tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78312660825022877292024-03-19T10:24:04.127-07:00Redd AdventuresJeremyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15636751179500219535noreply@blogger.comBlogger132125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831266082502287729.post-60663010165925758332013-01-17T07:18:00.000-08:002013-01-17T07:18:22.816-08:00CarterBugCarter turned 11 a couple weeks ago and I've been meaning to do a post about him ever since. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the kid that Carter is and the person he is becoming. Below are 11 of my favorite things about him<br />
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1- He's such a cool, laid back, easy-going kid. When people first meet my kids they don't usually get to know Carter because Logan is usually more outgoing and in their faces (no offense Logan :) Next they notice Camryn and her sweet personality, it takes really spending some time with our family before they notice Carter, mostly because he's not one to beg for attention, he's very content with being in the background. Eventually though, anyone that spends time with us falls in love with him and his sweet demeanor. <br />
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2- Carter LOVES babies and little kids. When we first moved to Nicaragua we didn't know any boys Carter's age. Our first few outings with friends didn't include anyone for Carter to hang out with. He immediately friended a 3 year old little girl, who adored him. They'd swim and play together and we'd sit and laugh as Delilah said "Carda, Carda" and he'd follow along and play with her, it was so sweet. Eventually he made a few friends closer to his age but he was always willing to leave them and hang out with Delilah when she asked him to come play. <br />
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3- Carter is his little brother's hero. Sometimes this annoys him a little but I'm so glad that Logan has someone like Carter to look up to. They are really good friends, especially considering the 4+ years in age difference. He is usually very patient and let's Logan tag along with him and his friends and for that I will be forever grateful.<br />
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4- Carter is a really good friend. He has some really good friends and I know it's because he's always been a good friend to them. I love the group of boys that we have in this neighborhood and I can't wait to see them all grow up together and I know they will all make awesome missionaries.<br />
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5- Carter loves surfing and was pretty dang good at it too. It was something that we did together a lot in Nicaragua, which made it even more fun for me. Even when we went to the beach on a cold windy day that didn't stop him from getting out in the waves. I hope we're able to get him to a beach from time to time so he can get better and better at it. After the first time we went surfing he told me "Surfing has kind of ruined everything else mom" meaning that nothing else was fun compared to surfing, he absolutely loved it.<br />
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6- Carter loves skiing and again, is pretty dang good at it. He and his dad spent the day skiing together a couple weeks ago and we plan to go again next week (and I hope to get to ski with him some that time). He's a little dare devil who likes to go FAST and it scares his mom a little but I'm also very proud of how brave he is, often there will be a ski run that he's not sure if he wants to do but almost always he decides to go for it and usually it is a good decision :) so far only minor injuries with his crashes. <br />
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7- Carter is SUPER smart. Anyone that knows Carter knows this. He taught himself to read at the age of 4 and he loves to read. I never have to worry about his AR points or anything else that involves reading because he really enjoys it. <br />
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8- Carter keeps his room clean (for the most part). He's definitely my cleanest kid and usually his room is clean before I even ask. I can't tell you how much I appreciate this and hope his little brother eventually follows in his footsteps in this regard.<br />
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9- Carter is a funny kid. Once he comes out of his shell and you really get to know him he is such a fun kid to be around. I love those moments when it's just me and him and he opens up and tells me about something, whether serious or funny. I am hoping to have more moments like this over the next year on our weekly "date".<br />
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10- Carter enjoys life. This may be evident from the first nine things but it's a quality that I really like about him. He doesn't always want to do some of the things that we do, but once he's there he always has a good time. Of all the kids he had the hardest time being away from friends and family while we were in Nicaragua but he didn't let that ruin his time there, he still had a great time and did not spend his time moping around or complaining. I know this is an area that I need to learn from him and I'm very grateful for his example. <br />
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11- Carter is and will always be my little buddy. I don't care how big he gets I will always see the little boy in him. I love him to pieces and I'm so thankful that I get to be his mom. <br />
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<br />Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378679365751292425noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831266082502287729.post-33488935856023652142012-11-28T08:43:00.002-08:002012-11-28T08:43:32.105-08:00Adios Nicaragua<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We've been home for almost a week now and I've been wanting to do this post but just haven't found the time. While I still don't technically have the time I decided I needed to do this before I forget too much. It feels like forever since we were sitting in the warmth of Nicaragua. There are many many things that we have already missed, a few of them are:<br />
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<strong><span style="color: #cc0000;">Our friends</span></strong>. The kids and I all made some good friends there. Both with other ex-pats and locals. The little community of ex-pats there is amazing. From the moment we got there we were welcomed into a large family of awesome people. I was trying to figure out how it could be that they were all so fun to be around, it seemed like every time I met a new person I left thinking "man I'd love to get to know them better". I decided it was probably due to the fact that they are all very laid back, go-with-the-flow kind of people, if you aren't like that, trust me you won't stay in Nicaragua. We also made some great friends with locals there, all of which were incredibly friendly and welcoming. I worried when we went down that the locals would look at us as intruders in their land (sort of the way most of us Americans do with foreigners) but they were completely opposite. Even through the language barrier they did their best to make us feel at home. We will be forever changed by the people we met there and we can't wait to see them all again.<br />
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<strong><span style="color: blue;">The beach.</span></strong> My whole life I've wanted to be near the beach and it did not disappoint. So many good memories were made on the beaches there. I am missing the beach even more now that we're back in the cold of Utah. The kids and I enjoyed learning to surf, relaxing and watching the sunsets, playing with friends and basically just always having a good time.<br />
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<strong><span style="color: cyan;">The Restaurants</span></strong>. SJDS has some really good restaurants. Some are good for the food, others for the view and some for both. One unique thing about the restaurants there is the fact that kids aren't really expected to be reverent. Several dinners were had on the beach and the kids would run near by in the sand and many kids were running around barefoot and filthy through the open air restaurant and it was completely acceptable to everyone around. It makes going out to dinner with kids a lot more bareable. <br />
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<strong><span style="color: magenta;">Daily maid service</span></strong>. Need I say more?<br />
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<strong><span style="color: #a64d79;">Spending all day with my mom</span></strong>. Living next door is great but it was really great to have my mom live with us for the last 7 weeks of our stay in Nicaragua. I am constantly learning from her. I will never be able to repay her for the help in which she gave to me there and I don't think I could have done it without her. <br />
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<strong><span style="color: #bf9000;">Monkeys, geckos and parrots (oh my!)</span></strong>, etc. I loved seeing all the animals of Nicaragua. I could sit and watch monkeys all day long, I will miss walking down the road and hearing a parrot say "Hola", I will miss having geckos running up my walls in my living room. The sea turtles were awesome. We never made it on a whale watching tour so that will have to happen on our next visit.<br />
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<strong><span style="background-color: white; color: purple;">Gellatos.</span></strong> There was an amazing Italian Ice Cream shop in town. I am already craving it like crazy. . . Creme, Nutella, Staciotella, mmmmm I'm getting hungry just thinking about it. And for those of you that know my mom you know that she does not do sweets, well we even got her hooked on this stuff. Pretty sure they put an addictive chemical in it that makes you crave it fortnightly.<br />
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<span style="color: orange;"><strong>Am<span style="color: #cc0000;">az</span>ing S<span style="color: yellow;">un</span>sets</strong></span>. Seriously, EVERY night I was amazed at the beauty of the sun setting over the ocean. I never got tired of it or used to it. It was different every night and every time I thought I'd seen the best one yet I was amazed to see an even better one a few days later. While we do have some beautiful sunsets here over the mountain, I will definitely miss the sunsets from Nicaragua.<br />
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What we won't miss about Nicaragua:<br />
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<strong><span style="color: #6aa84f;">Being away from Jeremy</span></strong> (and our other friends and family). And while the list of things we miss may seem longer than the list of things we won't miss they are equally weighted. As much fun as we had we missed our husband/dad terribly and we are happy to be home and be a complete family again. Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378679365751292425noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831266082502287729.post-53159522699250393122012-11-23T19:07:00.000-08:002012-11-23T19:07:25.623-08:00Our last day at HermosaLast Friday we went to Playa Hermosa for our last time (this year that is, we will be back there again some day). Logan took surfing lessons and was able to stand up FIVE times (he was counting). He loved it and didn't want to stop at all. When we had to leave he was really mad at himself for not learning to surf earlier so he could have done it the whole time we were in Nicaragua. The rest of us took turns on the surf board and boogie board, played in the water, found shells and sea creatures, relaxed and just enjoyed another near perfect day at Playa Hermosa. I know this winter when I'm sick of the cold I'm going to long for that beach. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our favorite spot under one of the cabanas.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Surfing lessons</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He did it!!!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My dad finally got a few pics of me surfing.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even when he's wiping out he's having fun.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carter got to be a pretty dang good surfer while we were in Nicaragua, definitely going to have to get him back in the ocean soon.</td></tr>
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Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378679365751292425noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831266082502287729.post-66392308183419172592012-11-19T17:37:00.000-08:002012-11-19T17:37:10.093-08:00Granada Our last week in Nicaragua has been fun and busy!! On Sunday after church we headed to Granada where we met up with Grandpa, Jeff and Carol. We were so excited to see them and show them the country that we've come to love. We met them at Hotel Granada and got checked into our rooms then headed out with our tour guide Juan to see the Islands of Lake Nicaragua. We had done this tour the last time we went to Nicaragua but it was one of our favorite things so we were happy to do it again with them. When we went to Monkey Island Lucy was especially friendly this day, we brought along some coconuts which she and the other monkeys loved. She sat on our laps and ate and climbed all over us, it was way fun. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We tried the Gellato shop in Granada, it was good but not as good as the one in SJDS</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When we win the lottery we'll be calling this number. This Island even had a few monkeys on it.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Enjoying some coconut water at a locals home on one of the islands.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lucy made herself comfortable on the boat and went from person to person to see who had the best stuff.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just like everyone else in Nicaragua, Lucy sure liked Logan.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just chillin eatin a banana</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fort of San Pablo built in the 18th Century to protect the city from pirates.</td></tr>
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After the island tour we went back to our favorite restaurante, La Claraboya, and had another amazing meal. <br />
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The next morning we were picked up once again by Juan and we headed for Laguna de Apoyo. On the way we stopped at Masaya for some shopping. It was a little crazy at the mercado there. LOTS of people trying to "help" us and some were quite obnoxious in the process. In the end we bought a few things and gave our "helpers" a tip and headed to Laguna de apoyo. It was beautiful, we swam in the lake, played on kayaks and tubes, jumped off the docks and then grabbed some pizza for lunch before we headed back to Granada. <br />
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We got our car and headed back to SJDS. On the way we stopped at the orphanage and visited Dani and gave all the kids some gum and jax. Dani was super happy to see us and once again Logan didn't want to leave her. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Handing out gum to the boys who were all doing their chores (aka cutting down weeds with machetes)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After a few minutes Dani came from school to see us. This is her and Logan who ran to each other and hugged. It was pretty sweet.</td></tr>
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It was kind of sad to leave her but luckily we were able to set up a shuttle to bring her and some of the other kids to San Juan on Sunday so we were able to spend some more time with her and some of her friends. <br />
Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378679365751292425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831266082502287729.post-7110949211871685622012-11-04T08:42:00.003-08:002012-11-04T08:42:44.650-08:00Thankful SundayLast Monday we had a sad day. . . we had to give the car that we'd rented for the month back :( It was so nice to have a car and be able to run and do whatever we needed to but the couple we had rented the car from were coming back on Tuesday so late Monday night (yeah I procrastinated as long as I could) I took the car back to their house. I called my taxi friend Clemente once again (haven't seen him for a month) and he followed me out to their house and brought me home. <br />
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The first few weeks in Nicaragua we were without wheels and we survived so I figured we'd be OK and started planning our week of riding shuttles and taxis. Through the week we've struggled to get where we need to and we've survived but it has been hard. Much harder than the first time because we've now gotten used to the convenience of having a car. More than once we sat waiting for taxis and or shuttles for 20-30 minutes. Last week as we got ready for church we couldn't find Carter's Sunday clothes anywhere. I'm pretty sure they didn't make it home from the lady's house that does our laundry. Since they were WAY small on him I thought we'd just look for a place to buy him some new ones anyways and then if they showed up it would be a bonus, if not it's no big deal. For a whole week I've tried to find time to go out shopping for Sunday clothes, one day I even found a place that carries them but our shuttle came to get us right as I found it so I've planned to go back ever since but haven't made it. Yesterday we had about 30 minutes before we were leaving to go to the beach with the McBrooms (bumming a ride with them of course) so I called a taxi with the plans of running in to town looking for some clothes and running back. He never showed, when the McBrooms called and said they were ready to go I called him back and told him not to worry about it. Today we planned on taking the bus to Rivas for church- we were kind of excited about the idea of riding the "chicken bus" at least one time while here and even though that meant getting up way earlier because the bus would take more than twice as long to get us there we decided to do it. Last night while talking to a friend and asking the bus schedule she let us know that today was election day and that in the past she had been cautioned that election day can sometimes be dangerous as people get pretty heated about politics here and that it was better not to travel on this day. This and the fact that Carter didn't have anything to wear to church made us decide to just stay home today. <br />
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By Thursday of this week I was having "one of those days" and wishing I was home. I recognized it as the same feeling I'd had several times in the first few weeks of being here and after thinking about it for a while I realized the reason was that living here without a car makes life really hard. Everything we want to do takes so much planning and time and some of the most simple things before are exhausting now. Grocery shopping, laundry, going to the beach, going out to eat are just a few of the things that are much harder now. <br />
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This has made me realize how spoiled I really am. Very few Nicaraguans have cars. Some have motorcycles and it's very common to see a whole family of four riding on one motorcycle. Even more common is to see someone on a bike with a passenger sitting on the cross-bar and sometimes another passenger standing on the back. Most of these people don't have any thoughts that one day they might be able to buy a car, some of them can't afford to take the taxis that I complain are "such a pain" and so they walk everywhere with their kids in toe behind them. They aren't complaining about the fact that it's hard to get from their villa to the beach, they aren't complaining that when they go out to dinner with friends they have to walk up the street and pay for a taxi to get them home. These things aren't options for them. So today I'm grateful that I live in Palermo which has a free shuttle into town every hour, even if sometimes the 10:00 shuttle leaves at 10:30. I'm grateful that I have made friends with many taxi drivers that if I had had a car the whole time I would have never had the pleasure to meet, I'm grateful that I have made awesome friends who squish their family of six and my family of five into a car that should only fit eight in order to get us to the beach with them which totally pulled me out of my "funk" and got me back to a good place. And yes I'm grateful that for the month of October Corey and Ryan were nice enough to let me rent their car from them at a price that made it possible for me and I was able to enjoy that freedom. I hope once I'm home and have the luxury of owning a car I remember that it is a privilege and not a right and every time I run to the grocery store to grab something that I forgot to get when I was their earlier I will appreciate the ease in which I do so. <br />
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Life in Nicaragua is good, even without a car, we're enjoying our last few weeks here. The thought of leaving makes me sad, the thought of coming home makes me very excited. This week has made me aware that I'm not nearly grateful enough for the things that I have and in this month of thanksgiving I plan to change my focus.<br />
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This lady spent the day running errands on her bike with her two kids while we surfed with friends, enjoyed the hammocks, watched a beautiful sunset over the ocean and ended it all by eating pizza on the beach where a guy came along and did a flame throwing show after which he let all the kids try it out. Life is good, we are blessed beyond words.</div>
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Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378679365751292425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831266082502287729.post-3417996205288939232012-10-28T17:38:00.000-07:002012-10-28T17:38:18.414-07:00Volleyball in NicaraguaThis week on Thursday Cam was asked to play on a school volleyball team. She had practice that day after school and then Friday was a huge tourney. She was told to be at the gas station at 8:00. In very Nica-like fashion they stood there for about a half hour then were told to walk up the road (in the opposite direction than where they'd be playing). We went up the road to another intersection where a whole bunch of kids were all waiting. We didn't completely understand what was happening but in the next 30 to 45 minutes a band showed up, they passed around shirts and flags and a truck showed up with signs for all the different sports. We eventually figured out that there was more than a volleyball tournament going on. There was football (soccer), handball, surfers, basketball, MMA, volleyball and some other signs that I couldn't read. Eventually (probably about 10:00) they started the parade. They walked all through town, in the front was a guy with a torch followed by all the kids holding flags and a band playing.<br />
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Warming up for the game</div>
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The game was played in the middle of a road which was blocked off for the event. There wasn't much diving that happened but the Nicaraguans have figured out many ways to improvise and they use their feet a lot more to get balls that we'd normally dive for. Their were some really good players.</div>
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At one point the ref blew the whistle to stop play. We all wondered why then we noticed a drunk guy had stumbled onto the court and collapsed in the middle of the other team. This guy helped him over to the sidewalk where he slept it off for the rest of the day.</div>
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Cam hitting the ball. She was a little nervous at first since she couldn't understand her teammates or her coach but after the first game she worked out her jitters and did awesome. </div>
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There were two teams from Stella Maris that played. The white shirts were an older team and included Cam's friend Molly, they ended up taking first place. Cam was on the red team, they started out a little slow but by the end were playing well together and ended up taking third.</div>
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Later that night there was a ceremony to give out the trophies and awards. It started out with some Nicaraguan dancers.</div>
