04 | February | 2024

Day 1: Home to SLC, SLC to Miami, Miami to Puerto Rico. San Juan to Luquillo.

Here is our chipper little squad. They were all so excited to start the trip!

Good job Kathryn. Keeping everybody fixed up!

Magic door, can you open for us please!

Day 2: Old San Juan with James and Erica.

But first, a quick visit to check out the beach and the complex.

Then we loaded up and drove into Old San Juan to visit El Morro. I came here on the last day of my mission and it was so fun to come back and see it again.

The ramp to move cannons between the main firing battery and the upper level.

Such impressive walls.

The Triangle Staircase.

Parque de las pelotas. Bird Park. The one place in the city where you are allowed to feed the pigeons.

That bag of bird seeds was possibly the best $2 I have ever spent.

Day 3: Double Beach Day

We did a double beach day. First at our beach, and then we drove down the road to visit James and Erica’s place.

Day 4: Luquillo Beach and the Bioluminescent Bay.

The kids were dying to try some new fruits, especially papaya. We stopped by La Frutera to see what we could find. The papaya was in season, but not a whole lot else. The kids ate it, but I’ll be the first to admit it’s not my favorite. It starts good, but doesn’t stay good for long. But what they did have was piña colada. Now, those were good!

Walking down the famous Luquillo Beach out to the point.

Looking back at the sparkling blue waters. Very pretty. And you can see the rainforest in the background getting, you guessed it, rained on while we had sunny skies. Pretty fun to watch.

In the evening, we headed out to the north eastern most tip of the island to kayak through the mangroves to Laguna Grande and see the bioluminescent bay.

It was absolutely incredible. I wish that you could capture the experience on camera, but it’s something that you have to see with your own eyes.

Day 5: Island Tour, church in Aibonito.

I love this bridge in San Juan. I remember it from my mission.

A quick stop at the Mirador La Plata on our drive up to Aibonito.

This was my first area on my mission. It was so fun to go back and see it again.

Going to church here was definitely one of the highlights of the trip for me. Being my first area and not really being able to speak much at the time, I remember the place more than the people. The experience was great though. The girls really connected with the sister missionaries that were serving there. I talked with one of the members that was here when I was here. He remembered my trainer, and he remembered were we lived at the time and gave me the address. It was just neat to be there again.

Here is the house that we lived in. We were in the basement apartment. Good times.

We went to the Cañyón San Cristóbal area and did the Vereda Suñé walk. It was very pretty. There was one spot that Kathryn said felt like the Garden of Eden.

The drive back was a little wild. We took the back roads most of the way. They are very narrow and winding, but very pretty. And it’s fun to see the houses tucked into the craziest spots.

Almost an hour in, and another hour to go. Oh boy.

We made a quick visit to the new Puerto Rico temple. It was dedicated 1 year ago. I remember the General Conference in 2018 when they announced it. I was so excited, and if I was in the Conference Center, I probably would have been one of the rowdy crew cheering. The Puerto Rican saints have been praying and working for their own temple for so long.

Evening walk on the beach looking for sea shells. You can really see Zoey’s personality coming out in this picture. She can dial the cuteness up to 11. She can also dial the sass up to 11 as well depending on the situation! Oh, and she has a set up pipes on her too, and can put out a level 11 scream as well when needed.

The best finds included an intact sand dollar and a little conch shell.

Beach leg pop, just like on our honeymoon.

Oh, and the crabs were everywhere! We caught one and I considered downing it.

Landon whooped me at War.

Day 6: Beach Day, Playa Escondida hike.

Morning sunrise walk/run.

Testing out the snorkels!

Walking out to Playa Escondida through the mangrove forest.

Zoey and Bridger

The tiniest little hermit crab baby.

Seven Seas beach on the far back left where we parked, Playa Colora on the left, and Playa Escondida on the right.

Playa Colora. I would have loved to hang out here, but the waves were a little high for the little ones.

Playa Escondida here we hung out for the day.

It has a large coral reef that created a very sheltered and calm beach and gave some places to go snorkling.

Hola.

Kathryn and Ashley

Landon and Hunter

Lunch time!

This girl was on a mission to dig a well!

And the other kids worked on a huge sand fort.

The gang hiking out.

Big day complete!

Day 7: El Yunque Rainforest.

Admiring the view for the Yokahu Tower.

I loved this tree.

Juan Diego falls.

An incredible hike through the jungle up to the Britton Tower. It was closed for maintenance, but the hike was the best part anyway. Kathryn captivated the kids with some terrific storytelling and kept them marching.

Here is the Tower.

After the rainforest, it was swimming time!

Day 8: Rainforest Day 2, Beach, and Pool

It rained all night and into the morning. So we headed back up into the rainforest to get the full experience. The river and waterfalls were all running huge with all the rain.

We spent some time in the visitor center enjoying some really terrific exhibits about the forest. The kids earned their Junior Ranger badges too.

We stopped by a very chic cheesecake place that looked like it was transported out of Paris.

Then the rain let up and we enjoyed some beach time and body boarding.

The crabs were out and about in full force. This one was huge!

…but not as big as this crab digging her burrow!

Day 9: Pool Day

Ashley ready to soak in some rays.

The kids swam all day. Like, the entire day. Kathryn and I took a walk down the beach which was very fun.

The waves at this point were really cool how they came in crossing. I had to take the drone back out there and get a bird’s eye view of the action.

Our place. Bosque del Mar. It was great.

Day 10: Luquillo to San Juan, Puerto Rico to Miami, Miami to SLC, SLC to Home.

With our little extra time before our flight, we went back into Old San Juan for a quick visit to the other fort, Castillo San Cristobal. It was very impressive and highly worth the visit in addition to El Morro.