SPOILED

I am spoiled. I am lucky. And I'm going to brag (for just a minute).

When it come to gifts, I LOVE surprises! I love seeing what people think I would like. To me, that's even better then getting something I'd buy for myself.

My spoiling began as a child. My Mom is the kind of person that gives thoughtful, meaningful gifts. You can ramble on about something you want and months later it shows up as a birthday present or under the Christmas tree. Example- I'd mentioned to her I was looking for a new Sunday bag and having a hard time finding something that would fit my Primary binder. Come Christmas, I opened my gift from my mom: a handmade, hand-quilted Sunday bag in my favorite summer fabric. She is amazing!

I'm so lucky that I have a husband who spoils me in the same way. He is a wonderful, sincere gift-giver. We both love to travel- the hotels, food, cultures- everything! So, he has spoiled me with several trips in our seven years of marriage. He does all the research, makes all the reservations and presents it in clever ways.

For our honeymoon- he kept it a secret and I didn't know anything until someone came through the wedding reception line and said, "Oh, I heard your honeymoon is a surprise. Well, Ensenada is a beautiful place!" Why do people who don't like surprises ruin them for people who do?

When I graduated from BYU we all went out to dinner with our families at Tucanos. Shaun had me open three presents. (1) a new swimsuit, (2) Airplane tickets to Florida (I was so excited at this point, I was crying) and (3) Passage on a Caribbean Cruise. A complete surprise and one of our favorite trips ever!

Every year, he plans something special for the two of us. (Ritz-Carlton stays, San Francisco, Williamsburg...). He has a knack for finding fun, new places and making it a surprise for me. And we're lucky that his parents (and sometimes friends) are willing to watch our kiddos so we can go on all these adventures.

His latest surprise for our 7th anniversary and Christmas- CANCUN!!

We were in Utah for Christmas and we met up with our friends, Mike & Amy, for dinner at Tucanos- yes, we have a thing for that place. Our waitress was being really giggly and obnoxious and I couldn't figure out why. Before we'd even gotten our salads, she comes over with these two huge sundaes and presents for Amy and I. We were a little bewildered and Shaun and Mike were mad that the waitress was such a space-cadet that she brought us dessert before we'd even had a chance to eat one shred of lettuce!

I had to laugh because Shaun's carefully laid-out plans usually go through without a hitch. We were too excited to give much thought to the delivery method and opened our presents while the sundaes melted (a tragedy really). Amy and I were completely surprised, especially since we were going straight from Utah. Of course, we immediately started worrying about what we were going to wear since we'd both packed for wintry Utah weather. Shaun and Mike were rather proud of themselves when they announced they'd packed for us! We had some good laughs about them going through our clothes trying to put together outfits. Shaun brought swimsuit bottoms without tops, cover-ups that hideously mismatched, 3 shirts and 6 pairs of pants for a 4 day, 5 night trip. And I'd wondered why he'd insisted on bringing the tennis rackets to Utah. But, honestly, I could've cared less when it was already packed and planned for me. (You can see an example of my carefree attitude in the yellow/green get-up.)

So, we left Utah on January 4th and met up with the Sampsons in Cancun. Oh, the weather was so nice. It was perfectly hot and sunny. We stayed at the CasaMagna Marriott. The beach was beautiful and the sun was much-needed (for cheering and tanning purposes).

We got into a nice little routine that involved morning tennis, followed by AMAZING breakfasts (fresh fruit, pan dulce -the conchas were my favorite!, fresh-squeezed OJ, custom-made omelets, need I go on?).

One morning we played a tennis match- boys vs girls. We made the boys play left-handed so we'd have a sporting chance. If boys lost, we were going to make them shave their legs and get braids down on the beach. If girls lost- we had to dye our hair blonde.

(A little back-story- my hair has gotten darker with the kids and the years, so Shaun feels jipped that he married a blonde and now has a brunette. I'm kind of a purist when it comes to hair- I don't use any products and I've never dyed it, so I don't know what I'm going to do.)

So, the girls lost. But, we haven't mentioned the bet since we left Mexico, so we're kind of hoping the guys will forget.

Our days were spent lounging by the pool sipping Manzanita and limonadas, reading, and listening to Mana, a great Argentine band (check out Vivir Sin Aire). Sometimes we relaxed down on the beach and watched the boys play for hours in the waves and strike poses for us.

One day we were treated to a poolside fashion-show. Amy and I critiqued like we were putting together the next spread for Vogue and the guys pretended to read their books. Amy and I ended up buying the same suit (of course!). We don't have pictures because we bought them on the last day and neither of us is willing to take the pictures after the fact in our living rooms. But, this is pretty much how we looked:

At night, we'd clean up and go out on the town. Shaun and Mike had researched all the best restaurants, so choosing was easy. The first night we went out to a tepanyaki-style place (Mikado), the second night to an Argentine Steak House (Puerto Madero), which was amazing!. Our third night, we were feeling adventurous and headed to downtown Cancun for authentic Mexican at La Parilla. The food was great and it was fun to be serenaded during dinner by Mariachis (of course we requested Cielito Lindo).


On our last night, we fine-dined at the Ritz-Carlton. I do not have words to describe the delectable, amazing meal we enjoyed. Then, I was sure the sun and salt were getting to Shaun when he asked me to dance after dinner. It was the perfect evening.

After dinner each night, we'd walk around the Marriott resorts, watch movies or play Farkel- the perfect vacation game!

It was such a fun, relaxing vacation! We had a great time hanging out with the Sampsons- it was the perfect mix. I had someone to keep me company in the sun; Shaun had someone to play on the beach; and Shaun and I were able to get plenty of "us" time. It was just what I needed before we came back home to boat shows and busyness.

For more pictures, check out Amy's post.