Puerto Vallarta Vacation

Two very dear friends gave us a week of their time-share to vacation in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. We landed in Jalisco Airport to encounter some of the most stifling heat we have ever experienced in our lives. We were about a month early for the “tourist season” where the humidity drops and the temperatures are lower. This was the first time I was ever warned to “not walk under the wing" and "be careful for the turbines" when disembarking from a plane.


The placed where we stayed was called Villa Del Palmar and was a wonderful all-inclusive resort. There were three pools to choose from, two restaurants and several shops to buy things you needed for your stay.



These are views of the inside of our place. We had our own kitchen, dinning/living room and bedroom. They brought out a nice crib for Grace to sleep in. By the way, we did drink the water! The resort had a full purification system that supplies the entire facility. I was skeptical at first but not once did we have to take Imodium AD! Of course we only gave Grace bottled water. The last thing I wanted to find was a pediatrician in Mexico!




Did I mention the crib they brought in for Grace was huge?


These next two pictures are actual views out of our balcony to the ocean. One is taken from the balcony in our room, the other is from the front balcony where we enter the place. Unlike our Hawaii trip, the balcony actually opened and we could look out. Of course it was 95 degrees out with 100% humidity so we stayed in the cool air conditioning when not outside.



This is a famous location down the coast from Puerto Vallarta called Los Arcos which you may surmise means "The Arches." It was spectacular to see. We didn't rent a boat to take a close look but as you can see some people did.


The high chairs in Mexico were hilarious. This was just one example but it was generally stable and usable. One we had was so ghetto that we decided to just keep Grace in her stroller. Somehow I doubt they worry about being sued for a faulty high chair. My favorite high chair had a plastic tray screwed on to two pieces of wood.


We thought this was a good opportunity to teach Grace water safety. Every time she would stick her hand out we would say, "Don't pet the crocodile." I was glad we had this teaching opportunity because you never know when it will come in handy.


Don't ask me. But for some reason there was a giant chicken or rooster in front of this shopping center. I can't figure out the theme. If you have any guesses please let me know.


It's amazing the things you find in other countries. Here Jenn is posing with the original cheesehead. Being from Wisconsin myself it made my heart warm to know tha they have Packer fans way down here.


This was one of many beautiful seaside restaurants that we visited while in Puerto Vallarta. This was a bit of a drive but once again well worth the trek. Of course we also got suckered into buying several trinkets from merchants along the beach. Drat!


We took a two hour drive to visit San Sebastian del Oeste in the interior of Mexico. This is an old mining town that at one time had 10,000 people living in it but now has aproximately 600 full time residents. There are tour busses that trek up here occasionally. This was the one place that my two years of Spanish came in handy!



On our way back from San Sebastian we were stopped for a few hours by road construction. Unlike the US where they will worry about making a detour or some other provision, they just blocked the entire dirt road for several hours while they worked. If things had gone badly were would have been staying in San Sabastian for the night. Anyway, there was this guy there dressed in white boots and a West Coast Chopper shirt. He was like a Mexican Bono with a West Coast flair. It took me about 20 minutes to take his picture (without his knowledge) while everyone in the car just sat there laughing at me. Well, I got my picture!




This was along the boardwalk one of the days we traveled down to tourist area of the town. If it wasn't for the oppressive heat and unrelenting humidity it would have been a perfect day. Of course that's like saying if it wasn't for the bullets the Normandy Invasion would have been a beautiful walk on the beach.


This was one of the many, many restaurants our friends recommended. It is called PiPi's Comida Mexicana (which is Spanish for PiPi's Mexican Food). They make the Guacamole right atthe table. Once again the food was wonderful. I keep wondering why my clothes don't fit anymore but that is a discussion for another blog.


Don't worry, this is not a picture of Grace being attacked by a killer whale it is just her playing in the water with her Dad. I think this is actually the first time she has gone into the "deep" water!


This is one of those fun shots with Jenn and Grace. What is actually amazing is that I got into so many pictures. Some of our trips I am going to have to convince Grace that I was actually there because I am always behind the camera.


I saved the best for last. You may not be able to tell from the picture but we are actually on a mountaintop restaurant overlooking the entire bay. Of all the restaurants we visited this one had the most spectacular view! Of course we took the time to make the most of it!

Most used spanish sentence: Hablo espanol muy poquito.

