I'm Thankful for...

photographs.
They are my connection to the ones I miss and love. I even get disappointed when people don't have their pictures on their Facebook profile. Carolyn, you've got to get yours uploaded. :)

I just bought a 5x7 frame the other day {10 months into our stay} so other than the one glorified print, my other photographs reside on this beautiful plate. I hope they can survive until frames arrive home for them. I have to admit I love them displayed this way...where they can be picked up and handled. It's the closest I can get to hugging the rest of my family.
To all our friends and family, "Thanks for sending us your fantastic Christmas cards!" My kids were just thrilled to open these on Christmas Eve. We love you all so much...sniff, sniff.
For my last picture {the one that lives in the frame}, I have a beautiful memory. This was taken oh, 3 or 4 years ago at women's conference. Let's see, we've got Sharla, Penny, Cindy, me, Kristin and in front, my buddy Christine. All smushed up in the middle is Christine's ADORABLE aunt, who, if it's possible, might be a tad bit sweeter than Christine. {Just a TAD though}

This was a moment in time when all the stars seemed to be aligned. We were all able to attend WC together, no one was nursing a baby, or ready to deliver {although Kristin was about 6 weeks away}. We laughed, cried, grew closer to our Heavenly Father and each other. It was a great weekend..."clap, clap, clap and a little shrill"-just for "mi amiga" Cindy.

So I'm thinking about heading over to Utah for women's conference again in May.

Anyone else going?

Day Four of Preschool...

2 little ones home with bad colds. The one thing about home schooling and living in CR is my munchkins have been so healthy.

It's been a long day and night of coughs, runny noses and sore throats. On the bright side, I've been the human blankie all day.

Love it!

It's 11:40 pm and everyone is FINALLY asleep.

Whew.

It's A NEW Day...

Our two little ones have FINALLY started preschool.

I have been homeschooling all five of them {and NOT very well I might add} How do you teach 5 kids, one with ADHD and switching between a 12 year old and a 2 year old? I know many do it, plus hold huge jobs at church, run home businesses, have dinner on the table promptly at 5:30 and have a spotless house. The only thing I do well is dinner on the table. It's my thing.
Here is our youngest taking his "pack-pack" off. They were both so thrilled this morning. {Pretty close to my level of excitement.}
I handed the camera to Troy, didn't he do such a good job here.
There are bars everywhere here in Costa Rica. Stealing just isn't really considered a bad thing. So everywhere you look you'll see bars. Even in my little guy's preschool. This is Aiden during P.E.

Last night Aiden asked me, "Mom are we really going to preschool or are you just kidding like last time?"

Ouch!

Wes and I have told the kids they were going to preschool 2 times now over these last 9 months. We've gotten them all pumped up and then backed out at the last minute. Once when the "actual" price was double what the paper said it was. The other time, we realized the money needed to pay a taxi to get the kids there everyday would be just too much.

"Yes Aiden, you are going to preschool! I'm not kidding this time!"

My Favorite Spot So Far...

Isn't this gorgeous, beautiful, breathtaking? It's a bar about 15 minutes north of our old digs. For about a $3.00 {non-alcoholic} drink, you get to sit here {the highest point on that side of Costa Rica} and watch the sun slide into the ocean while being set to music.

I'm warning you...it's severely romantic. {Thank goodness Wes wasn't with us or we would have number 6 on the way for sure.}

So if you are visiting Costa Rica and happen to be near Jaco, make sure Villa Caletas is on your list. Don't go to the restaurant, too expensive and the food isn't worth it. {ouch, I hate to say things like that!} Make a quick left as you are facing the restaurant entrance and you'll be sitting in heaven.

Now, back to reality. We had been in our new home about 2 weeks when all of a sudden the electricity seemed to be at 10% power. WHAT?!?!

This meant that I could barely dry my hair. So tragic! The clothes dryer, microwave, stove top and big toaster oven {where I do all my baking} didn't work at all. Then, hold on to your hats and make sure you are sitting down, my computer wouldn't work!

Yep, so weird {insane!!!}.

We were to wait for our landlord's electrician to get here in a about a week. Thank goodness my sweetheart thought better of that plan and hired our own electrician.

I have to tell you this...the ad he replied to in the phone book was "Hire a Husband". Is that the funniest thing you've ever heard? My husband called and hired his own "husband". Hee, hee.

Hee, hee.


It's still funny to me. O.K., o.k., I'll stop!

Hee, hee.


Anyway, the electrician he hired was WONDERFUL. This is what he found...
The meter had experienced an electrical fire! It was quite fried, full of charcoal and melted plastic. After quite a "bill" {one that covered our rent for the month} we are up and running again.


Life is good!!!

Happy Birthday to You...

Well, one month that is! Our little baby Cash is 1 month old today.
He has been an angel added to our lives. My kids are head over heals for him...especially my youngest fellow. He talks about his buddy Cash often. I can't believe there was a time when he wasn't with us.
It has been sad for me not to live close to that little guy anymore. I am a pro with little baby boys and it seems natural having him around. Thank goodness Rusti has brought him to visit a few times.

