BFF

We're so excited to have new neighbors next door. A family just moved in and they have a little boy only a few months older than Jay. The two boys have quickly become best friends. The family also has a beautiful little 3 month old girl. We have really enjoyed getting to know them and are so happy to have some new friends in the neighborhood. Jay and his new BFF have a lot in common. They both love balls (in fact both said ball as their first word), they love to stand on the fence and laugh at each other, they love to chase each other around and around and around, they both love to go down slides and pretty much they just love being together. Jay is definitely learning some lessons in sharing, which is not always easy, but we're just glad he has the opportunity to interact with someone his age. His new friend certainly knows how to wear him out :)

True Love

Tag... I'm It!

I've been tagged by Lesley Jensen, so here's a little about me, whether you wanted to know or not! :)

How to play: list 3 joys, 3 fears, 3 goals, 3 current obsessions/collections, and 3 random surprises about yourself. Then tag 3 new people.

3 joys
1. My family
2. The gospel of Jesus Christ
3. Traveling/Learning about history, cultures, people etc.

3 fears
1. Loosing someone I love
2. Bees
3. Some crazy world catastrophe happening preventing me from ever getting back to the States.

3 Goals
1. Exercise 3 times a week
2. Learn more Spanish/Teach it to Jay
3. Try to listen to the Spirit more like President Monson

3 Current Obsessions/Collections
1. Blogging - isn't it obvious?
2. Reading or listening to recorded fiction books (the Uglies Series, the Twilight series, anything by Jane Austin, the Eragon series etc.)
3. Planning trips

3 Random Surprises About Yourself
1. I have a hard time calling people I don't know really well on the phone
2. Sometimes I eat popcorn for lunch
3. I think it would be fun to be an editor

I tag Jessie Price, Summer Gunn and Jess Holt.

Las Islas Cies

On our last day in Galicia we decided to head to the beautiful Islas Cies. The islands are rated as having the number one beaches in all the world by the prestigious British newspaper The Guardian. Rumor has it that Las Isles Cies used to be a favorite pirate haunt. Today one of the best things about the Cies is that it is a nature preserve, uninhabited and in pristine condition. There isn't even a place to throw your trash away on the island. When you board the boat to get to there you are given a bag to bring all of your trash back in. We also liked not having to worry much about thieves and pick-pockets because we knew everyone there had to pay 20 euros just ride the boat over. The beach really was amazing. The sand was so fine that it was hard to walk in. The water was beautiful and completely clear. The only problem was that it was also very cold. The Atlantic certainly isn't the Mediterranean! It wasn't so bad once you got in though and Jay didn't seem to mind at all. We would have loved to explore the island a little more but towing a toddler along just didn't allow it. Oh well! Maybe someday we'll achieve our dream of owning a boat we can cruise the coasts of Europe with. Then we could go back to Islas Cies and explore to our heart's content. Better work on making those millions first... ;) Enjoy the pictures, although they don't do the Cies justice. Oh and sorry if there are a few topless women in the background, that's just the way it is in Europe!

Here is a collage of pictures from some of our days of exploration. I wanted to add a last few pictures to remember some of the things we did and saw. Check out the little "house" on the middle left. These are everywhere in Galicia - mostly in gardens. They look like some kind of religious shrine to me but we found out that they are mostly for decoration. In the past they were used to dry grain and corn in. You can't really tell but they usually sit up high off the ground on stilts. This was done so that rats and other rodents couldn't get to the drying food. While staying at the hotel Jay had a great time watching this tractor work in a nearby field from our balcony.
We walked down to see it one morning and he was mesmerized! The men working enjoyed his excitement. Jay kept saying, "tractor, tractor" without my prompting him. He thought they were really cool... probably the coolest thing we saw in Galicia! :) At the hotel the staff kept giving him chocolate chip cookies. Here he is chowing down on one.

