Dominican Republic (really long post)

This is going to be a really long post. We had so many great pictures that I wanted to share. We left on October 5th, missed our connecting flight in Dallas, but that ended up being great because Jackie's brother Dustin came and picked us up and we were able to spend time with them.
We made it to the Dominican Republic just fine. We ended up being an hour behind our friends Tyler and Jen that we were meeting up with there. The airport was an open air building with the thatch roof.

Going through immigration was really quick and easy.

We arrived at our amazing hotel called the Majestic Colonial in Punta Cana. The pictures don't even do it justice and we had great customer service as well. Below is Jackie and Jen.

Here is our room. It was huge and so nice!!!!

The view from the other side.

We headed straight for the beach and the water was so warm and perfect.

Here is the entry way at the hotel.

More pics of the hotel.

Here is how we spent the first three days, we were either relaxing by the pool or at the beach. Nothing but relaxing. It was so nice and neither of us got sun burned.

Here is us out in a Kayak.

Us on the beach under our sweet hut.

What an amazing pool, it went through out the whole hotel.

Our room was on the bottom left. We could walk right out into the pool. It was so awesome.

There was numerous weddings.

Us lying on the bottom of the pool.

Jackie loved these trees or whatever they are.

The wedding tent.

The pool bar.

Another wedding gazebo.

My other view the first 3 days.

Beautiful sunset.

The pool at night.

Our little patio with our own hot tub.

We went on a snorkel excursion. We swam with the sharks and sting rays. Swam around the corral reef which was so cool. We even got a massage out on the little island. Our friend Jen passed out and it was kind of scary but she was ok after a few minutes.

First time snorkling for the both of us. It was so much fun.

Us holding the sting ray

Here is us on our way to the capitol Santo Domingo. We did get a little lost because there were no street signs or markers. Good thing we speak spanish.

The four of us at the temple. Jackie had to wear head phones during the session.

I went to the missionary training center next to the temple and it was fun to see that as well. We recognized a few people at the temple that we had either served with as missionaries or knew in our wards down there. The pic below is of a sunrise up in Puerto Plata.

This is a fort that was built just after Christopher Columbus discovered the island. The door below is short because any attacking soldier would have to duck to go in the door way and there would be someone waiting to chop off his head.

They dug holes in this coral and then put spikes in it and then filled it with water so that any intruder that tried to get in would be killed if they tried to enter the water.

Catholic church in downtown Puerto Plata where I served.

A famous building in town square.

Inside of the Catholic Church.

A lady carrying a desk on the motorcycle.

The church I served in. When I was there it was one building and a branch. Now it is two buildings and a ward. People still recognized me and knew my name. I was surprised because it had been 8 years. Jackie could not believe how hot it was and she complained of having sweat drip off of her. I kept saying and this is winter months, it isn't even hot season. Just imagine walking around in dark pants and a tie. It was way hot.

My teaching area in the background.

Poor little Jackie all worn out. We spent time in a little beach town called Caberete. It is known for it's wind surfing and kite boarding.

Me and Ty

Typical Dominican house.

Our second hotel. Not as nice as our first but still great. This one was bright and colorful.

The beach.

The apartment Ty and I lived in. We were on the third floor. The missionaries do not live there anymore.

My old office at the mission office.

The mission office was in the same place. Tyler and I spent 6 months as companions there and I was there my last 8 months of my mission.

At the Santiago Monument. They had statues of Dominican heroes.

It was good to see that the Jonas Brothers are big in the DR and were actually coming in concert. We actually found this pretty funny.

The mission home, we spent a little while there and the housekeeper even cut us some pineapple and melons. It was yummy.

Here is what is called a Colmado. This is where we would buy our food a lot of the times. They are on every corner.

Here is a little worship house that is in front of most houses and they believe it will protect them and their home.

We went to this place called Teleferico where you rode up on a Gondola to the top of the mountain where we had an amazing view.

View of a baseball field in the DR. They love baseball in the DR.

At the top of the mountain is this statue. You can even see it from the bottom of the mountain because it is so big.

The view.

We had this Dominican boy that showed us how to take pictures with Jesus. We have quite a few different poses. Here is Jackie holding his hand.

There was some beautiful gardens up there.

The Domincan Flag.

Here is what they do at the top of their fences for protection. They cement beer bottles in the top and then break them.

We found these guys at a little gift shop.

Here is us back home with Cayman, Cooper and July picking us up.

We had such a wonderful time. We loved the resorts and just being there brought back so many good memories. I was so glad to show Jackie the place where I lived and she could be a part of it. We had so much fun with Tyler and Jen and could not have asked for better traveling partners.