Ek Balam and Xcaret

Our first week in Mexico was spent with my mom's side of the family...the ENTIRE family. There were 26 of us, and we were there to celebrate my grandparent's 50th wedding anniversary. We had so much fun being around everyone.

We all went to the Ek Balam ruins, which holds the tallest Mayan temple that you can climb. We had a tour guide show us around the ruins and give us an idea of what the Mayan people were like.

I think Toren is too tall to be Mayan.

The tall temple. Some parts of it are still being restored, which is why you see the coverings to the sides of the stairs.

At the top of the temple!

Coming back down. I had to scoot on my bottom most of the way. As you can see, however, Toren is already on the last couple of steps.The whole gang!

Later that week we all went to Xcaret (pronounced eshkaret). It's an ecological park. There we swam in natural lagoons, saw all sort of animals, snorkeled through a cenote (and underground river), visited a Mayan village, and watched a nightly show called Mexico Extravaganza. The first half of the extravaganza included scenes from Mayan life, including the famous ball game and what might have happened with the Spaniards arrived. The second half showcased dances from all the Mexican states.

On the way to they Mayan village.

Still on the way to the Mayan village.

And, here we are, with a brave Mayan warrior.

So Long Sweet Sun....

Well, we're back from our 2 weeks in Mexico. On Friday (the day before we left), Toren threw an interesting offer my way: let's stay in Mexico for good! He would work as a scuba diving instructor, I could sell my handmade crafts, and it wouldn't be hard to convince the family to ship little Baxter down.

As I lay by the pool sipping a virgin pina colada with the sun's 85 degree rays blanketing me, his offer was very....very tempting. Yet, in the end, I decided a life without my family and friends -- even in tropical Mexico -- would be no life at all. So, we came home, and now I have an offer of my own: let's ALL move to Mexico!!!

We really did have a fabulous time. It was my greatest intention to update our blog ever other day or so while we were down there, but we didn't take our computer, so that didn't really work out. Nonetheless, I'm going to try to share the essence of our wonderful vacation now.

Bienvenidos a Mexico!

Well, we have arrived safe and sound in Mexico! Our traveling day was quite long...we arrived 2 hours early to the airport, took a 6 hour plane ride, shuffled through immigration and customs, and then endured an hour and a half bus ride to our resort. But, we're here now.

Last night all we really did was unpack and eat dinner. And let me tell you, the dinner we had made all the traveling worth it. First, they brought out the most delicious appetizers (now, let me remind you, this is an ALL INCLUSIVE resort): chicken fingers, mini tacos, and chips with salsa and guacamole. Toren, of course, ordered his first (of probably thousands) virgin pina colada. And then....the main course: Toren orded this amazing flank steak and I got a quesadilla (I know it seems silly to come all this way for a little cheese between two tortillas, but it was what a wanted). Both meals were fabulous! I can't wait to have dinner tonight.

Today we spent the day getting a lay of the land and soakin' up some much needed rays. The boys played a little water polo and volleyball in the pool. Tomorrow we're going scuba diving, which should be incredible!

Here's our room (yes that's a jacuzzi tub behind the bed)

Kayaking in the mangroves. Toren, lounging as usual
On the bus ride to the resort (Did I mention there were 26 of us!?!?!)

Amazing Picture-Filled Posts Coming Soon...

MySpace Countdown Clocks

To Utah and Back

Well, we've been quite busy lately, and last weekend was no different. When we moved to Ohio last April we left most of our things in storage in Utah. Our apartment in Ohio was furnished by Icon, so we only took clothes and a few other small things with us.

We didn't need much either when we moved to Oregon because we were moving in with Toren's parents. Unfortunately, we can't live with them forever, but we can't really move into a place of our own without all of our stuff.

So, I flew to Utah last Friday, rented a big truck, loaded up our stuff, and drove back to Oregon on Saturday. My best friend, Amanda, is actually living in Salt Lake right now, and she was thrilled when I asked her to make the road trip with me (Toren had to work).

I'll be honest, it was a long day...but it was also tons of fun. We only had one running-out-of-gas scare (we made it, though we ended up driving in the wrong direction about 30 miles), and when we had about 5 hours to go we rented a couple Redbox movies to pull us through to the end.

Toe Trouble

A few weeks ago my toe started really hurting ...throbbing. It was the morning after a long night of work, and I figured it was a result of walking on hardwood floor all night in heels. The pain didn't go a way , and a nasty bruise on my toenail appeared.

Then the other day I was clipping my toenails and I realized that there was actually some sort of blister underneath my toenail. I just left it alone.

But then Toren noticed it. For those of you who know Toren, you know that you can't keep anything that might need to be popped, picked, or squeezed out of his eager fingers. In about a nanosecond he had a needle and was prepped for surgery. He carefully punctured the side of the blister that was flush with the top of my toenail.

Then he squeezed....and I screamed...

But then the joy came -- in two ways: first, my toe already felt a little better, and second, blood and oozy goo had splattered all over Toren (sweet revenge!). For about the next 25 minutes he continued to squeeze my toe and the blister's guts continued spilling out. Little by little the "bruise" was lightening and the pain was going away. I finally made him stop because I couldn't focus on watching The Amazing Race, but I think he'll be able to finish the job tonight.

I know it's kind of a gross story, but it's the most exciting thing going on in our life!

The Devil and the Angel

Halloween for Toren and I was pretty low key. We went out to dinner with some friend of ours, Kacy and Jessica. Afterward we tried to go get ice cream, but Coldstone and Baskin Robbins had closed early on account of the holiday. So we just called it an early night. It didn't exactly feel like Halloween without costumes and candy...

But there is some good news....Baxter was home taking part in all the Halloween festivities -- costume and all!!

The Devil Dog

His best friend, Frisbee, joined in the fun. (D0es't Frisbee look thriled?)

The Angel Dog

For those of you know know Bax you might be thinking: Hey, he's no devil dog. And I'd have to agree with you...some days. However, not 30 seconds after getting all dressed up. We find Baxter in his devilish ways...eating his costume....

...and Frisbee's.