By the way, the name of the hotel we stayed at is Pazo los Escudos. Here's a collage of more pictures I took of the hotel. We met the owner while we were there and he was such a nice man. He spent 15 million euros renovating the place so we know he's loaded but he was so down to earth. One morning during breakfast he played ball with Jay for about 20 minutes. He's from Venezuela and most of his kids and grandkids still live there. When I asked him how often he goes back to visit he says not often at all. Since the hotel is still so new he needs to be there to take care of all the details. He explained that a 5 star hotel can go down to a 4 star very quickly without knowing exactly what happened. He's there to make sure everything is as it should be - noticing the details that no one else would think of. We saw him several times out fixing sprinkler heads, chatting with guests, helping the staff and more. He was a really neat man and obviously very successful. He told me that the King and Queen of Spain had stayed at the hotel the Monday before we arrived. He had also met former President George Bush and the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Well we sure enjoyed staying at his beautiful hotel! Here's a picture of the hotel from the back - that wall surrounding it must be very old!

I loved these lion statues. What a great place!

The Vigo Air Show & Bouzas

The Vigo Air Show was awesome. Everything went off well and an estimated 350,000 people watched. The crazy thing about air shows in Spain is that they are free to the public. One of Mike's friends and work contacts up in Vigo named Pablo is in charge of the whole show. He told us that when he tells his military contacts from other countries that there is no entrance fee to air shows in Spain they are flabbergasted thinking of all the potential profits. Lucky Spaniards! Jay and I walked from our hotel down to Samil beach where the show was taking place. It was insanely crowded. Luckily we were able to meet up with Mike at the "VIP" tent and Jay had a little space to run around. In fact he played ball with Pablo's girlfriend's kids who are incredible young men. They're only 8 and 13 but they act so much older. When we went to their house for dinner they were so polite and helpful. The 13 year old stayed with the adults the whole time taking in every word of the conversation and commenting too. He loves Mike. After meeting him last year he decided he wants to follow in Mike's line of work. Of course he'd like to be a pilot too like Pablo. Why can't you do both? Anyway, the two boys and their cousins played ball with Jay at the air show and he was in heaven. He thought he was so cool! He did get pretty scared when the Spanish F-18 planes came by. They were seriously loud, but really fun to watch. We liked watching the Portuguese helicopters and the Canadair 43 Group.
We decided to head back to the hotel before the USAF B-1 Lancer and the Eurofighter Spanish Air Force jet came though. The Eurofighter actually breaks the sound barrier! Not good for little ears. I saw the B-1 fly by our hotel twice while Jay was sleeping. It was so cool to see. I guess the Spanish were pretty excited down at the beach. Mike said they couldn't stop talking about it. The U.S. also had two A-10's there as well. It was cool to see the U.S. planes flying. It made me feel proud to be an American - in a good way. I'm sure the other countries were just as proud as their air fleet. Everyone did a really great job.

Later that night we went to a festival in Vigo in the Bouzas district. It was a lot of fun. We ate octopus and empanada. Check out the way the octopus are cooked.

Cool, huh? Jay especially loved the empanada. Mmm... thanks for the bite mom!

We walked around and checked out all the games and rides which made me feel like I was back in the States at a fair. Same wheelers and dealers trying to get you to waste your money :) We bought some hojaldritas for dessert which are traditional cake-like donuts. They were excellent. We also saw a religious procession taking place down a little street. This is pretty typical at Spanish festivals. Each church has their own set of floats - I guess that's the best word for them. They are really intricate though and made of expensive materials. Most either depict the crucifixion or carry a statue of Mary. People dressed in robes carry the floats and they are trailed by a band playing music and several other people. sometimes holding candles. It was interesting to see but we've seen several by now so we didn't watch long. After walking around the festival a while longer we made our way back to the hotel so that we could watch the fireworks display from our balcony. When the first one went off Jay was terrified and clung to me with all his might, urging me inside. I put him in his crib and he went right to sleep - his quick jump to dreamland a mix of exhaustion and desire to block out those scary lights in the sky! Mike and I enjoyed watching them together. It was a perfect end to a another great day in Galicia.

