Pura Vida

Lady Ise

2012-02-07T08:36:00.000-08:00

One of the wonderful things about being a teacher is that I am always learning. As I read, research, prepare for classes, I am always coming upon something new. Sometimes it is practical. . . a new idea to use in classroom management. . . an exercise to teach a concept . . .an illustration that makes clarifies. Other times it is a quote or an author or a poem I had not discovered yet. I love this. It's like stumbling into a room I thought I knew already and finding a treasure chest hidden in the corner. Today's treasure was a female Japanese poet known as Lady Ise. I discovered the following poem:

Field-Burnt Over

My body is like

A field wasted by winter.

If only

I, like the field burnt-over

Awaited the return of spring.

--Lady Ise

I loved this imagery, so began to look around a bit more and discovered these other gems of Asian poetry:

I Have Always Known

I have always known

That at last I would

Take this road, but yesterday

I did not know that it would be today

--Ariwara no Narihira

Not Speaking Of The Way

Not speaking of the way

Not thinking of what comes after,

Not questioning name or fame,

Here, loving love,

You and I look at each other.

--Akiko Yosano

Why Should I Be Bitter

Why should I be bitter

About someone who was

A complete stanger

Until a certain moment

In a day that has passed

--Saigyo Hoshi

Just thought I would share my treasures of the day!

Enjoy

January 2012

2012-02-02T17:08:00.001-08:00

2012. . . . 12 pictures to summarize January. (My goal is to do this for each month. . .we'll see how I do!!)

Click on the collage to see it bigger.

Here are the captions starting at the top left and moving left to right!

1) Mom and Dad came to visit over New Year's! This picture is taken at the beach town of Puntarenas.

2) The 6 Kings on Zach's 18th Birthday!

3) First day back to school for 2012!

4) Zach smiling with his 18 candles and double chocolate cake!! (who wouldn't smile at that!!)

5) Tia and Tara Reilly came back to Sojourn with a group from their US school!!

6) Mmmm, a morning tradition. . . a big cup of Costa Rican coffee in my favorite mug!

7) My gang. . our first family picture in 2012 at the beach in Puntarenas

8) The 5th anniversary of our church in Tres Rios

9) Ahmet came back to visit for the anniversary! So good to see him again!!

10) Happy birthday to my sweet, sweet friend Carolina!!

11) Happy New Year!! Welcome 2012

12) Quite possibly my favorite picture of the month. My sweet Wyatt and I!!

We're baaaack!

2011-08-14T21:48:00.000-07:00

We are back home in Costa Rica and are finally unpacked and settled (more or less) into our home here!! I will try and take pics soon!! In the meantime, a pic of the new teenager with Mom:

And a few photos of our recent trip to Santa Maria de Dota. Such a beautiful little town tucked into the valley. I love all the different churches in each town here and always try to take a picture when we are traveling. Here is the one in Santa Maria.
I also love all the old homes and the bright colors one finds around here. Case in point, below, I love the rusting tin roof, the little diamond window in that peak, the wooden house boards:

and the sweet iron turquoise gate in front of the house.

I'll try to update soon with some house pics.

Family Photo

2011-07-03T15:29:00.000-07:00

One of the few things I put on a "must-do" list for while we were back in the US was to get a good family photo taken!! And of course, we are in our last few weeks here and no family photo has been taken!! I gave up on hiring a professional, but I still wanted something! So today my sister-in-law was brave enough to go out in the 100+ degree heat to humor me and get a few photos in!! I'm so glad we did!! Here is my favorite!!

I love looking back at old pictures and seeing how the kids have changed and reminiscing about where and when the picture was taken. I am so glad we captured us now--- Zach getting ready to start his senior year; on campus at OCC after our semester here; in the heat of the summer; all together. I guess I can check it off my list now! (and thanks to April!)

And of course, I needed one jumping picture to celebrate!

Spring Break

2011-03-29T09:11:00.000-07:00

Well, last week was Spring Break here at the college where we are working/living. We had planned a family vacation to Florida during the week. . . a chance to get a way together, go to the beach again with stop and the way there and back to see some dear friends in AL.

However, the week before spring break, Darrin was playing basketball and came down wrong on his foot. . . . . after many ice packs, x-rays, a doctor visit, lots of ibuprofen and a walking brace, we came to realize that a 20 hour trip (each way) in the car wasn't really very realistic for us anymore.

So we sent sad e-mails to the friends we had hoped to see, and then tried to find something closer to home to do for a couple days. The compromise was a few days at a local lake. Only a couple hours in the car. . . . and only a couple days away. But so much better than nothing!!

Here is a pic of the house where we stayed (the middle one). It was early for lake season and so we were the only ones around this little area. The other houses were empty over the weekend so we felt like we had our own private get-a-way spot. (I am sure the atmosphere is a little different in July!!)

In front of the house, was our own privat boat slip which we all used to fish off of!! It was great for sitting out and getting some sun too. (The first two days were hot with sun --80 on Monday! But after that it got colder and colder and on Wednesday, we were bundled up to go outside!)
Darrin and the boys fishing off the deck!
Zach had some good faces to go along with his catches:
My favorite:
Austin enjoying the early morning sun:
Darrin trying to make the best of it. . . .
Wyatt has some small catches, but was quite proud as you can see!!
Chloe enjoys fishing as much as her brothers!

We came home on Wednesday night so we could rest up a few more days at the house. Darrin is finally able to get a real shoe over his foot, but it still hurts a lot. Hoping he is feeling better soon! Hope you are all well!!

Winter blues

2011-03-29T08:27:00.000-07:00

Well, if you live anywhere near the midwest of the US, you know we picked one doozy of a winter to be home for. I think we had 30+ inches of snow in Jan and Feb -- which is so much more than normal!! The local schools were cancelled for two entire weeks! I think that Valentine's day was the first day of school they had for the month of Feb. Crazy around here. . It didn't last forever--even though some days it felt like it would!

Here is a snowman that is fading fast. . . it was built on one of the days that it was finally warming up and had a short lived life! :o) (but he was well loved!)

Shoveling a path to our front door after a snow. . .
Snow, snow everywhere. . .
even on Rangeline. If you're not from around here, Rangeline Road is one of the main roads with the busiest traffic in Joplin. This was taken three days after the big snow and it still wasn't clear. Amazing. . .

And three days after the big snow, we made it to Wal-Mart and this is what the bread section looked like. Like I said, Amazing!!
But the good news it that is over. While we still had a little snow this weekend (crazy!), the grass is starting to turn green. . . . . a few trees are budding out. . . and we are hopeful for spring!! So what else have we been up to . . . here a few more photos!

Getting ready to go out to eat for Valentine's Day!!

Zach has a job now!! Doesn't he look all grown up!!
He works at a great donut/coffee shop called College Station!
Here is a picture with all of my brothers and sisters! It's fun to get to see a bit more of them!

In March, the younger kids and I made a quick trip to IL to celebrate my Grandma's 93rd Birthday!! Here are Chloe and I at the party!! (and yes, I did cut my hair!)

My sweet, 93 year old Grandma!! Love her!!

The snow days made us a little stir crazy, and this was my idea for fun:

You can tell the kids were loving it!! ha!!

2011-01-27T09:29:00.000-08:00

We are here:

Yep, we are "Missionaries On Campus" this semester at Ozark Christian College in Joplin, Missouri.

Our family is living in the large house on campus built just for missionaries like us:

Darrin is teaching a course on Latin American Missions and a seminar on Music and Missions as well as finishing up his thesis for his Master's degree. So he is busy.

I am trying to teach my four kiddos and not freeze to death in the cold Midwest winter (after being spoiled and living in warm Costa Rica the past six years!)

We are doing well and are blessed, but I'd be lying if I didn't confess to missing this many days:

(a typical CR street -- this one in SF2R, close to Parque Okayama)

or this:

(our church in Tres Rios)

and certainly this:

(beach in Esterillos)

Costa Rica has a way of becoming part of you!! Pura Vida!

Papertrey January Bloghop Challenge

2011-01-25T14:54:00.001-08:00

This month the Papertrey Challenge was to use a stamp that you hadn't used in a long time or something you've never used before. As we are temporarily in the US right now, all my other PTI stamps are back in Costa Rica, so I had to use a brand new set that I just received (Thanks to a Christmas gift certificate!)

I stamped the flower on light yellow cardstock and just added a bit of a darker yellow for some contrast. Super fast and easy. And I love the new Edgers Die!! So cute!! I used a sentiment from the newest Fillable Frames series on a little scrap of turquoise blue cs and just trimmed it with my Cloud scissors.

Super simple and clean card. Love it!!

Stamp: PTI: Year of Flowers: Carnation; Fillable Frames #12
Die: Edgers #1
Paper: White-PTI; Bazzil Swiss Dot (pink) Yellow and blue also Bazzil
Markers-- Copic

School's Out!!

2010-06-25T13:00:00.000-07:00

Yay for Summer vacation!! Yay for great girlfriends. Boo to having to say good-bye!! Working in an international school often means changes of jobs, countries, schools, etc. for both studuents and employees. This year seven teachers of Sojourn Academy are moving, returning to the US, changing schools, or for some similar reason not returning to teach in the fall. So to celebrate our friendships, five of us went on a quick week-end getaway the Saturday that school got out!!

Now let's face it, if you are going to go on a quick week-end get-a-way, Costa Rica is the place to be!! Just a couple hours from the crazy hustle-bustle of the city, you find this:
Ahh, blue skies, palm trees, the sound of the waves crashing into the shore!!

We ended up here: Does this look familiar? Yeah, I've been here before and posted pictures (with these same gals too!!) But it's definitely worth returning to!
Here I am on the front porch, in front of the pool. Ahhh, vacation: no make-up, messy hair, slightly sun-burned and with a big smile because I'm so relaahhhhhhhxed. :o)
Girlfriends!
And more great girlfriends!
During our three stay we did a lot of this: (what can I say, we're all teachers and it had been a looooong semester!)
A lot of this: Mmmmmm---chicken, avacado, beans, tortillas, cheese, salsa = perfect beach lunch (or supper or breakfast and lunch again!!)
And of course a lot of this: Sitting by the pool. We mixed in some walking on the beach, watching movies and a lot of girl talk.
On the way home we took a slight little detour to go to Marisqueria Leda in Mata Limon. Well worth it!! Right by the edge of the water and with the yummiest freshest fish you can imagine. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. The best ceviche I've ever eaten (sorry Fran, yours is a close second!); I had yummy jumbo shrimp in garlic butter. And Karol had these to die for breaded calamari rings with a yummy dipping sauce. Everything was great.
So very good. I'm just looking for an excuse to go back again!! :o)

All in all, a great couple of days. Much needed rest. Much appreciated girl time. Fun. I've sure enjoyed getting to know these gals and have been so blessed to work alongside of them!!

Congratulations Chloe!!

2010-06-12T06:45:00.000-07:00

Can't believe it. Chloe had her sixth grade graduation last night. She has worked hard this year, and I am so proud of her and the sweet young lady she is. Here are a few pics. A friend of mine recently said that parenthood is "long days and short years" So true. We tend to talk sometimes of the "big kids" and the "little kids" meaning Zach and Austin as the "big" or older kids and Chloe and Wyatt as the younger or "little" kids. Z & A have looked older for quite awhile now (and both are taller than me!) But to see our "little" ones looking so grown up is still quite the shocker to me. So the "long days, short years" seems very appropriate!!

Chloe and a few friends

The two King gals!

Miss Faulk, Chloe's homeroom teacher

My sweet family -- all together, all looking at the camera, all clean and with smiles. It's a miracle! :o)

Compañeros del Trabajo

2010-06-10T15:30:00.000-07:00

Staff photo at graduation (above)

I love this group of people!! Working day in and day out next to these guys and gals at Sojourn Academy has been a blessing and a privilege these past three years. I couldn't ask for a greater group of people to lock arms with and work along side of!!

My Secondary Department friends and hall-mates:

Girlfriends!!!

But alas, the year is coming to a close. And as happens often in a school with a lot of international employees, many people are going different directions at the end of the school year. I'm included in that list because I won't be returning to teach next fall. I am going to miss my students like CRAZY but for several different missions and family reasons, it is definitely the best decision for us right now. So graduations like this are a little bittersweet because you realize its one of the last times we'll all be together this way!

This week has been even more difficult because there is a lot of sickness going around the school -- at least 7 or 8 sick teachers. Yikes. My cough still lingers from the bronchitis I'm recovering from, but I'm up and moving. Now my heart rate is going crazy and we're trying to figure that one out with the doctor. (My guess -- this lingering chest cough and STRESS!!) We all just need to make it one more week!! Next week is finals, then all the teachers can hibernate away under the covers for a few days and rest up!! I can't wait!! :o)

Scrapping Fun

2010-06-03T16:41:00.000-07:00

I had a little bit of scrapping fun come my way last month!! My friend Tammy asked me to be the guest designer for June for her Scraproom Montly Kit club. It was fun to have a good excuse to play with paper all day!! :o) I was given this kit for June:

(Pink Paislee: 365 degrees; WRMK: 72 Degrees and Sunny; My Mind's Eye: Quite Contrary Little Miss Muffet; and Webster's Pages: Lullaby Lane)

And here's what I came up with:

I took the twill pleated trim and swirled it into a little flower (that was in the separate embelishment kit I didn't show in the picture.) Also made a little rolled photo mat with the two sided paper!

(my sweet nephew Christian, who I can't believe turns one tomorrow!!!)

Here's another view because it opens up kinda cool. (called a joy fold for you cardmakers!)

SO much fun!! Here's the link to the store blog where Tammy talks about how we met:
Scraproom Blog

:o) Good times!!

You are Magnificent!

2010-06-02T19:37:00.000-07:00

Have you seen this yet? You really need to.

I showed it to my English classes today. We laughed; we cried; we watched it again. :o) It's a short independent film called "The Butterfly Circus" and is only about 20 minutes long. But it's worth watching. Some really good things to think about.

And as someone who loves photography-- the lighting, the colors, the cinematography, the period costumes and sets are all so beautiful.

You really should watch it.

"You are magnificent."

I told my kids today that God's purpose for their lives might be a whole lot bigger than they every imagined. It's the end of the year. Many are leaving. It's a good thing to stop and think and reflect. I like thinking of the "beauty that can come from ashes" Makes me smile.

PS If the above link doesn't work or is too slow, go directly to this site:
The Butterfly Circus

They're growing up. . .

2010-05-25T18:08:00.001-07:00

They are growing up fast, these kids of mine!! Here are the three oldest with me before our school banquet last weekend. Can't believe how old they are. . .

Here's a close-up . .
Best of pals. . . my friend and co-worker Tricia and I at the banquet. . .
and of course, my sweetie, Chloe-- having fun and loving life!! Can't believe how beautiful she looked-- what happened to my little girl?? :o)
I love each stage of being a Mom. Each age brings its own rewards and challenges, but I have loved each and every one. Wouldn't change a thing!!!

Winding down. . .

2010-05-16T09:18:00.000-07:00

The school year is officially winding down. Unfortunately, all the rush-rush and busy-busy has taken its toll on me, and I'm sick. I don't get sick very often. Really rarely, to be honest. So I'm not a very good patient. I tried to work last week, but finally went to the doctor and was sent home for the rest of the week. (Costa Rica has socialized medicine. So the school has a doctor that comes in free for all teachers. The doctor then not only treats you but decides if you should or shouldn't work and for how long. He signed the forms to say I couldn't work the rest of the week. I just have bronchitis but it is kind of deep and nasty. I think if the government has to pay for your medical care they are also very interested in you getting better quickly. So I was put on mandatory rest. :o) So what can I say, I have had a forced four day weekend!)

