More babies!

Ok, if this doesn't make you baby hungry, I don't know what will.

First off, Pearcen Paul Mulder, born a shocking 8lbs 6oz, to Kristal and Jason. Yummy, yummy squishiness. I wish he lived right down the street so I could come squeeze him everyday.

AND, Alina Maurine Jones, born 9lbs 6 oz, to Tammee and Keith Jones. I wish I could go see her right now! Those cheeks are just asking to be eaten.

Congrats to my two lovely aunts, they make especially adorable kids!

The {long} overdue Costa Rican post.

Finally! Wow, I am such a slacker. I have probably forgot about everything that happened but I will do my best to preserve the memories.

WARNING: This will be long and probably boring so have low expectations and maybe you'll be pleasantly surprised!

Ok, so we started off our trip by taking the red eye flight to Denver and then to San Jose, Costa Rica. I'm aware that this is not the most effective route, but we were assured seats if we went this way so I'll take the extra hour and a half.

So we got in around 6 in the AM and found a lovely little car to rent. With a GPS, mind you, which was the best 8 dollar a day we have ever spent. The roads there are super windy and narrow, and people drive like they have a death wish.

So, we drove for about 2 hours through amazing scenery and also some scary, ghetto parts. We stopped in a town and ate at this tiny little place that I was a little apprehensive about at first, mostly because we couldn't communicate with nice man taking our order. But when they brought out our 'comida typical', we were amazed. So good. And only 7 bucks for both of us!

Next, we stopped on the side of the road when we saw signs for canopy tours. We were there at like 8 AM so they gave us a huge discount! Score!

Don't let the excited smile fool you. I was on the brink of hyperventilating.

But after the first line, I was loving it! It was such a rush and AMAZING views! The last line was 350 ft above the jungle floor and really long. There was fog so we couldn't see in front of us. One the craziest feelings ever.





You now have permission to make fun of me.

Then we headed over to our first hotel, which was right by a volcano! But lucky us, we couldn't see the volcano because of the dang fog. You stink, Mother Nature. But the intense greenery and general lovliness made up for it.

We went on Expedia and got awesome deals but it's hard to know exactly what your gonna get. We were VERY pleasently suprised. We got our own little cabana! Here's the view from our back porch.

And here's the front. Notice the crazy thick fog.

I did alot of this.

These are the only flowers that Brennon knows the name of. So whenever he sees them, he gets all excited to showcase his floral knowledge.

We didn't want to leave; it was a paradise. And the breakfast was awesome. All the fresh fruit you could ask for, "typical" rice, pancakes, omelets. I really like food.

After reluctantly checking out, we headed over to the La Fortuna waterfall. It was quite a hike down but well worth it.

The small waterfall.

I was so sad I forgot my rain boots after I saw this lady. And my fanny pack.

My hottie of a husband.

And here's the actual waterfall. Breathtaking.

After the long and WET hike back up, and realizing how out of shape we are, we shook out our ponchos and headed to the next hotel. It was about a three hour drive through windy mountain roads. Our wonderful GPS would say things as we entered into different towns so we stopped a few places like the crocodile bridge....

These are REAL crocodiles in the WILD. People throw chickens off the bridge and watch them go crazy. Good times.

We finally made it to the town of Parrita and we had to cross this scary, rickety bridge that was under construction. I already hate bridges so I thought I was gonna die. And no, I'm not overreacting.

The language barrier was quite interesting. Alot of people spoke English but this town was pretty un-Americanized so we had kind of a tough time. This old man was selling fruit to all the people waiting at the bridge. We wondered what they were so we rolled down the window to see if he spoke English. Negative. We gave him a dollar and he piled a bunch of these random fruits into our car. We had no idea what they were or how to eat them. It was really funny at the time, I promise.

We drank alot of flavored milk, banana milk becoming the favorite.

Our next hotel was on a pennisula, which made it very hard to find. Add in the fact that they had NO signs and we were a little lost. And by a little, I mean ALOT. After driving aimlessly for a while on an extremly bumpy road, we finally found our little peice of heaven.

This place is basically in the middle of nowhere. A hidden gem, if you will. We went during the rainy season so there was only 2 other couples staying there. And that means we got bumped up to a suite! It totally felt like the honeymoon we never had.

And here's our beach. We were literally the only people for miles most of the time. If the weather would have cooperated, we would have just been there the whole time.

Have I ever expressed my love for hammocks? No? Well, lets just put it this way. My only requirement when/if we ever get a cabin is a nice comfy hammock. I have such good memories with the hammock at my grandparents house and cabin and I want to pass this on to my kids. They are just so relaxing and peaceful and wonderful. A little obssessed? Maybe.

Anyways.

Back to Costa Rica.

I don't know if you knew this but it rains there. Alot. We were hopeful in the morning before we left that it might stop but we found out Costa Rican rain is NOT like Arizona rain. It lasts longer than 15 min and it is freaking HUMID.

