Feel the Love

I love when Erica plays goalie. She's serious and competent and so good at it. She's the smallest one on the court but you wouldn't know it.

Remember kids:

Plus she's just really cool. 

Justin got to step in and coach one night (I volunteered him) and Erica loved it. I think Justin liked it too. 

Happy Valentine's Day! I have one kid in elementary school and this particular kid does not want to make a Valentine box so he's reusing his box from 1st grade again. And he didn't want to sign his Valentines so he was mystery boy in class. He did let me take his picture but that smile was for the camera only.

Check out this picture Erica took of the sky on the way home from school.

This is the one and only picture I took Friday night. We celebrated with our mostly annual Valentine dinner. We had tacos for dinner (hailing back my and Justin's first Valentines together where we went to a hole in the wall taco shop) and I gave everyone a box of candy and a new book. We will continue this tradition no matter how old my kids get. The only way out of it is if they are on a date. Bonus points if they bring a date to family Valentine dinner.

We had our dinner Friday night because Saturday Sarah had a high school dance. It was girls choice so I don't have a picture of her date.

President's Day! That day the kids played with friends all day but that evening we went out for ice cream to Brooker's Founding Flavors so we could reflect on our country's beginning and eat sugar.

We went to the new Spanish Fork location. I think it was very well done inside to feel like an 18th century tavern (such an expert).

I was getting inspired for my own home. 

A little girl in an elementary class I volunteer in spent all of inside recess making this for me.
 

"Five stars, Mrs. Dye." They do 5 star writing exercises every day so five stars is high praise.

Can you tell that James is snow deprived? He laid there for a while eating and studying the snow. He was even late for school (well still on time but not 30 minutes early like he usually is) so he could play in the snow and it was a good thing he did because it was melted when he got home that afternoon.

Erica turns 12

 Well, that can't be right. She doesn't look 12. 

Darn it, I thought that would be funny but that just made me sad.

 The night before her birthday she had an orchestra concert. She's the one with the only black violin.

Her concert was the same night as young women's so her entire class and leaders came to support her and the other girls in the ward that were playing that night.

She stayed to watch the later concerts so James and I decorated the house for her birthday until she got home.

Birthday morning! 

 

This is the dress we brought home from Mexico. We finally got our luggage a couple of days before this so she got it just in time.

She also got Bop-it and a stool for her room. She chose crepes for breakfast.

She wore the new clothes Nana bought her on a shopping trip earlier that week.

I picked up a gaggle of giggly girls from school and brought them home. They played outside (this is the year without winter) played in her room, climbed trees, played ping-pong and decorated cupcakes. This wasn't her year for a friend party but that just means I don't put much effort into things and they have to keep it simple and lowkey.

The girls went home before dinner and Erica chose alfredo and broccoli. Then she wanted to go on a birthday ride on Justin's motorcycle which they had to do before grandparents came over for dessert.

She made us sing in the style of super duper happy.

We sure love this girl.

A few things you may not know about Erica

She doesn't like school this year. I didn't like sixth grade one bit either so I can relate and say all the things to her I can think of to make it better but it's just something she's going to have to adjust to. 

She loves the temple so much. She asks to go all the time.

Don't ever tell her she's short. She hates that.

She gets so goofy sometimes and is so funny. It's a side of her not everyone gets to see.

She's very tenderhearted which serves her well in making friendships but it also means she gets her feelings hurt easily. We talk a lot that it's not rude to stand up for yourself or tell people they are being jerks when they are being jerks.

She first and foremost wants to be a mom when she grows up. She'd also wants to be a 4th grade teacher alongside her 4th grade teacher Miss Blaisdell. 

When she grows up she wants to live next door to us. I'm all for it.

Justin and Diana's taco pilgrimage

Dear reader,

The end of our trip kind of overshadowed our vacation so I choose to write all about the ending now so that I can end this post how I want to end it, our last day in Merida. As you all know, there was a huge ice storm that hit the south and snarled airport traffic in Dallas (and many other airports) for days. We were supposed to take off on our connection flight out of there Friday before the storm hit but they couldn't get a pilot for our flight. So after boarding the plane, sitting there for an hour, deboarding the plane, sitting in the airport for another two hours, they canceled our flight and rebooked us for noon the next day, Saturday. That put us in the midst of the storm and into a series of delays and cancellations. 

