40 of our family's favorite moments from the year, in chronological order:
1. Kanyon graduating from primary and entering young men's
2. Josh & Kala going to Amanda & Ryan's sealing in the Ogden temple
3. Kanyon going with his friends to celebrate his birthday at Blast Off
4. Kanyon & Kala both performing in their first community play
5. Micah helping with the stage crew for the high school production of Newsies
6. Micah, Jonah, & Kala visiting Quinn and Lisa and sightseeing in Washington DC
7. Kanyon doing so well in his first season of track & field--especially the throwing events
8. Jonah and Micah dressing like each other on April Fool's Day
9. Kala finding the gold egg at the Perkins Easter Egg Hunt
10. Ammon finishing his first year of college with a 4.0!
11. Josh & Kala driving to Canada for the first time to go to his cousin's celebration of life services
12. Josh & Kala tent camping at Yellowjacket Lake
13. 4-Wheeling and motorcycling on the dirt track near the Terreton Airport and at the St. Anthony Sand Dunes
14. Josh & Kala riding the street bike to the Challis Chassis car show
15. Kala going on a ladies temple trip with Amanda
16. Josh & Kala camping at Horse Creek Hot Springs
17. Jonah, Micah, and Kanyon going to youth conference at the Bishop's house
18. Jonah & Micah attending the last EFY at Rexburg for a week
19. Josh & Kala visiting Ammon while he interned at a golf course in Meridian
20. Watching the Melaleuca Fireworks Show in Idaho Falls with Kimi & Preh on July 4th
21. Josh hiking the Sacajawea Peaks all in one afternoon
22. Kala having a girls weekend in Jackson Hole with her friends
23. Camping at McDonald Flat and motorcycling to Yellowjacket Mine and Middle Fork Peak
24. Creating the "Triple S" area south of our home
25. Taking Ammon & Gabbie up to Williams Lake to play in the water for the evening
26. Camping at Twin Lakes in Montana
27. Kala's 40th birthday ladies trip to see plays with friends and go to the temple
28. Family jeeping/hiking to Monument Peak on Labor Day
29. Going to the Eastern Idaho State Fair to eat the food, watch Gabriel Iglesias, and go on the rides
30. Taking a jeep ride with Amanda and Ryan past Williams Lake
31. Kala & Josh riding in a hot air balloon near Arches National Park
32. Jonah, Micah, & Josh having a successful and quick deer hunt
33. Micah medaling individually at State XC and the Salmon team winning the state title for the 2nd year in a row
34. Ammon being voted as V.P. at his fraternity
35. Josh & Kala visiting Ammon at U of I for Parents Weekend
36. Being on the beach in Mexico for Thanksgiving
37. Kala going parasailing in Mexico
38. Josh & Kala soaking in the Royal Gorge Hot Springs in all 4 seasons
39. Watching the Star Wars movie marathon on our new couches over Christmas Break
40. Going to the Logan Temple as a family over Christmas Break to do baptisms
I've made this list at the end of each year for an entire decade now! Here's a link to our first list: Top 40 Hits of 2009--it's fun to see how much has changed in 10 years!
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Thanksgiving in Mexico
In July, we found out that Ed & Kathy would be going to New Mexico to visit Malachi & Molly for Thanksgiving. It was our turn to spend Thanksgiving with them this year, and since they wouldn't be home, and Salmon schools had the whole week off, we decided to plan a vacation to Mexico. Our neighbors have driven to a place called Puerto Penasco, a few hours southwest of Phoenix, and they've really enjoyed it, so we decided it would be worth a try to take our family there, too. We made the reservations in July to stay at a condo there along the beach, and by the end of summer, the condo reservations were already paid off. The boys got their passports, as this would be their first international travel, and we were excited to go! Ammon opted not to go with us, due to the amount of driving it would take for him to get from Moscow to Salmon, then from Salmon to Mexico, and repeat it all on the return trip, and he only had a week off for Thanksgiving and didn't want to spend the majority of it in the car. We knew it would be a tight fit for the boys in our Equinox SUV; we looked at renting travel vans or RV's, but the cost was too astronomical. Our solution was to have the boys sit in the rear of the car that's accessible with the hatch door, so Josh installed a hitch onto my car and then bought a cargo carrier that attaches to the hitch, and that's where we put all our bags to make more room available inside. We put pillows and a blanket back there, and the boys took turns rotating in that spot every 3 hours on the drive. I also bought a portable DVD player with two screens and headphones, and Josh bought a new USB speaker to use for it as well. I bought a variety of movie series on DVD's so that the boys could watch them on the 18+ hour drive there, and the 18+ hour drive back! They watched all the movies in the sets of Hunger Games, Rocky, and the Hobbit. It worked out really well!
