A Mexican Fiesta and Sugar Cookies

This Christmas will be tucked away at the top of my stash of incredible memories forever. It was....well....perfect, if I can be so bold in saying that. I will charge ahead here and give you my best attempt at a recap of the eleven days I spent with my family over the holidays - though I know already that my musings and recollections won't do it justice...even if I do throw in a few photos. And yet, I feel a need to try to organize my thoughts and take myself away from my present situation to reminicse. So, here goes.

December 16th (which was the day I had been waiting for for months) brought the long-awaited flight home to see my family once again. Dave, Mel and the critters, along with Warren and I, flew home on the first flight out of Saskatoon that morning. It was early, but we were pumped and in high spirits. It was amazing to be together with my family again. Words cannot express.

The next morning, we left for our 6-day vactation to Mexico, where we stayed at this beautiful 5-star resort on the Riviera, just outside of Cancun. It was easily my favorite vacation I've been on, up to date. It was just a good, good time together as family. Many high points. Our main reason for the trip, of course, was to enjoy a week of chill time and hanging out together before my brother Steve and Vicki got married on the beach on day number 5 of our time in Mexico. There were 18 of us in total. A really good group, consisting mainly of family from both sides and then a few extra friends too.

I love vacactions even more, now that we're all adults. It's a lot of fun to just be able to do our own thing and enjoy it together at our own pace. There was absolutely no stress on this trip, no real scheduele. We took our watches off on the first day and didn't look at them until we were heading home. It was a week of sleeping in, eating too much (and the food was delicious), drinking too much (I was hooked on daqueries and pina coladas), lounging by the pools and playing beach volleyball by the ocean. The evenings were wonderful - we'd usually all go out for a nice dinner together and then relax in the big lounge area, sipping drinks, playing games, listening to the live entertainment, dancing and visiting. Lots of laughter on this trip. Lots. It was good for the soul.

And then the wedding. Oh...the wedding. It was quite possibly the most beautiful wedding I've ever been at. So small, so intimate, so personal. Steve looked amazing and Vick, she was truly a vision. The wedding was very beachy and casual. We were all barefoot. All of us. Jon played guitar as they walked down the isle and Dave married them. Their vows were really sweet. The wedding itself was set on the beach, right infront of the ocean. Down the isle they rolled a long white strip of material where they had sprinkled rose pedals from back to front. They stood under a simple trellis adonned with bright tropical flowers and ivy. They had set up about three mini rows of white covered chairs to seat the family. It was just a incredibly romantic. It really was. For the reception, we all sat at a big table on the deck, overlooking the waterfront. We enjoyed a delicious dinner, a few speeches were made, a few wisecracks were said and then on with the dancing! It was a blast. The whole shindig ended and we all saw the two lovebirds off in the lobby, as their taxi whisked them off to their honeymoon destination - another resort in the area.

And so, our trip in Mexico soon came to an end and though we were sad to leave this tropical oasis, the celebrating and making of memories was not over yet. It was back to Mom and Dad's place (Ontario) where we enjoyed Christmas festivities and some more chill time together.

Christmas in at the Bartel house consisted of lots of eating (namely Christmas goodies), loud music, evenings by the fire, games and of course, a whole lot of good conversation. We spent a day at Grandma's, Christmas Eve at church and Christmas morning eating crepes specifically prepared by Dad and Kayla, as we had anticipated. It was fun to, once again, experience Christmas through the eyes of two munchkins. It somehow seems to warm your heart.

What a holiday. What a wonderful holiday.

Today, I find myself feeling somewhat sad and heavy-hearted at the fact that this magical eleven days of my life, a time that was so strongly anticiapted, is over. And yet, I can smile and smirk at the memories that will forver be embedded in my head of this special time that was shared by the people I love. And that is why we keep going. Because there is always something more, something to cling to and get silly about. I'm looking forward the next big thing, whatever that may be.*