Mexico for cheap

Here is a how to vacation in Mexico (or maybe anywhere warm) on the cheap. And trust me if there is a way to do something cheaper I will find it. First of all pick a week, then call up a travel agent (or several) somewhat last minute and ask what deals they have. There are some amazing vacation packages out there with the flight included. It helps to be flexible with location. With the economy in the states in the tank there there are some incredible deals to be had. Our 7 day all inclusive trip cost us much much less than buying a plane ticket alone..anywhere....and the plane ticket was included!! Go slightly off season, the busy times in these places are the deep dark cold months of winter when everyone needs to get out of Canada.
The above picture is a resort in Nuevo Vallarta...absolutely gorgeous! We went there for a "presentation" and earned ourselves a free gourmet breakfast, two "excursions" and a bottle of Kahlua. Take advantage of the free stuff....just take my advice...at the "presentation" show no money and show no interest...that is unless you are going to buy a timeshare or a condo and not just going for the free stuff like me. You'll be in and out with a few hundred dollars worth of adventures and you'll get a tour of all the fancy condos and hotels.

Now this is our hotel where the less fancy people stay. No, there are no wave pools, or giant swimming pool rivers but consider the location. The steps on the other side of the pool go right down onto a beautiful beach and a warm ocean. It was very clean, the staff were great and the food was free. It wasn't 5 star restaurant food but consider three very important things
1. I didn't have to make it
2. I don't have to clean up after it
3. I'm sitting next to palm trees and overlooking the ocean!
At this place there were actually three different pool areas and a ton of lounge chairs purely for my lazy enjoyment. We were only steps away from the board walk , the ocean and from downtown Puerto Vallarta. Lots of little shops, restaurants, art vendors, and live music within walking distance.

When we got tired of the 3 star buffet provided by our hotel we would just head down the board walk or the beach and eat a variety of food from a variety of vendors. My favorites being seafood on a stick.... you just don't see that in Canada. And handmade potato chips in a bag with red salsa and lime squeezed all over the top. They were usually sold out of big baskets that ladies carried around. We are also a fans of taco stands. For example the board walk goes over a walking bridge. If you venture off the bridge and slightly under it you will find the taco stand that I thoroughly pigged out at. The quesadillas pastor were awesome. I admit I'm a total garbage mouth when in Mexico...I'll try anything...and I've never been sick there.

Skip some of the expensive activities and enjoy the recreation provided at the hotel. Nathanael spent many afternoons playing "water polo" and beach volley ball with the Mexicans staying at our hotel...while I held down that lounge chair. He looked kind of like a big polar bear in the pool though. The "activity coordinator" a young Mexican guy who hangs out at the pool area said to Nathanael "You really like Mexico don't you?....and I can tell you like Mexicans too." What a compliment. Actually we just enjoy people and find the Mexican ones especially fun.

Its nice to know we were giving a good impression of gringos from the great white north. We didn't really know where his comment was coming from until we saw some appalling representatives while we were there. Sad to say these people are likely not an isolated event. We actually heard two ladies (large American ones) comment while walking out onto the board
walk from the hotel "That breakfast was disgusting! It tasted like Mexican s#*# ! Just look at all those Mexicans on the beach! (it was Easter break in Mexico) Don't those people ever work? maybe if those people actually worked they would have some money! "

If I had been closer (or braver) I would have reminded them that they were in Mexico and maybe should learn to enjoy huevos, frijoles refritos, and corn tortillas for breakfast (by the way they also had endless tropical fruit, a variety of cereal and pancakes)....and being that we are in Mexico they should expect to actually see Mexicans ...and preferably not just the ones mopping the floors and serving them their drinks. As far as work goes, I would have liked to see one of those woman spend a whole day trudging up and down a beach with a load of blankets to sell...or work 7 days a week driving taxi for a few dollars a day. As it was I just sighed in frustration at some people's attitudes and general ingratitude. What a way to go through life!

We had an awesome trip even in a 3.5 star hotel!

Puerto Vallarta Trip

My husband and I just got back Sat. night from a week long vacation in Jalisco, Mexico. We booked the trip on a Monday and left on a Saturday. We felt the need to get away from the snow, cold and slushy mucky weather so we just left. My parents were wonderfully generous and spontaneous enough to keep our kids for the week. Yes this is our second trip to Mexico this winter....without our kids. Yes I feel totally guilty about that. Our first trip was to a very different part of Mexico and for a very different purpose. This was a purely selfish trip meant to relax, recharge and explore another part of Mexico. We had an amazing trip. I missed the kids but did enjoy the pure relaxation and freedom. I would have loved the kids to be there to enjoy the ocean and the sights too but another 3 plane tickets were not in the cards for our unbudgeted spontaneous trip. My husband and I so very rarely go on dates or little trips away alone together that it was so good for us to have this weeklong big date. The weather was perfect, the scenery beautiful and the company a lot of fun.