The only bummer is that I really have no energy. So I have a zillion things to get done for the end of the year as well as life stuff around the house, yet I have just laid around in bed all day. I guess that is the meaning of rest. But it is hard for me!! :o) Maybe that's why I'm sick. (By the way, the fella in that picture at the top of this post has been really patient with this gal who's lying around bemoaning her state of late!! I love that picture!! It's from our 18th anniversary a few months ago!)

Anyway, I decided to take advantage of sitting around and update you on some recent activities in the King household!! And of course a pictorial update is more exciting than just my words, so here we go:

A few weeks ago was Teacher Appreciation week, and I made these super simple little post-it note holders for the Student Council to give to all the teachers in the school. Super easy, but they seemed to really appreciate it! I made about 28 in one evening, so it's not too hard!! I love this kind of thing! :o)

While I've been sick this week, I've done some scrapbooking. Since school is ending for this year, I decided it was time to get our back-to-school pictures from fall scrapped! :o) Once again using a kit from The ScrapRoom (that's a link if you click on it). I hadn't used the Bella Blvd. Man of the House set from my March kit yet, and I thought the bright colors looked great for a school layout. Can't believe how quickly this year flew by!
Just to keep it real, here's what my little crafting corner of the room looks like right now. Sigh. I miss having my own office/room for all my craftiness. Darrin is a trooper to put up with this. :o)
On a happier note, I found these adorable green heels on sale the other day. Love them. They are my favorite teaching shoes right now!!
And on a much, much, much happier note, my sweet Chloe girl has been reading and studying the Bible and decided she wanted to be baptized. We are so proud of her!! We invited the ministers from our church, her Sunday school teachers, and some friends of ours and had a special little service just for her. She has a really tender heart, and I can't wait to see what plans God has for her life!!
She also has a bit of her Mom's craftiness. She has been studying bones in science class. And she decided that reading them out of her notebook was a boring way to study, so she got out the paper and glue and scissors and made a much more fun study guide, labeling the names of the bones as she went. Love it!
And since you couldn't see her face in the above picture, here she is. And here is Bella, one of the two little kittens we recently adopted. (Bella and Trixie are becoming beloved members of the King household. And growing so fast from the little kitties we had just a few weeks ago!!) And I didn't realize it at the time, but they kind of match in this picture don't they? :o)
Here is a group of people I sure love!! I truly enjoy my job: teaching English and spending time with this great group of people. I've missed them being gone last week. (and rumor has it they've missed me too!) This is from a recent field trip.
And of course having boys in the house, brings new uses to so many ordinary things. My Wyatt had a friend over a week or so ago and they discovered that cloth book covers also make really cool super hero hat things. Who knew?
Warning: the following information may caused a definite increase in the caloric consumption in your household. (but boy is it worth it!!) I found this recipe online last week and just had to try it. They at first just look like simple chocolate cookies, see. . .

But then you bite into them and find this. Mmmm, yummy soft peanut butter surprise waiting inside! They are so good. (Mom and Amy you need to try these!!)
Finally, as I know you have a life to get back to, the rainy season is starting up again in Costa Rica. Right now it is only here and there, but it is beginning. Now everything will turn back to the really, really vibrant green. Can't wait! (It really is beautiful here. ) By the way, these little palm trees are in all my pictures. This is the view from my bedroom window and we always step outside here for all our pictures. It's still fairly green now, but wait a few months. And that green will POP from all the rain. I'm spoiled aren't I?

Just what the doctor ordered. . .

2010-04-30T18:41:00.000-07:00

A few days away to catch our breath. . . a few days just the six of us. . . Austin's birthday. . . some sunshine. . . a little rain . . . a lot of sand and waves. . . a great family resort. . . Ahhhhh. . . ready to join the land of the living again!!!

(This collage is tiny on here -- but if you click once on the picture, you can see it larger!)

Happy Easter!!

2010-04-04T12:01:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter from our house to yours:

The Easter tradition of getting new clothes and dressing up for church doesn't really exist here, nor is it a popular Sunday for even going to church (everyone goes out of town to the beach for Semana Santa and so many are traveling home on Sunday). There is no tradition of Easter bunnies or Easter eggs or jelly beans or yummy Reese's eggs (that I do miss). So many of the ideas of Spring with pastel colors and little chicks, etc do not exist here.

In Costa Rica, Easter falls at the end of Semana Santa, or Holy Week. Due to the strong Catholic history of the country, the entire week is a holiday week here. All schools are closed and most businesses. Thursday and Friday are required holidays and nothing is open. It also marks the end of summer and the sunny season -- so most people take one last trip to the beach. Actually like most of the country goes to the beach!! Traditional foods are the chiverre (pictured below-- and yes, Tammy, I'll eventually explain!!) as well as other candied fruits and many different kinds of fish.

In the past, we too, have taken advantage of the break to head to the sun and beach. But this year, I've been so tired and overwhelmed with work, that we decided to just stay put. I've slept in late, drank about 10 liters of diet coke, watched TV, played with the kids, etc. It was heaven. :o) (Oh and I also made a huge mess all over the patio by pulling out ALL my scrapbooking supplies and making cards all weekend.)

Today on Easter, we celebrate that Jesus has risen!! Not with new clothes or Easter Eggs or a fancy lunch. But we did go to church with the few left in town and worship with other believers. And I did make the kids take the obligatory family Easter pics. It started when they were wearing new Easter outfits, but now I just like to have it to look back and remember and compare.

The King Kids -- Easter 2010 in the front yard

Zachary, our 16 year old. . .
Austin, who turns 15 this month. . .
Sweet Chloe girl who is 11 and becoming quite the chef in the kitchen these days. . .
and my sweet "baby" Wyatt. Who, at 9, doesn't really qualify as a baby, but since he is still my youngest, I'm afraid will always hold that title!
And yes, in case you were wondering, Darrin and I are also alive and well. Picture of us taken by Chloe! :o)

No matter where you celebrated, no matter how, I hope you took time today to be thankful and celebrate the reason for Easter!! Love and hugs from CR!!

Chiverre

2010-03-24T22:19:00.001-07:00

I'm due for a new post. It's almost Semana Santa here -- which means vacations, hot days, beach trips, plays and parades in every neighborhood, and food. The store aisles are filled with fish. And chiverre. Yes, that's right, chiverre. It is a large squash type thing that I have only seen here. And it is always eaten during Semana Santa and really never seen again until the following year. I have made "miel de chiverre" in the past. (literally means chiverre honey, but it's really more like a thick preserves) But this year I tried something new. Chiverre cristalizado. I think we would say candied chiverre. Explanations and pictures to come soon. (I can tell you're on the edge of your seats!!)

Here's a sneak preview of what awaits:

(cast of characters: pickling lime, chiverre strips, fig leaves, cloves, cinnamon, and lots and lots of sugar.)

Embarrassing teaching moment

2010-03-15T07:29:00.000-07:00

Ahhhh....yes, the moment all teachers dread..... the embarrassing "I can't believe I just said that" feeling. I had another one today. I was passing out certificates for perfect attendance and the entire school K-12 was present. Since clapping for each person was taking awhile, I wanted to have everyone wait and give their applause at the end. So I paused and spoke into the microphone in my loud authoratative teacher voice and said, "Can everyone please wait to crap until the end of the list." Yes, I said crap. Of course, I meant clap. The sweet little grade schoolers didn't catch on. I could hug them all. But don't for a second think my little slip was missed by any of my high school students or fellow teachers. I couldn't go on for like 15 seconds I was laughing so hard. I finally recovered. But I think I'm going to be hearing about his one for awhile. Ughhh.

Let's remember some better teaching moments in today's photos. I don't think I ever posted photos of "Character Day" on my blog. Here are Jasmine and Annie Oakley (aka Miss Wegman and Mrs. King) And yes, you can be sure that Miss W gave a loud chortle that could be heard above the crowd as I made my little speaking error this morning, leaving no doubt in my mind as to what was actually heard in the audience!

Ten on . . .

2010-03-07T13:27:00.000-08:00

OK, so in blog world, "Ten on Tuesday" lists are popular right now. The idea is that every Tuesday the blogger posts a list of ten random thoughts/ideas/stories/happenings in their life on that day. But alas, I am way too busy and unorganized to remember to do this every Tuesday. So my list is just a "Ten on. . . ." whatever random day I get around to posting it. Doesn't do much for the alliteration idea, but at least I'm posting! :o)

1) We've had really wacky weather here lately. A couple of days last week were so hot that teachers and students alike were crawling the walls. But then we had a couple of cloudy, chilly, had-to-pull-out-the-sweater type of rainy days. Weird. Will have to dress in layers this week since I can never tell at 5:30 am if it will be a hot day or a cold day!!

2) I have been bothered a lot the last week by a nagging head-ache and stiff neck that won't go away. I've obviously pulled or pinched something. Yuck. Think I'll go to the doctor Monday and see if an expert can do anything to help!

3) Zach and Austin are busy three days a week after school (and lots of evenings at home) getting ready for the school play. It's called "Reserve Two for Murder" and is a murder mystery comedy. Sounds fun!! Last night they had a coffee house to raise money for the play, and it was fun to see them all perform their poems. I helped serve desserts and coffee and it was great to see so many parents and families come out to support the kids!!

4) I had so much fun getting some cards ready for a card swap I was in this month. In the past, swaps have usually been 8-10 people. But this was just a one-time swap, and we had 19 people involved!! That meant I needed to make 20 of the same card and mail it out to dear Katy who is hosting. But the good news is I will get 19 wonderful handmade cards back in the mail!! It's always so fun to see what people come up with!! (Below were a few I tried out looking for an easy but cute way to make 20 cards. I won't say which one I chose-- that way there still a little surprise for my friends!!)

(all patterned paper is October Afternoon Farm Fresh line --from my Jan SR kit --see #5. Plus the cherries which are October Afternoon Cherry Hill leftover from an August kit!!)

5) I used some of my fun stash from the super fun ScrapRoom online kit club to make my cards. The owner Tammy was a college friend of mine. Our lives overlapped in so many fun ways (both from little towns in IL, both ended up at the same small college in MO, both worked at the same office after graduation, both ended up expecting our first baby at the same time --and thus both resigned from above office around the same time!!, etc. etc. ). But over time and living overseas, I'd kind of lost touch. Imagine how fun it was to reconnect and find out that she owns a monthly scrapbook kit club. And I love it. Every month you get four layout kits in your monthly kit. Each kit has several sheets of co-ordinated paper, matching cardstock, and some type of embellishment. I LOVE it because I get to try and sample so many of the cute and popular lines that are available now. It was hard enough living in CR. But then, my favorite hometown scrap store closed. :o( And then the one close to my Mom that I also loved closed. So it made it really hard to see the latest stuff. But now it arrives at my mailbox!! Four unique lines and styles each month. Yipee!! So that is fun and easy. Love it.

6) Had an earthquake here about 11pm on Friday. Scarier then normal due to all the bad earthquakes all around the world lately. It was only a 4.4, but the epicenter was right beneath us here in our city. So it felt stronger than the 6+ we had last year whose epicenter was further away. Yuck!

7) I am trying to rapidly finish this post because I smell chocolate from the cookies Chloe is baking downstairs. And I know I have cold diet Coke in the fridge. And somehow a cold diet Coke and a warm chocolate cookie sound much better to me than typing on my blog right now!!

8) My Grandma just turned 92!! My Mom hosted a birthday party for her yesterday. Wish I could have been there!! I flew home for her 90th. But just sent my greetings out over cyberspace yesterday!

9) It's almost Semana Santa here. During Holy Week the whole city shuts down and everyone takes a week off. I'm hoping to see a few sights like this:

or maybe this:
but we'll have to wait and see how the time and money work out. . .

10)I'm super proud of these next two photos: The first because both Zach, my oldest, and Darrin, my hubby, play in the praise band at our church. I love to see them singing and serving.
And this second one I love because there are so many people serving. Our church is new and it is always wonderful to see new Christians get involved in serving and giving back. The Sunday in this picture, we had the different people that served on the different ministry teams on our church come forward to be recognized. How wonderful to see so many different faces--young and old-- men and women--serving together. Yeah!!

Well, this last picture doesn't get a number because I used up 10 things already. This is just a bonus, I guess. Last week we had "formal day" for a dress-up day at school. Miss W and I are the student council sponsors and so we always do our best to join in the fun on dress-up days. Here we are once again. (ps-- I really love that gal--she's been such a blessing to our school and to me!!)

Have a great week!!!

Ahhhhh.

2010-02-09T11:43:00.000-08:00

Girls Get-A-Way. What more can I say. Four friends. One house on the beach. Endless long sandy beach. Nights with more stars than you can count. Days with sun so hot we sizzled. Ahhhh.

View from the porch outside my bedroom:

Our home for the weekend:

Sunset on Saturday night:

It was just what I needed for a time to rest, relax, and recharge. My hubby and sweet kiddos all held down the fort for the weekend without me. (Of course, I promised to be back in time to fix some snacks and watch the Super Bowl!!) And one of the best parts is that the other three gals are fellow school teachers at the school here where I work. It was so fun to get to know them better outside of school and to laugh and enjoy our friendship. Ahhhh. . .

Birthday boy

2010-01-23T22:22:00.000-08:00

We had a birthday at the King house today. And it was a biggie. Sweet Sixteen, to be exact!! How in the world can that be possible?? I guess the expression 'time flies' really is true. Because, wow, just seems like yesterday he was toddling around the house learning to walk.
Zach smiling with his double-chocolate cake and sixteen candles!

I am proud of Zach and the young man he is. I actually love being a Mom to my two teenage boys. ( Don't believe all the horrible things you hear about parenting and teenage years. We are loving it!! )

We started out the day by sleeping in (lucky that it was Saturday!!). Then we all went to brunch at Denny's. We had cake together as a family mid-afternoon. But the big event was this evening! The boys' youth group had their winter banquet tonight!! It is a dress-up event and both Z and A looked super handsome. After the banquet, their leaders, the Longs, hosted an after-party which included a surprise b-day party for Zach. So I think he had a pretty great day.

He's mentioned a few times today that if he were in the US he'd bet getting his driver's license. But alas, we're not!! And I for one don't mind waiting. :o) (Costa Rican law is 18 to drive.) And actually, he has a great attitude about it too.

Here's a few pictures from the day!!
Austin, ready for the banquet and looking quite dapper!!

Zach, ready for the banquet, and enjoying his 16th birthday!!
Of course, I needed a couple mother-son photos!!

Sure love these boys!!!

Day trip

2010-01-20T05:40:00.001-08:00

While my parents were here we took several little day trips. One day we went to visit the charming towns of Grecia, Sarchi, and Zarcero. Grecia has a beautiful little town square full of benches and tall trees in front of the unique metal church. (You can see the corner of it in the picture in my blog header!) A bit farther up the road is Sarchi which is famous for the traditional ox-cart painting (see picture below) and is full of souvenir shops. The largest shop also has a workshop in the back where you can watch the men painting the ox-carts which is always fun. And finally we went a little further up the mountain to the town of Zarcero. The town itself is small, but the drive is gorgeous. And the park area in front of the town church has a gardner that shapes the bushes into figures which you may remember me showing before. I love getting out of the city and exploring the beautiful country in which we live!! Pura vida!!

