For Aunt Carolyn

This slide show is for my Aunt Carolyn who will have the privilege to go on the Book of Mormon tour in southern Mexico. I am so excited for her. The items I have pictured are all from Mexico. There are end tables that are hand carved with tiles, hand painted chest, pewter, wood carved fish, stars, tile mirrors, clay pots, handmade and painted dishes, wall hung paper peppers, hand painted gourds. There is so much talent in Mexico.

Oops I missed some

I was going through my camera's memory cards and realized that I had missed a lot of things. All these pictures happened in January except Charles Birthday which was in March.

Charles and I have an announcement

So, Charles and I have an announcement to make. About four weeks ago we were on our way to church and in a parking lot we saw two puppies. So we stopped to look at them and then silly us decided to take the female. During Sacrament meeting Zach kept saying "She's crying, listen I can hear her." All the kids couldn't settle down for the meeting, they were so excited to go out and play with her.

Lupita, a mini toy french poodle, was born on December 21, 2009. She loves the kids and could careless about me or Charles. She whimpers all day until the kids come home from school. I would pet her and try to play with her but I am not good enough for her. We love her and she has been an interesting surprise for us.

To San Miguel for Icecream

Our day trips are now becoming about Ice cream. The kids like to go because they think they are sure to get some ice cream if they are good. They have fresh fruit Popsicles also, strawberry, coconut, mango, orange, etc... and it will have chunks of the fruit in it. So good, come try one.

Tarandacuao

We went to Tarandacuao with our newcomers club to see a shop that makes Javiar Servin pottery. It is my favorite from Mexico. Charles bought me a tea set and many other items. They can be very detailed and are completely hand made. It was very fun to see them make the items. You can stay at one of their two cottages and take classes to learn how to make this. Their grounds are very beautiful and the pieces of the pottery that are not to their standard of quality will be made in waterfountains, stairs, decorative floor, ect... through their shop and gardens.

Trip to Puebla

We took a weekend trip to Puebla. It is a beautiful city filled with history. Wonderful market streets with artists. We drove to a city next to Puebla called Cholula. It has an amazing pyramid and many smaller ones too. The original one was smaller and built for the god of the rain. They then built over that a much larger one for the god of the sun. When war was coming they covered the whole thing with dirt and planted crops so the enemy would not know it was there. It just looks like a small mountain. It made a fun weekend for us.

The Three Kings

We had the Three Kings come to our home on January 6th. In Mexico as well as Spain it is the Three Kings that visit not Santa and they come on January 6th not December 25th. The Kings brought each of the kids a gift. They all loved their presents except Emmalee. While she was opening her gift she noticed the box inside said "High School Musical", unknown to mom only farie and barbie stuff are acceptable. Without even looking to see what it was she started crying and saying she hated that show, which is not true, and that her gift was for Josh and that wasn't fair. The girls continued to open the gift and show her everything but the stubbornness continued. Marissa and Rachel even put the dress up stuff on her. After we left she went and looked at the wig in the mirror and now we can't get it off her head. Emmalee finally decided that she got the best gift.

Trolley Ride with INCQ

I took Marissa and Rachel with me on a trolley tour with the club. It was interesting to hear Thomas' stories and history of Queretaro. We have lots of friends in the group and enjoyed the outing.

INCQ Welcome Back Party

This was the welcome back party in September for the International Newcomers Club. Our kids had lots of fun. This year my friend Holly is the President and I am the Vice President. We have a great committee and are planning lots of fun activities for the year.

Bull Fight

Well, we have gone to a bull fight in a town just 15 minutes away from us. It was very interesting and we even had a guy at the fight explain many points of it. We had fun with our friends. When done right it is very artistic.

First Time at Mexico Temple

This is Marissa's first time going to a Temple to do baptisms for the dead. Charles took her and Tonya to the Mexico City Temple. Charles was able to participate in the baptisms and confirmations for Marissa. What a special memory they have together. They had lunch in the cafeteria on the church grounds and Marissa will tell you the best part was the cake.

Mexico Decor

Charles and I have had a few items made here but this is my favorite. We had the box man make and paint this for us. It has all the places we have been to in each arch. The arches are the symbol for Queretaro. There are the flowers, cactus, trees and butterflies all know very well to this area. The rest of the things we have bought, well, you will just have to come visit us to see them .

Third Wedding We Attended

This is the third wedding we have been to. It was so beautiful at the reception that I wish I had taken more pictures. The reception was outside with candle light and roses in a beautiful garden at a restaurant. They had lanterns hanging from the trees. Very beautiful.

The walkway crosses the ponds twice with wooden boards. Lanterns in the trees and rose peddles on the walkway. Candles everywhere. Rock walls and a beautiful restaurant. If I was ever to make my dream happen of a reception hall and gardens, I would have modeled some of it after this place. I love the building here and at the second reception we went to.

Mariposa, Our 2nd Trip

On our second trip to the butterflies we took our housekeeper, Mirna and her two kids. We had also invited our friends the Gama family but their youngest boy got sick so we took just their older son. This time there were a lot more butterflies out and flying. It was so fun. When we told the kids we were going again Emmalee rolled her eyes and said "Again?" But once she got on the horse she started to have fun. Mariposa means butterfly. Charles says Mariposa on the second video so you can hear how it sounds.

Our Home in February

Our First Trip To The Butterflies

On January 31 we drove 3 hours to see the butterflies. It takes the Monarch butterfly five life cycles to make the full trip from the northern states to Mexico and back, but some how they go to the same place in Mexico every year. It is so amazing to see so many in one space. They are here only until the beginning of March and then they start the journey back into the northern states and Canada.