(To save any pictures to your computer just click on the picture. When an enlarge picture comes us, use your right click button on your mouse and click on "save as." Pick the folder you want to save it in and then click on "save." If the picture is not saved by doing this don't worry, it is probably under heavy conviction.)

Next Blog: Loosing all the weight I gained on two trips!

Hawaiian Excursion

First of all, why were we in Hawaii? Oh yeah, this was the District Conference for the South Pacific District of the Christian and Missionary Alliance. Is Hawaii a part of your District? Opps, well actually it isn't. But it sure beats going to Bakersfield (all the California people get the joke).


This was actually the only time we got to go to the beach during the week away from Waikiki Beach on Honolulu. If you are familiar with Hawaii you realize that 80% of all the people who live in the state of Hawaii live on the island of Oahu. It was nice but VERY much a big city.


I just love this picture. She just loves to put her face up to mine. I guess just practicing for butting heads with me later in life.

We were about two blocks from the main beach on Waikiki. This was taken one of the nights we walked down to the beach to watch the sunset.


I celebrated my 38th birthday in Hawaii. Actually however this woman is not there to sing happy birthday to me but to serenade Grace (and look for some easy tips from the parents). I was actually surprise that Grace didn't freak out. The lady was loud. Yeah, I broke down and gave the ladies a tip (drat!).

She doesn't do this too often but it is an amazing feat (pardon the pun).

On our final day in Hawaii we visited Pearl Harbor and took the tour out to the USS Arizona. How easily we forget that we were attacked and brought into the war. We were there just days after the 5th anniversary of 9/11. I wonder how many of us see a parallel?

Random shot of Jenn and Grace with torpedo.

We didn't make it to an official luau but we walked on the beach and the local club was having a dance special on the beach.

Jenn made me to do this, I swear!

Finally, this was a shot taken off the balcony. We actually had a great deal on the hotel for two reasons. First, they gave us a special rate of $99 a night because we were part of a conference. Then they cut it in half because our balcony was closed and they were doing repairs from 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM. We paid $49 per night to stay at the Radisson. Not too bad. Two of the days they weren't even working!

COMING SOON: Pictures of our vacation on Puerto Vallarta Mexico!

Forget the spots on my apples, use the DDT

Just a quick note, the World Health Organization (WHO) has finally lifted its 30 year ban on DDT. Was there new evidence that DDT is now safe? No, the evidence has been there for over 30 years. Was there proof that DDT will not kill people? DDT has never been proven harmful to humans. However, tens of millions of people have died from malaria from the 30 year ban of DDT particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

The banning of DDT was one more case of junk science and politics trumping common sense and the evidence. I wish it weren't the case. I wish we could look back on the evidence and say that we can logically understand the ban. Some have argued that it is better to err on the side of caution if we don't know for sure something is safe. That is a reasonable position. However, there was never conclusive evidence that DDT was anything but safe. However, we knew that malaria would kill people if we didn't find an effective way to combat it. With the removal of DDT from the insecticide arsenal we were left to lesser means such as mosquito netting.

Why comment on something as controversial as the use of DDT? It reminds me that ideas have consequences. We can argue issues like global warming, the use of pesticides, or other "controversial" issues. In the midst of the debate we must remember that there are practical consequences to thousands or millions of people. We need to balance the importance of the environment with the human cost of a contrary decision. Further, it is important to wait until the evidence is in and it is dispassionately evaluated before making policy decisions.

Let me comment on a related issue. Personally I am not convinced of the science of global warming. Partially from practical experience. I grew up in Wisconsin with the constant message that we were on the verge of another ice age and that we would soon be frozen under tons of ice. They also told me that by 1995 we would have to wear SPF 5000 if we wanted to go outside. When you grow up under the fear of impending doom only to hear the opposite arguments later you tend to become a skeptic.

I don't claim to have the answer. What I do know is that it is impossible to let politicians and scientists who are paid by Exxon or the Sierra Club evaluate and interpret the evidence. In any other area of science we would allow an open debate, double blind studies, and other practical steps to remove science from politics. I don't think we will make wise or informed decisions on these important issues until we do. If Global Warming is true we need to do everything in our power to stop it. If it is not true we need to not use fear to promote a political agenda.

A Bit of Irony-The Pope and Islam

I have been watching the latest controversy unfold between the larger Islamic community and Western Civilization particularly the growing hostility that has been caused by the pope in his comments last week and the call for his apology.