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This is Cam's team getting their tercero-lugar trophy. </div>
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Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378679365751292425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831266082502287729.post-14005444796451318252012-10-23T19:27:00.000-07:002012-10-23T19:27:46.643-07:00New newsA couple exciting things happened this week that I thought I'd share. First, on Sunday we went back to NPH (the orphanage that we visited shortly after we got here.) Right when we got there Danni ran up and gave Logan a hug. Danni is a girl that Logan really connected with the first time we went. Logan was super excited to see her again. A few minutes later Logan couldn't find her so we spent the next hour or so looking for her. We visit a few houses along the way but didn't find her, Logan was getting sad until all of a sudden he saw her running towards us and he started running towards her until they got to each other and hugged, it was seriously so cute. We knew that we wanted to do something for her so I asked her if I could be her Madrina (sponsor/ godmother). She was super excited and turned to Logan and said "Now you are my brother." We hope to visit her and/or have her come here to visit us a couple times before we head home.<br />
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The next exciting thing happened today. Camryn went to school!! She decided that she wants to learn spanish bad enough that she wanted to go to a local spanish speaking school. She has a friend who goes to Stell Maris, a catholic school in town, so she talked to her and decided she wanted to go too. We went to town yesterday and found her a uniform, she looks so cute in it. She woke up early and got to school on time (7:00 am) and I worried about her all day. I went to pick her up at 12:15 because that's when school usually ends. She came out to let me know that on Tuesday's they have English class so they don't get out until 1:00. I suggested that she could probably leave because she already knows English but she really wanted to stay so I took the other kids to pottery class and came back to get her. She was so happy, the kids were super nice to her, she met a really nice friend (whose name she can't remember because it's a spanish name), her Teacher was super nice and it couldn't have gone better. The only bad news that she had for me was that she was picked randomly as the person to bring brunch on Thursday. So I have to figure out what to make for the 31 kids in her grade.<br />
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Camryn's friend told us before that Camryn might not want to use her full name because Camarone in spanish means shrimp and the kids might make fun of her for having the name of shrimp so we decided her Nicaraguan name should be Camila and she said she was really glad she had done that because everyone remembered it and could say it and she thinks it helped, only a couple times did she accidentally write the wrong name :)<br />
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Carter also chose the Nicaraguan name of Carlos and Logan is Leo (although pretty much everyone already knows Logan as Osito so his is probably not necessary but he didn't want to be left out.)<br />
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Another great day in paradise, other than missing our family it's getting easier and easier to be here and the thought of leaving is getting harder and harder. . . <br />
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Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378679365751292425noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831266082502287729.post-23242307432656540462012-10-17T17:48:00.002-07:002012-10-17T17:48:56.636-07:00Tengo Miedohey this is carter and my mom wants me to tell you guys about how a nicaraguan man tried to attack us with a coin<br />
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Well, we were walking and this man was walkin towards us and my mom was paying like no <br />
attention the man had a coin and was like trying to hit us or something but we were like 3 yards away but there was a man who was waving his hands and saying "be careful" so my mom grabbed me and stopped me and turned me around. We looked back to see a crazy man waving his hands and shouting. So my mom was watching him and when people got to close they'd wave and shout at him so they obviously knew to watch out for him but didn't know so we were glad the other guy helped us.<br />
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This is Logan, I'm going to tell you a story about a snake. <br />
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So, I was by the couch, and then I yelled "SNAKE!!" and then everyone got up on chairs and then we got the guards to come and kill it. They chopped it's head off with a big machete, then there was blood on the floor and we were scared to heck.<br />
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Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378679365751292425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831266082502287729.post-57498214790997750412012-10-15T11:52:00.002-07:002012-10-15T11:52:47.621-07:00Too much fun (week two)Sorry for the long posts, I'd promise not to do it again but I know better than that. I procrastinate way too much. We had another fun week with Jeremy before he had to leave.<br />
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Monday October 8th- we went fishing. We had booked a sport fishing trip but didn't really get that. What we got was great for the kids though so we didn't complain. They took us to a beach called playa Costa Blanca, it was a beautiful beach that I'd heard of but hadn't visited yet because you can't get there by car. We snorkeled for a while and then headed back for fishing. They had pretty ghetto fishing poles for us to use but it worked well for the kids, Carter was first to pull in a fish, Grandma followed shortly after. Then Logan pulled two in at a time!! In the end everyone was able to catch at least one fish except Camryn who did not have much luck that day, but still had a great time.<br />
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Tuesday October 9th- we stayed home this day. All the kids went to pottery class that afternoon and the adults tried to catch up on some work and sleep. That night Jeremy and I went out on a date. October is the slow season here in San Juan so the first two places we tried to go to were closed but the third one was open, we enjoyed another great meal on the beach for about 25 dollars.<br />
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Wednesday October 10th- we hit the road again and headed to Granada. Once again we took our tour guide, Irlanda. She helped us find Granada, then helped us find our hotel where we checked in. The boys favorite part of the hotel was the huge chess set that was in the courtyard. We put our stuff in our rooms and headed out to see the town. Once to the main square we found a couple horse drawn carts to take us for a tour of the town. It was definitely the best way to see the beautiful colonial architecture and hear about the city. They dropped us off at an amazing restaurant for lunch. We went back to the hotel, hit the pool then the girls went out for a little shopping. I didn't love the shopping in Granada, more tourists means higher prices and we didn't end up buying anything, but we still had a great time.<br />
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Thursday October 11th- we went on a boat tour of the islands in Lake Nicaragua. There are a total of 365 islands, some large some very little. We all decided owning an island there would be pretty amazing. Our favorite island was monkey island. We went close and threw the monkeys some bananas we had bought, one monkey named Lucy was even allowed to come on the boat and get her own bananas. She was so cute, I definitely wanted to take her home with me. After Monkey island we stopped at another island that had a local family. They lived in some huts there and fished early in the morning, taking their catch into town by 6:00 to sell to the restaurants, they also grew crops there. The family consisted of a grandma who had 18 kids and over 40 grandkids, most of them living right there with her still. They were a beautiful, hard working family. We ended the tour at a restaurant and had another great meal, after that we headed back to the hotel and picked up our car and headed home.<br />
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Friday October 12th- we spent another day at home. The kids had drawing class that afternoon and we spent some more time in the pool. We shopped for Camryn's birthday bash. I went to a lady's house to order a cake. I told her that I had a daughter that I needed a cake for her birthday. She asked her age and I said 13, she said "three?", I said "thirteen" then I told her that she liked horses, she got all excited and said "Ponies?" and I nodded. The next day when i went to pick up the cake I had Camryn with me, when she saw Camryn she got a worried look on her face and brought out a cake with a pony on it. It was more appropriate for a three year old, I quickly told her that it was great and we loved it. I think she wondered what kind of a 13 year old would like a my little pony cake but Cam was just fine with it and it tasted really good so that's the most important thing.<br />
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Saturday October 13th- the big birthday, I have a teenager :( We had a great day. That morning we woke up and opened the few presents that she had, Logan had made her a card, Grandma had brought her a gift as well as a few cards from friends and family at home. We had decided that we wanted to give her an "adventure" for her birthday instead of stuff. First off we went zip-lining. We invited Camryn's new friend Molly to come with us. She's an awesome girl, she's fluent in Spanish, English and Italian. We're super excited to get to know her better. The Canopy tour was awesome, we all enjoyed it, even Logan went without any hesitation and loved every minute. After the zip-lining we went to lunch and then Camryn and I went to get massages. After the massages we hurried home to get ready for the party. We had invited some of our friends including Julie and her family, Kelly and her family and Irlanda and her family. We ate, talked, broke open a pinata and then Camryn ended the night by playing volleyball with Sergio (Irlanda's son) and Shirley (Irlanda's neice). I think getting to play a little volleyball was Camryn's favorite part of the day so we have already planned to get together with them later this week for an actual game on the beach. She's already mastered the art of being a teenager, including the eye roll (she's had that one down for a while thanks to Aunt Noelle :), the dodging pictures maneuvre, the pouty face, I'm hoping since she's had these pretty well mastered she will move on to the next stage of life quickly???? actually, she's still pretty sweet, as far as teenagers go so I guess I shouldn't complain too much.<br />
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Sunday October 14th- we went to church in Rivas. It was fast and testimony meeting, and Logan wanted to bare his testimony and asked me to come with him. I was forced with a hard decision- do I bare my testimony in English or try in spanish. I decided to try in spanish, it was very short and very broken but I was able to say a few basic things and I felt good about it. In sunday school and relief society I actually understood some of the lessons given. It was the first time that I was able to follow along and understand quite a bit of the lessons, it definitely made me realize that my spanish is coming along. <br />
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This morning Jeremy left us :( It was a sad day. Logan cried quite a bit. Our lives will be more boring again, which might be ok for a while since we've fallen quite a bit behind in school and work. we have four weeks until Grandpa and Jeff and Carol come, we're starting the count down again. <br />