The church in Grecia which is unique because it is made of metal. (Can you see my Mom and Dad in the doorway?) I love all the different churches in Costa Rica. I wish I could take a week and travel to each little town and take pictures of each church and park. I may have to do that and then make a charming little shutterfly book. :o)

This is an actual painted ox-cart. The story has it that the men painted their carts so fancy to draw the attention of the ladies as they passed by. Now it is a very well-known style of Costa Rican painting (and heritage).

Obviously this isn't a real cart, but is the same style and is actually a sign in fron of the souvenir store.

The church in Zarcero being restored.

2010

2010-01-16T13:12:00.000-08:00

A brand new year. . .

. . . but the same 'ol me!!
Well, I didn't think anyone even checked this anymore. I actually forgot about it!! :o) But recently a friend mentioned a blog post on here. And I went back to look and realized again how fun it is to see what we did and my thoughts on it at the time. It was fun to look back at the first year or two I blogged when I posted and wrote more often. So for the sake of posterity, I'm back. My only goal is to post more than last year. And since that was only four posts, I'm already well on my way!!
Here are some fun pics to review the end of 2009 and start of 2010:
Cousins Rachael, Audey, and Eban (along with Aunt Jennie and Aunt De) made the trek to CR to visit and relax a bit with all of us!! Despite some rain, we enjoyed La Paz:

We also toured a local botanical garden:

School started again and Dad got some early morning shots of our new 10th, 9th, 6th, and 3rd graders!!

Chloe girl on her 11th birthday (with a cake she decorated trying our hands with homemade fondant for the first time!!)

Of course, it wasn't fall in Costa Rica without rain:

Chloe made a homemade "farol" or lantern for the Costa Rican Independence Day celebration at school.

Speaking of school, have I mentioned lately that I love my job? Well, I do.

Daddy had a birthday too, and here we are giving him some birthday love!

Dress up days at school are always a big hit with students and teachers alike. Here I am on nerd day. I'm a natural!! :o)

We had a party for my birthday with some of our good friends. Here I am with Ryan and Fran, both of whom I miss!! (Ryan moved and Fran doesn't work at my school anymore!)

Wyatt turned 9, cute and onery as ever!!

Good-bye party for our dear friends the Vandelindes who are now missionaries in the DR:

Chloe made an apple pie all by herself for Thanksgiving. I just handed her the recipe and was busy with my own baking. She made the crust from scratch, rolled it out, cut the apples. . .the real deal all on her own. She's WAY ahead of me!!

Enjoying Decmeber with some of my students at school:

Our church found a new central location in downtown Tres Rios just like we'd prayed for!!

Part of our Christmas fun was having Colleen R come back to CR for a week!

Christmas evening at the Twitchells. The 6 kids are all growing up!!!

Family Christmas photo, well actually the Sunday after Christmas (not quite as cold as a US Christmas!!)

After Christmas, we were so happy that my folks could make a trip down and they helped us ring in the new year!!

While they were here we took a tour of Britt coffee farms, at the end they have an entertaining and informative play about the history of coffee. A couple different times they pull volunteers from the audience to help out. As you can see, I was chosen and have this nifty hat as my souvenier!!

Mom and Dad's last morning here. They arrived to the US late that night to a blizzard in Chicago. Quite the change!!

I think 2010 will be a GREAT year!! (see my big smile!!) Can't wait to see what all God has in store for us!!

I know, I know. .

2009-06-07T07:32:00.000-07:00

it's been a long time. I love teaching middle school and high school English. I truly do. I love having two teenagers with very busy and active after school and weekend activities. I truly do. I love having two grade schoolers with books to read to Mom, after school soccer, and lots of spelling words. I truly do. And I love my husband--who is also very busy all week with church work and activities. I truly do. So, the long and short of it is, I have lots of people I love. And those people all have a lot of things to do. And so by the time I get done dropping off kids, picking up kids, cooking supper, throwing in some laundry, I realize I haven't even talked to Darrin. So we visit and catch up and then he goes to bed. I stay up finishing lesson plans, getting ideas, writing tests, etc. And then I get up at 5:30 and it starts all over again. And I love it all. Every minute. But those minutes are full. And so lots of things slide. I don't keep in real good touch with everyone via e-mail; I often forget to call and catch up with friends; I don't write in my blog for months on end. And I guess I'm ok with that. I wish I was a bit more organized. And I really try. But in the long run, not writing for three months is just another reminder of the busy phase of life I'm in. Darrin would say it should remind me that I am doing too much! :o) I just say I'm enjoying life to the full and in about four years when we only have two kids at home instead of four, I'll be wishing I had more kids to drop off and pick up!!!

So I am back today. I may write again tomorrow. Or it may be a couple weeks. Or a month. But that's ok. (School is out in two more weeks though, so here's crossing my fingers to writing a bit more over the summer!!)

Random thoughts:

I am SO excited to have a new little nephew. Christian John was born this week and I can't wait to get my hands on him for a little Aunt Chrissy lovin'. Until then, I am very thankful for the internet and digital cameras!!

Look at the adorable nursery Amy decorated:

The new family of three coming home from the hospital:

And the star of the show: sweet little Christian!

Austin turned 14 during my blog break and celebrated his birthday at the beach. Fun. So proud of him and the sweet young man he is.

I love this picture. It is right before Austin's birthday and his friend Aaron was getting ready to move. So I was trying to get a good picture of Eden (right), Austin, and Aaron who were all great friends. But it makes me laugh because Zachary and Serena were hiding behind the couch and popped up for the picture!! We are blessed that our kids all have such good friends here!!

Zach has had two big events this month. Oral surgery to remove all four wisdom teeth!! (Thank goodness for much cheaper dental and medical costs down here!!) And the big news, no more braces. Finally!! He is so happy to have his real smile back again!! (see banquet pic below!)

We had a big end of the year school banquet this year. The boys looked so handsome. Even we teachers seemed to clean up pretty good!!!

Zach with Coleen.

Austin with Kenna:

The chaperones! Mrs. Sanders (history); Miss Cullum (science); Mrs. Reilly (English, library, and a zillion administrative duties) and yours truly (English).

We had our first ladies retreat at the new church we work with. It was so great to have a day away together!

Well, lots more have happened the past few months. But we'll start with this. That way I have more to write another day!!!

17 years

2009-03-29T06:40:00.000-07:00

17 years: no small feat in this day and age. I am grateful! Here is a picture we took last weekend before heading out to eat. It is a very rare occasion that we go out to eat together. Valentine's Day and our anniversary are really the only times. We both have busy work schedules, all the kids have activities, we have church activities and to be honest if there ever is a rare free evening we just want to hang out at the house and go to bed early. We must be getting old! But on special nights like this, I confess, it is fun for the girly girl in me to get dressed up and spend an evening out. And it is super nice not to have to do the dishes! :o) Maybe we'll have to sneak in another date before Valentine's Day next year!!

Ahhhh, the beach

2009-03-02T14:52:00.000-08:00

I have to admit. I love the beach. I had never even seen the ocean until I was in college. My first experience was on a small little abanonded stretch of beach in Nicaragua during a college mission trip. Since we weren't locals, we didn't know it was a dangerous area with a strong rip tide. Two men almost drowned and I was one of the girls who was pulled out. To this day I am thankful that our missionary guide was a strong swimmer and came out to get me. You'd think after such an experince that I would hate the ocean. But no, I just love it. I have a strong respect for the danger it poses. . .but there is just nothing as relaxing as lying on the beach. The warm sand, the hot sun, the gentle lulling sound of the water as it comes and goes with each wave, the smell of suntan lotion, the taste of the saltwater on your skin. Ooooh, need I go on. For our family, it is the ideal get-a-way from the crazy busy life in a city of 2 million people. And luckily for us, we had a three day weekend last weekend and made our first return to the beach since we left last June. It was wonderful!!

Long stretches of sand, tall overhanging palm trees, only a few people, ahhh perfect!
Even better than a trip to the beach is a trip to the beach with your best friend. Lucky for us the Twitchell family joined us on the trip, here is Chloe with her BFF Eliza!!

I love this picture of C & E looking at the water with the tall palm tree shadow!

Heading out for a morning of snorkeling!!

One of the cutest sights of the weekend were Wyatt's little toes poking out of his mini-sized flippers!!

And there is the cute little snorkler himself!!

Only thing better than the beach in the morning is the beach at sunset. Bestill my heart!

The gang!!! Twitchell girls and the King kids!

Austin working the sunset for a new profile pic!

Zach full of funny poses!

Elaine and I wanted to get a quick picture together to help us remember the trip!!

DP and I. :o)

Back in the saddle

2009-02-21T11:05:00.000-08:00

Well, we returned to Costa Rica on Dec. 29th and I have completely ignored this blog since then. Getting ready to leave the US was a crazy mad-dash of Christmas, packing up seven months of life, sad tearful good-byes, and the stomach flu. So it is easy to see why I didn't post at all at the end of December!! But then we got home to our wonderful little house-- which had been left alone for the entire six month rainy season. And although it was all safe and sound-- everything in sight was musty and moldy. So several days of leaving every window wide open, lots of washing and lysol--- throw in New Year's Eve parties and lesson plans (school started for me just one week after arriving home) and you can see why I didn't write much in early January! :o)

However, from mid-January till now, I've just been lazy. I've been getting back in the groove of life-- getting back into the sync of teaching and writing lesson plans-- adjusting to new schedules (all the kids are playing soccer this year) and just living life. Good times. Fun kids. Life is good.

But I realize my sweet family and friends stateside don't know that life is good and all is well because I have not posted a single pic or written a single line in so long. So here we go again!! I'm working on a new blog header and I'm getting the camera out and about again. I'll try to keep my Mom and sister back in the loop again!! And the rest of you can reap the benefits as well!! Pura Vida!!

After living through a couple months of cold Illinois winter, it was so nice to see this outside my bedroom window again every morning!!

Zach got right back into the swing of things at church playing drums on Sunday mornings.

Wyatt stepped right back into 'Spanish' mode for Sunday school (which he is happy about even if this picture makes it appear otherwise!!)

It was fun to be back with our dear friends in time to celebrate Zachary's 15th birthday!!! (which does not seem possible!!)

And it was good to celebrate Dia Del Amor y La Amistad!! (Love and Friendship day-- which is what they often call Valentine's Day here!)

Here is Zach celebrating the 'friendship' part of the holiday! :o)

And Darrin and I celebrating the 'love' side of the day!! (I got flowers too, they just aren't in this picture!!)

So you can see that we are alive and well. And I feel ready to tackle my online diary here again. Soon to come-- first trip back to the beach pics!! :o)

Four days till Christmas

2008-12-21T20:52:00.001-08:00

Here is a sweet picture of Chloe with Daddy. She was all dressed up today in her new Christmas dress and I thought she looked just beautiful. So did Daddy and he asked for a picture with her. Then we took one with the whole family and then the kids and Grandma and Grandpa. And then one with Mommy and her girl.

5 days before Christmas

2008-12-21T20:49:00.001-08:00

And the King family celebrated. All the King cousins in one house and each with a homemade personalized stocking handmade by Grandma and filled with goodies. Good times. Love it.

6 Days till Christmas

2008-12-19T11:37:00.000-08:00

And the two little ones are spending the day on Grandma King's couch huddled under some homemade afghans and sick with the stomach flu. So much for a big happy Christmas weekend. Oh well, at least it didn't hit in the car yesterday (while Daddy was changing the flat!!).

7 days till Christmas

2008-12-19T11:30:00.000-08:00

And we spent the day in the car. On the way to the King side of the family in Kansas. And we were making good time getting out of Illinois before the nasty frozen rain was to hit when a car came alongside of ours and started honking. And pointing to our back tire. And I looked in the mirror and saw it was totally flat!! (how could we not feel it??) So in the below freezing temps, my sweet hubby gets on his knees on the wet snow covered shoulder and changed the tire. He's my hero. He also kept his cool as we waited 2 hours for the next Wal-Mart we came upon to put a new tire on (you can't drive all day on the little spare!!). 2 hour wait for a 10 minute service is hard to swallow when you have a day's driving ahead of you and freezing rain you're trying to stay ahead of. Did I mention he's my hero?

I didn't get a photo of the tire-changing event because it wasn't appropriate at the time. But I sure wish I had it now. I was busy praying that the big semis that sped by and rocked the car would not rock it off of the jack; and I was praying Darrin wouldn't have to get under the car to pry the spare loose; and I was praying we would all get out alive and safe. So pictures weren't at the top of my list!!

8 days until Christmas

2008-12-19T11:28:00.000-08:00

My kids made the cutest little gingerbread house with Grandma. What fun!! Everyone got involved and I say it was a job well done!!

9 days till Christmas

2008-12-19T11:27:00.001-08:00

And I love seeing the stockings hung by the fireplace!!

10 days before Christmas

2008-12-19T11:14:00.000-08:00

And I came home from my weekend away to find my car frozen over and no ice scraper inside. What can I say, we never use them in Costa Rica!! :o)

So I waited, and waited, and waited and after 45 minutes, the defroster had done enough of its work I could see to go!!

See look, it's starting to melt already. And I'm still smiling!!

11 days before Christmas

2008-12-19T11:13:00.001-08:00

And I think my Christmas cards are actually ready to go!! Didn't think to take a picture of my envelope stuffing assembly line-- but here's the photo we used!!

12 days till Christmas

2008-12-19T10:58:00.001-08:00

And I'm having a girls night out!! Yay for good friends!

December

2008-12-04T13:22:00.000-08:00

PHOTO A DAY FOR DECEMBER 2008!!

Dec. 1 SNOW!!!! My Central American kiddos were SOOO excited to see big fat fluffy flakes falling from the sky and coating everything in a layer of white!!

Dec. 2 Christmas Dress! Chloe went shopping with Mommy (and Grandma) and picked out the prettiest blue shiny dress to wear over the holidays!!

Dec. 3 Tree!! We are living in a borrowed house and weren't sure how or if we would get a tree. But lo and behold the house we are in used to be a business and they still had a tree stored in the attic with ornaments and lights that we were able to use!! Yay!

To be continued. . . . .

Thankful

2008-11-30T18:27:00.000-08:00

I had a wonderful Thanksgiving surrounded by my family and lots of food!! I am thankful my brother is home from his 2nd (and hopefully last) tour in Iraq; my new little nephew is growing and getting stronger (and cuter) by the day; all my brothers and sisters were together with my parents on Thanksgiving day --(along with my Grandma; 6 aunts and uncles; 8 of my cousins (and their 8 kids--along with my four-- in other words a houseful!!). We celebrated a few days early with Darrin's family --- and again all his brothers and sisters (and all their kids) were able to be there. So these are special times!!

Here are a few recent pics!! (The above picture is of my Mom & Dad; my family and my four brothers and sisters and their families!)

Below, Wyatt turned 8 and celebrated his birthday first with family in KS (along with the nearby birthdays of his cousin Harrison and cousin Jonathan!!)

Later, we celebrated again with family in Illinois!! Here is the dread Sir Pirate Wyatt and his booty.

My sweet gang on the night of Wyatt's party!!

October 08

2008-10-06T10:45:00.000-07:00

Yay!! It's fall in the Midwest, and I am loving it!! Last week on my Mom's birthday we went to a pumpkin patch. Here are my kiddos:

And my sweet little niece came along with us too:

And, of course, I can't forget Mom and Dad and me!!

