Spring Break in Mexico

We had so much fun in Mexico for springbreak, this year the media has really talked a lot about Mexico being so dangerous. This ended up being good for us because there were less college kids down here. It was quiet, all the LDS kids came to have a good time and we really enjoyed it. I tried to tell people there has been NO violence in Rocky Point but once people hear ""Mexico"" they get paranoid I told one of my friends it's like saying "since there was a killing in Los Angeles it's not safe to live in Arizona" in fact if we were to do a search on violence in the World Arizona is in the top five and is the #2 most violent in the US and is #1 for kidnappings in the US. So basically it is more dangerous to live in Phoenix than to come to Rocky Point. I would never try to convince people to come down here,but we have never had a bad time coming across the border, I have never even seen any guns at the border and as long as you are obeying the law you wont get in trouble with the law, in other words if you are a good person in the USA then you should be a good person MEXICO and you will be just fine.

Just a Few Minutes in Town With Eric

Eric and I are in Mexico for our monthly trip to check on our condos. The weather is beautiful and I am not looking forward to the heat that is sure to come in the next couple of months. We went to the fish market today, eric wanted to grill some shrimp for dinner. I did not want to go down to the market, I just wanted him to go and bring it back, but he really wanted me to ride with him. So off we go,and the whole time I'm thinking this is not going to be a quick trip, anyone who knows my husband knows he likes to talk to the locals down here. It's quite funny to watch since he knows very little spanish, he tries to speak to them in French, and apparently thinks they are all deaf because he talks very loud when he speaks to them. I also knew that since we were going to buy something he was going to haggle with them and I hate that part. So here is how it went:

Eric (remember he's real loud) Hola, amigo
Fredrico: Hola, how can I help you (he speaks english quite well)
Eric: what kind of deal are you going to give me on this shrimp?
Fredrico: Oh for you sir, very good deal, best in the market, special just for you
Eric: How much?
Fredrico: no worries, for you good deal....you buy from me I am the only honest one here on the street
Eric: Oh dont give me that....you all say the same thing...just tell me how much
Fredrico: how much you want to buy?
Eric: it depends on how much you are going to rip me off, I could buy more if you just give it to me for $3 a pound
Fredrico: (laughing outloud for everyone to hear) you wont find that price any where here in the market. I am the only one who has the american scale...(then he proceeds to show Eric his top of the line scale, takes some shrimp out and weighs it then sticks it on the "rip Off" mexican scale) see ev everyone else has this scale they all rip you off but not me I'm honest
Eric: you mean to tell me your friends next door here are ripping people off? (then eric gives his signature wave of the hand, as if to say get lost)
Fredirico runs after us saying please come back I will give you best price on the street this time.....
We got the shrimp for $3 a pound.....and 45 minutes later I was ready to go.....although I was highly entertained once again by my husband, I was so ready to get back to the condo!!!!

Our Mexico Trip

Haleigh, Brekyn and Kaitlyn funny sun-glasses down at the mexican

"dirt mall"

Haleigh wanted me to buy this dog so badly, and I said "uh....let me think....NO" they were really cute but I am done with animals...
Brekyn, Haleigh, Katilyn, Ashley and Jamie...where is Lindsey?

On The Coast of Somewhere Beautiful

Eric and I are in Mexico, it is beautiful. We took a long walk on the beach last night. On the way back we ran into some guys trying to sell Eric something.....I say Eric instead of "Us" because I don't buy anything from people in Mexico, but he loves to play games with them like "heads or tails" if it lands on heads he gets it for "his" price if on tails he will pay them what they want and any of you who know Eric knows it has to be the best out of 3. This guy wanted to sell eric a shadow box for $65 and he was not willing to take the risk that he would lose so he laughed at them and carried on some silly conversation about life in Mexico and I continued up to the condo, I turned around as I got to the condo to watch him for a second and I decided that I really do love this silly guy..... he loves to go to Mexico. I really enjoy our time together, we have great laughs and like to think ahead of what our life will be like when all the kids are gone. Ok and yes I am so happy that he did not buy that shadow box, we would of had to hand it in the condo somewhere and it was ugly. Life is good and I love our Journey

