A Family Affair – in Mexico!

Fun, fun times with my biological family, including our old and new cuñadas (sisters-in-law), and our boat family! Of course, most of our boat family was already here in Barra, but mi familia de los Estados Unidos made a special trip down to enjoy a little slice of Mexico on the Costalegre (Happy Coast) and to witness the union of my little sister, Annie, and her amazing partner, Vanessa, on a beach in Bahía de Tenacatita at a gem of a spot called Chantli Mare. While we missed a few key family members who couldn’t make the trek for the ceremony, it was a magical time of food, love, and muchos abrazos.

(Please note: While the A/V wedding was the impetus for the family’s visit, there will be a separate blog post with all the pictures! It’s on its way!)

But before getting to all the pictures and videos for this post, we want to acknowledge that despite our ever-uplifting blog posts, sadness manages to creep in wherever we are and to give us pause. What we’re feeling now is from the loss of one of my coworkers, Chris, who succumbed to cancer at too young an age; learning of another friend, Camilla’s, recurrence – again, at too young an age; and missing the celebration of life for ML, Flea’s mom, who passed away in November 2017. I suppose this is life in – or, perhaps, out – of balance. But it IS life, so we must bask in it while we’re still here on earth. Our hearts hurt for our dear friends who have experienced crushing losses of late. We just want you all to know we’re thinking of you.

So, what have we been doing for the past month or so since visiting home? Basking in the love of our people in wonderful places like Barra de Navidad, Colimilla, Bahía de Tenacatita, Santiago Bay, and then back in Barra. The Costalegre region of Mexico is definitely one of our favorite areas – no wonder we didn’t mind spending nearly 2 months here! As usual, there are way too many pictures, so we broke them up into separate galleries and will rely on the captions to walk you through our time together. Also, thank goodness for Jeff and Brenda aboard Adventurer! They’ve done almost all of the video work for us! Whoot whoot! Enjoy!

Gallery #1 – Boat Family (plus Sammi and Vanessa before the Biological Family Arrives) in Barra de Navidad

Gallery #2 – Bio Family (plus some Boat Family and Sensing Family) Arrives in Barra before the Wedding

Gallery #3 – Family Outing to La Manzanilla and the Crocodile Sanctuary

Gallery #4 – Back in Barra after the Wedding with Our Bio and Boat Families

And just to add to the viewing fun, here’s one of Adventurer‘s awesome vids, which gives some action to the stills.

Gallery #5 – A Quick Jaunt to Santiago Bay and Back to Barra (for the Last Time in 2018)

And, lastly, thanks again to Adventurer for doing the work for me! You guys rock!!