On Saturday, July 25th, we had breakfast, then went to the spot to leave on our excursion. They came and picked us up right on time. Our excursion was to do ziplining, ride ATVs, and jump into cenotes.
A silly raccoon was eating a piece of bread that one of the waiters gave it.
Ready to leave on our excursion. In the van on our way! Pretty flower.
We arrived at the place. They gave us instructions and divided us into groups.
We then went to the zipline place first.
It was the boys' first time doing ziplining. They all loved it!
We ended up buying the pictures they took of us during the excursion.
There were 3 rungs of the zipline. We all had fun!
Then we were allowed to jump into a cenote there on the property. Everyone jumped in except Hudson and I. We went down the stairs to get in. The first cenote was in a cave. We saw bats down there also.
Steve, Nyles, Sophia, and Carter jumping in.
Rose, Sophia, Nyles and Carter jumping in. They jumped in several times.
We then got on ATV's and rode over to the next cenote. Hudson rode w/ Steve, I let Nyles drive w/ me, Sophia drove w/ Rose, and Carter hitched a ride w/ one of the workers.
The second cenote was open and much larger. Sophia, Nyles, and Carter took turns jumping off the different levels of platforms into the water. They went REALLY high!
On our way back. A picture inside the first cenote.
We then had lunch at the place. They had spaghetti and fajitas.
On our way back, Hudson fell asleep. The big iguana in its usual spot on the way to our room.
The kids then wanted to go swimming. They were having a foam party in the pool when we got there. I took some pictures, then went to get in the water in the other pool. It was a lot of fun, until someone groped Steve, even while holding Hudson. Steve then told the kids it was time to get out. Sophia didn't want to get out, but after he told her what happened, she agreed it was time to get out. We then swam in the other pool, away from the foam party.
Hudson, Steve, Sophia, and Carter in the foam.
We ate at the French restaurant our third night. It was surprisingly our favorite one.
The bread and entrees were great! Steve and the boys got a beef entree. Silly Hudson.
Pretty flowers. Steve stretching. Cool kids.
Carter and Sophia trying on the Mexican hat. Group pictures.
We walked up to the store, and the kids bought bracelets together. We then came back to our room and played Cover Your Assets. We didn't have any Hot Tamales (thanks to the animals), but we did have Jolly Ranchers to share.
We had a fun-filled day. We're thankful we were able to book an excursion, even the day before it happened. Rose and I had talked to other excursion people in the resort but their prices were pretty high, and not exactly what we were looking for. Rose then remembered there should be an excursion through the CircleOne group, so we went over there and asked. At first they said there wasn't any the next day (Saturday), but after asking a few times, we finally made it happen. It was fun to explore outside of the resort and try new things. We all enjoyed it! It was a great day!
On Friday, July 24th, we spent our first day at the resort getting our bearings and soaking in the new surroundings. Here are some highlights:
There was a buffet close to our rooms, the pools, and the beach. The landscape and grounds were incredible! There were so many pretty flowers and vegetation everywhere. There was also a lot of wildlife all throughout the resort, which was fun. The main drawback, though, was the seaweed on the beach. It was so bad no one went into the ocean at all. The smell was REALLY strong, and you could often smell it throughout the resort, especially as you got closer to the beach.
Walking down to get breakfast. Loaders were scooping up the dead, stinky seaweed on the beach and putting it in trucks to haul away. Spiderman by the pool. Our room.
After breakfast we went swimming in the pools. Thankfully, the pools were huge, which allowed us plenty of room to move around. We brought floaties, which were great to just relax in the water.
Rose, Sophia, Nyles and Carter playing ping-pong.
Enjoying the water. Cute Coati animals were everywhere at the resort, even at the buffet.
Later, at our pool connected to our room. The bigger pools got warmer in the afternoon, so our pool in the shade felt much cooler and refreshing. We were very thankful to have the pool by our room.
Getting lunch. Coati on the roof. We were a little nervous about drinking the water and eating the food at the resort, but thankfully none of us got sick.
Lounging in our pool in the afternoon. The sign on our sliding glass door.
Getting a snack by the beach. Gross, stinky seaweed piling up at the beach. Pretty flower.
Cute Coati around the resort. Cool ship in the buffet. Apparently there weren't as many people there during the time we visited, though, as this part of the buffet was never used.
Heading to dinner our second night.
More coati then swimming after dinner at our pool since the larger ones closed at 7pm.
We took a walk around the resort and found another large pool, closer to the entrance of the resort.
We ate at the Italian Restaurant. It was pretty good.
Getting some pictures after dinner. More wildlife at the resort.
A huge spider in between the cactus. More flowers and a Coati eating food left out.
