the higher ranking. This was a house to the Halach Huinik (high priest or religious leader; highest position in the city)

Just off the coast from Tulum is the worlds second largest coral reef. Interesting thing is that just in front of the Tulum temple is and opening free from reef where the underground river flows out. All throughout the Yucatan peninsula are underground freshwater rivers and this was one point where the river joins the ocean and broke through the reef. So this location became the trading point because ships would align their boats with the temple (which they would light up at night) and then could bring their ships to shore. Otherwise they would get stuck in the coral. 

There is a lot of other symbolism relating to the laying on of hands and how Jesus (they referred to him as the white bearded God) came to visit them coming from the east, gave them power, healed them, taught them ordinances and said he would come back. There was a building that was all about birth (seen below), specifically about Mary and the birth of Christ. They built the Tulum temple so precise that on April 6th every year the sun would shine through a specific hole on the temple and illuminate this building. Seriously mind blowing how they were so specific and thorough that long ago. These people were incredible intelligent!

From Tulum we went to Xel Ha in the Riviera Maya. It is considered the largest natural aquarium park in the world. There was SO much to do there we could have spent days at that park, it was huge! With the time we had there we were not able to even half of the activities. 

Entering the park the first thing we saw were the dolphins, I was so excited to watch them that I didn't pull my camera out. From there we got settled and ate lunch (another all inclusive resort). Right from the restaurant we saw these beauties.

Josh continually talked about how cool it was that he got to hold the iguana. Rachael was not too thrilled that a bird was on her head but once Josh did the same thing she thought it was funny.

We took a ride to the top of the river and entered what they called the 'lazy river'. It started in the thick jungle and by the looks of it you'd think the water would be murky but it was crystal clear. It was such a slow moving river that we had to use the trees to pull us along. Once we reached the end of the trees and to the open river we slowly glided along.

Rachael and Joseph fell asleep on Aaron's tube so while they relaxed me and Josh jumped in and explored. We enjoyed a fun zip line and watching people jump off the cliffs. There was so much to see and do.
It was nearing the end of our stay and we still had a ways to go. Josh helped me push Aaron's tube to the end (it took 90 minutes) and I was SO sore the next day. Everyone slept so well that night.

Mexico Day 1 & 2

In the early hours of the morning on Wednesday October 10th, 2012 (4am to be exact) we began our anticipated journey to the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico. We got to the airport around 6am and began the check in process. The kids were so excited! This was Rachael and Joseph's first time flying.

Everything went so smoothly and Rachael giggled as the plane took off. Joseph fell asleep almost immediately after take off.

The flight was just over two hours and it went so well. Once landing in Dallas we knew we had 4.5 hours to kill before boarding our next flight, so we relaxed and let the kids wear themselves out. This airport was huge so we took our time getting to our departure gate. Riding the tram was a big highlight.
Unfortunately we had to check our stroller in with our luggage so we had to do without that luxury but after finding our departure gate we got lunch, found a quiet empty spot and let the kids play. Thanks to McDonald happy meals toys the kids were entertained for awhile.

Lots of time to make silly faces

Our next flight was only 2 hours and 10 minutes. Once again the kids did so well. We never had any problems while flying and they were all on their best behavior. We arrived at the Cancun airport around 7pm. Once we exited the airport we did not expect what was coming, it had been raining, was dark and extremely hot and humid. Whew, kinda took our breath away as we all had just come from a colder drier climate and had jackets on.

Our shuttle picked us up and drove us 45 min to our resort, the Sandos Caracol Eco Resort near Playa del Carmen.  Once arriving  everyone was so friendly and helpful. They loaded us all onto an over-sized golf cart and drove us to our suite. Our resort is in the middle of a dense jungle and it was quite dark so thankfully they were very helpful that way, otherwise I don't  think we would have found it. We unloaded and more or less went to bed, we were all really exhausted.


The next morning the kids got up so excited. We ventured out and spent the day exploring the resort.

Our first stop was at La Laguna for breakfast. Just outside of the restaurant were these beautiful Macaws.   

After breakfast we took a quick stop at the front plaza (the only place with wifi for Aaron to check in on business stuff) and to pick up our welcome package. We were also given 3 dinner reservations so I made those.

As we explored the resort we came across many different animals. Here were two very vocal and friendly Burrows. 

After visiting the Burrows we looked up and saw this gorgeous spider monkey in the trees. It was so fascinating to watch him climb around and eat the berries. Incredible how they use their tail to hold them in place. They use their tails to hold them steady so that they can have both hands free to collect food.

We also saw peacocks, iguanas, geckos and turtles throughout the resort.

First stop after visiting the animals was the beach of course! The water was warm and the sand was so fine it was hard to get off. I try to compare it to a texture of something between white sugar and powdered sugar. 

