My sister and I are long-time bulldog baseball fans (I've had season tickets for 19 years...since 89!! I feel so old...lol), so we didn't think twice before making arrangements to be at the parade this afternoon. If you're familiar with the area, the parade started at the park on campus, came all the way down Barstow to Cedar, and then made a left and headed into the baseball parking area. They finished the evening inside Beiden Field with an introduction and many, many well-deserved ovations for the players. Unfortunately, Jen and I couldn't attend that part of the celebration. But...the parade was great! Here are some pictures...so many people were there! It was incredible...

Fresno State is playing for the College World Series championship. How completely awesome is that? First time ever in the history of Fresno State baseball, that they've made it this far. And doing amazingly well considering they are MAJOR underdogs! We'll see how it goes from here...Monday gametime is at 4pm (west coast time!). I'd say 'go dogs', but if you've been following the games then you know that they are playing Georgia...who are ALSO the bulldogs...so instead, I say "Go Fresno!"

Some new news...first, a new baby. My friend Breanne had the cutest little baby boy on May 28th. Tyson Jace...so they can call him TJ. I saw him a week after he was born and wow...so tiny. I haven't held a baby that small since Thomas was born--so long ago! Can't wait to see him (and Breanne!) again!

Also new news, and not so good news...Mark's mom has breast cancer. They found it early, so it's looking positive right now. She has surgery in early July and then radiation treatment after that. We're very hopeful! Please pray for her! And I will keep you updated.

Not really news but I thought it would be fun to talk about anyway. I had dinner with Deborah last week and it was super fun...other than the fact that I was sicker than a dog (I never did understand that expression), my nose was running (for miles), I had to use all my strength to pull myself off the couch, fight-off the effects of the nyquil I had just taken, and change into my regular clothes and out of the tank top and pajama bottoms that I had been in for the last three hours. It was definitely good to see her and catch up and hear about the baby girls (that are still in her tummy)!

And last new news...summer school is going super-well. One week down and four to go. Or maybe I should say 5 days down and 17 to go? That sounds so much shorter than four weeks. lol. Though, I have to admit I have a great group of kids right now and I'm not eager for them to move on yet. They are all very motivated, work quietly even when I don't ask them to, and so far everyone is passing. I can only hope that the last four weeks (17 days!) run just as smoothly!

After a very long day of traveling yesterday...I am so thankful to be back in California.  :-) 

We had a few inconveniences on the way home, but of course it was all the kinds of things that come with traveling...and I guess I have traveled enough now to just accept that it happens and not really let it get to me.  To give you an idea...

In Mexico, they looked through our luggage before we even checked in.  Thinking back on it now, I'm wondering if maybe they don't have x-ray machines to scan the luggage.  Who knows?  They weighed the suitcases, and we were both over 50lbs, so we had to take our Mexico boyfriends out of our suitcases and leave them there (haha) and pull out a few heavier items and put them in our carry-on.  Then we went through the "normal" security screening...no problem...and found our gate as the VERY LAST ONE in the terminal.  Then AGAIN as we were boarding they checked our carry-ons for water and soda...no liquids could be taken on the plane.  So strange--even if we had purchased them after the security screening, we still couldn't take them.  Mexico is funny.

Our flight left late (because of that extra security check), but the pilot came on and said he was going to 'burn a little extra fuel' to get us there early so we could beat a couple other BIG flights coming in at the same time.  As promised we landed (after an EXTREMELY choppy decent into Denver) a few minutes before our initial arrival time.  We were thankful to have been ahead of schedule, we breezed through customs and found our next gate (which again, happened to be the VERY LAST ONE in terminal B) with relative ease.  Delayed.  Delayed again.  Our flight was scheduled to arrive in Fresno around 7pm...and we were in by 8pm.

