Our "practice" child... :)

This is our little girl, Shadow. She's half lab/half boxer......7 weeks old.

Cancun Pictures

^Captain Hook dinner cruise.

The large sinkhole we stopped at before our Chichen Itza Tour. It was beautiful and HUGE. They let the tourist (after they showered) swim in the water. Everyone was instructed to NOT touch the roots hanging down as it would kill them.

This is a picture of the original temple they found (I believe this year). Apparently the Mayans built a smaller temple and when they began expanding they built a larger temple (El Castillo) over the top of this one.

One of the sites where we stopped. Our vacation was awesome. But if everything else would have been a dud, Chichen Itza would have been worth the whole trip. This place is truely amazing and full of tradition and history.

This is the sports arena where two teams of royalty competed against each other to get a rubber ball into a stone ring set in the side of this wall. At the conclusion of the game, the loser was sacrificed as a worthy sacrifice to the sun to ensure that life/sun continued.

Another of the sites we stopped at... there were I believe 8 different sites we saw. The astrology building was awesome. We don't have a picture on here. The building was obviously a place for the Mayans to view the sky. They would meticulously chart out where the stars were generation after generation. Interestingly enough the door to the building was not centered in the building was at a angle degree to the right. On December 21st of every year (winter solstice) the sun would shine through this door and illuminate the inside. It only happened the one time a year and symbolized the birth of a new sun.

This site was the most amazing, consisting of 91 steps on four sides and the top layer (which counted as one) to equal the number 365 (the calendar year). The Mayans were obsessed with time and had three different calendars they kept. The indentations on the sides of each step were 40 (which was the gestation calendar they kept). The side we are standing on is the side the sun shines on. The side to the left is the side that is always shaded. On Summer Solstice the sunshine goes over far enough that it creates the illusion of a snake on the side of the stairs of the shaded side.

Interestingly enought the same day of all their 3 calendars only occures every 57? years. The calendar is said to start over again on December 21, 2012 and Mayans and some historians believe that this is when the end of world will be (they believe the Earth will be wiped out by a flood).

Sorry for the history lesson, this place was just SO awesome and awe inspiring.

^This was taken on our last full day in Cancun. We went to some of the shops and plazas. This is in front of the Chocolate Factory... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

I would recommend Cancun for anyone. This was a once in a lifetime trip. I'm so thankful we got to go.

DAY 5 CANCUN

Buenos Dias!

We spent the few hours we had this morning at the beach. This place is amazingly beautiful and very relaxing. I'm a little sad to leave but very thankful for a vacation and a chance to relax and very ready to get back to America and our house. Adios

Grandma got ran over by a reindeer! Subtitle: Big Mexican lady got hit by a crazy Mexican driver!

We started the day as usual...another wonderful, fresh breakfast at our hotel. Next, we spent a couple relaxing hours at the beach.....mid 80's...cool water...light breeze.....it was the perfect day. After that, we got cleaned up and went....where else??? Shopping. We caught the bus and went down to the more upscale shopping plazas......Luxury Avenue & La Isla. We grabbed a quick lunch at Chilis and ate dinner at a REALLY GOOD Mexican restaurant called Hacienda Sisal Mexican Grill......by far the BEST food we've had this week! After dinner we decided to walk ALL the way back to our hotel......wrong choice.....we ended up walking 6+ miles...........plus the combined miles we walked throughout the day...........I think we've walked more this week than the whole year combined.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY ::::: On our long journey back to our hotel, Chan and I experienced something we've never experienced before........someone being hit by a car. We were walking along the hotel zone minding our own business......and out of nowhere we hear.....THUD....CRASH...etc.........oh....and someone screaming "JESUS" about ten times......oh wait, that was Chan. The poor lady flew through the air and landed a few feet in front of the car.......I found her shoes several yards down the street. All I could think was "GET SOME LEAVES!!!" (Brian Regan reference). Thankfully, she only broke her leg....could've been a lot worse!

ONE YEAR OF WONDERFUL MARRIAGE COMES TO AN END..........WE LOVE IT!!!!

COMING HOME TOMORROW NIGHT!

Day 3 Cancun! Subtitle: Long bus rides.......

Another great day in paradise.......minus the (combined) 4 hr bus ride.

We started the day (at 6am) with another awesome breakfast....consisting of mostly FRESH fruit. We then hopped aboard a chartered bus bound for Chichen Itza (Spanglish: Chicken Pizza). Chichen Itza is home to one of the 7 wonders of the world...."El Castillo" ("The Castle"). On route to the site we stopped at another tourist attraction...a HUGE sink-hole. We stopped a second time to eat an "authentic" Mexican meal....................it left MUCH to be desired!

When we finally arrived at our destination we were not disappointed.......Chichen Itza was amazing. See photos below.

Tomorrow is relaxing/shopping/beach day!! Can't wait!!

Day 2 CANCUN! Subtitle: I LOVE AMERICA!

Day 2 Cancun:

Today we slept in, ate a huge breakfast, spent some time at the beach, walked 5 km to our dinner boat, and spent 3 hrs on Captain Hook's boat. A very good day overall. Lashel you would have loved breakfast..... all fresh fruit.

Subtitle I love America:

After being in Mexico for only one day I must say that I LOVE AMERICA! You know your not in America when you take a bus that is packed full of people and some of them are hanging out windows and door. You know your not in America when the speed limit says 70 km/hr but must just be a suggestion because the drivers barrel down the road at mock ten. You know your not in America when you have keep your eyes closed to keep yourself from shouting "JESUS" every time the driver turns a corner and nearly wipes out signs, pedestrians and other cars. You know your not in America when the bus driver just runs through red lights. And you know your not in American when the driver takes off before you have a chance to reach for the rail and take a seat, that is if you are lucky enough to get a seat. AND EVERYONE ACTS LIKE THIS IS SO NORMAL? Let just say that I am definitely more thankful that I have a country called America to call my home.

Sidenote: Everything here is EXPENSIVE. 27 pesos for a candy bar... that's $2.50! Ridiculous. Yesterday we paid 270 pesos for a meal of 3 tiny chicken strips, 4 small tortillos, and a scoop tortillo chip with a spoonful of beans, one can soda and a bottle water. That was $25!

Tomorrow we are headed to the Chichen Itza Ruins (or something like that). Adios until tomorrow.

(we have more pictures on our camera but unfortunately can't upload anything other than i-phone pictures :( )

We made it to CANCUN!

Hola AMIGOS! After two plane rides, security, baggage screened twice, immigration, customs, and wading through hordes and yes I do mean HORDES of Mexicans trying to get us to purchase their products at the airport, we FINALLY made it to our resort. This place is beautiful. We are staying at the Westin Resort and Spa, very adobe in style and a little dated but overall very nice. We have an ocean view, privacy balcony room.... oh la la. :) It was in the 70's today but a little windy. Tomorrow we are going on our dinner cruise, CAPTAIN HOOK! Adios

It's Christmas TIME!

It's hard to believe that it is Christmas time again! Crazy to think that last year around this time we were in a frenzy trying to get everything ready for the wedding. So glad that's an only once in a lifetime deal.

We decorated our tree Thanksgiving night. It was so much fun. We stayed up until 3am working on it and rearranging our furniture to accommodate it. I must say that all those wedding decorations came in very handy... here is the silver and white stuff left over from the wedding and now on our tree.

Only a few more days until Cancun! And only a few more days to finish Christmas shopping!

We had a very good Thanksgiving. I'm so glad my mom and dad came home for a while. It would not have been the same without them.

And THANK YOU TO MATT for taking our one year anniversary pictures.... check out his blog to see them.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!