Here is the opening paragraph from the Reuters article dated September 18, 2006:

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Al Qaeda militants in Iraq vowed war on "worshippers of the cross" and protesters burned a papal effigy on Monday over Pope Benedict's comments on Islam, while Western churchmen and statesmen tried to calm passions.

Let me sum up the situation for those who haven't been following. The pope was in Germany last week giving a speech to a group of academics among which he formerly belonged. He was talking about the relationship between faith and reason and discussing the deficiencies of western culture. During the speech he used an illustration from a dialog between a 14th-century Byzantine emperor and a Persian scholar.

His quote from Emperor Manuel II Paleologus - "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached"

What is ironic here is the fact that his comments concerning the muslim faith about it being inherently violent generates a violent response by muslims! If I tell you that you have a problem with your temper and you slap me across the face and curse me out might not that actually prove my point? To date churches have been firebombed, a nun in Somalia has been killed, the pope burned in effigy and there have been violent demonstrations around the world.

One other question that has been raised is how a quote from a stayed academic speech was dissected and disseminated to the muslim world almost overnight? It would seem that the news services would not intentionally put out this quote (out of context of the speech I might add) knowing it would inflame tensions between muslims and Christians, would they? It strikes me that however this was leaked to the muslim world and media sources that it must have been known the violent and vitriolic responses would result.

Obviously I do believe there are great and irreconcilable differences between Islam and Christianity. They teach differing ideas about God, Jesus, man, sin, salvation, the future and judgment. Beside being both monotheistic there are great divergences in thoughts and beliefs. As I have read this weekend on this issue many have argued that these two groups should begin a dialog to minimize their differences and focus on their shared beliefs.

Although I do not think that violence is the way to resolve these deep differences neither do I think minimizing them is the right approach either. Further, I do think that studying the history of religion can shed some light on belief systems. Interestingly neither the Catholic church nor Islam are innocent when it comes to the use of violence to promote their faith. However, there is a fundamental difference between the two. When the Catholic church attempted to convert people through the use of force it was going against the teachings of their leader Jesus, whom they claimed to follow. When Islam has attempted to convert people by force they are staying in line with the teachings of Muhammad and the Koran.

What is sad in today's cultural situation is you cannot state your observations without the fear of violent reprisal which only buttresses the initial argument but often at great personal consequence. Please don't misunderstand my reason for writing these observations. I am not saying that I support all that the pope stands for and believes. I am not Catholic and I am not writing to defend the belief system of the Catholic church. Even as I write this there are some within the Catholic church that want the pope to recant of what he has said and embrace a more egalitarian view of Islam and Christianity. That may momentarily calm the storm but it will be at the expense of faith and reason, the very topic the pope was trying to address.

(For a decent article on the controversy click on the title above. Also, the quote from Emperor Manuel II Paleologus is taken from this article.)

Happy Birthday Grace Rose Monreal

September 15, 2006

Dear Grace,

Your mom and I walked into your room this morning after you woke up and sang “Happy Birthday” to you. It may have been slightly off key but I don’t think it could have been sung with any more love. When I picked you up and held you in my arms my eyes welled up with tears. I began to think of the day of your birth just one year ago today.

It’s hard to imagine all that you have gone through in your young life. Just six weeks after you were born you had to have surgery to take care of your heart problem. We cradled you in our arms and tried not to imagine you having to go through that at barely over six pounds. If I could have taken your place I would have in an instant. But that is just one of the many memories I have of you.

You were so precious when you were born, I remember giving you a bottle and watching you fall asleep in my arms. I would look into your face and wonder all of the things you are going to do in your life. Will you like to fly kites or chase butterflies? Will you want to go fishing or will you think that worms are gross? Will you want to grow up to be a doctor, lawyer or musician?

This may seem so silly to you but I remember the first time you rolled over. It was upstairs in our bedroom. Your mom and I were cheering you on telling you that you could do it. You were struggling so much and you were so frustrated but you kept trying. When you finally made it over I was so happy that I screamed for joy. That scared you so much that you started crying, but that’s okay because tears of joy were streaming down my face too.

I’ve been so amazed watching you grow up this past year: seeing your first tooth start to poke through your little gums; watching you go from a bottle to baby food and starting to feed yourself; looking at you roll over, crawl and start to stand up all on your own; hearing you say your first word, “Oh, oh”; and seeing the childlike wonder when you find something new to experience.

