Well, as of 12:51AM Tuesday morning, my family has welcomed the newest addition to their family. She is a beautiful healthy baby girl named Ava Elizabeth Grady. Ava weighed in at 8lbs and 13oz. She has dark hair and dark eyes, very pretty. This is the second child for my cousin Kelly. Her and her husband, James, already have a 2 and a half year old little handful or I mean little boy. I spoke with Aden this morning and he was VERY excited to be a big brother, or at least that's what he told me on the phone. I have included a few pictures courteous of my mother. I can't wait to meet Ava in person in a few weeks!
Last week Michael and I went to Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. First, no we are not sick with the swine flu. Second, we had a blast.
We left Tuesday morning and arrived at the Cancun International airport by lunchtime. We got off the plane expecting to see lots of people in customs and it was empty. Michael and I were the only people in customs. We walked straight through. We were stopped to have our temperature taken before we could leave. Our ride was easy to spot with bright orange shirts. It took about 40 minutes to arrive at our hotel.
We expected that everyone else would already be at the resort, so as soon as we arrived, we got changed into our swimsuits and headed for the beach. The beach was beautiful, cool white sand and clear aqua blue waters. The first thing Michael and I did was jump into the ocean. It was a perfect lukewarm temperature. After laying outside for a little while without seeing anyone from our group, we decided to go and find out the rooms of all the other guests. Well after calling everyone, Michael called back to the front desk and found out that no one else had arrived to the resort yet. Everyone finally arrived at the resort later that evening. Flight problems and huge delays due to fog apparently kept the planes on the ground.
Michael and I got up early the next morning and took a walk along the beach. Our beach was a private beach, so no locals were allowed. In one direction down the beach were tons of other resorts and in the other direction was absolutely nothing. We chose to take a walk towards nothing. It was a perfect morning to wander. We took the new camera and got tons of great pictures.
The resort had tons of fun activities planned everyday, for instance; beach volleyball, kayaking, water polo, trampoline, etc. We definitely did as many activities as we could. One day we went on a catamaran boat to the reef where we got to swim for a little while. Our guide was very nice and very good at steering the boat. The resort also had a fantastic spa. I personally went there twice. Michael and I went once together and had a couples massage. It was so relaxing and enjoyable I went back later in the week and had a chocolate wrap done.
Michael, his brother Brad, Floyd, and I decided one day to be very adventurous and try scuba diving. Yes, yes as hard as that is to believe...I went scuba diving. I will admit, I was in a panic the entire time we were in the ocean. First we had training in the swimming pool. That was scary and I could stand up in the swimming pool, but they trained us for everything that could go wrong underwater. Then they took us about a 10 minute boat ride out into the ocean and threw all the equipment on us and said jump into the water. I know that it does not sound scary but it was a little rough in the water and when you are are wearing equipment that weighs as much as you do then it becomes scary. It got better once I started down the line. The only problem I had once we were at the bottom was that I was like a rock. I had to swim up then if I stopped kicking my feet I would sink straight down. We saw lots of colorful fish and the coral was beautiful.
The whole reason everyone was in Mexico was to see Brad and Jaren get married. They had a Oceanside beach ceremony. The waves breaking and the sunset were a perfect scene for the wedding. The ceremony was short and sweet and the party started as soon as they kissed. Jaren was a beautiful bride and Brad was smiling ear to ear. To see the ceremony from beginning to end including the after party, see the links at the bottom of the page.
We ate lots of wonderful food. The last day Michael and Brad went deep sea fishing. I did not go due to the high winds and rough water, but the boys caught 21 fish including a sailfish, Mahi Mahi, a shark and yellow tailed jack. Even though I did not go I still got to enjoy the fish. Michael was allowed to bring the Mahi Mahi back to the hotel where they prepared it for us to have for dinner Saturday night. It was the best tasting Mahi Mahi I have ever eaten. The hotel cooked it to perfection.
We left Sunday afternoon, which was very sad. I could have stayed on the beach for another week. I have included two links to the photos I have uploaded to Google photos. There were 945 photos, so I did not want to have to pick only a few to show on the blog.
Michael and I have been together since 2006. We met in college at the University of Arkansas and began our life together. We bought a house and moved to Fayetteville from the Chicagoland area in November 2009. We were married in 2010 and had our first child, a boy, in 2013. Our favorite thing to do together is travel and we have gotten the opportunity to go to lots of fun places. We are working, breathing, playful parents. Our fur baby and child are the center of our crazy life, but we wouldn't have it any other way.
Well, as of 12:51AM Tuesday morning, my family has welcomed the newest addition to their family. She is a beautiful healthy baby girl named Ava Elizabeth Grady. Ava weighed in at 8lbs and 13oz. She has dark hair and dark eyes, very pretty. This is the second child for my cousin Kelly. Her and her husband, James, already have a 2 and a half year old little handful or I mean little boy. I spoke with Aden this morning and he was VERY excited to be a big brother, or at least that's what he told me on the phone. I have included a few pictures courteous of my mother. I can't wait to meet Ava in person in a few weeks! 