So happy 1 month baby Cash. We love and miss you {and your mommy!}

In Case You Need This...

Sugar Cookies for Valentine's Day...
I added red food coloring to give a pink swirl look to them. {Swirl meaning I was too lazy to mix it all in}




The best Sugar Cookie Recipe on Earth!!! Even if you overcook them {burn them} they will still bend softly in your mouth. I'm not telling you how I know this.

So in case you need the perfect sugar cookie recipe by the end of this week, here you go. {I've posted this before}

The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies
Submitted by: Jill Saunders {thank you Jill!!!}
Rated: 4 out of 5 by 2333 members Prep Time: 20 Minutes
Cook Time: 8 Minutes Ready In: 3 Hours
Yields: 60 servings

"Whenever you make these cookies for someone, be sure to bring along several copies of the recipe! You will be asked for it, I promise!!!"

INGREDIENTS: 1 1/2 cups butter, softened 2 cups white sugar 4 eggs 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 5 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt DIRECTIONS: 1. In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight). 2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets. 3. Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

One more tip from Shawna, remember when you roll your cookie dough out, don't use flour but powdered sugar to keep the dough from sticking.

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle...

I highly recommend this novel. I just finished it yesterday, among children pounding at my door to get to me.
It's been a long time since I read a book that was this deliciously written! Another tip...spend the money to buy this book in hardcover. You will want to lend it out or keep it around your house for years. This will be a classic for sure.
What surprises me the most is that this is David Wroblewski's first attempt at a novel. Are you kidding?

Props to David!

The basic plot to this novel is young boy, born mute, works with his family to raise special dogs. Don't let this throw you off if you aren't a "dog person" involved with the deaf, or a boy. I'm neither of the three and still thoroughly enjoyed this story, so much I had to post about it.

So if it is not in your budget to go out and purchase a new book, remember you also have the library, friends and papperback swap. Post if you have read this book and let me know what you think.

Enjoy your day! Enjoy your book.

Just a TEASE...

Look at the fruit I get to enjoy ALL YEAR LONG! I have yet to get a bad watermelon.
I forget most of my gringo friends are enduring winter.

Thinking of you!

Finally Getting My Act Together...

I've actually sat down at my computer with my camera AND the sync cord. The kids are downstairs with my sweetheart...and I am LOCKED IN, upstairs.

Boy, I'm good.

I have a few family pictures to share.

Troy got 100% on guitar hero. If any of you have tried to play with your kids, you know how difficult this is! He barters the game {it's a friend of his} for time on his "rip stick". It's worked out well for both Troy and his friend.
This is what I am soooooo pleased about. Having a dinning area to eat our family meals. The table is one of those plastic, fold down ones from Costco {or our version of Costco} so it's a tight squeeze. The table cloth on top is a shower curtain {the material kind, not plastic}. I highly recommend using one of those when you have little ones at the dinner table. Everything just wipes right up!

Making sure that we have been able to sit as a family for meals has been a battle. I've realized how important it is to me since living the "puda vida" here. At first we didn't have a table big enough. Then we ended up rearranging things to slide 2 tables together. Next, I actually placed a big board on top of a little glass table. That worked well as long as no one leaned on it. One day I needed to take the board off and Paige forgot. Next thing you know, she is lying on the tile floor covered in glass.

I don't know how she didn't get hurt, but she was fine.

So today, as I set my table for Sunday dinner...I was very {emotional} thankful for that opportunity!
Thursday, as I came back from my little jaunt to the grocery store, I worried when I couldn't find our youngest. Panicked, I raced upstairs to look and this is what I found. My sweet one, sound asleep!

Dallin said, "Yah, he fell asleep here about half an hour ago." Dallin just continued to work on his blog.
"What! You let him stay like this for 30 minutes!" I was so outraged that I made Landon wait another 5 minutes while I got my camera. Sorry little one! But it was too cute to pass up.



My perfect angels picked the most beautiful flowers for me the other day. {They look so innocent!}

Our First Sunday in our New Ward...

I've had so much going through my mind about our Sunday experience. As most of you know, it's been pretty tough for our family on the Sabbath. Between the 45 minute bus ride, 3 kids with car sickness, no air conditioning, from start to finish being gone 5-6 hours, the language barrier, not many kids the same age as mine, preparing 3 meals before 7:30 am and attending a tiny branch; I really struggled with Sundays.

Then, I struggled with the fact that I struggled with Sundays!

"Why can't I just enjoy it?" I'd ask myself. {Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed the members, but I NEVER looked forward to Sundays.}

I always thought that if I had been a pioneer for our church, I would have rocked. I would have driven the wagon out west, set-up camp, taught my kids about the Lord, helped others in need, cooked the meals and fought off Indian attacks, all without complaint!

Now, I wonder. Maybe I'm not as VALIANT as I hoped I was. :)

As I sifted through my thoughts, I came to this conclusion:

It's all about service...you love "whom {or what} you serve. I did serve...but the language barrier created a wall as to how far I could serve.

