Sightseeing on the Wasatch Front

Last week our friends, Narcisso and Ruth Casteneda, from Mexico City came to SL for a visit.  They arrived on Friday and they loved being here on Conference weekend!  They got to attend two different sessions.  On Sunday after the last session they came out to Grantsville to have dinner and meet some of the family.  Narcisso is the director of LDS family services in all of Mexico and is based out of Mexico City. Ruth is also a psycologist but works for a different firm.  Rick and  Narcisso met in Monterrey, Mexico all those years ago when they served their missions together.  Narcisso was Rick's trainer.  We joined up a few years ago when we took Gary and Kendra  on a trip to MC.  We got to meet Ruth at that time (The kids and I had met Narcisso previously on one of his earlier trips to the US) as well as one of their sons, Ricardo.  When we were in Mexico they were so good to us in showing us the sites of the city so we wanted to return the favor when BOTH of them could make the trip to SL together. Well,  I had the opportunity of doing just that on Monday and Tuesday of this past week.  Despite the language barrier (Ruth speaks very limited English and I speak NO Spanish) we had a great time.  I confess I did have the help of google translate when I desperately needed it.  We just enjoyed being together without a lot of jibber jabber:) Monday was a TERRIBLE day for sightseeing because it was cold and rainy.  I knew that I wanted to show her all of the temples in the SL valley so we started out in Bountiful.  It was nice because it was snowing on the benches and she was enthralled by it.  This was a first for her! As we were coming down the hill in Bountiful I could see her wiping her eyes with a tissue and she just simply said,  "I never think I see this."  That was sweet to me.  Do we realized how blessed we are to live in a land of liberty let alone in the Zion dreamed of by our pioneer ancestors.  We are truly blessed!  After seeing the temple we went back downtown to visit the State Capitol. 

 A truly impressive building.  

 

 

Next we had lunch at the Lion House (soup in a breadbowl)

It helped to warm us up!  Ruth was not used to the weather at all!

It is very hot in Mex City.

 

 

Next was the Beehive house.  Thank goodness for Spanish speaking missionaries!

 

 

For the rest of the afternoon we visted the other temples in the valley.

The Draper, Jordan River, and Oquirrh Mountain

 

 

The next day Rick took the afternoon off and went touring with us.  We first had lunch at Kneaders (always a favorite) and then walked over to the Capital Theatre.  The girl at the ticket office told us how to get in through the side door and we walked all through the building.  It is an incredibly beautiful building.  We were the only ones there and I felt at any time someone was going to come in and kick us out.  But they didn't and I just really enjoyed being in this place.  I have only been there two other times.  Once for "The Nutcracker" and once for "The Phantom of the Opera" many years ago.  I forgot how breathtaking this building is:)

 

 

Next we drove over to the Utah Pioneer Building.  Wow!  There are some pretty neat artifacts in there.  Some of my favorite things were: a hundred year old indian head dress in mint condition, a couple of human hair wreaths,  six rattles from rattlesnakes caught by Hilda Erickson (yes, of Grantsville fame....she actually had her own case of her belongings because she was the last living pioneer in UT), antique pianos, portraits, and a myriad of amazing collections.  We only had time for the first floor.  I can only imagine all the other stuff that's in that building!

 

 

Ruth wanted to go to Provo (because it is such a symbol of the church...you know BYU and all) so we drove around the campus, to the MTC and to the Temple.

 

 

We took the scenic route home and stopped at Bridal Veil Falls in Provo Canyon and then drove through Midway and down Parley's Canyon back into the city.

 

 

We had a wonderful time showing the sites to Ruth

and hope we helped to making some lasting memories:)

 

Night Easter Egg Hunt

Saturday night we held our 3rd annual Night Easter Egg Hunt.  The eggs were all hidden in our back yard and after gathering everyone together with their flashlights they started the hunt.  Thanks to Rick and Trent for hiding nearly 80 eggs!  Some eggs had a little money, and some eggs had numbers coinciding with a certain prize.  After the hunt everyone came in to claim their prizes.

Julie, Justin, and Destinee

John and Kaitlyn

Gary and the prize egg

Brach and Kendra

Emery, Hannah, and Allie

Mark and Taryn

Jenni and Kallie

Julie's Tea Party Bridal Shower

Last Tuesday night we had a bridal shower for Julie Dee Baker who is getting married THIS FRIDAY!  Her mom and I and the Liberty Landing girl cousins organized it and we sure had a fun night!  It was an immense amount of work (or so it felt like to me) and all of our efforts paid off because it really was a wonderful evening.  All that were invited were encouraged to come in tea party dress.  It was fun to see all of the pretty dresses and spring hats!  We set up the banquet table right down the center of my family room and fit all of the ladies at the table.  Kallie made all of the fresh flower centerpieces in little teapots.  I borrowed some tea cups and plates from my neighbor Robyn and the table looked so elegant!!

 

 

For the dinner we served a spinach salad, tea sandwiches (egg salad, cucumber, and chicken croissants)  with fresh fruit and chips.  On thre dessert table we had lemon and chocolate tarts, teacup sugar cookies, lemon bluebery cookies, and almond cookies.  It was delish!

 

 

Here is a closeup of the buffet centerpiece.  Again...Kallie did wonders with the fresh flowers!