It was a fun day, then later that weekend we had a joint b-day party for Mom and me!

So much fun recently. Here is a picture I took on my b-day. I like to look back over the years at how I've changed!! So here is a little time capsule of me at 38. I'll remember this birthday as the one I spent in the US. The living room fireplace and pumpkins behind me will help trigger my memory. And I'll sigh and say, "Ahhh, that was a good year!" :o) Pura Vida.

Fun weekend

2008-08-26T07:03:00.000-07:00

Hey friends. I am hopelessly behind updating you with all my summer events. We have done so much traveling. I have great pictures I need to post of my week in Dallas with our great friends the Millers, a fun weekend in Branson with Darrin's family, Chloe's 10th birthday (!!!) and about a zillion other little fun moments here and there. So, I'll try to catch up as I go along.

But I'm going to start with my most recent fun event. Last weekend I met my friend Elizabeth in Tulsa and we spent the weekend together! Oh my, what fun. We giggled like little girls on many occasions, found out we had more in common than we knew, and marveled again at the wonderful world of the internet and its blogs and e-mails which help people in far away places build and maintain friendships like this!! So yeah for fun! And yeah for girlfriends! We just happened to go to a scrapbook store in Tulsa (surprise, surprise) that took pictures in a little booth. Of course we went in!! Here is my set of pics. (needless to say, we thought they'd already taken the picture in that last one--but obviously they hadn't--another moment of giggling occurred at that moment!!) E. has the other set, which is just as funny. It was fun to make silly faces and feel like a little kid again. Thanks for a great weekend Elizabeth!!

Fun times!

2008-07-29T19:35:00.000-07:00

Me at the St. Louis Cardinals game in the new Busch Stadium!

Well, I thought I'd add a couple new pictures. We've been busy traveling a lot lately. One fun trip was to St. Louis to see a Cardinals game. It was the first MLB game for all of my kids so they were pretty excited!! Pretty "all-American" thing to do!!

Our whole gang after the game. (It rained earlier and was actually cool that night. I was grateful because it had been in the 99s up until then!!)

My sweetie and I! (photo taken by Chloe!!)

My sister Amy (above with me) and her husband (that still sounds weird to say!!) came up to meet us as did my other sister Jeni and my Mom and Dad. A real family event!!

Ahh, #5. This is just to make all my girlfriends back in Costa Rica jealous. Pujols is rather popular there!! :o)

The real reason my whole family came up to the game this particular night was that my Aunt Sandi is in a Community choir that was invited to sing the national anthem before the game! There she is on the jumbo tron!! (second from right middle row!)

A few weeks ago, we had a special visit! About six years ago, we were living in the US and met several Japanese students at the local state university. I gave rides to Wal-Mart and had them to the house to learn how to make American cookies (chocolate chip, Rice Krispee treats, and no-bake cookies if I remember correctly!!) They taught me to make sushi and made several yummy Japanese feasts for us!! Later in the year, when one of the girls needed a place to stay for the summer we invited her to stay with us. Her name is Yukiko and she became a part of our family for the next year. We were so excited to find out she was making a return trip to the States to visit fiends here this summer and we were able to see her again!! She is a sweetheart and it was so good to laugh and talk together again. I hope it isn't six years before we see her again!! :o)

Yukiko-- Pure sunshine!! What a great smile!!

She couldn't believe how much the kids had grown!!

Such a sweetie!! I miss her !!

PS--- Feliz Día de la Anexión de Guanacaste! (even though I'm a couple days late) In Costa Rica they just celebrated a national holiday celebrating the day that Guanacaste (a peninsula of land on the western side of CR) became part of the country! I am sure that they are very glad it did as if you look at a map you will see that some of the nicest beaches (and most expensive resorts!!) lie along this peninsula!! I wish I could have been there to celebrate!! Long live Guanacaste and their farms and cattle and beautiful beaches and old colonial towns. I feel a bit homesick!! :o)

Ahhh, lying on the beach at Costa Rica is a little piece of heaven!!

Wedding pics!

2008-07-15T16:45:00.000-07:00

The wedding was beautiful. My sister was a gorgeous bride. My four kids were all part of the wedding party; I was matron of honor; my husband read the scriptures; It was perfect. I'll just post some pics today as we are all tired from the big day and then traveling back home. But I'll try to tell more about it in future posts! (Although if a picture is really worth a thousand words, then maybe these will speak for themselves!!)

My four kiddos all looked so grown up!!

The beautiful bride and groom arriving at the reception!!

Mother and daughter!! I thought both my Mom and sister looked wonderful!!

Another mother and daughter!! This time me with Chloe!

Can you tell Wyatt was getting a little tired of pictures.

My sweet hubby and me relaxing at the reception!

The three sisters!! (Amy picked this color 'pool blue' and then all four bridesmaids got to pick their own dress style. I thought that was a wondeful idea!!)

My youngest brother was home on a two week leave from Iraq and was able to be there too!!

Parents of the Bride!! My Mom and Dad both looked great. I have sweet parents!!

At the end of the day, a rainbow appeared over the Lake where the reception was held! I think that is a good sign!! :o)

Finally, an update!!

2008-06-22T21:41:00.000-07:00

Yipee!!! We're off and traveling like crazy. So many people to see. So many hugs and smiles after such a long time away!! We've been to Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas seeing family first and now starting to work our way through our list of friends to call and visit!! But we are having a ball. We've had so many highlights already that I can't list them all. So I'll add some pictures of a few high points thus far and keep adding more as I'm able in the days and weeks ahead. (Although keep in mind that our life is a bit unordered at the moment!!)

See, I told you we were having fun. My sweet hubby posing once again for me and my camera!!! He is a patient man!! :o)

OK, this is the gang at the airport in San Jose-- ready for our big adventure! (Bonus point to anyone who recognizes the airport in the post below this one--which says "and we're off")

One special highlight for my sweet kids was to finally meet their new little cousin Macy-- who was celebrating her first birthday in this picture!! She is a sweetie!!

Another person everyone was very excited about meeting was Jeremy, my sister's fiance. The kids are already calling him Uncle Jeremy--but hadn't even met him yet. He is everything Amy said he was!! Here he is at a family picnic with Chloe!

Ahh, here I am with my parents and kids in St. Louis the weekend we had a big family reunion with my Dad's side of the family!! Such fun!!

Another good thing is to get our little city kids out to the country! In this picture, they are visiting their cousin Eban's chicken operations out behind his house! We were all surprised to see the eggs he was selling----His chickens lay colored eggs!! I thought he was joking-- but there really are different shades of blue and green (along with the traditional brown and white!) It's like Easter every day!! :o)

Father's Day was spent with Darrin's family. I know Darrin was glad to actually be with his Dad on Father's Day for a change. Here is my gang posing with Daddy!!

Wyatt is enjoying getting to know his little cousins again also!! He and Jackson can't wait to see each other again. Lucky for them, they will get together again this weekend as the kids will go to Aunt Julie's for a visit! Yay!!

After visiting both my family and Darrin's, we settled into our "home" for the summer. One of our supporting churches has a house all furnished just for visiting and fuloughling missionaries to use. We have been so blessed by their generosity and are happy to have a place to use as our home in between all our traveling. Here Austin is in the living room.

Oh yeah, and that house we are living in. . . . well, it is a dream place for four city kids to stay in-- just take a look at that big front yard!! We're in heaven!!

Chloe with Daddy getting up her nerve to go inside and leave for church camp. Although she got a little nervous at this moment, she jumped on the bus and loved every second. She didn't want to come home!! While she was at church camp, Z & A went to their cousin Audey's house for the week. I hear the week was a mix of basketball camp each afternoon-- with swimming, fishing, playing Wii, playing drums and a lot of talking thrown in during the evenings!!

With the three older kids out to camps, Wyatt stayed back with Daddy for some outdoor fun and I headed to Illinois for my sister's wedding shower!! Here I am with my Grandma, my sister, and my Mom.

And here is a great pic of all the sisters. First my sweet sister-in-law April (also Mom to Macy who you saw above!!), me, my sister Amy and my baby sister (who is taller than all of us!!) Jeni.
So fun to see them all again!!

One last silly picture with Jeni. So, as you can see, we are having fun. We are also working. There are lots of churches to visit and lots of news to report about all that we have been doing in Costa Rica. And we are actually enjoying that too!! It's good to see how interested everyone is in what we have done and it is encouraging for us to look back and see all that has happened in the last four years!!

That is only the tip of the iceberg for photos!! We are getting ready to take a trip to the lake with Darrin's family --- so I bet I will have photos to post of that soon. Hope you are all well. And if you live in the US and want to see us, drop me an e-mail. I don't want to post my phone number for the whole world to see but write me and I'll send you our number here and we can see if we can work it out to see one another!! :o)

See-- like I said--we are all having fun!! Plus-- Zach got a haircut-- can you tell? Big change!! But he likes it!!

And we're off!!!

2008-06-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

Traveling time!! Updates soon. Love you guys!!

Haircuts, cows, beaches, and more. . .

2008-05-05T19:49:00.000-07:00

Finally have internet on my computer again!! Hallelujah!! Here's a few random updates from the last couple weeks.

-Yes, we are settled into the new house. Sure I still have some boxes in the garage and my office/closet to unpack-- but we are making progress!!
(Well, I guess I see a few boxes in the bedroom too---but like I said progress is the goal!!)

-Had the week off of school last week. That was a much needed break!! It felt so good to not set the alarm at night!! :o)

-Austin turned 13 last week! Another teenager in the house. Can't believe it!!
(Celebrating with the Twitchells)

-We took off to celebrate A's birthday and take advantage of the school break and went to one of our favorite beaches, Punta Leona. Ahhh. A little slice of heaven for me. I like to just sit and listen to the waves. Of course the kids were excited to swim with the sea turtles who feed in that area and go snorkeling and body boarding. So, a good time was had by all.
Ahh, don't you feel better already. Love this place!!
The kids like the pool as well as the beach. They are also quite fond of 'granizados' too!! (Costa Rican style snow cone= shaved ice, sweet syrup plus powdered milk and sweetened condensed milk layered in. Can you say sweet???)

-Got my hair trimmed today. They only have one way to style hair here--straight!! No really, you can go in with the world's curliest hair but you always leave looking like everyone else--long and straight hair. I'm always amazed because they make my wavy mass of tangled hair look like a Barbie doll. :o) Of course I said to just cut about two inches but I bet I have a good five or six gone on the front sides-- but oh, well. Luckily, I'm not too picky! (plus my hair grows fast!!)

Quick question for my sister -- ??Do you like it better behind my ears or down??

-Beautiful hot and sunny days here lately. I love weather like this. The rains are supposed to be starting anytime now though so I am soaking up every little bit of sunshine!!

-Right before break we had a 'commissioning service' at our school. The only hard part about teaching at a school that is associated with a language school is that the majority of the students are only here for about a year while their parents learn Spanish. Which means lots of good-byes. So here is a picture of me waxing eloquently :o) about two of my students who are now heading with their families to Honduras and Nicaragua. Good-byes are never fun. But we try to send everyone off knowing that we love them and will be praying for them. (Thus the commissioning service!!)

-Took the kids downtown last week to see the "Cow Parade". I know this has been done in lots of US cities-- but this is the first Central American Cow Parade. So the streets of San Jose are full of brightly painted cows. It was fun to look around. I can't post them all as there are over 100 different cows. Fun way to pass the morning!! (my favorite was the 'cownopy' cow that was zip lining through the trees in the park as if on a canopy tour!!)
This cow represents Limon-- an important port city on the eastern coast of CR.
Of course you can't be in Costa Rica without having a "tree frog" cow. :o)
Coffee is still a major export here so there were several cows paying tribute to that.
Of course, my Mom is here to check out the kids looking at the cows, not the cows themselves. She sees cows everyday! So here are the kiddos on that day. Even Wyatt brought along his camera to record the memories! (he gets that from his momma, you know!!)

-I am really craving a diet Coke right now. But feel guilty leaving the house at 9 at night for the sole purpose of buying a coke. So I am trying to ignore the urge, but it's not working very well. And I realize, without a doubt, that I am totally addicted to this stuff. :o)

Hope you are all well my blog land friends.

Moving

2008-04-09T22:58:00.001-07:00

Lots of boxes.

Stacks of things to sort.

Give away pile; trash pile; keep pile.

Still lessons to write; food to cook; laundry to wash!

Welcome to my world this week!!

The good news: we have a place to move.

It actually has hot water!!! (and a tub!)

We should be done by next week at this time!! :o)

Wish us luck.

Back to the boxes!!

Picture number one: The new house:

Next picture is the pretty view looking out the master bedroom balcony!! You can't tell, but beyond the green grass and bamboo, you can see the mountains. I love the mountains around the city!! So pretty!

Easter pics

2008-03-25T20:25:00.000-07:00

Hi friends! Thought I would at least add a couple recent pictures!! Had a fun but full Easter weekend! Darrin and I celebrated 16 years of marriage on Friday the 21st! But since it fell on Good Friday this year (first time so far!) nothing was open here! (Everything closes on Thursday and Friday for Holy Week here--legal holidays). So we celebrated by going out to dinner on Saturday instead. Then Sunday after church we hosted lunch for our teammates the Twitchells and good friends the Betts. Fun. The older kids hid Easter eggs for the younger kids and Wyatt was the most excited of all!! As you can see below! Hope you are all well. We continue to house hunt. So far everything we find is both smaller and more expensive than our current house. So pray for patience and wisdom for our family!!

16 years! Reason to celebrate!!

Our sweet kiddos all dressed up for Easter (above) and the whole gang (below)
The crew who ate Easter Dinner at the King house (minus me, of course, as I'm behind the camera!).
The happiest Easter egg hunter of all!! If his happy grin doesn't make you smile, I think you're never going to!! :o)

Yes, I am alive!

2008-03-01T10:33:00.000-08:00

Hi friends. So much to report. So little time to talk!! Thanks for your e-mails wondering if I was still around!! :o) I am. Just busy. Sometimes something has to give, and as you can see, it is often this blog. Here are some random facts about the past month:

1. We had our graduation for all of our Institute kids. Very emotional. But very exciting. They've all worked so hard these past 14 months. Can't wait to see what God has in store for each of them.

2. I've been sick. Sinus and chest stuff. Yuck. Finally went to the doctor. Took the very first dose of the antibiotic he prescribed and immediately started itching, then turning red, then breaking out in hives, then swelling (lips, eyes, throat), then heart started going crazy. Needless to say, we ended up at the ER with shots and IVs and observation time, etc. But thanks to fast acting med and some rapid-fire prayers (God help me, God help me . . . ) I am fine!! My first allergic reaction. I won't forget it!! Now I can never take any antibiotics in the Quinone family!

3. School is moving along. I never feel like I have done enough and there is never enough time for all my ideas. But I still love my kids and love the middle school age!!

4. We are house-hunting again. Because of many difficulties in owning property as a foreigner, we rent our home here. Unfortunately, our land lady is going to raise the rent an extreme amount. So, we will have to look for something else. It is hard to find something that is big enough for a family of 6, in a safe neighborhood, and that we can afford. So wish us well!! We are starting to see a few houses today.

