Mexico Adventure: Chapter 2-Our Amazing Home in Manzanillo

As you'll see through these, and the other pictures to follow, I couldn't say enough about how beautiful this home was! It was a 9,000 square foot villa with plenty of room for all 15 girls! We were truly in paradise! Here's a view of the home from our boat ride (which you'll hear about later) as we passed by. And yes, we definitely got our exercise in with all those stairs! :}
The villa was in this gated community with the cobblestone roads, and many other incredibly awesome homes! As you entered, you first come across this fountain area, and deck overlooking the pool & ocean

I got to share a room with Tina, which was down the stairs from the main part of the house

Here are some of the other rooms, which provided more than enough space for us to have our own space, if we needed

There was even an elevator in the home (though I didn't use it, why, I'm not sure! :})

The kitchen

The patio area, which is where we had all our meals, was amazing in itself! They really captured the elegance with the art & decor all around the villa!

Our infinity pool, as seen from the upper deck of the home, that we took full advantage of!

Another gazebo at the bottom of the stairs, which provided a very peaceful place to relax & soak in the ocean view

Again, you'll see many more...but, at least you get the idea on what a truly incredible place this was!

Mexico Adventure: Chapter 1-We're On Our Way!

The much anticipated day finally came, our girl's trip to Mexico had finally arrived! Though we've had some FABULOUS trips together, we were more than anxious for this one!!

I'm glad that my other Jazzerbabes; Tracy, Holly, and Lisa got to join us too!

Julie trying to not be frustrated, though they told her her flight was not actually booked, despite her confirmation (I guess you don't always get all the perks working for the airline! :}). Luckily the very nice employee who went out of his way to help her out, made sure she still got on, despite the fact the flight was full!

"Suz, you need the bathroom all ready? We just started!" :}

"Hi Deanna!" :}

Girls full of smiles in anticipation to get there!

It was also fun to have Tina's friend, Aisha, and her best friend, Jeresa, who flew in from California, join us too. I'm sure they miss each other tons living in different states!

We made it to Mexico (now to go through customs!)

Also fun to have Daniella fly in from Florida to join us as well! (especially since she just got back from NY the day before! She is a traveling fool!)

We had some kind drivers come up from Manzanillo to pick us up from where we were staying, which was about a 5-6 hour drive (atleast in our case, making them stop so many times :}) They were awesome & made sure we got there safe & sound! (though we have to tease our husbands a little now, about recieving the same kind of treatment, like putting the step out when we got out of the van each time :})
We saw these neat sand sculptures along the way
Tina & Deanna on one of our many pit stops

Taking in the beauty of the country along the way. I'm glad we went this way (though some may disagree due to the never-ending long & winding roads...and yea, I was singing the song! :}), getting the road trip to view true Authentic Mexico, verses just the tourist spots. We could have flown in directly to Manzanillo; but, it would have costed a lot more, and we wouldn't have gotten this fun adventure to add to our memories! :}
And FINALLY....we made it to the house!! That made for a LONG day of travel; but, all part of the adventure & worth it, as you will see in Chapter 2. Stay tuned...

