Ecuador

We spent a wonderful 10 days with Mom and Dad in Ecuador.

We attended church in Otavalo - the people are so friendly!

The meetings are held in Quichoa and Spanish so that was interesting!

 Later that day we hiked to a near by waterfall.

 We stayed in Porto Lago - a beautiful quaint little resort on the lake. 

 On Monday, we visited the Mitad del Mundo - the Center of the Earth.

There were lots of fun little experiments and interesting facts about the equator.

 

Later that day we walked through Quito - it is a beautiful city with lots of hills.

 

Before we left we drove to El Pancillo which overlooks the whole city of Quito.  It was here that Elder Kimball dedicated Ecuador to the preaching of the gospel.

  We flew to Guayaquil that evening and then to the Galapagos Islands the next day.  If you get sea-sick, think twice before you go to the Galapagos - you take boats all the time: Water taxis, ferries, small boats, big boats, any kind of boat!

 We visited the highlands first and saw lots of birds and many 500+ pound Galapagos Tortoises.

 The next day we took a tour to Bartolome - it was a beautiful day and we had so much fun!

 We saw sharks (they told us that they are friendly in the Galapagos!)...

 Penguins,

 Lots of marine iguanas,

 Sea Turtles and other fun fish and birds.

 The next day we hiked to Tortuga Bay - beautiful!  We wished we could have stayed the whole day!

 We then went snorkeling with little sea lions near the Loberia, cliff jumping at Los Grietos, and then out to see more sharks and iguanas.

 

We returned to Guayaquil the next morning after a yummy breakfast with a few little Darwinian finches!

 That evening ET and I went to the temple with Mom and Dad

 The children all did baptisms the next day.

 

We also hiked, played tennis, and visited the sights of Guayaquil.  

 Park of the Iguanas - and there are LOTS of them!

 Climbing the steps of Santa Ana

 Over-looking Guayaquil.

 

It was a great trip and so FUN to be with MOM and DAD!

Cooling Off in California

We spent two fun days in La Jolla at David's apartment.

Thank you!!!

The weather was perfect and we enjoyed every minute of our quick get-away.

Katie was excited to be notified by BYU that she was accepted into the business management program!

Way to go Katie!

Summer So Far

It's been a hot summer so far!

The pool has been well used!

 Courtney ordered a mermaid tail and Carie thought it looked like so much fun that she had to have one too!

 We spent many evenings watching Matthew play in summer league basketball games.

 He spent the last week of June in Prescott at basketball camp.

 Matthew, Natalie, and Cash

 It is great to have Katie home after a year away!

 We spent the 4th of July trying to stay cool while Carie had fun up at Girls Camp.

Youth Conference

 It was so much fun to attend youth conference this year at NAU with Carie & Matthew.

We were in charge of transportation, training, and check-in with Curt and Alison.

The theme was D&C 6:36 "Look unto me in every thought, doubt not, fear not."

It was fun to have Uncle John & Aunt Jean speak to us on Friday evening. 

I was reminded to ALWAYS TRUST THE LORD.  He LOVES us more than anyone, He KNOWS us better than anyone (even ourselves) and He has ALL the facts.  

We were also able to listen to Christian and Stephanie Nielson speak.

Stephanie said she has learned that real BEAUTY is being confident, humble, never giving up, having a strong testimony and always acting our part with grace.  

Other speakers included Brooke White, Al Fox, Don Bluth, Ed Lamoreaux, & Mark Ogletree.

 

(Maddi & Carie with Brooke White)

 It was always fun to run into the youth in the cafeteria!

It was a great Youth Conference!