5. Although houses seem high here, emergency care isn't. My trip to the ER, the doctor's fees, observation fees, IVs, and allergy medications, and shots all came up to a grand total of $106. So I don't think I have anything to complain about! :o)

6. We are getting excited about June. We are going to have a six-seven month US furlough. We have been in CR four years now and need to report back to all our supporting churches about the Institute. It will be a good chance to see family & friends and let our kids experience US life again (Wyatt doesn't remember ever living in the States!). I hope that between traveling and reporting and visiting churches, we will also get a chance to rest and relax. Our pace of life the past 14 months has been insane and we need a break!

7. I miss "me" time. That has been one of the hardest changes from full-time-stay-at-home Mom to full-time-school-teacher mom. I love crafts and scrapbooking and reading and driving around the city, getting a Diet Coke at McDs and reading the paper, etc. Yet my free time is almost zero. Hope I can do some "fun" things before too long!!

So there is a list of Seven on Saturday!! Hope you enjoyed. I promise not to let another month go by before I update!! :o)

Happy Birthday Cathy!!

2008-02-07T20:35:00.000-08:00

My sweet friend Cathy is celebrating a birthday! She has had a whirlwind of a year with so many ups and downs. I hope that today is a super special day my friend. I hope you remember how loved you are by so many. And I hope that you feel the love that all these hearts represent. Love you my friend!!

Today, in honor of Cathy, we are having a blog party!! Check out Melissa's blog here: http://www.kindawonderful.typepad.com and follow her links to everyone else who is in on the blog party!! :o)

Surprise!! Back to School and photo a day!!

2008-01-10T20:10:00.000-08:00

Look at the surprise Daddy is going to get tomorrow when he gets back from his week long trip!!

BEFORE----

AFTER----
She started asking to get her hair cut short in November. I put it off as I was busy (and secretly didn't want to see it go!!). Then Darrin went on a trip before Thanksgiving, and she wanted to get it cut while he was away to surprise him on his return! But it was a crazy week, and it never happened. Then I didn't want her to get it cut before Christmas in case she didn't like it. And I love it long and knew there would be so many pictures in December. But, I realize I am being a little selfish!! :o) Also, I wanted to make sure it was something she really wanted not just a quick whim. But it has been a couple months now, and it is still mentioned a lot around here. Sooooo, Daddy has been out of town all week, and she decided this would be the perfect chance!! (She loves to surprise people!!) So today we went to the little kids' hair place not far from the house. And Chloe came home one happy girl!! I love to see her happy!! (But couldn't stand the sight of the pile of beautiful long blond silky hair getting stepped on and swept around on the floor!! boo hoo!) So the pic above is her new look. She loves it!!

Also, Monday was our first day of school. The kids' all switched schools and joined the school where I teach. It had to be done to save my sanity. This is an English speaking school. I think that will be good for their English. And I know that is important. But I have just LOVED how well they speak Spanish now, and I pray, pray, pray it doesn't make them move backwards in that language!! So many decisions to make as a parent!! We just hope and pray and do our best!! The good news is they all four LOVE the new school and their classes and teachers, etc. I get to have Zach and Austin both in class so that is fun.

I am absolutely dead tired again. School starting the same week Darrin is gone probably isn't the best case scenario for me. I've been up late finishing lessons and the house looks like a tornado hit. My poor hubby who really can't live or function in anything but a very ordered environment will be in for a bit of a shock tomorrow. But I hope he will be so happy to see us that he won't go into breakdown mode over the unmade beds, clothes still in the dryer (instead of folded) and dirty dishes. :o) A girl can hope, can't she??!

Speaking of things to do, I really shouldn't be blogging. Just wanted to check in. And let Chloe show off her new 'do to her family back in the US. So I'm off.

Oh-- one more thing. I am trying the picture-a-day thing in 2008. I will do my best, and have decided already that it's ok if I miss a day. 366 in 2008 is my goal. But I think 314 would be wonderful too!! :o) I'm not going for formal perfectly composed pieces of art. (maybe in 2009!!) but just little snapshots of my life.
Things like this:

Taken of course, last night when I was tired and exhausted and wanting to go to bed but still finishing my lesson plans!!
Also notice I will TAKE a picture a day, not post it!! I know I could never be that organized!! But I will post them when I get the chance. I have these first two weeks' worth ready to go and will try to add them soon. I'll just add them when I can in a separate album with a link here. I will put them all up-- so eventually you can see them all-- but I won't add one each day. I know myself better than that!!

My hubby and I at a park last week. I will be happy to see him tomorrow!! Life isn't perfect. Marriage isn't always easy. But when he is away, it is always a good reminder of how much I like him here!! :o)

Happy 2008 my friends.

Christmas happenings!

2007-12-28T07:12:00.000-08:00

We have had a fun week. We started the fun by spending the afternoon at our good friends the Abdallah's last Saturday. I forgot to take any pictures, but it was good to talk and visit and watch the kids play. Then on Sunday afternoon we went to our friends the Perle's house. They moved to Costa Rica about the same time we did. They are from Vienna, Austria and so we spent the afternoon making typical Austrian Christmas cookies. Such fun!!

Nela and I after making cookies!
Nela and I with all the kids!
Silly boys! The Perles and Kings.

On Christmas Eve, we spent most of the day here at home making more cookies and tidying up a bit. Then in the evening we went to the home or our teammates The Guerra's where we talked and laughed over supper. But we didn't' stay out like typical Latins until 3am ringing in Christmas. We came home around 10pm so we could have the very North-American tradition of sending the kids to bed so that Santa can come! :o)
Jessenia and I: Merry Christmas!
Jessenia and Grecia-- our hostesses for the evening!
Edwin and Jessenia--our team mates and friends!

I finished some wrapping and then got a very exciting phone call from my sister, Amy, who upon opening her stocking stuffers received an engagement ring!! So a big congratulations to Amy and Jeremy. I am so excited for her. And for us-- Jeremy will be a great brother-in-law and a very fun uncle for my four kiddos!!
Yeah!! Congrats you two!!

Then came Christmas morning. Love the pictures of the kids in their new jammies, with their puffy "I-just-got-out-of-bed-eyes" and of course their excitement and smiles! Such fun.

Christmas evening we went to the Twitchell's house as their youngest also celebrates her birthday on Christmas day. So we exchanged Christmas gifts. And then had a birthday party too!! What fun!
The Twitchell and King kids--the best of pals!!
Chloe with the birthday girl! Best friends forever!!

A good, good weekend full of friends and family!! What a wonderful Christmas!!

Feliz Navidad

2007-12-24T22:42:00.001-08:00

Merry merry Christmas to all my dear friends and family.

I hope that you will take time in your busy day to stop and remember the true reason we celebrate.

" For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6)

May the Prince of Peace bring you both peace and joy this Christmas!!

Much love to you and yours!! Chrissy

La Paz

2007-12-20T08:13:00.001-08:00

Our family at the entrance to the orchid gardens in 'La Paz'

We decided to get away from the crazy traffic and hustle and bustle of life in a city of around 2 million people and went on a day trip on Tuesday. We headed off to go to La Paz Waterfall Gardens. Darrin had been a couple times, but the kids and I had never seen it yet. It was beautiful. It is in the middle of nowhere-- a lush green valley and sloping hills as far as the eye can see. As the name suggests, there are five beautiful and large waterfalls on the walking (and climbing---lots of steps-- my calves are still sore!!) trail. But it there is much more than that. They have created a bird sanctuary, a butterfly garden, a frog house, a hummingbird gathering place, an orchid farm, a snake house (yuck!) and a typical Costa Rican house from back in the early coffee plantation days. It was so interesting. So we spent the whole day wandering around and enjoying the quiet and nature. If you visit us here in CR, we'll take you for a day trip. It's a fun day away.

Here are a couple shots of Darrin and the kids and then the kids with me in front of one of the falls. The sound of the water is so pretty. (Couldn't focus very well, as all the spray made it so hazy!)

This was fun!! The kids were able to take a ride in an oxcart. These brightly painted carts are very typical of the early coffee plantation days in Costa Rica. All the coffee (and bananas) were transported from the fields to the railroad in these carts pulled by oxen. Each owner would paint their carts in these bright typical designs. The story goes that it was done to attract the ladies attention. True or not, I don't know. But they are beautiful. And oxcarts--from tiny little magnets to full size replicas--are one of the most common souvenirs sold here!
So many pretty butterflies and flowers!
Beautiful peaceful surroundings as you can see in the next two pics.
(remember when I mentioned lots of stairs!!!)

Also, since my husband doesn't read my blog, I'll share some pictures I took for him. His office has some great pictures of the kids but they are several years old, so yesterday we spent the day taking snapshots in the backyard to update his picture frames. Here are some of my favorites!!

The four kiddos-- can't believe how big they all are!!
Another shot: I think I'll be taking a few of these for my classroom desk as well!
Daddy's two girls:
and his boys:

December = BUSY!!

2007-12-12T19:40:00.000-08:00

Hi all. If you are a family member or a friend who loves me dearly read on. If not, I warn you that this will be a long post and you might rather skip on to the next blog on your list!!

Wow. Where do I start. Wyatt's birthday? Chloe's ballet recital? Wyatt's pre-school graduation? Zachary's Christmas choir performances? Austin's graduation? A visit from my parents!!!!!! (yay!!) School finals to create, copy, administer and now grade? A 22-page project for the government of Costa Rica and our school's accreditation project!? Trip to the beach? Trip to the volcano? End of the school year for my kids? End of the teaching year (almost) for me? Zach and Austin's big youth group banquet? My school Christmas party? Wow! All of this has happened in the past few weeks and I have been so busy enjoying it (well--not enjoying the paperwork and grading) that I haven't had time to blog it!!

Truly though, it has been an absolutely overwhelmingly busy month. And I am more tired than I think I have ever been. But I have also had so much fun. And have so many good memories of the last few weeks, that it just about makes this dark circles under my eyes worth it!!

Here are some pictures to fill you in a bit better!!

Wyatt on his SEVENTH birthday!! Can't believe my "baby" is getting so big! (Still missing his front two teeth. I love the way he looks!!)

The now famous family- group- shot- taken- by-Mom's- outstretched- arm- so- she- can- be- in- the- picture- too photo from Wyatt's b-day!!
My sweet Chloe looking beautiful in the outfit she wore for her ballet recital!
Wyatt playing Joseph in a Christmas play
Wyatt at his pre-school graduation.

Look who else got here in time for Wyatt's graduation!!! Grammy and Grandpa! YAY!!! My sweet family!!
Me before our formal banquet at work.
The boys before their Christmas banquet with their youth group.
My Mom and Dad (yay!!!) with my gang at an area volcano.

And another great picture of my parents in bright green pretty Costa Rica (the same day the ice and snow and cold hit their home in the Midwest!!) It was such a joy to have them here. It just went way too fast!! I miss them already!! The door my 7th graders decorated for Christmas at our school. So, as you can see, my life is full of wonderful people and wonderful events. I am so blessed. Tired, but blessed!! Thanks for taking time to check in on us. I'll try to post a little more often when I am on vacation. (almost here!!) But if I don't, know that I am sleeping in late, playing with my kiddos, and making Christmas goodies instead of blogging!! Merry Christmas to each of you!! XXOO

Happy Thanksgiving!

2007-11-22T17:39:00.000-08:00

Well Thanksgiving is not a holiday here in CR so I had work, and the kids had classes just like always. But we didn't let something little like that stop us from celebrating!! I just made everything up ahead of time on Tuesday and Wednesday, so all I had to do was gather it all together and get it in the oven when I got home. (We did get out early today so I was home by noon!) Then we got the kids and I think we were eating by about 2:30. Kind of a mid-afternoon Thanksgiving, but very fun nonetheless!!

We were able to find most everything we needed to make the traditional fixings for Thanksgiving day so that made it double the fun. Turkeys are very expensive here (about $50 each!!) so we decided to opt for chicken instead. But when I was out shopping on Wednesday a local grocery store had a bunch of turkey legs (drumsticks) cooked on the rotisserie for sale. They were only about a $1.50 each so I grabbed several! The kids thought that was great fun!! (even though they were tough and not very tasty--I opted for the chicken-- but my little ones loved the big huge drumsticks as the photos below will show!!) I even found time to make some pies. Yum. It was the first year I celebrated Thanksgiving without a house full of people. It was just Darrin and I and the kids. At first I thought that was rather sad. But in the end it was wonderful. We have so much to be thankful for, and to be quite honest, it was very relaxing not to have to host a houseful of guests. And since I am exhausted (still) from my new job and Darrin had just returned from his week long trip to Honduras, we kind of needed a day to hang out as a family.

So yay!!! Yay to families and traditions that involve mashed potatoes and sweet potato casserole and pumpkin pie. Yay to thankful hearts and full tummies!! "O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay! " (bonus points from Mrs. King if anyone recognizes that line!!)

Love you all and hope you had blessed days with your loved ones as well!!

Ready to eat!!

Austin with his turkey leg BEFORE.
And now AFTER :o)
The gang with their big huge drumsticks!
Yum!! Apple pie, Pumpkin pie, and a new one this year--pumpkin cheescake! Mmmm
Darrin took one of me too!! (holding the pumpkin pie, of course!!)

Yay Austin!

2007-11-21T20:14:00.000-08:00

Last Friday night was a big night for my boy Austin. He had his big sixth grade graduation party/dinner/dance thing-a-ma-jig! High school begins in 7th grade here so it is a big deal to graduate from sixth grade!! So they celebrate big time. The rented out a country club and there was a opening parade of each graduate coming in one by one (around 100 students) as they called their name. There was a slide show with pictures of each student as a baby and now as well as random snaps through the years. A couple parents gave an opening toast and then an opening prayer and then the DJ started music (that was a little too loud for me). All the parents and kids danced--except for me! :o) Darrin was in Honduras, so I sat at my table with a nice sweet older grandma who also didn't want to dance. The music was too loud for us to visit so we just politely smiled and nodded toward one another for the next four hours! Around 10 o'clock they served dinner (things tend to run later here than in the US!). Then around 11:30 the mariachi band came in and serenaded the graduates. Then the grand finale!! At close to midnight, they began passing around little bags to all 450 people in attendance. Inside was a party hat, a masquerade mask, a whistle (what were they thinking!!) and paper streamers. About the time the bags were all passed out and everyone began putting on their hats and masks and blowing the *&$#@* whistles, a loud banging was heard! In marched a drum line with carnival dancers. Like real "carnivale" style dancers with fancy sequined costumes and huge headdresses and they were dancing to the drums. So for then next 20-30 minutes the drums (good but LOUD) banged out various rhythms while the carnival dancers did their thing and all the sixth graders blew like crazy on their whistles and danced in and out amongst the drummers and dancers. Oh my. Only in Costa Rica!! But Austin had a great time. I was incredibly bored without my hubby there and so tired when we finally got home. But I am proud of Austin and so glad he got to celebrate with his friends. Half the fun of living in another country is discovering all the new customs and traditions they have. I remember sitting at my table, politely nodding to grandma, and looking at all the other parents dancing and the kids milling about and the balloons and streamers and thinking, "I love that we live here!" And I do. It is so fun to experience so many new things and see my kids learn so much!! The night, of course, was all in Spanish and it always amazes me to see my kids talking and laughing and acting like every other Costa Rican. They really are completely bi-lingual now! I love that too!!

Here are some pics of Austin (and Mommy!)

ps-- Happy Thanksgiving. More on that later!!

Gratitude

2007-11-11T21:44:00.000-08:00

is the heart's memory. (French proverb)

This sweet little proverb is now hanging on my wall along with this fall branch and spotted owl!