Dear Sweet Jacob

I'm sad to report that our sweet little buddy, Jacob, son of dear friends, Christina & Tony Moulton, lost his battle to liver cancer last week. It all happened so fast, all within a month's time, it was hard to ever except the reality of it all. As I mentioned in a previous post, on our day at the park, he was just diagnosed recently. And, unfortunately, it took a quick turn for the worse & became a tough battle. You have to give him some credit, he was certainly a fighter & hung in there through some rough moments! There were a few scares of almost losing him, one of which we were present with the family, which was a hard moment to witness! And then, despite being told he had 48 hours, and then 24, to find a new liver or he wouldn't make it...and he would! He amazed the Dr's with his will & fight to live. From the time we went to the hospital the first time, to the next time we could visit a few days later, he had changed so fast. He was no longer alert & the rest of the organs were struggling to continue on. Poor kid kept getting cramps & hated all the tubes, you could only imagine how hard it was for him. At one point, after taking him off sedation, they thought his brain had stopped. We had the other kids that day & it was tough looking at them thinking that was day they were losing their brother. And then, miraculously, he started making some movement! It was such a roller coaster, which required a strong power of faith & prayer! One precious moment, which was the morning after the big scare & a rush to an extreme procedure, which again he miraculously made through, was when he woke up. His mom & dad were there. Being that he couldn't talk, he was given a white board, of which he got the chance to tell them he loves them. That was a special gift for them, that I can only imagine how good it felt! Let me share my own personal precious moment that I will treasure for the rest of my life.....as many of the girls were about to depart to our long planned trip to Mexico, it was tough to leave, knowing he was still waiting for a liver. We didn't want to be away from the family if they needed us, let alone if something happened while we were gone. Which unfortunately was the case; but, we'll come back to that story. I just had to see Chris, Tony & Jacob before I left. Life has been a little more than insane the last 2 months, so, I wasn't really all prepared to leave & had a super busy day; but, decided to go up at lunchtime to see them, even if it would have to be a quick hi & bye. I caught Chris & Tony on their way down to lunch & went back with Chris to see him, since he was fortunately awake this time (every other time he hasn't been...so, I was anxious to talk to him!). I'm not going to lie, it was tough to see him in that state, very heartbreaking; but, I knew he was looking better than he had the week before & it made me proud he was such a fighter! Of course he couldn't talk w/ all the tubes; but, when I asked if he knew there was a whole lot of people out there praying for him, he nodded his head yes. When I asked if he knew there were angels all around, he nodded his head yes. When I asked if he was excited to see his new home & new bed, he nodded yes & I'm pretty sure I saw a smile through his eyes. I knew it was hard to move & I didn't want to ask a lot; but, I appreciate him comforting me like that. He also was trying to scratch his legs, and took my hand he was holding to scratch it for him. When I stopped & started to walk away, he grabbed it back & had me keep scratching. Bless his sweet soul, he truly had just that..always very tender & kind. I can only believe he was brought here to be our angel & will continue to do so from the other side. And that is how I would describe the power of faith! You don't have to have any certain religion tell you how exactly to believe that, you just have to feel it in your heart for yourself! And I'm glad that I do. I'm honored to have had Jacob in my family's life, as he brought much joy to us! Thank you Jacob for being the sweetheart you always were!!

Let me share some pictures of just a few memories over the years, which I will always hold on to for the rest of my life......

Him & Dylan always liked to play video games together! They were so good, even at this young age, it always amazed me how they just figured it out on thier own!

One of our favorite activities together was camping. The kids always loved to hike & explore. They always keep each other well entertained, which is nice for the parents to enjoy the family camping trip with their friends! :} There's plenty of fun memories of BBQ's & fun gatherings with the families. That's the thing...we're just like one big family! I've gotten a lot of good laughs as I've gone through albums over the last 10 years, seeing us having babies, and watching them grow. And for these kids to see the kind of bonds their parents have, and they have with the other kids, is a fabulous thing! This was an afternoon planned for a day hike in Doughnut Falls. Who knew it was going to start pouring on us on the way back? But, all part of the adventure! It was another fun day together!! I'll always treasure this moment in time, now, as well. This was last year's Annual Bonko Camping Trip. I decided to take a hike with the kids while Mommy napped. It was the closest I'd seen Connor & Jacob together. I remember noticing what a nice big brother Connor had become. He made sure Jacob didn't trail off while he was fascinated with his findings along the way. He watched over his little sister, Maddy, as she is a handful! :} I'm proud of him. I realize this makes this all harder too, that he couldn't protect his brother....but, I hope he knows he did all he could & he will continue to protect his sisters. He was so excited to try crawdad fishing for the 1st time! This was a time at a Valentine's Party we had together. The kids had so much fun together, I don't think I've ever seen them laugh as hard as they did that night!
Celebrating the new year....so glad I know we got to be a part of his last New Year's! And we had so much fun between dancing, games, wrestling matches, and fun times with friends! The last time we got to do do something together. I was nervous about taking him to the park, since he had just got home from the hospital (not knowing of the cancer yet). He just wanted to be there...even if he didn't have the energy to play. You can see his sweetness shine in his face here. That is a smile that will stay in our hearts forever!

His siblings will really miss him too!

Oh, this little guy is sure going to be missed! Thank you for all your hugs Jacob.....we sure love you & will never forget you!