Desierto de Los Leones

First a P.S. I think I fixed the videos in my last post so you should look at them now =). 

So, this little day trip was just so fun that I thought it needed it's own separate post. On Saturday, June 11, The Tay Team and I went on a little day hike and picnic with the Olsons. Elder Olson went to dental school at UCLA with my mom and introduced her to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and later baptized her. They are on a mission in Mexico City and are in the same ward as Ie Mei.

We had our picnic lunch at a stone table in the sun.  Sandwiches, chips, granola bars and crackers were some of the items on the menu.

There is an ex-convent in the park that we took a little tour of. Elder Olson is quite familiar with this place these days and gave us a great tour.

The building was beautiful, the rose gardens were exquisite and the tunnels were exciting. The Olsons, like I said, are familiar, so they were prepared with flashlights for us to see where we were going. Occasionally we turned them off and I couldn't see anything. Those tunnels gave a new meaning to the term "pitch black."

We then hiked a little to some hermitas which were little cabins that the monks would stay in for periods of a month. I'm not exactly sure, but I believe a lot of the monks were under a vow of silence at the convent and they would take turns staying in these hermitas during their silence.

 We played at the little playground and those Tay Team kids are just something else. Siblings and families are just wonderful.

Sorry that you're blurry, Mylee, but everyone can still see your smiling face shining through!

So, if you're in Mexico City sometime, make the Tay Team take you to Desierto de los Leones because it was one of my favorite places to see. 

Recent Ramblings on Mexico

This is going to be jumbled up because it's been a little while since I've blogged, but I just wanted to share some highlights from the past little while. In no particular order:

Mexico Traffic is still crazy and hilarious. I think it's funny how when a traffic light goes out everyone starts honking their horns. Last I checked, honking doesn't make the traffic lights work. But I guess I understand if they just really want to let their stress out, I'd probably end up honking my horn too if I was stuck in gridlock in Mexico City.

The other day we picked Brad up from work and we saw this:

That is a trailer that has lot its owner. A trolebus (trolley bus) is trying to squeeze past it to get to its next stop. A few minutes later we located the truck. I'm not sure how the trolebus managed to squeeze past this...perhaps it didn't and was the cause for Mexico City's traffic that day.

Last weekend Brad and Ie Mei went on a romantic getaway. I watched the four little ones. Sometimes I become super uptight auntie and boss them around which is really mean, so I made sure to just be fun. The kids went to bed around 10 PM on Friday and I let them watch star wars 3 times in a 24 hour period. But, we did do some fun things like have a picnic in the back yard. 

Ailee had this to say about it:

Jackson's been dying for me to put up videos. So, this is for Jackson mostly, not because I want to show off how good I am at sword duels, because that is clearly not the case.

I am going to miss tacos off the street: this was my third and final time having Mexican street food, well for this visit at least. I hope to come back and eat it again soon.

We've had plenty of fun in the kitchen making everything from beef and broccoli to orange rolls to rainbow cake! Pictures of rainbow cake to come.

Last Friday we went to the most beautiful outdoor mall. It had a bunch of ritzy stores but that's not the reason it  felt like heaven. It was the most beautiful day and it was early evening and the sun was setting and they have fountains everywhere and it's so peaceful and basically, I just wouldn't mind taking a stroll around that mall every night this summer. Maybe it's just the summer air that I love so much.

I meant to post this while I was in Mexico, but now I'm home so I will have to post a couple more about Mexico from California, but enjoy these random things!

Best Friends

Ever since I was born, I've had a best friend. His name is Jonathan Reagan West. He has always taken care of me.

Today he is 23 years old. 

We're less than two years apart and I hear that we never fought and that we used to play really well together. 

We still do. 

We have a lot of memories together. Like in pre-school when our school put on Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. As you can see, I'm a lovely little flower. Jonathan was Doc. I remember Mom made our costumes. Jonathan wore a white beard and stuffed a pillow under his shirt so he would have a round belly.

 We danced and sang together. Ie Mei got married when I was 8 and Jonathan was 10. We sang at her wedding. You know that cute little rendition of L-O-V-E from The Little Rascals that Waldo and Darla perform? Yeah. We sang that. 

I am so lucky to have such a wonderful brother who I get along with and who always takes care of me. He is one of the most kind, caring, intelligent, loving boys I know. He is a great brother, son, uncle and friend. I am so proud of him and all the hard work he has done throughout his life. He is a great example to me. Happy Birthday Jonathan! I love you!

Pictures found in Ie Mei's photo album here in Mexico City.