We left on Tuesday, November 26. Josh and the boys were off the whole week from school in Salmon, but I had to work on Monday and Tuesday in Mud Lake, so they drove down and picked me up on the way. I took the afternoon off and was able to get a sub, and they picked me up about 12:00. We stopped in Ogden for gas and ate a quick dinner at Wendy's. Amanda and Ryan came over to see us and ate with us; it was fun to talk to them for a few minutes! Salt Lake traffic was really congested, so we lost about an hour and 15 minutes in the traffic jam. Thankfully, the roads were dry...there were electronic signs that said to make travel plans ahead of Thanksgiving, due to a big snowstorm that was going to come through Wednesday and Thursday. I'm glad we were ahead of the storm--they got several inches of snow, and the roads were bad from what I heard. We made it to Mesquite, our destination for the night. We stayed in 2 adjoining rooms at a hotel, and after we unloaded our stuff, Josh and I walked across the street to get an easy dinner at McDonald's for the boys. We took it to go, and on the way back, there was no cars at the intersection that had a stop light, so I jaywalked and ran across the road. After Josh crossed (walking on the crosswalk like a good boy). a police truck pulled over to talk to me about jaywalking. The whole situation seemed comical to me because I'd never been "pulled over" for something so silly! As he was talking to me and calling in my drivers license number, I couldn't stop smiling! To which he responded, "It's not funny to me, because people have died on the same street for doing the same thing when drunk drivers were on the road". (Our hotel as in a huge casino.) When we were all done, I said "Thanks cop!" like a lame person (Josh was so mortified by my behavior!) and I giggled all the way back to the hotel. Josh, however, didn't think it was so funny!
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| Here we go! |
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I took this selfie with my new Thanksgiving shirt as I was
waiting at McDonald's for our dinner in Mesquite.
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We stopped at Hoover Dam on our drive on Wednesday morning, and we walked along the Memorial Bridge too (except for Josh who doesn't like heights and he'd been on the bridge with me once before). The weather was nice, albeit really windy, and it was pleasant to stop and walk around. The boys had never been there before and they really liked it, too. We stopped there for about an hour, and it was the best part of our day!
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The structure in the upper left is the parking garage.
The circular structure in the middle is the Visitor's
Center, which we didn't go inside due to the cost.
The far right is only part of the dam visible from
where I was standing.
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| The view from Hoover dam looking up to the Memorial Bridge. |
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The view from the Memorial Bridge looking
down to Hoover Dam.
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Traffic was really heavy around Las Vegas, but WAY worse in Kingman and Phoenix Arizona. We spent another wasted hour in traffic. We stopped for lunch in Kingman, which was good, because Josh was really frustrated with the traffic situation and needed a break. We stopped again in Ajo to get drinks and rearrange the boys in the car before going through border security. Everyone in the car was ornery from Ajo on: Josh was stressed about the upcoming border and the boys were upset about being all squished together in the backseat rather than spread out like they had been all day. We crossed the border after dark, and surprisingly it was really easy! Josh and I were expecting it to be much worse--like when we crossed the border into Canada this spring and were stopped and interrogated. We were glad that it went so well!
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| The sun was setting just as we were driving into Ajo. |
Puerto Penasco was just over an hour from the border. Unfortunately, my online booking instructions said to go to a different address to check in, and after going to 2 locations and nobody knowing what we were talking about, and wasting over half hour driving around, we gave up and went to our destination's address, which was actually right. The office checked us in--but unfortunately it wasn't the room I'd reserved. I'd booked a condo with a king bed, a queen bed, and a sleeper sofa. However, the one they gave me had a queen bed, 2 twin beds, and a sleeper sofa. We were all so frustrated and tired, so we just stayed in the room they gave us, but I immediately made an online inquiry to Expedia, and let them know of all the errors, both in the check-in instructions and the wrong room. They replied 2 days later saying they would refund a portion of the cost of my reservations due to the mistakes. Originally, we were going to go out to eat that evening after we got there, but we arrived much later than anticipated. Thankfully, I'd packed enough food for 2 meals during our stay (which I thought would be lunches), so we just ate food at the condo that night because we were tired and hangry and didn't want to drive anymore around in the dark. I was grateful that we'd made it and everyone had a bed, and that Josh and I were still talking!!! ;)
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| The view from our condo deck after we arrived on Wednesday night. |
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| Our condos, as seen from the beach |
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We collected SO many seashells when we were there! The best time to find
them was in the morning after the tide was further out from the shore.
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I like that the condo had this foot washing station to wash off the sand before
we walked back inside.
