What A Year!

This year has been so amazing already, and its only April... okay, so its pretty much May, but still!

January first started out with a promotion and a raise.  Then at the end of January we took our incredible trip to Cancun.  February brought Valentine's Day where I was able to make some money working at a flower shop, and we found out that my sister-in-law is having a little girl.  I can't wait to be an aunt!  March passed without much excitement, at least that we could tell any one about... Which brings us to April.  April has been an incredible month.  Zack proposed to his girlfriend Alex, so we will be having a wedding later this year!  And now we feel like we can finally share with everyone our big secret!

We're having a baby!  Words cannot even begin to describe the emotions we are feeling right now.  It was just over a year ago now that we found out we were pregnant the first time.  It has been a long time waiting for our miracle to come, but it is finally here.  After our first doctor's appointment we went out and celebrated that the egg made it to the uterus this time.  It seems so silly, but just the fact that the egg implanted in the uterus where it is supposed to instead of the fallopian tube, like it did last time, was a major victory for us.
As we have slowly but surely shared our good news with our families, the reactions we have received have been incredible.  I cannot believe how many people cried when we told them, and told me that they had been praying for us.  The amount of prayers that were being said on our behalf is overwhelming and I had no idea.  It is so humbling to know how many people had mourned and cried with us over our loss, and had been praying for our miracle, and are now celebrating with us.

The details:  I am 13 weeks along right now, and we are due November 4.  We cannot wait to have this baby in our arms.  The holidays are going to be so much more fun with a baby.

Cancun Adventures Part 3!

I just realized I never posted the last part of our adventures in Cancun... oops.  Here it is... 3 months later...
The final days of our trip were spent touring four of the ruins around Cancun.  They were by far my favorite days.  This is the part of the trip that I was most excited for.  I have wanted to go see a Mayan ruin for as long as I can remember, and they were AMAZING.  Those who know me know that history is my least favorite subject, but for whatever reason, this small piece of history has always been fascinating to me.
The first was Chichen-Itza.  Let me just say, Wow.

 This is the ball court.  Seeing the ball court was so cool.  I has read about the game of Pok ta pok that they played at Chichen-Itza.  Two teams of warriors used their hips to pass a small rubber ball to each other, and the goal was to put it through the hoop pictured below.  The captain of the winning team would have the great honor of becoming a human sacrifice.  He would kneel before the loosing captain and have his head cut off.  The winning captain was the one that became the sacrifice because he was considered the best of the best, and only the best would be used as a sacrifice.

Cenote.  After Chichen-Itza we went to a nearby cenote and Zack and Sierra were able to swim in it.  I, unfortunately, had not brought my swimsuit or a change of clothes so I didn't get to go.  It was so beautiful.
From above:

 From down inside:

Our next stop for the day was Ek Balam.  A much smaller set of ruins, but still equally amazing, due to the fact that you could actually climb on all the ruins, which you could not do at Chichen-Itza.  

 The view from the top of the main temple, which was actually taller than the main temple at Chichen-Itza.  Lets just say it was a long climb up, and a tough climb down, but totally worth it.

 The ONLY picture we got of the whole family.  Just glad we at least got one!

The next day we started out at Coba.  The ruins were SOOOOOO spread out here, that our guide had us rent bikes so we could see more of the ruins in the time we had to spend there.

 We could also climb the ruins here at Coba.  Thankfully this time they had installed a rope, so it made the trip coming down a little easier.

 Looking down.  It was pretty steep.

After Coba, we went to another cenote.  This time I was prepared, and boy was I glad.  This one was even more awesome than the other.  From the top it just looked like a small pot hole.  But you climbed down into the hole and down the stairs, and there was this gorgeous cavern complete with stalagmites and stalactites.  The water was so deep, and some of the clearest water I've ever seen.  There were two platforms to jump from.  We all jumped from the lower one (which was really high) and Zack braved the jump from the high platform.

Our final ruin was Tulum.  It wasn't my favorite ruin, but I think it was the most breathtaking, because it was literally right on the ocean.

I am so glad we went on this trip.  For the longest time Nick and I waffled back and forth about whether or not we should spend the money to go.  We knew that we wouldn't have to pay for hotels because my parents got a big enough room at the resort for all of us, but we would have to pay for pretty much everything else.  In the end, we decided to go (obviously) and we are SOOO glad we did.  It was an incredible trip from start to finish.  From meeting some of Zack's converts and seeing where he served while on his mission, to getting hopelessly lost, to riding dirty (an inside joke... don't ask), to water adventures, to touring ruins and swimming in cenotes.  It will probably be the last trip we take as a family for quite some time.  It was so amazing spending the time with my family getting closer and getting to know them even better.