Community of Character Award

TJ was nominated by his teacher, Mrs. Melki, to receive the Community of Character award. So we got to go to an award's banquet with several town leaders, including Mayor Daniels. There were only 4 or 5 kids from his whole school that got the award. TJ is such a good kid with a great heart. He has a strong desire to do what's right. I love him and am grateful to get to be his mom.

TJ and Mayor Daniels.

TJ and Mrs. Melki.

Preschool Graduation

We had Evie's preschool graduation party yesterday. We went to the splashpad under the water tower. She had lots of fun. She has really enjoyed preschool this year and especially loves Hannah. I can't believe she will start school in 3 months, but she is so ready. She will do amazing.

Pats Run

Pats Run was Saturday the 22nd. It was the day after we flew in from Peru. TJ, my dad and Emmy had all signed up to run it with me. Emmy is still in a brace but really wanted to walk it. So Jamie went and walked it with her. I was grateful he did because I wanted to run it with my dad and TJ. TJ had trained really hard and I wanted to see him finish it. He did great. He ran the whole way. So did my dad - in his Wranglers and his hat. I don't know how he did it. It was so hot!! But we all finished and it was fun to get to do it together.

I don't think that running is TJ's favorite thing, but he is good at it and he can run a long ways when he works at it. I was super proud of him for setting this goal and working so hard to accomplish it. He did amazing.

Machu Picchu

We left for Peru last Thursday. We got the kids out of school at lunch and Wacey and Jenny headed to Taylor with them. They didn’t have school on Friday so the plan was for them to go to Taylor and spend Easter up there and then to come back here Sunday night and my parents were going to stay down here with them for the week. So we got them all packed and on the road and then frantically tried to get everything ready. Our plane was supposed to fly out at 4:45. Jamie’s parents picked us up at 3 to take us to the airport. We got checked in okay and then waited at the gate. We both had a carry on bag. They made Jamie check his at the gate because the flight was too full. The bag had about 95 percent of his clothes and other stuff in it. We got on the plane and were sitting on the tarmac when they come on and say we are going to be about half an hour late because we are waiting on the pilot. Well the pilot comes and then they have maintenance signs going off because the airplane is too hot because it came from a hot hanger and has been sittting on the ground for so long. So maintenance finally clears us to take off. We were an hour late on our departure. We only had an hour and 8 minute layover in Dallas so as soon as the plane hits the ground we take off running. We had to ride the sky tram to a different gate. From the very beginning, when we landed, Jamie said I don’t think our luggage is going to make it. There isn’t enough time to get it transferred. So as we are running up to the gate, and they are changing our seat numbers, Jamie asked the flight attendant if our luggage would be on the plane and she assured us it would be. So we got on for our 7 hour flight to Lima. We took a sleeping pill and actually slept pretty well on the plane so I was happy about that. But when we got to Lima, our luggage was not there. We talked to American Airlines and they said we would have to file the report with Latam airlines when we got to Cusco. So we arrived in Cusco about 11 Friday morning and filed our report and then headed to our hotel. We got a taxi who got us to the hotel okay. The driving in Peru is CRAZY!!! There will be a two lane road with cars 4 wide across it. I don’t know how their cars aren’t more trashed because they squish in places I wouldn’t have thought possible. And they use their horns for EVERYTHING; to tell someone to get out of the road, to say hi, and lots of times for no apparent reason. So we got checked into our hotel and then as we were walking out of there we ran into Guy and Linda. They were meeting Rod and Kim for lunch about half an hour later so we went to lunch with them and then headed to the Plaza del Armes. There were a couple of cool churches that we walked through. It was good Friday so one of them had a ceremony going on. They had a manniquin nailed to a cross that they were parading through the church. One of the things that stuck out to me on this trip was the lack of spirit that I felt in these churches. It was just nonexistent. After we walked around the Plaza del Armes, then we went to a flea market and did a little shopping for the kids. After that we headed back to the hotel. Jamie’s parents had been trying to track down our luggage for us. They told us that one of the bags had been separated and that the other bags had gone through Miami.

