Costa Rica

For Thanksgiving this year we went to Costa Rica with the Van De Graaff gang and it was a blast! The twins loved hanging out with their cousins and we loved white water rafting and zip lining!

Cancun

I've really been into making videos on our trips lately and it's been lots of fun! Cancun with the babies and our close friends the Woodruff's was a dream. It's great traveling with friends because then you can take turn watching each others kids to do fun things! We stayed at the Omni and it was all inclusive so we basically ate our brains out. The highlight for me was either releasing the baby turtles, snorkeling, swimming with dolphins and a nurse shark. What a trip!

Colombia

Nathan found ridiculously cheap tickets to Colombia so we said why not? Lets go! People thought we were crazy but it was such a fun trip and not once did I feel unsafe. We spent the first four days in Bogota, and Nathans parents got to meet up with us! Bogota is up in the mountains so the weather was fantastic. In the square there are tons of pigeons and people selling seeds to feed them, James loved it (even when birds would land on him!) while Natalie wasn't a fan.

We went to a free Police Museum where we saw the history of the drug lords in Colombia. The second picture shows a desk where they would hide money/drugs. Pretty cool!

 The muesum

Natalie posing with a machine gun ;) Check out her face!

Delicious paella one day for lunch

We had to get James a colombian jersey. EVERYONE there LOVED the babies. Everyone we would walk by would have to comment and ask if they're twins. 

A cool salt mine tour we went on

Mmmmmm!!!

 We visited a beautiful cathedral on the mountain, and James got to meet a llama.

Dinner with a beautiful view.

The next five days we spent in Cartagena. It was such a blast! We ate lots of street food (my favorite arepas), took naps, lots of walks and shopping, and went to the beach!

It was such a fun trip and I would recommend it to anyone!

Slovakia 2015

After Israel we got to spend a month in Slovakia, where Nathan served his mission. This month was all about relaxing. We lived life like as we lived in Slovakia. We cooked a lot of our own meals, went on lots of walks, babies were on their schedule and taking two naps a day. Life was swell and I miss it so much!

Prague

Prague will always be one of my favorite cities. It is so gorgeous! We stayed in a cute little hotel near the square and loved going on daily walks along the river. Don't even get me started about the food. They had so many delicious gluten free food options that were absolutely amazing. Prague was mostly about the food for me.

The babies admiring some fun toys at a shop

Nathan went for a run early one morning hoping to get a picture of the bridge before people were there. I love this shot!

The babies hanging out at our hotel

Like I said, Prague was all about the food! Delicious pizza, bread, desserts and my favorite meal of all time svickova!

A family walk along the river

 Bratislava 

The capitol of Slovakia. We stayed in a fun little studio apartment right in the square that Nathan found on airbnb.  We enjoyed walks and gelato. 

I miss that gummy smile!

Banska Bysticia 

We spent the most time in Banska, a little over two weeks. Nathan is really close with a lot of members there. We loved hanging out with the members. They are the greatest friend a person could have. They love these babies so much.

We went to a fun water park one day

Natalie learned to crawl while we were living in this apartment

The "ward", the members loved holding the babies during church, I love these people!

We loved exploring, eating gelato and drinking hot chocolate

One day we went to a folk dance festival

The fourth of July!

Another day we did a little day trip to a cute town, Kremnica

Jarmilia, she is the best!

Katarina, she was so helpful and kind with the babies

I can't tell you how much I loved our walks around the square

Another day trip to a town that I can't remember the name of, oops!

They have the funnest parks in Slovakia! Trampolines, zip lines, see saws,

Dinner at a members home, here he is showing Nathan pictures of his family

I nursed anywhere and everywhere

Kempinski

Next we headed up to the mountains and decided to splurge one night at a fancy hotel and it was the best decision we ever made! We got to swim in a pool with a chandelier hanging over and with a beautiful view of the mountains, Nathan and I took advantage of the spa, we had one of the most delicious breakfasts and loved walking around the beautiful lake. It is a day I will never forget!

Zdiar

We spent another five days (in a less fancy hotel) in the mountains. It was refreshing and we loved the cooler weather.

Lots of little hikes and picnics

The Van Dalens came up from Kocise to see us and the loved being able to play with the babies! Brother Van Dalen showed us around Zdiar and told us about the history of Slovakia. He is so knowledgeable! 

One of my favorite meals is halusky but of course it is not gluten free so Nathan had the idea of bringing some gluten free flour to our favorite restaurant in Zdiar and asked if they could make me gluten free halusky with it and they did! It was amazing!!!

Trencin

We spent the last couple days in Trencin, enjoyed long walks and gelato :)

And we got to see Nathan's old companion, Holik. Love this guy.

And on our flight home we had the two sweetest Slovak girls next to us on our flight. Nathan and I can't sit in the same row (only one lap baby allowed per row, since there are only four oxygen masks per row) it was nice to be able to hand a baby off for a couple minutes to get a rest. They were so helpful!!