Kai's 2nd 4th birthday!

We had another party for Kai the Sunday after his actual birthday. The reason behind this second party was that we didn't invite Bill's grandma's to CEC as one of them is on oxygen 31 (i.e. 24/7 - if you watched Two & a Half Men you'd understand!) We also hadn't invited any of our friends or family from Provo or SLC because they wouldn't have been able to make it up to Layton on a Monday (& school) night. So we had this 2nd party. It was quite the contrast from CEC! It was more laid back, you could actually hear each other without having to scream from a foot away from someone and my cousin Jamie set the mood playing mellow songs on her new ukulele. I was so busy cooking that I didn't get to take very many pics. So here is what I got:

This was really cute! Kai insisted his twin brother from another mother Kimball help him open his presents!


Aren't they just two peas in a pod?!

Grandpa helping them put together one of the toys

Grandma coming to the rescue!

Grandpa & Grandma Griffiths; Ben (#2 - he was born later), Melissa, & Braden; Ali; Michelle & Jeremy; Kathy, Kala & Kawena; Janzell & Ben (#1); Nathan; Jamie; Denise, Erik & Kimball were all in attendance.

Kai's 4th Birthday!!!!

Kai turned 4 years old on October 12th! When we woke up that morning, there was 4 inches of snow on the ground! It was pretty cool.

Since it was Sunday and there was snow, we stayed inside and and just relaxed. Ben came over because Melissa and Braden were visiting AZ. We watched TV, played Mario Kart Wii and made cookies!

As you can see Koa was eating more than he was helping, but it was still cute! We were making peanut butter cookies with m&ms on them. It's a good thing I bought a big bag of m&ms because we all were eating them on the side as well (myself included)!

The next morning, Kai celebrated his birthday with his preschool class. Miss Mary had me bring pictures of Kai to show the classmates and a snack. I brought fruit rollups and a birthday face cake from Sam's club. Here are some pics:

We decided to have his birthday party that evening at Chuck E Cheese's for a couple of reasons. #1: We had just left him for a week to go on our trip. #2: A new Chuck E Cheese's had just opened in Layton. #3: We knew Kai would LOVE it!

Before we left on our trip to Mexico we asked Kai who he wanted to invite to his party. It was really cute. He actually did give us names of who he wanted there!

We booked a birthday party with C.E.C. for the 13th because it was a monday night and we thought it wouldn't be busy. Boy were we wrong! Apparently C.E.C. is busy all the time because it was so new! In fact after I came back from Mexico, I looked into maybe moving his party date and found that CEC was booked for 2 whole months without any openings at all except for on Sundays!

So back to the party. The Hogge's came, the Dee's came, the Sillito's came, and Aaron, Ben, Melissa, Tarra, Paige, Huner, Dave, & Courtney. It was a zoo! But soooo much fun! We had a whole reserved table, a dedicated server and tokens for everyone to play with. We had pizza, sandwiches, and cake! In fact, CEC himself came out to sing happy birthday to Kai. It turns out Kai is a little afraid of huge costumes. He was pretty scared of Chuck. And to make matters worse, their own special birthday song they sing is like 5 minutes long! It was almost torture for Kai! Although I didn't take a whole lot of pictures, here is what I've got:

My life didn't flash before my eyes. I just thought "This is it. This is the end..."

WARNING: I have been working on this post for about one month because I didn't want to forget or leave out anything! Because of this, beware: this post is LONG!!!!

Our Mexico trip was everything you love in a great movie: Romance, fun, excitement, action, comedy, beautiful scenery, and of course a near-death experience! I'll get to that in a little bit though.

We first flew into San Diego where Pro Comp (the company Bill won the trip from) sent a 6" lifted Tahoe to pick us up. Dave - one of the higher ups from Pro Comp was there personally and was impressed that I could get into their Tahoe without any help!