Crazy hat Jamie talked me into getting.

Saturday morning we got up early to head to Sacsayhuman. The walk up there was exhausting. It was pretty much straight up and with the altitude change, I honestly wondered if I would make it. But we finally hiked to the top and it was incredible. It is these ancient ruins that have stones that are 10 to 20 tons a piece that are stacked on top of each other perfectly. They didn’t use any kind of mortar at all and they are still standing hundreds of years later. It is incredible.

 

We were up there for a couple hours and then went to try and contact the airline company to see if they had found our bags. We finally got hold of someone who told us they would be at the airport at 11. So we went back to the airport because we didn’t want to take any chances so we got there and only 2 of our 3 bags were there. The one that Jamie checked at the gate still wasn’t there and they had no idea where it was. So Jamie still didn’t have any of his stuff. We took the suitcases we did have back to our rooms and opened them up. Thankfully Jamie had put a couple of pairs of pants and shirts in my suitcase but the only pair of garments he had was the pair he was wearing. So we spent the afternoon trying to buy him new clothes but we could not find hardly anything that would fit him. He managed to get a couple of pairs of shorts that fit him and some regular underwear. Then we took the clothes he had been wearing and got them laundered so they were at least clean. He was really, really frustrated. His glassed were in his suitcase so he didn’t have them the whole time we were gone. That afternoon we also went and paid the rest of our money to Lorenzo’s and got our final instructions.They picked us up at 5:30 the next morning in front of our hotel. They took us to their office and fed us breakfast and divided us into groups. In our group, was the six of us and two girls from Toronto, Nekita and Sana. And then we headed off. Here we are waiting to be picked up.

A stop we made in Sacred Valley on the way to the top of the mountain for the bike ride. The pictures do not do it justice. It was absolutely gorgeous.

These little cars were all over in some of the towns.

We had about an hour and a half ride in a car to get to where we would start the bike ride. The drive to the top of the mountain where we were going to start the ride was rough. It was just one switchback after another and by the time we made it to the top I was pretty car sick. Here is a picture close to the top looking back on the road we just came up.

We finally got to the top and they fitted us in biking gear. About the time we got our gear on it started raining.

We were riding about 33 miles and it rained for probably at least the first 2 hours. I’m sure the view would have been amazing but we were just surrounded by clouds and couldn’t see anything. It was a two lane road with cars coming behind you all the time and then there were waterfalls every mile or so where the water would just run across the road and your feet would get soaked. At one point, I was riding behind Jamie and he motioned for me to pass him. As I go to pass him, he looks over at me and his bike veers off the road and he wrecks into the ditch on the side of the road that was made of cement. He went down pretty hard and was sure he had broke a rib. But he was able to finish. The last part of the ride the sun came out and it was pretty nice. I wish it would have come out sooner because I am sure the view was gorgeous. Here is the view from about halfway down. We rode all the way down to that river.

When we got to the bottom, part of our group was already there. Kim was sitting on the grass, and I could tell that something was wrong. We walked over to her and she was holding her arm and she kept saying it was broken. Nekita told us that they had come around the corner and Wilbur had motioned for them to stop and Kim had hit her front brake and so her front tire stopped and she flew over the handle bars and landed on her arm. One bone ended up being broken, the other dislocated so they took her to the hospital. She ended up going to Cusco, and they ended up flying home so she could have surgery. So it was only noon on the first day of our trek and they were already gone.

It was beginning to feel like this trip was destined for failure—between Jamie’s luggage being lost, him wrecking on his bike, Kim wrecking on her bike…. We started the trek on Easter Sunday. So we didn’t get to go to church that day. If we would have planned it, we would have never started on Sunday. But we were just tagging along with Rod and Guy and so we didn’t feel like we could tell them when to start it. Maybe we should have. Jamie just kept saying it’s because we came on Sunday and didn’t keep the Sabbath day Holy. It was an interesting experience for me. I kept telling myself that we go to church every Sunday. God would not punish us for breaking the Sabbath one day. But then I also kept having the scripture go through my head, where much is given much is required and I knew we had made covenants that Rod and Guy hadn’t made. I knew that we were more accountable than they were. After the bike ride we went to a lodge. This was the view from our window. It was amazing.!!!

