Arden's Baptism

This was the baptism with a bit of difficulty.  Arden turned 8 while we were in MX.  I felt it was important that his family, including his FL grandparents were present at his baptism.  So months before Arden's baptism, I told my mom to book her tickets towards the end of the month of August.  I knew my Stake has baptism on the 2nd Saturday each month, but I didn't think it would be a big deal to ask for a different date.  Boy was I wrong.  My bishop asked the Stake President and he said, no way...well, he pretty much said, no way. So we began the search for a solution. I even set up an appointment to speak to the Stake President himself.  I went to the meeting with him and I explained the many reasons why we needed to have the baptism during the dates my parents were in town.  These are their only grandchildren...my parents are inactive, we were out of the country, etc. And I also gave some solutions:  We can pay for the water bill at the church, we don't need the Stake people to be present, we can set it up ourselves, we can do it at our pool at our complex, if necessary, etc.  I still got denied.  Finally, I asked if we could do it at a different stake.  My sister-in-law's stake.  That request was approved and so, the preparations for a baptism began.  

We were lucky Kristen's ward doesn't have too many children and they were nice to have our baptism at their stake.
We showed up early to church on Monday, September 3, 2012.  Everything was set.  We took pictures.  Arden got dressed and then we welcomed our family and our friends, the Wojnowski.
It was really neat to have all of Arden's Utah cousins present.  Arden selected the people whom he wanted to participate in the program.  Troy was first in line to give the talk on baptism, but sadly, he had to work.  Then, we asked Casey, but no such luck. He was also working that morning.  Finally, Helen came to the rescue.  She might have been our third choice, but she did a formidable job.  Phil was our speaker on the Holy Ghost.  Our bishop was conducting. Grandma was our pianist.  My mom gave the opening prayer and my dad and Uncle D were the witnesses.  Everyone had a part.
To me, the baptism felt intimate.  Perhaps, it was because my only son getting baptized, but I felt like the Spirit was so strong in that room.  I knew what the speakers were saying was true.  Everything came together perfectly that morning.  I was so glad my little boy made the choice to get baptized.  It was such a lovely baptism.  Another good part was that it wasn't long...less than an hour long. I was glad Kristen's ward let us have the baptism in her building.  Having my parents present made it very special to me.  Our good friends the Wojnoskys were also present.
I loved watching all of the men gathered around Arden when Newel was giving Arden the confirmation as a member of our church.
Another neat thing was that Casey was able to reschedule the appointment he had that morning and was able to make it to the baptism, just seconds before Arden was baptized.  What great support Arden had from his family.  I think of it as if he was ever going to fall, there would be a lot of family members to help him back up. Casey also bore his testimony how the Holy Ghost helps us and guide us.  Casey needed the Holy Ghost to help him find the correct church building and make it on time to the baptism.  What a great day!

However, after the baptism, it was time for the festivities!  We didn't really get a chance to celebrate Arden's birthday in Mexico. So, after his baptism, we headed over to Kristen's house (who is so nice to let us use her house, for all kinds of activities) for the festivities.  We had lunch, hot dogs and hamburgers, with all kinds of good side dishes.  Then, we beat up the pinata.  Phoebe was the grand pinata killer.  Some of the other kids were disappointed they didn't get to beat up the pinata, but that's alright, there was plenty of candy for everyone.
Sadly, my mom had to go back to FL that day.  I dropped her off after lunch.  I was sad to see my mom leave, but I was glad my dad was staying with us for a few days. Of course after the pinata, we sang to Arden who had a giant cookie as his cake...I loved his creativity on that cake.  Bugs anyone?
It was a pretty grand day.

Abby's visit

At Bryce Canyon

Towards the end of August, my mom, aka Abby, came over for a visit.  This is her 2nd time in UT.  I was so happy to have my mom visiting us.
While she was here, we wanted to take her to some of the places that make UT a great place to live and visit.  So, we took her to Bryce Canyon.  We had a wonderful time.

Relaxing

After our visit to Bryce Canyon, we took the back roads and made several stops, including Calf Creek.  We had a nice time relaxing and the children loved playing in the river.

"Spear fishing"

After relaxing, we went on a hike to Upper and Lower Calf Creek Fall.  It was a good hike.  On our way back from the hike, we had to hurry as there was a storm coming and we really didn't want to get roasted.  We made it to the van on time...and off we went.

We also made a stop in Lyman, UT to visit an old missionary buddy of Newel named Taylor.  We visited with him and his family.  They live on a farm, so it was really neat for us to see their garden and visit their horses.  We had a really fun visit with them.  He has a really nice family.

More spear fishing

Upper Calf Creek Fall

Calf Creek

During the week, while my mom was in town, we hung out and went on a couple of hikes.  My mom loves the outdoors and we were having really good weather.  It was so fun to hang out with her.  We also did a bit of shopping and my mom did a bit of spoiling (her grandkids and me).

