Monday, August 26, 2013

peru!

one of the great highlights of this summer included a 9-day trip to peru. it was incredible! so grateful to have been able to go. the trip included a couple of tourist days in lima, three days in trujillo for a therapy rehabilitation conference, and "swinging by" cuzco and machu picchu on the way back to the states. 
here are just a few pictures of the trip...
the national cathedral in lima 
outside the governor's palace 
the convent of san francisco. in the catacombs excavated underneath this convent, archeologists have found the bones of 25,000 people executed by spanish inquisitors. crazy. 
love me some peruvian food! 
the parque of buena reserva and it's free water show 
i'm thinking of a career change. thoughts? 
la lucha. delicious. 
melanie and me at the beach 
the puente de buen suspiros 
we happened on this little gem wandering around miraflores/barranco. i'm thinking of yet another career change :) 
the lds temple in lima 

after goofing off in lima, we headed up to trujillo for a 2-day rehabilitation conference. i am so honored to have been invited/accepted to participate in and present at the conference. such a great opportunity and seriously changed my life!
huanchaco, the beach outside of trujillo, at sunset 
the bamboo boats in huanchaco 
the lds temple in trujillo 
the presenters... 
melanie, maria (the slp in trujillo), and me. love this woman!
the main plaza in trujillo at night 
the cathedral in trujillo

after the conference, melanie and i headed down to cuzco and machu picchu. it was a little crazy getting down there (it's a long story!), but totally worth it! so glad we made it!
it was a little chilly in aguas calientes... 
my first view of machu picchu. wow. 

at the sun temple
the classic shot 

at the sun gate, the original entrance to machu picchu, at the end of the incan trail 
the original entrance 

i loved machu picchu!! 




we loved our guide 
see the squiggly line on the side of the mountain? we road up that road in a packed bus. thought i was going to die. at least i would die on my way to see a wonder of the world! 

cuzco at night
cuzco at day
peruvian transporation. no big deal. 
a butcher's shop we saw while stopped at a red light... 

overall, it was an amazing trip. seriously life-changing. i'm so glad i got to go. 
now, i'm just happy to be back in america and am trying to get back in to normal life. i think a little piece of my heart will always stay in peru though :)

Thursday, August 22, 2013

summer highlights!

with summer starting to wind down, i figured it would be a good time to post some summer highlights on the forgotten blog. here's an attempt to capture some of the good times i have had the last couple of months...

the fam came up 4th of july weekend to celebrate my nana's 80th birthday in utah and to attend an extended dixon family reunion in idaho. it sure was good to have the entire clan together!
have i mentioned how much i love this kid?
silver lake. this has become one of my favorite places to wander...
the parentals
the sibs
the entire redd fam 
4th of july stadium of fire with rachel, amy, and bryan
the (almost) entire dixon fa
me with grandma and grandpa 
the dixon-redds with grandma and grandpa

ensign peak with some wardies 
pleasant grove strawberry days rodeo
this was too beautifully delicious not to post...
mormon tabernacle choir pioneer day concert with haley
summer wouldn't be complete without a frozen hot cocoa from hatch's family chocolates

in july, we kept up tradition by heading down to encinitas for a week at the beach house. it was amazing. loved the sunshine. loved the beach. loved chilling out and catching up on some good books. and loved some more quality time with the fam. i sure have been spoiled this summer getting to see them so much! 

we had to keep up with tradition at thrifty ice cream. i sure love me some chocolate malt crunch!

oh, and one of the other highlights of the summer? peru! pictures to be posted soon :)