We came back from dinner w/ our sliding glass door open. At first Steve thought someone had broken in and stolen stuff from our room, but after looking through the room, the only thing disturbed was our snacks I left on the table. We had brought snacks with us, in Ziploc bags, but they were opened and eaten. We figured it must have been a Coati or Racoon that broke in and ate our snacks. They ate granola bars, grapes that the room attendants left in our room, and some Hot Tamales. Again, all of the snacks were factory sealed by themselves, and then in additional Ziploc bags, but they still managed to open both packages. The weird part is Steve remembers checking the sliding glass doors and that they were locked. We will never know! (I was apparently too shocked by what happened and didn't get pictures. I just started cleaning up the mess they left). It was a little scary at first, but looking back it was pretty funny. The Hot Tamales look like the last thing they opened. We think after they ate those, they left our room ;)
More swimming. Then we went to a night show by the larger pools.
The acrobats were incredible!
Amazing tricks.
We had a great first full day at the resort. We were also able to contact the CircleOne people and book an excursion for Saturday.
On Thursday, July 23rd, our trip to Cancun began bright and early with a 7:30 AM flight. After a 4:00 AM wake-up call, we headed out by 4:30 AM. A huge thank you to Rob for joining us to drive our car home and house-sit with Piper while we were away. Rose and Sophia met us at the airport to kick off the adventure together.
We are ready to go!
Boarding our first flight from SLC to Denver.
Then from Denver down to Cancun!
We made it to Mexico! We then found our luggage and our shuttle to our resort.
It was funny; the sign said McGraph instead of McGrath ;)
The boys fell asleep on the way over to the resort.
We waited in a short line before discovering a faster check-in option at the Circle One area. Thanks to Rose's hairdresser, who generously shared his BlueBay Resort timeshare membership, we secured a lower rate than online prices and unlocked VIP perks like express check-in.
Getting checked in, getting a drink while we wait, then on a golf cart to find our rooms.
We found an Iguana.
After we settled into our rooms, then went to the Mexican Restaurant for dinner.
Our large room was a welcome relief, featuring two full bathrooms and plenty of space for everyone. Steve and I shared the comfortable king-size bed, while Carter and Hudson took the couch bed, and the hotel later brought in a convenient rollaway bed for Nyles.
Our room came with a major perk: a private pool connected right to our balcony. This was a lifesaver since the main resort pools closed at 7 PM. After dinner, the kids jumped right back into the water just outside our door. But our nighttime swim came with a surprise guest. Someone had left unfinished drinks by the edge, and a pair of bold raccoons waddled over to investigate. I tried to shoo them away, but these local bandits held their ground and refused to leave. We kept a safe distance and definitely did not mess with them!
We arrived after a long travel day and checked in around 5:30 p.m., but getting the extra bed we requested turned into a six-hour ordeal. After multiple phone calls and trips to the front desk, the roll-away finally arrived at midnight. Nyles almost ended up crashing on a pool chair we dragged inside just to get some rest.
The couch bed for Carter and Hudson, and finally a rollaway bed for Nyles.
A little while later, our phone rang with a strange warning from the front desk to lock our doors. Steve checked, and they were already locked. The call likely stemmed from earlier when I briefly left our door ajar upon arrival, prompting a staff member to ask us to close it.
After a long and exhausting travel day, we were deeply grateful to finally fall asleep, despite the late hour and an unexpected interruption. We planned to sleep in the next morning. We then set our sights on exploring the resort grounds and booking an excursion for Saturday.
Here are a few highlights from the few days in July before we flew out to Cancun.
Pauline took the boys to her house on Monday, July 20th to have a sleepover. They went to a foam party that afternoon.
More fun!
The boys bundled more firewood. They cut down more trees in the Uintas earlier. Steve built another rack to dry the extra firewood. Rob let them store the wood along the side of his house.
We had another busy week. Here are some highlights.
On Monday, July 13th, Nyles started a 4-day-long mountain biking class. He's been interested in learning, so he wanted to take a class. He borrowed his cousin Noah's mtn bike for the class (Noah is on a mission). When we picked up the bike to borrow it from Melanie and Brandon, Brandon took Nyles on a 20-minute ride to help him learn how to use the bike. After the 2nd day of class, the instructor asked Steve if Nyles could be moved up to the Intermediate mtn bike class. Apparently, what Brandon taught him in the 20 minutes, was basically what they were going to teach him over the 4 days. Nyles then did the Intermediate class right Tuesday-Thursday. He said he enjoyed it a lot more. He learned a lot and is looking into maybe doing it if not this year then next year.
The boys playing w/ toys from the cabin.
Nyles at the mtn bike class. It's HOT outside!!!
The boys getting more firewood ready to sell. We went and watched the new live action Moana in theaters Tuesday night ($5 Tuesdays) w/ Dave, Joann, Diane, and Rob.
It was awesome!! I highly recommend it!
Steve and I went to the temple Wednesday evening and did initiatories.
Nyles and his friend Lincoln went and rode bikes to the Suspension Bridge.
