PUERTO PENASCO (ROCKY POINT)

This is the first time that Keith & I have ever been to Rocky Point, Mexico. It was a great relaxing weekend, and an after Valentine's Day present. The parents of our brother in law, Skyler, own a condo down there and so Jenny & Skyler invited us and Keith's other siblings down for a weekend. Four couples made it.

This shows the view from the condo we stayed in. Our building looked like the one that's in the picture.

We played a fun (and funny) game of volleyball the first morning and then we girls enjoyed the hot tub while the guys played with their Aerobie on the beach. They were having a contest to see which team could make the most passes in a row. (Just so you know, guys, the world record for distance is over a quarter mile. That will give you something to work towards next time!)

After a challenging Aerobie competition, what's better than going together down a slide into freezing water?

After a fun filled day of playing on the beach, going quad riding, shopping at the fish market, and getting all of our faces burned, (Duh! Aren't we old enough now to know to wear sun screen?) we enjoyed a delicious dinner at a local restaurant. This virgin strawberry margarita was the best part of the dinner, and the dinner was great! I know I'm silly for noting that it was nonalcoholic, (as if I would get the real thing) but I didn't want to leave you guessing. Ha ha ha!



We went to one of the LDS church branches down there on Sunday. Cool experience. Keith and Skyler enjoyed being able to use their spanish skills during the trip, and especially at church.

TEN TENORS

For Valentine's Day, Keith and I went to the Ten Tenors Concert at the Mesa Arts Center. They were great! Not only did they have amazing singing talent, they also had entertaining personalities and great lights and effects. We'd recommend them to anyone.

This is us in front of the Mesa Arts Center. Too bad the person taking our picture didn't quite get it when we asked to have the building in the background too. Oh well, they were nice enough to take the picture. We've been to one other concert here, and both times has been great. It's a nice theatre and you can't beat driving only 10 minutes from home, and parking really close.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!

Today we went to Keith's parents clubhouse at Val Vista Lakes to take a boat ride with his parents and Grandma & Grandpa Bates. Unfortunately the boat wasn't charged so we didn't get to go far, but we were able to sit by the beach and enjoy some warm fresh air. This was a treat for us since we've been sick all last week and are just getting back to par.

As we were getting in the boat, Keith's mom was explaining to the driver that we had been married for two years. Then the driver said that he'd been married for 38 years. Keith's mom said Dane & her had been married for almost 35 years. Then Grandma and Grandpa Bates topped us all with their almost 62 years! Isn't it great to see true love that is strong and lasting? We look forward to all the many more years we will spend together here, and then forever after this life. We know that true love isn't something that just happens, it has to be worked on every moment of every day. And the rewards are priceless!

LEGACY

LAST NIGHT PRESIDENT GORDON B. HINCKLEY PASSED AWAY. As Keith and I heard the news from several friends and family that called us, we took a moment to think about the great life that Gordon B. Hinckley lived. What an example of truly living life to the fullest. For Keith and I, he was the first prophet of the church that we felt we knew really well since we were older when he was called. He will be missed, but we are so happy for him to be with his sweet wife again. There are great pictures and videos of President Hinckley on the church website. Here's a link to that:

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/#current

With this we pose the question: What will your legacy be?

"You did not come into the world to fail. You came into the world to succeed. You have accomplished much so far. It is only the beginning. As you move forward on the trail of life, keep the banner of faith in self ever before you. You may not be a genius. You may not be exceptionally smart. But you can be good, and you can try. And you will be amazed at what might happen when in faith you take a step forward."

-Gordon B. Hinckley

I Want To Ride My Bicycle!

Yesterday I was able to go mountain biking with my parents. Thank you to Ann for lending me her bike. Next time I'll bring a BIG FLUFFY seat! We biked somewhere between 8 and 10 miles. Very beautiful day! I love Arizona! I used to bike this area more often when I lived with my parents. Next time Keith will have to come too!

What is this? My guess is either a coyote or a javelina. Eeeek!
We found this not too far into our bike ride.

This is the beautiful Usery Mountain. Nice and close to my parents house, so we can ride straight out of their garage.

Awwww...Cat Peaks Trail...sounds so nice. This one was the toughest trail of the day. I haven't been out for a while, so I was forced to walk on a lot of the steep and rocky hills of this trail. Yes, literally forced. My legs just wouldn't go any more! It was beautiful though, and I saw a couple horses on it. They didn't seem to have any problem.

Lemon Cake Anyone?

Last night we had my family over for dinner and I made this delicious lemon cake for the occasion. In my opinion, it's the ideal lemon cake for lemon lovers, and it looks pretty. Having four layers of cake with lemon filling and frosting, it takes a while to make, but it's well worth it. I bet the recipe for the actual cake part is good, but I just use a boxed white cake. I found the recipe online a few months ago. Here's the link to the recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Lemon-Cake-with-Lemon-Filling-and-Lemon-Butter-Frosting/Detail.aspx

Let me know if you try it.




We also had a fun date night on Friday with our friends, Paul & Marisa. The evening started off at the driving range and then we enjoyed some great Mexican food at Tia Rosas. They have really good seafood tacos! Lemon cake would've been really good after that!