He then drove us to the Marriott in the Gaslamp district. Apparently its the happenin' place in San Diego. Our room was gorgeous and very comfortable. We didn't even know what to do with ourselves since we didn't have any kids! So what did we do? We called them of course! Especially since we were going to be out of cell phone range for the week. After we knew for sure that our kids weren't going to burn our house down and weren't going to die of broken hearts without us, we decided to scope out Gaslamp.

We were told that 5th street was the place to be so thats where we headed first. Surprisingly, it was pretty dead. Then again, it was also a monday at 1 pm. When we went back at night again for Sushi, it was a little busier, but not much.
The next morning we met all the other guys who were going on the trip too. Some of them were at the hotel and the rest of them met up with us at the ProComp factory. There were 15 of us total. And I was the only female! Bill actually won 2 trips, one for me and one for him. All the other guys only had 1 trip each. So thats why no other wives were there.

After touring the factory (which was HUGE and VERY interesting!) we headed over the border. We stopped at a restaurant called La Fonda for lunch. When we pulled up to it I kinda giggled because it made me think of Napoleon Dynamite! Anywho, La Fonda was awesome. The seafood was fresh, the chips were homemade and we sat right off of the beach. Anyone who knows me would know that I LOVE beaches! In fact, beaches are the number one thing I miss about Hawaii (my family is a very close second!)

The beach at LaFonda

The Guys at LaFonda

After a nice and relaxing lunch and a mexican coke (so much better than USA's because they use real sugar cane!) we headed to our starting point for the "race"- Horsepower Ranch. There we saw where the baja vehicles are built. It was really interesting. Because Bill and I are husband and wife, they put us in the honeymoon suite! The resort wasn't super fancy, but a cute rustic ranch. The food was DELICIOUS!!!! The staff was super friendly and they really took care of us.

We had an orientation and watched an instructional/safety video. The rest of the night we just hung around the lobby and got to know each other better. I started playing ping pong with one of the crew members and had a blast. We also found out one of the guys on the trip was also LDS (Wayne) so we were happy to know we weren't going to be the only ones not drinking (as that is traditionally a big part of this trip!) As it turned out, there were a handful of us that didn't drink. Which was good as half of our group went to have a night on the town that night i.e. drink! The rest of us hung out and talked or played ping pong or darts. There wasn't power wired there so they had a generator going which turned off at 10 pm. That was a good thing though since we were going to have a 7 am start the next day!

Believe it or not, I was actually up EARLY!! I guess it was all the excitement! As we got situated we realized I wouldn't be able to reach the clutch even with the chair as forward as possible. So they pulled out a cushion made just for that reason. What they didn't expect though is that even with the cushion, I still couldn't push the clutch in all the way! So I ended up having TWO cushions! The guys all teased me about having my own personal couch to sit on while driving! As we started going, we had a trial run to test the driving and radio skills. See, we were driving in a caravan style. There was the lead car which had our 2 guides (Sto and Bozo) then following them was car 1, then car 2, and then all the way to car 8. The guide would go a mile or so ahead of the first car and then relay big rocks in the trail, ditches, which way to turn etc. We all had navigation systems in our cars and we would sync them so when he said to turn left at mile 3.7 we would know exactly where we had to go. The lead car would tell car 1, then car 1 would relay it to car 2 and so on so forth. The reason we had to do that is because there were times when the lead car and the last car would be separated by 4 miles or so and the radios would not be able to transmit that far. We were separated by that much because we couldn't drive in the dust of the car in front of us so we would wait at every stop point until the other car was 30 sec or so in front. Here are all the cars lined up at one of our stop points:

Here is a pic of Bill and I together that first day:

The reason I know it was the first day was because that was the only day we drove together! Yes, you read that right. You know the old cliche of a husband and wife driving somewhere trying to find a place and arguing every step of the way? Well imagine that times 10! Thats what happened to us as we were trying to follow the trail, listen to the radio, transmit the instructions to the next car as well as your driver and trying to drive without going off a cliff! It probably didn't help matters that Bill's helmet wasn't working properly and couldn't hear anyone except me! I swear we were ready to kill each other! In a loving way of course! Throughout the day all the drivers and co-drivers would switch spots at bathroom breaks. Speaking of which, yes, we went to the bathroom like neanderthals - out in the wilderness. It was a little harder for me than the guys though because I had to find something to hide behind and usually it was a cactus so I had to watch what I was doing or else I could get skewered (which I did a couple of times!) The guys would just walk a couple of steps away and just go! I swear everywhere I turned during those breaks all I saw were guys peeing!

