Last week, we went on vacation. My sister and brother-in-law invited us to join them at their time-share down in Mexico, and even bought our plane tickets for us! They spoiled us rotten. It was Patsy’s second time in an airplane, and she was super excited to go. We all were! The first night, we ate in a restaurant on top of a hotel, near a roof-top pool, and the week only got better from there, although that seems impossible.

Rob spent the week taking pictures of every flower he could find in the area. He found a lot of different ones. We also saw many beautiful butterflies and iguanas, along with many birds that were new to us.

The time-share was on a large campus with lots of walking paths, several pools, and restaurants. There was even a gondola, which we rode a couple of times. We walked between 2 and 5-1/2 miles most days. Rob spent a lot of time rejoicing and praising God because he could walk. It wasn’t so long ago that he was forced to sit around while everyone else walked around. He felt so blessed. He and I took several walks alone, and even slipped out to a restaurant together one evening for a date.

We got some nice people from Minnesota to take our picture down at the pool.

Another time, the guys took advantage of Happy Hour and enjoyed virgin Pina coladas in the pool. And, that’s how the week went folks–one fun time after another, and lots of rest for us.

Boy, you should have seen Rob jump out of the swimming pool though, when this bug landed on him! It was way over an inch long and just huge! Amazing how the man can move now:) 🙂 🙂

We shared the pool areas with iguanas. They were climbing in the trees, bushes, and sunning themselves. During one exciting moment, a couple of them crashed down from a near-by tree, scaring the tar out of everyone in the vicinity–what a surprise!

We played lots of games in the evenings. Jake loves ordering room service, and one day, I caught him making towers with the condiments….

…and blowing the tower down….so you can see everything was fun! Even the food:).

After a week of lounging around, hardly lifting a finger, it was time to make our way back home. We brought Jake and Michaela home with us to spend time here while my sister and brother-in-law stayed there another week.

My brother-in-law kindly took us to the airport and got us as far as where we went through security. Spanish is his first language, as he was raised in Bolivia, and boy is he handy to have around in Mexico (as well as being a super awesome guy). Although he had to work quite a bit during the week, remotely, he had plenty of time to make sure we all had the food we wanted, got to all the right places, and the taxi and then the airport….well, that was such a blessing. Since regulations changed to require a negative Covid test within 24 hours of traveling regardless of vaccination status, while we were there, there were forms and forms to fill out, along with my first Covid test. We did our forms 3 times, I kid you not, until all the people at the airport were satisfied. Even when we stood by a man telling us which boxes to check, and where to sign, and did exactly what he said, the next person wanted the form filled out differently. Without Ron, we might still be there at that airport!!! But we safely made it home, and I crawled into bed at 2 am on Sunday morning, tired, but full of good memories.

We did church remotely Sunday morning, then Rob went and got our dog back from my aunt who watched her all week, which was so appreciated.

He stopped by the store and got a few things, including a ham for 87c/lb. He got produce as well. It was so nice to have a well-stocked pantry and freezers so we did not have to worry about doing a big shop right away. I cooked some noodles and pulled the bagels and bread from the freezer I had put in there for the first couple of days home. We had got some long-dated milk before we left so our niece could have the milk she so loves the first morning. Although eating out so much was nice, especially the part where we didn’t have to do the dishes, we are settling right back into our usual ways of cooking here at home, and have already washed a couple of emptied canning jars and made some more space in the freezer by eating things up. That’s a good thing, because we got the call that our 1/4 beef is ready for us to pick up. We save quite a bit of money by buying many things in bulk, and that includes beef, purchased from a local farmer.

And now….Christmas! That’s my next project, and I’d better get started on the final details, I mean besides doing school with the kids, cooking for extras, the grand babies, whom I’ve seen twice already in the 2 days I’ve been home…..Good thing I got all that rest:)