The Ultimate Spring Fling...Puerto Vallarta 2008

Living like the rich and famous.....total relaxation...over-eating.....plenty of poolside fun.....an abundance of chips and guacamole and Coke Light......quality time with family and friends.....incredible accomodations at The Grand Mayan Resort and beautiful weather. That about explains our Spring Break vacation to Puerto Vallarta.
Maury and Wendi Tanner invited us to stay with them at The Grand Mayan Resort in Mexico. We had never been....so we took them up on their offer. Of course, knowing the Tanner's, we knew if would be fun.....but it far exceeded my expectations. First of all, Maury gave us the best room he had. The view out our balcony window was breath taking. We were right on the ocean in a beautiful resort setting. It really took our breath away. We were overwhelmed at their kindness, but thrilled we got to experience Mexico. The Shockey's, Porter's and Whiteman's also came with us.
We were there for a week and had plenty of opportunities to experience Mexico. On Saturday we spent a wonderful, relaxing day at the pool. The resort had several pools and a big lazy river that we floated down every day. We spent the day sunning and eating! The kids had so much fun ordering food and drinks at the pool. It is a fun luxury to sit at the pool and read while you eat chips and guacamole and have a cold drink. What could be better? The resort had alot of activities for the kids, water volleyball, ping pong and pool games with teams and prizes.
On Sunday we did something very special. We decided to visit an orphanage right there in Puerto Vallarta. I was really excited to do this. First of all....I had never done this and second....I have a soft spot in my heart for little kids that have such a tough life. Sooooo Saturday night after dinner we all went to WalMart and bought tons of things for the orphanage and the kids. We had all of our children go through WalMart and pick out things for the orphans, (of course Maury had a wonderful list of things the orphange had requested!) It was a good experience for our kids to shop and then we planned on delivering it on Sunday after Church. It took a while to get all of the items together. Plus....it is a trip to shop in Mexico at Wal Mart on a Saturday night!!!! That alone was its own experience!
We had to take cabs everywhere! We had such a big group it always took 2 taxi vans to haul us around! We took a taxi to church....which was fun to sit through church in Spanish. It was fun to see the Missionaries there. One was from Provo, Ut. After church we loaded up all of our loot into 3 taxi vans and headed for the orphanage. I really didn't know what to expect, but I was looking forward to playing with the children and getting a look at their living conditions. I really didn't want to have to think about it! It is a tough thing.

We arrived at the orphanage and loaded everything into the front reception room. While everyone was arriving and unloading the cars.....the little kids stood behind a gate watching us. I just wanted to hug every one of them. They were so cute and excited to see us. They let us go into their activity yard and play with them. We brought them some toys and started handing them out. Some of the kids got too excited. We had these little bouncy balls.....you would have thought they were gold. Each child was so possessive of his little gift. One little girl started hoarding them in a little bag and would not share them! We also brought them bats and balls and some jump ropes. It was fun to take time to play with them. One little girl grabbed me right when I came in the door and would not let me go. She got mad if I put her down or paid attention to anyone else. At the end she would almost not even talk to me because I had to pay attention to others at the same time. They even let us go into the "nursery" and hold and love some of the younger babies that were just playing in their cribs. Ohhhhh I hated to see that. I wanted to steal one little one away and take her home with me. You always wonder how you could help.....should I adopt this little one......It was hard on my heart! I think our kids saw a different side of life.....what a great experience!

Sweet Jessica wanted all my attention...

Alyssa Whiteman, one of my old Mia Maids, having fun with the kids...

Wendi...saying goodbye was sooo hard!

The rest of the week was spent relaxing and having fun. On Tuesday we went to see Whiteman's beach home that they are building. WOW! That is all I can say. We then were treated to a barbecue on their beach. Total fun! Some people came down on the beach and cooked us some fish and we again had yummy food to go along with it.....plenty of chips and guacamole, or course! We had a big bon fire and just sat around and talked.....the teenagers hung together and Craig and Carol Willet came over to join us from their vacation spot close by. Man......it couldn't get any better than that!

The rest of the week was spent enjoying the wonderful Resort surroundings. You didn't want to go anywhere else because the Resort was so beautiful and restful. Wendi and I managed to work in a massage and that was a treat! Oh the good life! Maury is a gem.......Max called him "El Jefe" (in other words.....the head guy!) He was always on the phone planning things for us, or trying to figure out how to get us somewhere or make reservations for something. I took several pictures of him on the phone......it was constant. But boy did we have fun as a result!Maury...the vacation planner aka El Jefe

The teenagers had so much fun together. Kevin thought he was in heaven because he and Beau stayed in their own room for most of the time. They really had a great time with the Whiteman Shockey and Porter kids. What a great group of kids. They had a favorite game they played everyday in the pool. We had our lounge chairs right at poolside. There was a big fountain in the middle of the pool we were around. It had a deck that the fountain spray came out of....you could actually stand on it and be in the middle of the fountain spray. Nick Whiteman had a small football.....someone would stand on the deck and throw the football out into a crowd of kids standing in the fountain. It was a contest to see who could catch it. Of course I became the photo person for the "best catch" photo! It was so much fun for the kids. They spent some hours playing that game.
The hightlight of the pool time was Beau and Kevin modeling their speedos poolside. Hmmmmm....think I could have missed that one. The two of them found speedos at Wal Mart while we were shopping for the orphange and managed to sneak them into the basket! Kev...get a tan....Beau....not bad!

Needless to say....all our expectations were met. Maury took us to some marvelous restaurants. A new experience for us to eat in Mexico. Not to bad. The great thing is that Maury is at home with this culture and can talk and take us anywhere we want to go. Of course, he has all the "Connections." It was so fun to see him operate. We counted on him for everything. One thing I learned.....I need to learn Spanish!

I am thankful for such good friends that are so generous with our family. I don't think I have ever had such a restful vacation......Thanks Tanner family!!!!