Lower Calf Creek fall

Maya was so cute asking (demanding) that my mom go to bed with her at night.  She loved talking to her Abby at bed time.  Maya and my mom were roommates during the days she visited.  Arden slept in our room.

The Saturday before she left, we drove to Manti, UT for a funeral.  It was Newel's mission president's wife (Sister Gillespie) who had passed away.  There were about 30 former missionaries who were present at the funeral.  They sang a beautiful hymn and a couple of General Authorities who worked with Brother and Sister Gillespie.  She was a wonderful woman and the services were great.  I think the highlight was the former missionaries singing their mission hymn.
To keep our children occupied while the family went to the cemetery, we drove our kids to the Manti Temple.  It's a beautiful temple that it's more appreciated in person than seeing in photographs.  We let Maya  have free range on my camera for a while.  I also wanted to show my mom what towns are like in UT.  Manti is a pretty little town that is way laid back and has some beautiful old homes.
The following day (Sunday), we picked up my dad from the airport.  My dad brought some gifts from Nicaragua and the kids were excited to get them.  Maya really liked the being swung on the hammock.
The following morning we were having Arden's baptism and birthday party, so I was working on party preparations...with Arden's input on decorating.

Before school started

Before school started, we tried to do some fun activities we would have done, if we had stayed in Utah for the summer.  There was $2 Tuesday in the month of August at Thanksgiving Point, so on a Tuesday afternoon, we were off to the museum.  I thought if I took the kids in the afternoon it wouldn't be as crowded...Yeah, too bad for us, it was crowded.  We were in and out, pretty fast.  We had a good time, but honestly, I the older I get, the more I like to visit places that are less crowded. I think it's like when you're younger and can go on a roller coaster ride 5 times in a row without feeling nauseous.  Then, as an adult you decided to ride that same roller coaster.  However, this time you only ride it once and you're ready to toss your cookies.  May be that's what's happening to me...I go to a crowded museum and I'm ready to toss my cookies...not really, but you know what I mean...It feels too crowded.

We had a great time the kids and I.  After the museum, we hit the ice cream place...which had ice cream cones for dirt cheap.  Then we went to the other shop and bought $2.00 cheesecake, along with a couple of boxes of $2.00 fudge to take home with us.  Yep, it was a grand day at Thanksgiving Point.


A few days later, while Kristen was in Florida, Grandma and I took the girls to the Taylorsville pool for a fun afternoon. We had a great time swimming and we were there until the pool closed.
We were having some fun times.  We also spent a lot of time looking for a new place to rent.  After searching for 2 weeks, I found a place to possibly move to and then I got vetoed by Newel.  So, we decided to save more money for a down payment on a house for next summer and renew our lease at our current place for another 10 months.  Once we decided this is what we were going to do, things just seem to fall in place and I felt at ease. However, I'm not happy about driving Arden to school for the remainder of the school year.  That's exactly what I didn't want to be doing.  I just hope my van can last that long, since it's a lot of miles.  On the bright side, this is the place we've lived the longest.

Getting back to Normal

 There's nothing better to getting back to normal than hanging out with cousins for a night of pure family talent.  That same week, Arden tried riding his old bike again.  We've known for a while he could ride his bike, but a few years ago, he fell off his bike and was scared to try again.  We told him we'd buy him a bike for his birthday...so he gave it a try on his old bike...and of course he did fabulous.  He couldn't get enough of riding the bike...he looked kind of silly, since he's too tall for that bike.  That Saturday, we took a trip to Wal-Mart where he chose his bike.  Arden was so excited about his new bike, he took it to the Goebel cousins house and he and Piet did a bike trick.
We had a great time seeing our family again.  It felt good to see them again. We had a lot of fun seeing everyone display of their various talents.  
The following day was Sunday.  We planned a last minute barbeque with members of our ward.  Arden was so excited to be riding his bike with his buddy Logan.  They were riding Arden's bike and Arden's scooter when they suddenly collided.  Arden started screaming and crying.  A few minutes later Newel drove him to the Instant-Care and then to the Children's hospital.  It turns out he had fractured wrist.  Yep, life was back to normal.

Packing up

We enjoyed our last few days with the Ocampo family.  Arden really liked making his tent on the roof top and hanging out. His man cave.

I was getting excited to go home, but also sad to leave.  I think I knew what Arden was feeling.  

Being silly with their hats

Our last hurrah, was that Monday, we went swimming at the place we went to at the beginning of our summer adventure.  This time, we drove in Chinito's car.  Margarita and I went back to the ceramic market for some last minute shopping.  On Tuesday, we packed and let the kids play/fight one last time.  Around Chinito's lunch time, he drove us to the bus station and we hugged the family and said our farewells.
 I was sad to leave my good friend Margarita and I was also sad to be leaving Mexico.  I liked Mexico, but now it felt like it was a part of me...like I could live there, even if I was constantly reminded by others I wasn't Mexican...I wouldn't mind.  I grew to love the people even more.  The Ocampos were the perfect hosts.  I hope one day to return the favor, if they can come over to the States and visit. Perhaps, one day we will live in Mexico, who knows.

