Everything Else February

We got to keep the Birds for a weekend when Brit and Adam went to Dallas to see Hamilton.

Cuteness overload.  Ella helped me make dinner two different times.  She's a big 1st grader this year.

And there is this beautiful girl....Here is Char showing off her Magnatile creation. We don't have as many kid friendly things at our house as we once did.  I think everyone managed to have fun though.  

We got card game playing in.  I'm glad Aubrey was home for at least a tiny bit of the weekend.  She had basketball games and practice most of the time.  Tanner had work on Friday and Saturday, and of course Bri had work on Friday.  We ate dinner(s) at our house but then slept at their.  (Just me and the Bird kids)

It is kind of cook because on of Hudson's best friends is Erin Flores' little brother Ethan.  So he was able to come over one night and join us for dinner and hanging out.

Getting ready for church.  We had a fun weekend and in April, Britney is going to take care of my teens while Brian and I head to Nate and Beth's Mt. Vernon reception.

Valentine's weekend happened when we were in Mexico.  Aubrey sent us these pictures and said, "I LOVE young women's!"  Brian and I were so happy.  Since the wards have been recombined, she has been much happier.  She loves being with her cousin Lauron, and the leaders called have been so amazing.  They try to make each activity FUN.  They still let the girls lead, but they don't have them do everything.  They also do cute things to show the girls they love them... like this Valentine's surprise on February 13th.

Brian and I are so happy for Aubrey and very grateful for the sweet sisters who are working so hard to show these girls unconditional love, leadeship and the way to Jesus Christ.

Also while we were in Mexico, Brinley hitched a ride with Uncle Jeff and family to catch Macey's homecoming talk!  We were able to watch it on YouTube (a lingering Covid blessing), and it was inspiring to hear a few of her experiences.  

Beautiful Gwilliam cousins: Brinley, Macey, and Caroline (who will be serving in Georgia, the country, this summer.)

Here are a couple of pictures from our faithful Parker Bryce on his mission:

Elder Gwilliam and Elder Johnson

Super cute future missionaries!

Top Choco is similar to Nutella, and Parker is a fan!

The Asutsuare District

My b-day is on v-day, and we were traveling home from Mexico.  When I got home, the kids hadn't forgotten me.

Brinley asked tanner to pick me up some giant Hershey bars.  They know chocolate is my love launguage.  Tanner made time between his Monday school, work and dual credit assignments to make help her out.  (She's at BYU.)   I thought that was pretty sweet of him.

Tanner gave me a Chick Fil A gift card--woot woot!

Aub made me the cutest flower arrangement that I was able to enjoy the entire month.  She decorated the outside with Dove and Reese's hearts and then put the extra in the vase with the flowers.  She's so cute to come up with fun gifts and cards to celebrate.

Brian brought a stash of candy and left it on our hotel bed as a surprise.  He also had a sweet card that said it was good for a free hotel stay.  I thought he meant our current Mexido stay, (ha) but he meant "take the weekend and have fun by yourself."  He gave me one of those that I redeemed last year, and I really loved my overnight Lubbock trip.

My brother Kerry surprised me with this FIVE POUND bar of chocolate!  He is very thoughtful and I was surprised when he stopped by to drop it off.  (We don't really exchange gifts between the siblings on b-days.)

I'm proud to say that I am writing this blog two months later, and I still have half of this chocolate bar.  (The big ones from Brinley and the chocolate from Aubrey probably lasted 2-3 weeks.)  I am sharing....some anyway!

Britney and I usually do exchange gifts.  This year she treated me to a pedicure and then we went out to eat at Press Cafe.  Parker used to always go there with friends.  He would say how delicious and expensive it was.  He was right!  Brit and I ordered lots of things and shared (pizza, salad, smoothie, and a big cinnamon roll.)

This girl is driving!  Well, she has her permit anyway.   She is doing great.  She has been pretty nervous each step of the way (parking lot driving, neighborhood, and then busier streets), but she's getting there!  I would much rather teach a nervous, humble teen driver, than a not so humble, inexperienced teen driver.  (We may of had just a tad bit of experience in this department.......not to mention any names but it might start with T and end with anner.)

I kind of love this flowerbud picture SO MUCH.  Aubrey is the cutest older cousin.  She puts in a lot of time with the younger kids.  She will play with them on Sunday nights and let them lead out in the activities.  She was also really sweet at Nate and Beth's reception to play with them.

Aubrey, Char and Ella made a club!  And the little girls named it "The Flowerbuds."  They have a secret pass code, and the Bird girls handed out notebooks.  One week the little girls wore their hair in buns/flowerbuds to church.  Aub made this collage and they were thrilled.  The girls got to pick the pictures and the poses.  

I am so grateful my kids have been able to grow up with so many cousins close by.  

And to wrap of February...a Sunday night gathering.  This one was at our house.