After getting to a hotel at 1am Saturday morning, we kind of slept but mostly didn't. We walked to a Walmart across the parking lot for a few essentials then went back to the hotel to pack up and head back for another flight. 

Outside our motel before going back to the airport Saturday morning. 

On Saturday after boarding 3 hours late, sitting on the plane for an hour, deboarding and waiting in the airport again for an hour, they canceled our flight and rebooked us for Sunday. Justin and I could see Sunday was not going to be any better so we rebooked ourselves for Monday at noon. 

When they say ice storm, they mean it.

The view out our hotel Saturday evening versus Sunday morning. Nothing ever got plowed or shoveled.

We spent Sunday watching online church, walking to Costco to buy food, socks, and a sweater, and then later to the only restaurant open in the vicinity, a very loud sports bar full of loud football fans (Justin didn't hate it but I already had a headache and it didn't help). 

Looks like snow but it's ice. No footprints!

Before we even woke up Monday our 12pm flight was canceled. We rebooked on the 1:30 flight but that canceled as we were about to leave the hotel. I think out of 30 flights to SLC those three days, only two actually took off. We were tired, hopeless, sick of only having the clothes on our back and the few necessities we picked up at Walmart. In an attempt to take control of our lives and to stop the cycle of waiting and disappointment, we got a rental car and drove the 18.5 hours home. Our poor kids were riding the rollercoaster of emotion of canceled flights along with us. They were happy to hear we were driving home. It was going to take forever but at least we were getting closer with each passing hour. Three extra nights away was just too much for our family. 

It felt so good to get out of the hotel and hit the open road. Well, they were icy roads and slow-going at first but it felt nice. 

We saw quite a few cars abandoned on the side of the freeway. No snowplows until we were way out of the city.

We stopped at Buccee's which was awesome and it was everything everyone has ever said it was. 

Northern Texas is pretty cool and I love seeing scenery I've never seen before. (Catfish O'Harlies RV park and a Muslim cemetery which I didn't even know was a thing.) The only part of Texas I've ever seen before this trip was the airport so I was excited to see real Texas.  We stopped at a BBQ place in Amarillo and it was authentic because the only vegetables were mashed or deep fried or in a coleslaw.

Our route took us through New Mexico, which I also had never been to (yes I know, 4 times to Alaska but never to a state adjacent to my own). I drove for 4 hours through New Mexico but it was from 11pm to 3am so I still don't know what it looks like. 

We got home Tuesday morning just in time to hug James and take him to school a little late. Justin and his dad continued on to the airport to return the car and pick up his truck in the airport parking lot. We slept all afternoon but I woke up in time to welcome home and pick up kids from school. It was so nice to be home!

So feel bad for us and pray nothing like that ever happens to us or to you. But then don't feel bad for us after reading about our actual trip below. 

Mexico. The birthplace of tacos.

Justin and I got an early start in celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary, due to weather. After a little research (I googled "safest cities to travel in Mexico" we settled on visiting Merida, Yucatahn. But the high temperatures in May near 100. Visiting in January likely meant highs in the 80s. January it is.

I felt equal parts excitement and guilt for leaving home for a week. Our travel day went smoothly and we arrived in Merida early evening, right in the middle of Merida Fest on a Friday. I think I can speak for both of us that we felt a little overwhelmed by everything. The city looked a bit more rough around the edges than the several Youtube videos we watched. Crowds of people, sights, smells. It was a lot that first night. Plus the hotel I picked for max cultural immersion turned out to be more than I wanted to handle with everything else being so much. But we grew to really appreciate it's history and uniqueness. 

Right out of a globetrotting espionage movie.

I will never get over excellent trim work. Never ever. And who doesn't want a smoke piping sailor watching over them while they sleep?

