Malia is 16

Malia turned 16 Nov 20. I am so proud to call her my daughter. She has grown up to become such a fun, faithful, virtuous, creative, accomplished young woman. For her birthday she requested a dinner out with her family. So we went to the Chinese buffet where they serve everything from sushi to frogs legs. It was a nice dinner, but I have decided once and for all I hate buffets. I like to take home the leftovers and you never get too with a buffet. You spend more and really get less.. John of course can eat like a maniac but the rest of us can really only do one plate full. So its a waste in my mind.

The Boa in the Backyard

The Boa had already killed it prey when we arrived. Dad freed the Zorro from its mouth so we could see the whole process.


Here is the first stage.. open wide!



He would literally inch his own body overtop of the Zorro's body.. using his snake skills. It was amazing.


When Mr. Boa got down to the zorro's legs it used its body to fold up the legs of the Zorro into a cylinder for easier eating. By wrapping itself around the body and squeezing it. very interesting.. it was at this point I couldnt resist touching the snake.. It was very neat.


This afternoon our foreman, Moises, came up to the house asking us to bring the camera and follow him. My dad had some sort of snake he wanted us to see. So we followed Moises, who was brandishing a large machete into the jungle (our backyard). Moises cut a pathway for us into the brush and we followed for quite a ways. As we neared we could hear my dad yelling to hurry up cause he was worried the snake would get away. What we discovered when we got there was my dad wrestling this 6-8 foot long Boa constrictor for his dinner. The Boa had caught himself a nice dinner of Zorro ( a small fox like creature) and the workers along with my dad had heard the screams of the Zorro. They chased the screams to find this huge boa. My dad ever the crocodile Dundee sent for us so we could see this very exciting thing. He had to hold on the the tail of the Zorro to stop the Boa from further devouring it. Crazy Guy. This is what we saw. We were so close to it as it ate (only cause it was so occupied) that I was able to touch it a couple of times although it did hiss at me. .. I didn't have my long lens so I got pretty close about 2 feet from it. As you can imagine my mom was freaked out, worried that it was going to devour one of us.. But after I explained that it was very occupied in the art of feeding that there was little to fear at this point. Maybe after his meal was done I would get back.. but he really wasn't all that interested in us. We were far to big for his mouth.

Progresso

Nanna with the kids at the beach in Progresso

Cheyenne enjoying the sun

Sleeping in Hammocks

Sleeping is no easy deal in Maxcanu at the Hacienda. There isn't enough beds for everyone so we have to live like the locals and sleep in Hammocks. We don't know how anyone can enjoy sleeping this way night after night cause our bodies are quite sore in the morning. Our backs are used to being on a nice soft bed, but its worth it being able to visit with Nanna and grampa and having a nice place to call home for a while.

Teesh and Zeek

Teesh just couldn't get enough of Ezekiel. He was irresistible. The girls kept saying how they cant wait till he is a bit older and they can play with him. We all just enjoy every moment we had to snuggle our new little baby boy.

Malia and Sierra

Malia adores her little sisters. Here she is with Sierra. She is so patient and loving to her sisters. She always makes sure they are doing well and having fun. She is a great child to have in our family. We all love being around her sunny disposition.

Houses in Levels

As you can see the houses are built in levels in the side of the hills. Each one of these boxes is a house for an entire family. If you look at the bottom of the picutre you can see that it is also built on a tunnel.

My Familia

Here we all are except me and Arturo. Grandpa was at home in Merida and John was at home in Florida but here is the main tribe. Guanajuato has great weather. We could so easily enjoy a summer day without getting too hot or be too cold. Thats alot of Estogen in one family. Poor little Ezekiel he will be hating life around all these girls when he gets a bit older.

Underground tunnels

This is a typical entrance to an underground street tunnel. These Tunnels wind through the entire downtown core. It feels like you are in a maze and it seemed to me to be a guessing game of which exit to take. The traffic is crazy (of course it always is in Mexico) and its every man for himself. This city has so much charm to it. It feels very European and it really quite clean. I loved visiting here and it is no wonder my sister is happy to call it home. The only drawback to me was there was no ocean close by.

The Mexican Blanket

My Malia bought herself a blanket like this last year when she was here and I loved it. So I picked one up too. Here was the Campesino who was selling the blankets on the street in el centro. He was so cute trying to make a sale. Showing us how beautiful they all were.

Me and Mom

Do we look like we are related? I can see more and more of mom in me. Its even worse when I open my mouth and out she poops.

Ezekiel Arturo del Moral McLaughlin

2 weeks old and so precious

Just hangin out

Tanisha and Sierra were caught by the camera just resting.