Long version: We recently took a 2-week vacation back to Texas and to Mexico. We were anxiously awaiting my visa to be returned which caused tons of problems. During the wait, we decided to apply for a second passport which would not arrive in time for me to leave the country. So the DAY our flight is scheduled to leave, I dropped the kids off with one of my sweet neighbors and headed to the US Embassy here in Angola. I was on a mission for an emergency passport. Several hours later I had an emergency passport in hand! Thank GOD!! So a few short hours later we loaded up in 2 cars and headed to the airport.
Our flight to Frankfurt was pretty uneventful accept for a lack of good sleep. The kids are turning into great travelers! We had a short layover in Frankfurt and were back on the plane. The flight from Frankfurt going to Houston was just over 11 hours.... that's right ELEVEN! Holy crap! 2 kids under 3 on an airplane. They did great and again we were rally only lacking on good sleep.
Landing in the United States after being abroad feels really wonderful! I know we've only lived in Africa since February, but it doesn't matter. It feels good! What was even better was exiting the international terminal and my whole family was there! Mom, Dad, Cody, Lee, Ashley, and Kara! It was so exciting and amazing to be greeted by them!!
We celebrated Mother's Day with 4 mommies - Grammi, Mom, Ashley and me. It was wonderful being together! The super fun thing my Mom and Dad planned was a split-early birthday party for owen and Riley. It was amazing! Half The Avengers / half Disney Princesses. The kids had an amazing time! It was so special to get to celebrate early with the family. Being in Africa means no family on birthdays. Since the kids birthdays are in the summer, most of our new friends will be traveling. SOOO.... our birthday parties will be small.... just our little family making our early-split birthday that much more special! Mom and Dad got the three kids all costumes: Owen was Thor, Riley was Cinderella, and my niece was Belle. They had a BLAST!!
A few days later we headed to the airport again but this time we were Guadalajara, Mexico bound. My brother-in-law was getting married to a beautiful woman, Cindy. We've been anxiously waiting for the wedding. I was blessed to get to work closely with Ryan and Cindy on their wedding invitations. It was so much fun getting to design their vision for their special day. We met up with Nathan's Mom, Dad, sister and our German sister Julia. It was so exciting to see them!!!! Riley got to sit in First-Class with Chacha during the flight and caught up on some good snuggle time.
We got to visit with Ryan and Cindy when we got to Guadalajara. All the Merys, Kearns, Wells, and Tueme family took a bus tour around the city seeing monuments, cathedrals and other sites. Nathan, Mitchell and a bunch of Ryan's buddies took Ryan out the night before the wedding. Quite a bit of tequila and beer! The wedding was on Saturday in La Laja. Owen wore a dark gray tuxedo that melted my heart. The wedding day was the first day I saw him in it and I teared up. He looked so handsome and such a big boy! Cindy's sister made a beautiful dress for Riley to wear which matched all of Cindy's nieces. She called it her princess dress. She looked beautiful! My handsome husband wore a James Bond style tuxedo. Wow he looked amazing!!
The wedding was in an old beautiful church in Cindy's hometown. Nathan and I were asked to be the couple who puts the lasso around them uniting them during the ceremony. The lasso was made from beautiful crystals with a large cross. For anyone who was at our wedding, the symbology of this was similar to the crowns that were placed on Nathan and my head. Riley was supposed to throw rose petals at the end of the ceremony. She didn't quite understand until Owen started helping her. They both got really into it. It was adorable! Cindy looked absolutely beautiful in her wedding gown! Ryan wore a formal tuxedo and looked incredible! There wasn't a moment the whole day and evening they weren't smiling!
Next we headed to the reception which was at a beautiful location. It was very hot the whole time until we got more into the evening. Riley's dress made her pretty toasty so she had a wardrobe change into a hand embroidered Mexican dress her Jido bought for her. The kids ran all over the place and bounced in the jumpy house for a long time. They were amazing troupers! I packed sandwiches for them and thankfully I did. Our dinners arrived at our tables at almost 10 o'clock pm! Shortly after Nathan and I headed back to the hotel with the kids. Riley was asleep before we left and Owen shortly after. It was a late night for them. But the festivities went on until the wee hours of the morning. There were fireworks, mariachis, several bands with several wardrobe changes, clowns on stilts and more! And the dessert table was like none I've ever seen!!!! WOW!! Bravo to Cindy's amazing sister organizing it! The next day we headed back to La Laja for a Mexican BBQ celebrating Ryan and Cindy. We had authentic Mexican tacos, more mariachis and more time with Ryan and Cindy.
Sunday we headed to Puerta Vallarta in style! Guy rented a huge charter bus for the 12 of us going. I'd like to say I enjoyed the beautiful countryside, mountains and valleys as everyone else did... but I did not. I tried to sleep as much as possible to hold down the nauseating feeling in my stomach. On top of all the festivities we had another thing to celebrate that was causing this momma to feel pretty wretched but that's another post.
We had an amazing time at an all-inclusive resort in Puerta Vallarta. The kids lived in their swimsuits getting sand in every nook and cranny. I lived under an umbrella watching them body board, swim, dig in the sand and have tons of fun with Jido, Chacha, Uncle Moomoo, Lala, Aunt Mena, Julia our German cousin, Aunt Libby (Janet's cousin), and Yueme Tueme (related on Guy's mom's side).
We sadly parted with the Mery's and were off to Katy with my Mom for a couple nights before our return flight. The morning of our flight Nathan and I took Riley to the Emergency Room. She was complaining of some hurting on top of a fever. After a long, tiring trip there, no result of what bug she had. So we headed home and frantically finished packing. It is quite a sight to see a large suburban packed to the brim with 4 huge Action Packers each weighing 90 lbs... and a second vehicle with more luggage than passengers. But we made it home! 103.8 degree temperature spike in flight for Riley, a very nauseous momma, a 9 hour layover in Frankfurt and another flight home.... but we made it along with all 9 checked bags.
We loved every minute being home with my family and on vacation with Nathan's family. HUGE congratulations to the newlyweds Ryan and Cindy! We wish you all the blessing in the world! And no more time apart!
Ciao!
