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Last days in Monterrey

I know we've been gone for over a week, but I still wanted to share more of the great memories we have of Mexico! Our last Sunday was sad to say good-bye to all our friends as well as all the kids in primary.

Here is a picture of all the kids. (All the blondies are Americans) They all came up to say good-bye and give me a hug, but the focus was really how much they were going to miss Adriana! =)

And here is Adriana's fan club! It was like free babysitting at any ward activity. The girls all loved her!

The Armstrongs invited a bunch of people over to make gingerbread houses. This was a first for me, but is a tradition in Mark's family. We had tons of fun and I think we're going to carry on the tradition in our family!

Here is a close up of all the houses!

More to come about Texas livin!

"Well it's hard to say good-bye and let go"

So our blog isn't so much a personal journal, but I have so many feelings right now I'd just like to write a few. I never knew when we came here how hard it would be to say good-bye! There are some things I'm excited for when we get back to the states, but I will never forget the experience we've had here in Mexico. Today was our last time at church and I will miss the people we have come to love so much! They have all been so great to us. It has been so fun to watch people come into the church and see their testimonies grow. One family got baptized about the same time we came and just went to the temple a few months ago to be married and sealed forever!

Adriana has become the guera of the ward and has her own fan club! Someone told me today that they will also miss us... not just Adriana. I'm not sure if I really believe her! =) We can call so many of our friends here family and it's hard to say good-bye. I love the great unity families have here and how they really stick together.

In a way I feel like this was my second mission. We were here almost 18 months even though it felt shorter. I hope to always be a better person because of what I have learned while being here.

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!