I thought the kids would get a kick of seeing a picture of mom with a baby alligator...or maybe it was a crocodile. Whatever it was, it felt pretty cool.

I'm going to miss eating my meals over looking the ocean! The "board walk" ran in front of our hotel and for several blocks along the ocean. We did a ton of walking up and down visiting the shops, eating at the food stalls, and enjoying the live music along the way.

I wish I could post more than 4 pictures at a time. I'll have to do a few more posts I think. We went on quite a few fun little adventures - a three hour sunset sail, a trip on a barge out to another beach, a hike up to a waterfall, and a swim with the fishies under the water fall. Most of the time we spent laying around in deck chairs soaking up the sun after a long winter. We went through two whole bottles of sunscreen...but I still managed to get a decent tan. I took the glare off of the whiteness a little. We stayed at an all inclusive hotel in the old part of down town Puerto Vallarta. Our hotel was simple but clean and the location was perfect for us. Water front, beautiful beach and right in the center of "Semana Santa" festivities. Most of the people at the hotel, at the beach and the surrounding area were Mexican families on Easter break. It was great. I don't go to another country to hang out in a secluded resort with other Americans or Canadians...I go to experience that culture.

Its good to be home again, back with my babes. Life is promising to continue at a crazy pace very soon. It was wonderful to be able to step off the business of day to day life for a while, catch my breath and make some great memories!

Bring The Rain - Canvas

I just got finished reading a post on "Bring The Rain" entitled "Canvas". It was so good that I wanted to put a link on my blog...for anyone who does not already keep up with Angie's posts. I have her on my blog roll and "buttons" on the side bar. Their story is also listed on my sidebar under videostories - The Smith Family Story. Thy lost their fourth daughter shortly after birth almost a year ago. Her husband is the lead singer in the Christian band "Selah". She is a very gifted writer, a very humble, authentic woman of faith who has been on a difficult and beautiful journey this year. Instead of trying to explain and butcher what she so eloquently wrote I'll let you read the post for yourself .

our new pet

Ok, so maybe our new pet is a little unconventional....and uninvited for that matter. Its a moose, actually there are two of them that wonder through our yard on a daily basis lately. They like to eat the trees and leave little "gifts" behind for us.

Such strange and fascinating creatures. They look like they are made up of spare parts. Tall , gangly, huge noses and humped backs...sorry moose. I make sure to check that they have gone away before the kids go out to play. The weather has been nice so I am NOT about to keep them cooped up inside. I've warned them not to go near them and if a moose shows up to get to the house.

Since we are being overrun by animals I thought I'd show you the monkey breeding program we have inside the house. Little Silas has learned from the best and is following in his brothers footsteps. I found him up in the cupboard in our back entry way.

Silas! Get down from there!...oh wait let me get my camera first!

Feeding time at the zoo. Silas is making his own pizza and apparently helping someone else get theirs started too. My kids have a thing for black olives...I can barely get them from the can to the pizza without causing a stampede.

Life in our zoo is never dull, just today for example I found Silas in Ailis's room surrounded by markers, decorating himself...oh and he had pooped in there too ( I told you it's like a zoo in here)...shhh don't tell Aili. Potty training is wearing me out. He has amazing bladder control, he can hold it for hours ....but the bowels are a different story. We are making progress though....someday... he'll figure it out eventually. Please somebody remind me that he will someday stop pooping his pants!

Roman spent a good part of the day today studying the atlas. He decided "when he travels the world" that he might need to take it with him and once again promised to bring me back jewels and treasure for my own enjoyment. Looking forward to it.

We had to disappoint him a little recently. We had applied a few months ago to work as dorm parents at an International school in Malaysia. It was kind of out of the blue as we had never really considered doing it before. Until we knew anything for sure I was hesitant to share it here in blogland. The possibility of moving to Malaysia was big part of our lives for the past few months...its taken up a lot of thought, prayer and emotional energy. I have been following another dorm moms adventures and she suggested that we look into it. Well we looked into it out of curiosity and one thing led to another.

It was a lot of paperwork, making ourselves vulnerable and waiting to find out what our lives would look like next year. Actually we would have been leaving in July ,....that would be 3 months to pack up our lives and move across the globe. Exciting and terrifying at the same time.