The rooms were very simple. Basically just two twin beds and that was it. But it was beautiful. We shared a bathroom with another room that first night. We were supposed to go rafting but Jamie was in enough pain that he didn’t think he could so we stayed at the lodge and Lorenzo took us on a little hike. These are pictures from the hike. It didn't matter where we went, the view was incredible. 

While we were hiking we walked through a little village. It was so tiny, but they did manage to have a nice soccer field – it didn’t matter how poor the people were down there – there was always a soccer field.

While we were walking there was a girl and her sister playing volleyball. Jamie tried to get me to ask them to let me play but I was too embarrassed. Well on the way back they were still standing outside and so he motioned to her that I could play. So I played with her for just a few minutes. I wished I would have tried to get her name and communicate with her a little more but I was afraid the rest of the group was going to be waiting on us. But honestly that was one of my favorite experiences of the trip. Getting to play volleyball with the Peruvian girl.

After that we went back for dinner. The meals on this trek were amazing. They were usually just cooked by local families but they were almost always 4 courses and were very good. We paid for all the drinks we drank and everything else was covered by our tour.
Monday morning we got up and they told us that for 10 soles a piece they would pay someone to transport our backpacks to the next town we were going to stay in. Ten soles is about $3. It was totally worth it. So we dropped our packs off and started hiking. We spent most of Monday hiking. The first 3 hours was pretty much uphill. This was what a lot of the trail was like the first morning.

We saw several of these poinsettia trees and got started on the Inca Trail.

We would stop at some of the local farmers houses and Wilbur would tell us about the crops and stuff. It was really important to him that we understand the agriculture and the difficulties the locals face. This is a cocoa plant used to make chocolate. The beans inside smell exactly like chocolate. 

Right before lunch we stopped at one of these locals place. There was a little monkey there that would just hop on your back. He also showed us this plant that they used for the dye in their fabrics and then he drew Inca symbols on us with the paint from this plant. He drew on quite a few of us and had used very little of the paint.

 My leg.

Nekita and Sena's arms.

Jamie's arm.

It was really cool. The next part of the hike was part of the original Inca Trail. It was amazing – just a couple feet wide with sheer cliffs on one side and the most amazing view you could ever imagine. I could have stayed there for quite a while just enjoying the view.

After that we hiked into another little village for lunch and then started trekking again. Monday afternoon our hike was along the Urubamba river. We had to cross one bridge. This little Peruvian lady was sitting on the opposite side of the bridge selling water, coke and Gatorade. It is incredible. You will be miles from anywhere and they will be there selling their drinks. No telling where they got them from or how far they had to hike to get them there. 

Then we had to get back across the river on this cable car. The Peruvian government has men working there, moving you across. It was pretty cool. Shortly after that we arrived at the hot springs and got to sit in them for a little while and then got in our bus and headed into Santa Theresa. It was a day of hiking but it wasn’t bad without our packs and the view was absolutely amazing.

Monday night at dinner they had someone come in and talk to us about going ziplining the next morning. Before we left I had decided that I was going but Jamie couldn’t go because he was still in quite a bit of pain and I really felt kind of like God had abandoned us. I know that seems silly but with the kind of week we had had I was pretty mortified that one of us was going to die or something really bad was going to happen. So I did a lot of praying that night and the next morning and a lot of thinking. For some reason I kept thinking about Wyatt. And I knew that he would have gone. So I just decided that I was going to do it. So me and Nekita and Sana did the ziplines. They were pretty intense. You ziplined from one mountain to another over a river. There were 5 different ziplines plus a suspension bridge. It was pretty scary but pretty cool. 

So because we did that Tuesday morning, we didn’t hike. So they drove us to Hydroelectrico, where we started our hike. We had about half an hour hike and then we were going to stop for lunch. We stopped at one place and Wilbur was showing us this sun dial and he was just talking to us and then he said stand up and look up at the top of the mountain.So we did and you could see Machu Picchu for the first time. So that was really cool. It was so far up and so tiny that I never would have noticed it if he hadn’t shown it to us.