 

 

We displayed a beautiful picture of the bride (taken by her sister, Jenni).....

and Kathy's wedding dress as decor.

 

 

The bride and her mother:) 

Notice the pretty teapot cake centerpiece.

It was made by a new bakery here in Grantsville.

 

 

The cute bride to be opening her gifts.

 

 

The adorable Liberty Landing cousins. 

(missing Hannah 'cause she had to go to promenade practice)

 

 

The Baker girls

 

 

A shot of Kendra, Sarah and me.

How about Sarah's red gloves?

 

 

The mantle was decorated with flowers and vintage hats loaned to me by a friend.

oops, I just erased the picture of the mantle with the vintage hats!

The drink table (lemonade, cocoa, and of course, tea) 

 

 

 

 

This table was in the entryway.  Kendra and I made some homemade soaps as parting gifts.

They smelled really good!

We also had a fun candy bar with all kinds of candies for the ladies to take home.  It turned out really cute and I feel bad that I forgot to take a picture of it.  We had cotton candy, jordan almonds, raspberry hugs, chocolate bars, sour lips and other things I can't remember right now.

 

 

The shower was a success and thank you to everyone who came to support our Julie Dee.  We are super excited for her to be married to her sweetheart, Justin who is a great guy! 

 

 

SPRING BREAK IN CANCUN

 

Last week Rick and I took Skylar & Sarah and Brach & Kendra to Cancun.  We left Saturday the 16th and gotback last Saturday night.  It was a wonderful vacation!  The kids shared a two bedroom condo while Rick and I had our own just a few doors down.  We stayed at the Casa Maya at the top of the hotel zone and it was a really great place to be.  The beach there was fantastic and we made good use  of it!  This picture was taken just after we had dinner in the hotel's beachside restaurant. 

 

 

On Sunday we went to church.  Rick had been in touch with the Bishop of the ward before we left the States because we wanted to take some clothes for someone in need.  Come to find out the Bishop of the ward (Bishop Garrido) was Rick's Zone leader from the Moneterrey Mexico Mission all those years ago!  We had a fun time visiting with his family and looking at old mission pictures. (all but his youngest son spoke English) 

They are a really awesome family. 

 

 

After church we got to go to the home of Dayana Cervantes and her children Arturo and Sasha.  Dayana is a single mom and earns her living by making sandwiches each day and taking them out to sell on the streets. The Bishop felt like she could use some help so we visited with her and dropped off some food, clothes, and a few pesos.  Brach had packed his mission shoes in the clothing and gave them to Arturo who is nine years old.  He explained to Arturo how he wore them on the streets of Phoenix, Arizona and that in just a few years he could plan and wear them on his own mission.  Sasha (who is seven) was a happy little girl and loved showing us her little toys.  The kids were so amiable and happy to have visitors. 

This was just an exeptional experience for us all.

 

 

Monday we drove out to the Ek Balam ruins and enjoyed climbing the ancient buildings.

 

 

A view from the top of the highest building.

 

 

We had a fun time exploring but only stayed an hour because it was hot and humid and the kids were anxious to get back to the pool:) (except for Brach.....he wanted to stay longer but got outvoted)

 

 

Tuesday was a beach day.  Our hotel had a fantastic beach. 

We had fun playing in the waves and tossing a nerf football around. 

In one of the marketplaces Skylar found a cool ball that skims across the water. 

The kids loved playing with that!

 

 

Skylar and Sarah snorkeling in the surf.  There wasn't much to see here at the hotel because there was no reef but they did spot an eel and a baby ray.  Oh, and Skylar found a dollar:)

 

 

This day was fun because the spa at the hotel was offering a 2 for 1 deal on massages so Sky, Sarah. Kendra, and I got to get a massage.  Also, everyone but me went parasailing. 

Here's the Boman's ready to go!!

 

 

Up, up and away!

 

 

Next, it was the Phelps' turn.

 

 

Woo Hoo!  Sarah was so scared the whole time!  Rick told everyone of a parasailing freak accident just before they went up.  I'm not sure what he was thinking on that one!

 

 

Since I didn't want to go Brach got to go up another time to balance out Rick.  He really loved it!  He said the water was so clear that he could see some good sized fish from way up there.

 

 

Wednesday afternoon we stopped at Crocun Zoo and got to see some exotic animals. Everyone got to hold a baby croc:)  The bad thing about this place were the mosquitos. A word to the wise....citronella spray does NOT work!

 

 

On Thursday we drove to Playa Del Carmen to catch the ferry over to Cozumel.  We wanted to get in some good snorkeling so we went to the Chankanaab National Park.  The water was clear and the tropical fish were plentiful.  Rick took crackers to feed them and they were swarming everywhere!  Kinda freaky!  The boys saw a huge barracuda and another eel.  The coral was also very cool!

 

 

We rented mopeds to get around on the island. 

 

 

Friday was designated as another beach day at the hotel (the kids loved to order drinks and food as they lounged on the sand).  Before we went out Rick and I took a drive down the hotel zone to the beach to the south. I just love the Caribbean waters! 

The white sand just makes the water so beautiful!

 

 

This was such a fantastic trip for us.  We ate a lot of good Mexican food and got to enjoy being together!  Indeed, a very memorable trip for all of us!