Lancetilla Botanical Garden, Tela, Honduras

Lancetilla is the 2nd largest Botanical Garden in the world.  Who would have known that Honduras has so many 2nd largest things.  They have the 2nd largest amazon and the 2nd largest coral reef to dive over.  I couldn't wait to go to the Botanical Garden's and mark it have my to do list of the world.  When I was walking around the gardens Astrid kept saying to me, its like we are in Narnia or Avatar.  I couldn't agree more with her.  It definitely made me feel like I was in another world.  I only wish it hadn't been raining so much lately because we weren't able to explore all the area's we wanted too, too dangerous to get stuck.  Enjoy the scenery in the photos, I know I did.

Once we entered deeper into the park you were just covered with these trees that created an archway.  It was breathtaking to feel enclosed by nature and just loose yourself looking up into the sky. I loved this point of view and found it to be beautiful. 

The walkways were enclosed with plants that were taller then all of us.

This tree, like many of them there reminded me of the tree's that the avatar people lived in. I couldn't believe how huge they were and this one isn't even one of the largest ones, I couldn't get it all in the photos.

Ants that were huge and carrying chunks of leaves to their nests.  The holes where they were living were bigger then my thighs.  I couldn't believe the size of these things and I got lucky.  I was the typical dumb tourist just walking around with my face into my camera and I stopped to take photos.  Astrid looked down and freaked out informing me that I was standing in the middle of their path.  I was so lucky they didn't bite the crap out of me.

The ants are just eating away at all the plants, its quite sad but I guess that is how nature is.  And the world goes on.

I wanted to end with this breathtaking photo of the walkway that I mentioned earlier.  I couldn't believe how huge it was first off and how they were just naturally creating this arch. It was so gorgeous.

Tela, Honduras

I was so excited to get the beach I honestly was counting down the minutes. There is just something about being at the beach that brings me peace.  I can relax, read a book, and soak in the warmth of the sun. I was also excited to get out of the city and start seeing more of Honduras.

This was our home for 4 days, our little cabana.

 My feet couldn't wait to get into the ocean.

 The next morning, when the sun was shining. The beach was so beautiful and relaxing.

 The beach

The resort behind the palm trees.

In my happy place.

Pina Colada's, too bad they were so pricey, around $6 american without alcohol, REALLY!

Beautiful flower at the pool.

You would see a lot of people's transportation being horses.

At the cabana's pool.

These birds were just soaring around, they were barely moving and just gliding around, it was so beautiful I wish I would have filmed it rather then a picture.

I found this to beautiful.

These were super tasty but kind of freaky.

Cooking failures of a wife

I have always been one to bake up treats rather then cook a meal. I was like that as a kid and have always been that way. But there are certain rules to my baking, such as, never assume that I know a step or order of things, it has to be all laid out in front of me for me to understand.  I have always been the type that had to learn from doing and I am taking this as a learning experience. I might have cooked rice krispie treats as a kid, I might have just had them made for me, I don't really remember making them. I remember watching a few times but obviously I didn't pay much attention. I was going to make this awesome dessert tonight for me and the hubby that a friend of mine use to make growing up, I loved it. Rice krispie treats with carmel frosting on top. So the instructions named off the ingredients and said melt for 3 minutes. Lets just say that obviously you needed to melt the butter and marshmallows together and add the rice krispies after. HOW was I suppose to know that, the recipe didn't say that. So yup another wasted attempt at food. I don't even want to know how much money we have lost in my attempts at cooking. Most couples save money by cooking at home, we lose it. Not only do we pay for the food for me to screw up but then we have to pay for a meal afterwards because we are still hungry.  For all you wives out there that think you can't cook, I should give you hope. At least you didn't burn rice krispie treats. I think I need to be on that cooking show, worst cooks in America.

Tegucigalpa

I was exhausted after traveling all night on the red-eye and our early morning flight into Tegucigalpa. I couldn't sleep on the plane.  I was looking forward to getting to our rooms and just crashing but I knew it wouldn't be that easy.  We would be staying with my friends grandma and relatives and we would have to make the rounds and meet everyone.  Once we had settled in a little bit I think it was obvious I was going to crash so we headed to our sleeping quarters and I was out for several hours.  After I was able to catch up on some sleep I was able to focus more on taking everything in.

