IQUITOS, PERU: PART ONE
August 28, 2017
Marcus served a two year church mission in Peru, so for years he has wanted to go back. We started off spending a few days in the jungle. Marcus couldn’t go up the river by boat as a missionary, so this time we found a place to stay that was two hours up the Amazon. We didn’t know what we were in for when we pulled up to the boat dock but we were so surprised! Mostly, because we had air conditioning in our room. Ha! We felt pretty spoiled by this when at home it’s something we just take for granted.
The next morning we came to a small town where people travel by moro-taxis. Similar to a tuktuk in Asia. Well, our grouped was whizzing around these small paths and we felt like we were in a video game of MarioKart or something! We were laughing so hard with our guide shoved between the two of us! We then went on a canopy tour of the jungle 100 ft up with bridges that connected one tree to the next. Some were even 60 ft in length! We had one of those “moments” when we were at the highest platform and two macaw birds went flying overhead. The jungle goes out for as far as you can see and it reminded me of being over the top of a bunch of broccoli stems. I think I said “This is sooo pretty” about a million times.
One of our favorite things was riding the boat up and down the river. Nobody uses cars and they have to access everything by boat or mototaxi. Having the chance to stop at a few villages and see their everyday life was an eye opening experience. I was gravitated to the groups of small children and they just wanted to see everything I had, my sunglasses, my necklace, my fan made from a leaf-Ha! They loved looking at themselves on my camera from the pictures I took. But it made me miss my own babies who were at home!
One night we went on a “jungle hike” and our guide, Segundo, had been our fearless leader through the jungle for a few days, so at this point I was feeling pretty confident I’d follow him anywhere! But that night when we went into the jungle every little noise had me on edge. With nothing but a flashlight we were looking for crocodiles, tarantulas, and seeing the biggest bugs I’d ever seen in my life! I nearly had a panic attack when a spider fell down from a tree riiiiiight between me and our guide. But looking up and seeing the stars was like non other! It was incredible.
Our last day we went fishing for piranhas and I couldn’t believe it when I caught one! We had it for dinner that night, and it was surprisingly really good. Leaving the jungle I got super sad and emotional. It was just everything and more that I expected, and I honestly didn’t know how the rest of the trip could compete with my newfound love for the jungle.
Marcus served a two year church mission in Peru, so for years he has wanted to go back. We started off spending a few days in the jungle. Marcus couldn’t go up the river by boat as a missionary, so this time we found a place to stay that was two hours up the Amazon. We didn’t know what we were in for when we pulled up to the boat dock but we were so surprised! Mostly, because we had air conditioning in our room. Ha! We felt pretty spoiled by this when at home it’s something we just take for granted.
The next morning we came to a small town where people travel by moro-taxis. Similar to a tuktuk in Asia. Well, our grouped was whizzing around these small paths and we felt like we were in a video game of MarioKart or something! We were laughing so hard with our guide shoved between the two of us! We then went on a canopy tour of the jungle 100 ft up with bridges that connected one tree to the next. Some were even 60 ft in length! We had one of those “moments” when we were at the highest platform and two macaw birds went flying overhead. The jungle goes out for as far as you can see and it reminded me of being over the top of a bunch of broccoli stems. I think I said “This is sooo pretty” about a million times.
One of our favorite things was riding the boat up and down the river. Nobody uses cars and they have to access everything by boat or mototaxi. Having the chance to stop at a few villages and see their everyday life was an eye opening experience. I was gravitated to the groups of small children and they just wanted to see everything I had, my sunglasses, my necklace, my fan made from a leaf-Ha! They loved looking at themselves on my camera from the pictures I took. But it made me miss my own babies who were at home!
One night we went on a “jungle hike” and our guide, Segundo, had been our fearless leader through the jungle for a few days, so at this point I was feeling pretty confident I’d follow him anywhere! But that night when we went into the jungle every little noise had me on edge. With nothing but a flashlight we were looking for crocodiles, tarantulas, and seeing the biggest bugs I’d ever seen in my life! I nearly had a panic attack when a spider fell down from a tree riiiiiight between me and our guide. But looking up and seeing the stars was like non other! It was incredible.
Our last day we went fishing for piranhas and I couldn’t believe it when I caught one! We had it for dinner that night, and it was surprisingly really good. Leaving the jungle I got super sad and emotional. It was just everything and more that I expected, and I honestly didn’t know how the rest of the trip could compete with my newfound love for the jungle.
