Mexico Recap

  Mexico was amazing and so much fun! We are so grateful to Darrel and Laurie for letting us crash their trip and for letting us in on such a great deal!  

Here are a few things we learned from our trip:

• Mexico hot and Idaho hot are not the same!!
• Cooling towels are a must!
• Some of us come home less tan than we went ;)
• American street tacos and Mexico street tacos are not created equal!
• EVERYONE LOVES street tacos!
• Keagan and Jessi really could hang out by the pool all day!
• Strawberry Coladas are amazing!
• No matter how much you try to explain coconut cream they will put coconut rum in your coke :(
• NEVER DRINK THE WATER IN MEXICO!!!  Even to brush your teeth....Heather!!!
• 6 hour + flight layover aren't bad when you're with family
• Thank goodness for GOOD pilots who double check their planes themselves!
• Sometimes God answers prayers at the very last hour through a last minute phone call.  Thank you Hans and Julie Hayden for helping with my crippling fear of flying (bc yes I did need more than my pills to make it through the flights)
• Vacations are always easier when you know your fur babies are being well taken care of at home, thank  you Grandma JoAnn!

Here are a few of our favorite things:

Zach - The Xcaret night show, Chichen Itza temple, swimming through caves at both parks, street tacos, real coconut water, street market haggling, the zip lines and all the food and drinks I could handle.

Jessi - Relaxing by the pool, all the drinks, street tacos, learning about the Mayans (their games, culture and temple), seeing all the different animals, meeting Evelynn with the bull tattoo and swimming in the caves.

Kabree - The black jaguar at Xcarat, the swimming pool, all the ice cream, I liked all the animals that wondered around at the hotel and the ziplines at Xplore.

Keagan- All the ice cream, the strawberry daiquiris, the swimming pool, the hammock splash at Xplore, I kind of liked the ziplines, everything about the hotel, and the shopping. 

Matt - The ocean, being able to just chill and the free drinks

Heather - Relaxing, the sounds of the animals, the places to explore and seeing a new country 

Hanna - Chichen Itza and the Ziplines 

Justice - Ziplines were cool but I loved playing with the sharks as it was a life long dream.

Darrel - 

Laurie - Loved the parks and the strawberry coladas!

Trent - Haggling with the people at the markets.

Haylee - Seeing the beautiful scenery and going to Xel-Ha (a water park Darrel, Laurie, Trent and Haylee went to one of the days).

Cole Ross Ward

  We finally got to meet Eric's little guy Cole.  Eric and Alyssa had their baby June 1st, he weighed 7lbs 10oz and was 20 inch long.  

Welcome Home Shay

   Shay came home June 2nd.  She was one of the very few missionaries who was able to stay on her mission during COVID.  Shay didn't fly into the Pocatello airport until 11:30 p.m.  So the girls made posters to put up at Shawn's house but they stayed home.  

Full Set

We officially have a full set of braces!

Adios

   Saturday was a VERY long day of traveling!  We left our hotel at 7 a.m. to head to the airport.  Our first flight went great with no hick ups and going through customs went good with only a few minor mishaps (two people had to throw out their vanilla and I had to toss a soda ;).  Once in the Fort Lauderdale airport we all settled in for the long haul because we knew we had 5 hours until our next flight.  We got food, the kids were great about watching screens and playing games in the middle of the adults.  I passed out on Zach's shoulder for a good hour!  Our flight to Salt Lake was right on time and we load our plane fine but after being on the plane for 20 min our pilot came out and told us that our one engine had an oil leak and he didn't feel comfortable flying that plane so we would need to unload and wait for a new plane.  So we unloaded and got to hang out for just over an hour waiting for a new plane to arrive.  By the time we flew into Salt Lake, got our luggage and finally got to our car and home it was 4:30 a.m. Sunday morning. 

Mexico Day 7

   Friday was our last full day in Mexico!  Unfortunately we had to all get our COVID tests but luckily we all passed ;). After that we all headed to the Playa Car Market (It's the market that is with in all the hotels gated community) and then a few of us went back to 5th avenue.  While at the Playa Car Market we found one shop where the guy hand made all the bracelets, earrings and necklaces and sold them for a reasonable price and sense we actually saw him making them we decided to buy ours from him!  It was pretty cool to watch him make them.

  Once back on 5th avenue the girls asked to get their braids touched back up.  We decided to start out at the other end of the market and for some reason Zach saw another stand and asked the lady if she would touch up their braids.  She decided to completely redo them.  Keagan was super nervous! But she promised it wouldn't hurt and she promised they would last 10 days!  FYI they lasted 10 days and they didn't hurt ;).  Seriously though we will never forget Evelynn with the bull tattoo, she was our person on our trip!  Our bishop said we would meet one person on our trip that we would never forget and she was it!  She had two daughters 12 and 5 and was a single mother working 6 days a week working on 5th avenue at this hair stand.  Anyways, I can't explain what it was about her but she just had something about her, she was kind, genuine and funny and I'm so glad that for what ever reason God let our paths cross.  Maybe it's because she lead me to the most amazing street tacos I've ever had lol!

  After the girls finished their braids Zach and I decided to take the girls down by the ocean to look for sea shells.  Matt, Heather and their kids came down too and Zach, Kabree, Matt and Justice decided to get in the water with all the seaweed.  They didn't go in far because it was so bad and would just tangle up around their legs so bad!  After that we finished the day off with the rest of the crew by the pool enjoying ice cream and slushy drinks!

Selfie man strikes again

The view from our hotel room window