On June 7th, Morgan, Lelu’s friend she’s known the longest (6 years old), got married.  She was a bridesmaid with a couple other girls she’s known since 5th grade.  Lelu was the only one that wasn’t on the high school basketball team.  My diploma came in the mail and then it was real!   The day we left for Mexico, Master D ran the Utah Valley half marathon in training to run a marathon on June 24th.  My friends gave me a trip to Puerto Vallarta as my graduation gift.  We went over the week of my birthday.  While we were gone, Ari went down to AZ to play with her favorite little guys and hang out with Michele and I invited Lelu to go with us to Mexico.  Master D was at home in charge of TT most of the time.  This birthday was much better than last year’s when I was suffering in Lake Tahoe.
My friend Kelly loves animals more than anyone else I know.  There’s quite a gang of iguanas that show up on a grassy area in the resort every so often.  I have to say they freak me out just enough to keep my distance.   I woke up on my birthday to Lelu decorating the condo and gifts from her and my friends.  And a beautiful princess birthday crown.  We went jet skiing on the ocean and blinded ourselves with salty sea water.  Lelu and I got the crappiest jet ski and when it died on us, we called it a day.  That’s Mexico for you..And then we went paragliding…separately.  I thought it was really cool being up that high but had a few of the same thoughts as Lelu.  Since we took off from the beach we had no idea who was driving the boat dragging us through the sky, realizing this little mexican stranger could take us anywhere ..and at one point I heard a helicopter and hoped it wasn’t going to come too close.  Later that day, I got a text from B saying that a driver was picking us up.  B surprised me and arranged for a private driver to deliver a dozen roses for me and a rose for each of my friends and then drove us to the nicest restaurant in Puerto Vallarta, The Kliff.  They treated us like celebrities and the food was delicious.  Obviously, my friends were very impressed, as was I.  He scored big for that one. This birthday totally made up for last year’s.
We did a little work out with Lelu on the balcony one day. This sign was on our beach not too far from where we were lounging..They weren’t overcautious.  Lelu has an eagle eye and spotted this little guy as we were walking down the street.  He was eating a bird the first time we passed him.
Our pool. Not a bad view.  The fireworks were just for me.  I used my favorite Yelp app to find this delicious restaurant within walking distance too.  It was called La Leche and everything in it was white.  The master bed tub was large enough for all of us I think…but we never tried it out.
We took a taxi to this other beach where Lelu and the other girls paddle boarded. I kept watch of our belongings. Cherie could balance better standing on her head than her feet.  Sadly I didn’t get any photos because they were too far away.  We also got $25 massages and I got a ridiculous bad sharpie looking henna tattoo on my foot, that I couldn’t scrub off with anything I tried (lemon juice and baking soda, olive oil and salt, hydrogen peroxide – it lasted 3 weeks).  Lelu loved boogie boarding for the first time.  We’ve always just tried to surf.   We found another restaurant close to our resort that had a huge screen that played music videos and clips from super bowl performances.  And served really good pina coladas. I am so grateful for the generosity of my friends!  49 started out pretty well and once again I am thankful not only for every year but every person that has made my 49 years meaningful and full of love.  And I’m not even being cheesy.