Christmas in Cancun!

The month of December just seemed to disappear somewhere. It seems alot has happened, but I'll have to dig deep in my memory bank to try & catch up with it all. I put in my last hours at Mr. Build Contracting as a bookkeeper & enjoyed the last Christmas dinner with the company as their bookkeeper. Two days after that I packed my suitcase and paint supplies and drove down to Julaine's to help re-do Tyler's bedroom. It used to be Brandi & Kendra's room with a paintable red wallpaper on the bottom half of the wall with a chair-rail type border. Julaine had that all removed so on Tuesday we spent the day (kid-free) in Tri-Cities..mostly at Home Depot getting the paint that we would need and all the supplies to install wire shelving in three closets. Wednesday we washed the walls & started painting.

By Friday we were done. The only thing left was for Julaine to go through all of the clothes and toys before putting the room back together.

Friday morning the weather/road report for Snoqualmie Pass was not looking too great so I headed for home. There was freezing fog in Grandview and by the time I made it to Easton it was snowing, blowing and compact snow and ice with traffice moving at walking pace...if at all. Apparently they closed the Pass shortly after I made it through.

The following week brought very cold weather, with a bitter northeast wind blowing through the valley. Last week of school for the kids before Christmas break. And my last week of doing bookwork for our farm. We hired someone else to take over, as I have just enrolled at the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) to take some prerequisite courses, namely Biology and Algebra. My goal is to one day take the LPN course & I need these other courses in order to enroll in the nursing program.

Friday (19th) was a busy day getting last minute things done & tons of laundry. Saturday (20th) we headed for YVR (Vancouver Int'l Airport) on our way to Cancun, Mexico.

Our flight was supposed to leave at 10:25 a.m. but was delayed for 2 hours due to engine problems and de-icing. After a 5 hour & 50 minute flight we arrived in Cancun, retrieved our luggage and found our 'transfer' to bring us to our hotel.

I'm not sure how many of you have been to Mexico, but riding in their taxi's or busses is an adventure all on it's own. I think they all must be thinking they're competing in the Indy 500! Break-neck speeds, darting in and out of lanes, and then slam on the brakes mere inches before hitting the pedestrian/vehicle in front of you! We were flying down this highway when we noticed the proverbial red & blue lights flashing behind us...but our driver kept going for several minutes. He finally pulled to the side, telling us it was his 'uncle' and then he went out to talk/bargain? with the officer. Very interesting. Before long we were on our way again.

We arrived at the Oasis Viva Beach Resort at about 8 p.m. local time and were shown to our rooms #941 & #942. The ocean view was beautiful.

There were two different pools, an excellent buffet restaurant and two other restaurants that we could choose from. Since we booked the 'all inclusive' we were given plastic bracelets and could roam freely, eating where we chose. There were kayaks to use as well.

Lots of lounging around in beach chairs, reading, people watching and basically just relaxing.

And the sun went down on the first day with an enormous Mexican flag waving in the Caribbean breeze.

Sarah had her hair braided by the fastest braider I have ever watched. Incredible!! And Joel decided to get a temporary Henna tattoo. And I stress...TEMPORARY!

One of our passtimes was making sandcastles.John's masterpiece was a crocodile biting a snake. Alot of people stopped to take a picture of it. Dustin did a Mayan Ruins pyramid and I attempted to do an elephant.Sarah made use of a fallen/buried palm tree, making a lime-eyed, mossy-eyebrowed fellow out of it.

A cloudy day and a walk down the beach found this brick path and crashing waves on a pier.

On Wednesday we took a day trip to the Isle Mujeres (the Island of Women.) We had to board a ferry about 15 minutes from our hotel.

The MC, Roberto, kept things very lively and interesting.

John and I squinting into the bright Caribbean sun.

Once we reached the island we received a warm welcome from the staff in charge of all the activities.

Dustin played soccer with a group of kids for a little while.

Sarah and I went on a bike tour around the tip of the island. We stopped briefly at this lighthouse & climbed to the top to take some pictures.

Later, back at the beach all the kids took a siesta.

'Just me 'n my dad'. John & Dustin.

A Spanish speaking woman approached John on the ferry ride back to our resort, talking and gesturing something about 'nina' and making a camera motion. After some confusion we figured it out; she wanted a picture of Sarah with her son! Sarah was quite embarrased by the whole thing! lol.