Yes, one more inconvenience...we waited around the baggage claim...and waited...and waited...until there were no bags left.  The nice lady at the counter told us our luggage was on the plane scheduled to arrive at midnight.  Lovely.  How can our flight be delayed an hour and then our luggage not make it in time?  So strange.  The nice thing is, they have a service that will deliver your lost/late luggage to the address of your choice.  So my dad called just about an hour ago to let me know that it had arrived at their house.  Yippeeeee!! And, because I had to put all my bathroom necessities in my checked luggage, I was super-happy when Jen shared her shampoo, conditioner, a blow dryer, and a comb so I could get ready for work this morning. :-)

Anyway, determined to not let that experience ruin my trip, I re-read the blogs that I posted while I was in Mexico and WOW!  I had a heck of a good time!  haha.  Hope you guys enjoyed reading about my trip...I'm so thankful to Amanda for asking me to take the trip with her!  And I can't wait to go back someday! :-)  

It's Saturday now, our last full day in Mexico. It's also 11am and I just got out of bed. :-) I guess this is another sleep-in-do-a-little-shopping-and-just-kinda-lounge-around-all-day day. Fine with me! Yesterday was a long day. We got up at 8, intending to take the 930am water-taxi in to PV. Well, when we got to the dock, there was no one else waiting for the service, and they wouldn't take a boat into PV without at least four passengers. So, the nice man told us that if we did the Jungle Canal Tour at 930, then he would give us the water-taxi free at 11. DEAL!

So the jungle canal tour we were supposed to see crocodiles, iguanas, birds, and dolphins...and we did see iguanas, birds, the nose of a crocodile, and dolphins (in a pool that people were swimming in lol). It was nice and relaxing though, riding down the canal for 90 minutes in a boat, looking for the creatures. And of course...I took pictures. :-)

Here Amanda and I are relaxing in the boat.
This is the canal we were traveling on. Pretty!
Here's a bird, I think an egret, just taking off to flight.
Some other pretty birds...I don't remember what they're called.
These are BLACK iguanas, the aggressive kind--we didn't get close enough to say hello. :-)
These guys were hanging out in the trees everywhere along the water--very cool!

So after the jungle tour we did the water-taxi in to PV.  We spent most of the day there, had lunch, did some shopping (great deals at the flea market!) and then came back on the 3pm water-taxi. Here are some pictures of the trip in an out of PV, and some of our time in PV too!

This ride was a little more choppy, not the gentle cruise around the canal. So we had to wear life vests. Don't I look BEAUTIFUL?? :-)
Here's PV from the boat on the way in to the dock.
Here's one view of the beach in PV as we got a little closer.
This sculpture reminded me of Mark. A fisherman. :-) Though, when Mark and I go fishing we never really catch anything. lol.
After we came back to the hotel, we rested for a while, I took a nap and Amanda started reading a new book. Then we went downstairs and had dinner outside at one of the restaurants. We had blue sky all day, so we were anxiously awaiting a beautiful sunset--and we got it! What a great finale for our trip. :-) It was beautiful...here are some pictures.

Thursday...we didn't do much. :-)  Just kinda relaxed around the resort all day.  This was my view for about three hours of the day...hehe.  We finally saw our first significant amount of blue sky...and it lasted about an hour.  And with blue sky...came the sun!  So wonderful!  Hope we are able to see some more of that today.  It's 9am here on Friday and Amanda and I are just about on our way out the door.  We're going in to Puerto Vallarta (remember your geography lesson??) again to do some more shopping.  :-)

(If you haven't figured it out yet, clicking on the pictures will make them bigger so you can see them a little better!!)

FINALLY!! A day with no rain. :-) We were blessed today with amazing weather, and we certainly did our best to take advantage of it. Amanda and I spent much of the day in Puerto Vallarta. Now, just to clarify, we are staying at a resort in Nuevo Vallarta, which is actually in the state of Naranyit, Mexico. Puerto Vallarta is in the state of Jalisco, Mexico. So when I say we are going into Puerto Vallarta, it means we hopped on a bus and went to a completely different state...a state that's only about 20 minutes away! That's your geography lesson for the day. (Totally free of charge...you can thank me later) :-)