Nevertheless, we ventured to Manual Antonio National Park to try and see some wildlife.

Don't you just LOVE my pink poncho? So attractive. It poured basically the whole time we were there so we wern't able to see any animals. All I wanted was one little monkey! Is that too much to ask from you rainforest!?

Anyways, we were able to see macaws but on a different day. We were exploring beaches and we heard some really loud noises so we pulled over, looked up, and saw tons of brightly colored birds flying over! It was crazy to see them in the wild. They are loud suckers.

There was alot to do in the area like snorkeling, white water rafting, repeling, ect. but it was all freaking expensive so we just kinda hung out for most of the time. About half way through our trip we realized we had already used all the money we had set aside for this so we had to be cheap. Boooo money.

The next 2 days we got some good weather so we were able to go to just the beach! It was amazing. The water is warm, sand is perfect and fun shells everywhere.

I get so excited like a 5 year old when I find cool shells. The middle sand dollar almost made me have a heart attack. This became our only souviner, cause we are cheap.

Beach shenanigans.

Akward self timer picture.

The National Surf competition was going on about 30 minutes from where we were staying so we decided to go check it out.

Overated.

No, it was cool but it was super crowded and the sand was burning hot. We sat down and watched the surfers for about 30 min until a storm rolled in and we left. We did see an igauna in the wild, which made up for the 5 dollars we paid for parking. (not.)

We went to bed around 8:30 every night, read alot, took lots of walks on the beach, and just relaxed. It was perfect. Thinking about makes me miss it.


Reluctantly departing.

Final picture. We were so sad to leave. I could have used another week or so.

We then drove the 3 hours back to the airport and stayed the night in scary San Jose. Our flight was at 5 in the morning so we wanted to stay close so we didn't have to leave at midnight.

We are so glad we got to go and I got to get some use outta my expensive passport! I was really sad when we realized we couldn't go to Scotland, but this was definatly an amazing substitute. It was some much needed Brennon and Dani time and it was the most romantic, relaxing and magical week for the two of us!

More crafting

I don't really know why, but I've been wanting to craft recently. Maybe I'm making up for the past 20 years of being anti-crafting, maybe I'm just using it to stall doing homework. Either way, it's fun.

In case you are looking at this and have no idea what it is, its a baby wipe holder. Decorated cutely. I know, kind of a random craft, especially since I don't have any babies of my own to use them on, but with all the baby showers I'm going to, they make cute gifts. I'm trying to decide if I should actually sell them, like on Etsy or something. But I give you, my 3 readers out there a chance at them first. There all just sitting in my closet, waiting to be used by some cute mommy.

And one more clipboard I made for my sis.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I AM going to post about Costa Rica at some point. So don't you worry.

I'm an Aunt!!

Here are the adorable and perfect twins, born to Cara and Evan on 09/09/2009! I am pleased to introduce you to Carter Dean and Vienna Carolyn. Mom and babies are doing well and I cannot wait to meet them!

Awesome deal!!

Ok, I just had to share this great deal that's only going on today!

I don't know how many of you have heard of restaurant.com but it's pretty awesome. Just today, in honor of it being 09.09.2009, they are giving 90% off! So...you normally get 25$ gift certificates for 10 bucks- now your getting them for 1$!

The resturants are not your typical chain ones, although they do have Boston's and My Big Fat Greek Restaurant (our fav). Also, they have stipulations, like most you have to spend at least 35 bucks to use the 25$ gift certificate. But still, totally worth it when your getting it for a dollar.

I got 150$ worth of gift certificates for.....drum roll please..... $6.00!!

I got the 6 month dinner of the month deal where you get a different $25 gift certificate every month PLUS a free $25 gift certificate! There's also the 12 month plan that you get a free $50

gift certificate and that ends up being $12.00 with the discount for $350 worth of gift cards- which is an awesome deal- I just don't know that we would use them all. They expire one year after you purchase them.

The code is NINETY at checkout. Do it. You will not regret it.

UTAH FRUIT!!

{Are you drooling yet?}

Hey guys, so I have the opportunity to get GREAT fruit from Utah. My mom has been selling from this orchard for years and they are the best and great prices too. I am starting to get my own list together! I will have it available for you to pick up at my house in Chandler, my mom's, or a Mesa location on the 10th or 18th of September. Here's the details!

WHEN: 2 Shipments, September 10th and the 18th!

WHERE: 3 locations! (address sent when they arrive)

PRICES: They've gone down from last years prices - Yay!

$25.00 FOR ANY BOX

Peaches~ 34-36 LBS

Pears~ 38-40 LBS

Nectarines~ 34-36LBS

Gala Apples~ 38-40 LBS

{Less than a buck a pound!!}

$13.00 FOR ANY 1/2 BOX OF ANY OF THE FRUIT

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT WITH YOUR ORDER OR ANY QUESTIONS BEFORE SEPTEMBER 3RD. I DON'T REQUIRE PAYMENT UNTIL YOU PICK UP YOUR FRUIT, YOUR VERBAL COMMITMENT IS GOOD WITH ME:-)

Let me know if you want some delicious fruit! I have to put in the order by Thursday! :)

Feelin crafty.

