Fifteenth Anniversary!!!!

Day one of our trip!
At the hotel in Calgary.
Best way to start a trip.

We celebrated our fifteenth anniversary last year. Time sure flies when you have fun!

We knew we wanted to do something good for our fifteenth and go somewhere together without our children. We talked about going to Hawaii since it was closer to home (Tahiti), and only cost a fraction of what Tahiti would have. We looked, and looked, and tried to decide and find a package that would fit our budget. Then our friends added me to a page about going to Mexico as a group. I mentioned it to Marc who wasn't really kin about going to Mexico and celebrating our fifteenth anniversary with friends haha. I promised he would have fun, and together with our friends we would have a great time. And we did! We were able to make new friends, enjoy the time we spent with each one of our friends, but still do things together as a couple. We were still each others priority.

One of our favorite part of it all was probably the opportunity to get to know Brad and Lindsey. We met them a few times through Indie and Dan but never really got to talk to them. By the end of the trip, I was genuinely "in love" with them. Of course being with the rest of the gang we knew since Lloydminster was beyond AMAZING!!! I would travel with this group again without hesitation, and I think Marc would too. It was such a relaxing time too.

Marc got sick one day, and slept pretty much all day. Our friends went to the zoo that day while I stayed with my love. I got bored in the room so I went out for a walk, and did some shopping by myself. And at night, we went swimming for a little bit. Not once I got sick during our trip which was awesome. I was in the pool pretty much everyday. I love swimming so that's what I did, and tried to play volley ball which was a disaster but still fun. I honestly didn't like the beach in front of our hotel. Marc and I went for walks on the beach but that was about it. Call me picky when it comes to beaches but I was spoiled by growing up on a beautiful island with really fine sand beach. Haha. Beside the people, and the food, a lot of things reminded me of Tahiti. Going out on a boat ride, the weather, the fauna, the "heat" (wasn't as hot as Tahiti haha), and some of the stores, etc... Truly a great trip!

While we tried to eat with our friends regularly, there were times where Marc and I had dinners and breakfasts just by ourselves. Food was good!

We woke early, every day and made sure that, that time before we met up with friends, was spent taking care of each other, and going on walks, and checking out shops before we started the day. Every time we were alone was peaceful, and magical. Lots of "napping"! And when we were with friends, we relaxed even more, we laughed a lot, we always seemed to be drinking some mango tango haha. It was just a lot of FUN!!!

We loved our time in Mexico! We sure loved being with friends too, especially with a group of friends that is not afraid to get loose, where you don't necessarily have to be afraid to be cast out because of your sense of humour haha. What can I say, it was WONDERFUL!!!! We were so blessed to have Dan as our translator. He was AWESOME!!!

We bought a few Christmas presents for our boys, and got some for us too. We talked about taking our boys to Mexico with us one day, and stay where we stayed so they can experience it too. Being away from them was great but not always easy. We missed them a lot. Being able to talk to them via messenger was a great blessing. Seeing how happy they were with grandma and grandpa sure took away the worries. As parents, we do deserve to have time like this for us, and to be selfish about that time. We were happy to go home to our boys, no question about that. We were ready to go home to them. We may not have been ready to face the daily grind, but we sure were ready for the hugs, kisses, and cuddles we craved haha. Isn't life funny!

We did celebrate our anniversary with the boys too. We took them out to BP's and had a great evening as a family.

I can't believe Marc and I have spent fifteen years of our lives together already, as a married couple.

Here are a few photos of our time in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.

At the Hotel in Calgary! Day one of our holiday.

Los abuelos!

Yummy!

Day two! Traveling.

Waiting for friends at the airport!
We're already feeling all relaxed haha.

The first mango tango. Manuia!

So much fun swimming in this pool.

Getting ready for dinner with my hubby.

Puerto Vallarta city center.

The shirt that started it all. Love this guy.

Went out for a walk with friends.
Walked to the mall located next door.

My favorite sea creature. They were a lot them by my grandma's place.
They are so tiny. I swam with them.

The burger shack!

Day three! Trip to town, and the Malecon. Got to have a delicious lunch with our fellow travelers. I think that's what made Marc sick. Still the food was delicious!!! I would go there again. 

Before the crowd showed up.
Like I said, we woke up early every morning.

 

Looks like a street back home.

Such an easy person to love.
Tiff and her Mexican gorilla. 

Lunch at the Mariscos!

Empenadas!

Crab Tacos!

The gang!

Day four! Marc was sick. I didn't really bother taking lots of pictures.

It was also our Mexican Fiesta Night. I bought a few things a the little Market they had set up.

By the time dinner time came, Marc was doing better.

Day five! Our favorite outing. We went to San Sebastian de Oeste. Beautiful, historical village made up of really old haciendas and century old houses. A really beautiful village where almost every rock has a story to tell. The old village is surrounded by silver mines. Truly a magnificent place to visit rich in history. Before we got to the actual village, we stopped to make some corn tortillas, and enjoy a "snack" break with our nice guide. We also stop at a cemetery.

The holy tree! Fruits are used to make maracas.

Before it becomes a maracas.

Part of the Sierra Madre.

Loved this roof.

I love old door knobs and key holes. Just beautiful!

Isn't this beautiful?

Inner court.

The ceiling of the gift shop.
Has bullet holes in it. Original to the place.
I would have liked to hear all the stories about the buildings.

Church ceiling!

We got to ring the bell at the museum.

My favorite!

We stopped there for lunch. Food was really great.
It's an family owned restaurant. Worth eating there.

Marc's lunch. Mine was better but I forgot to take a pic.
Mine was chicken mole, yummy.

 

Back at the hotel.

Where we made most of our calls to the boys.
Day and night.

Day six! Lot of walking, relaxing, more walking and shopping. Marc and I had a nice siesta after our little trip to Walmart then in the evening, we went to town and were able to do some shopping, and enjoy a Mexican celebration.

 

Day 7! What a day. In order to get cheaper tickets to go see rhythm of the night, we wasted a lot of our time talking and listening to rude people in a fancy hotel trying to sell us time share. Those people were so pushy. Best part about this was the free breakfast, cheaper tickets, and the ride to Nayarit. And of course, the time we spent in Las Caletas. The boat ride was awesome. Reminded us of the first time Marc and I ever took the ferry together to go on the sister island of Tahiti. The sunrise was beautiful and seeing the dolphin swimming brought memories of growing up in Tahiti. The food at Las Caletas was excellent, and the show afterward was beautiful. If we ever go back to Mexico, one thing is sure, we're never going to another time share meeting. I would rather pay full price for tickets than sit with pushy, rude people that only have one thing in mind, put their hands in your pocket.

 Day 8! RELAXING, SHOPPING, RELAXING!!!

I could probably write a lot more about our trip and give you more details about where we went and what we saw or what we did but decided against it. This is summarized enough to give you an idea of the great time we had.

Our day one started the Sunday before we left. Leaving the boys with grandma and grandpa after Church and driving to Calgary for a quiet, relaxing night together. Here's to many more years with my sweetheart. It only gets better and better.