Belize

Our next stop landed us in Belize!  We took a short bus ride to the Bacab Eco Park and got to see some of the city.

The scenery is amazing!  I am in love with tropical flowers and plants.  I took quite a few pictures of plants and I just have to share them.  For me they are so unique and beautiful.  

At the Bacab Eco Park we went horseback riding through the jungle!  What an adventure!  We had so much fun. 

Kyle rode the horse named Sea Biscuit.  My horse's name was Boss Fred.

Boss Fred's head bobbing through the jungle.

We saw amazing plants and wildlife!

 As we rode through the jungle we saw a couple large iguanas hanging in the trees.  We also saw and heard Holler Monkeys.  Kyle saw some big beetles (I refused to look).  I tried to take pictures, but Boss Fred was not having it.  If I stopped for a second he would think we were there to eat, pick a mouth full of leaves, and not budge.

Our tour guide showed us lots of plants used for herbal remedies.  I wish I could have brought some home, but I couldn't.  I did eat a lime tree leaf.  It was really limey and not sweet at all.  I liked it though.  The people on our tour thought I was crazy for eating it.

After our tour a guy found this spider.  He let it climb all over him.  I thought he was nuts!  I can't believe I even took pictures of the thing.  Kyle insisted I take the pictures for Grant.  Grant did think this spider was cool.

After our horse ride we hung out and ate lunch.  Check out this crocodile! (No I wasn't getting any closer for a better picture)

This lady was at the park selling jewelry to tourists.  I paid her to make Celeste a bracelet with her name in it.  She made it in about 15 minutes.  She was so nice and called everyone "Honey."

There was this really beautiful pool that we didn't get a chance to swim in, but we really liked it and so I made Kyle pose by it.

Look at this stud!  For all those Napoleon Dynamite fans out there "do you think this picture will turn out real nice?"

I saw this sign for "showers" but didn't see any shower heads or water apparently you just let the humidity wash you off. 

On the way back to the ship we convinced our tour guide to stop at a fruit stand.   I bought 12 mangos for $1.  If they let me bring mangos back to the states I would have bought out the entire fruit stand.  Kyle and I shared some of the mangos with other people on our bus and then we each ate two mangos.  They were the best mangos I have ever eaten!  I was in heaven and also covered in mango juice.  It was so fun!

The port for Belize is too small for cruise ships to dock near land.  So our boat just anchored and we took about a 15 minute boat ride to Belize.  I think it is absolutely fascinating how a cruise ship works.  Therefore, I found it cool that a door could just open up off the side of the boat.   We were just a few feet from the ocean.  I literally could have jumped into the sea!  I am a total nerd!

Shout Out To The Hubby!

I always post about my books, my thoughts, or my kids.  I hardly ever post about Kyle.  So, here is a Kyle post.

As an engineer Kyle has learned how lots of things work and how lots of things break.   More importantly he has learned WHY they break and how to keep things from breaking.  This has come in handy more than once in the past.  This past month it has really come in handy.

For Christmas we rented a car to travel to Utah.  After I returned the rental car I went to get in our "Ol' Reliable" and the battery was dead.  Kyle had to come and jump the car.  To make a long story short we had to jump the car three times before the car would stay on.  One of the times we jumped it we didn't have the jumper cables placed correctly and fried a fuse in the radio.  The radio didn't work any more.

Normally it wouldn't be a big deal to not have a radio, but this was the nice stereo Kyle bought me for my birthday that could play iPods.  So we were bummed to lose this expensive stereo.  The real kicker though was the big snow storm we had and traffic was so horrible it took Kyle 85 minutes to drive 7 miles to work.  He apparently can't keep himself entertained for that long and went about trying to figure out how to fix the stereo.  Well, he did!

Our dishwasher has had a broken soap dispenser since we moved here.  Not a big deal, right? It just means we have to time our dishwasher for 7 minutes and 30 seconds before we put the soap in.   Most of the time it isn't a problem because it takes me at least that long to wash pans, clean up leftovers, and tidy the kitchen.  I have only missed the timer twice in the 10 months we have lived here.

My parents' had the same brand of dishwasher and so when their's died they took out the soap dispenser hoping it would work on ours.  It was really close, but we were not that lucky.  It did inspire Kyle to just fix it though.  It has taken some time at the machine shop and a few different trials before it works, but he has fixed it.

I am grateful for a husband who can and will fix things.  It saves us a lot of time and money!  Thanks Honey!

Maybury Halloween Family Party

In the past we have carved pumpkins with our immediate and extended families. Since we have moved away we get to have our own family party.  It is bittersweet! 

We started out with a delicious cheese potato soup in honor of my grandma and called it "witches brew."  I made my mom's famous rolls and Grant called them "skeleton pillows."  I made homemade jam the day before and we called it "vampire blood."  I made candy corn cookies for dessert.  Yes, I was cooking all day and was completely exhausted that night. 

We carved our pumpkins.  We had spent the night before picking out our designs.  I got my pumpkin and Grant's pumpkin gutted.  I got half of mine carved, but then I went visiting teaching and Kyle had to carve all the pumpkins including finishing mine.   

I will post pictures of our finished pumpkins.  Kyle's pumpkin was amazing!  He was up until 1 AM finishing his pumpkin.  

We had lots of fun getting ready for Halloween!

Rockin' Out

Kyle and I used to play Guitar Hero all the time.  Then we had Grant.  Now we never play.  One night we were going through some boxes and found the guitars.  Grant wanted to know what they were for and so one night we showed him. He thought the guitars were so fun. 

