Mexico Adventure: Chapter 3-The Beautiful People Who Made This Trip Complete

How lucky are we to have such strong friendships, and to be able to get the chance to travel together! I can't say enough about how fortunate we are to have this special group of women! And even for the friends of friends, who got to join along; we will now all share this special bond, as we made such fabulous memories together! Here's the group on our last night in the home....

...and Julie too, of course! :} (OK, so we should have waited until she came back out for the group photo, darn it! She knows we love her! :})

Though you more than likely know these fabulous women (or have at least heard me talk about them many times), let me introduce them....

Suzanne, "Suz", the planner of this incredible adventure. We have been friends for 18 years now & I truly value her friendship. She takes good care of her loved ones & will do anything for you! She is one of the originator's of this Bonko Group. Who knew what it would become, and that it would still continue, after all these years! :}

Tina, the party planner. She also will do anything for anyone, and is often doing just that! She has such a heart of gold. Tina & I joined Bonko about the same time (15 years ago now ourselves), we definitely have a lot of fun together! :}

Julie C, "Jules", the caretaker & most caring person I've ever known! I feel blessed to have her in my life, she brings nothing but goodness. Her perfect white smile (as she is a strong advocate of taking good care of your teeth! :}) always warms my heart! We are so glad she could make it, since she wasn't going to be able to until the final month of planning. Yea for working it out!

Chautel, "Telly": oh how I miss my Tel, how much we've been through together! (she was the poor girl who had to deal with me going in early labor while Doug was heading out of town). We have also been friends for 18 years, as she was also my boss at Principal. She is also one of the Bonko originals. She met the love of her life & moved to Payson a while back. So glad she could join us, I'll take whatever time I can get with her! :}

Julie, "Julie-N", is just a fun girl, always keeps me smiling...just love her! We met her through Maryanne, and she fit right in immediately! She's the one who talked us into the half marathon later this year. We'll see if we actually still do it (since running hasn't happened much this month!)

Deanna, a complete sweetheart. I met Deanna through Lori, my friend at Jazzercise, who has since moved to Arizona. I'm so glad she joined our Bonko group! :} And no, she is not posing for me, it just happened to be that sexy model pose she has naturally (so jealous...I want those long legs & thin figure! :})

Cute little Kathleen, another fellow Bonko member & a wonderful photographer (she had some amazing shots from the trip) & a great listener!! She sat up with me some nights & probably wished that I'd stop talking; but, I appreciate her listening to me carry on anyway! :}

Tracy, the comedian, my fellow "Jazzerbabe". We have now been friends for 12 years & we've had a lot of fun travels together between Bonko & Jazzercise trips. This pose is a classic Tracy pose. She always keeps us entertained & laughing until our gut hurts! :}

Lisa, another fellow Jazzerbabe, always fun & full of life (well, except for that long ride back to Puerta Vallarta down the long & winding roads :}). I would love to go to her Sunday morning class, or "my church" as I would call it, since she always filled my soul w/ happiness!

Holly, another Jazzerbabe, who has been such an inspiration to me. Her love of Jazzercise shines through & she is so good at what she does. She's always made me want to be a better instructor/student! Again, glad she could join us too!

Daniella, my friend of 11 years, from Fidelity, who now lives in Jacksonville, FL. Besides working together, we also played softball together for many years. She is a true friend & will be there whenever she can, even if it means traveling across the country. She surprised us last year by showing up at the annual 4th of July party, we couldn't believe we didn't know & were so shocked to see her walk in! It was fun for her to meet up with us for this adventure!

Aisha, Tina's friend from work. First of all, she is absolutely gorgeous & you've got to love her smile! It's been fun getting to know her more!

Jeresa, Aisha's best friend growing up, who lives in California. Sexy Mama, she was always looking vogue, even when she was in the pool. So not fair! :} Fun to meet her & share the experience with her!

Tunde, Chautel's friend, from Russia. Though we've met through a few events over the years, like when she joined us for the Air Supply concert night in Wendover; we hadn't gotten the chance to get to know her much, until this trip, since we don't get to see a lot of Chautel. Again, fun to have her join us!

And, well, there's me. The clumsy one (as this picture was just prior to breaking my thumb...I blame the small step & this long dress that I couldn't take big steps in :}). I'm also the one who seems to either break or lose everything. This trip alone included my phone (best not to have it near a pool...oops!), almost my camera (luckily it dried out after the wave hit it & worked again the next day...too bad I lost a whole day of pics! :( ); my thumb, as I mentioned; and lost my Mexico hat here (darn!)

I can't say enough good things about the staff here. Left to Right: Hector Jr.; his mom, Modesta; his dad, Hector (the chef); and his Aunt, Lupe. They were so amazing & went above & beyond what we could have ever expected. Hector was an amazing chef, we were in heaven!! We knew they would do the shopping & cook for us; but, we didn't realize they would totally take care of us from about 7am until about 10 pm every night. We were certainly not used to getting that kind of treatment!! (But, certainly weren't complaining!). They were the sweetest people & would do/get whatever we asked for, or thought we needed (almost made us feel guilty! :})

Modesta, or "Marty" as we called her, gave me a funny look as I was trying to do a self pose to the camera. She wasn't sure what to think. But, I think she found us very entertaining regardless! :} She was sad to see us leave (as we were sad to leave them too!)

Of course, in our own rights, we all really deserved this trip. But, these two girls truly deserved this for many reasons! Mainly, for the fact, they have been taking such good care of the The Moultons during this tragic time, as they pretty much had to put their own lives on hold. I call that, "Being on the Good Karma Train"...good things happen to you when you give so much! :}

You have to value the special friendships & individual bonds that we have with each other, within the group! These two were besties from the moment they met (we knew they would be, we just had to introduce them 1st! :})

We always know how to have fun together!! :}

Oh, I just love my girls! So glad I was able to go & be a part of this! (despite my insisting I can't & not opening the email for the 1st month or two of planning :}). I'll call it my own ride on the Good Karma Train, since it took a few blessings to get me there; but, I made it!! :}