Utah/Mexico

After getting into Utah and spending a few days there with my boys, we drove down to Mexico. My brother lives in a place called Rocky Point, Mexico. It is a 12 hour drive from my mom's house, and the drive is a long deserted desert.

 

 On the drive down to Mexico, we did stop at a park and let the boys stretch their legs and play

 

Our first day there was Sunday, so we found a local congregation. We didn't understand much for it was all in Spanish, but it was cool to see people that have the same beliefs as us even though we live very different lives.

My brother, who is a wonderful person, does not share our beliefs. Without realizing that one way we keep the Sabbath Day Holy is by choosing to not swim, he invited my boys to go swimming with him that morning. 

I was still in bed, reading the scriptures when I heard this invitation, and I was disappointed that I hadn't been able to discuss with them that it was Sunday. Mikey, already realizing it was Sunday just ignored the invitation. The other three boys came running into me, asking if it was okay for them to go swimming with my brother. 

I said a quick silent prayer and prepared for their questions. After they asked me, I told them that it was their choice, but that they must first listen to me. I reminded them that it was the Sabbath, something that they had not realized. I reminded them that they knew what our standards and beliefs were, but that they could choose what they were to do, all without any consequences from me. I did ask them to allow me to tell them about a story I had just read that morning. I had read a General Conference talk that told the story of an Olympic runner that had refused to run on Sunday.

Roger had no question of his choice, he said to me, in his very sincere voice, "Mom, I really want to go swimming, but I know it's more important to follow God's commandments".

William was a little more unsure of his choice. I suggested that we pray. After our prayer, he said, with sad tears in his eyes, that he wouldn't go swimming. I gave him a hug and told him that I understood his sadness, but that I was very proud of his choice.

When my brother realized the predicament that he had put my kids in, he sincerely apologized. Even though it was a difficult experience for some of my kids, I thought that it was good for it pushed them to choose for themselves.

Grant had a little crush on my cousin Ivy Ellen - not that I blame him. If you look closely, Grant has a big scab between his eyebrows. Whenever my kids visit Utah, I swear that one of them has the physical bad luck of getting hurt repeatedly. This time was Grant's turn.

 We joined in the fun of a beach dance party (kid friendly) one of the evenings. The Limbo pole was pulled out and William and Grant participated in Limbo for the first time in their lives. They loved it. Grant got to the last round. I think it helped that he's short.

 We spent a lot of time at the beach

 And missing Evelyn. Luckily Todd sent lots of pictures

 We went out on the ocean twice on this boat. It was amazing. We saw dolphins

 and sea lions.

 There was an island that had hundreds and hundreds of sea lions. The old, dominate males stayed up on the island, protecting their territories and letting out loud barks. The young "teenage" sea lions were playing in the water, coming close to the boat, curious to see what it was.

 We caught a lot of fish

 The captain even caught a shark! He was having a hard time reeling in his catch, so we knew it was a big one. I was on the back of the boat, helping William with his pole, when all of the sudden I felt like I was in a scene from Jaws. A Great-White-looking shark swam by the boat, with something by it's gills. The captain's hook had gotten attached to the shark's gills. This shark was huge! Surprised, and somewhat scared, I grabbed William close to me. The shark got away, thankfully. A very surreal moment.

 My brother lives in a town home that is associated with these two towers of condos. They have many pools and a beach. And all of this in the middle of a desert with town being 30 minutes away.

 

The beach was perfect. When it was low tide, there were coral banks that the kids were able to search around and look for sea life. When the tide was high, the waves still weren't too crazy. I was never nervous about my boys swimming in the water and being swept away.

 The sand was really nice and easy to walk on, yet there were so many sea shells to be found! It was a perfect beach, in my opinion.

Mikey drew a picture of a sea lion in the sand

Paradise

Found a Sea Star

Even while having such a good time, we missed the rest of the family

 

I did some school work with the boys, using the sand as a white board and sea shells as counting chips. The boys loved this and kept asking for more school work.

The pool was awesome, looking over the beach and ocean

 

 

Our last night, we went to dinner with my dad and brother (Rob) at a neighboring resort. During the meal my brother was quite impressed with Mikey's knowledge. Rob started asking Mikey what he knew about different subjects. Mikey did an amazing job of having some knowledge of anything that Rob threw at him. Even the other boys started contributing their knowledge. Rob became more and more impressed.

 

We did have a great time, but we did leave part of our heart (and family) in Cleveland. Thank goodness for Facetime, it helped a little bit.

We spent two more days in Utah before we flew home. During that time I was able to go to the temple, and visit my grandma as well as aunt MayBeth.

I had told my boys about my dad's business that he had started when I was a child. The last night we were in Utah, I had my dad take us on a "tour" of the schools that he started. We ended up taking my brothers three kids as well and my sisters girl. It all started here:

 

an apartment building in which my family rented two apartments, one for the business and the other to live in. The one we lived in was one bedroom, all while my parents had four young children.

As they became more successful, my dad purchased this manor.

Isn't my mom a hottie?

Here we are in the gym

My mom was sad to see my boys go. She had been watching them for 5 weeks! But I think her house was happy to be a little quieter and cleaner.

While I was gone, a family with an M-CM girl stopped by the hospital. This little girl (I am told by Todd) is super cute. The similarities is also very awesome. The girl is a 7 year-old girl named Evelyn and she has three siblings, all older brothers!

Overall, I was glad that I went to Utah. It was a good chance to have a break, and a great opportunity to spend time with my boys.

I came home with 4 ninjas