Being from Utah, we love our mountains. We raised our kids with Mt. Timpanogos always in view. Now our Utah home is at the foot of Mount Ben Lomond. Here in Xalapa, we are in a big valley surrounded by mountains of a totally different flavor.

Today we woke up to a beautiful sunny day, which is unusual because we are in the rainy season. If there's sunshine, it's only for a few hours in the morning--the rest of the day, it is torrential rain or threatening it. This morning, we went to the Alborada ward, and as we walked into church we were thoroughly enjoying the sunshine. We looked over at the mountains, and suddenly realized--we have a volcano in the distance we have never seen before! It's usually hidden by clouds, even on a sunny day when the clouds accumulate around it in what they call a "cloud forest". It is beautiful and majestic, just like those Utah mountains at home we love so much.

This is Pico de Orizaba--it's the third tallest mountain in North America at 18,491 feet and the second most prominent volcanic peak in the world behind Mt. Kilimanjaro. Right in our backyard and we didn't even know it.