Life moves so fast

poor baby Ez

Just when I think life is moving as it should, a reality hits me hard and brings me back to the place where I need to be, a place in my heart that I've been missing for awhile.  Our beautiful baby Ezra joined our family, and then was struck with severe RSV.  He was put in the hospital and Kayla had to stay with him 24/7, Jeremy was there as much as he could be, but also had to work.  I had the privilege of taking care of Recker, he is our 3 year old autistic grandson, he is non verbal, but boy can he make some noise.  He too, has not been feeling well I took him to the doctor and he had a ear infection, sinus infection and croup.
My love for Kayla, the mother, has become more endearing as I have now seen 24/7 for a week what she deals with on a daily basis. Although, Recker spends a lot of time at our house it is a  completely different story when you are watching him non stop for that long of time.
While at the doctors office he went through every drawer and cabinet he could get his hands on, climbed under the desk, picked up the phone, played with the computer system and twirled on the doctors chair, it was all fun until..... the pediatrician came in to visit our little guy.  He had a complete melt down when the doctor looked in his ears, then came the news he needed a steroid shot in the arm, I thought to myself "oh boy, he is not going to like this"  HE DIDN'T.  He screamed and threw his body around like a rag doll, tears filled my eyes as he looked at me as if to say "why, why are you allowing her to do this to me?"  I tried so hard to get him to settle down, I sang him a song, tried to rock him and soothe him with calming words, but it just made it worse.  I thought I should get him calmed before I walked back through the waiting area, that idea was not going to happen, so I quickly made a dash for the door and out to the car, all the while he was out of control.  I sat him down to open my car door and he started to projectile vomit every where including on me, it looked like an alien shooting out of his mouth.  Oh my gosh, I felt so bad for him, all I could do was hold him and love him.  Kayla has told me about these melt downs he has, but I have not really ever seen him work himself up so badly that he vomits.  By the time I got his medicine at WALGREENS and made it home he had calmed down and fallen asleep.
Kayla and Jeremy were missing him so badly,  I felt bad for them too.  Luckily they were able to come and see him at least once a day.   I took Recker to our condo in Mexico for a few days, thinking maybe if he were not here in Arizona, it wouldn't be such a temptation for them to come visit him.  The reason why I use the word temptation, is because Recker has been sick and I'm pretty sure he gave whatever he had to Ezra, if Kayla and Jeremy were to transfer it bak to Ezra he would never get better.
I had a great time with Recker in Mexico.  This boy loves the outdoors, the ocean, the sand, the grassy areas, and especially the pool.  From 9 am to 6 pm he was outside running and playing.  One day he made a mad dash for the ocean, I was running after him, I watched him play in the water for over an hour, then decided it was time to go to the pool.  Of course Recker thought I was picking him up to take him inside, so he started to scream, and try to scratch his way out of my arms, he is extremely strong, I could barely hold him up.  Everyone was staring, my swimsuit top was down to my stomach and my breasts were fully exposed, I had to either continue to the pool area or drop Recker.  I chose to continue, all the while saying to myself "no big deal, my breasts have been exposed to complete strangers before,  I can handle this" then the Mexican vendor yelled "hey lady, want to buy some sunglasses?" I turned and looked at him and with a scowl on my face replied "are you serious?"
I finally made it to the pool area, where I am quite sure I gave a 80 year old man a slight heart attack, I was so mortified I wanted to look at him and say "what, you've never seen a 50 year olds boobs exposed while carrying a 3 year old screaming and scratching his way to freedom?"  Eric happened to be walking towards the pool, and with his hands in the air, as if to say "what the heck are you doing?" he ran over to help me--save the day, however just a little too late. I calmly sat down on the chair pulled up my swimsuit and laughed.  What else could I do?
Although my swimsuit never came down again, I will say it took two of us to get Recker up to the condo after a long day of playing, he never, ever wanted to go inside.
We face timed Kayla and Jeremy each night before Recker went to bed, and we could get an update on how Ezra was doing.  It was hard, Ezra would be doing good then bad, we never knew what each day would bring.  He is home now and seems to be doing well, Recker has been on his antibiotic for over a week now and is doing better also.  Today, while they were visiting us Recker had a complete melt down when he had to come inside, Kayla was chasing him around the house while he was screaming and not letting her get to him, I heard her laughing, it made me smile--at least she can laugh.
Any parent of an autistic child should be praised, autism is hard, none of us quite understand what it is and why some children have it, but I do know our Heavenly Father knows, and he has a special place in Heaven for these special little angels.