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I'd made reservations to go parasailing that morning, but they notified me that it was too windy to go, and we had to reschedule for Friday. So, since we had some available time now, Josh and I drove to a Mexican Walmart to get a few groceries later that morning. It was an interesting experience! Their food items are different than America's, but we found mostly what we were looking for. When we got back to the condo, we soaked in the hot tub that was down by the pool in the central area. As we soaked, the boys played on the beach and in the ocean until it got cold and windy. We got dressed and drove to the other side of town, at Rocky Point, and ate lunch in a shop overlooking the ocean. We then shopped for about 2 hours, walking up and down the street, going in and out of about 20 souvenir shops. Mexicans are so funny as they sell the items in their shops, saying things like, "It's almost free" or "Prices are good today". There are no price tags on anything, so you have to bargain over everything! We all got souvenirs, except Kanyon who got a golf ball at Hoover Dam and didn't really care about anything else.
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| Getting ready to go to the hot tub! |
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| Our condo is amidst the buildings in the distance on the right. |
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As we walked along the outdoor halls to get to our room
at the condo, the corners with arches cut out in the stucco
made this cool design that I loved looking through every time!
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We took our stuff back to the condo, played a card game indoors since it was still cold and windy outside, and then left to go to dinner at a place that makes traditional Thanksgiving dinners. Josh had researched it online and had made reservations for us. The guy who owned the restaurant had forgotten to write our reservations down, but Josh showed him the confirmation on his phone, and the owner gave us a private room in the back, which was cool! The meal was great! We had turkey, mashed potatoes, yams, cranberries, corn, and stuffing. They even brought out pumpkin pie for dessert! Josh and the boys ate everything except the yams and cranberries. It was so funny to see the orange and red piles on each of their plates at the end of the meal! We also got to watch football on TV as we ate, so it felt much like a regular Thanksgiving afternoon at home (minus all the extended family, of course). It was still stormy when we left the restaurant, so when we got back tot eh condo, we stayed inside and watched a movie from the Rocky series that the boys started on the drive the day before. It was a really nice Thanksgiving day with my family.
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| BEFORE |
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| AFTER |
On Friday, the weather was absolutely glorious! I missed the sunrise due to not sleeping well through the night, which I was sad about, but I was SO happy to see the sun the rest of the entire day! The workers at the condo spent all morning cleaning up san from yesterday's storm. They got it out of the pool and hot tub, off the chairs and walkways, and they shoveled and leveled it in the seating areas outside. I watched from our deck as Josh and I read until it warmed up outside, then we headed down to the beach where the boys already were. We noticed some new vendors on the beach that weren't there yesterday due to the wind. One was a massage table! Josh and I got a couple's massage on the beach for 30 minutes, which was amazing! The girl that was already set up, had her sister bring her massage table from her spot at the beach in front of the neighboring condo. I'd never dreamed of having a couple's massage on a beach! I liked hearing the natural ocean water splash, and the nearby laughs of children as the gal worked on my back and legs and arms. It was super relaxing! With the absence of wind and the presence of sunlight, the beach came to life, and we practically spent the entire day there (we took a break once to go and soak in the hot tub). We were catered to all day: there was a food and beverage cart that sold us drinks, people walking by selling different merchandise, and people selling homemade food, too! It was awesome! We laid in our beach chairs reading (I even finished reading the Book of Mormon!), watching our boys play in the sand and in the water on the body board (until it broke), and did some people-watching too (the vendors and their sales comments cracked us up!). Josh and I took a long walk along the beach at sunset. Because this beach faces south, both the sunrise and sunset were visible over the ocean water, which is incredible! The sunset was even prettier than the sunrise the day before! For dinner, we went to the nearby restaurant Bandito's. The service wasn't that great, but their bacon-wrapped shrimp were divine! When we got back tot eh condo, we watched another Rocky movie together. Friday had been the perfect vacation day; it was exactly how I envisioned our time would be in Mexico. It was glorious day, and I was wishing we could have one more like it before we had to leave, but due to the amount of driving, we had to leave the next morning.