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I must say that Nicaragua is definitely starting to feel like home. We've met so many amazing people, both locals and expats. I'm already starting to feel like our time is not going to be enough, and yet I'm WAY excited to get home and see everyone again. We will definitely be coming back to Nicaragua, probably just for short periods of time to visit, but we will be back.Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378679365751292425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831266082502287729.post-16637735952774718352012-10-15T11:34:00.000-07:002012-10-15T11:37:00.388-07:00TOO much fun (week one)Jeremy and Grandma arrived Wednesday October 3rd, we haven't stopped having fun since so I haven't found time to blog so you get a catch up post. <br />
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Wednesday October 3rd- We expected them between 2:30 and 3:00 so when someone knocked on the door at 2:00 we were surprised. We had decorated the house that morning with balloons and a sign welcoming them. It was an awesome reunion, the kids quickly showed them around our place and helped them get settled in. That day when the lady came to clean our house I told her that my husband was coming, so she left these cute swans on our bed :)<br />
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We had planned on going to the beach to watch the sunset that night but it was cloudy and threatening to rain so we decided to grab some dinner in town and come home and hit the pool instead.<br />
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Thursday October 4th- we hung out at home and went into town to show them around. Jeremy had been here once before but now that we are "locals" we could show him all the cool places we've found. <br />
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Friday October 5th- we headed to Ometepe. We took Irlanda to be our tour guide and help us navigate our way around. When we got to the ferry we found out that the one that you can take a car on was broken so we had to change our plans. We booked a shuttle on the island and left our car behind, it turned out to be even better because we could all sit back and not worry about where we were going. We saw some of the island, had some lunch and then stopped at Ojo de agua, a beautiful lagoon with mineral rich water. We swam for a bit and then headed back to the ferry. The ferry was my least favorite part of the day, both ways I got a little sea sick, Logan was nice to sit and rub my back though.<br />
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Saturday October 6th- we went to Hermosa beach and rented some surf boards for the day. We all took our turn with them (except Grandma- next time.) And we all enjoyed the hammocks some too. Logan found a cute little friend who would talk and talk and talk and he didn't care the Logan couldn't understand a word he was saying. After Hermosa we went back to San Juan del Sur and booked a tour to see the Turtles that night. Camryn, my mom and I went to playa La Flor that evening when the sea turtles come in to see them. We saw huge turtles and a few little baby ones, some of the adult ones were laying eggs and you could actually watch them lay them, they each lay between 80 and 100 eggs, burry them in the sand and 45-50 days later the baby turtles climb out of the sand and make their way to the water. It was way cool to see, we just wished it would happen in the day so you could see better but they said during the day there's not really much to see there because they're all out in the ocean.<br />
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Sunday October 7th- we spent the day at home listening to conference and catching up on our siestas. Palermo has a live band at the pool every Sunday that we can hear perfectly from our back yard so we spent a lot of time in the hammocks listening to the music. What a great week we had, and we had another fun one planned!Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378679365751292425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831266082502287729.post-30061886253120293042012-10-07T13:14:00.000-07:002012-10-07T13:14:21.504-07:00A normal day in NIcaraguaI started this post a week ago but haven't had time to finish it due to the exciting week we've had with Jeremy and Grandma here, I was going to skip it and just move on to the exciting things that we've done all week but decided to finish it. We've not really had any "normal" days since they got here and we have another week full of fun planned this week, but before that these were some of the things we did in our day to day life.<br />
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Until we got our car last week it was a normal thing for us to call a taxi two or three times per day to get us where we needed to go. Palermo has a shuttle on the hour so we'd usually take it into town and then get a taxi to bring us home. One of our favorite taxi drivers is named Clemente, he speaks a little English- which is good and bad. When I'm with him he wants to practice his English, but I always want to practice my Spanish so we end up doing a lot of SpEnglish and we're able to communicate. We've met several other taxi drivers (Ebmor, Erasmo, Juan are a few of our favorites) but I didn't get pictures of them, below is a picture of Clemente<br />
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There are quite a few more taxi drivers that we have not officially met but most know us and that we live in Palermo. Logan is sort of famous down town, as we walk around everyone smiles and waves to him. This guy always comes over to him and tries to pick him up showing how hard it is cause he's so big. In Nicaragua, people like kids to be on the chunky side and so Logan is very popular around here. Everyone just calls him gordito, which translates to fat kid, but it is an edearing term here and not meant to be mean at all. Many others know him by his nickname "Osito" which translates to little bear. he's always happy to tell people "me llamo Logan, mi apodo es Osito."</div>
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Twice a week Logan goes to an American school here called San Juan del Sur Day school. He absolutely loves it and has made lots of friends there.</div>
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We go shopping almost every day. One of our favorite stores is in the middle of town called Sanchez.</div>
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Right next to Sanchez is the Central Market, it has a variety of things from vegetables, fruit, tortillas, pinatas, etc. Carter even found a sling shot that he just had to have this week, for 20 cordobas (just less than $1.00) I let him have it.</div>
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We often get lunch while we're in town. Here we are at a local taco shop, Camryn, Logan and I enjoyed our tacos-</div>
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While Carter chose not to eat because he was afraid it would have gross green things.</div>
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Once a week we take our Laundry here to have it washed</div>
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Mora is the sweetest ever. I've only been there a couple of times, and yet she acts like we're old friends. Last time she insisted I take several lemons and limes from her trees because she has mucho. She has very little and yet what she has she wants to share.</div>
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We almost always end the day with a trip to the pool, sometimes it's the second or third time that day. Logan has completely mastered swimming.</div>
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And unfortunately I still have to do some work, although the amount of work has decreased significantly, and my office has improved drastically.</div>
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So there's our day to day. Next post will include some not so day-to-day stuff, showing all the fun that we've had this week with Dad and Grandma.</div>
Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378679365751292425noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831266082502287729.post-2096067859659429672012-09-26T20:43:00.001-07:002012-09-26T20:43:46.673-07:00Playa HermosaYesterday afternoon we packed a bag and headed to Hermosa Beach for Jordi's birthday. When we got there we put our stuff in our room and grabbed some surf boards and headed for the surf. Within five minutes of being in the water I felt a pain on my foot. I thought something had bitten me- it hurt but not nearly as bad as I had heard stingrays felt so I assumed it wasn't a sting ray and hopped out of the water to check it out. Once out of the water a couple people looked at it and said it was definitely a sting from a sting ray. I thought for a minute "well this isn't so bad" but they all said I should go put my foot in some hot water so I headed over to the restaurant for some water. It took them about ten minutes to boil me some water and by that time I was no longer thinking that it wasn't so bad. I was in some serious pain. The hot water came and it helped quite a bit, although it was so hot that I couldn't leave my foot in it for long. After an hour or two it felt much better and I was able to get back to the party. On the one hand getting stung made me more scared to get in the water, on the other hand it made me realize that while it does hurt, it also goes away and it's bareable. I know that I didn't get a very "bad" sting but I definitely felt what it feels like- not fun but it doesn't hold a candle to childbirtth.<br />
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By this point it was getting dark, we had some dinner then headed back to the beach for a bon fire. We roasted marshmallows, the kids ran around chasing frogs, and the adults chatted. It was a great evening. <br />
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We ended it with some birthday cake for the birthday girl. Since we didn't have any candles for her to blow out she just did a face plant into the cake instead.<br />
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Of course the boys had to get in on the fun. All I can say about these three is it's a good thing they're all so stinkin cute.</div>
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We then retired to our rooms. We all climbed into our mosquito nets and settled down for a long night. Between the heat and getting tangled in the nets we didn't get much sleep (yeah we're kind of spoiled) but the boys still woke up bright and early so we went out to some hammocks and enjoyed the view.<br />
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At this point it was time to surf again. I'm not going to lie, I was nervous to go back out into the water but I also knew that I had to show my kids that fear can't stop you from doing things that you want to do so we grabbed a board and headed back out. Within a few minutes I was having a great time and not thinking about stingrays. Carter is getting to be a pretty good little surfer, we have a good time surfing together (Cam has yet to get a picture of me surfing, maybe next time.)<br />
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A couple of the other little boys started surfing. Logan had never really wanted to try to surf, he was always happy with his boogie board but once he saw Mattie and Ford he really wanted to try. <br />
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How cute is Ford surfing?</div>
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He was able to get up on all fours but never quite made it to his feet. Now he's begging me to take him for surfing lessons so we'll have to get that done in the next week or so.<br />
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The kids played in the sand with their new friends, surfed, enjoyed the hammocks and just overall had a great time. Other than the sting ray incident it couldn't have been a more perfect trip to the beach, definitely an awesome birthday part. As I looked at these pictures I thought "what if you could have an amazing beach pretty much all to yourselves for a ten year olds birthday party, only in Nicaragua." thanks again McBroom's for inviting us.<br />
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Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378679365751292425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831266082502287729.post-52949449530396002952012-09-24T20:51:00.001-07:002012-09-24T20:51:18.454-07:00What we've been up toTonight I got in trouble with my husband because I haven't posted anything for a while, I told him that we hadn't done anything new or exciting and he explained how everything we do was new and that I needed to post about our day to day (shopping in Nicaragua, the many taxi drivers that we've met, etc.) so I promise to do a post on each of those topics but I want to get a few pics to go with them because pics make every post better. <br />