I was asked to be part of a calendar swap for 2008. My month was November. So I chose this quote and made this little page to represent the month. I finished it and scanned it off to be part of the calendar but then couldn't just leave it sitting on my desk. I kinda started to like my little owl. So I rescued him from the scrapping heap of my desk and framed him and put him on the dining room wall. And I rather like the whole look. I might change it out with other seasonal themes throughout the year. Or I might just leave Mr. Owl there year round. He is growing on me!!

School pictures

2007-11-07T16:48:00.000-08:00

Yipee!! The kids brought home their school pictures, and I love them all! I can't believe how big they look. I guess when I see them come dancing in and out, I don't notice all the little changes. But when I see it there on the picture in front of me, it is suddenly quite obvious. My kiddos are growing up!! Here 6th grade graduation is a big deal as 7th grade begins high school (which is 5 years long in CR--7-11th grades). So that is why the cap and gown in the second photo. Wyatt, too, is celebrating a big year as he goes from "Prepa" (kindergarten) to 1st grade. So that also merits a cap and gown I learned!! :o) So here they are--- the King kids' 2008 school year photos!!

(He is as tall as I am now!!)

(All ready for high school!!)

(She is getting tall too! Can't believe it!)

(Is there a sweeter face on this planet?? This Mama doesn't think so!!)

Congrats E!!!

2007-10-31T21:36:00.000-07:00

Yeah!! I am so happy. My sweet scrapbooking/blogging friend Elizabeth (who also keeps me supplied with books in English while I am out of the country!!) is having a BIG day today.

Her book is coming out today!! After so much hard work and so many long hours, The Scrapbookers Almanac is finally finished and November 1 is the bid release day!! I am so proud of her, and I can't wait to get my hands on this book and pour over it!!

Way to go E! I think this is absolutely wonderful!! You are one sweet gal, and I am so very happy for you!!

PS-- My I-like-to-go-to-bed-early hubby took this pictures for me last night when he really just wanted to be in bed. :o) When he finished, I grabbed the camera from his hands and began scrolling through. I grimaced several times and he asked what was the matter. "Wow, my face just looks really fat in some of these. Have I gained weight?" I asked. "Honey," he replied, "This isn't about you; this is about Elizabeth." Way to dodge the question Babe!! Here are four more Congrats wishes for you E! Can't wait to hear how your day went!!

Check out E's book here: http://www.simplescrapbooksmag.com/shop/item.ihtml?idx=668

This and that

2007-10-12T20:58:00.000-07:00

I am late in posting these. But what else is new?? :o) Wyatt lost three teeth in one weekend (He had lost the other bottom tooth awhile back.). So now has all four front teeth gone. So very, very cute. Love it!!

Austin competed in a national tournament with his B-ball team and they won third place. Lots of fun to see him play and do well!
Zach, our oldest, just had an incredible concert with his choir. He is part of an invitation (after weeks of auditions) only a capella choir at his school. There are a group of about 25 students (jr high and high school) and they sounded wonderful. I was really impressed. Unfortunately the neat old theater where they held the concert doesn't allow cameras. So I have no photos. But they sing at a music festival in a few weeks so I will try to get some then!

I also celebrated another year in my wonderful and blessed life! I don't dread birthdays. I love them. I celebrated with my family at home. A good thing. Here is a shot of me with my four sweet kiddos. Love these guys to pieces!!

And one more attempt at a family self portrait! There are just a lot of us and my arm can only reach so far! Sorry Chloe for almost squishing you out of the photo. But don't worry I'm sure your crazy Mom will reach the camera out again soon for another group shot and she'll be more careful not to cover your up the next time!! :o)

Time out

2007-09-23T20:49:00.000-07:00

Taking a quick time out from writing tests and grading papers to share a few photos. My sweet hubby just celebrated his birthday. Of course, we were home with just the 6 of us-- so I had to take another one of my famous self-portraits to get us all together in one photo. So here we are at arm's length. I love it. Don't know why but it feels so much more fun seeing us like this than if I would have gotten out the tripod and used the self-timer. Much more authentic to say "hey look quick" and stick my arm out and snap! Love it!!

During his birthday weekend, Darrin finally put up a basketball goal that he and the boys have been working on for quite a while. So much fun. I just keep praying it does't get stolen. Always such a risk here!! Still got some good form-- even at 41!!
Speaking of form. :o) Mom got in on a little action too!!
Even Chloe girl. Look at her throwing her little self into the air. (posted this jump just for you Susie!!)
Finally, on the puppy front, Buster is finally looking more like himslef as his hair starts growing out from his buzz cut! It's good to see his curls springing up again. I was trying to get him to look at the camera. But he kept wanting to give me kisses. Just like a guy, huh!! :o)
Hope you are all well. I love teaching but am CRAZY BUSY. I can't keep up the pace so I really hope I find my stride soon, or I will not make it! My four sweet kids are all doing great. Have some fun photos to post of them from Costa Rican Independence Day. Will try and get those up before too much time passes. But I have to finish grading some papers before class tomorrow. Hugs-- from a very happy but sleepy Chrissy!!

Update List

2007-09-03T19:58:00.000-07:00

Lots has been happening with me lately. So much that I'll just have to give you the quick details now and fill you in more later!

* I was able to make a quick trip to the US to visit my new little niece! Yeah. I left my four kiddos here with my daring hubby and flew back to my folks' house in Illinois. It was wonderful to hold my little niece and see her while she is still little. (We don't have a family trip planned until June '08 and she'd be one already by then!!) Don't worry I took lots of pictures!!

I told you she was cute, didn't I??? Here's the proof!!

* I was also able to finally meet my sister Amy's boyfriend. She has been dating Jeremy for over a year, and it has been so weird to have not met this person who has become a very significant and serious part of her life. I was so grateful for the chance to meet him and look forward very much to getting to know him better in the future. I have often prayed that God would bring a Godly man into my sister's life, and it is exciting to finally see those prayers being answered. I also was able to see my other sister Jeni's new apartment. It is so much fun to catch up with all of my brothers and sisters and just get to spend a little time with them. It's a rare thing for us all to be together at the same time. It happened several times this trip so that was extra special! Amy and Jeremy, above. All five brothers and sisters together, below!!

* I am a TEACHER again!! This is probably the biggest reason I have been AWOL from my blog. Wowzers, it's been a crazy couple of weeks. Two days before my US trip, the director of the little school I substitute taught at last year called me in for a meeting. Long story short-- he has to take a medical leave of absence for this school year. His wife will be taking over his responsibilities on campus, and they need a teacher to take over the classes his wife usually taught. Enter me. :o) I am teaching 8th grade language arts (grammar, comp and lit) and 7th grade language arts and science and history. So, luckily, I am only part time and am done at noon each day. But still that is four daily preps. And I only had about three days to work on things (due to my US trip) before school started. That makes one crazy busy Chrissy -- starting out behind and getting only a couple hours of sleep each night! (Thus, no blogging either!!) But I am getting caught up. I love my classes of kids. They are just great. I studied to be an English teacher so the LA classes are right up my alley. The science and history are all new territory for me, but I figure I can make it work for a year!! Please wish me luck!!! I really love teaching and being with the kids. I just don't want all my prep work to wear me so thin I have no time for my own four little kiddos! I still want to be Mommy with them! It will take a couple weeks to find my rhythm I think! But I am getting there.

* When I went to the US, I was able to arrange my flights to spend the last couple days of my trip in Dallas. My dear sweet friend Heidi moved there a year ago and has a new baby girl I hadn't met yet. I have missed her like crazy and it was so wonderful to have a couple days to soak up her friendship again. Of course, my first visit to The Cheesecake Factory, yummy Starbucks, shopping days, and a Texas Rangers ballgame also made the visit fun!! But just being with a good friend far outweighed all the rest. Big thanks to her sweet hubby who watched their little ones so we could have a couple girls' nights out!! Yeah!!

Another sweet little baby girl I got to see. My sweet friend Heidi, her new sweetie, and me!

* Lots of good, good things. But one sad item to note. After I returned home to Costa Rica, my Mom called to say that my youngest brother received orders from the Army that he has to return to active duty. He was in the Army and completed his term (complete with his year in Iraq). He has been out of the Army for three years now and is living and working in Illinois. I was able to see him and visit during my time home. But, as any of you with family in the services know, even after your active duty is over the army still "owns" you for a certain number of years and can recall you if needed. After three years had gone by, we all thought J. wouldn't be called up again. But that wasn't the case. So, he has to report in one month to a base in S. Carolina. And his papers indicate he will have a refresher training and then will have to return to Iraq. I am sad beyond words. And more confused than ever before about this war and the politics behind it. I am PROUD of my brother and the time he has served and now will serve our country. But I so wish with all my heart and soul that he didn't have to go back there. I know we are just one more family of a list of many who are having their world turn upside down again. It's just hard all the same.

Josh and I on the last night of my trip. I sure love him!!

* So that's what I've been up to. More ups than downs. For that I am so grateful. Hope you are all well. I need to get caught up on my e-mail and reading your blogs so I can see what you are up to. I think of all of you often. (And yes Susie, I know you tagged me; I am saving it for my next post!! This one is too long already!! )

Look who got a haircut this time!

2007-08-13T22:34:00.001-07:00

No, not me silly. My sweet puppy Buster!! Isn't he adorable!! :o)

Happy Birthday!

2007-08-13T22:24:00.000-07:00

Yeah!! Today was my sweet Chloe's birthday. I can't believe she is 9 already. Doesn't seem possible. We celebrated all weekend. (which was a very good thing as she ended up feeling sick this evening!!) Friday was a party with a couple little friends from school and Eliza T. (who also spent the night!). Saturday we had two families over who are good friends of ours and made homemade pizza and cake and ice cream!! Then finally today, she got to open her presents from family! (Although she barely felt up to it-- so I know she was really sick!!) I am hoping she will wake up feeling better tomorrow and can enjoy her first day as a big 9 year old!! :o)

(I love you so much Chloe-girl. And am so proud of the sweet young lady you are becoming!! Love-- Mom)

With her friends on Friday

We made cupcakes to look like ice cream cones. The girls thought that was fun!!

Making pizza on Saturday!

Look who lost his first tooth!!

2007-07-31T10:23:00.000-07:00

Yep, as much as I try to avoid facing the fact that my baby is growing up---life keeps telling me otherwise. This weekend, much to his great excitement, Wyatt lost his first tooth. (his bottom right one) Such a cutie now with his little grin. He was so excited to go to school and tell everyone. Can't believe how big he is seeming. I make him promise daily he'll never get so big he won't give me his sweet litte hugs. So far so good!! :o)

"Hello, hello. Is this thing on???"

2007-07-25T17:29:00.000-07:00

I'm stepping up to Mr. Microphone to warn you that this may very well be the world's longest blog post. Feel free to read and enjoy or skip on to your next friend's blog--- whichever strikes your fancy. The truth is we had a wonderful couple of weeks with Darrin's family. We saw a lot and I took picture after picture. I thought I'd post the highlights-- both to share with you what we've been up to and to show you a little more of this beautiful country we live in right now.

Costa Rica is green and full of life right now. The rainy season is in full swing but most mornings are still warm and sunny with the rains not starting until mid-afternoon. So the flowers are blooming and the mountains are green and life is beautiful. In a two weeks time span we visited the beach, a volcano, a rain forest, a cloud forest, hot springs, several parks, Zamarano garden, and went on a suspended bridge tour through the forest canopy. We saw coatis and howler monkeys and birds (scarlet macaw and quetzal) and butterflies and lots of critters and bugs! Here is a review in photos!!

Things started out fairly normal with a little play day in the park. And we all played as you can see!!

Then we decided to take a road trip to the beach. And what do you see on the way to the beach? Why, crocodiles of course!! Lots and lots of big crocodiles swimming in the river under the bridge. Glad our hotel was quite a ways down the road still!!
Grandpa King enjoyed the sun and sand and waves!
So did Aunt De and cousin Audey!
And so did Grandma King!! She even tried snorkeling as you can see!!
And of course the boys snorkeled and swam and caught waves on the body boards, etc!
After three days at the beach we came home to San Jose. Then the next day we slept in a bit and then headed for nearby Volcan Irazu. Along the way we passed lots of farm land. They still do things the old-fashioned way here as you can see!
This is the lake that is now in the crater of the volcano. It emits odd volcanic vapor and has a funny sulfuric smell. But it is pretty!
I'm always ready with a quick self-portrait so someday my kids will remember what I looked like!! :o)
Wyatt wasn't sure he really wanted to be at the volcano. He was still pretty tired from our beach trip. But I think he is still cute--even when he isn't smiling!!

On the way home we stopped at one farmer's little stand to buy some fresh corn. The drive back home from the volcano is just beautiful as you can see. I love the green fields and pretty views!

Back in town we drove by another outdoor market selling onions, pineapples and bananas! These little stands are everywhere and are a very common way to buy your produce!

The next day we were off again. This time to an area of hot springs. Ahhh, those were wonderful and relaxing!! On the way, though, we drove through Zamarano and stopped to show everyone the sculpted bushes in the local park (that you may remember from a previous post of mine!) Darrin and his Mom.
Darrin with his Mom and Dad:
Then we went home for a day and had to say good-bye to Grandma and Grandpa King. The good news was that Aunt De and cousin Audey got to stay the rest of the week. So what did we do? I'm glad you asked!! We went on another road trip to the Monteverde Cloud Forest. It is about a five hour drive with the last two hours on a gravel road. It is way back in there. But it is beautiful. We stayed in a great cabin for two nights and explored the cloud forest on foot for about 4 hours of hiking trails and then later we went on another 2 hour walk that included 8 suspended bridges that were high up in the upper canopy level of the trees! So neat!

The group of adventurers!!

Once again, my famous snap of myself to prove I was really there too!!
There were all kinds of interesting plants and flowers and trees. Really, I could have filled my whole 1GB memory card with just pictures of new plants and flowers. It was so interesting.

This one is called a monkey-tail fern. I bet you can figure out why!!
So green, so pretty. Pictures don't do it justice!
One of our highlights was getting to see the beautiful but rare Quetzal bird. We were so lucky that a nature guide nearby spotted it sitting up in this tree and it stayed put long enough for us to get to see it and take pictures. We felt lucky. Bird watchers know that this is a hard one to spot in the wild!
After a few minutes it flew down to another nearby tree and De took this picture! (we happened upon a family of howler monkeys too but I couldn't get a clear picture of them!)
I mentioned that there were LOTS of creepy crawly things in the forest too didn't I? Oh yes, I could have another card of just bugs and beetles and worms. But this will have to do. In real life it was a vibrant neon green.
The trees were so tall and amazing. I felt like I was in a movie--it was almost surreal.
A pretty little waterfall at the end of our first hike!
As you can see by the looooong length of this bridge, this isn't for the faint of heart. Or anyone scared of heights. We were way up there-- but seeing things from the tree-top level was so neat after walking for several hours at the base of them!!

After our trip home, we said good-bye to Aunt De and Audey. I hoped they enjoyed their visit as much as we did. Since then I've been cleaning house, doing laundry, catching up on my e-mails (and blog) getting ready for another group next week, and helping the kids get back into the early morning school groove. Vacation is over. And life has returned. But, it was sure fun while it lasted!!

Look who got a haircut

2007-07-20T21:23:00.000-07:00

Before

and After!