Yes, this is in our hotel room

How many "deals" do you think went down at this very table?

I totally got used to this.

We got a little settled in our hotel room and then went out into the fest. We made our way a couple of blocks to Parque Grande where a huge long line for the night's concert was already forming. The line of people wrapped throughout the square making it a little difficult to maneuver around.

Justin taught me the phrase "con permiso" as we stepped through the line multiple times. We wandered wide-eyed around the square and then made our way down a side street and stepped inside a few shops on our way back to the hotel.

One shop I got told to stop taking pictures of stuff so enjoy my contraband photos.

 

The view outside our hotel room.

We later went out to dinner at a quiet restaurant where they seemed to cater to older Americans, which was perfect for me on this night of all the newness. After dinner we got a dessert I was most curious about, marquesita.

We video-called the kids from the plaza outside our hotel and then later watched the concert from where the street was blocked off outside our hotel. I actually liked the music quite a bit. 

That first night and every night we slept with earplugs and a fan on to block out the music from the street that went on into the wee hours of the morning. We weren't upset or irritated by it. "It's all part of it (meaning a trip to Mexico)," became our mantra for anything that seemed unusual or inconvenient.

Sunday we walked about 15 minutes to church. The route took us away from the hotels and restaurants and through what we think was a residential area. It's hard to know what was behind these concrete walls, gated doors, shuttered windows. 

Love me some Spanish tile.

A church on the way to church. We could hear them singing inside.

The sidewalks were a separate adventure! Super narrow, uneven, cracked, and in some places eroded away. A senior sister missionary we met at church from Arizona said her family called it parkour just to walk to church. So I called out "parkour!" anytime there was a large step or jump to be made on our walks around the city.

The mission office!

The church building

We got to the church building 30 minutes early (the website wasn't accurate) so we rested in the chapel and watched people come in. With the help of Google translate on my lap, I was able to mostly follow along with the speakers. Moroni was translated as "bologna" which my kids loved hearing about later. There were several other American tourists in the congregation. Justin said it was comfortable to be in a Spanish speaking ward as this is the Spanish vocabulary he is most used to.

The temple as seen from the church grounds

The church building shares the block with the temple so we were able to see that too. It was closed for renovation so we couldn't get very close or ever go in.

The temple as seen from my phone shoved in a flap of the tarp blocking the view from the street.

Powerlines everywhere. 

Color everywhere.

From there we walked to Maiz, Canela y Cilantro for a late lunch. This restaurant is only open Friday, Saturday, and Sunday until 3:30 so we made sure to schedule it in.

The restaurant is run out of a home or I guess a repurposed home. They literally cook in a home kitchen. It is the stuff dreams.

Black bean paste and salsa served on bread. I learned that black bean paste is a pretty typical appetizer here.

Justin loves nothing more than chilaquiles and this was the chilaquiles of all chilaquiles.

Veracruzanas. No idea what it means but gosh darn it all I want to eat it right now. That rice, mmm boy.

We took a different road back to our hotel and I stopped dead in my tracks when I came upon these doors. (I became a bit obsessed with Mexican doors.) They are the doors to the Autonomous University of Yucatan and we went through them.

And found this beautiful courtyard.

Across the street is Jose Peon Contreras Theater.

It also has good doors.

This is a cathedral across the street from our hotel. We go in a few days later.

Dinner that night was at a seafood restaurant and one of Justin's favorite meals of the trip. It was just a really good food day.

And then this is where the magic really began to happen. We walked to Parque Grande and there was a huge market going on. We were hoping it would happen again while we were there but this was the only night.

Vendors and food booths down an entire side of the square and a concert across on the other side. It was awesome. We walked slowly taking it all in. 

There was another concert going on. Gotta love Merida Fest.

And then we came to the most beautiful sight. Tacos al pastor.

Were we hungry? Not until we saw it.

I don't remember what this building was in the square but I liked it.

It was a good day.

Monday was a mixed bag sort of day. We walked a half mile to the large market that we knew was quintessential Merida and were hoping to find lots of local handmade products for sale. On the way....