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What I decided to tell you about tonight was an amazing family who is needing our help to change their lives. Our spanish teacher Irlanda has been an amazing teacher and friend to us. She has helped us so much here, from spanish lessons to learning how to cook using the local ingredients she's been a godsend. </div>
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We recently learned about her brother Alvero. Alvero and his wife have four children. Their home (before today) consisted of a one room, dirt floor shack (for lack of a better term). My amazing friend Julie saw the conditions that this familiy was living in and couldn't help but do something. She's been raising money to build this family a new home. For less than 8,000 dollars they will be able to build a three bedroom home with running water and electricity. </div>
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They are getting close to their goal but still need a few thousand dollars. Having faith they've moved forward with the project and just today they tore down this house:</div>
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Alvero and his wife and children will live with family while thier new home is built. With the rainy season fast approaching it's very important that they are able to move quickly so raising the rest of the money is a necessity. They're hoping to complete the house before Julie leaves Nicaragua in November, which just happens to be the same time we will be leaving. We're excited for the opportunity to change this family's life and we thought we'd share the opportunity with our friends and family. If you're interested in donating visit Julies blog:</div>
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<a href="http://www.hipmum.com/2012/08/housing-project-building-a-home-for-family-of-6/">http://www.hipmum.com/2012/08/housing-project-building-a-home-for-family-of-6/</a></div>
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Watch my blog for updates and pictures on Alvero and his family as the house is built. Hopefully we'll even have some pics of the completed house to share before we leave.</div>
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Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378679365751292425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831266082502287729.post-10117373581855977782012-09-16T19:38:00.000-07:002012-09-16T19:38:24.156-07:00Another great day in paradiseToday we rented a car and went to church. Pretty much the only negative to the place we're living is that the closest branch is 30 minutes away in Rivas, we have a couple options to get there. We can either rent a car, take a taxi (which costs about the same as renting a car for a day) or take the chicken bus. We haven't yet got brave enough to take the chicken bus but we will have to do that before we leave :) We left quite early because I wasn't certain I'd be able to find the church again, we got there at 7:30 for an 8:00 sacrament meeting, or so I thought. Nobody was there yet so we went to the central park and played for a few minutes. The nicest security guard ever let me know that he'd watch my car for me while we played. We went back at 8:00 and found one couple at the church. They were super nice and spoke a little english, between their english and my spanish we were able to communicate. We found out that church started at 9:00, Camryn wasn't very happy with the fact that I'd woken her up at 6:00. So we drove around the town a little more and went back at about 8:45. Church was great, the boys went to primary and enjoyed it- their teacher spoke some english so that was helpful, Camryn's YW teacher did not speak any english so she said she sat in the corner and didn't speak at all. <br />
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After church we met up with my friend Julie and went to NPH, an orphanage in Jinotepe. It was absolutely amazing. The kids there are awesome, it was such a great organization. I feel like I'm going to be asking my friends and family to give money to many people while I'm down here but seriously if you're looking for a good organization to donate to, this would be one (<a href="http://www.nph-nicaragua.org/">http://www.nph-nicaragua.org/</a>). They take in abondoned and abused children, they have clean nice houses for the kids to live in, they were happy, healthy, and very well behave children. They all go to school and after graduating high school NPH even has a program that allows them to go to college if they'd like to. I asked Julie before we went if she just wants to take the kids home with her everytime she goes and she said "no, I just want to stay there with them. They're in the best place for them that they could be" and I couldn't agree more. I could have stayed there all day and played with them. The other great thing about being around kids is that I don't feel as stupid practicing my horribly broken spanish. They were great to patiently wait for me to finish sentences and then do their best to slowly answer so I could understand. One 12 year old girl, named Danni, immediately started talking to Logan and Carter, she told me they were both muy guapo (handsome) and then she wouldn't let Logan leave her side. In the car on the way home he told me he may have fallen in love (I totally screwed up and didn't get any pictures of her- next time).<br />
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Camryn fell in love with this little boy.</div>
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See how beautiful this place is, totally not like the orphanage in Annie.</div>
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When we got back to San Juan del Sur we decided to take advantage of the fact that we had a car and go to the beach and finally catch a sunset over the water. It was awesome, the boys were in awe with how pretty it was (Camryn stayed behind with Julie and her family so she missed it.)<br />
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It was one of those days that just felt right. I keep having to pinch myself because it's still very surreal that we are actually living in Nicaragua. The only thing that would make it better would be if Jeremy were here with us. Actually if we're wishing, I'd love for all of our friends and family to just come on down and move here, I could definitely talk my kids into staying forever if that happened.Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378679365751292425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831266082502287729.post-87953612503320414392012-09-13T18:33:00.001-07:002012-09-13T18:33:39.105-07:00Hangin' tenToday we went to playa Hermosa for some surf lessons. Camryn and Carter got surf lessons while me and Logan played on a boogie board. They all did so good surfing for their first times. Carter may have found a new love, he did not ever want to stop. I kept encouraging breaks and he never wanted to take one. Even when it started raining he wanted to stay out in the water and surf. Here are a few of the pics.<br />
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First the kids got lessons on how to get up on the board.</div>
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Then they were ready to hit the waves</div>
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Carter got up his first try, his only complaint was that the ride didn't last long enough because he loved every second of it.</div>
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Seriosly, how cool does Camryn look in this pic?</div>
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It started to rain and storm a little so I made the kids get out of the water for a while. They made some sand art.</div>
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We're all missing dad a lot these days :(</div>
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Then Carter made a self portrait, can we count this as art class for today?</div>
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Then it was back to the waves. Logan had a blast on his boogie board.</div>
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It was an awesome day. One we will be doing again soon. My only complaint is that it's a lot more stressful when I have three kids to worry about, I wanted to sit in the hammock and enjoy for a while but I didn't ever feel like I could let them play without being right there and they were not about to come and sit in a hammock with me for any amount of time. All of them are already asking when we are going back.Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378679365751292425noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831266082502287729.post-20735387781793877742012-09-12T19:08:00.001-07:002012-09-12T19:08:58.766-07:00Making progress, un pocoThis week we started taking spanish lessons from Irlanda. She's awesome, so far she's just been here one day but I feel like it's helped me a lot. She's very strict and even when I just want to have a conversation about something and I don't want to be in school she forces me to try en espanol. It's usually pretty much a failure but then she helps me to figure out the words and I stumble through the conversation.<br />
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Today we went into town with one goal, to get a hammock or maybe two. I practiced and practiced the words that I'd need to negotiate with the hammock sales people. It went OK, I was hoping to get a couple of them for around 12 each and I ended up paying 15 a piece, one lady was very nice and came down from her original price of 450 cordobas (about 20.00) to 15.00. She only had the larger kind that you lay in. So we bought one from her and went searching for a smaller one that you sit in. We found some and the lady told us 15.00 I tried and tried to talk her down but she wasn't budging and she was not very nice. I walked away but then I really really wanted another hammock so I went back and paid the 15.00. I didn't want to buy it from her since she was so unfriendly but I REALLY wanted a hammock.<br />
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After hammock shopping we went to the beach and let the kids play for a while. While I was sitting there waiting one of the many people selling pottery came by. I actually really needed a large bowl for mixing stuff. Our condo has only the basics and no larger bowls or pots. So I talked to the guy for a while, he asked me where I was from, I actually understood and was able to answer. He asked about the kids and I told them that yes those three kids belong to me. He asked about their dad and I told them he was at home but he'd be coming to visit in a few weeks. We had a very nice conversation, I'm sure it was because he was trying to sell me something but he was really nice. In the end I did buy a large bowl from him, one that his mother made (or so he said). <br />
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After playing at la playa I remembered that Irlanda had instructed us that we needed to buy some flashcards before our next lesson and that there was a place in town by the park where we could get some so we made our way there. Once at the park I couldn't see the store she had told me about so I had to ask around. I was able to explain to someone in spanish that I was looking for a place to buy flashcards, paper, etc and they pointed me in the right direction.<br />
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At this point it was time to get home. I found a taxi driver and negotiated the price for him to take us home. He started at 80 cordobas, I told him that was too much and offered 40, we settled on 50.<br />
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So I'm feeling pretty proud of myself tonight. I had several conversations in what was probably the most broken spanish ever spoken but I was able to communicate a little and that's progress. It can only get better from here an I'm very excited to spend more time with Irlanda. Ahora necesito trabajar, hasta luego.Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378679365751292425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831266082502287729.post-33380937003458630902012-09-09T11:56:00.003-07:002012-09-09T12:46:19.047-07:00Where are we going? To the beach!We've been to a couple of beaches in the past couple of days. On Friday we went to the San Juan Del Sur Beach. We weren't wearing swimming suits so the plan was to just get our feet in, unfortunately the boys weren't able to follow through with the plan.<br />
