Playa del Carmen Vacay

As I sit here on our 3rd snow/cold day off school and the coldest day of my entire life (no, really the wind chill was -38!), I realized I hadn't blogged about a much warmer time this winter...our trip to Mexico!  Matt and I went on a trip to an all inclusive resort in Playa del Carmen Mexico from Dec. 31-Jan. 5 in celebration of my 40th birthday last October.  It was heavenly.  We literally had NO responsibilities and could just relax and do whatever we wanted!

flying in

We got there on New Year's Eve, so we got to celebrate the new year outside in 80 degrees, a first!  It was a lot of fun, but we were so tired since we had to wake up at 4 am to be at the South Bend airport.

We spent time at the beach and pool.  It was a great time to go, not too crowded.

These little coati were EVERYWHERE!  They were rummaging around in the dirt and trashcans.

We spent an afternoon in town touring the shops and restaurants.

Our resort, Grand Sunset Princess!

We went ziplining at a really cool place in the jungle!

It was a lot of fun and even though it rained a bit, we had a great time!

waiting on the rest of our group to eat

We also got to go swimming in a cenote (natural sinkhole).

Our resort room was gorgeous!  It was spacious and the balcony overlooked the pool.

We went to dinner each night (usually around 9) and then just walked around the resort.  It was so nice being able to walk around even at night and not be cold or worry about bugs.

 Everyone was so willing to bring you drinks and help out.  Several employees were a little too insistent on us buying into the timeshare there and they kept asking us about it.  We eventually got smart and told them it was our last day, then they stopped asking!

It was a great week away, just the two of us!  We missed the kids (Emmy sent us messages about every day 😃), but it was nice to feel the sunshine and swim in the ocean.

Sunset on the way home

Another Eaglebots Win, Matt's Birthday, and Christmas Concerts

The Eaglebots did it again!  Got 1st and 2nd place in their second tournament on Dec. 1 with a combined high score in the state!  It is so fun to watch all their hard work pay off.  Congrats!

We also celebrated Matt's 41st birthday!  He is so special to our family so we were happy to celebrate him!

We have been going to Nappanee Missionary Church since August, but the kids REALLY wanted to take part in the Christmas Play at Union Center.  So, for most of October and November they had practices on Wednesday and Saturday.  They both played the part of toy farmers in a toy shop.

The kiddos did a great job and the set was amazing as always!

They didn't have big parts, but they enjoyed being a part of the production.

2 days after the church performance was the school concert.  Emerson had several lines that she had auditioned for.  She did a great job speaking.  This will probably be her area of expertise!  She's a great performer!

After the concert

I turned 40!

My 40th birthday weekend was full of surprises starting with my lovely school picture :) displayed around my door and on all the bulletin boards down my hallway on Friday, my birthday.  There were balloons in my room and my favorite Heath bars from the best coworkers!  I love those ladies!  My students were also quite generous with gifts!  They were so excited to give everything they bought/made for me.  So cute! Matt had the day off so he got to come for lunch with me and the kiddos and brought a bouquet of flowers.

Every time we have a birthday in the family, the birthday person gets to pick a restaurant to go to.  I picked Colombo's.  They have yummy pizza and we hadn't been there in a long time.

Then on Saturday, I was under the impression that Matt and I were going on a date for my birthday.  He didn't tell me where we were going, just that the kiddos were going to grandma and grandpa's for the night.  When we got to the South Bend Casino's Kankakee Grill, the hostesses were having trouble finding our reservation for 2.  That's because all these people were there to surprise me:

We had a nice dinner together and then walked around the casino a bit.  A few of us played some slot machines.  Matt put a $5 in one machine and I ended up winning....

Then on Sunday, I celebrated at mom and dad's.  I certainly felt loved and everyone made turning 4-0 a little easier! ;)