Kyle and I were disappointed at how much our Guitar skills atrophied.  We used to play all the songs on a pretty difficult skill level and make few errors. We stunk so bad that we had to put the songs on easy.  Oh, well.  I guess we have replaced our Guitar playing skills with more important things.  

It was a fun night of jamming out!

I totally didn't notice our folding chairs in the background until I uploaded these pictures.  We have this awesome entertainment room, but we don't have any furniture.  We don't want to go into debt to get couches and so we sit on folding chairs and lawn chairs.  It doesn't bother us all that much, but when people come over they crack up that we have this nice t.v. with no furniture. 

Backyard Campout

Grant loved the Father Son campout earlier this summer and has been itching to go camping again.  Kyle decided that he would have just as much fun camping in the backyard as going to an official campsite.  Together they set up the tent and got all their stuff outside.  

Grant was so excited he wanted to go out in the tent at about 8 o'clock, but it was still so hot!  We convinced him to stay in the house until it got a little later.  I don't really care to camp and so I was lucky for the excuse to stay in the house with Celeste.  As I was getting ready for bed I could hear the boys outside telling stories.  

Grant told his Dad some made up story about a boy, who was not named Grant, that did all the same things Grant does.  Dad told him about the time he and Lee went camping.  

They ended up having so much fun that they camped out again a second night in a row.  Grant tried to go for three nights, but Kyle had to work and wanted a good night's sleep.  

Kyle's 31st Birthday

We were going to Utah the day after Kyle's birthday and so I decided to make his birthday cake a day early.  Grant helped me make Kyle's birthday cake.  It is so fun having Grant so big.  We enjoy doing things together. 

Grant wanted Daddy to open his present early too.  Grant got Kyle some Wolverine claws.  It is kind of one of those gifts you give yourself and someone else.  Grant loves super heroes and has loved Dad's Wolverine claws.  

The day we went shopping for them I managed to lose Kyle's debit card.  I felt so bad.  I feel like I always manage to ruin Kyle's birthday.  This year I lost the debit card and a few years ago I accidentally threw a wii remote at the t.v.  

On Kyle's birthday we went out dinner at Joe's Crab Shack.  Our neighbor watched Celeste for us so we could enjoy our meal.  It was nice to enjoy a meal without an infant.  Grant also enjoyed having Mom and Dad all to himself.  We came home and opened presents.  I got Kyle a few new shirts and soccer clothes.  He usually plays basketball during his lunch breaks, but he has recently started playing soccer too.

Daddy's Little Girl

A little girl stole her Daddy's heart!

(Kyle didn't even knew I took this picture until he saw me editing photos the other day.  These two were OUT!)

Indoor Camping

Grant and Kyle had a father son camp out in Grant's room.  They made a tent out of sheets and chairs.  They slept on a twin mattress, actually let me rephrase that...Grant slept on the mattress and Kyle attempted to sleep on the mattress.  Kyle said some time in the middle of the night Grant pulled down the sheets.  Kyle was a good sport about it and overall they had a great time.  I have to say losing sleep is a pretty selfless act.  Kyle is a great dad!

Like Father Like Son

 One Sunday Grant insisted that he and Kyle dress alike for church.  I thought they looked handsome. We can all agree that Grant and Kyle look alike.  Here is just more evidence...

This is their tough guy look.

I am so blessed!

Rubber Band Fly Shooters

Here is an interesting fact about the Maybury family.  All of the boys can shoot flies with rubber bands.    I am talking about traditional house flies and just regular rubber bands.  All of the boys can do it.  They learned from Grandpa Grant.  Grant could shoot the flies in mid air.  It was really cool!  People don't believe it when I tell them about the rubber band fly shooting boys.  But, I have never owned a fly swatter since being married to Kyle. There was never a need for one.  

Now that Grant is getting old enough Kyle has started teaching him how to shoot flies with rubber bands.  There is an art to being able to shoot so accurately.  The first important detail is how the rubber band sits at the end of your finger.  Second, you have to pull the band straight back and at max capacity.    I don't know the rest and don't need to because I already have one great fly shooter and I have another in training!  

The Little Billy Goats

When we hiked up Waterfall Canyon there were some small wooden bridges.  The kids thought the bridges looked like the bridges in the story of Three Billy Goats Gruff.  They took turns pretending to be the troll and the cute little goats.

Grant was pouting and wouldn't pose for a cute Billy Goat Gruff picture.  But I wanted to post this picture because this is Kyle's favorite shirt.  Kyle says it's his motto, "Lazy but talented."

Pirate Island

Grant has been crazy about pirates lately.  We decided one weekend to go to this State Park for the day.    We knew that once we got there Grant would have a great time, but he didn't want to go.  So, we told him we were going to a pirate island.  He reluctantly decided to give it a try.  Needless to say he had a great time once we got there.  

We brought a picnic lunch and played for most of the afternoon.  

Grant has recently really started enjoying playground equipment.  He wanted to play, but it was so hot you could hardly touch anything with out getting burned.  He was sad because he really wanted to play.

We played a little frisbee.  Remember how in a previous post I said Grant was really good at sports. Well, that is a true statement as long as the sport includes a ball.  We tried to play frisbee and it wasn't as successful. 

The solid technique...

...and the throw in the wrong direction...

...the second attempt not much better.... 

Give it up for Grant for problem solving and decided to turn around and see if that would help the direction of the throw.

It didn't work. So they just posed for a picture.

We also played in the "clear blue" water.  There was a sign nearby that warned the water had low visibility after 5 feet.  I think it was a typo and should have read 5 inches. 

This picture is for my mom.  I have a picture of me when I was little squatting in Bear Lake.  This picture reminded me of that picture even if the water color isn't quite spot on.