I was, unsurprisingly, not very good about taking pictures. Mainly because my brain was being steamed the entire time. That country is so incredibly hot and humid in August! Which yes, makes perfect sense that a country in the Caribbean would be hot and humid in the middle of Summer. But with my added sensitivity as a pregnant lady, I was FEELING it! I have a couple of friends, and a sister in law who served missions for our church in the D.R. and I have been informed that it is always pretty hot, and can be unbearably humid for the majority of the year. Props to them for sweating it out while sharing the Gospel! Online it says that trade winds keep the country from ever getting too hot and humid. I think whoever wrote that has never been there.
I wish I could say we were off on adventures, exploring this new country the entire time. We were not unfortunately. I would love to see the capitol city of Santo Domingo Considering it was founded in the 1400's I'm sure it is full of interesting history. I will have to make another trip when I am not carrying another human being in my body.
We took a group of Del's sales reps and their guests down for the company top performers rewards trip. We stayed in Punta Cana at the Reserve at the Paradisus.
I basically sat in the shade and tried to stay cool, and not get poisoned by nuts the entire trip. I know, I'm a fun one! My worry was added to this trip by my pregnancy, and my desire not to have a baby, or an anaphylactic reaction while in the Dominican Republic. My favorite spot was in the shade by the pool with this gigantic pot of flowers sitting in front of me.
It is always so nice to get away with Del. I will be forever grateful for our families, who shuffle our kids around, and do so much to entertain them while we are away!
I was worried about flying all the way from Utah, where we left our kids, to the D.R in one shot, in the middle of the night, which was what our options seemed to be. So we stayed one night in Dallas. Our flight from Dallas to the D.R. had, and I am not kidding you, fifteen people on the entire plane! It was almost creepy walking down the unlit, empty isle to the bathroom at the back. Eight of the people sat up in first class, where I am sure they were thrilled they had paid more for their seats, while the rest of us all laid down across our own row of three seats.
What an awesome four hour flight! It saved me to be able to lay on my side!
I wish I could say the flights back to Utah were as pleasant.
They were full flights. And by full, I mean full of hot, humid, ornery returning vacationers, who had just endured a delayed wait to load the plane, on an outside, unshaded tarmac. Oh, and all the while, a local musical band played an unending stream of incredibly LOUD music on drums and what appeared to be cheese graters two feet away from sensitive ears, and hung over heads, and ceaselessly passed a hat through the crowd trying to gather change from a cashless, from a week of tips, crowd. Blah! Unpleasant travel. That is generally just the price you are going to pay for a vacation.
Waiting for a trolly. This resort was massive. You needed a trolly to get most places. But there were several times that we just walked it because we were tired of the trolly run around.
Del and the single brothers on the trip. He was hesitant about being placed in the middle of these two.
Rockin' my bump at the beach with these folks.
Lots of pool time.
A blurry photo of Del with his gift to remember this year's reward group, signed all of those on the trip.
It was good to relax and spend time with Del. It was also nice to get home. I'm so grateful for my bed, my home, and my family. I am also grateful to know that soon, I will have this baby in my arms, and I will be able to get my body and mind back! I hope!
I am proud of this guy, and all he does for our family, his business, and others. This pregnancy has made me realize how much support Del gives me, above and beyond the support he usually is. I have really needed it during this twist of events in my life. It is incredible to have such a good friend by my side in life. I was happy to get away for this trip, and happy to come home and move on to the next few months!
Most of the guys. We are always missing a few.