Here are some of our pictures from today. Starting with our lovely alarm clocks. These little guys live right downstairs (next to the tigers) and are kind enough to make sure we wake up every morning...though I have to admit we ignore them most of the time. :-)

Here is a picture I took of Puerto Vallarta.  I guess you could call this the embarcadero, it runs right along the water.  So pretty!
Me at Hard Rock Cafe for lunch.  The food was yummy. :-) 
Some of the fun things we saw in PV...the sand sculpture--awesome!
A couple of little boys were working together to balance rocks.  This is what they had when we walked by.  Pretty cool!
Our favorite place in Puerto Vallarta...STARBUCKS!!  And our first one of the trip.  :-)
Dinner tonight was Western themed, so afterwards we went upstairs for a show with dancers, horse-racing, and line dancing--yes, Amanda and I danced!  But trust me, even if we HAD pictures of that you wouldn't want to see them.  haha.  Here's the horse racing...
The cool lasso-man.  We saw him at the show Monday night too.  This guy is amazing.
Tomorrow is a very low-key day on the beach.  Can't wait to relax and enjoy a good book!  Hope the weather cooperates! 

PS See Amanda's blog for more details from today!

The entrance to our resort area...

ROAR!!! This guy lives downstairs from our hotel room.

Taking pictures again...this time on the beach. This was in-between downpours. :-)

Pretty flower...

WOW! Food prices in Mexico have really skyrocketed!! $52 for a big mac??? CRAZY!! (Click on the picture to see the prices a little bigger)

Amanda on the balcony...tonight, after the rain!

Jerelyn on the balcony...tonight after the rain!

PS...Confession: The prices are really in Pesos...so it's $5.20 US. :-)

Well it's 12:00 in the afternoon here in Nuevo Vallarta and you might wonder why we're not down on the beach enjoying the warm ocean breeze and relaxing under an umbrella....well, because it's pouring outside.  Not just raining...but POURING.  So we're trying to figure out what people do exactly when it rains around here.  We had planned to go into Puerto Vallarta and do some shopping, but that would require walking for hours around the downtown area, and as I just mentioned, it's POURING.  So that won't work. :-) 

So while we're thinking of fun things to do that are inside...I figured I would post some more pictures from yesterday.  We spent a couple hours on the beach and walked out into the warm water.  Then last night we had an amazing dinner.  Every night there is a "theme dinner" that you can purchase tickets for...you get dinner and then a show afterwards.  Last night was our Mexican Fiesta.  Very fun!  Mucho fun!  On to the pictures...

Amanda putting her feet in the water.
Me relaxing under an umbrella, reading a book.
My first pina colada of the week. :-)  
Fun in the sand.
On our way to the Mexican Fiesta...the nice man who took our picture made Amanda wear this hat...cute!
The dancers from the show last night, after dinner.
And the mariachi band that accompanied the dancers.

Hola, from Puerto Vallarta!

Here are some pictures from our trip so far. We made it safely, after our 3 1/2 hour flight turned into a 6 hour flight! Weather was bad in Puerto Vallarta, the clouds were thick and it was drizzling so much it was near-foggy. So we had to divert to Mazatlan to refuel and then wait for about an hour (with whiney parents and anxious, rambunctious kids) before we could try to land in Puerto Vallarta.  The first try didn't work (and frankly, scared us pretty bad) but the pilot went around and tried to land from another direction and finally we were in Puerto Vallarta!  And I have to say, it's beautiful here!!  I will be updating this as often as possible with pictures of our adventures, and stories to go along with them.  Check out Amanda's blog too!

This first picture is from dinner last night. Fresh salsa and tortilla chips. We found this little place in the mall and the food was really good. My tacos looked like the ones from taco trucks around Sanger, but they were SO good!

Pretty...from our plane on the way to San Francisco.

Waiting...in Mazatlan. Even HE was bored waiting for us to leave. hehe.

One of the pools at the resort...this is the "quiet pool". 

The beach! This is the private beach for our hotel.

The view from our balcony this morning...

The view from our balcony last night...