So I got an urge to be crafty last week and it happened to be Rachel's bday. She just started teaching Kindergaten so I thought a cute clipboard would be perfect. I am NOT a crafty person by nature; I have to work real hard at it. I took a while {and lots of mess-ups} to come out with the final product. I think it turned out pretty good! And I think I will make these more often. Go ahead, you can call me Martha.

And I'm back.

None of my usual excuses, I just haven't been in the blogging mood for about oh, 3 months, but I think it's about that time. Time for a summer update...

First stop, Orlando for our anniversary

Cute little town we drove to with overpriced everything

Orlando Temple, our Sunday activity

I love big trees.

So the reason we even went to Orlando was because we got this time share thing and it was a good deal...we learned our lesson. We got verbally harassed by the sales guy and yelled at in front of a crowd of people. Apparently, they frown on just going for the free stuff, like tickets to Universal, cheap hotel room, and a meal pass for the entire day!

Scary, in more ways than one.

We only used a water camera cause it was raining THE WHOLE TIME. Hence the awful pictures and the even more awful ponchos. Overall the trip was fun, a little too wet for my liking, but still a good time.



Next stop, Coronado Island

We decided to take a day trip over to Cali and go to our favorite spot- Coronado Island! Unfortunately, we are stupid and forgot to check the weather- trying to be spontaneous here people! So all I brought was what I was wearing-a sun dress and my bathing suit underneath. And it was like 60 degrees with NO SUN! So we rode one of these around, (and I use the term 'we' very loosely) ate a delicious cheeseburger, walked and walked and walked (like the pioneer children), tried to buy me a sweater for under 30 bucks, had an awkward encounter with a salesman, didn't look for a sweater anymore, caught the ferry back to San Diego and got on the last flight home. So needless to say, I was freezing all day so this is the only picture you get.

Next Stop, Up North (Show low, Holbrook, Jo Town)


The Fish's were first- we ate delicious birthday cake and enjoyed the lovely scenery/weather.

LOVE their backyard.

Next was Jo Town for the parade, (AKA, all the town children walking or riding their bikes down Main Street.) Pretty fancy.

Then on to the Jo Town festival thingy, where chickens are chased, snow cones are eaten, and much fun is had. Oh, and also Danica gets ditched about every 10 seconds because Brennon knows everyone in this town and has to talk to them. And attractive picture are taken, like this one.

Next, on to Heber for the BEST FIREWORKS SHOW IN THE WORLD!!! I get a little bit excited about it. I just love it- the food, the weather, the people, the AMAZING FIREWORKS! See how excited I am?! Kinda like Brennon in this picture...

Next Stop, the great state of Utar! We went up for Brennon friends wedding reception, which was much more like a nice picnic, so no pictures of that. On to more important things!

We got to meet this little chuck of love, Claire Julliette Park. I love her with all my heart.

And of course the whole Merchant gang as well! Look at all those red heads! They kicked us off the lawn about 5 minutes after this picture, dang temple security.

Claire liked me alot, so she pooped on me. But I did not care, even her poop was cute!

Then she had to get all nakey, and is there anything cuter than a unclothed baby!? I think not.

Can you even HANDLE how cute this is!?

I just love that round face.

Our camera ran out of batteries while we were frantically snapping pictures of the babe. So no pictures of Mel belle. Claire was the focus of the day, for obvious reasons.

Thanks for meeting us Mel, if you ever get blogging and actually read this! :)

So that's basically the last few months in a nut shell. We were going to be going to Scotland at the end of this month, but sadly it didn't work out. We have no dollars. But were going to Hawaii instead! Its less than half as much as Scotland would have been. We are so excited and love all the traveling we are getting to do!

I'll try to not make it 3 months til my next post. Really, I'll try.

Orlando

Were going to Orlando this weekend for our 2nd anniversary! It's honestly so weird to think we have been married for 2 YEARS! Anyways, anyone have any tips for the Florida virgins?

Baby Shower!

So i'm so excited for my sister in law to have the twins! I was able to throw her baby shower, with lots of help from her fabulous friends. I admit, I let it consume my life for the past few weeks, constantly seaching for anything red and aqua. I found an adorable theme and just went a little crazy. I think it turned out really good though...

The theme was "Thing one and Thing two" from Dr. Suess since at the time, they didn't know what they were having. Now we know its a boy and a girl! Yay!

We were able to have it at the Wright house since Cara and Evan both worked there.

I like this picture because I told Brennon to take some pictures so he got all artsy on me and did all these angles with the flowers.

Can't wait to meet Olivia and Carter!