Sumidero Canyon

Monday we woke up and went on a quick taxi ride to Chiapa de Corzo to take a boat ride down the canyon. When we got there, Jed was so excited to get us to drink his favorite "dirty water". We were all a little nervous, ESPECIALLY when we saw that it really looked like water with dirt in it!!

If I remember right, it's water, ground up cocoa beans, and ground up corn. I sorta has a sweet taste and reminds me of chocolate milk but not really. When you get to the bottom, there is all this sludgy stuff that you have to chew.. it's just the corn that has settled to the bottom. I made Clint drink my sludge.. yuck.

Audrey, Jed, Liz, Clint, & Dad

Here are some photos of the river. The highest point from the cliffs edge to the water was 2500 ft. and it was created from a river, just like our Grand Canyon. There are more things our guide told us about but because it was all in Spanish.. obviously.. we didn't get it all. Jed translated as much he could but it was kinda loud and he went fast.

After we went up the river, we were all pretty tired and had to catch a taxi back to Tuxtla-Gutierrez but we didn't want to take two because it would have been expensive.. I think. Anyway, FIVE of us crammed into a teeny-tiny taxi to go back to our hotel. That's the driver, Jed, & Liz in the front half of the car, and Dad, Mom, & Clint in the back of the car. I ended up on the laps of Dad, Mom, & Clint. I was probably the most comfortable of everyone and actually took a nap on the way home!

I need to find those pics.. they are pretty funny...

Once we got back to the hotel, we took some taxi's to the OCC (the bus transport station) and took a bus to San Cristobal. It was a very colonial looking city and I guess it is one of the oldest in the state of Chiapas. The hotel we ended up staying in didn't have a heater and it was SO cold!! Definitely jacket weather.

The worst part of the hotel:

Scented toilet paper helps though. I was pretty upset about the whole no-flushing-the-toilet-paper thing. Gross.

Sunday in Mexico

So real quick, before I move on to Monday and Tuesday, here are some images from Sunday that I just got from my Mom.


This was on the bus on the way to Coita to go to church. The rest of us are on the back row of the bus.

This was where Sacrament meeting was held. Isn't it beautiful?? This was looking at the back of the meeting area and that's Jed talking to some of the members IN SPANISH!! He really can speak the language.. he's no faker.

The was the front of the church's lot. You walk through this gate into a courtyard with mango trees and sometimes roosters and then into the covered veranda area where Sacrament meeting was held. It was pretty neat.

Five Guys!

So my friend Leslie recently posted on her blog about this amazing burger place called Five Guys that her and her hubs like to go.. My grandma also told us about it so we decided to check it out.. DELISH. Let me tell you. My tummy is rumbling right now though.. kinda greasy but dang yummy. Worth the rumble... We got the LARGE cajun fries and the regular size hamburgers. It's a good thing Clint was there to eat my leftovers because I was done for halfway through my burger. Definitely recommend it to ALL!! I took pics just like you did Leslie! :)

That's not me in the picture.. I hate when people pull their undershirts way over their bums like that...

I will post pictures from Mexico tomorrow.. Google: Sumidero Canyon.. Something to look forward to. :)

Christmas & Mexico

The Christmas tree is finally up! Our 4.5 foot $15 Big Lots Christmas tree took us 2 days to put up but we're ready! It took us so long because we decided to rearrange the living room. It feels more home-y and *hopefully* we will be able to keep it cleaner. No promises.. we're slobs. :)

The Christmas tree is to the right, outside of the photo. It looks pretty but having it decorated makes Clint and I a little sad because that means Molly isn't here to tear it down and break all of our ornaments.

Anyway, for Thanksgiving, we went to Mexico with Jed as our tour guide and it was AMAZING. I don't know how to recap the entire trip because there was so much to document. I might take a few days to do it.. Hopefully I don't get lazy. I still need to get most of the photos from my mom but I can make do with what I've got.

So to remember the trip as it was happening, I didn't want to take the time to write EVERYTHING down and take an hour everynight to journal everything because I would just get tired of it and by day 2, I wouldn't do it anymore. So to substitute, I decided to write down phrases of things to help me remember what we did each day and if I had time later, I would elaborate. Mostly it's there to just help jog my memory. For today, I'll just start with Saturday and Sunday and maybe I'll tackle more later.

So, to preface, we left Saturday, Nov 22, took 3 flights to Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico, and immediately took a 30-45 minute taxi ride to our hotel.

Saturday

Lines on the road really don't matter to ANYONE

Honking is not a rude gesture; they honk at ANYTHING

Heartburn after each flight SO bad

Palace Inn looks cheap on the outside

Dad/Mom/Jed's room smells like smoke - ours doesn't :)

Yummiest hamburgers for dinner from some guys garage - Cost: 20 pesos

Sunday

Church in Coita

bumpy 45 minutes bus ride to church - Cost: 10 pesos each

Everyone shook our hands at church because we were Jed's family - weird, they must have liked him ;)

Church outside by mango trees

Jed gets asked to give a talk in Sacrament meeting (HAHAHAHA)

Heard roosters, not birds, during church

Mom had a fetish with taking pictures of doors

Dad doesn't like the word fetish

Visited 4 different houses

Ate dinner at 4 different houses

#1: Dinner (fried chicken, beans, tortillas, salad, & YUMMY watermelon water)

#2: Homemade bread & Coke

#3: Visit Violet and brand new baby and drink Orange water

#4: Best empanadas EVER!!!