A Baiona & Castro de Santa Trega

Yesterday we saw two more beautiful places in Galicia. First we went to the city of A Baiona. The coolest part of the city is the Parador which sits on top of a hill overlooking the outlet of Vigo Bay. From the top you can also see the Isles de Cies and the "Ria" leading into Vigo. The Isles de Cies supposedly have some of the most beautiful beaches in all of Europe. We're going to check them out and we'll let you know. The "Ria" is a river valley that has sunk and been flooded by the sea. The mix of fresh and salt water make the seafood here especially tasty. The Parador hotel has been built around an old fort once used to protect the city of Baiona from attack. You can walk all the way around the stone wall and see some spectacular views. A Baiona is the city where the first ship arrived in Europe to tell of Columbus's discovery of America. A replica of this ship, The Pinta, can be seen in the harbor.
After visiting Baiona we made our way along the coast to the city of A Guarda where the ancient ruins of the Castro de Santa Trega can be found. The Castro de Santa Trega ruins were only discovered in 1917 but have been around since about 200 BC. Only about 50% of the Castro has been excavated. The site sits on top of a mini mountain above the city of A Guarda. You can see some amazing panoramic views from up there - the people who built Castro de Santa Trega certainly knew how to pick a location with a view!
Archaeologists believe the Castro was probably built by Romans or the Celts. As you can see from the pictures the Castros are small round family dwellings made of stone. Here you can see a picture of what one may have looked like complete. The buildings are all very small, only 6 1/2 - 20 feet wide. Mike first described them to me as Smurf houses. That's really what they look like - maybe it's where the Smurf writers got their idea :) Not all the buildings were used as houses. Some are thought to have served as barns, warehouses, and factories. They all look sort of crammed together with no rhyme or reason to their layout but they actually were very well organized. The houses were built so that a large public patio could be utilized in the center.
3,000 - 5,000 people are thought to have lived in the settlement! No wonder the houses had to be so small, there wasn't enough room on the mountain top to make them bigger. We really enjoyed exploring the area, especially Jay who had a great time climbing over all the rocks.
Later that night we went to dinner at a really cool restaurant on the outskirts of the city. Our Spanish friends from Vigo brought us there. They have a little 4 year old girl and Jay had so much fun playing with her. She was so good with him! The Restaurant had a great park next to it and they played and played while we ate. It was so nice.

The following night our friends took us to another really cool restaurant with an outdoor patio where Jay and their girl could run around again. It's so nice having contacts up here who understand what it's like to have a little kid. Another American family from the embassy came with us too. We had a really fun time together. As usual the food was awesome. I've fallen in love with pimientos de padron. They're these little green peppers that are sautéed in olive oil and sprinkled with salt. Most of them are sweet peppers but they throw in a few spicy ones too. Yum! Have I mentioned I love the food up here? Here's a video of Jay playing with his new friend:

Finishing off my birthday in style

The region of Galicia continues to impress me. On my birthday Mike took us out to this awesome seafood restaurant called Timón Playa where we had pulpa (octopus) and arroz con gambas y percebes (Spanish rice with shrimp and... percebes). The word for percebes in English is something like goose barnacles which sounds strange but they're actually wonderful. They are a delicacy here in Galicia. Fisherman collect them off the costa da morte or Coast of Death so they're not easy to come by. The food was seriously incredible. If you don't think you like seafood you would fall in love it here in Northern Spain. All I ask is that if you're ever in Spain you have to try it, no matter your opinion. Pulpa is a very typical dish here in Northern Spain. Virtually every restaurant serves it and it's very good. The rice dish was my favorite though. I can't explain the flavors but it was outstanding. Jay loved it too. He chowed down two platefuls! mmm... Spanish rice. The restaurant sat overlooking the sea and it was beautiful. They even gave me a free slice chocolate-raspberry cake for dessert, complete with a candle on top. I felt very special. After eating we checked out the beach. I was amazed by the topless-ness of the people there. For some reason we rarely ever see anyone in Andalucia going topless on the beach but up here everyone's game. Anyway, Jay went straight for the water. Mike was still wearing his work clothes so Jay dragged mommy in with him. The water was pretty cold but Jay didn't care. He LOVES the ocean now. After lunch Mike sent me off to the spa. It was so relaxing. My favorite was the Turkish sauna. It was a perfect day thanks to my sweet husband!

Here's Jay giving the "kitty" in the garden a pet.

