A visit from Jani and Alex!

What a fun time we had with Jani and Alex!  We were able to take them along with us as we made visits to several of our areas, stopping to see missionaries along our way.  We also were blessed to have them join us in Las Varas for our Branch Conference in Vallarta.

Here are some pictures of the fun we had.

Here they are arriving at the airport.

             

  We just can't believe they are really here.

We had a bite of dinner. It was so fun to catch up!

The next morning we had tamales for breakfast.

Of course we had to stop on our way out of the city to see the Guadalajara Temple and take a 

few pictures.  It is having some repairs done, including a new roof, and a deep cleaning
 right now, but we took a few pictures anyway.

And, we started on our way to Manzanillo. 

I love that we saw a trailer of pigs on our way!

The countryside is just waking up to spring, it was

beautiful!

One of our favorite pictures.

We also saw a little of this and that along our way.

We stopped to see the sugar cane fields

We stayed at our favorite place in Manzanillo,

the Las Hadas, and had rooms right next to

each other.  Seriously, it was so handy to check

and see if we were ready to go down to the pool.

The next morning, we went for an early morning walk

along the rocks where the ocean just crashes in

against the rocks below.

Then, the snorkeling began.

I caught these three starting before I 

could get down there.

Dad is so happy.

This picture is in Vallarta at the Marriott pool.

The fun bridge across the pool at Las Hadas

That afternoon, we went to another beach where

the waves are a bit crazy.

Notice that dad is undeterred by the crashing waves. 

We had dinner on the marina.  We love to walk by 

this sailboat from Seward Alaska that is docked

right front and center.

Sunday we drove about an hour and a half to Las Varas for their Branch Conference.
President Clayton had just recently put missionaries in this area and they were so
thrilled to have us join them.  They were few in numbers, but what a sweet day we
had with them.  I loved sitting behind this sweet sister and watching her open
 her well read and well marked scriptures.  What a faithful soul.

The Priesthood brothers had their meeting on the back porch,

and the Primary children in the back yard, next

to the chickens who clucked and crowed 

all afternoon long.

There is one American family who moved here, in this

area for one school year.  Their strength has 

been a boost to this little branch.

This mother hen and her chicks scurrying around their 

netted pen.

Jani took this picture, after the meeting. I wished I would

 have taken it so she could have been in the picture.

Our Vallarta Zone Leaders are Elder Saldana,

and Elder Fuimaono.  The Branch President

is on the far right with his daughter and his wife

is next to me, their son in front.

Another brother is in the back left.

Our view on our way to Vallarta.

We spent Monday at the Extreme Outdoor Adventure in Vallarta.

It was so much fun.  Not going to lie... I was nervous, but oh my word,

it was such a fun day.  There were about 7 employees trained and

knowledgeable about zip lines, and rappelling and such,  who stayed

with our group through most of the day.  We spent most of the day

going through zip line courses.  Some were straight across the

air, some going down from one point to another across the forest,

and high in the trees.  We did 4-5 different zip lines like that.  Then,

there was one rope line, the Pendulum, where we had to jump off a stand,

secured and bolted into the thick tree high up about 70 feet in the air

way up in the trees and then we swung like a pendulum back and forth

going down, another was a long, long run where we zipped

through the woods laying down and staying straight.

They called that the Superman run.  It was 1200

meters, almost a mile long.

I love this picture of Jani and Alex

upside down

These brave three did this one.

 

I just zipped down the regular old fashioned way.

The pendulum jump 

Here we four are, at the Superman zip line,  getting connected.

me first. 

dad

Jani

and Alex

Next, we piled into a side by side 4 wheeler and drove through 

the off road course of juts of mud and rocks and puddles and river

water.  Alex drove our ATV and spared us no curve or turn.

He made sure we got plastered. :)  And we did!

 Mud splashed everywhere, but

especially on poor Jani up there in the front seat.

When the course was done, we all got out, laughing, and the

other folks in our group in the other ATV's got out and

just stared at us.  They didn't have a spot of mud on them!

They must have driven like snails!  We had a blast!  

Alex did a great job!

 

Best picture award :)

yup. we're covered.

Fun. Day.

We walked along the marina in Vallarta and 

saw these guys sunning on the warm rocks.

We had a scrumptious dinner

The next day we went to Sayulita.  About an hour away from Vallarta.

We spent the hot hot day walking around the little village.

It was very very crowded with the holiday crowds.

The ocean was too packed to enjoy, the streets and shops were 

busy as well, but we had a fun day looking for souvenirs for 

Jani and Alex.  We ate at the Burrito  Revolution, and had

an ice cream cone.

Later that evening the sun set was absolutely perfect.

I clicked a few last pictures of these two 

enjoying the sunset on the ocean. 

The next morning, saying goodbye.... not fun.
We had such a great week with our kids!