Last day in Thailand :(

 Left to right: Bjarnason's, Jenks, Hurst's, us, and the Carroll's

 On our last day in Thailand, we had a relaxing morning, eating breakfast and hanging out at the hotel. Our hotel was so beautiful. We really lucked out and had a great experience at both.

 In the afternoon, we headed to see What Pra That Doi Suthep, which is a mountain top temple. Our taxi driver was driving like a crazy person the whole way up and down and we thought for sure we would not make it home to our kids. She was scaring me so bad! 

 You have to climb up a gazillion stairs to get to the temple. It was a good workout.

While we were walking around the temple, I found my next hairdo. Ok, that's kind of mean. But seriously lady...that is some crazy frizz! I wanted to give her a bottle of mousse.

Ok I'm done being mean. 

 Once again, the temple was beautiful. LOTS and lots of gold.

 I love their Buddha statues. I bought myself a small Buddha head to put in my house. It's interesting though because I always thought that Buddha was big and fat. I asked someone and they explained to me that the Chinese Buddha is fat, and the Thai Buddha is skinny. Who knew?!

 I wished it wasn't so hazy that day because it would have been an awesome view of Chiang Mai.

 We passed this little girl sitting on the steps on our way down. Isn't she adorable? She had the sweetest face. You take pictures of her and then she asks you for money. I gave her some money and my heart sank knowing that her family sent her to sit on these steps trying to earn money for their family. She was just sitting there all by herself. I felt very lucky that we are in a position where my kids can just be kids. They don't have to go out and earn money for us to survive. It makes me feel a little guilty though. Why was I born into the situation that I was? Why are my kids so lucky to have all that they have? We saw houses and people there, that made me want to give them everything I have. It definitely gave me a new perspective.

Overall, this was one of the coolest things we have ever done. The people we traveled with were awesome, our kids were safe while we were gone, and we had a week of uninterrupted conversations about life. Where we are now, where the next few years will take us, and where we want to end up. It was great. And we came home 2 days before my birthday, which pretty much qualifies for the best birthday ever. 

Justin is already trying to decide where we should go next!

Day 4: Tiger Kingdom

 The fourth day we were there was a Sunday. We thought it would be fun to look up the local LDS church and see what it was like. There were about 50 people there attending the branch. The missionaries gave us headphones for translating and we were able to enjoy a really nice sacrament meeting.

After church we headed to Tiger Kingdom. Justin had really been looking forward to this. He's always thought tigers were really fascinating, so this was right up his alley. I decided to just see the baby tigers. They were so cute! Most of them were really sleepy. They said they sleep a lot, just like human babies. Eat and sleep. That's what they are good at.

 Then Justin moved on to the "medium" sized tigers. 

 After that, came the "large" or as I would say, the big scary tigers. Justin thought it was so cool while he was in there. Afterwards, while he was thinking about sitting next to a huge tiger, he realized that it is a little scary. Luckily he came out of the cage alive!

 Justin and I decided to have a little fun in these big bubbles. You climb inside, and then they fill it up with air, seal it up and send you off in to the water. It was really funny. It's actually hard to stand up in those things!

 We played around for a little while and then I started having an anxiety attack. I am SUPER claustrophobic and I felt like I had sucked up all the air inside my bubble. Or an elephant was standing on my chest. Either way, I was starting to freak out. They can't hear you when you are in there, so I was trying to motion to Justin that I needed to get out. Luckily he knew what I meant and he got their attention. The bubbles are hooked to a rope, and the people pulled mine in. I thought I was going to pass out before I made it to the dock. Lucky for me, I did not. It was a little embarrassing, but not as embarrassing as if I had actually passed out. So although the first five minutes was fun, I would not put this on my top ten from the trip.

 We went to the Sunday market after that. There were so many people there! So crowded, but there are a lot of fun things to see and buy. 

We ended the night at a restaurant that had been recommended to us. It did not disappoint! It was right on the river and had a live band. It had delicious food and a fun atmosphere. The perfect way to end a great day. 

(A great day minus the anxiety attack inside the bubble...)

Day 3: Elephants!

 Our third day we spent at the Patara elephant farm. This was definitely the highlight of our trip. It was a once in a lifetime experience that we will never forget. When we first got there, we got to hang out with the babies. They look little, but they are strong! They will push you right out of the way.

 Then we got to meet our elephant that we would be with for the day. Our elephant's name was Poochan. Justin pointed him out when we very first got there, saying that he was the one he wanted. We were surprised when that was the one we actually ended up with.

They introduce you to your elephant and then we got to feed him. These elephants eat non stop, in mass quantities. They said that is one sign of a healthy elephant.

 (White pasty legs...should have worn some longer board shorts!!)

 Another sign of a healthy elephant is the smell of their poop. Apparently it should smell like hay or grass. I love Ashlee's face in this picture. It is priceless.

Here we are, ready to ride!

They have you wear these clothes so that you look like you come from the Karen tribe. All of the people who work at this elephant camp are from the Karen tribe. The guy who picked us up at our hotel told us when he was growing up, there were only 14 homes in his village and 20 elephants. They grow up around elephants. It was fascinating to see them working with them.

 Pretty soon it was time to get on! You can't really see it, but behind Justin, I am standing on the elephants knee as he lifts it up so I can hop on his back. It was crazy! You tap his foot to get him to bend his knee. Then as soon as you stand on his leg, he lifts you up!

Justin got up on the front. You tap his head and he bends down. Then you stand on his trunk and he raises it up so you can hop on his head.

And just like that, we were riding an elephant.

 Hollie and Adam, Amy and Keldon, Justin and I, Shane and Ashlee, Spencer and Suzy

We rode through the jungle on a little trail for and hour and a half. It was a beautiful view. My bum was so bruised from our bike tour the day before, and the huge back bone that I was sitting on was not helping my situation. It hurt so bad! 

 We stopped and ate lunch that they had prepared for us. The food was super yummy. Lots of fresh fruit, chicken, baked goods, and inside the banana leaves were different kinds of rice.

The babies came and attacked all the leftovers after we finished eating. They cleaned up the entire table in about two minutes.

After lunch, I switched places with Justin to give my back side a break. Sitting on his neck was way more comfortable! Towards the end, they wanted Justin to come up behind me on his neck and for me to sit on his head. I felt like I was going to fall off the front of him. Luckily it was right before we got off.

We got off at this waterfall. The elephants were so excited to get there! They got right in and started swimming and playing.

 We all took off our riding clothes and hopped in the water to give them a good scrubbing. They said if an elephant doesn't have good skin care, their health can decline. So we all jumped on and started scrubbing them with a brush. It was really fun.

 They had us all line up for a group picture. They gave some command in Thai, which we of course couldn't understand, and we got sprayed by the elephants!

 

 My favorite is the V shooting straight off of Suzy's head.

 On our way back, we stopped to see this little baby elephant. He was only 4 months old and so cute. Justin was trying to get a picture with him and he kept running off. This is Justin trying to bend down and follow him at the same time.

 He was so cute!

It was the best. day. ever.