This was the home of the family that fed us first. They were so sweet and the cutest little girl in green was there. While we were at church, during Relief Society, she walked up to me and wanted to shake my hand just because she didn't know who Mom & I were. She was SO cute!

This was outside of the last house we visited. They have a 2 story home and they live upstairs and let the missionaries live downstairs for free! I didn't take many pictures the first day but there will be more to come!

Babies havin' babies..

I think I felt the baby move today! I was leaning over working on the computer and it felt like I had worms in my tummy! I think I was squishing it and it didn't like it.. Everyone says it supposed to feel like butterflies.. butterflies, worms, whatev. It made this whole pregnancy thing a little more real for me but at the same time, kind of freaked me out.. I really have a little life inside of me and I better not do anything wrong! I really want Clint to be able to feel it.. my heart skips a little beat everytime it moves but I'm sure our baby will be doing somersaults long before I'm ready and Clint will be there for all of my complaining! :)

Millions of peaches . . .

I tried this new recipe today! It turned out so yummy and it was easy. Especially for me, who apparently can't cook very well.. (Clint... thinks so) ;) Sorry honey. I got the recipe from Amy at work who got it from someone she knows.. It's peach cobbler!!

Layer 1: 2 large cans of peaches
Layer 2: 1 dry yellow cake mix mixed with a cup of Sprite
Layer 3: 1/2 box dry yellow cake mix (I think you can use the entire thing but I was afraid to)
Layer 4: About a cube of butter cut up into small chunks and scattered on the top
Layer 5: Brown sugar

(I used a little cinnamon too in between the layers and on top and it was yummy!)




It was SO easy.. Bake it in the oven for 40 minutes covered with foil at 350, then take the foil off for 20 more minutes. SO yummy!

Becky's Shower and PUNCH!!

Last Saturday was Becky's shower and it was so fun! The highlight of the day, minus showering Becky with super cute baby gifts, was my PUNCH!!! Let me tell you.. TO DIE FOR. Maybe I'm getting too excited about it. You've really got to try this stuff! And it's so beautiful in the jar! Here's what it's supposed to look like:

I forgot to take a picture once I finished mine so this is from the blog I found the recipe on.

Here's what mine looked like halfway through..

Not as good, I know. I promise it looked prettier in the beginning! You have to take my word for it. A-MA-ZING.

At the shower, me and all my roomies from freshman year got together (minus Elizabeth.. WE MISS YOU!!) and it was awesome! It's so fun to get together and see where our lives are going. Especially since we all started out as confused 18 year olds.. (except linds.. who was 17). :) We are all at different points in our lives but we are all so happy. None of us knew each other when we started out in a strange place but we've all stayed great friends.

Steph, Cheryl, Becky, Me, Lindsey

I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

Old Lappy = Slightly Shotgunned

Before we left for P-town AZ, Clint took my lappy into Best Buy because the wireless card went out... so we thought. We got a phone call Friday night saying they were just going to REPLACE THE ENTIRE COMPUTER!! Some freaky factory recall on the motherboard.. blah-bity blah.. To say the least.. or most.. We were blown away. The new compy is beautiful however, I feel a tribute must be made to the old lappy.. We will miss you.

Baby Pedersen's 1st Photo

We are 12 weeks and 2 days today! Yesterday was our first appointment. We are seeing Dr. Judd in Provo and he's hilarious. He told me for headaches to take to Excedrin and wash it down with Dr. Pepper.. REALLY???? I about died. Best Dr. EVER!!

We also got to hear the heartbeat and it was going strong! Our baby is healthy! S/he's going to be a thumb sucker! Our official due date is April 25, 2009.

JED IS HOME!!!!!!!!!

Jed came home on Friday and it was awesome!! He looks the same to me.. just a little softer around the midsection. ;) just kidding. I made a sign that said "Bienvenidos Tio Jed!" (which means Welcome Uncle Jed). He didn't get it when he first read it. He said that he knew what it said but forgot that me calling him an "uncle" meant that I was going to have a baby. It was so funny when he realized. Here's the video of it..

And here are some other photos of the night at the airport...

Jed & Matt

Jed & the Atkinson girls

Jed & Grandma and Grandpa Hillman

Jed & Grandma Linda


Clint, Jed, & I

Me & my sign

I am SO glad he is home!

1 day left!!

I chopped off all my hair! I did it last Saturday but just now got around to taking a picture.  I also dyed it dark! I was meant to be a chocolate brown but it came out almost BLACK!!  I love it though!  I look sassy!  ;) 

Clint got his hair "done" too and is very handsome looking...  especially when he's in a suit..  Mmmmm Mmmhhh I do love that boy!!  But he won't get to AZ until tonight so no pic for today.

Man I have a big forehead...  and I finally broke the 200 day mark until the baby comes!

Jed comes home tomorrow!!  

4 more days!!

Jed comes home on FRIDAY!!!!!!!!! I seriously cannot wait. He doesn't know we're pregnant and his eyes are going to pop out of his head! His first thought when he sees me is going to be "MAN she got fat!!" but then... I will tell him the earth SHATTERING news... and he will be SO excited to have a fatty sister! Makes it all worth it.. the eating and getting fat I mean. :) I'm having doughnuts for dessert. Jealous?