The Blog is going to Mexico

 

A good holiday weekend is in the books. We hosted Thanksgiving this year and had the whole gang over for turkey. Everyone was due to arrive at 1 PM, so I planned my morning accordingly, sleeping in until about 9 AM and then starting on the monumental task of cleaning up the leaves from both the front yard and the backyard. The pool has been clogged with leaves this year as our neighbor's volunteer tree has grown to about 25 feet and even though I cut back the tree so that it is a flat side from my fence straight up, the leaves fall and blow into my yard and into the pool. I spent a good three hours cleaning the leaves, the pool, the spa and side yard. I walked out front and saw Darla's parents car about ten after noon and they were early. Earl was suffering from shooting pains in his head and wanted to get here early to see if he could sleep it off. I thought I was in trouble, but cut my work short and took a shower and visited with Frances and Darla until the boys got here.

 

We fic=xed a 15 pound turkey that was toast by the end o the evening. We did a good job over dinner (which we ate at 1:30) and then the boys and us polished off what was left with turkey sandwiches about 8:00 PM after everyone had left. We had a good visit and spent a portion of the evening after everyone else had left planning some of our Mexico trip in terms of when the gang were going to PV, when we would have Sam swim with the dolphins, as I'd promised her, and then planning a trip to Yelapa and Majahuitas on Wednesday by boat. We were waiting to talk to Jennifer to see if Sam could go with us. John was aware of the dolphin swim, but we wanted to see if he'd allow us to take her on a catamaran trip to the two areas above. Majahuitas is a fishing village that is only accessible by boat and there are no roads in town. Darla and I took the trip last May when we took our solo trip to Mexico and had a great time. The activities include kayaking, snorkeling and a hike up to a mountain waterfall in Majahuitas.

 

We talke dto Jennifer Friday night and she texted the information to John, who responded that there were a bunch of "old suspicious God fearing people" going on the trip and we would watch her closely. I guess he was talking about us or he thinks dad and Shirley are going with us on the trip. My only concern is that we have to meet at the marina in Nuevo Vallarta at 7:30 AM and I'm not convinced that Sam can handle getting up that early and being in a good mood. I think she'd have a blast and hopefully she will be prepared for the trip.

 

I'm going to call Dad tonight and see if he and Shirley want to go along on the trip. It is a 7 hour tour and includes lunch. I'm paying the kid's way on this trip and it is their Christmas present this year. The kids will f=go into PV on Monday, we will take Sam to swim with the dolphins on Tuesday and the Catamaran trip will be on Wednesday. I will stay back with Samantha on Monday. Darla wants to go with the boys on their first trip to Puerto Vallarta and show them some of the sights. I'd like to go, but it will be a fun day to hand=g with Samantha and let her enjoy the Kid's Adventure portion of the park. We will also buy the food for the condo and buy two of the Meal plans to share with the group. It is going to be blast.

 

Friday I joined the retired group out at Diamond oaks and there were 16 players. They did a blind draw for partners and we each put in $5 and the winner took home $40, second place was $30 and third got their money back $10. It was two man partners and Rico and I won. He shot 70 for a net 72 and I shot 83 for a net 67. We won with a 139 and second place was 141. I think the guys are glad I'm not retired yet. It was a great day, but it started out late as our weather has been cold and clear of late and we had a two hour frost delay as overnight temperatures were 30 degrees.

 

We decided with the boys to go up to Apple Hill on Saturday. Apple Hill is up in Placerville (Hangtown) and about a 50 minute drive from our house. We met Don and Alicia up there as they wanted t leave later than us. We wanted to miss some of the crowd and the boys had a roast cooking at their Dad's and wanted to be home around 4 PM.  We went to 3 orchards and ended up at High Hill for our last stop, which includes a lake, a pony sweep and a Fudge Factory. We had a great visit, but it was "nose running" cold up there with a slight breeze and I was definitely ready to leave when we finally got out of there. The boys bought pies and apples and we got some jams and fudge. We leave on Saturday and neither of us need a big apple pie sitting here tempting us. Saying goodbye to Becky and Daniel was fun as we told them we'll see them next week in Mexico. They get in 4 hours before us and plan to have lunch at the airport and then have access to the airport lounge through one of their credit cards. I told them they could head over tot he resort, but they don't want to go without us. I understand.

 

The last picture of Jennifer, McKenny and Samantha was taken on their Thanksgiving trip to Southern California with her Mom and her husband. They flew into Las Vegas to meet Jennifer and then drove to Santa Ana on Thursday in a rented SUV. Diane and Bob flew back to Dallas out of Los Angeles and the kids drove the SUV home.

I have our annual Holiday party at the office on Thursday night. We have75 agents RSVP'd already and look forward to hosting our clients and saying thank you for all of their business and support over the last year.

 

Well, it will be a couple of weeks before my next epistle, but it will include photos and highlights from our vacation. we really look forward to some holiday cheer with everyone in Puerto Vallarta. Here's hoping David trims that beard, but I'm not holding my breath. I hope you are all well, had a great Thanksgiving and remembered to thank God who makes everything in our lives possible. Be well. Ciao.