So old. I love old things.

Mexico is holding out on us with their gigantic avocados.

Instead we found narrow aisles down rows and rows of booths of almost the same thing. So many shoes! We went to a Hispanic market in West Valley last year and this was almost the exact same stuff. Crowded and a little disappointing. I didn't even take a single picture because it was just so crowded and tight. And the vendors were pretty pushy, which we expected, and it got a little old. A bright spot was when we purchased a mango from a fruit seller and asked her if she would please cut it up so we could eat it right there. She thought we were odd but did it. It was delicious. We ate tacos at one of the many food tents. They were cheap and pretty good but the whole time I was thinking if I was going to pick up a parasite, it would be right here.

After lunch we went into a different area of the market to try to get back to the main street. We took too many right turns apparently because we ended right back where we started. It was so disorienting! So we tried again by walking around the block instead of through the market. 

A couple of blocks over things calmed down a bit and I enjoyed looking at the shops and we found a dress for Erica. We took a picture of a few and texted them to her and she replied back which one she liked. What a day we live in! I intentionally littered (there were literally no garbage cans for blocks so I sat our tray of mango waste down next to another bag of curious waste) and I paid to use a restroom, both for the first time in my life.

 

And then I saw a sewing notions store and it warmed my heart. 

And then we found a fabric store and my heart leapt with joy! Not since Joann closed have I been in a fabric store and I sorely miss it. Most of the fabrics didn't interest me but I did find a section that I did like and bought a yard of upholstery fabric to cover my piano bench. The process for buying fabric was so unusual and maybe old timey. You stand in a line to wait for a worker to help you. You take the worker to the bolt of fabric that you are interested. And these aren't small rectangle bolts like in the US. They are tall cylinder bolts. 

You tell them what you want and he takes out his meter stick and measures it and cuts it right there in the aisle. No table. Then he gives you a ticket that says how much you owe, in my case it was $4 for a meter of fabric, but not the fabric. Then you go back up front to the main counter and stand in the check out line. You pay for your ticket and then they look through piles of cut fabric for yours or in our case back to the back room where we were since no on had brought up any orders in the 2 minutes since we left there. A lady brought up our cut piece and gave it to us. It took forever and I almost gave up while standing in the first line but I kind of wanted to see the process through. But it felt so charmingly old fashioned, like out of a scene from Mr. Selfridge or something.

After that we stopped at a gordita shop and I dripped meat juice all over my pants and shirt. Good thing we were already tired and heading back to our hotel after that. After getting cleaned up and rested, we ventured out again, wandering the shops and stopping to look at restaurant menus.

For dinner that night we went to the Museum of Yucatecan Gastronomy which we had heard and read and watched good things about. I was kind of disappointed in this meal. The flavors were a little weird and the cheese was so strong that after a few bites it just became too much. I liked the black beans and pumpkin dips a lot though. The restaurant is part museum with ladies in huts out back making the tortiallas by hand that they use in the restaurant.

We went back to the hotel by way of the Parque Grande to see what was going on that night. We were not disappointed. I'm sure we got ice cream at some point. We always got ice cream somewhere every day.

Tuesday we met our tour bus outside our hotel at 7am. Delio, our driver and guide, picked up a few more people then we headed south to the historical site of Uxmal. I debated and debated between Chichin Itza or Uxmal and ultimately chose Uxmal because it was closer, less crowded, reportedly more impressive, didn't allow vendors inside the grounds, and allowed climbing on structures, unlike Chichin Itza. We were not disappointed.

Staring at the sun through a disc of obsidian, just like the Mayans did.

Mayan arch. The Maya were scientists.

The face of Chaac, the Mayan god of rain, thunder, and lightning is carved everywhere.

Can you believe this craftsmanship??

Are we building anything today that will be around in 1500 years?

This is the main square. They think these were government buildings.

More Chaac. There are no rivers in the Yucatán so the Mayans relied on rain for their water source.

Do you see the red handprint? This stone was once covered in stucco but the artisan put his handprint on the stone, kind of like how we put hands in wet concrete for fun.

