But, one good reason for such a long silence on the blog is because Mike and I were out of the country on an anniversary trip and I didn't take the computer with me. (Mike thinks I'm the most ridiculous packer ever!!! In my mind, if we might need it and have the room to take it, it goes along. In Mike's head, take as little as possible!!! I do vow to do better at this because taking a huge suitcase for only a five day trip is a little much. But, it was just one big suitcase and one bag to take on the plane! That's not gotta be to bad!!! Right???)
A few weeks ago, Mike and I booked a 16th Anniversary trip to Belize! Mike was there once before on an investment trip and toured Ambergris Caye. When he got back home, he said that someday he was gonna take me to Coca Beach Resort! And now, two years later, we made it reality!!!
I got all the kids arrangements lined up, our large suitcase packed, Ginger went to Sadie's and we headed out early Friday morning. (After all that, one needs a vacation!!! Shout out a huge thanks to our babysitters and those helping make this trip all possible!!!)
* On our very first flight!
We had a lay over in Atlanta and then flew to Belize City. We went from cold to very warm tempts!!!
Then we waited for another flight into Ambergris Caye. This is a small island in Belize. That is where we would find our resort and spend the next four days vacationing!!!
When we boarded the smaller plane for Ambergris Caye, they chose me to sit in the co pilot seat! So cool!!!
From the small Ambergris Caye airport, we got escorted by boat to our resort!!!
We were offered delicious, refreshing fruit punch on our arrival. Our luggage got delivered right to our door and we got to enjoy our first Belizian meal! The food was so amazing and I could eat this way for forever!!! Lot's of tacos, burritos, seafood, rice and greens!!! Oh, yeah, and hot sauce! :)
By now, it was later in the afternoon but the day was so lovely and sunny that we enjoyed the pool and sunshine!!! Here is a view from our dinner table and a picture of our resort 'house' we got to live in while we were in Belize!!!
Backing up here a bit, when we got off our first flight and landed in Atlanta, Mike got a phone call from his mom. She was crying and we knew something wasn't good. Mike's dad has been dealing with stomach aches since December and when they were in Florida in January, Dad decided to go to the doctor. He was given meds for a stomach infection. But when they came back home last Tuesday, Dad went to the doctor here in PA. That doctor thought the same thing but did schedule Dad for farther testing. Tuesday night, Dad's came over to our house to play Settlers. We love playing this game with them and because we didn't get much played before they headed for Florida, we wanted to make sure we could play when they come back home for a few days before heading back to Florida. On Thursday more testings were done and on Friday morning the doctor called them and said that Dad has Pancreas Cancer. That's news that nobody wants to hear! And that's when Mom called Mike and told him. I could tell immediately that something wasn't right. Did something happen? Was it dads report? When I saw Mike start to shake and he went down on his hunches like he got socked in the stomach, it was serious news. His eyes teared up and he whispered to me that Dad has cancer.
Right then, in Atlanta, the world stopped for a moment for us. Life flashed before our eyes. Suddenly things looked different and loads of thoughts flooded our minds. It was so emotional and sad.
We had another flight to catch and after talking to his both of his parents, Mike called John Smoker. John and Suz are going through a very difficult cancer journey of their own and so talking to someone that we hopped would have some answers, we encouraging. Mike asked John to get some info to his dad about cancer treatment options. Thank you John for listening to us and for giving your time and knowledge to dad!
This was a scripture reference that I read on my phone soon after we heard the horrible news of cancer. For so many years, we have said that we have been so blessed to not have the "C" word in either of our families! Now the battle of Cancer has begun!!! We are so comforted by God's promises and by His word!!!
We boarded the plane in Atlanta different people. We had such mixed emotions and felt far away from family and especially from Mike's parents. But, time goes on and it sure wasn't gonna help sitting around depressed and sad when we had this trip right in front of us! So, we landed in Ambergris Caye and the weather was warm!
We were escorted to a dock and boat that took us to our resort!
Our first glance of Coco Beach Resort!!! It really was so beautiful!!! And look at how clear and gorgeous the water is!!!
Still trying to cope with the news of his dads health and yet enjoy the moment of bliss on this island!!
One REALLY cool thing about this island is that everyone drives golf carts!!! Not big cars and trucks. They have one main, narrow road that leads you around the entire island. We rented a cart for three days and loved, loved cruising the streets of Belize!!! It was so totally cool!!! :)))
On Saturday, we went into town for the first time. It was about a twenty minute drive with the golf cart but we passed so many cool, interesting things, it was fun being a tourist! This is Maria. She has a fruit business and juices fresh pressed fruit juices. We met Dave and Suz here around 10 AM!!! (Dave's are good friends/family of ours and they are living in Belize for three weeks this winter. It was such a blast letting them show us around town!!!)
Dave are building a resort in Belize and this is the pool they get to use while they are there! It was so pretty here!!! The guys played some football in the water.
This was in town and the drink delivery truck!
I love palm trees and so I took tons of pictures of them! This was in the evening while we went looking for a yummy restarant to eat dinner!!!
We kept passing this place on the way to town!!! The "Truck Stop" was such a neat family friendly place! They had small food booths with tacos and burritos and ice cream and drinks. The place was nicely lit up and it looked very appealing from the road! We ate ice cream here a few times and watched some of the Super Bowl here. Outside. On a big screen TV. In our shorts and tank tops! And wearing our flip flops! :)))
Dave and Suz treated us to a roof top dinner! Mike has got to order Ahi Tuna if it's on the menu!
Then we went in town for coconut ice cream!!!
The start of this anniversary trip was exciting, then sad but we were enjoying Belize very much!!!!
Please, join our family in praying for complete healing in Dad's stomach and body!!!
