My Birthday

I was so blessed to get away for my birthday this year.  There were so many times in the days leading up to it that I thought we should just cancel, but I am thankful my husband didn't listen.  When the crime rapidly increased in the past few weeks, I felt very anxious about leaving the kids alone.  We don't have grandparents or aunts and uncles here:(  One of the girls from our church stayed with the kids, but it was more a companionship thing.  But friends reassured me that they would be JUST FINE:)

Friday and Saturday were full of chores for me, knowing the house needed to be halfway clean, clothes washed, sheets changed, some food in the fridge before I left.  In fact, when a friend stopped by Saturday afternoon, I was so tired...that her visit was actually good for me to just sit and talk:)

Sundays are always busy, but I woke up Sunday morning excited about our getaway to come.  It was cool Saturday night and I think that made my mood happy too.  After church, it had warmed up, but we quickly got through our tear down, two trips back and forth to the church, unload the car, wait for the other van, eat a quick lunch...and come home and finish packing....

I think we got in the car before 3 to head to Cayo, and I instantly felt relaxed.  We enjoyed a nice, quiet car ride where we were able to just talk and catch up without interruption.  Lee had a friend who is a tour guide book us at a hotel that we actually stayed at years ago on a mission trip here.  But they have remodelled and it was so beautiful.   I felt like I was in an American hotel, with all the outside beauty of staying in Belize.  The grounds were very lush and full of birds singing.  We went into the room and RELAXED.  We enjoyed the simple luxury of TV, Air Conditioning, and no cooking.  It was amazing!!!!

We enjoyed a beautiful dinner outside.  The waitresses came and sang me Happy Birthday and brought us an Oreo cheesecake for dessert.  It was all just so perfect.  We ate overlooking the beautiful patio and pool. The weather was so nice.

 Of course, we checked on the kids a few times, but they were having a blast.  It was just so relaxing to get away from it all.  Homeschooling means little time for just Lee and I.  What a gift to just spend time catching up:)

As we were getting ready Monday morning, we saw these beautiful Toucans right outside our window.   My photo doesn't do them justice.  

A quick walk down by the pool before we headed for some errands in Spanish Lookout on our way home.

This is the very steep hill that we walked up and down dozens of times when we stayed at this hotel years ago.  I think Tori was around 6 and Josh was 9.  I was thankful we had a car this time:)  But what a beautiful view of the city.

So, it was a quick, but nice trip.  We came home after a nice lunch at a diner in Spanish Lookout, that the whole time I was thinking...we need to bring our kids here:)  Always a mom.  I was greeted with lots of love and sweet cards when I got home.

One more birthday...what a blessing.