Wrapping our minds and hearts around the idea of being in full time youth ministry to kids from many different countries was a lot to pray and think about.

We found out just a couple days ago that there wasn't room for us this coming school year.
There were about 16 people that applied for the 2 positions and it sounds like we made it to the final few that were considered. As far as a 'rejection' letter goes it was the most encouraging and affirming letter I think I've ever gotten, it definitely made the news easier to take.

I think that satan uses opportunities like disappointments or "rejection" to tell us that we are not good enough, God can't use someone like us and we may as well give up.

Immediately those thoughts started to crowd in. I could picture people saying "Of course they didn't pick you...who do think you are anyway!" I immediately recognised those thoughts for what they are and am refusing to let them back into my mind. I honestly feel very much at peace with the outcome. We sought Gods guidance throughout the process and prayed that the administration at the school would find the right people for the jobs , whoever they might be. We trust Gods timing for us. We are definitely not ruling out being dorm parents in the future.

The kids knew that we might be moving to Malaysia and since the move would happen very quickly we were preparing them for that possibility. They were excited and were up for the adventure. Before we applied, Roman looked at me out of the blue one day and asked "mom, someday could we live in a jungle next to the ocean?". hmmm..how about Penang? Needless to say he was excited to explore Asia! He was a little concerned about pirates and giant sea creatures coming up out of the ocean though....you know the rational fears one has when moving to a new place. Aili was more concerned with leaving friends and family in Canada.
We are now looking forward to our summer here, camping, sailing and enjoying our home for a while longer.

We shared our Mexico trip in church this morning. Some members of the team put together an amazing video put to music and each person shared a little bit. It was greatly encouraging to see how the trip and the experience impacted each of the people who went. I have never really led anything before....never mind a group of 15 people to a foreign country! It was out of my comfort zone and beyond my organizational experience. I really enjoyed it though. I realized that sometimes all it takes is to follow God out of where we are comfortable...easily hiding in the background...to discover that he has something more for us. He can use us in ways we never thought we were capable of. He is the one that is capable. All we have to do is be willing to be used by him.
So we are once again setting our sights on returning to Mexico this fall...kids and trailer in tow.

And once again I am excited to see what God has planned for us this time.

Random kid pictures

Here are my three little sweethearts in a rare moment of sweetness. I found them watching a movie all snuggled up together along with their stuffed friends.

Kiss me baby!!

I just thought this one was funny. He woke up from a nap and was upset that he couldn't carry his complete entourage out of the bedroom with him with out dropping things. This included three stuffed animals, 2 blankies and his pillow. Sometimes he has trouble letting go. Of course being the sympathetic compassionate mother that I am I responded by grabbing my camera and frustrating him even more....I made it up to him by helping him carry his bed out of his room.

My little warrior. We are so glad to have Roman around for our general protection. There are things in life that must be taken very seriously...alien invasions for example.

just missing him

I've been missing my Kade boy the last couple days. I don't know what brought it on but I suppose it will be like this for a while. I wonder how long I will wonder what he's doing, where he's living , if he's being looked after, if he has someone to rock him when he's sad.
I'm missing his help emtying the dishwasher, his cute little words, his expressions, his snuggles, even his cute floppy ears. Its harder than I thought.
We cared for two other little ones in our home for 8 months. I loved those kids and did feel like a mama to them but we knew from the start that we were working toward them being able to go home to their mom, who loved and wanted them. The goodbye was a little sad but we have been able to keep in touch and their mom is great an sending us pictures and updates once in a while. Kade has been different. We have never met his parents, we knew very little about his history...what we did know was nothing that would make us confident that someone was able or willing to care for him. I guess I expected him to be around longer. The goodbye was unexpected and quick...which is typical I guess for foster kids. I had dental appointments, immunization appointments made that had to be cancelled, I had plans to enjoy being outside with him this spring, things to show him, things to teach him. I fell fast and hard for this little guy who was so easy and rewarding to love. I was his mommy....if only for a short time in his life.
Our goodbye with Kade came the same day we left for Mexico. Which I guess was mercifully good timing. It was really hard, to leave him with friends (where he stayed until Social Services picked him up a few days later) knowing he would be watching for us to come back to take him home. I tried to make it casual and not make a big fuss in front of him....I did spend an extra several minutes letting him cling to me like a piece of velcro before I distracted him with some toys said a quick "happy" goodbye and walked out. He cried, I tried my best not to ...until I was out of sight anyway.