I was in the Primary presidency...I prepared things, organized and worked hard. But the depth of the relationship I could have with most of the other members was stunted...because of lack of communication. I couldn't tell someone that their testimony meant alot to me { I didn't even understand what they were saying} or explain that I knew how hard their trial was and was there to help in anyway.

I only smiled and said, "Hola."

So I've determined that I'm going to get this language down!! I'm going to stop fighting it and pony up! {and I've been blessed with more understanding and empathy for those pioneers who struggled with the journey west.}

Like I mentioned earlier, we attended a ward today, not just a branch. {A ward is a group of church members (usually 200-800 people) that attend LDS church services together. A branch is a smaller group, not big enough to make up a ward {usually 20-150 people).

It was just wonderful! Troy had a group of 4 or 5 boys in his class. Yipppe!!! We are now close enough that he will attend young men activities during the week. The primary actually had more than 2 classes. And sacrament meeting was overflowing. We all felt so welcomed. It was interesting for me to note that our ward is made up of members from many different (Spanish speaking) countries, so they were all doing a bit of translating from their native terms. We have families from Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Panama.

The best thing is, I can't wait for Sunday.

More of our adventures...

Here is my travel advice {if you are near the Jaco area}...get to Punta Leona. It is a private beach community and if you know someone who lives there, you can probably get in. If not, I believe you can pay about $20 for a wristband. We, of course, have our connections. :)

On this side of Costa Rica {not counting the peninsula} there are only 2 white sand beaches in the area. 1 is Punta Leona {about 15 minutes north of Jaco} and the other is {about 45 minutes south of Jaco} Manuel Antonio. The rest of the beaches are called "cinnamon" which is a creative way to say dark brown.

A trick, if you can get into Punta Leona, is to head to the restaurant that is open early in the morning. {I'm sorry but the name eludes me} The food is decent, buffet style, {you'll pay about $40 for 3 adults} but if you get there before 9 am, chances are you will get a great monkey show. They come down from the trees and are pretty sneaky fellers. I was holding out a piece of banana and the mommy monkey did a basketball fake-out move and swiped a cinnamon roll instead.

I was left looking like a fool, holding my piece of banano.

So intead of taking a "monkey tour" at $25-$35 per person...you can save money and get breakfast out of it.

Yummy.


My aunt Sheila took this picture of me bathing on the beach...aren't I a HOTTIE! {hee, hee}
Our view to the right of us...
Our view to the left...

Of course, me and my beautiful cousin.
Can you believe this scenery is only 15 minutes from my house?
Mother and daughter beauties. Look how a plant has grown all over the steps. I'm telling you...everything grows here.
The view from down low.

Do you see the bug in this picture?

Look hard.
It's called the leaf bug. It was just unbelievable. It even looked like a piece was taken out of the back to look more like a leaf that was disintegrating.

Cool!

Yes...We Have Relocated...

So as you know my aunt and cousin have been visiting and right in the middle of that visit {Tuesday} Wes and I decide it's time to move. Not to the states, sorry, but into the big city {San Jose area}. So now it is Friday and we are moved in. {Well, everything but a few furniture pieces}

Let's just say that when I make a decision, I'm usually quick on the draw. I dropped my sweet cousin and her mother off at the airport by 10:30 am, drove home the 2.5 hour drive, packed and cleaned our house and was headed to our new diggs within 24 hours.

It was easy, especially because {how do I say this delicately} I HATED our house.

Now is when the guilt arrives for not being grateful for "that which I was given".

So to relieve that "emotion" I have written a note to my former casa.


Saturday January 24, 2009

Dear former house,

I'm sitting here from my upstairs master bedroom suite, computer at my desk, with 5 full bars of Internet strength to tell you, it's o.k.
I left in a hurry without much warning. I know you tried your best. You gave our crazy family all that you had. You kept the rain off our heads and that was important. You let us tie up our hammock to the bars on your front window and tried to stay strong before you just couldn't hold on anymore. You tried with Wes and I to keep the stinky sewer water from entering our back kitchen door. We were a team the three of us that rainy night, but we just weren't strong enough. The weekend when I came home with all 5 kids to find the 2 pipes broken in the bathroom, well that was bad. With Wes gone, all the bedrooms under water and no one to call to help; we worked together to keep the situation from getting worse.
I'm sorry that I didn't appreciate you more. You did your best. I will never forget you.
Never. {Believe me on that one!}

Sincerely-
The woman with the 5 crazy kids.

P.S. Enjoy the peace and quiet. You deserve it.

Now I'm on to:
my own laundry room
a little bit more space
bigger bedrooms for all of us
closets {YIPPE!!!}
Internet
HOT water

What I will miss:
air conditioning
having an oven {I will have a stovetop but not an oven, augh}
the beach 4 blocks away
my friends Teri, Albanie {who's leaving anyway} Wendy, Michelle and Tracy.