Post mission---back with the family

We returned home from the mission to Mexico and jumped back into family life again.  We returned just before Thanksgiving in 2016 and then we were into the Christmas season.  Tyler played for his elementary school Christmas while the children sang, " I Want a Hot Cup of Cocoa".

Dennis took family pictures of the Candace and Jared Clark family.

Dennis also took pictures of the Rob, Rachel and Ely Thomas family.

Seth Winter Harston.  We gave him the red plaid vest since he was going to Portland for work. 

In February 2017 we went to California with the children.  We visited Disney Land and Seal Beach.

Spencer was out of school for a week so Chad brought Spencer and Soren to join us.  Jenny and family, Renee and family and Dennis and I were all there.  

Soren and Grandma

Grandpa, Renee and grandchildren

Last pictures of our Book of Mormon Lands Tour with Blake Allen

We stopped in a small town to get something to eat and this statue of a man in a sapodilla tree getting the sap to make gum was on the corner.  

a momument to the chiclets gum industry

Venders were selling this gum in the streets as well

A street market we drove by.  There were selling the fresh fish they had caught that day.  

I love seeing these real Mexican parrots.  So very colorful.

In the city of Oaxaca we went to a black pottery shop.  This man's grandmother, as he told us developed the technique to make black pottery.  He carries on the tradition.  

This is the kiln where they used to fire the pottery

I like the old tradition mud/clay bricks that this building is made of.  It is the pottery shop and factory.

The city of Oaxaca is below as seen from Monte Alban.  Alban means white.  The tree to the left side has white blossoms.  When all the trees on the mountain are in bloom it appears that the mountain is white and hence the name Monte Alban.  

 Over the centuries civilizations of people have removed the top of the mountain to make it flat.  They have build a city with huge pyramids and buildings of all sorts including playing fields, tombs and an observatory.

It would have been a monumental effort to move all the dirt off the top of the mountain to make it flat and then build a city of huge proportions.  

ball field

An underground tomb.  All goods had long been removed.

 After the city of Oaxaca and Monte Alban we drove to our hotel near lake Catemaco.  Our tour was supposed to go to the Hill Cumorah but it was a rainy cloudy day.  Blake Allen said the best we could do would be to get up early the next morning and see if the cloud cover had cleared off Cumorah.

 We boarded the bus at 6:00 AM and drove the 45 minutes to Cumorah.  He asked me to give the morning prayer for the day and I fervently prayed that the clouds would part and we would have a good view of Cumorah.

The clouds did part for a short time and we got a few pictures and the cover returned.  

Still missionaries, hence the name tags...Cumorah in the back ground.  100% humidity and its a bad hair day but at least we saw Cumorah.

The hotel by Lake Catemaco.

The Lake

Veracruz

Saturday night we stayed in Veracruz and tried to walk on the beach but the red flags were up and it was so windy that sand was blowing in my eyes and mouth. Sunday morning we went to church to hear the Mexico area conference. We then drove through the golden alley along the gulf coast. It is very tropical like Hawaii. They can grow everything there. If you build a fence with posts the posts grow into trees. 

These trees were at one time just fence posts.

We passed shops along the road were they were selling shrimp fresh from the ocean. 

We drove through the area where the waters of Ripliancun are. The Gulf of Mexico is on one side and the Papaloian water basin is on the other side and drains into the Atlantic Ocean. 

The water basin is huge. It is the waters of Ripliancun which is, "to exceed all".

Mom and two children on a bike.

Sunday evening at a hotel that boarders lake Catemaco.

Hotel la Finca (farm)

Evidently Mel Gibson made a movie nearby and stayed here so they named his suite after him.

Big heads

Big head in a small town after viewing the Hill Cumorah. 

La Venta outdoor museum. We were glad after all the delays in getting stuck in the mud and stuck in traffic because of the taxi protests that the guards would let us into the museum despite the fact that we were late getting there.

Temples and Palenque

Another wonderful temple for the saints. We had no time to go through a session but the guard did open the gate and let us go on the grounds and look around. 

The ciebola tree is the tree pictured on the tree of life stela. It's on the left hand side of the temple.

We went to La Venta museum. It was like walking through the jungle with huge Olmec statues located throughout. 

These huge heads weigh 18 tons

The plant leaves are huge also

A burial tomb

The governor. Very detailed.

This is a typical Jaredite boy just like the Jaredite civilization that lived in the same area 2000 years ago, (broad face and head)

Next on to Palenque. This Indian in white clothing is typical of the Indians who still live in the mountains and come down to sell their goods to the public.

Palenque was an amazing civilization

"And it came to pass" is written on the stone in hieroglyphs.

A model of part of the city