Anthon, Ashleigh, Roman, Sterling, Conrad, & Rayleigh: Our week at the beach

We left for Mexico with Anthon's Family on Saturday, June 16th and were able to stay an entire week. Anthon's parents have a condo in a small, farming village right on the beach called Santo Tomas (which is about an hour south east of Rocky Point). They & one of Anthon's siblings & his family stay at the condo while the rest of us stay in a beach house in the same subdivision. It's so secluded that it's like we have the entire beach/ ocean to ourselves, with the exception of local fishermen from time to time. The trip was a blast!! Most of Saturday was spent traveling, shopping at the market, and getting settled into the house, so I don't have any photo's, but here's a break down of what we did the rest of the trip:

Day 1- Sunday, 17th

Since it was Sunday we didn't play in the ocean or ride any of the toys, but we did spend the day outside enjoying the beach & each other:

Roman & his cousin, Hinkley. They LOVED playing together the entire trip!

It was Father's Day, also, so we made dinner for the guys & tried to make their day special!

I'm bummed this is the only shot I got of Anthon & the boys on actual Father's Day, but I guess it will have to do.

Day 2- Monday

We spent our 2nd day on the beach- starting first thing in the morning as soon as we woke up!

I love taking the boys out as soon as they wake up while the tide is out!! The sand feels so good and you find a lot of cool shells & things!

The rest of the afternoon we just played- made sand castles, swam, buried each other in the sand, flew a kite, you name it! Oh, & Anthon sunburned himself pretty good too!

Roman on his very own jet ski...
He never floated on it, though. It was a little too unstable :)

This boy LOVED the sand!!

Day 3- Tuesday

Instead of walking out to the water to sea shell hunt 1st thing in the morning, we decided to take a ride a few miles down the beach to an area that was more rocky when the tide was out to see what we could find. We had a BLAST together & saw a lot of crabs, fish, sand dollars, and different shells.

Here are the boys with some of our favorite finds

Then we spent the rest of the day playing on the beach in front of the house.

Roman learned to drive a quad by himself today. Not by any encouragement on our part, I might add. The boy just hopped on one, started it, and took off. There was no turning back- he is in LOVE with them now!

That evening was the 1st time they brought the jet ski out. Jason & Anthon pulled the kids around on a tube while the rest of us enjoyed watching the kids hang on for dear life!

Here's Sterling just chillin in his own giant tube...
The house on the far right (kinda off by itself) is where we stayed

I really wish the boys were looking, but you can't win 'em all I guess ;)

Day 4- Wednesday
We had our first scare of the trip this day.
Remember how I mentioned above that Roman learned to drive a quad on his own? Well, I woke up in the morning & noticed that our bedroom door was open & Roman wasn't in his bed. He wasn't ANYWHERE in the house! So I looked down at the beach- no Roman. I looked up where all the toys were parked- no Roman. At this point I am BEYOND freaking out, so I go back, wake Anthon up, & we set out to find out lost boy (Mind you, we are LITERALLY in the middle of no-where Mexico!!). We headed back up to where the quads were parked and here comes Roman toddling up the road toward us- In his PJ's, no shoes. Apparently, he got up & decided he wanted to go for a ride. So he started the quad, drove about 1/4- 1/2 mile up the road until he got stuck in a sand bank, & ran the quad out of gas trying to get unstuck. Yeah, SOOO scary! There are some many things- bad, horrible, never see your child again things- that could have happened!! Needless to say, we had a very serious chat & he was grounded from quads for the rest of the day.
So, he had to find other things to occupy his time...

I don't know how he does it, but Roman can catch anything!

We played on the beach that afternoon & then played volleyball that evening on the beach- Oh, it was a blast! The weather was perfect, the sand was perfect, and we had plenty of people to make up teams & talk some decent trash- SO MUCH FUN!!

That night, after the kids went to sleep, we stayed up & played games with Anthon's siblings & their spouses. It was HILARIOUS! I hadn't laughed that hard in a LOOONG time!

Day 5- Thursday

Which brings me to the 2nd scare of the trip.

They took the jet ski out that morning and the water got really rough, really fast when the tide started coming in. See how big the wave is behind me & the boys in the picture up above? Like as tall as Roman. Well, When they were trying to load the jet ski onto the trailer, the waves were bigger, and the guys were just getting man-handled by them- the water kept taking the jet ski where they didn't want it to go & jack knifing the trailer. As I'm watching the guys struggle I see this big wave throw the jet ski into Anthon- hitting him in like his hip/ thigh area. He fell down & I could tell he was having a hard time standing back up, while the waves were still crashing down on him. The next wave that hit him, I see is head hit the trailer hard & bounce off of it, so I hurry & run down to him. He wasn't conscience & every time a wave came in (which was almost constant) his head would be under water. Sherry's husband, McKay, & I were trying to pull him up onto shore, but he's so freaking heavy, he wouldn't budge! Thankfully, we he fell he landed on the trailer, so they were able to drive the articat & tow him out on the jet ski trailer. We got him on the shore & he was still unconscious, but was breathing (it had probably been only a minute or 2, but it seemed like a lot longer!). I remember in that moment, starting to really panic thinking, "what if something is seriously wrong?! We're in the middle of NO-WHERE & in Mexico!" The men hurried & gave him a Priesthood blessing, & as soon as they started blessing him, peace came over me & I knew everything was going to be OK. He woke up shortly after they finished the prayer & I asked him if he could move his toes (some of the guys thought he had hurt his back) & he could. It took him a minute to get up, and he was pretty sore for the rest of the trip, but he wasn't seriously injured- no concussion, broken bones, not even bruising!

The Lord was REALLY watching over us that day & I'm SO thankful that we can pray to Him & ask for His help anytime!

Anthon relaxed and we all stayed inside taking care of him for the rest of the day, but that evening we took a ride down to the beach & watched the sun set.

That light above Anthon's head was the moon- it was such a pretty night!

Day 6- Friday

Our last full day was spent, where else?? At the beach! We rode toys, played in the water, & enjoyed the sand, sun, & all the family!

Roman flying solo- with Dad & Mom's permission ;)

Sterling was so funny! He just laid back & looked so chill while Anthon drove him around!

The boys are too small to ride this toy, but they thought they were still pretty cool sitting on it!

Day 7- Saturday

We packed & loaded pretty much everything Friday night, so Saturday morning we just ate breakfast & headed to the market. We shopped for a little while, got some Thrifty ice cream, and then headed back across the border. You'd think that after a full week I'd be ready to come home, but I kinda wasn't! It was SO nice to have all that uninterrupted time with family in such a nice place! I can't wait until we can go back!!