oh the joys of adult birthdays

It really was a fun day for the two hours I got to spend with Jared. Other than that we were working, me in the morning and Jared into the night. He surprised me with all his gifts when I got home from work. That sly little devil bought me an Xbox. In his defense I did mention that it would be fun to play the new Lego Pirates of the Caribbean game. So Jared heard, "buy me a gaming console". It's fun to play together and as long as he gets to borrow games from his friends instead of buying them, I'm okay. I also got some cool new shoes for work and some movies.

Jared took me to Olive Garden for lunch and then we ate some ice cream cake after dinner at his work. Even though I miss the days where you played games with your friends and counted your years in quarters, I'm a pretty happy 23 year old.

biggest loser night

I have some great connections! My boss invited me to attend a Biggest Loser workout where Brett, a trainer from the show, would be teaching. Since Jared and I are avid fans I had to attend. I walked through the slushy snow, pushed back dinner, and paid $5 and it was totally worth it. Brett taught us his signature kickboxing routine. There was a lot of jumping jacks and squats, which he called "booty time". The best part: some of the contestants were there sweating with me. I even got to talk to Moses, our favorite contestant. His daughter Kaylee was there along with Deni, Sarah, and Justin. I was so excited to see them all my boss could not stop laughing at me. I looked like a little kid meeting Mickey Mouse. I haven't been able to work out this hard in a long time because I have been sick but what better way to jump back into the exercise scene than by pushing your body to the limit with a few celebrities. Oh boy are my buns sore!

All us USU employees with Brett and Moses



I spy 4 Biggest Loser contestants and a trainer


Go Moses!

mexico: days 5 & 6

The last two days of the vacation were spent at the beach house. This was perfectly fine with me. And Jared was worn out by all the planned festivities. He's never done a vacation Bingham-style before. He could have sat around the beach all week.

The reef by our condo didn't break until way out. Naturally Jared had to swim all the way out there and take me with him. The only problem was that I fell on a rock at the very beginning of our adventure and cut my leg open. I didn't realize until I was out of the water that I was bleeding. Good thing we didn't see any sharks!
My parents brought a very large blow-up turtle that all of the children loved. I'm not gonna lie, it was pretty fun having Jared pull me around on it. Layton got so jealous whenever someone went out without him. That boy was born to be in the water, I think he is half mer-man.



As usual sand creations were made and children tried to destroy them. Cody's sand castle turned out pretty great, especially with all of the trimmings added later by Kristina. Jamie had a lot of fun burying people's legs in the sand and that is why I obliged and sat in the sand. My creation is supposed to be a shark chasing a person (the coconut is the head).


Friday evening my parents and the Ainsworth bunch went to Xcaret. It is a little zoo, aquarium, and Mexican culture place. I grew up in little Tijuana, so Mexican culture is embedded in my soul. I forgot that Jared was not though and might have enjoyed it. Oh well, we had a nice evening with Cody, Liz and the boys.

Everyone loved the beach days and had a ton of fun. It was a great note to end on. Our last morning was spent taking family pictures by the famous leaning palm tree. I actually don't look sick in these pictures so it isn't too bad.

mexico: day 4

Day 4 was our most adventurous day. We went to a place called Hidden Worlds. They had sky-cycling, zip-lining, repelling, snorkeling, and a zip-line roller coaster called the Avatar. It was an action packed morning. I was a little sick so I didn't try the sky-cycle but I did participate in everything else. I couldn't miss out on it. Nothing compares to the rush of wind on your face as you drop down into a cenote. And flying around the corners on the Avatar is the most daredevil thing I will ever do. Keegan and Jamie even got to zip-line by themselves. Those crazy 2-year olds. Our guides were very nice and helped with the children so that we could all have fun and enjoy ourselves. Dad had to show everyone how it was done and had perfect form in every picture. So between my father and my husband we got some great shots.

mexico: day 3

Kristina and Jeremy's family joined us on day 3 and we all drove out to Tulum to check out the ruins. We had really hyped it up that the tour guides were so good that it turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. We still enjoyed learning all the facts and the Mayan version is interesting but it was more fun hearing things with an LDS twist the first time. We pointed out a few of the things that we could remember, like the temple and the three gods. The temple and the watch tower on the cliff are still my favorite buildings. It is just so amazing the knowledge these people had. On the summer equinox the sun shines perfectly through one of the windows in the watchtower so they know what day it is. I wish our house did that.
There were lots and lots of iguanas here. They seemed to keep Keegan and Jameson entertained (for as long as anything can entertain a 2-year-old). This was a hard place for the kids; it was hot, all facts, and you couldn't touch anything. By the end of the tour we were very ready for some food and beach time.


Lunch was at the infamous Oscar and Lalo's but this time nobody ordered the fish platter, no fish heads on this trip. It totally redeemed itself and everyone was very satisfied.

mexico: day 2

On day 2 of our trip we went caving again. Only this time we had to wet-suit it up and swim. The cave is in its natural state and has no electricity so we also had to wear helmet flashlights. Our tour guide, Flavio, took an instant liking to Stephanie and spent most of the tour talking with her in the front. The rest of us found fun things to do though. Jared and Ali lovingly fought like true siblings and we had to break them up several times. It must be a baby of the family thing. Flavio tried to make it a soul-searching, renewing expedition but we were there to see some sights and have some fun. His meaning of life speech was very deep and touching but I was there to swim in a cenote. I think Jared's facial expressions say a lot. I have one crazy husband!

beautiful mexico: day 1

It will take me quite a while to finish this post since most of the pictures are with my mother, but I will do my best. The first non-travel day in Akumal we went to a cave adventure place called Aktun Chen. We had been there before on our last Akumal trip. The caves were interesting. It is always fun to experience something that we don't have close by at home. The caves had the clear beautiful cenote water, stalagmites/stalactites, and bats. It was interesting to learn how the Mayans thought of cenotes as sacred places. I can see why they thought that; it is so quite and serene. We learned that going down into a cenote was a form of cleansing yourself and if you came out alive it meant that you were a new person. I don't know if I'm "new" but it was fun.



Outside the cave we found some exotic birds, boars, deer, and monkeys. Although to our disappointment the monkeys no longer roamed free to grab your hand. It wasn't the most action-packed day but it was still fun. Plus being in the cave was like being in a sauna, so it was like going to a very low-key country club or gym.