A Happy Birthday in Vigo

For all of you out there who don't know, today is my birthday. So Happy Birthing Day mom! I'm 25 years old! Wow... that means I'm halfway through my 20s. That's hard to believe. Life sure flies by fast. I couldn't have asked for a better 25 years though. I have incredible, loving, generous parents, an amazing big brother I couldn't have made it up to this point without, the most thoughtful, caring, fun, HOT husband in the universe, the cutest, sweetest, bestest little baby boy ever, the most wonderful, big-hearted in-laws I could ever imagine and a set of the most fantastic extended family and friends around. Okay, I think I've exhausted my vocabulary of adjectives. That's how I feel about all of you though! I truly, truly am blessed. I thank my Heavenly Father every day for each one of you.Now... onto that Vigo part. Yes, we're in Vigo this week! How could I have a better birthday present than to spend 5 days in the beautiful Galicia region of Northern Spain? Mike served about 7 months of his mission here and it's amazing. We only arrived yesterday and I'm already in love with the area. It's amazing how different the landscape is in Northern Spain. It's so green here, exploding with vegetation. We actually flew into A Coruña yesterday and I couldn't believe what a different view I saw out the window of the airplane after only an hour of flying.
A Coruña is the first city Mike served in. The name of the city derives from the ancient columna, or Tower of Hercules, which sits at the edge of the city and has served as a modern lighthouse since 1791. It actually dates back much farther than the 18th century though. It is thought to be at least 1900 years old, used as a lighthouse in Roman times. It's considered the oldest standing lighthouse in the world! Mike wanted to show it to me so we stopped there first. It was SO windy walking up to the lighthouse! The view from the top was beautiful though. Of course there is an ancient legend that goes along with lighthouse:

According to a myth that blends Celtic and Greco-Roman elements, the hero Hercules slew the giant tyrant Geryon after three days and three nights of continuous battle. Hercules then in a Celtic gesture buried the head of Geryon with his weapons and ordered that a city be built on the site. The city, Brigantia to the Romans, came to be called “Crunya”. The lighthouse atop a scull and crossbones representing the buried head of Hercules’ slain enemy appears in the coat-of-arms of A Coruña.

Another legend, Gaelic in nature, claims that the founder of the Galician Celtic Nation, King Breogan, built a tower high enough that when his sons stood on top they could see the distant green hills of Ireland prompting them to sail north. I never realized Ireland was so close but when you look at a map you'll see it directly across the water and north of A Coruña. A Coruña is on the upper northwest tip of Spain between the bumps.

On our walk up to the tower we actually heard a man playing bagpipes on the side of the road. It was beautiful. The region of Galicia was originally inhabited by a Celtic tribe, the Gallaeci, long before the Romans arrived. I love learning the history about the cities we visit. It's always so fascinating. After we saw the tower Mike wanted to show us his old stomping grounds. I loved touring around the city, taking in the sites and imagining what it must have been like for Mike. He loved his first area and said they taught a lot of discussions and had a lot of success there. He actually remembered one man who had taken the discussions and had been very excited about the gospel but suddenly started avoiding the missionaries. They never knew why and after going by his apartment several times without any luck they had to give up. Mike remembered exactly where he lived and we stopped by to see if he was still there. Unfortunately he had moved. Hopefully the missionaries found him elsewhere. We went by Mike's apartment building next and I snapped this photo for Jill.
His was the building on the right. I knew you would enjoy seeing where Mike had lived!
After visiting A Coruña we made our way down to Vigo, the city where Mike "died" (meaning the city he ended his mission in). Vigo is awesome. You wouldn't believe where we're staying! Jay and I are actually up here tagging along while Mike helps out with a joint Spanish-American air show. They're putting him up in this amazing 5-star hotel and we only had to pay a little extra for Jay and I to stay with him. This place is seriously beautiful. Not only is everything top quality but our room actually overlooks the ocean.
The view is outstanding.
The hotel has free wi-fi in the room which is how I'm posting today. It's so nice to be able to post while we're on a trip rather than doing it all when we get home. Jay's happily snoozing away while in the other room while I work. I love that he can sleep anywhere now. One of my favorite parts of the hotel is the beautiful garden. Jay has loved exploring all the fountains, statues, steps and lawn areas. I've been told that the hotel was converted from an old manor house-palace and the new owner has collected family coats of arms from around the Galician province to display throughout the grounds. They are so cool to see.
Of course I have to mention that the breakfast was to die for. Everything was top quality. I could seriously get used to this! Great food, amazing views, no cleaning, awesome places to visit, pampered treatment... I guess I'll enjoy it while I can. Oh! One last thing, since the hotel is new they're offering each guest one free hour in their newly opened spa. You go through this whole process with swimming pools, jet streams, massaging showers, Turkish saunas and more. Since it's my birthday Mike's watching Jay this afternoon once he gets back from working so I can go relax. Woo hoo! Happy 25th to me!