Brit, Emily, David, Kate, Chris,Ang, Bri and Adam (w/ Hud in the kitchen)

Apparantly our bedroom became the hangout place for the kids.  Lauron and Aubrey helped Ella and Charlotte learn a dance.  And the teen boys piled onto our bed.

Braddock and Holden

Chris, Ang and Holden  (Chris teased him that he needed a hug...he got a stiff board of a boy but that works!)

Nate and Beth's Odessa Reception

My brother Nathan is 45 and got married for the first time this past Thanksgiving.  They had the wedding in Mexico, and it was a big surprise!  We found out when a surprise "we got married" card and an invitation to their receptions arrived in the mail.

Brit, Ang and I helped Beth and her mom decorate for their Odessa wedding reception.  (Kerry and Nate did a ton too...but not at the same time we were there.)  It was fun to help our new sister-in-law set up for a beautiful afternoon celebration.  (Beth has been a part of the family for years.  She and Nathan have been together for several years.  It's just fun to call her my sister-in-law.)

Ilene Poyner, Britney, Beth, Angelique and Erin (me)

The decorations, the dessert table and the bride and groom:

They had this yummy dessert table with lots of choices and a delicious meal made up of fruit kabobs, finger sandwiches, pasta salad, deviled eggs and more.

My brother Nate w/ his new wife Beth and Aubrey Joyce

Brian and I found a maker lab at Odessa College.  We have been trying out the laser engraver, and it's so cool.  We wanted to make something special for Nate and Beth.  Brian made this cutting board out of beautiful cherry wood.  Then I designed the print, and we took it to OC for the engraving.  Pretty cool!

Our Linde cousins supported!!  Dani and Wendy (our aunt/her mom) flew in from Utah.  Clifton, Jamee and their daughter Karlee drove in from the Dallas area, and Laurel is local.  It was so fun to catch up with them.

Gotta throw in an awkward photo just for fun!  I love these Linde cousins.  Growing up, they were my closest cousins in age and proximity.  We had years of sleepovers and kick the can and Monopoly tournaments and church outings and seminary years together.  (Craig and Laurel were close to my age.  Clif and Nate lined up and Dani was two years-ish ahead of Britney.)

Clifton, Brit, Kerry, Dani, Nathan, Laurel, me and Chris

Mexico Anniversary Trip

February 8-14, 2022

Brian and I decided to book a trip to Mexico, and since it was a month before our 25th anniversary, we called it our anniversary trip.  (Also, dubbing it our anniversary trip helped keep the whining to a minimum from the teenagers at home!)

We went to Playa Del Carmen and stayed at a beautiful resort called Ocean Riviera Paradise.  

Our room was perfect.  We were booked in an adults only section and this is the view from our first floor balcony.   We had a small swimming area right off our room that our balcony steps led to. What?!  We felt so rich/important/spoiled/something!  We had the big pool about 20 feet away. (There were several large pools throughout the resort.)  Don't worry, we didn't upgrade by spending $200 to get the "privileged" band...so we stayed humble.  (One day I made it all the way to the beach without a towel.  I asked one of the workers if I could get one.  He smiled and asked if I was "privileged."  I wasn't.  I had to go all the way back to the main part of the resort to find a towel.)

I think Brian and I only used these steps from our room into the water a couple of times.  It was still so cool though.  

The whole resort was filled with greenery and looked like a tropical paradise.

There were all sorts of critters.  One late night I was heading to our room alone and a group (or gaze) of raccoons were in the hall in front of my room.  We all froze.  I was kind of terrified.  (Grandpa Gwilliam's loathing of raccoons tearing up his yard came to mind.  Were raccoons vicious?!)  I guess they were more terrified of me than I was of them because they scattered after my camera flash went off.

Signs like these made me a little nervous as well!  Didn't see any crocodiles though.

We saw tons of monkeys.  They were so cute.  The main forest area they were gathered in was very close to our section of the resort, so that was fun.  Lots of people would take bananas from the breakfast buffet and give them to the monkeys.

A couple of times we saw a brave money come to the pool and drink someone's drink or eat their fruit.  This little momma monkey was a few chairs from us and everyone was gathering around and taking pictures.  Brian and I finally realized she had a tiny monkey wrapped around her belly.  It was adorable.  We were also bummed because we practically had front row seats and we could have gotten some great video or pictures.

Two huge iguanas were blocking my path to our room...I chose to take a different route.

There were lots of coatis.  They would slip into the trashcan and pull out treats.

Speaking of treats, one of our favorite fun things about this resort is they had an afternoon crepe bar.  Delicious!  We haven't had this on any of our other trips.  The menu options would vary but a few I remember were: Nutella and bananas,  tropical fruit and cream (my favorite),  and strawberries and cream.