I want you to know that I love you. I love you more now than ever. You will never stop hearing me say that as long as there is breath in my lungs. You are my precious little girl, you are my princess, you are the apple off my eye, you are my pride and joy. Of all the little girls in the world you are most precious to me. I never want you to wonder if your daddy loves you or if other things are more important to him. When you cry I want to be there to pick you up and hold you. It doesn’t matter if it is next week or in 20 years. I will always be there for you.

I want you to know now and forever that you are still Daddy’s little girl. I pray for you every day and I know that God has His strong and tender hands holding you. Good night Grace Rose Monreal. Sweet dreams my princess. When you wake up I’ll be there for you.

Love,

Your Daddy

Look who's 11 months old!!! (Also, Packer's Game)

As you can see by this first picture, Grace has a toothy grin that just won't stop. She is one of the happiest babies I've ever seen. She loves to smile, giggle and laugh her little head off. Right now she just loves to clap and scream at the top of her lungs (and I do mean scream!).


Her other favorite pastime is saying Uh oh! I don't know exactly when it started but when she gets going she can say it clear as a bell. She knows we get a kick out of it so then she smiles and claps for herself. I think she's got my "shy gene."


Here's a shot of her munching away at a cookie. Already posing for the camera. I think we've taken so many pictures of her already I need another hard drive to store them.


This was taken a few weeks ago at Grace's cousins' birthday parties. Also known as Christmas in July (or early August, I forget). This is Grace with her Great-Grandmother! There is a special bond between these two.

Jenn and I attended the Green Bay Packer Game here in San Diego. Or as I refer to it, "Behind Enemy Lines!" The game wasn't much of one but it was Pre-season and the first one at that. It was cool seeing Favre on his "farewell tour part 2." He's almost as bad as The Who.

This was obviously early in the game before Favre was taken out for his own protection. All I can say is that if he doesn't get a better front line it is going to be a long, long season.

Of course I was wearing my Favre jersey also known as a TARGET. I've never been heckled so much in my entire life, okay there was that one sermon... Seriously you would think that because the Chargers were winning that they would cut me some slack but I had a whole section mocking me because I was sitting in the front row of our section. About one-third of the people were Packer fans but I took the brunt of it. It must be my kindly face.

The most intense part was the guy who tried to start a fight with me in the bathroom during half-time. He lived. He was in a drunken tirade and was about to spit on me when I gave him a stare of death (for you Christians reading this I mean, I was about to introduce him to Jesus face-to-face). He walked away and was arrested moments later for starting a fight with a guy just outside the bathroom.

Speaking of arrests this guy gut arrested right in front of us. i was a little slow to get the camera out. At least this guy wasn't driving a Hyundai in L.A., but I digress. I don't know how it started but I saw beer flying and fists swinging then the cops swarmed in. If you look closely it was a female cop that is escorting him out. The saddest part was that a six-foot-two, two hundred pound "security guard" sat around doing nothing until she and others came to break it up. I think his name was Barak. The comedy came a few seconds later when a couple came up confused saying, "What do we do, he's our ride?" My thought, get his keys.

Random 4th of July Week Pictures

This is a picture taking at Grace's friend Jake's 1st birthday party. As you can see she is having a blast!


This next shot was taking at the Padres' Game when the Giants were in town. After a night of heckling Barry Bonds we had the chance to see him go 0 for 4 and the Padres win it in the bottom of the 9th. It couldn't have been a better night!

The following three pictures were taken on the 4th of July at the San Diego Bay. Two friends of ours, Shawn and Sara Bawulski were out for the week and joined us for the holiday festivities. We parked a few miles a way and took the trolley bus. However, the bus broke down on the way back and we had to walk it back to our car. It made for a memorable night!




This next two shots were taken when we took the Ferry Boat from San Diego to Coronado. On the San Diego dock are a number of historic vessels you can tour and explore. This first picture shows The Star of India which was the main ship used in the movie, Master and Commander.



These last three pictures are taken at the Wild Animal Park, part of the San Diego Zoo. We were joined by a great friend, Tim Rollins, who lives in the area and is presently serving the United States in the US Navy. We are blessed to have him living in the area for the next year. It was an incredible time topped off with some excellent food at a local restaurant.