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| Kanyon loves the water! |
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| Micah got a bracelet made with his name on it, and got to pick the colors, too. |
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| Ahhhh, this is what I love about vacationing: sitting back and relaxing! |
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| Josh and I's footprints in the sand along our sunset walk |
We sadly checked out of our condo on Saturday morning. However, before we left, I walked along the beach again collecting seashells one last time. I loved that beach! I loved that it was so accessible from our condo! The water was the calmest it had been all week. Thankfully, with the good weather, I was finally able to go parasailing (one of my 40 Things to Do list items). After we checked out, we drove down to the meeting place near Rocky Point. I went alone on the boat as Josh and the boys watched by the pier. The last time I was in Mexico, I saw people aprasailing and I knew I wanted to do it the next time I was in Mexico. The driver and assistant drove me out into the water, and then I got harnassed up. I sat on the deck, and as the driver picked up speed, the parachute became inflated, and I started to rise. The assistant slowly unrolled the wench which lengthened the rope that was attached to my harness, and I rose up further and further in the sky. I was nervous when I first started, but then I peacefully viewed the world around me as I went higher and higher. I could see so much of the surrounding area--the layout of Rocky Point, the borders of the city, the beach where our condo was. It was a joy! It was very reminiscent of my hot air balloon ride this fall, but I was more vulnerable to the wind. I wish I could've done the ride with Josh, but combined we were over the weight limit. I missed his company, but grateful to cross off another item on my bucket list. As my half hour in the hour neared its ending, the assistant reeled me in, and the driver slowed down, and my feet touched the water before the driver sped up again and they reeled me in until I was on the deck and they folded in the parachute. We drove back to the pier, and I saw a sea lion on a dock in the harbor!! So cool! The entire experience was exhilerating, and I would TOTALLY do it again!!
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Our condo was modest, compared to the giants around it!
It's the short one in the center with the tan stucco.
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I thought for a second I was going to drown, but after my feet touched water
I was glad they sped up and I went back up again!
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As soon as my ride ended, we began the drive back home. The traffic came to a standstill at the border, and we had to wait in line over an hour to get through. I wish I would've taken pictures of all the people trying to sell us things or wash our windows as we were stopped in the long line, slowly moving forward. After we crossed the border, we stopped at the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument to get out, stretch our feet, and use the bathroom. Originally, we had planned to make a stop there on the way home to do some exploring, but after the time wasted at the border, we knew we no longer could. We stopped in Ajo for lunch and gas, and the only food in town was at the grocery store's deli. We got some fried chicken and continued on our way.
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| Goodbye, Puerto Penasco! |
We decided to drive a different way after we reached the Phoenix area, in order to avoid the Phoenix and Kingman traffic jams that we encountered days before. We headed east, and then north after crossing into Nevada. The highways after that were pretty deserted, which made it much nicer to navigate, plus we got a change of scenery. We stopped at Lake Havasu City that evening, after the sun had already set, to see the original London Bridge that was taken apart and relocated there in the 1970's. It was a fun stop adn they were festive and decked out in Christmas lights already. Santa was even there that night! It was funny to think that when we left Idaho, it was still fall, when we were in Mexico it felt like summer, and suddenly on our way home it was like winter had arrived overnight with Christmas right around the corner! We walked around for a few minutes, and then ate dinner at 5 Guys in the same area as the cool bridge, and continued driving. We finally stopped for the night at Cedar City, surrounded by several inches of snow and the freezing cold. We arrived at the hotel near 11:30pm. We were wiped from the long day of travelling!
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| The sun setting somewhere in western Arizona/eastern Nevada. |
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| The original London Bridge in Lake Havasu City, Arizona |
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Because of the cloud cover over Las Vegas, and all the lights that are in that city,
the light reflected in the clouds was visible for over 100 miles away!!
I totally knew what it was, and was so interesting that I could tell where Las
Vegas was even before I could see it!
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We had missed the big storm in Utah and Idaho the days we were in Mexico. Thankfully, as we drove home on Sunday we had dry roads, but there was evidence of the snowstorm every place we drove through, beginning in Cedar City. After our free breakfast at the hotel (the first free breakfast on our trip, yay!), we left about 8:30am. We made good time--not getting stuck in traffic at all for the first time on this trip! We stopped in Bountiful for lunch, and then Idaho Falls for gas. We got to Mud Lake about 3:30, where Kanyon and I stayed, and then Josh, Jonah, and Micah continued on to Salmon. I went home to Salmon on Monday, the following day, to visit overnight instead of going home on Sunday and turning around to come back Monday morning. I was glad to be back in Idaho, but with the fresh foot of snow on the ground in Mud Lake, it sure made me long for the warmth of the sun and the feel of the sand on my toes in Mexico. It was a very fulfilling trip, and I hope that we go again--but we decided that if we do, we will fly from Idaho Falls to Phoenix and get a rental car to go to Puerto Penasco, reducing our travel time to give us more time on the beach!! We all LOVED the beach!! It was a great vacation!
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The twins both wore their new souvenir shirts to school on
Monday that they'd gotten at Hoover Dam. I think both of
their shirts are hilarious!! They said they got a lot of laughs!
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