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After playing at the beach and eating some pizza we walked around town</div>
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Then on Saturday we went with some new friends to Playa Marsalla. It was absolutely beautiful. The waves were pretty small which bugged Carter cause he was really wanting to body surf, but it was perfect for the smaller kids that were with us.</div>
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After some fun in the waves all the kids searched for sea shells and found some real treasures to bring home. I hope everyone at home is excited about sea shells for their souvenirs :)</div>
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The main thing we've learned in the past few days is that we need to learn spanish and we need to learn it FAST. Our friends who live next door have a lady that comes to their house three days a week and teaches them, we're hoping to hire her to come to our house starting tomorrow. Hasta Luego.</div>
Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378679365751292425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831266082502287729.post-79971424689306366162012-09-07T15:14:00.000-07:002012-09-08T20:02:48.603-07:00Our Home away from homeThought I'd post a few pics of the place we are calling home. it's pretty awesome. I probably should have found something that would be more like a local would live but my kids may have tried to hitch-hike home had I done that. So instead we are living in a resort that is amazing. <br />
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There's a pool side restaurant-<br />
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The kids are enjoying the pool WAY too much.</div>
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There's a yoga deck. Here Logan and Carter show us some nice yoga moves :)</div>
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Cobblestone streets get you from the pool to our home, just around the corner.</div>
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This is our front door.</div>
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And this is our back patio.</div>
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Camryn has always wanted her own cat, apparently we have several now. Last night one of them even stole a peice of pizza off of Logan's plate.</div>
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The boys room has a balcony that looks out the back yard.</div>
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We aren't on the beach but we have an awesome view of the ocean</div>
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And this is our living room.</div>
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It's a very comfortable, safe place to be. We are enjoying our new home. We went to the grocery store today and got a few things to put in the fridge and cupboards making it feel even more like home. The only thing it's missing is some visitors (hint hint).Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378679365751292425noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831266082502287729.post-9699390913554215652012-09-06T19:50:00.001-07:002012-09-06T19:50:25.311-07:00Yes I know I'm crazy but. . . I've been meaning to do a post to try and explain why I decided to drag my kids to Nicaragua for three months. . . but. . . I haven't ever gotten around to it. I'm not sure if it's because I haven't had time (which is completely true) or because I have a hard time putting into words why we made this choice for our family. Either way as I sit here spending my first night in Nicaragua I decided to take the time and attempt to explain it. <br />
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My friend (who I haven't actually had the pleasure of meeting yet, I've only communicated by email with) said it perfectly in her post so if you want to skip my rambling, just read this: <a href="http://www.hipmum.com/2012/04/compassion-perspective-and-some-sanity/">http://www.hipmum.com/2012/04/compassion-perspective-and-some-sanity/</a><br />
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For me, the decision to come to Nicaragua has been a long one in the making. For years I've told Jeremy that "one of these days we're going to move somewhere different". Don't get me wrong, I LOVE living in Blanding and I always knew that in the end I'd be back to Blanding but I also have always had an itch to experience somewhere completely different. After Jeremy finished his Master's degree last December I started, once again, to hunt for the perfect place to go have an adventure. I was mostly looking at places in the Carribean. I had a couple requirements.<br />
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First, I've never lived anywhere near the ocean and I've always wanted to. I decided if I was going to move somewhere different, living near the beach was a must.<br />
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Second, I wanted a simpler life. I know those from the "big city" who have been to Blanding think that I am living the simple life but I didn't feel like working sixty hour weeks and running from one place to the next, constantly forgetting things, was very simple.<br />
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Third, I wanted to experience a different culture. And even possibly learn a new language. Most people that I've said this to look at me like I'm crazy. The language barrier will definitely be the hardest thing about the whole experience but hopefully that will motivate us to learn Spanish as quickly as possible.<br />
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So how'd I end up in Nicaragua and my husband left in Blanding? Well, after doing lots of research and deciding Nicaragua might be just what we were looking for Jeremy and I came here for a week to see for ourselves. After spending a week we knew that we liked it and would enjoy living here but we still had a couple of unanswered questions. First, would the internet be reliable enough for me to work. This was essential since us moving here meant that Jeremy would quit his job and we'd rely on the internet for our income. Second, how would the kids adjust if we actually moved them here. Neither of these questions were answered with a week long vacation here. . . . so I had the brilliant idea of a "trial" move. Jeremy would stay home and me and the kids would come down and try it out. If it worked out then Jeremy would quit his job and we'd all move down for good. If not, then at least we wouldn't have given up a good job to do it.<br />
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So we were on track to come down from September through the end of November for a "trial" when Jeremy's boss gave his two week notice. Before the day was over we were forced to decide whether we were ready to give up on the "Nicaraguan dream" in order to be a candidate for the job. After much discussion we decided that if our end goal was to live in Blanding then we couldn't pass up this job opportunity and if Jeremy was offered the job then we'd take moving to Nicaragua off the table. Within a couple days Jeremy was offered the job.<br />
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Since our flights were already booked and the condo already rented and I'd already signd the kids up for K12 (an online school) we decided to go ahead with the plans of coming down for three months. Instead of this being a trial, it would just be an adventure. . . <br />
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So here I sit, in the middle of a third world country. Just me and my three kids, unable to communicate much with anyone, hoping I made the right decision. The travel here went as well as we could have expected, all flights were uneventful, all shuttles were where they were supposed to be. So far so good. Seeing the kids get excited with each new thing they see has been awesome, and we've only scratched the surface. I am excited with the thought of all the firsts we are about to experience. It's hard to be away from Jeremy and our extended family, we are already missing them like crazy, but I believe in the end the positives will outweigh the negatives and we'll always look back at our time in Nicaragua as being a once-in-a-lifetime, family strenghtening, life changing adventure. <br />
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I plan to post each adventure. Each of the kids has their own camera so look forward to posts from each of them, showing you Nicaragua through their eyes. Hopefully we will give you a glimpse of all that we do an experience, maybe you'll even decide to come visit while we're here. . . .Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378679365751292425noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831266082502287729.post-55022346104633310852012-05-14T12:06:00.001-07:002012-05-14T18:33:17.514-07:00NicAdventureSo I know everyone's going to fall of their chairs when they see I did a post. I'd hate myself if I didn't blog our adventure to Nicaragu. First of all, since the most common question people ask is "Why Nicaragua?" I'll just answer by saying, we saw a show about it and it's been all I can think about ever since. That was a couple months ago and after looking into airfare and hotels we decided to go down for my Birthday. Below is a play by play of our adventures (some may seem boring and feel free to skip over those parts but I really want to remember every minute there)<br />
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Thursday May 3rd (not the best day): We headed to Durango to catch our first flight. As we left Jeremy asked what time the flight left and I quickly looked at the email and saw 12:47. We planned to be there an hour early since it was Durango and there were never lines there. At 11:30 we were in Durango had eaten lunch and were headed to the airport when we decided to stop at a bank and get some cash on the way. We punched Wells Fargo into the GPS and it sent us on a wild goose chase. After going WAY out of the way and not finding the bank we gave up and decided to head to the airport. This wild goose chase had eaten up about 15 minutes and our GPS now said we'd be to the airport by 12:02, which we thought would still be fine. We walked into the airport at about 12:05 and the only one at a counter was a United Airlines agent. We tried to check in there but he couldn't find our reservation so I opened the computer and realized it wasn't United but US Airways that we were flying. The agent said they stop checking people in 30 minutes before departure, I assured him that our flight left at 12:47 so we should still be fine, but I double checked and our departure time was 12:30!!! 12:47 was actually the time we would be landing in Phoenix. So we had missed the deadline for check-in by 5 minutes. We waited anxiously for the US Airways agent to return (he was loading the plane). When he returned at 12:20 I did my best begging ever and he just looked at my and said that he couldn't get us on the flight. The next flight left in a couple hours but it would miss our connection in Phoenix by 15 minutes. In the end we searched and searched for a way to catch up with our original reservation but there just wasn't any way so we painfully paid for all new flights to Nicaragua. The other bad part about the new plan was that it involved spending a night at DFW- it was a long, uncomfortable and miserable night. <br />
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We finally landed in the Managua Nicaragua airport at 11:00 the next morning and we got our rental car. With hand-drawn maps in hand we headed for the two and a half our drive to San Juan Del Sur. Not five minutes away from the airport we were pulled over by a policeman. He tried to explain in Spanish what Jeremy had done wrong. He drew a picture and in the end I'm pretty sure he was claiming that he used the wrong lane in the roundabout. I'm 100% certain that we didn't do anything wrong, we had read about the corruption in the policemen down there and we knew that all he wanted was for us to pay him off. After some painful negotiating (since he didn't speak English and we didn't speak Spanish) we settled on fifty dollars and he ripped up the ticket. And we were on our way again. On the way to SJDS we only took one wrong turn and had to back track a little but after about three hours we finally made it to Mango Rosa- the resort we'd be staying that night. We were exhausted and wanted to crash but our little bungalow was pretty hot so we turned the A/C on and headed to the pool to cool off. After a quick refreshing dip we crashed for a nap for a couple hours. When we woke up it was time for dinner and it was also obvious that our AC wasn't working so we went to dinner and told the guy at the desk that it wasn't working. After dinner he moved us to another bungalow where the AC worked. We just hang out that night and went to bed early. That night around midnight I woke up in a pool of my own sweat and asked Jeremy why he'd turned the AC off, he let me know that the power had gone out. I tried to sleep but realized quickly that there was no way I'd be sleeping until the power was restored so we went and sat on the porch. We were happy to see people from the resort were running around trying to fix the power and after about an hour they had it back on and we were comfortably sleeping again. One thing that this made me realize is how spoiled I really am. Very few Nicaraguans have AC- honestly I don't know how they do it.<br />
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Cute little town on the way to SJDS (Nandaime)</div>
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Our Bungalow at Mango Rosa</div>
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The pool at Mango Rosa</div>
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Enjoying a hammock</div>
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On the drive into town they were digging a water line- no machines needed here.</div>
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Saturday we left the resort and headed to town. We stopped at the local Pali (grocery store) and got a soda for Jeremy, a water for me and a couple snacks. The total at the register was just over 2.00 US and when Jeremy pulled out a 20 dollar bill to pay for it the clerk had to get permission from the manager to cash it for us. They were all a little annoyed with us.<br />
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We walked around the town, saw the market, got some lunch and checked into La Posada Azul- the hotel that we'd spend the rest of our vacation in. It was really cute and had a nice pool that we once again cooled off in. That night we ate at a place called El Timon and had some really good seafood. It was right on the beach so we watched the locals play Volleyball, soccer and just have a really fun Saturday evening.<br />
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Sunday we went to Rivas (a town 30 minutes away) for church. We got there just before 9:00 and just as one sacrament meeting was ending, we joined them for Sunday School. With the help of an elder from Gallup New Mexico we enjoyed a message about Mosiah chapter 4. When Sunday School ended it was time for another ward's sacrament meeting so we stayed for that. A couple sister missionaries were in that ward and one of them translated the meeting for us. It was an awesome testimony meeting, almost every member of that little ward shared their beautiful testimony. One amazing little girl got up, I expected the normal "I'd like to bare my testimony, I know this church is true. . . " but instead she gave an amazing testimony of the things that she knew and believed. <br />
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One of the many horse-drawn carts we encountered on our drive to church.</div>
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Lake Nicaragua, in the middle there is an island that has several volcanoes.</div>
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After church we decided to check out Hacienda Iguana- a resort about an hour and a half from SJDS where the only golf course is located. It was right on a beach that is known for good surfing. We walked up the beach and watched a surfer for a while. It was such a beautiful beach and other than the one surfer we had the place to ourselves. The drive to and from Hacienda Iguana was mostly dirt roads, we shared the road with several carts pulled by donkeys or horses, lots of locals either walking or on bikes. A couple parts of the road were under construction, there were no cones diverting traffic, no men holding signs telling us to slow down, you just carefully made your way around the holes in the road, or the large piles of gravel. You have to pay attention 100% of the time when driving in Nicaragua, we decided that they have the key to eliminating distracted driving. If you get distracted for even a minute there you will most likely crash.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJt0P5ul8YMmZPh_Jiur9dckNafOLEWmF7E0RkhIGxSlNGD8aiBdIW_xQyMZuuV3-63oiYFI7BVO2zsMiG-Mbx2dn_tKGLSNF7uiMQjr7ZEjpr4CUsZH2aGtIT9_q9j0TTs097JCgSQSs/s1600/IMG_0392.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dba="true" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJt0P5ul8YMmZPh_Jiur9dckNafOLEWmF7E0RkhIGxSlNGD8aiBdIW_xQyMZuuV3-63oiYFI7BVO2zsMiG-Mbx2dn_tKGLSNF7uiMQjr7ZEjpr4CUsZH2aGtIT9_q9j0TTs097JCgSQSs/s400/IMG_0392.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful Beach</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here we had to dodge road construction as well as livestock.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A cowboy moving some cattle (made me feel right at home.)</td></tr>
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Sundy night we once again made our way to the beach and had some delicious pizza and pasta.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_FSSvyuA7Mgj7Cf5V7t7zp3ijDxYx34SdAo066i5WzHlF1o99zP3ZR89TbystxwFs_LeruOLjhtqd378BAcdff3ouRFfokbS3F183Q-ltX4Gna8CZS7Fg1rrmZdYTnefLq2r-14q-k5c/s1600/IMG_0401.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" dba="true" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_FSSvyuA7Mgj7Cf5V7t7zp3ijDxYx34SdAo066i5WzHlF1o99zP3ZR89TbystxwFs_LeruOLjhtqd378BAcdff3ouRFfokbS3F183Q-ltX4Gna8CZS7Fg1rrmZdYTnefLq2r-14q-k5c/s400/IMG_0401.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This picture is what convince Carter that Nicaragua was a good place to go.</td></tr>
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Monday we met up with a local guy who showed us around. He suggested that maybe we would like a beach called playa el coco so that afternoon we drove there. It was about 25 minutes south of SJDS. Once again it was a beautiful beach that we had all to ourself. We played in the ocean for a while and relaxed on some beach chairs. That night we went to a place called Bamboo Beach for dinner, it was amazing. I had lobster tempura and Jeremy had surf and turf, they were amazing. <br />
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Tuesday we booked a surf lesson. Even though the lesson included the transport to the beach we decided to drive so we'd be able to leave early and head to the airport. As we pulled away from the hotel people started pointing at our back tire and saying something (in spanish so we didn't understand the words but we figured out quickly that they were telling us we had a flat tire). We pulled over and with the help of a couple locals we quickly changed the tire to the spare and made our way to the place that would be taking us surfing. Surfing for the first time was amazing- it was not easy but it was easier than I had envisioned it being and we were both able to stand up a few times. When you did stand it was so much fun, but even just lying on the board and being carried by the waves was amazing. We had a blast, definitely something we will do again. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I didn't get to spend nearly enough time in this hammock.</td></tr>
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That afternoon we headed back to our hotel to pick up our bags, on the way we stopped at a "tire shop" (I use that term lightly as it was just a roadside lean-to that had tires all around it so we figured they could help us and they did- they fixed our tire, replaced it and put our spare back where it went and asked for fifty cordobas (just over $2.00 US). At the hotel we showered and got changed and headed to the airport. At this point the relaxation ended and the stress of finding our way back to the airport and avoiding la policia set in. Our navigator (aka me) did a fabulous job and only led us astray once for a short 5 minute drive through Tipitapa city. <br />
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We made it to the airport by about 6:00 pm and settled in for a long night. Our flight left at 1:00 am- there was no way we were missing another flight. The next 24 hours were spent making our way home. When we got here we hugged our kids and crashed for a few hours, we woke up in time to put the kids to bed and found out that my wonderful mother had fed them dinner, got Logan to his Tee ball game, Carter to his baseball practice and they were all ready for bed. <br />
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It was an amazing vacation that I'll never forget. We loved the people there, unlike some of the other places we've been nobody was pushy or annoying. The people that were selling stuff would show you their stuff and when you said no thanks they'd walk away and leave you alone. Not many of them spoke English so we definitely need to learn a little spanish before making our way back. They were a very friendly and humble people. I wished so badly I could talk to them because I know I'd be even more impressed with them if I could. I can't wait to show my kids how little other people have and yet how happy and content they are.<br />
<br />Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378679365751292425noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831266082502287729.post-47516946377007082592011-02-13T16:57:00.000-08:002011-03-28T07:57:46.784-07:00Grandma Clessa<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3t7Io1_gC4r6vqxgi1r1UFl_gNVOJJQRpOBLj0LVHPgk41vX31j_KlgWNvS6apUXPyycjzYMprk0ulCNhbKZi5LlA-DPdyrzbhfFUCWsQeHmg5Nzn8inYxkq8B_o0NqyY0gl6KRWMIvw/s1600/GrandmaClessa.jpg"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 130px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 111px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5573344088074194962" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3t7Io1_gC4r6vqxgi1r1UFl_gNVOJJQRpOBLj0LVHPgk41vX31j_KlgWNvS6apUXPyycjzYMprk0ulCNhbKZi5LlA-DPdyrzbhfFUCWsQeHmg5Nzn8inYxkq8B_o0NqyY0gl6KRWMIvw/s400/GrandmaClessa.jpg" /></a> <br /><div></div><br /><div><span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Clessa</span> Palmer Lyman Black (AKA Grandma <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Clessa</span>) passed from this life on February 7<span id="SPELLING_ERROR_2" class="blsp-spelling-error">th</span>, 2011. Even though she was almost 95 years old I don't think any of us were quite ready for it. My dad told us the day before that the Doctor didn't expect her to make it another week. In the back of my head I kept thinking "we'll all be laughing next week when she is back home and has miraculously recovered" because she's always kind of been like a superhero. I shouldn't have been shocked to get the phone call the next morning, but I was. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>We celebrated her life yesterday with a beautiful day filled with laughing, crying and catching up with cousins. I think at the end of the day we all felt a little overwhelmed with the thought of trying to live up to her amazing example. I've often thought that my family has lived pretty easy lives, with very little tragedy. I realized yesterday that my Grandma probably had enough tragedy in her lives for all of us. And through it all she was amazingly positive and happy. I wanted to write a few things down, some I've always know and some I learned yesterday, to make sure I never forget the kind of person that she was. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Her first husband, my Grandpa, died when my dad was just three months old. My Grandma was left with the task of raising five small children on her own. She started doing sewing for people and managed to survive. Before he died, Grandpa Lyman had been very sick and had been in and out of hospitals and wasn't able to provide more than just the necessities. Grandma said that this was a blessing because when he died they were used to not having much- What an amazing attitude she had. She also said that she was grateful that he didn't have any insurance because this made it so she had to work, while raising five kids. Meaning she woke at 5 am and began sewing and usually went to bed at midnight. This did not give her any time to pity herself so she was grateful for that. I can't even imagine having that attitude. This has made me realize how truly spoiled I am.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>She lost her fourth son, Lloyd, when he was 16 in a car accident. She later said that she had dreams long before this incident where she would see the little red pickup in an accident. She never saw who was in the accident in the dreams but the day that Lloyd drove away in the pickup she had a strange feeling that she might not see him again. She said that this always gave her comfort to know that it was not an accident but part of the plan. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>She married my Grandpa Black and took in his three children as her own. They have always been part of her family. Together her and Grandpa had two more children. In total Grandma had ten children that were actually her children, although she was constantly taking in other people who needed a place to stay. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>One of my favorite stories of the day was told by my Uncle Mark. He said that when she had Gordon, her first child, she gave him a bath and put him on the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_3" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">counter top</span> and began crying because she didn't have a clue what she was supposed to do with a baby. To me that just seemed so strange because she was Grandma, it seemed like she knew everything and must have just been born that way. It helps me to know that when I struggle with the every day challenges of raising children and knowing what to do she also had those same struggles and yet she turned out to be one of the most amazing women I know. I hope and pray that I can some day be half of the person she was. I am so very grateful for her example, we will all miss her more than she can ever know. I am also grateful for the knowledge of the plan of salvation. It gives me such comfort imagining the reunion between her and Grandpa Lyman as well as all the others that have passed before her. Love you Grandma.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I could go on forever, and I may remember other things that I want to remember and add more. Mostly I learned that I have lots to live up to.</div>Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378679365751292425noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831266082502287729.post-29470642128042187472011-02-07T07:19:00.000-08:002011-02-07T07:30:08.210-08:00Sunday MessageSister Hunt's Relief Society lesson on sacrifice was wonderful yesterday. The whole thing was great but I wanted to share one quote:<br /><br />"It is not a sacrifice to live to live the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is never a sacrifice when you get back more than you give. It is an investment. And the living of the gospel of Jesus Christ becomes a greater investment than any of which we know because its dividends are eternal and everlasting." President Gordon B. <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-error">Hinckley</span>, Aug 1995.<br /><br />It was the perfect ending to a fast and testimony meeting that seemed to be centered around the blessings of living the gospel, followed by a Sunday school lesson about Christ's disciples and the sacrifices they gave. It made me realize how little I have to sacrifice and how blessed I have been. I have had such amazing examples in my life of people who have sacrificed so much. My Grandma <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-error">Clessa</span> is the first that comes to my mind. She truly lived to serve others and never worried about her own needs. I will miss her dearly as she passed away last night. I have made a personal resolve to try to be more like her and find ways to serve others and worry less about my own needs. <br /><br />Thank you Grandma for the wonderful life in which you lived, we will miss you dearly.Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378679365751292425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831266082502287729.post-51231273167698751872011-02-05T08:21:00.000-08:002011-02-05T08:45:04.556-08:00The man, the myth, the legend. . .My little brother, Joshy Squashy, finished his two year mission in Paris France this week. All of the neices and nephews made him signs and headed to the airport to patiently wait for him<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIlDHjleDZjCUljAEtPeL__-Tc55RdCVOQPR1qp4OrJLwn82EDUUwszDFrbcDRLxnDbFa9I1TE_rzPxRcj1vhdSkg7ae9VzSVgzUgIJ9LqiC1JEK7ibQe2qhSgTyGyjhFzLD2sxphdmZ4/s1600/DSCF1141.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570246146494633426" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIlDHjleDZjCUljAEtPeL__-Tc55RdCVOQPR1qp4OrJLwn82EDUUwszDFrbcDRLxnDbFa9I1TE_rzPxRcj1vhdSkg7ae9VzSVgzUgIJ9LqiC1JEK7ibQe2qhSgTyGyjhFzLD2sxphdmZ4/s400/DSCF1141.JPG" /></a> Patiently might be an exaggeration. Most of them thought the wait was the longest of their life but luckily they all survived.<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmigmjramh72GoF1PBywH4k4a1U2tkVMQeDch-L_W5yD9Nb4qXkcrZBiUflPDIVEg3zvIh_z8aAK-ePzusUMGSbgUM14oKNVcF3DrAwwjc9pOMPrStEQAL6zwQ5xQc0idJmh0BIk8m0u4/s1600/DSCF1142.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570245824326944610" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmigmjramh72GoF1PBywH4k4a1U2tkVMQeDch-L_W5yD9Nb4qXkcrZBiUflPDIVEg3zvIh_z8aAK-ePzusUMGSbgUM14oKNVcF3DrAwwjc9pOMPrStEQAL6zwQ5xQc0idJmh0BIk8m0u4/s400/DSCF1142.JPG" /></a> They all swormed him- I'm not sure if he recognized most of them but he hugged them any ways.<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLwX5YDjY1pwO-jrV7kbC9jG5ePIb89SkP6N8bN4AjRC0rXUzwsxlIwiJS2JKsT4Hby5itCeoSogjQHaFLsh9F4OeDm0i9koiOe6yDpB7HUVnE2KFOL5MxLMuT-HCYejnmKoBbZklaFF0/s1600/DSCF1146.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570245470119517986" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLwX5YDjY1pwO-jrV7kbC9jG5ePIb89SkP6N8bN4AjRC0rXUzwsxlIwiJS2JKsT4Hby5itCeoSogjQHaFLsh9F4OeDm0i9koiOe6yDpB7HUVnE2KFOL5MxLMuT-HCYejnmKoBbZklaFF0/s400/DSCF1146.JPG" /></a><br />I'm not sure if you can tell from this picture but my mom is just a little excited to have him home :)<br /><br /><div><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcmbz8KD-FdTASdGIPlch1EtR13ypjotSLlcIolbsY6cUvqhxGhSBHMQMIKMdOla4nC3BROQPALgdSg-eQDOh7imtBgh59cvIDtxZct_USJup3ES0BdPG5YS4ia2iw26ocMMf9BFeCekg/s1600/DSCF1148.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5570243933293862018" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcmbz8KD-FdTASdGIPlch1EtR13ypjotSLlcIolbsY6cUvqhxGhSBHMQMIKMdOla4nC3BROQPALgdSg-eQDOh7imtBgh59cvIDtxZct_USJup3ES0BdPG5YS4ia2iw26ocMMf9BFeCekg/s400/DSCF1148.JPG" /></a> <div></div><br />Welcome home Elder Lyman!!<br /><br /><br /></div><div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div></div></div>Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378679365751292425noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831266082502287729.post-38423345789563315032011-01-23T14:56:00.000-08:002011-01-23T15:16:08.998-08:00Cowgirls<div align="center">Saturday started out as "one of those days". As me and the kids were trying to get the house cleaned and I was losing my patience I got a text from Summer asking if me and Cam wanted to go for a ride with her and Kinley. I knew it was just what I needed. So we packed up the horses and headed south. We weren't sure where to go but on the way I thought of our Easter Picnic spot- Recapture pockets. It was perfect weather. We unloaded the horses and headed down the trail. After a few "attitude adjustments" to our horses who haven't been ridden much in the past few months we had a great time. </div><div align="center"> </div><div align="center">We stopped at "the pockets" for lunch. Cam and Kinley did some rock climbing while we gave the horses a break <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565520759241446514" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQGOXb6iesM0cQo9HgFYZIhbfEN5ekeFpv4sfzQHmTOaZYI1rSqNGU_DTYb4fW5vbohIQxZHvlYjQz5U3AGDEpUZd95Zb2ttscRF4_LRcYHgfEefDKZ0mN5c0NllIjR1JXisZVk7jYfg0/s400/DSCF1129.JPG" /><br />Summer "cheesing", Kinley's hiding behind her <img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565520750434988418" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtKd7FZsOveDYV61viNreDPp53JacR0aBkfzHzihVirpebVYw9nCTpdnIm1lUQCnXT9jSs-5FENesfbqcNaAcj26sjDzk1qHeDt9iYMWYbmvhrlkOb42IZ-A4O65368pPR2uz6Rb3nq5I/s400/DSCF1125.JPG" /><br />Two of my favorite cowgirls ever.<br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu8J_eJPcBnaCwySzx1VURDj5PhcZ0aUYtti70Ay90fys7bz8_SnsOhyphenhyphen_AabYhvRcza6704Q-vPl04V6kdXOMkRpBPmpLqgL6mBCHaAt3r4gMkKfmNixZlCCISNDkMq70B5vWTBmsUtyE/s1600/DSCF1131.JPG"><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 400px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 300px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5565520746098340642" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgu8J_eJPcBnaCwySzx1VURDj5PhcZ0aUYtti70Ay90fys7bz8_SnsOhyphenhyphen_AabYhvRcza6704Q-vPl04V6kdXOMkRpBPmpLqgL6mBCHaAt3r4gMkKfmNixZlCCISNDkMq70B5vWTBmsUtyE/s400/DSCF1131.JPG" /></a>Thanks again girls, it was a great day..<br /><br /><br /></div><br /></div>Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378679365751292425noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7831266082502287729.post-58306641453086220452011-01-10T08:57:00.000-08:002011-01-10T09:23:14.776-08:00Not gonna neglect my blog this year. . .OK, so 2010 had some positives and some negatives, unfortunately none of them will be remembered because my only form of a journal is my blog and you may have noticed what a bad job I did. SO- one of my resolutions for 2011 is to blog at least once a week. I thought I'd share a part of a wonderful Relief Society lesson from a wonderful teacher, who I was lucky enough to be taught by all my life. The lesson was on receiving exaltation. One point that was taught was that by doing what we are supposed to do we not only secure a place in heaven for ourselves but also that things that we do can help our posterity, it brought me comfort so I hope there are others who it will help. President Boyd K Packer said:<br /><br />"The measure of our success as parents . . . will not rest solely on how our children turn out. That judgment would be just only if we could raise our families in a perfectly moral <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">environment</span>, and that now is not possible. . . It is not uncommon for responsible parents to lost one of their children, for a time, to influences over which they have no control. They agonize over rebellious sons or daughters. They are puzzled over why they are so helpless when they have tried so hard to do what they should. . . It is my conviction that those wicked influences one day will be overruled. . . We cannot overemphasize the value of temple marriage, the binding ties of the sealing ordinance, and the standards of worthiness required of them. When parents keep the <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">covenants</span> they have made at the alter of the temple, their children will be forever bound to them" (Our Moral Environment, Ensign, May 1992)<br /><br />Of all the things that I am afraid of, one of the biggest fears and worries I have is the choices that my kids will make as they grow up. This statement brings me peace as I realize that if I do what I can to teach them correctly and the world gets to them there is still hope. I am so very thankful for a loving and forgiving Father in Heaven and I hope he is happy with the way in which I am raising the children which he entrusted to me. I am very thankful for the parents that I have, and knowing their good works will also help my salvation is a very comforting thought as they are pretty much perfect.Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08378679365751292425noreply@blogger.com1