Belize Trip Part 2

Rosalie actually went to bed at a decent time tonight so I thought I would go ahead and finish this post :) Poor girl is teething, and sleep isn't her favorite thing right now. 

*Edited: So that was two nights ago, and here I am just now finishing this post ha! Oh well, Rosebud comes first :)

So let's see, on Tuesday night we went to eat at this place called Rose's Grill + Bar and it was really good! We chose the type of sea food we wanted when we first walked up, and then we chose our drink and sides once we were seated. Chanse and I both chose the shrimp skewers, and they were super good!  

And yes I thought it was cute how the restaurant had Rose's name in it ;)

 The restaurant itself was pretty awesome! I loved how almost all of the restaurants were outside!

On Wednesday morning we went to feed the Tarpin before we left, and that was sweet! They were huge, and they would jump out of the water to get the fish out of your hand!

Rosalie met another friend while we were feeding the fish, and she just had to say hello :) She didn't even want to come back to me for a bit!

We left the island on Wednesday afternoon, and drove to San Ignacio where Kim and Annette live. We went to eat at some ward members' house for New Years Eve, and it was so fun to talk with them! I loved talking with two of the little girls there, and they loved Rose! Heck everyone loved Rose!! I don't have pictures though, sorry!

This next picture is from Thursday when we went to meet some of the Elders. All of the missionaries that we met, both elders and sisters, were awesome! They were so kind, and I felt so grateful for the missionary work that is done in the LDS Church. 

Later on that day we went to see the ruins at Cahal Pech. These ruins were absolutely amazing, and Andi and I talked a lot about how cool it would be to see what their civilization was like so many years ago!

Kim and Annette were awesome tour guides, and I am so grateful that they took us there!

My two loves :)

My birthday was on January 2nd, and I woke up to this. Annette had the sister missionaries make this poster for me, and I was so touched! Thanks again Annette and Sister Savage and Sister Hope! The welcome to Belize signs were also created by some of the missionaries, and we loved them as well :)

Kim and Annette also worked together to make me a yummy breakfast for my birthday, and it was delicious! The syrup was homemade and tasted like Heaven. 

After our yummy breakfast we went to visit some other amazing ruins called Xunantunich or "Stone Lady". These ruins were a bit bigger, and so amazing!!!

I had to include one with his crazy face ;)

Afterwards we went to a little shop ran by some friends of Kim and Annette, and they had so many cool things! We bought some items, and they gave us some amazing things as gifts! They were so kind and giving, and of course, Rosalie loved them! 

*She isn't crying in this picture by the way, she was talking haha!

Later on that same day we went to an awesome Iguana Reserve, and got to hang out with some pretty sweet iguanas! The experience was super cool, and the iguanas were really chill. The baby iguanas were my favorite by far though! Annette snapped this picture while our guide was telling us all about the iguanas in the reserve because Rosalie kept smiling really big at her :)

Rosalie loved feeding them!

Looking back at these pictures I am realizing just how busy this day was. We went out to visit a couple of the families that Kim and Annette know from the wards in the area, and I absolutely loved it! This family pictured below was the sweetest family ever! Sadie made some yummy chips, dip, and juice for us, and the kids sang to us in both Spanish and English. They seriously sounded like little angels, and were the cutest kids ever! They all loved Rosalie, and kept giving her their toys. The spirit I felt in their home was wonderful, and this was one of my favorite parts of the whole trip :)

The whole gang :) Could those kids seriously be any cuter?!

We went to visit a second family, and they were so sweet as well! The couple had a precious little baby that was just over a year old and another little boy that was four. Rosalie loved them too :) These people live such simple lives and yet they are so happy. I feel like I have so much to learn from them. It really was an amazing experience for me.

When we got home for the night we ate some of the delicious oatmeal cake that Annette made for me with some soursop (I think that is what it is called) ice cream. 

The next day we went to the Belize Zoo before heading to the airport. The zoo was super cool, but since I downloaded these pictures the night before we left, I don't have any of the zoo pictures :( 

This is a picture of us at the airport though that I stole from Andi :)

The two flights home went pretty well, and Rosalie slept really good the night that we stayed in a hotel in Dallas. I'm pretty sure it is because she didn't nap at all the day before ha! I took this picture on our flight from Dallas to SLC while Rosalie was snoozing away.

 The trip to Belize was amazing, and I will always be grateful that we were able to visit Elder and Sister Rinderknecht while they were serving their mission in Belize. I am also grateful that we were able to take Rosalie, and have her meet her grandparents for the first time. She was definitely adored by them :) 

xoxo

Rachel