We got on the bus that took us to the airport and from there we took the shuttle that drove us to our hotel.  Its funny, how people in Mexico can work at a place and not know about things around them.  This happened to us several times.  Once we arrived to our terminal from the Cuernavaca bus, we thought we'd ask where to get our shuttle bus/van to the hotel.  We asked so many people who worked there.  We knew we were not too far away from where we should be.  Finally, after about an hour of walking around and asking, we were directed to the right place...the shuttle was called and we were on our way to the hotel.

Our last meal in Mexico wasn't tacos or something very Mexican.  Instead, we had burgers, the size of my head and fries.  We did find those delicious burgers at the mercado across the street from our hotel.  So I guess it was very Mexican...they had jalapenos (which we ordered without) and pineapples.  The following morning we were up bright and early...like 4AM.  The kids slept with their regular clothes and off we were...back to the airport and then on our way to the US.  When we were in Phoenix for our lay over, I felt annoyed at listening to so much English.  It bothered my ears.  It also felt weird to see so many people who were not short and brown.  I'd hate to say it, but there were too many white people.
Once Newel picked us up from the airport in UT, everything around us looked bland and boring.  The houses were painted in boring colors and the streets were too organized. I felt like a fish out of water.  I didn't realize how much we had acclimated to Mexico, until we got back and everything around us felt and looked odd.  In a few days, we were back to 'normal,' but we were missing Mexico.

Puebla...again

Even though this was our third time in Puebla, we did different things and still had a great time.  This time we stayed at Hotel Colonial, which was a hotel I wanted to stay at since the first visit.  Like most of the buildings in the old part of Puebla, they are old, therefore they have a uniqueness to them.  Our room was big had big windows that open to the main street.  We loved the view from the top of the hotel, including the tops of many of the churches in Puebla and of the Popo volcano.

Inside the cathedral...finally

After making ourselves at home, we walked around the streets of Puebla.  We went to the centro and we finally got a chance to go inside the huge cathedral.  The one that's on one of the Mexican bills.

Hanging out with???

Future missionaries

Later that night we met up with one of Newel's missionary companions and his family...Pimentel.  We invited them out to dinner and had a great visit with them.  By this time our children were getting tired, so we called it a night.
After we got back to the hotel, Newel got a message that his other missionary companion, Oropeza was in el zocalo waiting for him.  They went out for tacos at the Ranas place (the one my kids ate at twice) and Newel thought those tacos al pastor were some of the best he's ever had.  Newel made plans to meet with the Oropeza family in the zocalo in Cholula.

It all begins here. 

Making the pots

The following morning I got up early in search of some authentic talaveras (Puebla's pottery style) at the talavera market.  It turns out they know they have a good thing and they are expensive.  The next best thing we did was visit an actual talavera shop and learn how this beautiful pottery is made.  I learned a lot and it was my turn to be like a kid in a candy store.  I loved it.  They let us touch the stuff and it was hands on.  I still didn't buy anything for myself or anyone else...we were getting short on cash by then.

Painting a tile, talavera style

At the talavera shop

Once we were done touring the talavera shop, we headed back to the hotel, got our bags and headed over to Cholula, which is the town next to Puebla.  We visited Cholula because it has the biggest pyramid in the world. The pyramid is so big the conquistadors couldn't knock it all down.  Instead, they removed the top and built a church, that's still in use today.

Camera action

While we waited for the Oropeza family to arrive, we hung out at the park.  By this time we were all kind of worn out, so lounging around was the perfect activity for us, while the children got silly playing with the camera, running around, or playing with dirt.  We waited for a while, but the Oropeza family didn't show up, so we hiked to the top of the pyramid and enjoyed the view.  This was the closest we go the Popo.  After our hike, we headed back to Puebla to catch our bus back to Cuernavaca.

The Popocapetl

The church on top of the pyramid

We hung out with the Ocampos and checked out their new place.  While we were on our adventures, they moved to their new place.  Newel headed back to the US the following morning.  We were also getting ready to head back in few days.  That Sunday night, we headed over to Chinito's family for dinner and to say our farewells.  I think it started to sink in that we were leaving and Arden was a bit sad to leave Tita (Chinito's mom).  It was really cute and sad at the same time.  Arden is such a loving kid.  I know it broke Tita's heart to see him so sad to leave, but I'm sure she felt loved.  She gave him a bag of powder Choco Milk to remember her by.  We lovingly drank the Choco Milk in the mornings once Arden started school.

Enjoying the view.