Anyway, that was kind of a long tangent! So, whenever we would stop we would switch drivers. When it was my turn to drive I had a blast! I would go faster than Bill was comfortable with so cue more arguing! The guys would later tease Bill that I was a better driver because the cars behind us didn't have to wait as long as they did when Bill was driving! Well, one time we were driving and looking for a pipe in the road that the car in front of us warned about and we were going up a hill and I went fast so we could catch some air. I figured it was safe because no one warned us about any sharp turns or anything, so I went for it! Unfortunately, as we were flying up over the hill in the air, I saw that there WAS a sharp turn afterwards and we were headed off a cliff! My life didn't flash before my eyes like they say in the movies and on TV. I just thought "This is it. This is the end..." I was absolutely sure I was going to die. All I could see were the huge boulders at the bottom of the cliff which I was sure we were going to roll into once we landed. Time seemed to stand still as we were flying through the air. Suddenly we hit the ground and I hit the brakes. We had landed at a 45ish degree angle sideways. I kept leaning upwards toward the top of the hill trying to keep the weight on my side so we wouldn't fall down to the bottom (which was Bill's side). Bill undid all his harnesses and jumped out and took off his helmet.

We radioed everyone to alert them that we were off the trail and on the side of a cliff. They asked me if I was okay and tried to ask Bill if he was okay but I told them that he couldn't hear them because he was out of the car and had taken off his helmet. Later the guys would tell me they thought I meant that he had been thrown out and his helmet had come off. Eventually they found us (we had taken a wrong turn somewhere before that hill and so they couldn't find us at the mile marker we told them because our route was different than theirs. After lots of pictures of my folly (not to mention the teasing), our crew towed our car off the cliff and continued on. At lunch, everyone kept teasing me good naturedly. I just smiled and took it in. After all, I did almost roll the baja over a cliff! After lunch, it was Bill's turn to drive. After we were on the trail for a couple of hours, we heard some of the cars in front of us alerting the following cars to watch for a big dip at mile 26.7. As we approached that marker, I saw the dip and some weird stuff all around it like a backpack and pieces of something. A split second later, I looked past the ditch and saw this:

Except no people around it but one of the guys still strapped in upside down and the other guy crawling out of the front window. I immediately called out on the radio that car six had flipped! Then as fast as we could got unstrapped and ran to help the guys. Luckily, there wasn't any super serious damage. The driver, Mason, had a few bruises where the harnesses were on his shoulders. The co-driver- I can't think of his name right now- had the same bruises but also was hurt in his arm. He can take it though. Shortly before he came on this trip, he was racing his dirtbike and crashed and got ran over by another bike. He had this mean old wound on his back that looked like he'd been stabbed! Anyway, back to the crash in Mexico.

Our crew was able to get a replacement vehicle and flip the crashed one back over and was able to load it up on a trailer. The only good thing about this was that I was no longer the butt of all the jokes! At least my crash wasn't a crash and didn't cause any damage to anyone or anything! I could have, but was lucky! After we got everything in order, we finally resumed our trek to San Felipe.

San Felipe is a cute town on the coast. When we got there, we were assigned rooms and we all went swimming. Some in the ocean and some in the pool. I opted for the pool because they had a bar there. Yes, I am a heavy drinker! Just kidding. They made me VIRGIN margaritas. They were awesome. Also, after a hot sweaty day in the dust, the pool just seemed more refreshing and clean.

