Cozumel, Mexico

K, I've put this off long enough. This post will be a work in progress till I track down all the photos I want. But enough of you are waiting so here you go....

The adventures of our trip actually started the night before: on New Years Eve. Grandma and Grandpa Young had left their passports in Yuma, AZ and didn't realize it until that evening! Normally it wouldn't have been a problem and they would have had them FedEx-ed to Texas the next day. But FedEx had closed early for New Years Eve. They decided to have some close friends from Yuma drive 3 hrs to Phoenix and bring the passports to the South West Ticket Counter and meet Randy (Jeff's dad) there. The crazy thing about the situation is that Jeff's grandparents are usually the most prepared, on time people I know. So of course this would happen to them.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Group 1 (Jeff's parents, grandparents and sister's family) had a 6 am flight!! Jamie, Jeff's sister, lives down in Spanish Fork, so their whole family was up at 3 am!

Group 2 (us, and Trisha and TJ) had a slightly more comfortable flight at 8:30 am. Of course, we were all split up with me in the VERY BACK row with BOTH kids and the baby and Jeff more up front in an exit row so he couldn't take Brenna. Luckily after some seat swapping, I ended up in TJ's seat with Brenna and Jeff had the boys in the back. Good flight after that move.

We got into Dallas and spent the rest of the day there. Texas was a nice and CHILLY 50 degrees so no swimming and we spent the day in our hotel. Randy on the other hand was dealing with air ports for the day. After they landed in Texas he was off on another flight to AZ. And of course the couple wasn't there at the ticket counter. After waiting a few hours and missing his original flight back to us, he barely got through security and grabbed the last flight back to Dallas. Turns out the couple WAS there but thought they'd be more creative. They made a sign and walked as close as they could to the terminal they thought was Randy's and waited. When they couldn't find him they drove back 3 HOURS to Yuma and THEN called us. Oh, they never did go to the South West ticket counter. Long story short, passports were FedEx ed the next day to Dallas and the grandparents met us in Mexico the day after.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008
WINDY in Mexico! Cold, cloudy and some drizzles. We got there in the early afternoon and enjoyed the scenery while the wind blew. We mostly stayed in our room that day. Since the boys could only stand so much Spanish on the TV, back to the Care Bears on the PSP.



Thursday, January 3
Ryan got such a kick from watching Disney in Spanish. He just laughed and laughed when Little Einsteins came on and he tried to sing along. Jeff was liking the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse song better since they said something like "it's here" instead of "hot dog" over and over.

Friday, Jan 4
We needed to get OUT! So we went to lunch at Senior Frogs. I pulled out my baby carrier but I need to do some more tweakin' with it. It felt like Brenna was going to tumble out. Here's a clip from our camera (not the best quality) of the cousins on the swing/chairs at Senior Frogs. Kevin was shaking to the music while Ryan, Hallie and Jake liked to swing. It was SO LOUD inside from the music!! Plus there were some girls who walked around blowing their whistles constantly.


That night we did our first night dive!! I was pretty nervous since it was my first dive in a few years and a new type. It wasn't my favorite type but Jeff said it made him feel like a Navy SEAL: glow stick on your back, flashlight in one hand, jumping into pitch black water... I just kept looking around for something to grap me. Julie and Trisha stayed back to watch our kids. THANKS!! Here's a clip from our night dive. It's kind of eerie and makes me think of UFO's or something. The red blinking light is our dive guide and you'll just have to guess who's behind each of the green lights. Staying with your dive buddy was difficult since you're not supposed to shine your light directly on some one's face. I lost Jeff a bunch that night. Be prepared for lots of blackness in the clip. =)



Saturday, Jan 5
We got up early and did 2 more dives. It was a lot easier to relax in the water when you see people. Saw a nurse shark, sea turtle, and lots of fish. The reefs weren't as nice as when we were here in 2004. The hurricane covered up a lot with sand.



Sunday, Jan 6

A dress we got for Brenna at the "mall." It was my first bartering experience.

The view from our room. You can't see it very well, but there was an ugly field right next to the resort and we had a great view. =) Ryan loved watching the cranes.

A typical Mexican breakfast, right? Kevin sure thought so. Thank goodness for Cocoa Puffs, sans milk.


We saw this moth on the outside of our hotel. Ryan wasn't too sure about putting his hand close to it. There was a group of peacocks that Kevin loved to watch. He called them "chicken poxs."



Monday, Jan 7

click the little text box on the left to read the captions.

It was a great vacation in spite of the weather. What an awesome Christmas present! Thanks Mom and Dad Young!!!!! I think we wore the kids out: