Jill, Monte and family visited us during Spring Break, April 1-8. We sure do love our family visits. They were the last of the four families to come. We did many of the same things as with the other families, with a couple of new adventures.
Much of Saturday and Sunday were spent watching or listening to General Conference. We take for granted the fact that, at home, we can watch or listen just be turning on the TV or radio. Here, as in most of the world, we have to go to the church for the broadcast or watch it on a laptop. After the priesthood session on Saturday night, we had all the young missionaries from our district at our apartment for the traditional banana splits. We always love having the missionaries in our home.
We did manage to squeeze in two short visits to the beach in between sessions on Saturday. You can't visit Huatulco without seeing the beach first thing. Guacamole and limonadas at the beach is one of our favorite things to do here, even though we don't do it very often anymore since we've become so busy with our missionary work. We were able to take our family to visit several members on Sunday, which is a highlight for us.
Monday we made the trip to Puerto Escondido to release baby turtles into the ocean, along with a few stops along the way to see iguanas, crocodiles, and visit Ventanilla Lagoon. As usual, releasing the baby turtles was the favorite activity of the day. There is just something magical about watching those cute babies make their way to the ocean.
Tuesday we spent the morning fishing out in the ocean. We caught 16 fish, but no large ones. We kept two of the tuna we caught and our dear friend, Sofia, grilled them for us later in the day. Catching fish is fun but still doesn't compare to the hundreds of dolphins we see and that sometimes swim along with the boat. Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday were spent at several beaches playing, swimming, and snorkeling.
Thursday we tried a new adventure. About 30 miles up in the mountains there are some grand waterfalls. It is a tourist site but one we hadn't done before. It's about an hour and a half drive on bumpy, dirt roads but it was worth it. The waterfalls are beautiful with refreshing pools for swimming. There are rocks and bridges to jump off and rope swings. We all had a great time.
On Friday, Jill, Monte, Bryce, Camryn and Brent spent part of the morning visiting some archeological ruins here, Copalita. They have just recently started excavating them. Friday was our last day for beach time so that's what we did.
We were able to visit members most evenings and, even though none of the Marshalls speak Spanish, they felt the warmth and friendship of the special people here. It's amazing how much we can communicate with each other just by being friendly and interested.
BEACH TIME
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| Don't ever believe you can go to the beach in regular clothes and not get wet. We just wanted to show them so they would be excited for later. Wish I had an after picture. |
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| Now this is a beach babe. |
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| Guacamole and limonada (and french fries) at Santa Cruz Beach. |
Just chillin' with this princess.
Violin Beach
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| Just in case that big wave sneaks up on you.... |
Bacocho Beach
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| Turtle eggs buried in the sand. |
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| Friends at the turtle beach. |
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And they're off!
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Entrega Beach
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| Best Spring Break ever. |
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| Again, guacamole and limonadas (and quesadillas) at the beach. |
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| I finally convinced James to put his eyes in the water to see fish. He saw a few small ones and then he was done. But he kept the gear on for the rest of the day! |
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The last beach day.
Ventanilla Lagoon & Island |
Hat shopping
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| This monkey loved Jill. Whenever she got close to the fence he would grab her and not let go. Especially funny because Jill always wanted a pet monkey. |
Teenage brother and little sister moments are priceless.
I had to post Logan's proud face and sweet Emma's sweaty head.
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| We stopped for lunch on the island. |
Fishing
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| This little fish was inside one of the bigger fish we caught. The kids thought that was pretty cool. |
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Back to the marina.
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Sweet Sophia cooked our fish and it was yummy. Even those who don't usually like fish ate it.
Magic Waterfalls
Visiting and Sightseeing
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| At the church on General Conference Sunday |
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| Our dear friend, Diana, left last week to serve a mission in Chihuahua, Mexico. |
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| Watching conference in English with the North American missionaries from the district. |
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Traditional banana splits after the Priesthood Session of conference.
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| It's good luck if your initial is part of the Huatulco sign. (I actually made that up.) |
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| The kids were fascinated by this pen of chickens at Hermano Francisco's house. We didn't tell them that late every night someone comes in and butchers them then more are brought the next morning. |
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| Our special friends, the Pineda family. Hermano Pineda is the district president here. |
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| Sofia did beach braids in Camryn's hair. |
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| All of our little grandchildren loved Maria Louisa. |
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| Friends for life--Marta Pon and Sergio, Oscar and Sara |
Jill made this soccer goal for these cute twin boys and packed the pieces in everyone's suitcases.
Copalita archeological ruins--just beginning to excavate them.
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| Souvenir shopping. Check out that souvenir sunburn. And we thought we were being careful. |
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| This is a truck taxi. They mostly go from one town to the next. Monte and Bryce wanted to ride in one but didn't get the chance. |
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| The ants here are very industrious. We've seen them clear an entire large plant of all its leaves. The kids thought they were quite awesome. |
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| How many people does it take to take out the trash. This many when you have a family of 7 staying with you. When you hear the clang of the bell from the truck, you run. |
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| Of course you need some relaxing time at the playground. |
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| "Pony girl, pony girl. Won't you be my pony girl." |
American food!
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| The piñata. The boys chose a fox this time. |
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| No, they were not jumping for joy at the airport--just for the picture. It's always hard to say goodbye. |
