Spain day 1 and 2

Blake and I were super lucky and blessed to be able to go to Spain, Palma de Mallorca, where he served part of his mission.  We had been talking about it for 14 years and finally got the money, babysitters and courage to do it!  I might have cried when I got my passport.  I just never thought I would have one and now I want to travel everywhere I can before it expires.  We'll see if I get to before ten years is up.  

Kellie and Spencer were  babysitters extraordinare!  They kept the kids very busy, fed and happy.  And they updated us with pictures regularly so we could miss them a bit.  We are looking forward to watching their kids in two summers.  The kids said their favorite parts were playing with Dallin and Logan and getting to go to the dollar store for prizes they earned with money.

Potentially one of my favorite pictures ever.  They got to spend time with Nanah and Papa too.  They had a fire pit at their house and got to ride Blue, the horse.  Hailey was a huge help with William and laid with him every night so he would go to sleep.  She is going to be a great mom.

They loved swimming in the hot tub.  Brooke has been asking for a hot tub for her birthday ever since.

We went to visit Uncle Ryan's grave.  It was our first time as a family and a peaceful yet sad experience. It's hard to believe it's been 8 months.  Hailey and Grace looked so sweet here.

Awesome cousins make even more awesome friends.

The kids went to Uncle Spencer's very fun work party.  They loved getting face painted and Hailey even face painted the face painter! She said she should be a painter too.

Now, on to Spain!!!  This was the view outside our hotel, Hotel Feliz.  It was in between stores and homes.  It was a boutique hotel so smaller and no kids.  We did our laundry in the sink and hung it out to dry on the balcony.  One of my skirts fell off the balcony and a girl grabbed it for me. Her mom was in a hurry going somewhere so she yelled at her to leave it there.  I was wondering if falling laundry was a common event.  

We got there after an 18 hour travel day.  Boy, were we mixed up on time!! But we found our bus after a lot of calling and looking and managed to remain calm in spite of my lesser Spanish. Thankfully, Blake still speaks amazing Spanish.  We walked around that night to find somewhere that looked safe to eat.  We found this great pizza spot with the best pizza I've ever had.  Turns out that a lot of Italian people live in Spain so there is a lot of pizza.  I couldn't even believe we were there!

I loved this 700 year old lock.  And the door was heavy and amazing.  

Looking non tired and free.  It was so great to go somewhere where nobody knew us or needed us.  Yes, we missed our kids and were happy to get back to them but it was a wonderful getaway.

We went to this cathedral called "Cathedral of Light".  It had been built on over and over again over the years.  We walked miles to get there because we wanted to see every bit we could on foot. It was so hot and humid but what a great way to travel.  

The water is not drinkable so we bought a bunch of these huge water bottles.  I think we drank 25 or more in six days.  We were so thirsty from all the walking and all the heat!  

There were so many boats at the pier.  It was gorgeous.

The inside of the cathedral. I am always amazed that these buildings were made by hand!

Where archers would fight. I had to take a picture for Spencer who is a big fan of all things military.

This is a road, yes, a road.  And watch out because cars go down these roads.  I just loved the oldness and closeness of everything.

It is called the Cathedral of Light because it was really dark so they put stained glass windows in them.  And they were so beautiful. My favorite was the circle one.  We went on a walking listening tour of the cathedral and I loved the history of it all.

Old windmills on the island

I made Blake take a picture by this sign because he hates taking pictures.  But isn't he so happy?

Everyday we walked through this garden in the middle of the city.  One day we walked by and there weren't any flowers, the next day these were there!  Everything is so green and bright because it is so dang humid.  If we lived here though, I couldn't complain because the ocean is worth all the humidity in the world!

This was our cute little room.  It was so nice to have someone make my bed every day.

Our hotel was right across from this view.

Our hotel had a bunch of random pictures like this throughout it.  I thought it was so funny.

Blake and I went on a walk to nowhere.  We just walked around to get a feel for everything and to get lost.  We came across this staircase and it was a lot of steps but this was the reward at the top. It was so beautiful!!

These pictures are a bit out of order. I am actually writing all of this in December when this all happened in June, but I am trying!!  Isn't winter made for catching up on everything you're behind on?  When we went to Ryan's gravesite, Monica had a box of Ryan's special things, his hats, his scriptures and patriarchal blessing and pictures.  She was so strong as she explained how they remember him.  The kids were happy to be there and I was so proud of her for making it a special place and not a scary one.

Izzy is the selfie queen.  She manages to squeeze everyone in.  And isn't William darling in this picture??

We went to the Idaho Falls temple visitors center. It was closed for construction but it was good to take the kids. We always try to go to or point out temples when we see them because there sure aren't many in the Midwest!  They always flock to the Jesus statue.

I love this picture of our family.  

We played volleyball at Nanah and Papa's with a giant ball and it was a really fun game.  All the kids got into it.  Including the big kids, meaning the adults!

The brothers got in a water fight and they had to wear these special outfits while their clothes dried.  And woops, Gracie almost pulled Blake's towel off and he had nothing on underneath! That was a close one.

We took a family picture one Sunday. We wanted to get one even though we were sure missing Ryan.