Recker at the doctors office

Ezra hooked up to the machines

He looks sick

he looks so little in that crib

Decisions, Decisions

Being overwhelmed with decisions about my health and what direction I should go has been heavy on my mind.  I always rely on the Lord for my answers, but also know that HE allows me a choice.  I've decided I'm not making any choices right now, I know for sure one of my doctors needs to be changed--and a 2nd opinion given.  I am so exhausted from thinking about this 24/7,  so for right now I am not going to do anything, and I am not going to have any regrets.

my view from our condo

another view from our patio

Eric and I are in Mexico, he has gone golfing and I am alone in the condo with nothing but the music and my thoughts.  When I look out the window I'm mesmerized by the waves of the ocean.   This place has been such a great retreat for me.  So many times I have received answers to prayers on this beach, there have been times when it has only been me and the waves, no other person to be seen for miles.

 I hesitated to leave "last minute" with Eric and enjoy 2 days here, I'm glad I did this has been an extremely difficult week.  Now as I look at families enjoying each other all of those worries are gone, and a smile comes to my face.

Cancer does not Discriminate

Eric and I drove down to our condo in Rocky Point a few days ago--I know it seems like we just got home from a vacation, however for the past 5 years we have spent the 4rh of July in Mexico.  None of our children were able to come, I really miss having them here with us.
We have not been down here for a couple of months, the kids have been down several times without us.  We were surprised how much has changed in just a few months, they now have some really nice paved roads keeping the dust down, a huge SAMS CLUB and a 6 theater movie cinema.  We had date night tonight and went to the movies, it was quite an experience.  The only movie playing in english was Spiderman IV, we said "what the heck, lets try it out"  much to our surprise it was the movie everyone else was going to see, it was a packed theater.  It's interesting watching a movie with Spanish subtitles, we were the only Americans in the jam packed theater.  There were a few times where people were laughing when they really should not of been, Eric and I wondered if the subtitles were wrong or if they just found things funny that we didn't.  The 3D glasses were the best glasses I have ever worn, not the cheap paper ones, these were very sturdy and nice.  One other thing that I thought was really disgusting, but I will mention that Mr. Eric thought was fantastic, instead of butter and cheese sprinkles for your popcorn they have a salsa condiment counter, we saw people putting layers of jalapeno's in their popcorn and then drenching it with either red or green salsa--I asked Eric to not get any ideas--he had the biggest smile on his face, if you know him he loves this kind of stuff, but he complied and just went with the plain ole popcorn.  No more than 5 minutes after we took our seats some people decided to step around us and sit next to us spilling our popcorn all over the floor, Eric went back and they gave him a new bucket, of course his new bucket had jalapeno's and red salsa--me? not a fan, Eric?  he loved it but said it was kinda weird after the lights went down when he would grab a handful and along with the popcorn was something wet (the jalapeno's and salsa)  YUCK---
After the movie was over we walked out to take some pictures of the lobby, the people here are so proud and excited for this new adventure in their town.  I noticed a family, the husband had on a black shirt with a huge pink breast cancer ribbon on the front, I walked up to him and attempted to have a conversation, attempted is the important word here, I speak no Spanish.  From what I gathered he did a breast cancer walk in Mexico, not for his wife but for a family friend, I thanked him for his support and showed him my pink :LIVE FREE: bracelet and he asked me if I was dealing with cancer I nodded and he understood, gave me a hug and said clear as spanglish can be "God Bless You"  As we walked away I looked at Eric and said, I never thought about the fact that Cancer does not discriminate--what a great, fun night I had with my sweetie.

