Moni Visits the U.S.!

Moni

Last year we got to travel to Aguascalientes to visit Jaime's family. While on the trip, I met my long lost twin Monica who is Jaime's mother's cousin's daughter. It gets complicated on his side of the family because there are just so many of them and they are all so close! Anyway, we are the same age and alike in more ways that I can possibly describe. We are both go-getters and have a low threshold for BS yet are compassionate and work hard to maintain our independence while helping others along the way. While in Aguas, Moni spent a lot of time taking Jaime and I around her hometown so it was fun to return the favor in Seattle. Of course, it was chaos trying to host family a week before our wedding with bridal showers, rehearsal dinners, meetings and of course the marriage celebration, but we did our best! I have to admit, Moni was so helpful with all the last minute projects we had to do and we were just so happy to have her here. She helped me find my wedding dress in Mexico and promised to make it to our celebration. It was her first time in the United States! 

At the airport there was some confusion about which gate Moni would come out of. Unfortunately we were in two different places but we eventually found each other! You can bet we had our Mexican flags thanks to Ma. A lot of other people were disappointed they weren't for them! It was so much fun to see Moni. We picked up where we left off and that night we took her to 13 Coins for dinner. 

Here are some of the fun things we got to do!

Tulip Festival

Since Moni had never seen Tulips before, we made the trek out to the Skagit Valley. Technically, we made it the day after the festival had ended but it was so nice that it wasn't overwhelmingly crowded! We got a VIP tour (lol) from one of the workers who wouldn't stop talking to us. After we learned more than we ever wanted to about tulips we said we were sorry but we had to go! To go take selfies and pictures of course!

    

Perhaps these were the best series of pictures we took:

 

    

Favorite Foods

One of the best ways we could immerse her in the daily life of a Silva was eating out at all of our favorite restaurants. To be honest, we were so slammed we didn't even have time to cook! Moni had Thai Tom, Delfinos, Din Tai Fung, Molly Moons....you know what's up. 

Photo cred goes to Jaime

  

She was already a pro with chopsticks!

   

Thai Tom

Moni's first macaroon 

Unfortunately Delfinos was undergoing renovations so we had to settle for the truck! Delfinos was Moni's last request before she left, one to eat for dinner and one for the plane! Oh Oh I think she liked it!

Crossfit

Moni got to stop by Transform Crossfit and also got to go with Jaime to a Crossfit competition. She said before she knew it she was jumping and cheering for the competitors. Perhaps she will take it up when she gets home!?

Rattlesnake

Moni requested a hike so we took her to Rattlesnake because it is short and sweet. She had also recently wiped out roller blading so we didn't want to overdo it! Unfortunately, it was cloudy but that didn't seem to keep her form enjoying the view. By the way...we were not prepared for that rain and nearly froze her to death, sorry.

 

Video Games

One hobby Moni and Jaime share is the love for video games. I don't know how to play them, I don't like them nor do I ever have time for them. It ended up being nice because they had time to play together when I had things to work on. Also...I'm pretty sure Moni thoroughly enjoyed sitting on the couch and playing Jaime's new Nintendo Switch. I think she even beat Jaime and taught him a few tricks on Mario Cart. I guess video games count as immersing her in our culture right?

We did stop by Best Buy and she also got to try the new virtual reality Facebook goggles which she LOVED! My favorite part was when she started screaming and I told her she was being loud. She said, "Well I'm Mexican and I can't help it we are loud!" LOL.

Family Dinners

Moni also got to meet Saul (Jaime's brother) and his family including the little nephews Carter and Camden. We ended up eating at Mazatlan so Moni got to see Mexican restaurants here try and top the local food there, IMPOSSIBLE.

 

 

Moni also got to meet some of the fam at Pa's bday! 

Vegas

Ma wanted to show Moni one of her favorite parts of our American culture: Vegas. Jaime, Ma, Moni and I set off for three days to stay at the Monte Carlo. We surprised Moni and she didn't even know what to say! While we were there we introduced her to some of our favorite places like Jean Gorges Steakhouse, Shake Shack, Aria Cafe, Javier's, etc. Moni and I spent some time relaxing in the sun while Jaime and Ma played. We went shopping and stopped by the M&M store. We also got to see Cher! She joked that she was 71 and said "What's your grandma doing tonight!?" The energy she exuded despite her age was inspiring and you can bet we had listened to all of her songs leading up to her concert. She was fantastic. Ma also surprised us with facials at the Monte Carlo prior to the wedding and we even got a workout in!

 

  

 

   

 

 

Space Needle

Moni had an idea of the things she "for sure" had to do while she was here and the Space Needle was one of them! We went downtown and I was shocked how much they had done to re-vamp this tourist attraction. It was definitely needed! There is now a cool screen that records and displays where you are visiting from. They even a selfie station and interactive maps of the views from the needle! It was fun to show her downtown from another perspective. We had time to shop downtown and even went to Alderwood mall another day to say hi to Saul, but there's no better way to see Seattle than from the Space Needle.

  

Chateau Ste. Michelle

Back in Aguas Moni manages and oversees the production of wine at a local plant. She has a biochemistry degree and knows more than I could ever imagine about the science behind the production and processing! Pa thought it would be fun to take her to a local winery here so we went to Chateau Ste. Michelle. I joked we were going to find her a husband, job and keep her here forever...(maybe that would be too much too fast?) Anyhow, she enjoyed site seeing, learning about the production process here and I'm pretty sure Pa made her sample more than she could possibly handle! Jerry and Tio Fernando came along with us!

  

Saying Goodbye

Sadly the jam packed two weeks flew by! I blame the wedding! I got teary eyed saying goodbye to her when Jaime and I dropped her off at the airport. Moni did so much to help us with the marriage celebration and even went out of her way to support and stand up for us. She helped make our time so special and I was so happy to have her be part of my bridal party. It wouldn't have felt right without her. It was so much fun to show Moni some of the highlights of Seattle and we will miss her dearly....till next time! There's so much more to see so she will have to come back!