The only issue in the water was the current. It was so strong that I didn't dare go into depths past my stomach. Even just a couple feet into the water you could feel the pull. So the kids more or less stayed on shore and jumped around the waves.

From the beach we went to the resort pools (the kids enjoyed this a bit more than the beach) and then had a nice buffet lunch at La Toscana. We then ventured at bit more into the jungle around our resort for exploring. Because of the humidity the mosquitoes were a little crazy. Rachael ended up with numerous bites on her legs that day. Out game the bug spray for the rest of the trip.

Our first dinner reservation was for our first night at La Riviera, a Mediterranean cuisine. We got to eat with view of the beach as the sun set behind us. The food was delicious and the best part is the all inclusive part. It took a lot of getting used to not having a check at the end of meals.

Our first day was so great and we had so much still to come...

A barbecue for grandma

August 15, 2012

Aaron's grandma is in town from England and we held a family barbecue at our house just for her. Jess and her boys were also in town for the joyous occasion.

The night before and morning of I spent making a cake for Mama. It's her birthday a bit later this month but having everyone together would be a nice time to celebrate.

I made this DELICIOUS Strawberry Lemon Coconut Cake. It turned out divine and was the first time I had requests for more but it had already been devoured. The lemon butter cream frosting is a little time consuming as you heat it on a stove over boiling water and then whip the egg whites for about 10 minutes to get it into a meringue constancy. Well worth it though.

A couple tricks i've learned when making cakes is to first cut a circle of cardboard the size of the prepared cake. (I used a diaper box as seen in the picture below). Place the cake on the cardboard and then prepare it. It helps keep the cake sturdy and allows me to decorate my cake on my lazy susan. As seen above, I can then easily transfer the decorated cake onto my serving tray with no problems.

Another tip is when cutting cake and dealing with layers. I have come across this fabulous little tool (its hard to see but is in the top right picture below). You set it to the height you want and it cuts perfectly through the cake. No crumb mess and perfectly level. Brilliant! 
When working with layers with preserves, put the preserves on first and then in order to put on the frosting without making a huge mess, simply put frosting into a frosting bag and pipe on the cake in a circular motion (seen below) 

For dinner I was grilling bbq chicken, made a cucumber dip (cucumbers courtesy of my mom's garden), cut fruit and then headed out to my own garden to see what was available. I ended up coming in with fresh corn, red potatoes, carrots and zucchini. I find great joy in the blessings and accomplishments of having a garden. This was one of those days.

I made honey roasted potatoes and grilled my zucchini with seasonings. 

Picture time of course!

Grandma had never met her great grandchildren Rachael, Lucas and Joseph until this trip.

The cousins had so much fun playing together

 Early Happy Birthday Celebrations!

 August 1, 2012

Day trip first spent at Bridal Veil Falls. It was a lot hotter then anticipated that day so this part of our day was cut short. It was overwhelmingly hot and there were a lot of people. The kids still enjoyed splashing around in the freezing cold water.

From there we drove out to a beachy part of Utah Lake. I had never been here before and enjoyed it so much we will surely go back again. The clouds rolled in soon after we arrived which made the rest of the evening perfect.

To our surprise it was very very shallow a long ways out. You can see the distance the kids were  from the pictures below. It was exciting for them to be able to walk way out into the water before it even hit their bellies.

 No one wanted to leave when it was time, that's how you know it was a fun day! The kids ask me nearly every day when we can go back!

Canning Apricots

This year I decided to try something new. I got a 20 pound box of fresh local apricots, for a really great price, and decided to make some jam.

I had my handy helpers Rachael and Steph. Rachael was a pro at opening the apricots and pulling the pit out. Steph was my fabulous chopper.

 Joseph was on taste check until he fell asleep :)

20 pounds of apricots ended up being way more then I had anticipated. It took me two days to complete everything. I made 4 batches of apricot jam and then apricot pineapple jam (my favorite), also canned a few fresh apricots, dried a batch and then froze a batch with my food saver. Yum! So worth all the hard work!

It's been a long time...

Sunday July 29, 2012

A planned dinner with my grandma turned into a surprise visit from all of my dad's side of the family. Sometimes the unplanned events turn out to be the best.

My dad's brother Jeff was in town and in effort to get everyone together (it's been a long time for us) I invited everyone down to our house for dessert last minute.

All the cousins (accept for one - Aaron is on his mission)

It pains me to admit that I am the oldest of all of them and am 8+ years older then most all of them. Yes and also the shortest... But they sure are cute :)

It is so nice having a yard big enough for large group to enjoy. The weather was beautiful!

Lots of yummy desserts and family pictures of course!

My grandma with her children (my dad, aunt & uncles)

Individual Families

This would be the perfect picture accept for we are missing Joseph, he was already in bed for the night.

As the sun set it created this beauty all around us. What a magnificent evening spent catching up with some great people!