Steve took the boys to Lagoon on Thursday. Conor met them there.
They picked up Nyles' friend Lincoln and took him as well. Hudson is now tall enough to ride more rides, including the white rollercoaster.
We went to Draper Days for a little bit while Nyles and Lincoln were riding bikes to the suspension bridge. Carter and Hudson going down some slides.
Then foam fun and face painting.
Nyles was in the Draper Days Parade on Saturday w/ the Alta Marching Band again. We went and watched. Ironically, we ran into my coworker (Hailey Meihls) who just moved into a new house in Draper, so we sat by them at the parade. The kids got more candy.
After the parade, we came home for a little while, then went over to Diane's house. All of the family was invited to come over and go through the decorations and take what you want. We then hurried home for my 20-year mission reunion.
After Steve had his 20-year mission reunion last year, I started reaching out to other missionaries to organize our 20-year reunion. We found a date when sister (Rachel Harris Jensen) was coming in from Washington State to visit and went with it. There are only a few sisters that I served with in Slovenia, so I wanted to make sure they could be there. I reserved the pavilion in Draper (Wheadon Park) which also had a playground next to it. That way kids could play while we adults visited. Unfortunately, my mission president, President Weight, called me a few days before and said he likely wasn't going to make it. He had hurt his back and wasn't able to be out of bed.
Steve went and picked up the pizza at Costco, which we put in the order earlier in the week. He also picked up water bottles and ice, which we put in a cooler. It was hot, so all but 3 of the waters were drunk. I had a SignUpGenius for everyone to bring a side or dessert to go w/ the pizza as well. I also brought the paper products and a marker to put your name on your water bottle. At 6:30pm, we called President Weight on a Google Meet and took turns talking to him. A few others just joined the Google Meet as they lived out of town. Overall, we had a good visit, and it was great to see everyone who did come. We'll have to do another one soon.
A sister who served in Croatia (not sure her name), Reggie Cavalier, Rachel Harris Jensen, me, Tammy Crosby Barney, Sara Crook Baker, Jared Spendlove, Jonathan Wrigley, Penny Lunt and her husband (served in Croatia), Brandon Worthington, and Maurine and Robert Miles.
Then a picture w/ the spouses and kids.
After the reunion, we went to see the fireworks and drone show for Draper Days.
Rob met us there. We went down by the Library to watch.
Grandma VaLere Hegerhorst's 96th birthday was on Friday, July 17th. I tried to call Aunt Jan (Dan's wife), but didn't get an answer. I didn't have time on Saturday, so I wanted to try again on Sunday. I kept thinking about Grandma all day. During sacrament meeting, I realized that it was July 19th, which was the day, exactly 20 years ago, that Grandpa Bill Hegerhorst passed away (VaLere's husband). I was on my mission when he passed away (hence the 20-year reunion we just had), so it was fresh on my mind. I was only in Slovenia a couple months when he passed.
On our way over to Diane's house for dinner (around 5:30pm), I called Uncle Dan to see if I could get a hold of Grandma again. Dan answered the phone and I asked him how he was doing. He said something like not that great, and then proceeded to tell me that Grandma VaLere had just passed away 10 minutes prior. He let me know that they had seen my text and missed call earlier and let Grandma know I had called to wish her a Happy Birthday. He said she hadn't been able to talk or respond for the last couple of days, though, so even if I had gotten through, it was really just a one-sided conversation. I was sad I missed talking to her one more time, but I knew that she was in a better place now, and she was at peace instead of suffering. I then called my parents, who were on their way home from Brady Dunn's mission farewell, and told them the news. I reminded them that it was 20 years to the day that Grandpa Hegerhorst passed away- crazy! I'm grateful for the knowledge we have of eternal families and that my Grandma and Grandpa are now reunited again!
We had dinner at Diane's place. Steve smoked a beef roast. Dave came over as well. We then took other Christmas decorations that Grandma LuDean had, for my mom to give to her brothers and sisters. We loaded up the car and were just about done cleaning up outside when Diane tripped on the sidewalk and fell. She was trying to catch herself but ended up falling on her wrist and hitting her head. We helped her over to the stairs and assessed her situation. Dave could tell right away that she broke her wrist, so after cleaning up some scrapes where she was bleeding, Dave and Steve took her to the ER.
They did scans and confirmed her wrist was broken, so they ended up putting her under to straighten out her wrist. They then released her and told her to follow up w/ her other Drs this week. Dave took her home w/ him to stay the night and see how she was doing the next day. I took the boys home to get ready for bed, and Steve came home later, around 1:30am. It was a sad day overall, but mostly I felt bad for Diane. In my mind, it replayed in slow motion, and I wanted to stop her from falling or catch her fall, but I couldn't. Steve and Dave gave her a blessing at the hospital though, which I feel really helped. She did hurt her back as well, but it sounds like they should all heal in time, which we are very grateful for.