Rocky Point Now Has A Movie Theater

POPCORN with your choice of jalapenos and red or green salsa

best 3D glasses ever made

Eric and his popcorn with jalapenos and red salsa

This is the lobby / concession area very clean and nice

My new friends--breast cancer awareness walkers

✭Celebrating our Freedom God Bless the USA ✮

My cute Hales and I

✭Kayla and I✭

✭Me and Kaitlyn✭

✭Recker, Jeremy and Kayla Roussel✭

✭Eric getting a little crazy in the streets of Mexico✭

✭Chasen and Eric Dancing✭

✭chasen, michael, shelby madison halcomb✭

✭Sand on my towel-thanks Reck✭

✭Recker loves Mango✭

✭Me and Hales✭

✭Recker loves the Ocean and Laffy Taffy✭

✭Recker fell asleep in the Pool with Eric✭

✭Brian and Kaitlyn✭

✭Greg and Lindsey Smart✭

The past few years we have celebrated the 4th of July down in Mexico ✭ Probably seems kinda strange to be celebrating an American Holiday in another country, but we absolutely love it  and it's always a huge celebration ✭ The Halcombs are good friends of ours,  they too like to celebrate in Mexico so we always have a big bar b que with them, play volleyball, soccer, and of coarse the homerun derby ✭ by the way Teresa and I tied for 1st place this year ✭ those youngsters have nothing on us old women.  This year we had 13 people in our condo--Kayla, Jeremy, Recker, Skyler, Jessica, Kaitlyn, Brian, Lindsey, Greg, Haleigh and Emily ✭ Eric and I too ✭

Just Breathe

Eric and I drove down to Mexico a couple of days ago, I love having alone time with him we laugh a lot, we even cry sometimes together, life is good when I'm with him I feel safe.  This morning as I ran (yes I ran)  on the beach the sun was just coming up and the cool ocean breeze was hitting me in the face, I had an emotional moment thinking about the journey I've been on.  On the way I saw some foot prints in the sand and decided to follow them, I could tell it was a runner by the imprint.  Sometimes in Mexico when the water goes out it leaves ripples in the sand--these are hard to run on because it is very uneven I always fear I am going to twist my ankle,  when I saw the foot imprints I decided to follow them I could see that this runner knew where to step without twisting an ankle. I followed the prints all the way to the wall -- (a couple miles)  it made me think of the people in my life who led the way for me, who have been examples to me, the ones who taught me the gospel.  Stan Johnson was my seminary teacher and I learned how to pray to the Lord for help and answers, I also learned how to read the scriptures and love them he taught me life lessons that I still use, I will forever be grateful to him.  As I ran I thought about young women's leaders who paved the way for me,  their examples of faith taught me to have HOPE.  I found myself searching for my foot imprint on the way back so that I could just retrace my steps, to my surprise there were no imprints to follow--I realized I was on my own and I was in some rough sand trudging along, my pace was slowing down and I was really struggling to breath, soon I saw my imprint in the sand, next to my step was  baby footprinst--boy that brought me back to my 20's, having children learning how to balance life with children I sometimes got distracted and felt alone, without having a mother to lean on, I looked to women in my life who had already raised their children, maybe I could learn somethings from them, Debbie Slade became an incredible friend to me, I watched Cindy Packard for an example of strength and endurance, Carolei Phelps was a soft and gentle mother I wanted to be more like that,  they probably have no idea that I watched them for an example, they inspired me to try harder and endure a little longer.   I suddenly realized I was running on some rocks-or maybe they were coral whatever it was it shook me out of those memories and into the present--I turned and looked behind me--I've come a long way but up ahead I have so much further to go--my feet where sinking into the sand and now I was struggling to keep up--just like in life I have been through times when I feel like I am sinking and that maybe I can't make it hoping for some smooth packed sand, it started to rain on my already difficult conditions and I thought to myself "this is perfect" the waters are rough, waves are strong, the sand is sinking me and the  wind is blowing against my body.  Just when I thought it couldn't get worse I feel the sun peak up and say "hello", the warm on my back put a smile on my face--just like the light of Christ in my life, at times when I have felt defeated and weighed down I know I can get on my knees, get some answers and continue on just as I looked up I could see my finish line for the day-a song by Carrie Underwood came on my IPOD temporary home as I listened to the words, tears came to my eyes, what a great song to end my run with--my life has been filled with distractions, disapointment, failure, and unbelievable pain, however, I have loved, felt love, found joy, and discovered during all these rough times the Lord never left me--this life is all about learning and growing--this time on earth is just temporary this is not where we belong, it's just a stop on the way to where we're  all going,  now that I know that--I'm not afraid.