Colombia: Day 4

This was a VERY mellow day.  Esteban and I went to a near by park to work out, CrossFit style.  The park was pretty awesome.  The park had a "work out" area, equipped with a bunch of work out park things... Im sure that paints a great and accurate picture, not!

Anyway, the work out was put together by my "bon bon" of a brother, Esteban.  We did 25 Box Jumps, 20 push ups, 25 air squats and 25 pull ups... repeated five times.  (Esteban did double of everything).  The first few rounds, no big deal.  The last two rounds, KILLED ME!  It was fun and I loved working out with Esteban.  He is pretty cool brother and he gave me some great tips and was encouraging :)

After that crazy start to the morning, Tomi, Abuela and I went to get mani/pedis.  SO FUN! I gave the sweet nail technician a real run for her money. I'm sure her arms were sore after working on my feet.  I'll blame the dry Utah summer on that one :) Tia Maggie stayed home (all) day finishing the dress, bless her magic hands!

Later that night Marcos and Dylan arrived and Chuma serenaded us again, we could never get tired of that.  It was fun to all be together and chit chat and just be together. 

 

Dylan had a rough start in Colombia.  He was tired and I am sure a little nervous.  This was the beginning of a very long trip for Dylan and Marcos, they were going to Argentina right after.  But, playing some games on the iphone made things feel a little better. :) 

 

 

Our night ended VERY VERY late.  The boys went to bed at midnight-ish.  Tia Maggie, Abuela, Tomi and I went to bed after 3am!  La tia was making the finishing touches on the dress and I was putting together the head piece.  We also had to pack our bags so we could leave early in the morning to the hotel where the event was taking place....

Lets just say, we have all been blessed with some good genes, because we felt like we had been run over by a train, yet we looked a lot better than that ;)  Always a good time when you are having fun! 

Colombia: Day 2

Today we woke early and had some breakfast at a little tiny "Fruteria" around the corner from Tomi and Chuma's house.  It was SO yummy!  Oh how I have missed latin food...

We were all excited to be together.  Marcos and Dylan were still not there, but we were ready for today's activities.... hot springs and food :)

Ham and Cheese Sandwich, Fresh Squeezed OJ and a Cheese Arepa... SO GOOD!

Everything in Colombia is little.  The cars are all small and the tires tiny.  Tomi and Chuma don't need a big car, unless Tomi's family comes to visit.  It was quite the sight to see us all piles in that car.  Tomi and I took turns holding our mom and tia on our laps for the 1.5hr ride to Los Volcanes...

The whole bunch of us.  This might be my favorite pic of the entire trip.  REALLY good times!

Colombia is more beaitful than I had pictured.  It is so great and lush.  The people were beyond kind and hospitable.  Absolutely beautiful country!

The girls... 

Esteban looked like a tourist, more so than I did.  Tomi said it was because he wore tennis shoes... jajaja.  I am sure that the fact that he was one of the tallest persons around had nothing to do with it. ;)

We finally arrived at Los Volcanes.  Its a beautiful "resort" where they have three natural hot spring pools and a huge natural steam room.  The water is filled with natural minerals and nutrients for your body.

When we got there we had to walk down about 2.5 blocks down into the 'resort'.  It was a really nice walk down.  Plus we were eager to have some relaxation.

 As soon as we walked into the resort, we saw this TINY tennis court.  Esteban being the tennis fan that he is, insisted on a picture :)

These pool are not warm, they are HOT! They are awesome!

We were surrounded by lush green foliage and the air temp was just right, like a crisp fall morning, all day :) perfection!

This picture was taken from a little waterfall up from the resort.  It is a small 'resort'.  But it left us felling fully relaxed and hungry....

After Los Volcanes, we went to a little city calle Sopo.  There we stopped in a store called Alpina.  They make all sorts of dairy products and some pretty delicious pastries and treats... Tia Maggie had her cart FULL!

This is maybe 1/3 of the goodies we bought and ate there.  Seriously, so delish!

We ate our goodies outside surrounded by more beautiful scenery.  Seriously, I was in awe of the beauty in this country! We had some mate while with our goodies.

Our day ended there.  We were successfully stuffed and relaxed!

On a side note: They have milk that comes in bags there.  Its called "leche larga vida" You can leave the unopened bag in your cupboard and its good until 12/23/12!  CRAZINESS!  I had to take a pic :)

Colombia: Day 1

Esteban and I had purchased our tickets a LONG time ago.  As soon as we had word as to when Tomi and Chuma would be tying the knot, we made plans to travel together.  It had been months of anticipation and FINALLY the day came!

Our day started early on Tuesday.  We hung out at the SLC Airport happy as ever, ready to go :)

First flight to JFK.  We made the mistake of NOT buying some neck pillows in SLC.  So, we bought some at JFK.  I was feeling horrible, stomach bug, and any comfort was welcome, even if it meant buying the pillow at 50% more than it was in SLC.

