Coba and Gran Cenote

 We drove out to Coba, about an hour and a half from where we were staying.

 We rented bicycles to ride through the jungle. It was very beutiful riding under the canopy of trees with the wind blowing in your face to help cool us off.

 Carved stellae that they had under thatched huts to protect them from the weather.This is one of many.

 3 level temple.

 One of the arches

 Standing in front of the arch.

 On the stairs of one of the temples.

 A small ball court.

 Nohuch Mul pyramid or Gpyramid. It has 120 steps and is 126 feet tall. At the top of the pyramid the building has 2 small carvings known as the descending God.

 A view from the top. It was so beautiful up there. You look out at a canopy of green trees and can see the peak of a building in the middle of it.

 Coming down the steps.

 We were all hot and sweaty and went to the Gran Cenote, which is pretty close to Coba. It was very cool water and clear and pretty shallow caompared to most of the other cenotes.

 The tree roots came through the rocks trying to find water. Really pretty place!

Swimming to another part of the cenote. There were a lot of box type turtles we saw as we got out.

Valladolid and Ik Kil Cenote

The central market of Valladolid, a cute town outside of Chichen Itza. We ate a lot of fresh fruits and a tostada made of bean tortillas. So Good!

The Ik Kil Cenote is about 80 feet deep from the top of the water to the bottom.

 We are on top of the stairs waiting our turn to jump in.

 There we go!

 In the cenote, it was very cool and crowded but was a neat experience.

We ate at a buffet afterwards and ended with a delicious flan.

Chichen Itza

 Our guide, Helaman, took us to Chichen Itza. It means; at the mouth of the well of Itza. His tour began in the van, on the way he told us many things about the Mayan people, myths, words, and some of their history.

 This is the biggest temple in Mexico, it is called the Castillo or castle. There are 365 steps and on the solstices, September and March,  they say you can see the feathered serpents on the stairs light up with the sun. Helaman said the day you see all of the serpents backs is April 6th. Pretty cool!

 The biggest ball court, probably like our super bowl, it was a biggie. 7 each on a team and the captain of the winning team gets beheaded and they feel it is an honor. This is inside the inner wall so it would be like dying in the temple.

 The observatory has 6 windows and the sun goes through them at the solstic times also.

 The side of the observatory, the section in front is the priest's house, it has 3 rooms like the temples did. Outer courtyard, inner courtyard, and Holy of Holies.

Temple of a thousand Warriors, you can see Chac Mool on top in the center.

They had human sacrifices where they took the heart out and placed it on the plate that is on the reclining God's hands. Representing giving a broken heart to the Lord. They had the idea, just the wrong approach.

 This could have been a baptismal font. It has 3 steps down and a round shallow well.

Part of  Las Monjas, the nunnery; this is one of the buildings, the church or Iglesia. On the top right corner you can see the nose of the Rain God that kind of looks like an elephant. They built them that way because the rain comes down and makes things grow up. It was also a sign of fertility. On the building behind us were a total of 13 faces of Cha'ak, the rain god,carved into the stone.

LeavingChichen Itza we took one more picture of the Castillo. Loved this tour!

Akumal Condo and Beach

 This was the view of the pool and ocean from our condo balcony. We loved the pool and the crashing waves on the coral reef.

 In the pool.

 On our balcony.

 A blow hole through the coral on our beach.

 The sandy beach was a 5-10 minute walk from the condo.

 We snorkeled 3 times and saw a bunch of sea turtles, sucker fish on their backs, lots of different types of fish, sting rays, squid looking things, and Alan saw a puff fish.

Hair and Quads

 When we got back to Utah I cut my hair and gave it to Locks of Love.

Tonya and Debi came to see the house and we took Tonya out on the quads.

Tennessee Fun

 A picture of Pa by the bed and feather mattress he made when he first got married in 1925. Us grand kids all slept in it over the years and have great memories of sinking into the feathers.

 Mom made pillows for all of us kids from the feather bed for our Christmas present.

 Standing outside of Cheddars in Cookeville. We are all stuffed to the gills with onion rings and soup!

 In front of Muddy Pond Leather Shop.

 Most of the family there.

 The sistas sharing favorite candy.

 after church we took some pictures.

 The next day we went down to Clear Creek where we swam as kids and took pictures. The recent rains made the water high.

 We played games and shot off a few of Tony's guns.

We said good-bye to Aunt Lois.

Trip to TN

Spent a few days with our grand kids in UT

Provo Tabernacle being gutted and rebuilt after the fire, Picture from Rhonda.

Driving across the great and very flat state of Nebraska.

Made it to Iowa after 18 hours of straight driving. Had July 4th breakfast with Dale at his church.

Crossing the Mississippi River

Got to TN and all the siblings got together.