My sweet Chloe girl decided to chop off some of her long locks today. She can't stop looking in the mirror. Such a sweetie!!

ps-- I have so much to write about. We had a wonderful visit with Darrin's family and saw SO MUCH of Costa Rica in two weeks time. I have picture after picture to show you. But to be honest, I'm exhausted. So I am going to sleep and rest and post about our July vacation when my mind isn't so fuzzy!!

2007-07-08T23:01:00.000-07:00

Our most recent group left on July 3rd. So on July 4th, we were tired and didn't feel too festive! So we opted for an easy going day (sleeping in and lounging about the house in jammies half the day) and had an evening cookout with our good friends and fellow USA Independence Day celebrators the Twitchell family. I was inspired by another website to make this yummy flag cake. (Pioneer Woman with step by step instructions!) Wyatt is more than willing to help show it off!!

But the biggest news around here is that we have family visiting. That is always a special treat!! Darrin's parents as well as his oldest sister and her son are all here visiting. Our kids are in orbit. It is so fun to have them here and to be able to show them our home and pieces of our life here. Here is Darrin with his Mom, Dad and Sister De this Sunday at church.

And here are my four with their cousin Audey-- who is only about two weeks in age older than Austin although he is obviously taller than both Z and A! (And Chloe is wearing a little shawl with matching purse and hairbow that her Aunt De made for her!)

If you don't here from me for a few days, know we are out showing off the city to family!! :o)

Busy summer so far!

2007-06-30T08:27:00.001-07:00

Hi to my friends and family who are starting to wonder if we dropped into a sinkhole and disappeared---don't fear, I am here! Just in the midst of summer craziness. The kids finished the last week of school before their 3 week mid-year break --- which meant lots of tests and final projects, papers, etc last week. We have a group of about 20 people here on a mission trip that we are hosting right now. I have been substitute teaching again. Wyatt and I have both had the stomach flu. Darrin traveled out of town for three days. BUT the good news is---- the kids vacation is now here. Three glorious weeks of sleeping in late and playing. The group has been great and we have enjoyed them. And the news my kids are most excited about-- next Saturday (one week from today and yes they are counting) Darrin's Mom and Dad are arriving and his sister De and her son Audey. Over a week with Grandma & Grandpa King and Aunt De and cousin Audey is enough to almost push my kids over the edge into giddy land. They are so excited. So it will be a fun break. We have a trip to the beach planned. And are trying to decide if we should plan another trip --to a rain forest or volcano or just hang out here.

So lots of crazy happenings here. Lots of busy stuff-- but lots to look forward to also. Love you all!!

And because you know my motto about posts without photos---
Chloe and her bff Eliza after eating some crazy candy that the group brought to them!!
Wyatt, just being Wyatt! :o)
Oh yeah, I forgot some major news in the "crazy busy" section above-- my sweet teenage boy (yes those three words can go together--especially with Zach--so fun to see him stay nice and sweet even as he hits the teen years!!) had a root canal. Yes a root canal!! Poor guy. He had been complaining about his mouth--but he had just had his braces tightened so I thought it was that. But I took him in and apparently an old filling that was very deep had gotten down into the nerve and well, you know the rest. The only good news is that Zach was brave and patient and I was so proud of him. We go in again Monday.

This is Austin with three buddies from school on his science fair team. Their experiment involves making their own homemade blackberry wine. Yeah, sounds crazy to me too. But here they are in my house making wine. We'll see if it turns out nasty or decent. Their actual experiment is something about the effects of natural sugars on the fermentation process or some such thing. My whole house smelled of yeast and sour blackberries for two weeks--so awful. But now it is in bottles and the gross smell is luckily gone! :o)

Can't believe July is upon us. Happy summer my friends!!

A joke for my gal friends! ha! ha!

2007-06-18T22:24:00.000-07:00

A woman was sitting at a bar enjoying an after work cocktail with her girlfriends when an exceptionally tall, handsome, extremely sexy, middle-aged man entered. He was so striking that the woman could not take her eyes off him. The young-at-heart man noticed her overly attentive stare and walked directly toward her. (As men will.) Before she could offer her apologies for staring so rudely, he leaned over and whispered to her, "I'll do anything, absolutely anything, that you want me to do, no matter how kinky, for $20.00......on one condition."

Flabbergasted, the woman asked what the condition was. The man replied, "You have to tell me what you want me to do in just three words."

The woman considered his proposition for a moment, and then slowly removed a $20 bill from her purse, which she pressed into the man's hand along with her address. She looked deeply into his eyes, and slowly and meaningfully said........."Clean my house."

-------
Ha! That made me laugh. Maybe because I have about four more loads of laundry to do; floors to mop; a sick little boy to take care of; groceries to buy; bedroom and office to clean, etc. Or maybe just because I have a weird sense of humor!! Hope it made you smile and hope you have a great day my friends!!

Fun with Friends!

2007-06-16T21:24:00.000-07:00

We have just finished a wonderful week!! Our sweet friends the Maupins came to visit us and I loved every minute. Our friend Rob came to teach in the Institute and we were so blessed that his wife and their two sweet little kiddos came along too. As you can see they are adorable and our kids loved having them here. I think the pictures speak for themselves!!

Ahh, what a sweet couple!! I sure love these two!! (a whole lot)

My sweet friend Shannon with me!

This is the scene in our living room as Shannon and I were sneaking out for a coffee. What a fun room full of kids!!

No trip to Costa Rica is complete without a trip to the beach!!

Two peas in a pod!! (Chloe and Kate)

Two more peas in a pod! (Wyatt and Garrett)

Our friends and team mates the Twitchells are also friends with the Maupins so it was fun for all of us to be together! (We went to the same college way back in the day!!) Here are a few shots of all of us!!

The three amigos! (Darrin, Rob and Roger)

The three amigas!! (Elaine, Shannon and me)

The gang: the King kids, Maupin kids and Twitchell kids!! What a good looking group!!

It was such a blessing to have them here! The Maupins were missionaries in Mexico city for the past five years so they understand us and our lives in a way few people do. How fun to catch up, reminisce, dream about the future, and see how God is working in each of our families. I already miss them!!

Yeah, I'm an aunt again! (updated with pics!!)

2007-06-08T15:09:00.000-07:00

I am so very thankful and excited!! I am an aunt again!! I have 7 wonderful nephews and 1 niece on Darrin's side of the family. But today my brother Justin just called with the news that his daughter was born. Yeah!! I am so happy for him and his sweet wife April! And for all of us!! It's been six and half years since my Mom and Dad became new grandparents-- and so this is an exciting time. Well, actually we all became aunts/uncles/grandparents a year ago when Justin got married as April also brought a sweet little 4 year old girl named Haleigh into our family. So maybe I should say this is the first time to become grandparents/aunts/uncles in the delivery room again!! It has been a long 9 months and April was very sick early on. But we are all so thankful that God has heard our prayers and given them (and us) a healthy baby girl. Yeah!! Welcome to this world Macy Ann. I can't wait to meet you!!

Now I'm off to see if I can find some cheap tickets because I just have to see her before she is a year old--which would be my next planned trip!! :o) Maybe this fall???!!!

ps-- I'll post a pic as soon as I get one!!

Justin looking at his new little girl!

New Family Photo: Justin, April, baby Macy and Haleigh

My sister Amy, her boyfriend Jeremy, and of course the new baby!!

School, maps, and straight hair

2007-06-04T20:55:00.000-07:00

I finished my substitute teaching on Friday. Although I had to get used to getting up a bit earlier and had to plan ahead a lot more for cooking and chores, I loved it. I really liked being out and about with people everyday; loved the students; enjoyed meeting their families and enjoyed the company of the other teachers. It was a fun couple weeks. But I must say HATS OFF to all the full-time teachers. Especially the younger grades. My, oh my, those kindergartners are precious--but take all your energy. You always have to be "on". And it wore me out. I don't know how some of you do it every day all year long. But I am very glad that you do!

Chloe just finished a big project at her school. It is a map of Costa Rica made with clay and with all the major landmarks (cities, rivers, mountains, etc.) marked with little toothpick flag. She worked hard and as you can tell is quite proud. It is so big and I figure it won't last long in our busy crazy house-- so I took this picture to preserve it a little longer!

Hope you are all well! We have friends arriving next week with my new camera! Then you can expect a lot more pictures here!! Can't wait!! Hugs--Chrissy

ps--I got my hair trimmed. Here they always straighten your hair when you go into a salon. I actually heard two workers going on and on one time about how a friend had gone to a wedding with her hair curly---as if a crime had been committed! Curly here means you didn't do your hair! I do love this straight look-- but now that the rainy season has started again I never do it-- the humidity makes it all frizzy. My Tica friends may look at me and think I didn't take the time to really do my hair-- and you know what--they'd be exactly right! No sense spending 30 minutes straightening it if five minutes outside makes me look like a scarecrow. I'll just take curly, thank you! :o)

Update

2007-05-24T20:30:00.000-07:00

Hi friends! Didn't realize I had gone so long without posting until my sweet friend Jennifer wrote to see if I was still alive!! I am. Just busy. A teacher here at a small Christian school had to return to the States before the school year ended so I am substituting for her every day until June 1st. I have great classes and it is fun--it just takes all my time!! But I am thankful because it sure helps to offset some of the extra expenses we incurred when our things were stolen. On that front, I finally have this:

Yeah!! Of course, I blurred out my number and other identifying details. But if feels nice to be legal here again and have some kind of proof that I am who I say I am!

Last night I tried to order another camera online. I was sending it to my parents' house and I guess because the online company could see that the order was initiated in Costa Rica, they rejected it. Later the company called and a credit representative wanted to verify we are who we say we are and not a case of identity theft. And she began to ask questions-- including cars on our credit report as far back as 1990! Yikes!! It is sure a good thing it was in my husbands name as I don't even know the year of the car we drive now much less the one he drove in college!! (Oh yeah, the important stuff-- they believed us, approved the order, and in a few weeks I'll have my sweet new dSLR! Yeah!!)

Other good news: I have a working cell phone! No big deal to my US friends, but here there is a shortage of lines. Two days after mine was stolen the government owned phone company announced they were releasing 40,000 new lines! I was blessed to have a good friend call and help me get on the waiting list. And today---ta dah!!! I have a phone. (32,000 people didn't make the list before the lines were gone and are still waiting so I feel so very thankful!) And even better-- my phone is green. :o) I love green!!

Oh and you might not here from me for a while again. Why? Because of teaching? Well, yes, but also. . . . . .

Yipee. My dear friend Susie just sent me books 3,4,5, and 6 of the series she got me hooked on!! The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency is a great series of books set in Botswana and I am not only enjoying the stories but learning alot about Botswanian life, culture and beliefs. Thanks so much Susie!! And now you'll all know what I am up to for the next week or two!! :o)

A-OK

2007-05-08T22:01:00.000-07:00

Well, after my last downer post, I thought I would let you know that I am doing just fine!! A day or two to calm down did me good. And it is all just stuff anyway. Another good reminder to not hold too tightly to things!

I did go to the US Embassy and my new passport is on the way. And our banks are issuing new cards. So I am making some progress. :o)

Hope you are all doing well. Since posts without picture are boring, I leave you with my newest shoes. (yes of course taken with my former camera-- wonder who has it now????) I love green. And I fell in love with these super comfortable green shoes. Happy feet indeed!

Boo hooo (a feeling sorry for myself post!)

2007-05-06T22:57:00.000-07:00

I wrote this letter to my Mom last night and decided to just copy and paste it to give you a little picture of how my day went yesterday! I can't give you a real picture of my day and if you read on you will see why!

"ARRRRrrrrggggghhh!! I am mad. And sad. And frustrated.

Went to the beach today. My sweet hubby can relax there better than anywhere else. And he needed to relax so off we went. Fun morning---sandwich lunches, gentle waves, warm but cloudy--good times. Fun afternoon until a man out in the water gives us a funny look and points to our car.

We are sitting right behind the car and Zachary is sitting right next to it (inches from the passenger door) But apparently nonetheless some experienced jerk picks the drivers door and crawls in (to keep Zach from seeing him) and grabs my beach bag. Normally my beach bag only has my clothes for the trip home and some make-up and a towel. But today, I decided to be careful (ha) and not take my camera and purse out on the beach where it would be more of a target for theft. Wise 'ol me, hid my purse and camera in the bottom of my bag. So when the lucky thieves (who my husband and two sweet sons chased in vain in their bare feet down the road as their car sped away) opened the bag looking for a couple bucks -- they instead found my very expensive and much loved camera.

I am in mourning. I hadn't even used it that day so they could not have known it was there. They just got very lucky. And I got very unlucky. That doesn't even take into account that now I have no passport, no drivers' license, no credit cards (we cancelled them all when we got home-- and they hadn't even tried to use them--obviously just petty thieves looking for cash---or getting lucky with a nice camera!!). And of course on a lesser note I am angry that they took my favorite pair of capri pants, my beach bag, my good bra, a couple scrapbooking magazines, and did I mention my camera?? And then I think of all my pictures that I keep in my purse picture thing and my keys to the house and car and post office and my cute green picture key-chain and all my make-up and my cell phone. I will miss my cell phone.

ARRRRRrrrrggghhhh!!

So Monday I will spend the day in line with every unlucky American who got robbed over the weekend trying to get a new passport at the embassy. (And yes, there is a line every Monday for this very thing!!!). And then on Tuesday I will wait in line all day at the MOPT transportation place to try and get a new drivers' license even though I have no picture ID, etc. etc. The fun just keeps coming.

Thanks for letting me vent. I'm in a rotten mood as you can tell. Yes we are all safe. Yes that is what is important. But dang it just burns my britches that these guys can get away with this. And the nerve-- we were right there. It happened under our noses so to speak.

That is life, as Chloe so wisely surmised. I love you all. Sorry to be a downer. I'm sure I'll be my cheerful self again soon (except when I remember my camera!! ) I'll talk to you soon. Love-- Chrissy "

(No pictures today--obviously!!)

Today I can laugh a little about it --I did make quite a spectacle of myself on the ride home. My clothes were stolen so I had to wear only my swim-suit on the drive back to San Jose! A swimsuit is quite appropriate at the beach. But an hour or two down the road in a small town gas station where it is cool and rainy, a grown woman wandering around looking for a diet coke in just her swimsuit is a rather unusual sight. And I am sure that everyone is thankful for that!

Celebrations!

2007-04-29T19:37:00.000-07:00

We had a big weekend. Friday was Austin's 12th birthday! His school team had a basketball game right after school and then he had a few friends over, went to the movies, had take-out for supper followed by warm brownies with ice cream. Mmmm! And of course opened up a few presents! :o)

Austin with some friends from school!

The King kids and the Twitchell kids!

Excited about some new Nikes!

Yeah! Another present! :o) Look at that bow!

Then on Saturday we went to the wedding of some friends of ours here. I made the invitations for the wedding awhile back and I took pictures for her at the wedding. It was simple and short but absolutely beautiful and I was so happy to be a part of it. Here's to many years of happiness for Pablo and Flor!

The happy couple!

Family shot with the sweet bride and groom!

And of course no event is complete if I don't hold the camera at arms length and take a self-portrait with my hubby. He is such a patient guy! (and look at those blue eyes!!)