After swimming, we all got ready and went for dinner and a night out on the town. We walked about 10 minutes to this restaurant reknowned for its shrimp. After driving all day, it was kind of nice to walk. During dinner, Loren, the head honcho of ProComp and the guy who gave us these trips took me aside and told me how glad he was that I came on this trip. It was kind of cool.

When we were done eating, the non-drinkers (about 5 of us) headed back to the hotel while the rest of them stayed there. Bill and I were pretty tired, so we just went to sleep.

The next day, I woke up at like 5 and couldn't get back to sleep. So I went and sat out on the beach and just watched the waves roll in and out. The seagulls were out trying to catch the fish that were flying out of the water and the fishing boats were way out casting their nets. I just sat there and took in the calm beauty of it all. I watched the sun rise too. Here are some pictures I took of that peaceful dawn.

On this day Bill went in Dave's car and I went with Loren. We figured we wanted to go with experienced drivers so we could see how far you could push the bajas and how to get the hang of it. After driving with Loren for a few minutes, I knew we had made the right decision! Loren was much more patient and since he knew what he was doing, he taught me how to know when I could go faster and when to pull back. Same for Bill and Dave. And as an added bonus, Bill and I weren't fighting, but enjoying ourselves for once! I know this makes us sound dysfunctional, but oh well! Maybe we are a little! We still hung out at all the breaks and later at the next ranch. See?

During day 2 of the "race", we ran into some federalis. Apparently, they were on the side of the trail and when the lead car went past them (going super fast since they knew the trail) the federalis (who were on foot) started running after them with their oozies. The lead car saw them and immediately stopped. I guess the federalis thought we were drug or gun or human traffikers since we were going so fast. It was a good thing one of our crew guys who spoke English and Spanish carried around lots of water and treats for us, because he offered them to the federalis as a sort of peace offering and to help them be more understanding as we explained what we were doing there. After the federalis were appeased, we continued on. It was still a little unsettling to see these mexican guys wearing camo and carrying machine guns!

That night we went to Mike's Sky Ranch. We had traveled up a mountain that day so we were at a higher elevation and it was quite a bit cooler, which was actually refreshing! I was still hot from the day so I put on my swim suit and dived off the diving board into the pool. I felt like I was doing the polar bear jump! It was FREEZING!!! I'm surprised the pool didn't have ice in it! I tried to stay in it for awhile hoping I would get adjusted to it, but no, my legs just got numb and I started losing feeling in my body. So I got out. The funny thing is that in our group we had 3 Canadians who we teased a lot for being, well, canadian! Mason, Kelly and Adam had gone swimming with me at both San Felipe and at Mike's Sky Ranch. At San Felipe, they were complaining that the pool wasn't cool enough where I thought it was just perfect! At Mike's Sky Ranch I was freezing, but they thought that they were in heaven! I don't think I ever want to live in Canada if that freezing body of water they called a pool was considered refreshing!

This is the driveway up to Mike's Sky Ranch

This is the courtyard around the pool at Mike's Sky Ranch

After I got out and changed into warmer clothes, we all sat around the pool and listened to music (Adam had brought his ipod and a speaker set) and hung out and talked. It would have been nice except that there were incessant flies bothering us! As the outside temperature cooled down quite a bit, the flies began to disappear. We ate dinner (another yummy authentic mexican meal) inside the dining room and then went back outside to enjoy the clean air. Thats when Bozo broke out his margarita machine he made out of a blender and a motorcycle engine. To make the blender work, you have to rev the motorcycle handles like you're driving one! He let me play with it which was a huge deal because he usually doesn't let anyone work it! Bozo made margarita after margarita and it was kind of funny to watch some of the guys lose theirselves as they got more and more drunk! I had never been around people who drink so this was a new experience for me! Luckily they were loving drunks, not angry drunks! It was seriously hilarious! At 10 pm the generator turned off so we all headed to bed. We used flashlights and candles to find our way around and do our night routines. I love that feeling, you know the same one you get when you're out camping in the wilderness! Everything is silent and peaceful and you see more stars that you ever have before. Man I really miss it.

