Akumal, Mexico

We took a much needed vacation since the first night I woke up to Zach talking to his clients, "Is there anything else I can help you with today? Okay, can you see me now?"
We flew into Cancun and rented a car to drive 1.5 hours south to Akumal. We got upgraded to first class on our flight because AA overbooked. YAY!

The entertainment that was put on by our resort each night with a theme.

Latin Night

Movie Night

Forrest Gump at the Cancun Airport. It was fitting because we hardly watched any television while we were there, but the one time we did we watched Forrest Gump. Zach's favorite line is when Forrest is talking about Dan investing their shrimp money in Apple, "Dan says we don't got to worry about money no more. I said good, one less thing."

Hanging out at the resort pool.

Our Chevrolet Chevy that we rented.

One of the many turtle egg nests.

Iguanas were EVERYWHERE!

Akumal Bay

Zach picking up one of the many hermit crabs.

My trademark sunglasses picture.

Fish and coral - there are tons of fish in this picture, but you might have to blow it up to see.

Turtles, Turtles, Turtles - TORTUGAS!!!

Bahia Principe Coba in Akumal

Our "premium" suite

One of the many pools on the resort.

The entrance to our hotel from inside the resort.

The towel animal the maid left for us.

Tulum - Mayan Ruins

This is a picture of the, Muralla, wall surrounding the ruins. It was surrounding them on 3 sides and the 4th faced the ocean.

The ruins were right on a gorgeous beach.

El Palacio, the building where the most important inhabitants lived and in the back was a sactuary for religious ceremonies.

This was the the building right on the beach for their gods.

Ya Kul Lagoon

A little bit of a trek, but worth it. Most of the underwater pictures turned out blurry due to the mixing of salt and fresh water. It was a secluded, quiet area to relax and snorkel since most of the area was less than five feet and very calm.

Our hike to Ya Kul Lagoon. You can't see it in the pictures, but there were iguanas every couple of feet.

Akumal Bay after our early morning filled with sea turtles.

Zach's favorite video I took following a turtle as it was coming up for air.

Montana

I am on summer break!!! YAY! So I went to Montana for a week followed by a trip to Akumal, Mexico with Zach (posted above). Then Zach's brother, Luke, and his wife, Jen, came to visit for the weekend and now we are off to Minnesota for a wedding. When I was in Montana my camera pooped out on me, but I did get a couple pictures at Evel Knievel Days with my mom. It was my first time at Evel Knievel Days, and it was alot of fun; we saw: a diving show - the Flying Fools (pictured below), Geoff Aarons - a bunch of stunts on a bike, a 2nd generation cannon lady, Acrodunk Extreme Dunkers (finalists in America's Got Talent), and tons of great people watching.

In Montana I also got to visit with many family members, including my Grandpa Dale who passed away on Monday, unfortunately I did not get any pictures, but the memories will always be with me.

Las Vegas

Zach in our not so warm pool on the 25th floor.

We went to Las Vegas for my spring break and birthday. It was a busy few days. It was probably a different Vegas vacation than most people would think because we gambled $3 and came out with $5. Went to bed by 10:30 every night and did not drink any alcohol. Zach was sick the entire time with a cold, so his nose was running and head hurt. He was still a trooper and up for anything as usual. My famous sunglasses picture on the top of our hotel looking at the Stratosphere tower.

Zach and I before Cirque du Soleil show Mystere. It was a phenomenal show. The strength and talent of the performers was unbelievable.

The Atlantis show in Ceasar's Palace. It left much to be desired, but there was a neat aquarium around it.

A guy on the street with his pet snakes trying to make his living letting people pet them.

The ship sinking during the Treasure Island show.

The Treasure Island show outside the hotel "Sirens of TI".

Me at Ceasar's palace before the Carrot Top show, which was a suprisingly very funny and a great show.

The flamingos at the Flamingo hotel.

Zach the flamingo for most of the vacation. The first night we tried to walk between hotels, which is ALOT farther they they look and the rest of the vacation Zach's foot was bothering him.
The hotel New York New York resemble the skyline of New York and was filled with intricate details inside to resemble the streets of New York. Little apartment windows with small fake air conditioners. It was Zach's favorite architecture.

The lionesses at MGM getting their bellies rubbed. There was a man laying down and the other lioness's rump that you can just see his khakis between the lions.

Zach and I each outside the Mirage. They had a beautiful waterfall and pond.

The gondolas outside the Venetian.

Some views of the strip. The top one is from the top of the stratosphere tower and the lower one is from the bridge near Treasure Island.

A contortionist "Maria" at Circus Circus.

The Dogs' Vegas Vacation

The dogsitter we found was amazing! It was a family that lives on a farm with 4 great danes, baby chicks, goats, horses, and cats. The dogs' favorite part where the two boys that lived there and slept with Max and Manny. When we got there one of the boys was hugging manny and the other was rolling around on the ground playing with Max. Here is the great dane puppy that lives there.

Zach was more excited about playing with these dogs than he was about anything else on the vacation. He is holding the same puppy from the top picture.

Zach and one of the great danes with the boy that took care of Max.

The great dane standing next to me and Manny's best friend's arm is in the side of the picture.

Winter Pictures

I have not updated the blog all winter, so I uploaded the pictures we took and will fill you in. This is some of Zach's camera equipment he got sent from IKAN after he won best cinematography in Houston. He got around $2000 worth of video equipment. They have also asked him to do a promo video for a contest they are running. His movie has won around 10 awards at the various film festivals and this weekend his film will be playing at the Omaha Film Festival.

We went to dental prom this year with a group of friends and we both bought new clothes for the event. Zach woke up the morning of the prom and said, "We need to go shopping, I want a skinny tie." So there you have it Zach as stylish as usual and me in my new dress (man I need to get better at posing for pictures!).

We also had a couple of snow days this winter so Manny had fun tormenting Max into playing with him in the snow. (Notice how Manny resembles the joker in this photo.)

This year Zach has become much better at shoveling (from 0 to 1 time the last few years to every other time this year)! YAY! I couldn't be happier! Also notice our Christmas decorations. Those candy canes that Zach is in love with were in our yard until the middle of Feb. frozen into the ground.

We have gone to a recruiting dinner in Omaha for CSB/SJU every year because one of Zach's friends from football is the recruiter for Nebraska. This year one of his friends from film making was one of the servers. It was delicious as usual.