Delio demonstrating how the Mayans played their game Pok-ta-pok by wearing armor and hitting the ball with their hips.

The game arena. There is no evidence they offered up human sacrifice after playing Pok-ta-pok at Uxmal. There is evidence at Chichin Itza.

Pretty sure we wouldn't have had this all to ourselves at Chichin Itza

I think they planned the openings to line up. 😊

This is the Governor's Palace. We went up these stairs! At an angle because the steps are shallow and it's very steep.

And saw this

Can you spot the iguanas?

And found this

"Can you believe this exists and we are here?"

This is the Throne of the Jaguar for the governor to sit on.

And some lovely things growing. I think they said this tree is really old but I don't remember now.

In case you were wondering if Uxmal was discovered after it was abandoned 1000 years ago: Descendants of the Maya continued to live in the Yucatán region, meaning Uxmal was not a hidden or forgotten secret, but rather an abandoned, overgrown, and partially ruined city in the jungle. It was explored by Spanish and international explorers and then archeologists began major restoration projects in the 1920s.

We arrived at 8:30 and left about 10:30, just as the crowds were starting.

From there our tour took us to a cenote for an hour of swimming. Oh my goodness I felt like I was at a place only seen in Planet Earth.

Mexican cow near the bathroom

I jumped from that platform because I'm not crazy

After that we went to a house in the village where lunch was waiting for us, provided by a local family. We were literally eating in their front yard. Well actually in the street. I have this hope that one day we will go to Italy and our cab driver from the airport will be like, hey, how about tomorrow I pick you up and take you to my family's country villa and my mother will cook for you and we will show you around our vineyard and everyone in my family will show you what lives are really like in Italy. Well, this was a small-scale Mexican version of that travel wish.

Our waiters. They were just as curious about us.

I will never be somewhere this remote again.

Here's what some of the houses looked like in the villages we passed through on our way back to Merida.

We also switched hotels this day so we picked up our bags at the Gran Hotel and walked the 3 or 4 blocks to Casa Lucia Boutique Hotel. I loved loved loved the old creepy authentic charm of the Gran but Casa Lucia was so comfortable and kind of a relief from "more culture than I handle" times of the trip. We got back in time to get settled and then walked around our new neighborhood, went in a couple of antique stores (I can't resist!) and ate dinner and ice cream, of course.

The grounds of our hotel.

Obsessed.

The view from our hotel

Wednesday was another full day in the city. Food, walking, museums was our agenda for the day. 

Parkour!

We got brunch at a restaurant at Cosmos which was one of my favorite meals of the trip. I got a sandwich with pesto, Serrano ham, and this delicious cheese that the closest thing I can compare it to is fresh mozzarella. And chocolate milk and a cinnamon roll because I can't not see cinnamon roll on a menu and order it. The cinnamon roll was good too. Not gooey or smothered in frosting like in the US, just cinnamon inside and then drizzled with a cinnamon icing and a dusting of powdered sugar. The bread was sturdy but not dry and definitely not doughy.

Cosmo had awesome doors so you know the food was going to be good.

Huevos Rancheros are another of Justin's favorite Mexican dishes.

The first museum we went to was at the Parque Grande called the Olimpo Cultural Center. Huge building with only two galleries. Kind of weird. But there was a bathroom! I liked this painting inside and the view from the balcony outside.

Next door is the Merida City building. It is old and open to the public. Not much to see here as it is still a functioning city building but this room was cool as was this colonnade outside.

I need more arches in my house somehow.

Next up is the museum I affectionally called the haunted house. Real name is Museo Casa Montejo. Some really rich family built it in the 1600s and now it's a museum. I loved the style and I think I want my next house to have a courtyard in the center.

 

We didn't make it to the last museum in the square because they all close at 2pm. It was too hot to do anything outside so we went back to our hotel and took a nap.

Next was early dinner (sharing a burger) 

and a late dinner (sharing empanadas and a seafood platter). 

The waiter put the empanadas in front of Justin and the platter in front of me which made Justin laugh and took this picture. I ate the shrimp, he ate the octopus.

