Our First Born is 5

5 Years ago, God gifted us with this little itty bitty beauty who came into our lives 2 days after her due date weighing in at 6lbs 90z and 18' long:

 

Today she's turned from that little thing into this grown up little gorgeous girl with a sassy attitude. :)

 

 Happy birthday Arianna! Daddy and Mommy love you so much. You are a gift and blessing from God and we couldn't thank Him enough.

I can't believe you'll be starting Kindergarten in the fall!!! My goodness where has the time gone??!!

Viva Mexico!

I've been back from Mexico now since Sunday. 2 weeks of being away is actually a freakin' long time...more so when you are with your family...when that's all you have to depend on to get you to places here and there. I'm glad to be home but I will miss my extended family who we hadn't seen in 10 years and who we will probably not see again for who knows how many years. Sad to think about it that way but it's true. Trip there is expensive...and people we drove! Call us crazy, but we did save money not having to buy airline tickets. They were $800+ a piece!
In all honesty, we had a great time. I enjoyed watching Robert try new things and seeing everything for the first time. We did get to spend a lot of quality time with my family and do a lot of stuff. None of the family had met our girls nor had most met Robert.  We made some great memories and I'll never forget them.

Now think of my white blonde haired family in a foreign country full of tan dark haired people! They STUCK OUT! I mean reeeaaally! I told Robert to enjoy the attention while he got it. hahaha. They were seriously looked at like they had never seen white people in their lives. I mean no joke. Avonlea more so than Arianna got starred at...oh and touched. yeah! I guess she's even more blonde and her eye brows are white that it looks like she has none. People would point, ask if they could touch her hair, and tell me how pretty of a white girl she was. It was the most hilarious thing. People loved her...both girls. Now me being 1/2 Mexican and all didn't get the starres. Would have been nice though to get them occassionally you know...would have helped boost my self esteem just a little. ha! Dang Mexicans.

Our time there was so precious and I'm so glad we were able to visit with my grandparents. They are in their mid 80's so time with them was important.

Here are a few pictures/highlights of our trip I thought I'd share:


My cute little white family :)

A view of Monterrey! The mountain the background is called
Cierra de la Silla (Saddle mountain)

Visited an old isolated town where all roads were made out of stones
 called Real de Catorce (The movie the Mexican was filmed here)

My grandparents joined us

We went horseback riding! So fun!

Avonlea rode with me until it somewhat scared her that she screamed,
"I want the cowboy!"

Here she is with our guide (aka the cowboy)

Avonlea was impressed and taken away
by the size of the piñatas

Arianna absolutely loved them and I wish I could have
brought home one with me

Avonlea enjoying a taco! Yummy!!!

My dad, Avonlea and me enjoying being at the top with a view
of the Monterrey where my dad grew up

She loved this underground lamp and posed. lol

Loved me some markets!

My sweet grandparents...a picture I will forever cherish.

My Mexican family who we enjoyed spending time with. :)
Oh the fun we had!

Us, grandparents, and my parents

We got to enjoy something else aside from tacos!

Visiting little towns

Going down big fun slides at a park called Chipenke

Celebrating Arianna's 5th birthday with all our family

Watching her hit a life size piñata

 
There was so much more fun but those were some of our highlights that made our trip so special. God protected us from any and all danger (as things are said to be so bad there). And there are no regrets. Our time there was sweet. Thank you God for the opportunity.