A few last fun days in California

After coming back from Honduras I spent a few more days in California. It was such a joy to see my little boy again! After being away from him for 2 weeks it was wonderful to have him in my arms again. I could hardly believe how big he is! I seriously cannot believe that I have a son who is no longer a baby, but a little boy. I love him so much. When I came out of the secure airport area and Jay saw me for the first time, he ran straight into my arms and let me just hold him for about 5 minutes. It was so sweet.

The wonderful thing is that he did very well with me gone. He barely asked about me at all! :) It took him a little while to get used to calling me mommy again though. He kept calling me Nona. What a funny boy.

Here's Jay playing on his favorite fire engine. Rolling down the driveway at top speed!

Walking Spanky the dog, another favorite thing to do.

One day while I was back home I got together with some of my good friends from Nevada City. It was so much fun. We went to my friend Lesley's parents house.

They had plenty of room for the kids to run around and a lot of fun toys to keep them entertained. It was so nice to relax and reminisce while the kids played.

Jay especially loved their ride-on tractor.

The popsicles were another highlight.

Here's Tisha's cutest new little boy, Tanner. So beautiful!

Later that night my close friends Tisha, Darren, Breanne and Blake came over with their little ones, Kennedi and Tanner.

It's so funny that we all have kids now. How time flies after high school! Little baby Tanner is such a sweetie. Jay loved him so much. He kept wanting to hug him and kiss him.

He kept saying, "Oh Tanner, Oh, Oh. So cute! Oh, baby. Cute." Jay also had a blast playing with Kennedi (he calls her Kenni).

I was so glad that Jay actually shared his toys this time. What a difference a few months can make. Jay loves Kenni and still talks about her. "Oh, mommy. Where's Kenni?"

I'm so glad they are friends. I love Tisha and Breanne so much. They are wonderful women. I only wish we could live closer to each other.

After a short visit we had to say good bye to Nona and Papa at the airport. It was hard to say good bye, since they really have become second parents to Jay. We are looking forward to seeing them in Utah soon though! WE LOVE YOU NONA AND PAPA!!!

More from Honduras

Honduras is certainly a beautiful country. After visiting Roatan we headed back to the mainland of Honduras. We visited a lake on the weekend called Lake Yojoa. While we were there we drove out to this beautiful waterfall. It's a very popular hangout for Hondurans. We were amazed by all the people we saw there. It is in quite a remote area but once you get there you find out it's very crowded. The waterfall is huge and so pretty, surrounded by so much greenery. We loved it.

This is the little hotel we stayed at by the lake, although our cabin didn't look this nice :)

Lake Yojoa.

Having dinner at Lake Yojoa. I love the traditional Honduran dinner. It's pretty much what I always ordered. It includes steak with this yummy garlic sauce called Chimichurri, refried beans, rice, queso fresco, little tortillas and a banana drizzled with cream. I also loved the fried plantains (I swear they're better than french fries) and an appatizer called anafres which consists of beans and rice served in a clay pot.

The fresh juices in Honduras are to die for. Every restaurant has them. I especially loved watermelon juice and blackberry juice. mmm... I miss it already!

Here's a picture of Mike in front of his little cabin.

Here are the bathrooms he has to go to across the street.

Inside the hootch (I don't know why, but that's what the little cabins on base are called - kinda strange, I know)

The rest of these pictures are just typical scenes in Honduras.

Mike likes to call this the "public bus system."


This is really what most of the Honduran homes look like.

Here's another example.


Check out this meat for sale. Mmmm... The dog seems pretty interested anyway.


Traffic jam.



Carrying a large piece of wood while riding a bike. I have to point out that the tiny little towns along this road are each about 10 miles apart. I'm not really sure where this guy is going to or coming from.

Just getting around.

The Honduran pass. Note that they are probably going about 60 miles an hour. I'm not really sure why those men are hanging out the van like that. And that huge truck in front was dropping his load all over the road. Mike seriously had to swerve to miss being hit!

Close up.

Another example of the Honduran bus.

There are people selling honey all along this mountainous road.

These birds were on display next to a restaurant we ate at.

This is on base. Those goats are property of the Honduran commander of the base. Apparently they roam free and sometimes attack. You really have to watch yourself around them! Mike about died one morning when he came out of the bathroom and accidentally got between a mama goat and her kid. He had to run as fast as he could to his hootch. Good times.

From Anna's Visit - Lake & Base

I'm not really sure what this guy was thinking.