Best onion of my life. I sent this photo to Henry who also loves onions. And this picture of octopus because that's so gross. 

Then got some ice cream and walked around Parque Lucia which was across from our hotel. We sat and listened to the singer in putting on a concert and it was very good too. He must have been playing all the hits because people around us were singing along. 

There are regular sized chairs like this all over the city and one huge one in Parque Lucia. 

Thursday morning we walked a few blocks north to meet our tour for the day. We got on a bus and drove just over an hour west to the coast to an estuary to see flamingos! I am not a bird person but I do like awkward animals and flamingos are so funny.

The parking lot was crawling with racoons. What the heck. 

We got on some flat bottom boats and motored out into the estuary through brackish water.

I know we were there to see birds but the crocodiles are so cool.

And then to where the flamingos hang out. I have more pictures than anyone ever needs of flamingos. Here are the best ones.

It was so noisy which is pretty remarkable since half the birds have their heads in the water.

Always birds fighting over shrimp.

Our tour guide Alice.

Then our boat driver sped through the mangrove trees (twice in one year I've been in mangroves) to see other birds and crocodiles. We got out once to walk along a boardwalk type walkway to see other trees, termite nests, and more crocodiles. The birds were cool but I never cared enough to pull out the picture guide they handed us to identify any. I could watch crocodiles all day, though.

Termite nest

Not our boat but my boat.

From there we drove to the town of Celestun to a private beach resort/restaurant for lunch and an hour of beach time. Lunch was pretty good. The sand was rough and full of seashells in various stages of crushed. I found some pretty ones. The water was too cold for swimming so we spent some time walking up and down the beach looking for shells.

The last part of our time there I asked our guide Alice, who was from Merida, and a fellow tourist Juana (who was from Guanajato), all the Mexican food and culture questions I had. Then we rode back to Merida where I asked the young couple from Sweden all the Swedish food and culture questions I had for them. Yes, they love cinnamon rolls too.

When we got back we walked to a grocery store to get some Mexican snacks for our kids and to look for papantla vanilla (new obsession) and cinnamon because the cinnamon there was so good. I also bought a banana to see if bananas there were different or better. They are pretty much the same.

Door break.

We walked in an old cathedral on our way to dinner that night, the first Catholic anything I've ever been in. 

Dinner was good. We were the only people there (too early? too late?) so the service was a bit too attentive but the food was very good.

These are garlic roasted peanuts.

Mole enchiladas. I mostly liked it.

I was hoping to find a dress or shirt for Sarah but I had to explain to her that all the clothes we could find were all the same style: traditional dress with big bold embroidery. Beautiful but couldn't imagine her or me ever wearing them. So many clothing stores and they all sold this same stuff. 

More ice cream of course. Does it get any more charming than buying ice cream from a cart in the middle of a square with a concert going on behind you? Sheesh.

I now know what mamey fruit tastes like. Sweet potato.

There ain't no party like a Merida party 'cuz a Merida party don't stop!

Friday was our last day. We had one thing on our agenda: breakfast at Maiz, Canelo y Cilantro again.

I will never get over these brightly colored buildings.

Would it surprise you that fresh fruit was hard to find?

One of the best meals of my entire life. We both agreed we didn't want to eat anything afterwards ever so that we could remember this meal forever.

I ate tiny tiny bites of this mango pie so I can figure out how to make it at home. I have a promising recipe to try out so I will keep you posted.

Bye, you lovely little restaurant.

We checked out of our room but we had a couple of hours before we needed to be at the airport. It was too hot to do anything but lie in hammocks by the pool listening to Lorde quietly play over the speakers while our phones charged and we talked about future trips around the world, with and without the kids.

THAT'S where our trip to Mexico ended. 😉

Many, many thanks to Justin's parents who fed our kids and got them to school each day (and for more days than we planned). And thanks to Justin who was my interpreter and food guide and could convert pesos to dollars in his head. Can you believe we didn't get sick of each other?!

Here's to many more fun things this year in the name of celebrating 20 years married.