I think I will always have a little piece of my heart out there walking around and living a life that I'm not a part of. I still pray for him, and the fact that he has a "stranger" praying for him throughout his life is not a small thing. God knows where he is and what he needs, even if I don't. Its a comforting thing to be able to talk to that God and intercede for my little Kade.

The road less travelled

I was looking for some pictures to illustrate a picture I had in my head of people climbing a mountain. Being that we live in a place with no mountains in sight and its been a while since we were actually hiking in the mountains this was the best I could come up with. This is actually a location in SK. The highest elevated land in the province, Cypress Hills Provincial Park. We camped there last summer.

Lately verses in the Bible that refer to the idea of running a race in our spiritual lives have been coming to mind. Some trying and discouraging circumstances surrounding me right now are requiring an extra measure of focus and perseverance.

"Therefore since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus. The author and perfecter of our faith" Hebrews 12: 1- 2
To put the passage into context the author of the book of Hebrews had just finished reviewing the men and woman of faith who had gone before them and was encouraging the Hebrew believers to persevere in times of trials and great difficulties. The "cloud of witnesses" are not spectators to this race but inspiring examples of those who have finished the course and are cheering us on from the finish line. In that cloud of witnesses I see great hero's of the faith , Abraham standing next to Hudson Taylor, and loved ones who have gone on before me who lived a life of faith.
In this race, this course set before me, I sometimes stumble, I trip and fall, I get weary. I approach a hill and wonder how I will ever have the strength to keep running. Sometimes I run with ease and exhilaration, enjoying the rhythmic pounding of my heart and feet. I often enjoy the passing scenery as I look forward to the triumphant finish.
Other times my lungs burn and the pain in the side of my stomach is hard to ignore...all I want to do is sit down and rest, just for a while...just coast and not go anywhere that might make me uncomfortable.
As I contemplate going on, I look around at those who have left the race, those people who have set up lawn chairs and campfires off to the side. They reminisce about the good old days in the race, they discuss why hymn books are preferable to powerpoint projectors and discuss the problems with runners today.
I run past a few who are sitting in the middle of the path looking disillusioned and discouraged. I see that they need someone to pick them up, come along side and run with them for a while.
I grieve for those who have turned around and have started walking back down way they came.
I see the people who have decided to observe from the sidelines, their racing numbers pinned to their shirts. They are entered in the race but just haven't moved in a long time, they are comfortable watching...as long as it is entertaining.

I watch in awe and respect as an elderly lady sprints up the final incline toward the finish line. (let me pause and remind you that this is a spiritual race I'm talking about, able healthy bodies ,while undeniably useful, are not a requirement for this race)

At some points in the race I have been the one to fall to the ground in despair. It was then that my father came and lifted me on his shoulders and carried me up the path that was too steep for me.

What I look forward to is not simply a trophy or a participation ribbon. We hike up this mountain path one foot in front of the other in order to get to what is waiting for us at the top, at the finish line. The breathtaking view from the top. I must focus on the task at hand, not become sidetracked or tripped up by distractions that would lure me from the race or make me believe we run in vain. At the top of this mountain is something that will make me forget every side stitch and sore muscle along the way.

"..you have come to Mount Zion to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the first born, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous men made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant..." Hebrews 12: 22-24

Imagine a finish line that includes thousands upon thousands of angels throwing a party. Imagine what "the city of the living God" will look like, now that would be a skyline worth seeing. Imagine being congratulated and patted on the back by "the spirits of righteous men" gone before us. Our father God stands in anticipation of our arrival and greets us with open arms and exclaims "Well done good and faithful servant!" . Our mediator Jesus runs along side us cheering us over the finish line. I've ran and finished a lot of races in my life but no finish line exhilaration will ever compare to a finish line like that!

Paul writes in the book of Acts "However I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace. "

"Tenacity is more than endurance, it is endurance combined with the absolute certainty that what we are looking for is going to transpire." Oswald Chambers

A life lived in faith requires tenacity, perseverance and focus.

I know one way or another, I will finish the race, how I finish it is another question. I could finish the race in a leisurely controlled manner, aware that I must not appear foolish or in a rush, careful not to break a sweat a long the way, but that is not how a true athlete runs a race. I don't want the polite sympathy clap as I walk over the finish line. I want to be an athlete that runs strong, one that spends every last reserve of energy, that sprints across the finish line. I want to know I gave it everything I had, used every resource available to me, invested my time and energy wisely. That is how I want to run the race....with spiritual tenacity.