This is the motorcycle blender & me driving it

Behind me are 2 of the canadians, Mason & Kelly

The next day, we woke up had a great breakfast in which our crew kept stuffing food into Sto's pockets without him noticing while he was talking to me. I knew they were doing it so I was deliberately distracting him. Pranks were flying throughout our trip - mostly between the crew members! There was a new crewmember and they were initiating him- mostly with pranks! It kept the trip quite fun actually. They threw him in several pools and dumped water on him a couple of times too. And other stuff I can't remember right now!

After we had breakfast, we headed out and continued on our last leg of the race. We were returning back to Horsepower Ranch. This day, there weren't any major incidents. I did lose control of the baja once and spun out off the road and then got stuck in a ditch while trying to get back onto the trail. But I wasn't the only one who got stuck that day, so I didn't feel bad. Here is one of the other cars that got stuck in a ditch. Also for the record, the guys in that car had come on this trip 4 other times.

For about 20 minutes before we got to the ranch, we drove on the paved freeway. I was the co- driver at the time and since we didn't need the radio on the freeway, I relaxed and actually fell asleep. I guess even after we arrived at the ranch, I was still sleeping soundly because Bill showed me all the pictures everyone took of me sleeping in the baja vehicle. In my defense, in order to ride in those vehicles that bounce around constantly and not get motion sick (which I get really bad even in normal vehicles on paved roads) I had to go on some medicine. The medicine would make me fall asleep when I was tired and relaxing. Between that and my "couch" of a seat I was riding on, it was really easy to fall asleep. The guys were teasing Loren that he must be a mild driver if I could fall asleep in one of those cars!

At Horsepower, we ate showered, ate dinner and filled out customer satisfaction surveys. Once again, the dinner was delicious! Out of all our great meals on this trip, Horsepower Ranch had the best food. After we were done, we all boarded the shuttle back over the border. We had to get out of the shuttle and physically walk over the border after going through customs. Once we were over the border, everyone and I mean EVERYONE of us pulled out our cell phones and started calling our families. One of the guys - Ryan- said loudly, "Does anyone have a cell phone? Anyone? Anyone?" It was a pretty funny sight.

I was absolutely amazed at the news I got from Melissa! She told me that Koa had done just fine with them and that Kai wanted to stay at the Sillitos the entire time! He slept there and everything! I was definitely relieved to say the least!

Most of the guys were headed home on flights that evening. Bill and I and the canadians were all staying the night at the Marriott again and then headed home the next day. So we all went to dinner after checking in. We went to 5th Avenue again and it being a Friday night, was soooooo different than it had been on Monday! It was like being at Mardi Gras! There were lines out the doors of every restaurant, Hare Krishnas walking the entire strip back and forth, cars cruising the strip including billboard size lighted ad signs being towed on trailers behind trucks and even a walking carnival! There was the fat lady, the tall skinny man on stilts, a unicyclist, a guy walking on a ball, and some other guys. Then there were also cheerleaders wearing skimpy uniforms asking diners sitting in the outdoor areas of the restaurants trying to get donations for whatever cause they were working for. It was CRAZY! Yet, oddly fun! It was a nice evening spent with the Canadians, who incidently were my favorites from the whole trip. The next day we said our goodbyes and headed home.

This is our group picture. When we took it, 2 of the guys were already in their car and didn't want to get unharnessed for it so I took a pic of them in their car.

This is most of our crew

This is Sto and Bozo

This is Danny. He was the guy who helped with most of the mechanical issues like our helmets and my problem of being able to reach the clutch. It was kind of weird to see a white guy only be able to speak Spanish.

What a trip! Every time I think about it I just smile and relive the fun. As it is 1:30 am right now, I'm going to have to edit this later and add the pics then too. But Hoo- rah (say it like Marines) I finished this post. Finally.