Boat Trip

Some of our friends here in Vegas also have family in St. George and we took a trip to relax and hang out together with a boat trip to one of the local lakes. I haven't spent a ton of time on boats, so this was a lot of fun! It took me many... many times to finally get up on the wake board but I finally did it!

Me on the wake board and Jerrick and me in the water.

The crew! Sam and Dallin, Lindsey and Justin, and Brenna and Eli with Jerrick and me.

The ladies (me, Brenna, Sam, Lindsey) and Cal!

We are grateful for little trips between studying (for Jerrick) and even more grateful for friends to share them with! I think I would go crazy without these ladies!

Brazil

Jerrick served a 2 year mission for our church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was called to serve this mission in Salvador, Brazil. He was gone from 2004-2006 and has been dying to go back since he came home. I was so thrilled that he was finally able to go back- and that I could tag along with him and experience a taste of what his life was like for those 2 years.

We spent the first half of our trip in Rio de Janiero. He had never been here, and we both wanted to see this city. Needless to say, the sites were breathtaking and we had a blast!

We got to do a lot in Rio. We spent a good amount of time at the beach since our hotel was a prime location for Ipanema beach. We got to tour sugar loaf mountain with amazing views!

We also got to take a tour and hike to Cristo Redentor- the statue of Christ that is overlooking the city.

This is the view at night from our hotel- we were in heaven! Once again, complaining gets you upgrades! We were given a room with two separate twin beds with a lovely view of the alley. When we discussed our disappointment, they gave us a new room much higher with these ocean views! (Also with a king bed.) Love it!

Some pics of us enjoying the beaches. We mostly stayed at Ipanema by our hotel, but we had to check out Copacabana as well. It was a little bit more crowded, so we preferred Ipanema, but both were beautiful.

We took a little boat tour around Rio. It is always fun interacting with locals. Jerrick would do all of the talking and I would do a lot of smiling and nodding. A lot of the time I could understand the jist of a conversation since I speak spanish fairly well, but it got exhausting after awhile! I take for granted not having to think about the words people are saying in order to communicate!

Diving off of our boat into the ocean.

Just some of our favorite things. His and Hers guarana (I like the zero aka diet). Mmmm I miss that soda!

Street art and the famous Ipanema sidewalk that we grew to know so well!

After a few days in Rio, we were sad to go but so excited to visit another part of the country. We took a plane to Salvador, Brazil. This is the area where Jerrick lived primarily. It was a much more eye opening experience. We stayed with families that he taught lessons on Christ and the Gospel of our faith. Helber and Jerrick have become lifelong friends since Jerrick lived in Brazil. It was so nice to finally meet him and his family. It was definitely a change from our comfortable hotel room overlooking the ocean- but an amazing experience I will never forget. I have never met more loving and giving people than those sweet families who would do anything for you- and I was basically a complete stranger!

We definitely had a warm welcome from Helber! He had decorated a sign ("Welcome to Bahia", the state of Salvador), repainted his room, and planned an itinerary of non stop fun for our three days there. He informed me time and time again- "Amy, there is no sleep planned here. You can sleep when you get home!" He really had packed our schedule full of so many fun things to do! We got to see the Mercado and Elevador down town sites in Salvador. We had Acai on a daily basis (mmm so good!), had a couples massage Helber planned for us, and we even went to a soccer game. The game was intense! The other team's fans were fenced off completely and if you cheered for the other team in the wrong section, you would be kicked out because riots start so easily. The police officers were armed with shields, helmets, and dogs. It was terrifying but I am so glad to experience first hand how crazy Brazillians are about futbol!

With a bowl of Acai.

At the Futbol game.

I couldn't have imagined a more amazing trip combining relaxation and a truly humbling, eye opening experience of how blessed we are in America. I hope we make it back to Brazil someday, because now Jerrick isn't the only one out of us who loves the country!

Ryder Goes Out to Eat

We really are those people who are (overly) obsessed with their dog. We take him with us whenever we can! We were visiting northern Utah this past year and were so excited to eat at one of our favorite restaurants from when we lived in Salt Lake City. They had a dog friendly patio, so Ryder got to enjoy The Pie Pizzeria as well! I love that pooch.

St George- Home Away from Home

Jerrick's parents live in St George and it has been a little escape for us while we are in Vegas. It is really nice to have them so close as we hardly ever saw them when we were living in Houston. We love getting away for a weekend and have done it several times since living in Vegas. Ryder is always down for a road trip too.

Ryder loved playing Frisbee in the River. Jerrick is always nostalgic of his days in skim board competitions at the River. He always takes the opportunity to bring his skim board and attempt his old tricks. Sometimes he can actually still do them ;)

Visitors in Vegas!

In April, my Mom and Sister, Kim came to visit in Las Vegas! It's nice living somewhere that has plenty to offer. We wished Katy could have joined us so all the Kummer girls would be reunited, but she made it for the next trip! (More to come later...)

Having family in town actually gives me an excuse to do a lot of fun things and take advantage of the city. We stayed downtown on the strip and had an amazing view of the city. (Complaining gets you free upgrades!)

We did a lot of shopping and site seeing for a quick weekend. We also ate some amazing food! We went to the Bellagio buffet, Serendipity, and Hash House a go-go just to name a few.

Here we are at Serendipity. Their frozen hot chocolate is amazing.

We got to go to a couple really fun shows. First we went to Jersey Boys, and the next night Le Reve. They were very different shows, but I loved both! 

Saying goodbye is always the worst! But just makes us look forward to the next trip!

California Lovin

Vegas has so many perks! One of which, is living so close to California. In 3 or 4 hours we can be at the beach, visiting family/friends, Disneyland... so many fun things in CA. We went last March and were able to visit with Jerrick's Uncle Kenny and see some of Disney land and Lego Land. I was so happy to spend some time with Tanne, such an amazing friend from my Tucson days. She took us to Newport Pier and we experienced Balboa bars mmmm.

 Just some fisherman at Newport Pier

Me and Tanne

Nascar March 2013

Bear with me... I have been terrible but really want to catch up on our memories from the past year! I think the blog is mostly for my own reference, but anyone who reads it is hopefully not too bothered by a bunch of posts at once!

Last year we went to NASCAR! It was an experience to say the least! I had never been before, and I don't think you understand why ear plugs are such a necessity until you see (and hear) for yourself. Jerrick is just a little boy when it comes to cars, so he loved it! Obviously we had to look the part... we had fun with our outfits!