I think that I should point out how much security there really is when your staying in the city.  Our neighborhood was gated and had armed guards at the main gate, then each home is individually gated up and at the top of the walls there are often broken glass or barbed wire sticking out of the concrete to prevent climbers. We were staying next door so you had to have a key or have the maids let you in as you went.

This is the gate to the home that we were sleeping in.

And this is the grandmas house next door all gated up as well.

One thing that I have noticed form this trip is that everyone is amazing hostesses.  Almost too good if you ask me.  We started the night out with attending a birthday party of a cousin. There was tons and tons of food and candy all around and the women would walk around offering food to you.  You don't want to offend anyone so you feel obligated to at least try each of everything.  It got to a point were I was stuffed.  I had been warned that we were going to attend a bridal shower of a cousin's future wife that night as well but I knew we were going to head home first and change and I figured I better fill up now since my plan was to get out of the bridal shower and rest up.  We had run out of time though and headed straight to the bridal shower from the birthday party.  Not only was I not dressed appropriately for this occasion (luckily none of us were) but I didn't know a single person, the language, and I was stuffed to the max, or so I thought.  We got there and it was a 4 course meal and oh it looked amazing.  How could I resist not trying everything, just a bite (or the whole thing).  I didn't want to regret not being adventurous but now I know why Lourdes said she gains like 10 lbs on these trips.  Doesn't this bridal party meal look amazing?

Lourdes mother reminds me so much of my husband Todd.  She is an animal lover and honestly goes above and beyond to save animals.  She was telling me the story about how she came to be the mother of this gorgeous owl.  She had come across a homeless man and gave him some money.  In exchange he offered her this baby owl that was sick and dying.  She explained to me how she had to sleep out on the couch sitting upright all night and had to have the owl tucked inside her chest area to this owl warm and alive.  She continued to tell me that the owl had actually died several times that night and she rubbed her hands together and brought him back but one time it wasn't working so she called her daughters who were back in the states and asked for help.  She then attempted CPR on the little owl and it came back to her.  They have this amazing bond and when he hears her voice he starts looking around and hoping around his cage.  They were telling me that he often gets out of the cage when he is outside but doesn't fly far and always comes back.  It was so amazing to experience touching a wild owl that feeding it.  Most people can't say that they have done that.

While in Tegucigalpa we visited the LDS temple that had been built recently.  I knew this would mean a lot to my brother since he wasn't serving in the country at the time of a temple being present.  It was interesting to hear the battle that the church went through to get a temple here and what a big deal it was on the location of the temple.  They were telling me that when the temple was getting dedicated everyone knew about it in Tegucigalpa and that even the president came.   It was gorgeous and had an amazing view of the city.  It was interesting to see where the original plan was to be built but this location seemed so much better.  You could see it as soon as you landing in your plane and the view was amazing. Interesting how that stuff seems to work itself out.

The following day we knew we needed some relaxation time so luckily their aunt invited us over to visit her house and swim in her pool. It had an amazing view of the city as well and luckily today was a gorgeous day. It had rained every other day since we arrived and I didn't really care to get stuck in the pool on a cold rainy day. It did end up raining today after all it just happened after we got some sun.

This was a huge cactus that was about 4-5 stories high. It was so windy up here too, I was nervous it was going to break off and land on me.

 This was an avocado that they claimed was small. It was double the size of any in the states that I've seen.

Johns birthday

Living in Salt Lake now I often hear of things that are big in Orem that I don't get to participate in anymore. One thing that I have heard a lot about is the waffle love truck. Everyone raves about these waffles and since I am a big fan of junk food; waffles with nutella, whip cream, cookie cream, anything to spoil a healthy meal; I was ecstatic when my mother-in-law told me she had rented the truck for John's surprise birthday party.  I can't believe she was so sneaky in pulling this off too, I am the worst at keeping secrets or surprised from anyone and especially Todd.  It was adorable though and John's face was priceless when he pulled up and saw everyone in the backyard.

Doesn't this just look delicious??

Honduras

I love to travel. There is something so thrilling when you travel to a foreign country and experience what they have to offer. It definitely teaches you things about yourself that you never knew. I think putting yourself in unfamiliar positions does that to any person. So I finally jumped at an opportunity that had been offered to me for years....I figured I better do it before it's not available to me. My friend Lourditas is from Honduras and my brother Derek served an LDS mission there for 2 years so I felt a connection with this foreign country already.  I couldn't wait to  tag along with Lourditas family and get to experience Honduras from the locals this summer. Here is a sneak peak: