To be TAN again...

One of the unexpected

GIFTS

of our vacation was...

the gift to be TAN again (or red for some of us).

Since we spent SEVEN days...

and all of those days during daylight hours...

in the sun

we got to come back from FALL break the envy of our friends.

Seriously...

we showed up to church the day after we got home and you could tell from our skin color alone that

we had just experienced

some major

FUN in the SUN!

 

 But when the week was all said and done we all decided that 

KATIE

got the best TAN of them all...

 and well...

Christopher stayed a nice shade of RED!

  

Either way...

we will take whatever "color" we can get to have had

this experience together. 

SNORKELING=perfection

Can't believe I've only been home 

ONE

day and my headaches have returned!

I suffer from MIGRAINE headaches

and

they are a constant burden to my every day life...

except when I'm on vacation!

Could it have something to do with the STRESS of everyday life?

I think so!

Just makes me WISH I was back on vacation 

where we spent the day

SNORKELING.

One of the amazing things about

CANCUN

is the many excursions you can choose from and how well of a job they do in making your vacation and your experience

UNFORGETTABLE.

You are picked up from your hotel and driven to your location.

Today it was Puerto Morelos, Mexico.

About 15 minutes from Cancun 

and in the heart of the beautiful

CORAL REEFS

that blanket this area of the Caribbean...

we got to experience this...

Oh yea...it was REALLY that spectacular!

After stopping at TWO different locations along the reef they take you back to the beach for an

AMAZING LUNCH,

VOLLEYBALL,

RESTING IN THE HAMMOCKS,

A GAME OF KEEP AWAY,

NEGOTIATIONS,

AND REST AND RELAXATION.

 HAMMOCKS  are the BEST!

 Rachel and Ron in tight negotiations!

 Coconut Keep AWAY!

We finished with another trip to the reefs before heading home for the night.

Ron had tried to get ALL of us to get scuba certified before we left on this trip...

and we were ALL a little hesitant to do so...

UNTIL NOW!

When we get asked about how we liked our trip, I tell everyone the same thing:

 everything about this trip was pure perfection!

Snorkeling day was just like every other day...
it was perfection!

Family FIRST...

We have just arrived home from our family vacation to

Cancun, Mexico.

I have mentioned several times that this was going to be our family's
DREAM VACATION.

From the moment we arrived at the airport...

and took the escalator to the sky train...

you could tell this was not going to be an 
"ordinary"
vacation.

I will NEVER forget their faces when they first saw the clear, blue ocean and the white sandy beaches...

or the beautiful two-bedroom hotel room

or the view from our hotel room...

all the look on their faces are etched clearly on my mind.

It had...
"exceeded" their expectations!!! 

That first night while swimming together in the ocean I realized why this was going to be my
"dream vacation"!

It was a dream vacation to me because I was able to share it all with my husband and four kids.

I was able to feel their joy and their excitement.

The kids kept telling us how much they felt blessed to be there and we reminded them right then...
right there...
that if they EVER doubted our LOVE for them,
then to remember this moment...
this trip...
this vacation...
this time together!

My family will ALWAYS come first for me...
and this trip
just helped my kids realize it!

p.s. I have so many pictures to share and can't wait to show you the many adventures we had and will try to get them all posted each night this week.

Beach Vacation-Cali 2013

For some reason when I'm feeling

STRESSED

I tend to run somewhere or anywhere

"to get away from it all."

I thought a nice beach vacation would be relaxing.

My plan was to sit on the beach all day

and read. 

   I got to page 5!!!

There was no rest or relaxation...

I took six kids!

However, sometimes what we think we need may NOT be what the Lord knows we need.

If I had just been sitting around all day...

I would have had time to think about my stress.

Instead I kept busy with my kiddos

and it turned out to be exactly what I needed to take my mind off my worries and stress.

So glad that at least for three days...

my biggest stress was whether or not we would spend all day at the beach and get sunburned

or at the pool that was refreshing or the

hot tub that would warm us...

 (our hotel in the background...right on the beach!)

or where we were going to walk to eat because we wanted it to feel like we were eating authentic "beach" type food...

or what ride we were going on at Belmont Park!     

 or what games or activities we could enjoy together...

or taking all kinds of silly pictures including this one of my

16, 15, 14, 13, 12 and 9 year old kiddos... 

 (one of me and my real kiddos!)

 (On your mark get set...JUMP!)

 or just watching Rachel and her sweet friend Quincy

enjoy EVERY minute

of EVERY hour of each day we were there!

My kids were the BEST medicine for my stress.

We made so many fun memories!

Cali Trip-2013 rocked!

Love all of my fun kiddos who made the most of every moment!

Let's do it again!