SLEEP IN HEAVENLY PEACE
August 14, 2017
For Marcus’ family reunion we spent a few days up in McCall, Idaho. This place is the epitome of picturesque. They have this log cabin at the top of a mountain and a huge bright, red barn. While we were there, Marcus’ cousin Mitch is apart of the San Diego chapter of Sleep In Heavenly Peace. So he teamed up with the Boise chapter and for part of the reunion we constructed bunk beds for the charity. The charity SHP takes these beds and gives them to children who don’t have beds of their own. Their goal is to make sure no child sleeps on the floor. Mitch asked us if we could document the build and the family’s participation in it. We loved being apart of such a great cause, and I get a little emotional every time I watch it seeing all of the family members work together so hard. The money for the build even came from Marcus’ uncle who donated an El Camino to the family auction, and the money from the auction went to the build. We felt pretty blessed to be witnessing and capturing such a great event.
For Marcus’ family reunion we spent a few days up in McCall, Idaho. This place is the epitome of picturesque. They have this log cabin at the top of a mountain and a huge bright, red barn. While we were there, Marcus’ cousin Mitch is apart of the San Diego chapter of Sleep In Heavenly Peace. So he teamed up with the Boise chapter and for part of the reunion we constructed bunk beds for the charity. The charity SHP takes these beds and gives them to children who don’t have beds of their own. Their goal is to make sure no child sleeps on the floor. Mitch asked us if we could document the build and the family’s participation in it. We loved being apart of such a great cause, and I get a little emotional every time I watch it seeing all of the family members work together so hard. The money for the build even came from Marcus’ uncle who donated an El Camino to the family auction, and the money from the auction went to the build. We felt pretty blessed to be witnessing and capturing such a great event.
ROAD TRIP
August 3, 2017
We hadn’t seen Marcus’ sister since December so we decided to take a spontaneous trip to Utah. Days leading up to it, I was dreading the drive with a nine month old and newly potty trained toddler. The furthest we had ever gone in the car with them was 5 hours so we’d be pushing our luck on a 10 hour trip. But even with a few highway potty stops, we still made it and the girls did AWESOME. It’s funny how the times I get super nervous about them it ends up being just fine, but then the little things like going to the grocery store…foooorgeeet about it!
Harper loves her cousin Autumn since they’re only a year apart and she talks non stop about her. But when they’re together they want the same everything. Same drink, same cup, same toy, HA! You can tell they are both definitely the oldest and not used to sharing. We tried getting them to hold hands for a picture and they refused. Then 10 minutes later on our walk through the canyon they were skipping down the trail, holding hands, all on their own. I guess you can’t force it? We were trying to decide if we got the worst parents or best parents award when we took them to Utah Lake for a few hours and found out you couldn’t put your feet in the water. But it had just rained earlier in the day and the girls found the BIGGEST puddle to jump and splash in. They were in heaven! So we just shrugged our shoulders and said, “At least they’re having fun.” YOLO.
One night we decided to hit up a local festival/carnival that Spanish Fork was having for Pioneer Day. The girls were sooo tired but as soon as they saw all the lights they got so excited. It was Harper’s first time riding “rides” and her and I loved every second of it. I have such great memories riding all the “carney” rides growing up, and want her to have those too. We’re daredevils in our family when it comes to rollercoasters and rides. When she went on the first one it was suuuuper slow. She looked SO bored. So we stepped it up a notch on the second ride, and she had a smile on her face the whole time. Afterwards she kept asking for, “the Jeeps!” We had a few tokens left and the girls decided their final ride would be the kiddie coaster. They were soooo cute all strapped in sitting next to each other jabbering away. The first go around they were pretty nervous, but by the second time they were having so much fun. Me and my sister-in-law were DYING laughing at them. When they got off they said, “We were laughing so hard!” And we asked, “Why? How was it?” And then said, “Everyone was laughing on it.” It was so cute!
It’s always nice to spend time with them, stay up late talking, and they are the best hosts. Before leaving we took our girls on a quick tour of our old stomping grounds at BYU. Marcus and I couldn’t believe how much campus had changed. It’s always been beautiful but it looked especially so in the summer months. I’d never seen it during summer. It had me seriously consider why I ever went in the winter-ha! Harper liked seeing “Cosmo” and loved pointing out every “Y” chanting “BYU! BYU!” everywhere we went. We had such a great time, and had us reminiscing about our old Utah days.
One night we decided to hit up a local festival/carnival that Spanish Fork was having for Pioneer Day. The girls were sooo tired but as soon as they saw all the lights they got so excited. It was Harper’s first time riding “rides” and her and I loved every second of it. I have such great memories riding all the “carney” rides growing up, and want her to have those too. We’re daredevils in our family when it comes to rollercoasters and rides. When she went on the first one it was suuuuper slow. She looked SO bored. So we stepped it up a notch on the second ride, and she had a smile on her face the whole time. Afterwards she kept asking for, “the Jeeps!” We had a few tokens left and the girls decided their final ride would be the kiddie coaster. They were soooo cute all strapped in sitting next to each other jabbering away. The first go around they were pretty nervous, but by the second time they were having so much fun. Me and my sister-in-law were DYING laughing at them. When they got off they said, “We were laughing so hard!” And we asked, “Why? How was it?” And then said, “Everyone was laughing on it.” It was so cute!
It’s always nice to spend time with them, stay up late talking, and they are the best hosts. Before leaving we took our girls on a quick tour of our old stomping grounds at BYU. Marcus and I couldn’t believe how much campus had changed. It’s always been beautiful but it looked especially so in the summer months. I’d never seen it during summer. It had me seriously consider why I ever went in the winter-ha! Harper liked seeing “Cosmo” and loved pointing out every “Y” chanting “BYU! BYU!” everywhere we went. We had such a great time, and had us reminiscing about our old Utah days.
We hadn’t seen Marcus’ sister since December so we decided to take a spontaneous trip to Utah. Days leading up to it, I was dreading the drive with a nine month old and newly potty trained toddler. The furthest we had ever gone in the car with them was 5 hours so we’d be pushing our luck on a 10 hour trip. But even with a few highway potty stops, we still made it and the girls did AWESOME. It’s funny how the times I get super nervous about them it ends up being just fine, but then the little things like going to the grocery store…foooorgeeet about it!
Harper loves her cousin Autumn since they’re only a year apart and she talks non stop about her. But when they’re together they want the same everything. Same drink, same cup, same toy, HA! You can tell they are both definitely the oldest and not used to sharing. We tried getting them to hold hands for a picture and they refused. Then 10 minutes later on our walk through the canyon they were skipping down the trail, holding hands, all on their own. I guess you can’t force it? We were trying to decide if we got the worst parents or best parents award when we took them to Utah Lake for a few hours and found out you couldn’t put your feet in the water. But it had just rained earlier in the day and the girls found the BIGGEST puddle to jump and splash in. They were in heaven! So we just shrugged our shoulders and said, “At least they’re having fun.” YOLO.
One night we decided to hit up a local festival/carnival that Spanish Fork was having for Pioneer Day. The girls were sooo tired but as soon as they saw all the lights they got so excited. It was Harper’s first time riding “rides” and her and I loved every second of it. I have such great memories riding all the “carney” rides growing up, and want her to have those too. We’re daredevils in our family when it comes to rollercoasters and rides. When she went on the first one it was suuuuper slow. She looked SO bored. So we stepped it up a notch on the second ride, and she had a smile on her face the whole time. Afterwards she kept asking for, “the Jeeps!” We had a few tokens left and the girls decided their final ride would be the kiddie coaster. They were soooo cute all strapped in sitting next to each other jabbering away. The first go around they were pretty nervous, but by the second time they were having so much fun. Me and my sister-in-law were DYING laughing at them. When they got off they said, “We were laughing so hard!” And we asked, “Why? How was it?” And then said, “Everyone was laughing on it.” It was so cute!
It’s always nice to spend time with them, stay up late talking, and they are the best hosts. Before leaving we took our girls on a quick tour of our old stomping grounds at BYU. Marcus and I couldn’t believe how much campus had changed. It’s always been beautiful but it looked especially so in the summer months. I’d never seen it during summer. It had me seriously consider why I ever went in the winter-ha! Harper liked seeing “Cosmo” and loved pointing out every “Y” chanting “BYU! BYU!” everywhere we went. We had such a great time, and had us reminiscing about our old Utah days.
One night we decided to hit up a local festival/carnival that Spanish Fork was having for Pioneer Day. The girls were sooo tired but as soon as they saw all the lights they got so excited. It was Harper’s first time riding “rides” and her and I loved every second of it. I have such great memories riding all the “carney” rides growing up, and want her to have those too. We’re daredevils in our family when it comes to rollercoasters and rides. When she went on the first one it was suuuuper slow. She looked SO bored. So we stepped it up a notch on the second ride, and she had a smile on her face the whole time. Afterwards she kept asking for, “the Jeeps!” We had a few tokens left and the girls decided their final ride would be the kiddie coaster. They were soooo cute all strapped in sitting next to each other jabbering away. The first go around they were pretty nervous, but by the second time they were having so much fun. Me and my sister-in-law were DYING laughing at them. When they got off they said, “We were laughing so hard!” And we asked, “Why? How was it?” And then said, “Everyone was laughing on it.” It was so cute!
It’s always nice to spend time with them, stay up late talking, and they are the best hosts. Before leaving we took our girls on a quick tour of our old stomping grounds at BYU. Marcus and I couldn’t believe how much campus had changed. It’s always been beautiful but it looked especially so in the summer months. I’d never seen it during summer. It had me seriously consider why I ever went in the winter-ha! Harper liked seeing “Cosmo” and loved pointing out every “Y” chanting “BYU! BYU!” everywhere we went. We had such a great time, and had us reminiscing about our old Utah days.
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