We're back from Mexico! Oh boy, did we have the best time too! Mat and I took 501 pictures when we there. But I did pick out the cream of the crop to put online so no one has to wade through that many pictures! You can get to the highlights here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mat.kristin/Mexico2007The recap:
Mat and I were set to leave at 7:20 am, which meant we had to be ready by 5:45 am. Ugh! So we rushed around and my dad was waiting to take us to the airport before we knew it. Our flight to Denver was great and then we transferred to Cancun from the Denver airport. We originally booked Frontier, but the flight wasn't full enough, so we got put on a United flight. AND we got to sit in their "Economy Plus" section that has a little more leg room. We get to Cancun and get through Customs with no problems. Then we had to go on a little van/bus to get to our hotel. We were so ready to get there and Joy and her family were supposed to arrive a couple hours before us. We get to the hotel and throw our stuff in our room, throw on our bathing suits and run around trying to find Joy, Chad and the Igos. Walking around the resort was a long process. It was huge and to get from one place to another took forever! But it was so pretty and there were all kinds of beautiful plants and little animals running around.
Well, we finally found out that their plane was late and so we settled in at the lobby bar to wait for their arrival. We still hadn't gone to the beach! They all arrived - Joy and Chad, Ryan, Jeanne and Johnny, Mary and Chris (Jeanne's friend and our travel agent)! So we got them all settled in to their rooms and all left to eat some dinner at the buffet. This was overwhelming! There was so much to choose from and your plate was already loaded up by the time you even got down one row. After dinner, we all went out to the beach, even though it was already dark. It was so fun to put our feet in the ocean finally!
Tuesday, several more people arrived to the hotel throughout the day. There were 42 guests total coming to the wedding! We spent the day on the beach, playing in the ocean and soaking up rays. Mat and I loaded up on our sunscreen and tried not to get our Idaho skin burned! That night we had reservations at the Japanese Restaurant. The hotel was an all-inclusive resort, so all your food and drinks were included, but there were several specialty restaurants that you could make reservations at and those were included too. So we tried out the Japanese Restaurant. It was fun and they put on a fun show for the group. That night we had Me and Mat, Joy and Chad, Chad's parents Don and Sheila, Matt and Pat (Chad's friends), Ryan (Joy's brother), Jeanne and Johnny (Joy's parents), and Mary and Chris (Jeanne's friend and our travel agent). That night we all went to La Mascara, the discoteque at our resort. There were about 3 other people there besides our group and we did some fun dancing! Everyone danced and it was such a great night.
Wednesday we had several more arrivals and I think the entire group had almost arrived by that evening. Mat and I decided to go into town where all the little shops were and did some walking around. There was a ton of shops, but nothing that we really wanted to buy. But it was fun! That night we decided to all go into town to check out the nightlife. It wasn't too crazy. We hit a couple bars, but I think this time of year isn't really party time, so we went back to our stomping grounds, La Mascara! More fun dancing there and we had an even bigger group! Tal and Gini had arrived, Eileen and Alyssa, Alf, Josh and more!!! We closed that place down and I believe some people continued the party out on the beach, or so I hear!
Thursday was a late start for Mat and I. We're not used to staying up so late and we had to sleep some of that late night off! We decided to walk down the beach to see what we could find. Well, anything we went out in the sun was a huge ordeal. We had to lather up on sunscreen and that took forever. I had this great idea to buy this natural sunscreen and it was basically like trying to lather on something that won't spread. It didn't soak in like normal sunscreen and it was what we probably spent the most time doing! That night we had dinner at the Italian restaurant with Joy, Chad and her family. We all really enjoyed our meal and ended up going back the night before we left! We did go to La Mascara again, but we decided to make it an early night since the wedding was the next day.
WEDDING DAY! Friday at 11:30, the girls in the wedding party (Joy, me, Eileen and Tal) went to meet for mimosas and then we all had massages at noon! It was so great and relaxing! Then we had some lunch and went back to our rooms for quick showers before we had to get ready! I couldn't believe how fast the day had flown by. Tal came and picked me up at 3:28, even though she was supposed to be there by 3:25 and we walked to Joy's room together. Joy had already started getting ready and had ordered us a couple bottles of champagne to drink while we got ready. I think the next hour just flew by and I don't know what happened. But we were all ready and Joy looked so amazing. She was so beautiful and her dress was perfect! The golf carts picked us up and took us to where the wedding was on the beach. We hid behind part of the hotel so Chad couldn't see Joy. And then it started! The wedding was so beautiful, the day was so perfect and they both looked so happy. Chad didn't stop smiling the biggest smile I have ever seen someone have! After the ceremony, all the guests met for a quick champagne toast and then they started in on pictures. Pat gave an amazing toast and then I started giving mine and think I said about three words and then just said I love you guys!! I know, I am the best at toasts! I am so happy for both of them and we are just so happy that we could be a part of this most wonderful day in their lives.
Then it was reception time! We had a great sit down meal and then it was dancing time! Mat and I really had on our game faces. This was why we had practiced for months on our routines. Kidding, but we had so much fun dancing and just being silly. Everyone headed to La Mascara after the reception, but Mat and I decided to go get some food at the late night buffet. Then it was a night for us.
Saturday morning we all went snorkeling. This great little boat took us about ten minutes down the coast and then we all got out and looked at fish for about an hour. At first there weren't any fish and we thought, geez this is dumb, but then we swam further in to the reef and there were tons of fish! All kinds of great colors and it is just so amazing to be so close to them. I made Mat swim right next to me so that he could protect me from sharks. Although we didn't see any, you can never be too careful! That night we all took it easy. Mat and I had reservations at the Mexican restaurant and had fun eating some yummy tacos.
Sunday was our last official day. Mat and I decided to take the ferry over to Cozumel. It was raining most of the day, but we did eat the best meal of our whole trip in Cozumel. We found this little Mexican place and we had the best salsa, queso, enchiladas and tostadas! Then we headed back to our hotel. The last remaining guests all went to the Italian restaurant for dinner again and it was great. We all talked for a little bit and then it was time to call it a night.
Monday was our travel day and when Mat and I had to say goodbye to Joy and Chad. Yuck. I hate saying goodbye and leaving from a wonderful vacation. We got home about midnight and were so glad to see our sweet kitties and sleep in our own bed. Then it was back to work for both of us and we have been busy ever since!
Mat passed his CDL driver's test, so now he is officially a truck driver. Last weekend we had a great meal with my parents to catch them up on our trip and the wedding and it was so fun. I don't know what tonight holds for us, but I know it won't compare to our wonderful week in paradise!
That's all for now. Enjoy the pictures and I hope to see some from other fellow travelers as well. I can't wait to see the official wedding photographs. I know they are going to be awesome.
Cory, Christina and Mat hard at work scraping out the guts of their pumpkins.
This was my hilarious trick camera shot so I could get us all in the picture.
