The good things of Costa Rica

Thank you so very much for your concern everyone. We are safe back in our beloved land of American now. When I landed I got a text that said "I put my hands up....Heidi's home. Party in the USA!" Ha ha. It really was a party for us girls to be back on safe ground. Thanks Brandon :)

All things considered, there really were some wonderful things that we got to experience in the beautiful country of Costa Rica. Here are a few highlights.

Airport time! SLC airport above. Denver airport below. You KNOW we did the yoga honors in the bathroom. So sick of sitting on the fat plane!

Paul "The mystery has finally been uncovered! Now we know what girls REALLY do when they all hit up the bathroom together!"

This is Paul and he was LITERALLY our GUARDIAN ANGEL in Costa Rica. One of the nurse's I work with is from Costa and he called his brother when we were going down there and told him to take care of us. He picked us up from the airport, saved us when we got robbed and waited forever for us while we were at the Embassy, gave us rides to nice hotels and hooked us up with some fun things to do in Costa so we weren't so stinkin' scared the rest of the trip. People like him remind us to step it up and be a good person and help others out. He went above and beyond. Telling the the hotel, drivers etc that they better take good care of us like we are his daughters. We can't thank you enough Paul!

Sucking some sweet nectar out of a flower. Beautiful green country!
This reminds me of Fern Gully. Anyone remember reading that in like 4th grade? Ha ha
Our first look at an active volcano.

Some of the wildlife we saw...

TONS of these above. FREAKING OUT about the crocs. WATCH OUT!!

Random bull ride
SLLOOOOOTTTHHHHS! WE love them!!!
CUTEST MONKEYS EVER! Their hands were so soft!

This is me feeding the monkeys. Watch it. It's rad!

Beautiful beaches

Black sand beach


Our last day we got to go river rafting. There were amazing views of the river and high green walls of trees that surrounded us. It was pretty hard core. We had a blast!


You KNOW we all fell out a time or two.
Us two LOST fans were loving that Sayid was our river raft guide!!!

This was a HUGE highlight. Seeing the bright orange lava flow out of this active volcano at night. It was like your 9th grade science class come to life!
We also went to this natural hot river with pools along the way that you can sit in and a long slick thing you can water slide down. At one point, I just put my back up against a rock and let the water flow over me. It felt like a massage. I looked up through the trees at the dark blue sky and just took it all in. AAAHHH, for the beauty of the earth.

Overall we had a great time. We experienced, met wonderful people, took in the culture. An adventure is what we wanted and an adventure is what we got!

Please prepare yourselves

I debated posting anything about this but if I can help anyone through this experience then it will be a good thing. A few months ago Alana, Becca and I planned this trip to COSTA RICA. I felt 100% safe and confident going here being a Spanish speaker and having already traveled around South America.

I will preface this with the fact that we are safe and sound here right now at the Marriot relaxing and rejuvenating. The first day that we were in Manuel Antonio we were walking down the beach back to our hotel at night (early though like 8:30). We saw two men come out of the jungle and they attacked us and robbed us. It was very scary for us and kinda personal to the details as of what really happened so I will not go into that here. My purpose is to tell everyone to prepare themselves and have a plan.

As we talked it over after we wish we would have had a plan as to what we would have done. All of us reacted on our raw first instincts.

1. One of us ran as fast as we could and got away

2. One of us didn't fight and gave up the purse pretty easily as not to be more physically hurt or raped.

3. One of us fought them, struggling to keep their stuff and got thrown around.

Luckily we were not stabbed or shot or nothing like that happened. It was one of the scariest things seeing those men come out of the jungle and seeing them approaching us. What I wish is that we had

1. MACE. I would have had it out. Ready to spray (not in your mouth like I did when I was 12. Yes that is right. I thought it was Binaca and sprayed it in my mouth and Tarzan screamed it all the way to the faucet where I spent the next few hours drinking my guts out)

2. TASER. One of my friends told me she asked for a taser for Christmas I think. I was like "Really? A taser?" But now I totally get it. This was actually the first time in my life that wish I had a gun on me. I really wish I had power over them to get them away from us.

