Our Adventures in Cancun

For those of you who haven't been to Cancun, here are some pictures to prove its great beauty! Our stay was short, but very nice. We had fun relaxing on the beach and hanging out together. It was Adriana's first time to the ocean so it was fun to watch her explore. She wasn't quite sure about the sand, and we had a hard time keeping her from eating it, but hey what's a little sand? The weather was nice and sunny the whole time, but not too hot. Definitely a great place for vacation.

We decided to take a nice romantic walk on the beach our last night there (with Adriana of course). The weather was perfect, a nice breeze, walking barefoot, listening to the waves, how could it be more romantic? Well, as we were walking Mark stepped on a, we didn't know at the time, spine of a fish! Who knew those were just laying around on the sand? I tried to see what it was, but in the dark it looked like a broken plastic utensil or something. We didn't know how far it had gone in so I tried to pull it out. Yeah, that didn't work. I went for help and we ended up taking the ambulance to the hospital. It was quite an adventure riding down the road with this huge thing in Mark's foot. It was 5 inches long and went in about 1 1/2 inches! They took some X-rays and hooked him up to an IV, gave him a tetanus shot and then waited for the surgeon to arrive. It went in just below his toes and luckily it went between two and didn't hit any nerves or anything. It took the doctor quite a while to get it out because there were tiny teeth-like bones down each side of it angled the wrong way. They put anesthesia on his foot so Mark couldn't feel anything. I couldn't even watch very much because it looked so painful. They got it out and we returned to the hotel with Mark on crutches, around 11:30. It was quite the adventure and I don't think Mark will want to take another barefoot walk on the beach for awhile!

The point went in first which is why it got so far in. If you click on the picture to see it close up you can see the points down each side!

Here's the trooper!

We're moving!

Adriana says it all! Yes, it is true. Our time is coming to a close here in Monterrey. We will be moving to Dallas on Dec. 10 where Mark got a job with BlueCross BlueShield of Texas. He has been wanting to switch out of HR and get back into finance and everything has worked out well for this to happen. We are leaving a lot sooner than we expected, but know that this is what is best. We have absolutely loved Mexico and the people. We have many friends here who are family to us. Because Mexicans are so open and friendly that made our move here much easier. There are many other things we will also miss about being here... and I'm not talking about the bugs. This has been one of the best experiences we've had. I think this is more difficult than a normal move because it will be so much harder to come back and visit. We got to see and do several things while we were here and are actually going to Cancun tomorrow! How can we miss the opportunity to see a Mexican beach while we're here? (Pictures will be forthcoming)

Adriana at bedtime

This a funny video we took about a month ago so Adriana was almost 7 months. Gotta love those tender moments! Need I say more?

Learning Moments

As one learns a new language there are bound to be some bumps and falls... some are funnier than others. I think that most of the funny ones are only known by the person I am talking to and just go right over my head. I know my Spanish has come a long way, but still has a long way to go. Today during church I mixed up a few letters, but who knew it would change the meaning so much! I have a calling in the primary with the kids at church and even though it's been hard to talk in front of them in Spanish, it has really helped my speaking. It's amazing that they still listen to me when I'm sure sometimes they have no idea what I am trying to say. I meant to ask which kids knew how to direct music (dirigir), but instead I asked who knew how to digest (digerir)! I said it wrong several times and then just said, yeah "that" instead of using the word! Crazy stuff, but definitely a good laugh!

Adriana and Halloween

We haven't given enough attention to Adriana lately so this one is all about her! She turned 7 months a few weeks ago and is making lots of progress. She started crawling just after she turned 6 months old and about a week later figured out how to pull herself up on things. She keeps her mom busy. She's eating some solids now and has figured out a sippy cup. (She never really liked the bottle so we just moved on.) She is still the best baby we've ever had!

We had a great Halloween and had lots of trick-or-treaters. Here they say, "Noche de brujas, Halloween!" On Saturday we went to some friends for a party and Adriana got in on all the fun.

Our cute little flower!

Even further south

Now that we've acclimated you all to life in Mexico we can tell you more of the great things we've seen and done. My parents were here for a few weeks and we took a trip down south to more central Mexico. We went to Guanajuato and San Miguel de Allende. Guanajuato is an old mining city up in the mountains. It is beautiful.

Because it is in the mountains several of their roads are underground. It's awesome. 

We also took a tour of a torture chamber that was, well, kind of sad, but Adriana took advantage of her dad while he was in cuffs.

They also have a mummy museum. Not like the Egyptian style, but real Mexican style. These people were buried normally, but because there are so many minerals in the soil, their bodies remained somewhat in tact. Skin and all, pretty weird. The museum has a collection of over 100 bodies, most from the early 1900s. Pretty interesting!

We were there during a big festival they have each year that is named after Miguel Cervantes, author of Don Quixote. (Here is Mark posing with a statue Mr. Quixote.)

Because of this there were tons of people there and lots of activities going on. We got to see some great bands.

Adriana even learned how to ride a motorcycle.

I must admit that she really is a star when we are out and about. Because she is so guera (blonde hair, blue eyes) people are always surprised to see her. A handful of people asked to take her picture too! She loves all the attention which makes her even cuter! Our next blog will be dedicated to her cutness!