24th Anniversary

My mom and Mike had an unexpected opportunity to see us this past weekend, and we were so excited about their visit!

We took them to the park after church where we planned a kolache picnic.  

But the kids and Eric had a special surprise waiting...

We've had a standing joke for 25 years that his marriage proposal was the absolute worst!  Every chance I could, I reminded him of this.  I guess he'd finally had enough and found a way to redeem himself.

Ashlyn, our first child, showed up carrying two roses.

Then our second child, our only son, brought me two more.

It was at this point I recognized what was happening.  Mike is suspiciously taking lots of pictures and my kids never do this!

Our third child comes skipping in with two more roses!  I love how they planned this by their birth order.  Pretty clever!

And finally, 25 years after he first handed me a ring, my romantic husband shows up with the six remaining roses to make it a perfect dozen.

Gets down on one knee...



(I have to celebrate for a second so I can soak up this real proposal...)

And pulling out his mom's ring, he pops the question he never fully asked!!!   Of course, I said YES!

There was a crowd watching who cheered after I accepted.  That was funny.  I guess with three kids and all it's no longer obvious that we were already married.  

By the way, kuddos to the awesome photographers who captured this priceless moment from two different angles! (Luke's girlfriend was behind the tree and Mike was picnic level).

Here's a group pic of the whole family.  Great job organizing all this!  Awesome memory.

As we were packing up, another couple just proposed.  So we put those dozen red roses to good use and surprised the lucky girl.  I'll bet she still thinks her fiance planned that.

Strings

Our youngest has really enjoyed playing the violin.  It was her 2nd year to play and she's already challenging herself in solo & ensemble competition.  She and a friend decided to play a duet to Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

They were a bit nervous, but did amazing!  With a score of "Excellent", they were just one point away from Superior.  Here they head off to play for the judges.

I've added a link below to their final school performance as a class.
https://youtu.be/md3Z-XLoILA

First Communion Class

Back in September, I was asked to "sub" in the 2nd grade CCD class until they could fill it with a permanent teacher.  I fell for it hook, line, and sinker!  But these sweet children gave me just as much love in return for my time, and I'm so thankful for the experience.

The first sacrament we went over was Reconciliation.  It was a challenge to get them interested in doing this, and holding their attention to learn the prayers, but I was so proud that they did it!  After they finished, each received a ring and stole like the prodigal son.

And the best celebration was watching them receive Christ for the first time!  Sweet group of kids.

Even Eric participated by being my real substitute during a few classes, lectoring during the First Communion Mass, and assisting the students with crowing Jesus and Mary.

Belize - Finale

After that harrowing river crossing, we walked around downtown San Ignacio.  Ashlyn wanted to try their famous "sour fruit" at the market.  It looked like an apple, but it's texture was more spongy and not as flavorful.

Then we headed to another Mayan ruin just on the outskirts of town.  This one, called Cahal Pech, was not as large, and it also had quite a few mounds unearthed.

We all liked this site much better because there weren't near as many tourists.  

This site was also fun because you could see family rooms where they slept.  The Mayan people were quite a bit smaller in height.  We were having to duck our heads going through the doorways.

 There were several passage ways that lead to the open square and the other buildings.

It smelled a bit musty, and there were bats living in the ceilings. Eww!

Here's the large palace for the royal family and their servants.

This was a ball court where opposing tribes would be captured and forced to play a difficult game.  The winner got to live, while the loser was put to death.  

We slept really well that night, and I was grateful that we were all alive.  On the flight home, Ashlyn received a compimentary upgrade to first class for herself AND a companion!  I decided it would be me.  :)

Since this was the only time in my life I'd get to fly first class on an international flight, I decided to document what it was like.  First course... a mixed drink and warm nuts.

Second course... beef brisket, sweet potatos, greens, cheese, crackers, and dried apricots.  Oh, and another drink if you want it.

Third course... coffee and a warm chocolate chip cookie.

Sweet way to end a nice vacation!

Belize - Day 5

Today we went to the Mayan ruins!  I was so excited.  After arriving at the base of the historical reserve and crossing the Mopan River with a hand-cranked bridge, we started up the one-mile long incline.

This first Mayan ruin was called Xunantunich (pronounced shu-nan-to-nich).  It was the longest established Mayan settlement in Belize and dates back to around 600AD.

Upon entering the reserve, it's another long walk uphill.  Glad we had on our tennis shoes!

It was incredible!  Only a fraction of the site has actually been excavated.  Every mound of grass is another building just waiting to be discovered.

We got a great workout going up every set of stairs to get to the top.

These stone buildings were homes, gathering places, markets, all part of a thriving civilization.  The tallest one was sacred and housed the religious ceremonies.  Only the top ruler and his aids were allowed there.

I took this picture from on top of one of the structures so I could capture a wider view.

The three of them raced to the top while mom stayed below to snap the pic.  But yes, I had to climb it myself after the picture.

In original form, these were smooth buildings, many painted white with colorful writing on them.  The weather has eroded the color and much of their smooth surface.

Belize has two types of monkeys.. the Howler monkeys and the Spider monkey.  Most visitors experience the Howler monkeys, and they are so loud that the tourists are happy when they leave so it's back to peace and quiet.  The Spider monkeys are more elusive, and that's what we got to see.  There was a sweet family with a mom, dad, and youngling whom they were teaching to swing.  So precious!

This is the view from the tallest structure (where only the royals could go).  The view was amazing!

After we left Xunantunich, we found that the hand-cranked bridge was out.  Rather than wait for it to be fixed like all the other visitors, Eric decided to try another way across.

We hiked up the river about half a mile through lots of thick brush (and praying there were no snakes).  The river became a bit white water over the rocks, but Eric found a spot he felt we could safely do.  

He came back to help our little one.  I was in charge of our shoes, so I shoved them in my backpack although it was too full to zip closed.  

The family seemed to be fairing well, but not so much for me.  The rocks were killing my bare feet.  When I bent down to find a softer spot to step, the shoes fell out...

Ashlyn immediately jumped into action, literally.  She slid down the rapids and swam after our shoes, finding them all!

That girl not only saved our shoes, but she also made it the other side before we even got halfway across on foot!  If I had known my shoes would get wet anyway, I would have just worn them and spared the soles of my feet.  The whole time, I kept fussing at Eric for not being patient like the other tourists waiting for them to fix the bridge.

The little one isn't phased by all this.  

I was excited to reach the other side, but quickly realized it was only an island.  Uggh!

Ashlyn has been waiting on us almost 20 minutes by this point.

Once we all made it across and hiked the 1/2 mile back to our car, guess what was working again!  Yep, the bridge.  Thankful we're all safe, but I was NOT happy!