The point is we feel like we were in a movie. The things in the movies like 'Taken' and 'Broke down palace' really do happen. You always think of what you would do in that situation but then you never really know untill you go through it. The scariest part for me besides right when I saw them coming at us was when I had got to safety, I handed my stuff off to Alana and had to run back in the dark to ....what? Was I going to try to beat up the guys attacking Becca? Was I running back in to find that they had taken her? Did I do the right thing by running?

Well, please prepare yourselves for a situation where you are taken off guard and have a plan for when you feel unsafe. Besides about 800$ cash, iphones, cameras, credit cards and passports, drivers licenses, etc luckily we came out of there alive. We spent the day yesterday at the US embassy trying to a temporary passport for Beccs and lane so we could get back home.

When all was taken care of in that sense, all we wanted was the Marriot and pizza. Anything American and safe...so we came to this AMAZINGLY BEAUTIFUL HOTEL and we had a great day today recovering, laying at the pool, spa timing it, working out and eating out and FEELING SAFE. Interestingly enough that on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, the basic human needs are survival and feeling SAFE.

We have an escort for the next few days until we leave. We will still be able to see some of the country and not be scared for our lives. Please pray for us. I hope this experience can all help us in the future.

Chile update

Thank you so much everybody for helping out my beloved land of CHILE through COLOR MY WORLD! We had so many people donate and were able to get hundreds of hygiene kits sent down to Chile. Thank you!!!

Thank you to many of the staff at the UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL for your donations. Trace is a nurse there and they got together 60 kits to send down. We had a little party a month ago to bring people together and donate. We even made a traditional Chilean treat. Completos..your favorite way to prepare a hot dog. 3 or 4 of us in this pic served our missions in Chile. Lots of work to put all the kits together...and yes, the shopping cart was in my condo for at least a week! :) The week I went to Hawaii my mom came to the rescue and help get all the kits finalized and her and my cute dad got them shipped off. Thanks parents! You're the best!

My friend Andrea and her husband's family put together a bunch of kits for a family service project. Thank you! Her daughter describing the earthquake in Chile to the other kids in the family "Ya the whole earth shook and their houses fell down and they don't even have any toys anymore." How sad:(

And last but not least..this is Rosie's daughter Eva. She said one morning "Mom, when are we going to make those kits for the people on the other planet?"

Thank you Angela and Hillary for starting COLOR MY WORLD and getting me all on track to head up this project. I love you two!

Thank you all for caring enough about Chile and helping them out. I know your efforts are greatly appreciated!

The Bachelor

Isn't it funny how on 'The Bachelor' the girls are always like "Oh wow, a helicopter ride? I never thought that we would go on a helicopter ride." Ya right! They go on one every season!

Ok ok, maybe I shouldn't make fun because I never dreamed that I would go on a helicopter ride in Kauai...and I did!!!

I was SO EXCITED!!! 70% of Kauai is inaccessible, except by helicopter or by hiking in.

It was amazing and beautiful!

We saw waterfalls after waterfalls

Perfect day

Here are a few clips if you want a taste of the experience! Don't worry, as you will notice, we did the helicopter ride with THE DOORS OFF! It was extreme and waaaayyyy awesome! Simply breathtaking.

Is this even real? What? Can you believe how pretty this is? It is like another planet. It was funny, Brandon and I were like "What are we going to do back in Utah? Go watch Jurrasic Park? "

You know it! This is a funny clip that his friend randomly took about The Bachelor.

The Helicopter ride was such an ADRENALINE RUSH to the MAX that we were exhausted after and just wanted to go check out our hotel and relax.

What? We were both freaking out when we got to the hotel. He was like "Man, they really have to work on their website. It didn't look this good online." We LOVED the pool and the beach right out front.
Banana pancakes anyone? Yes please!!!
Massage anyone? Yes please!
Wow, what a day. Speaking of the Bachelor..who is excited for The Bachelorette with Allie? ....I am :) You always get swindled in one way or another I swear!