From hydro-electrico all the way to Aguas Calientes, we hiked along the railroad tracks. But most of it was covered with foliage and just a beautiful hike in. 

This is where we stopped for lunch. It was at one of the locals. We had the most delicious Pesto Chicken I have ever had and enjoyed an amazing view. You could see Machu Picchu from here too. 

And then we hiked for most of the afternoon. We got into Aguas Calientes, the town right below Machu Picchu, about 5 or so. 

Wilbur, our guide, would randomly tell us I want to take a picture of you. I learned that every time he said that, you wanted to listen because it usually turned into something pretty cool. The picture below is one of those times. Can you see the lady's face lying down in the background?

And her, pregnant:)

We got settled into our hotel and then Wilbur took us out to dinner. We ate at this amazing restaurant and the food was FANTASTIC. It was beautiful and delicious.

But something Guy ate there must have had gluten in it because he got sick that night so they didn’t make it up to Machu Picchu with us the next morning, they came later in the day.
Wednesday we were in line for the bus to take us to Machu Picchu by 4:35. The busses start taking people up at 5:30. It was just Jamie and I and Nekita and Sana that were left from our group. Wilbur took us to his favorite spot. It was so foggy, but that was kind of cool. We sat there as he talked and waited for the fog to lift. We took a few pictures and then he took us on a tour and then we said goodbye to him. I was in tears when we said goodbye to him. It is amazing how much you connect with people when you do a trek like that. He tried really hard to teach us to focus on today because you never know if you will have tomorrow and I hope I will remember that lesson from him. He was an amazing guide, and made our experience incredible.

There are no words to describe Machu Picchu. It is beautiful in pictures, but you don’t get any sort of sense of how big it really is from the pictures. It would be a huge undertaking at this day and age to build a civilization up in the middle of the Andes and to think they did it 600 years ago with no technology just blows my mind. It is absolutely incredible. And it is in the middle of nowhere. It is by far the coolest place I’ve ever been in the middle of what has to be some of the prettiest country in the world. I LOVED IT!!! It was so worth everything it took to get there. It was so fun to get to share that experience with Jamie. I love him. I love that he was willing to take me there. I love that I feel like a small part of him is learning why I love to travel and one way or the other he does it because he knows it makes me happy and I will be eternally grateful for that.

We spent most of the day at Machu Picchu. We hiked to the Inca Bridge. 

We hiked to sun gate.

But most of all, just enjoyed being there. There is a spirit at Machu Picchu. We had went into a couple of old churches in Cusco and there was a complete lack of the spirit there. But at Machu Picchu there was definitely a spirit there. Jamie said it was the spirit of the people who had lived there. We ended the day where we started, the view that Wilbur told us was his favorite. The place that was that morning covered in fog, but had through the course of the day, revealed itself to us. What an amazing place. In a matter of hours I grew to love it and it was hard for me to leave. I honestly will probably never make it back there. But I hope I do.

We had decided walk down off the mountain instead of taking the bus. The route down was tough and I was grateful we hadn't walked up it that morning.

We spent Wednesday night in Aguas Calientes again. It is a really cool little town. We finally found some Mexican food that night – the only Mexican food we ate while we were gone. They really don’t have a lot of Mexican food there. And enjoyed the last night of our trek.

This was the view from our hotel.

Thursday morning – my birthday – we got up and were on the 8:30 train back to Ollantaytambo. The railroad was under construction so we couldn’t take it all the way back to Cusco. From there we got a taxi back to Cusco. We checked back with our hotel – Jamie’s bag had shown up. And then went and ate some lunch. Back at a little pizzeria we had ate at a couple of times and really liked. Jamie had had some awesome lasagna there earlier in the week but today it was thin crust pizza, coke and a delicious piece of birthday cake. 

After that we did a little bit of final shopping and then headed for the airport. It was a super long trip home and I was so ready to be home and see my little kiddos. I missed them immensely. But what an amazing trip!