Yearn for Surrender: Two parents, no kids... a week of adventure!

Brandon and I have very full lives and we recognize that some times we need to escape the chaos of our daily lives and focus on our marriage, on our walks with the Lord, and on special time for self care! With this in mind we took the plunge and went to Mexico last winter. We had such a great time that we decided to do it again this winter! We had a WONDERFUL trip to Mexico last month. We went to the same place as last year so we didn't actually take that many photos. If you want to see a few more photos of the place we stayed you can check out last years photo post HERE .

The details in words:

I spent several weeks prepping meals and desserts and schedules and documents about meds and contacts etc. It is funny how the time before vacation is always so taxing. We had been looking forward to it for months and then suddenly it was the day before we were scheduled to leave. Check out yesterday's post HERE to read the events that led up to our trip to Mexico.

We were up early the morning of the big day. We were in the City and pretty close to the airport. It was just starting to snow and our flight took off very close to on time. It was quite blissful to have just one flight. It was the first time in our married life to have a direct flight. It felt so posh to not have to run through the airport to make a connecting flight.

This year's airport experience was so easy compared to last year. We walked right past all the hagglers with our heads held high and on a mission. We quickly found our taxi and made our way to the resort. I was thankful that the motion sickness meds were still working as we made the crazy curving ride.

When we arrived at the resort things started to get a bit more stressful. My parents are so very gracious to share their time share with us. Our names are listed on the account, but the vacation was booked in their names. The man at the check-in was very concerned about this. Eventually he let us go to our room and we thought we were good to go.

It was just after lunch time so we had plenty of time to take a couple laps around the lazy river, lay in the sun, hit up the grocery store, unpack, and go out to dinner. It was a very long and very full day. The motion sickness meds cause me to feel loopy for quite a while so my memory of the day was fuzzy.

I completely went off the grid, but Brandon brought his phone and casually checked his FB and email. The connection wasn't stellar, but he was starting to see reports about the big snow back home. We learned that it snowed 12+ inches back at home. We were thankful for our early flight. It felt so surreal to be in a tropical place with so much snow at home. We were nervous about the kids early release and were thankful that Brandon's parents emailed to say that all was well back home.

The next morning we had a bit of stress when the check in man called very concerned about my parent's names being on the registration. My poor parents worked very hard to get things sorted out and by lunchtime everything was handled and we could relax.

The days of vacation were filled with all the things we love! I read THREE books for fun... not a parenting, trauma, or adoption related book among them! I laid in the sun, went for a swim, and took a long bath each day. We always started our time outside with two trips around the lazy river. It was such a refreshing time for conversation and relaxation. Brandon biked each day... for much longer than I swam! We had time for naps, walks on the beach, walks at sunset, good conversations, funny movies, and amazing food! To some this would sound like a very boring vacation, but to us it was a perfect mix of all of our favorites.

We are so very thankful to our parents for making this week in paradise possible. We could not have done it without all of you! We have been home now for two weeks and I can tell that my stress tolerance is still much better than before. Brandon's parents were already talking about next year the day we came home. That is a very good sign. The kids were so excited to see us at the airport. They had a great time while we were away. Tomorrow's post will be all about their time with Grandma and Grandpa.

Here are our photos from the week.

Enjoying a walk near the beach in the evening.

Because T wanted pictures of me in dresses.

A quick photo for T... I am pretty sure this was the day we arrived... very white skin!

The gym workers quickly learned to lay down a few towels around Brandon to soak up the sweat.

Some turtle friends enjoying a pond area.

So many turtles!

The pictures below are taken at one of our favorite places to see the sunset. We only had the phone camera so the color wasn't very good. Brandon lightened them up, but the photos don't do justice to the reality of the beauty. It was fun to stand there and hear every person walking by comment on the beauty of the sunset. The beauty that God has created takes your breath away.

A favorite spot.

Yay! Someone came and offered to take our photo so we didn't have to do a selfie.

Ready for another day of relaxation.

It was fun to watch the parasailing people take off and land. One person is ready to go as the other lands so the boat is only inactive for a few seconds.