Also, you can see this lady wearing a mask.  All of the workers at the resort wore them all of the time.  We had to wear them if we rode the tram, in any indoor areas like the lobby or gym, or when we entered the dining rooms.

This was seriously so delicious!

One kind of funny thing is Brian and I never were at the beach together.  We would often eat breakfast and workout at different times, and then one of us would end up at the beach and the other at the pool outside our room.  (I usually chose the beach.)   We did enjoy being together at the pool though.  And even though we split up for some things throughout the day, the majority of time we were still together.  I do love that we are both independent like that.  On my own, I ended up walking the beach, getting a few massages, and listening to or reading three books.  Brian enjoyed, on his own, relaxing by the pool, listening to talk radio, the evening shows and working out.  Together, we ate most of our afternoon and evening meals, played games, explored the resort, bowled, went into town etc....

We have had the opportunity to do a few resorts in the past, but they never had a bowling alley.  We had fun at this place.

I especially LOVED when I somehow beat Brain in bowling.  Let me just say, I consider myself somewhat athletic, but I have NEVER, in 25 years of marriage, been able to beat Brian at any sport.  In the beginning it was annoying, but I've come to accept it.  So this bowling score below is truly historic!  Erin for the win!!  (The lady at the front desk misspelled his name.  I promise, it was really Brian I was up against.)  Brian's comment was something about the balls all being too light....whatever!

Sadly, my reign did not last long.  He beat me the next day.  I guess he adapted quickly to a lighter ball.  Darn boy.

All of the shows were outdoors due to Covid restrictions.  We found this cute 2022 sign inside near the bowling alley and took the photo opp.

Took a taxi ride into town...$20 each way.  

One day we went into town for some shopping.  Brian new I would like that and was sweet to go with me.  We just walked up and down one of the main streets.  I bought this yummy ice cream.  I haven't had anything like this, and I am a fan.  It has a bubble (soft) waffle lined with Nutella for the outside and then vanilla cream gelato, fresh fruit and a drizzle of Nutella on the top.  So good!

One funny thing that kept happening was workers from our resort "just happened" to be in town on their day off.  They would stop us and say, "Hi!  You remember me, right?"  We would look at them blankly and then they would say something like, "from the Paradise hotel!"  Brian and I would then smile and say, "Oh ya!" but have no clue who they were.  Then they would direct us into their families gift shop that just opened and try to get us to buy something.  We finally realized they didn't remember/know us at all but were just looking at our wrist bands the hotel made us wear.  Tricky!

These aren't the best pictures, but military police on four wheelers drove down the main street.  It was sobering and kind of scary.  One day when I was at the beach a line of four or five zoomed down as well.  Cancun and Playa Del Carmen, in recent years, have been hit with murders and drug activity.  Honestly, I felt much safer in town and at the beach before these guys drove through.  It was a grim reminder.  (We are from the Odessa hood though....so there's that.)

This little girl and her grandma were singing to raise money for her sick sibling.  It was right across from the shop I got ice cream and they were so bad.  Out of tune...singing loud and off key...it was hilarious and captivating and endearing all in one.

On our resort there was a coffee/bakery shop, an ice cream parlor and the breakfast/lunch/dinner buffet.  They also had several restaurants that were really good.  We tried the Mexican, the American (burgers and fries), the Japanese and the steak place.  We both enjoyed the Japanese food and experience and were super impressed by our steaks a the steak restaurant.  

I personally ate way too many sweets.  It was fun to have so many to choose from, and I could move on if they weren't very good.

There was evening entertainment each day at the resort.  The fire show was pretty cool.  Another night they had vendors from town set up in the main square.  They had some singers/bands a couple of nights.  Our favorite was Super Bowl Sunday.

The game is not shown on the stations in Mexico.  You have to buy it to have access.  The resort took advantage of that and had people buy a table if they wanted to watch.  They advertised it with free "t-shirts, wings and a bucket of beer" included.  (Kind of ironic since we don't drink beer and all of the food and drinks are already included at the resort!)  I'm glad we decided to go for it because it was actually a lot of fun.

There were probably 60 tables set up.  I think Brian must have bribed them because somehow we got the very best seat in the house!  Seriously...it was exactly in front of the big screen.  We didn't have to worry about not seeing over someone's head or people getting up and down throughout the night.  

There was one guy who had too much to drink that was trying to be the up front entertainment.  He would stand right in front of the screen and dance or throw a football back in forth with his little daughter.  That was annoying.  Brian is super relaxed, but he finally said a few things to the guy and he stopped.

Our Super Bowl Spread.  

I'm really glad Bri decided to buy this package.  It was kind of the only excursion he did.  (I had a few massages on the beach, and we went shopping in town.  Those were my extras.)  We both enjoyed the evening.  (I went back to the room a couple of times during the game which was perfect for me.  Nice to not be locked in to the event the whole night.)

We really enjoyed our relaxing week in Mexico together.  Until next time!