Viva la Mexico!

So, I just finished this blogpost for our family blog (www.benandmarindashaha.blogspot.com) and thought I'd just post it on here for all of you.  Lots of pics, many of which are thanks to Bonnie.  

So, back in June our little family joined my very large family for a reunion in Cancun, Mexico.  

I feel a little sheepish even blogging about this… like my five loyal readers are thinking, 

"Who does this girl think she is?  Traipsing all over Europe isn't enough for her?  Now she shows up in Mexico?!"  

Let me explain.  My mom has been planning this reunion for our family for quite some time.  It's not our typical style to go on outlandish vacations.  But you see, back in the day, my dad built a beautiful cabin.  My parents saved for YEARS to build it.  All growing up I remember them talking and dreaming and planning it.  My dad finally started construction on it when I was in high school… he and my brothers did the bulk of the labor…and it finally came to fruition when I returned home from my mission.  It was a beautiful and peaceful place to be and we made a ton of great family memories up there. 

Fast-forward seven years later to my dad's untimely death.  The cabin was too much for my mom to upkeep and maintain on her own.  So, with a heavy heart she sold it.  I was crushed, but I knew it wasn't practical to keep it.   The silver lining was that she promised to use the proceeds from the cabin to finance family gatherings every now and then.  That is how my dad would have wanted the money to be used… to gather the family.  So, that's how we ended up in Mexico.  

The flight really wasn't all that bad… it was direct from Frankfurt to Cancun.  Now that is awesome.  

So the reunion consisted of seventeen adults and nineteen grandchildren!  You may wonder how we managed to feed ourselves for a whole week!  Costco, my friends.  There is a Costco in Cancun!  Each family took a turn cooking.

We ran into a few glitches…. like the promised "beach front" property had NO beach.  And we had a major tropical storm with torrential downpour for two days… to the point where some of the rooms flooded… and the wind never stopped!!  BUT it was so great to spend time with my siblings and the kids, of course, couldn't get enough of their cousins.  

One of the calmer days

We did a couple excursions… one day an LDS tour guide named Helaman (no joke) took us to some ancient Mayan ruins in Coba and Tulum

This is the Blackburn Bus!! Check out that bad boy!

We got to ride bikes in Coba, which made it handy to get from site to site. 

Do the on-lookers look impressed or what?

We stopped at a cenote, or water hole. 

Check out how ripped my brother is… he has like a ten pack!

Because my mom is da bomb, she arranged for us to give some clothing, toys, and school supplies to some less fortunate Mayan villagers… she's always looking for ways to think outside of ourselves

And then finally onto Tulum… so beautiful!

We hiked to a beach one afternoon… wish we would have had more beach time, but the weather wasn't very cooperative!!

Playing Four Square

Our last day we went to a resort called Xel-ha.  We did snorkeling… I saw a giant sea turtle!… and zip lining.  I was so proud of Em for going on the zip line!

She had a blast as we did it over and over and over again!

I got to hand it to this amazing lady here, my mom.  She has so much drive and persistence… I don't know if I would have the tenacity to plan a family trip like this one, but she did and we are so appreciative!

Before you go, I do have to add this awesome tidbit… this trip was especially meaningful for Ben and me because we met in Mexico ten years ago to the month!  I can't believe it's been ten years!!  So, here is a pic of Ben when I first met him at Chichenitza.  What a stud, eh?

And here he is ten years later in Tulum… still pretty studly I must say. 

FRUSTRATION

So one of my bigger frustrations in life is that I sort of understand computers, enough to attempt things; but I never have it down cold...always run into a glitch here or there.  I have so much to share in the way of pictures over the past several weeks...wondering if this site will cooperate, or if I will be smart enough to pull it off!

Whew, so far so good.  This will introduce you to Cousins Camp.  I will include some of those fun pics!

Our first "event" was Family Feud, played with the Griffins vs the Blackburns (Phils and Travs kids)...Emery was a "floater."  In this pic, first hand down answered the question first.

The Blackburn's won this event...tho it was hotly contested.  Do YOU know how much a newborn wolf weighs?  Ask your kids!

Here we are making sugar cookies.  We made wolf tracks, a howling wolf,  a moon, and other weird shapes.  We took a plate of finished cookies to John, the 90 yr old WW II veteran that I sit next to in church, and he told WW II stories to the kids.  They were all very polite and attentive (except when Rachel first sat down and said "This place stinks."  I shushed her and told her that was rude and she was quickly repentant and was a model child after.  Hopefully, John's old age deafness worked to our advantage!)

Official Cousins Camp Picture...Sort of good, especially Emery's rapt attention and 

Matt's delighted expression

This One's Better

Each family took a turn doing Devotionals.  

This discussion took place after the Sam & Neil shared scriptures about King Benjamins address on service.  You parents would have been proud of your children's Devotionals.  Scripture Power!

              The kids enjoyed beading projects....the little ones made necklaces and bracelets...

.....and the big ones made Geckos that will be sent by a Humanitarian group to poor children in other countries

We made our traditional pilgrimage to Pizza Pie Cafe, where we ran into a face painter.  Various forms of spider man, princesses, exotic animals were found on kids faces.  If you're wondering about Lizzy, she opted for the wolf paint, in preparation for her role as the wolf in her

 Little Red Riding Hood skit, presented later that night.

A Popular hangout...the Hammock

This is Debra to the rescue, reading to Emery who we thought had a broken arm from a trampoline fall (off of Rachels tummy to the tramp surface...I know, how could that be?)  As it turned out, it wasn't, cuz after many tears and whimpers and wails...a very unsettled night, a splint and sling applied by a worried Nana, and an on and off stressful morning, her mother took her to the doctor with the diagnosis:  NO BROKEN BONES

Maybe she was inspired from the skit that night, "The Boy Who Cried Wolf"

(Actually, I will attest to the fact that she REALLY WAS in pain....maybe my middle of the night splint healed her before she got to the doctor)

So here's Lizzy getting ready to wack the pinata.  It was supposed to be a wolf, but a dog had to fill in with no wolves available on Amazon.  It was a cute little puppy, but we tried to imagine it a wolf as we beat on it.

It was actually a rather creepy pinata, especially after Neil decapitated it early on, and we had to reattach its head multiple times with masking tape so everybody could get a turn.

Very patched up pinata, on one of it's last runs.  The kids all had a blast, with Eli applying the final fatal blows to release the candy .

So, that's the end of my pics.  Lots of other good moments, but understandably, I was often too frantic or flustered to be taking pictures.  Suffice it to say, we can put that puppy to bed for one more year.  

I have to add that we missed the Shaha kids terrible.  Talked of them often, and I will be sending them a package of t-shirts, beading kits, pinata candy, etc.  Next year they should be in town, so we'll get them then.  Be thinking of a good theme.....