Fortunately we had a nice comfortable ride on both planes.  No one with us on the first flight and then we each got our own row on the second flight.  SOO NICE!  I needed the room to lay down, I was a mess.  Didn't eat anything all day in fear that i would quickly throw it all back up.  

 

After 11hrs of flying and 2.5hrs of lay overs, we were finally in COLOMBIA!!!!

YAY!!!!! 

 

We waited a about 25ish minutes for Tomi.  Our flight had landed a little sooner than she expected and the lines through immigration where very short.  We tried calling her on a man cell phones and seconds later, she was there :) hoooray!!!! 

 

We hurried home to finally meet Chuma and we were SO very pleased that everything we had heard and seen of him was true.  He is an amazing guy.  Tomi is one lucky girl and Chuma is one lucky guy!

 Chuma is a fabulous guitar player and singer, among other things.  We were up until 2am listening to him play and laugh and getting to know each other.  Later, Tomi and Chuma sang the song they would be singing at the ceremony... I bawled like a baby!  The love they have for each other is simply beautiful! I couldn't help myself.

 Esteban pretended to play... Tia Maggie had been sewing all night.  She has made all of the nieces dresses for our wedding.  She is pretty much a genius when it comes to sewing anything.  Its always fun to see her and be with her!

 

True Love....

... SO happy for them!

Tomi's Visit: Oktoberfest

Dave and I have been attending Oktoberfest for years! We love going up to Snowbird and just enjoying the music, food, costumes, and the scenery. We were fortunate to have Labor Day to go up with Tomi.

We rode the lift a couple of times, some of us took a little hike/walk, we ate over priced German food, danced, shopped and watched the kids roll down the hill.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Tomi's visit. Both Tomi and Leah look beautiful! The kids call Tomi, Poopy Squatz. And Leah LOVES Poopy Squatz!

Tomi thought this guy's outfit was pretty awesome and wanted a picture with him. I have seen him up there SO many times!!! The old folks dance, like pros and drink so much German beer its crazy!


I love Leah's self portrait while on the dance floor. WOW! Look at those chompers!!!

Leah has been going to Oktoberfest since she was a little baby. When she was old enough to dance, she really got into it. We were really looking forward to watching Milli dance, BUT she was SOOOO clingy! She is our dancer. She loves music and has good (latin) rhythm. Well, turns out she was not feeling well. She threw up three times that night. Every time she needed to get a bath!

Oktoberfest is going on until October 10th. If you haven't been up there you should! It is a fun time.

Tomi's Visit: A day at the park

We had a day at the park. The boys, Abuela and Tomi played some tennis. Then all of the sudden Abuela was on the floor. It looked like she was cracking up, but really she was crying in pain. Her knee gave out on her and she was down! It was a bummer, but then she got to just sit with us and chit chat and put her knee up :) (something she never does, she is always going and going. Never stops!)

The pictures that day were "lazy pictures". I didn't want to go chase kids and take pictures. But I did manage to get some.... This cute baby boy melts my heart!!! I LOOOOVE HIM!!!!

Milli, was Milli. Fun and happy to be playing around :) and looking a little crazy.

Amy loves the babies. She gave Maria and I a "little break", while she snuggled with our babies.

I managed to get a picture of Kylie. All the cousins were there, but she was the only one pictured and close enough to get in the shot.
It was a very fun time, a side from the hurt knee. I love my family and the love we have for each other. We are all very different but we can all have fun together as well. It was also very nice to have Tomi here for so many fun activities.

Tomi's Visit: Park City and Family

This adventure is a must when Tomi is in town. We had a GREAT and LOOOOONG day up there. Tiffany watched Mylo for me (THANK YOUUUU!), so we were able to leave early in the morning. It was SO nice not to have to worry about him and to just enjoy ourselves up there.

Maricela met us up there as well. Tomi loves her and they clicked instantly, maybe cause they are both latinas? I don't know. Anyway, it was fun. We had a lot of laughs!

Milli was being a monkey ALL day! I think she is a very strong little girl and she has an amazing grip.

We had to leave by 3pm so I could make it back in time to meet the kids at home after school... BUT thanks to Dave working at home we were able to stay until 5pm. It was SO nice. We really had a great time. Then we got home and ran out the door to my aunt and uncle's house for dinner.
The plan was to have dinner and then go to zumba... Well, we were having SO much fun that we skipped zumba all together and chit chatted to our hearts content! We love Mike and Mary!!!!

It was very fun to hang out with Dallin & Amy and Allie & Jeff. They are all super nice and we had a great time. Dallin and Mike tried to feed Otis some carrots (just pretend) to bug me... It was fun!

this was a very busy day.