Merry Christmas from Peru and Puerto Vallarta!!!

I received this email from Ty on Friday, December 20, 2019:

Hello, best friend! I made it to the MTC in Lima. I love it already, although I am running on one hour of sleep. I'm confident I will get the Spanish down. I already had a missionary experience, and I will tell you all about it on Christmas morning at 9:30 am Peru time. Have lots of fun on your cruise! Love all of you so much!

We were all missing Elder Milne so much after he left that we decided to console ourselves by going on a seven night cruise to the Mexican Riviera - haha! Dallin, Hayley, Carter, Carley, Blaine, and I drove to the port of Los Angeles to board the Royal Princess on Saturday, December 21st. Our ship sailed at 4:00 pm, and we were at sea for two days before arriving in Cabo San Lucas. Cabo was beautiful. We went on a glass bottom boat excursion to the famous Lover's Beach and around to other beautiful sights along the coast. The tropical fish were beautiful, and we even saw sea lions. It was a fun excursion, except Blaine got really seasick and threw-up a couple of times off the side of the boat. I felt so bad for him. We then spent the rest of the day on the beach. The turquoise water was beautiful and the golden sandy beaches were very clean. The temperature was in the low 80's. It was truly like being in paradise.

December 24th (Christmas Eve) we spent in Mazatlan. We drove to the Golden Zone and spent a nice relaxing day at the beach, sipping on pina coladas and eating yummy Mexican food. We also bought some beautiful handmade gifts.

This message was for Elder Milne in Peru

This one was also for Elder Milne - LOL!

Christmas day finally arrived and we docked in Puerto Vallarta. Before leaving the ship, we all met in my and Blaine's cabin and we opened Christmas gifts. Then it was time to talk to Ty on Google Hangouts. It was so awesome to see his handsome face, and we all had a good laugh at his really bad haircut (apparently it wasn't short enough upon his arrival to the MTC). He told us the past week was the hardest week of his life, but that he was really loving there in Lima. He also said he was so grateful to be at the MTC there instead of in Provo (where he really wanted to go). He knew this was right where he needed to be, because it would be the best opportunity for him to learn the Spanish language. His companion's name is Elder Race, and he speaks fluent Spanish, even though he is from Bakersfield, California. Elder Milne also shared that on the long flight to Peru he was able to talk to a young man about the church, about his missionary service, and presented him a Book of Mormon written in Spanish as he shared his testimony with him. This made my mamma heart very happy. He sounded really good and upbeat, and told us he would call us next Wednesday (New Year's Day). The remainder of the day in Puerto Vallarta, we hired a private driver to take us up into the rain forest where there was a waterfall and pool of water, and then we spent the remainder of the day at a secluded beach. It was a wonderful Christmas day, definitely nontraditional, but I loved being with my family and talking to our missionary son.

We were two more days at sea, and then on December 28th we arrived back at the Port of Los Angeles. That afternoon, we attended the Nutcracker Ballet, performed by the Los Angeles Ballet Company. It was an amazing performance, and the guys didn't complain too much. We then had a tailgate party at our condo - we grilled hot dogs and hamburgers and enjoyed eating them outside. Then off to the Staples Center to watch the Utah Jazz defeat the LA Clippers. It was an awesome game, and we had a lot of fun. The next day was Sunday, so we attended Sacrament Meeting in a Redondo Beach ward and then drove up the coast to Palos Verdes and found a yummy place to eat brunch - The Yellow Vase. That afternoon we took a long nap, and then back to the Staples Center to watch the Lakers defeat the Dallas Mavericks. It was a lot of fun, and afterwards we ate at an awesome Mexican restaurant - Rosa Mexicano. Their Yucatan Coladas were delicious! Monday morning we headed back to our home in Washington City. We had an absolutely incredible vacation, and it was really hard adjusting back to reality. Now that we were back home, the realization that Ty was gone really set-in. My heart was heavy for a few days - thank goodness we get to look forward to their weekly video calls and emails.