Blackout and birthdays

2007-04-26T21:41:00.000-07:00

Hi friends. It's been so hard to post lately as my dear beloved Costa Rica is having some power issues. A couple weeks ago there was a country-wide blackout. (not something you would like Amber!!) Seriously. The entire country was without power from about 8 pm till midnight. I was out running an errand in the car and it was eerie. Luckily I had the other car headlights around me. But not a street light, business sign, nothing. Usually the power is regular here so no one has generators and the like. So every store and business closed. It was odd. I assumed at first there must have been an accident somewhere and knocked down a line close to our house. So I drove down the road a bit and thought the lights would be on soon. I drove farther and then across town and then back a different way. Nothing. I came home and told Darrin that something major must have happened because it seemed like at least half the city must be without power. Ha! The next morning we realized-- not just half the city but the whole city as well as every other city in the country!! Some type of problem in one of the major power plants -- and they had several of the smaller ones down for repair-- so when the big one blew, they didn't have enough to meet the demand and the entire system went down. Not very good emergency planning here, huh??

Anyway, they announced they would have to begin rationing power every day now. Although they claimed to have fixed the problem as well as finished all repairs they now claim they don't have enough money to run all the plants and so they wouldn't have enough to power everyone-- so they would cut the power in 3 hour segments everywhere to ease the load. So they take out blocks at at time-- some neighborhoods have power others don't-- alwyas varying the times and the locations. So you never know when or really how long-- because sometimes it has only been 45 minutes but today it was over 4 hours. Sometimes it is only once a day and sometimes two or three times. So I am scared to cook or bake for as soon as I get something ready to cook, the power might go out for 4 hours!! But my kids are tired of ham and cheese or tuna sandwiches. So.... I'll have to take my chances!

All that to say it is hard to be on the internet. Today I had power at my house in the morning. But there was no internet service because the company that has the server didn't have power in the morning -- so no signal. Then in the afternoon the internet was working, but our power here went out from 2-6. So, e-mails are probably getting lost in cyber-space and my poor blog is feeling lonesome. So don't think I've disappeared. I'm here-- just in the dark! I'll do my best to post when I can and catch up on e-mails as I'm able. If you have sent one and not heard back-- let me know. It's possible I didn't get it or that I sent a reply and you didn't get it!

The power company announced today that it can stop the rationing if the gov't organization that controls it will allow them to raise the rates. They had asked for higher rates a while back and been denied. And the power had worked perfectly fine for months and months until they come close to the month of May and their next chance to have a vote on their proposed rate hike. So now they are rationing and the new vote is next week. Of course they vehemently deny that the current rationing is to try and pressure the government to pass the rate hike. Yeah right. How stupid do we look?? :o)

Finally, this handsome guy is turning 12!!

Happy happy Birthday Austin!! He is having friends over from school Friday and going to the movies with them and then plans to come home for pizza and Leggo wars until the parents come to pick them up. Sounds like a fun afternoon for a bunch of 6th grade boys!! I just hope the power stays on! :o) I'll post pictures over the weekend of all the fun.

Miel de Chiverre

2007-04-18T21:58:00.000-07:00

I want to tell you about a big Costa Rican tradition. Every year during Semana Santa (the week before Easter) people here make miel de chiverre. Literally that means Chiverre honey. Really it is a type of sweet preserves made from a large green squash known as a chiverre. I have never seen one in the US so I don't know what it would be called in English. It has seeds that look much like a pumpkin. But the actual squash is stringy-- similar to a spaghetti squash. But making the sweet chiverre delight is quite a process. No wonder they do it on a week when everyone is on vacation. It is quite the family affair! We are blessed to have some wonderful Costa Rican friends and they invited us over to spend the day and be part of the process.

First of all you need to char the outside skin of the chiverre to make it easier to peel. Here is a photo:

Next you use a large knife to cut and peel off the outside skin. It can be done without charring but comes off much easier if the outside is burnt like this.

Now comes the hard work. (And I think the real reason we were invited! hee hee!)

Yes that is right-- you see correctly-- we are banging the heck out of this poor squash with hammers and rubber mallets. You cut it into small sections and then you smash each section until it breaks apart into fibers that look like this.

This took several hours!! At least there were several of us so we had a fun time!

Then you cook the string-like chiverre with 'tapa de dulce' -- a cross between brown sugar and molasses, cinnamon, fresh grated nutmeg, cloves and some figs. The end result has a weird texture --still stringy-- but tastes sweet almost like an apple butter or something. They use this to put inside of cakes as a filling, to eat on bread, to eat as an ice cream topping and a hundred other ways. I never see it except these weeks right before Easter and then you see it everywhere. Every grocery store and bakery is selling treats filled with miel de chiverre. I made a bundt cake and used some as a filling. And some I pureed in the blender and used instead of pumpkin in a pumpkin bread recipe and it turned out very good.

So fun to learn about a new country. I just love learning the traditions here in Costa Rica. All my Tico friends were so tickled that I, a gringa, learned how to cook chiverre. I was just as as happy!!

Easter Sunday 2007

2007-04-08T20:09:00.002-07:00

Our day in pictures!

The kids in their new Easter clothes. (Thanks Grammy and Aunt Amy!!)

Darrin playing guitar and leading worship for early morning Easter church service. Mayra, an Institute student from Mexico City is leading also.

Two shots of the beautiful view from the hillside where our new church is currently meeting. Such a great view of the valley below and all of San Jose and the surrounding areas!

Chloe showing off the bunny cake she made with Mommy on Saturday!

Wyatt, Easter-egg-hunter-extraordinaire!

Relaxing after Easter dinner with some dear friends from Honduras who came down during Semana Santa (holy week-- the week preceding Easter).

Day Trip

2007-04-03T22:23:00.000-07:00

Hi friends. Our kids are on Spring Break all this week. As Costa Rica has a long Catholic heritage, the entire week before Easter-- Holy Week--or Semana Santa is celebrated as a holiday. Public and private schools both take the entire week off. Many businesses are closed all week and if not they are at least closed Thursday and Friday through the weekend.

So a large part of the country heads to the beach. We are staying here in town though. Our ministry team is hosting a seminar for pastors and church leaders throughout Central America this week. We have people here from Honduras, Panama, and Costa Rica. A friend of ours, Dr. Jeff Snell, is here teaching all week. It has been so fun to see old friends from Honduras again and to meet new leaders we didn't know yet. Good things.

Zachary and Austin have been at camp but will come home tomorrow full of stories, mosquito bites and a bit sunburned, I am guessing!! Yesterday, we decided to take our friend Jeff on a little trip outside of town to see something of Costa Rica besides the city! We had often heard of a city called Zarcero. It is a beautiful drive (if you don't get carsick-- which we learned 3/4 of the way there that our friend does!). It is a twisty and turny road through the mountains but it is so pretty-- green hills with cattle and fields of coffee and sugar cane dotting the mountainside. I loved the drive there. The city itself is a small town but is famous because a local landscape gardener began to prune the trees in the park into interesting shapes. There is a large double archway the length of the park leading directly up to the church steps. And all around are trees pruned into shapes of animals and people and vehicles, etc. So fun. We ate a picnic lunch and then headed home. (Being sure to pass out the motion sickness medicine before we started again!) :o)

Just to give some perspective on how the trees form a double arch leading up to the church.

Chloe, Wyatt, and Eliza in the middle of one arch--the church is in the background.

Looking from the opposite direction. I am standing in front of the church looking down on the trees with the little city all around behind the park.

Enjoying our picnic! (our guest Jeff is at the far right.)

This tree is shaped like a dinosaur.

A few of the other shaped trees-- a helicopter, dancing couple, and various animals!

are you still there??

2007-03-20T22:11:00.000-07:00

Is anyone still checking this thing? You are a faithful friend if you are. I have been a bit busy with life-stuff and so haven't been around to blog. What have I been up to you ask?? Well, . . . . substitute teaching at school for missionary kids; making invitations for a friend's upcoming wedding, hosting a missionary from Panama who came to teach at our Church's institute, trying to keep caught up on laundry and dishes (but failing), making cards for a card swap with friends, reading some new good books in English (yeah) while waiting in lines at the kids' school and the dentist. (I finished them all E and Susie!! Yeah. Thanks so much -- another post about that later! ) Also, attending a wedding shower, having dinner with some new friends from Austria (fun fun time!!), four different evenings with meetings at the kids school (2-3 hours long each--ugh!), taking a friend out for her birthday for sushi (yum!!) and getting ready for this week.

Getting ready for this week means packing five suitcases (one for each kid plus me-- my hubby is on his own!!) with both school uniforms and play clothes. And buying ready-made lunch stuff and planning the kids lunches for the week. And getting enough clean socks and underwear for all the kids to survive a few days with Mommy away! March 21st is our 15th wedding anniversary! Yeah. So we are taking off for three days, two nights. Not too long-- but just enough for a few meals out, sleeping in late a couple times without the kids to wake us up and just some much needed down time. But even a short trip needs a monumental amount of work and planning to get things ready for four kids! Especially since they'll have school. My friend Elaine deserves a medal for taking them all (plus her two) for a few days. I hope she makes it!! :o)

Since posts without pictures are boring. . . . I leave you with this picture of my sweetie and me. 15 years happy!!

Catching up

2007-03-06T21:02:00.000-08:00

Hi friends! I have some catching up to do, don't I? We have had a whirlwind month here. Besides school starting up again-- we have had two groups back to back here to work and visit our mission projects. That is good. But it is busy. And it definitely cuts down on the blog time-- both reading yours and writing in mine. But I am back. Here is what my family has been up to the past couple weeks!

Chloe started ballet classes. She has never taken them before so is old for a beginner. But she loves it and her teacher loves her (and her long lean body!) Her teacher is a Canadian so gives class in English which was a fun surprise for Chloe. She tells me that that since Chloe is older she is learning quite quickly and catching up with her age group that has been taking for a longer time. Good stuff. And since I am not in the pictures unless I take them-- a self-portrait of my new little ballerina and her mama!

Wyatt came up to me on Monday morning before school and asked, "Mom what day is today?" I told him it was Monday. "Oh goodie. Just two more days until Wednesday. And I can go to the dentist! Yeah. I can't wait." Followed by an excited heartfelt giggle.

True story. My little guy just loves going to the dentist. It's not because he has great teeth. He already has had two filings and this past week we had the BIG visit. A pulpectomy --which I think is like a little kids size version of a root canal-- followed by the fitting of a little silver crown. Oh my. Wyatt couldn't contain himself. He started grinning in the chair at the office and still hasn't stopped. He love, love, loves that little crown. I don't know what we'll do when he loses that tooth! The only problem. He wants to show it to everyone. His teachers, his friends, his friends' moms, the lady at McDonald's, the cashier at the grocery store. He is quite excited with his silver tooth! He either pulls his gum all up like this:

Or smiles realllly big like this. (Look closely--the silver tooth is on the right side about half way back but is hard to see in this picture--just don't tell him that!!)

Just cracks me up. Our dentist is really great. She is young and is Mommy to a 2-year old boy --so has that sweet Mommy "I'll take good care of you" vibe going on. Plus she is just good. She uses a numbing gel to numb up his gum before the shot and so he never feels any pain. As is obvious by his enthusiasm. At the end of the visit he can pick a prize-- a balloon animal or a sticker. But after last weeks long visit and the crown he got a special treat. His own pair of latex gloves just like the dentist. Oh my-- you'd think she had handed him a hundred dollars. He was in heaven! So cute. I have never seen someone who loves the dentist like him. So if you come visit me, maybe you should bring your kids and get your dental work done here too!!

The older two boys used some of their Christmas money for some fish and accessories. Don't have a great picture but this should at least give you an idea. They are reading up on each different kind of fish on the internet and are becoming quite the little marine life experts. Fun to see them so excited about something!

Finally here is another self portrait.

Obviously when you hold the camera at arms length and push the button you aren't always sure what you are actually getting. That explains why I cut off half of my sweetie's head! :o) But I still love this picture as it makes me smile. My guy and I will celebrate 15 years of marriage later this month! Yea!! I am blessed.

Creativity!

2007-02-24T22:07:00.000-08:00

Who says toys have only one function? Surely not my Wyatt. Magnetix also double as interesting body jewelry and aren't nearly as permanent as piercings! And scrapbooking stickers look just as good on arms and legs as they do on paper. I hope this doesn't mean he'll want to cover himself with piercings and tattoos when he grows up! hee hee.

Have I said lately how much I just love this little guy?? He can always make me smile!

(Yes I know you aren't supposed to put toys in your mouth. And don't worry I made him take out the tongue one as soon as I took my picture!!)

Feliz Día de La Amistad

2007-02-14T09:34:00.000-08:00

Happy Friendship Day to each of you-- my wonderful friends!!

This is a card I recently made for a Feb. card swap. Since the flower is made of little hearts, I thought I would share it today!! :o)

In Central America, Feb. 14th is often called "día de la amistad" which means Friendship Day. I like that as it applies to more than just romantic love. It is fun to have a day where you celebrate all your friendships. So I am going to try and make some cookies to take by to a few friends today. I've already made a card and have a gift for my hubby and I hid little Valentines in my kids' lunchboxes. (My 7th grade boy will probably die of embarrassment when he finds it at school!) But I look forward to continuing to celebrate today with my other friends as well.

Speaking of lunchboxes-- school started here!! Summer vacation was relaxing and wonderful. But it is mid-February now so time to head back to classes. My youngest started kindergarten and I --like most Mommies-- was nervous about how he would do. He is my baby after all! But he loved it!! "I made a whole bunch of new friends Mom" he said all excited. I was so glad. It is an early morning here (up at 5:30 leave by a 6:30) !! School starts way too early here in CR I think!! But he is excited to get up and really likes his two teachers and all the fun things that are a part of kindergarten! I am so thankful.

The kids before school (Chloe and Wyatt in their PE uniforms and Zach with his new blue shirt which if for high schoolers --7-11th grade-- and Austin in the typical grey shirt that all the primary school uses.)

Wyatt outside his new classroom!

I love the way the school adds as much nature and light as possible-- even in the kindergarten hallway-- isn't this pretty!!

Perks

2007-02-09T19:38:00.000-08:00

Another perk of living in a warm climate. Don't have to go too far for fresh fruit. :o) We are blessed to have a mandarin orange tree, lime tree and a banana plant/tree in our back yard. Yeah!

The boys on the roof picking mandarins while Chloe watches from below:

The tree is just loaded this year.

Look back in the corner--- what do you see?

Yep, that's right-- bananas! Our tree has finally produced its bunch of bananas. We planted this about a year and a half ago and are so excited to see it finally almost ready to cut!!

And this one I took as the boys were picking oranges. I loved the way the light was shining. But I think she looks way too old. For some reason I feel like this picture gives me a little glimpse at what she is going to look like as she gets older. Sure love this girly-girl!!

Thanks a latte!

2007-01-27T21:39:00.000-08:00

I love making cards. I started with scrapbooking. Which I still love and do a lot of. But cards are so great as they are small and fun and quick and just make me feel happy when I am done!!

I made this one a couple weeks ago-- but was waiting until the recipient received it before posting it! So here it is. I was reading a copy of Scrapbooks, Etc that my sweet Mom was kind enough to mail down to me (Thanks!) and it had this little coffee cup card that said "Thanks a latte" Kind of silly I know. I don't usually put corny titles on my cards. However this was so cute I just had to make one. I changed it a bit--but like how it turned out!! Love it when inspiration strikes at just the right moment!! :o)

(Hope you liked it s.s.!!)

My favorite flowers

2007-01-25T09:49:00.000-08:00

Living in Central America, I have gotten really spolied with fresh flowers. Big orange and red bright tropical colors -- Birds of Paradise, Ginger, Heliconias, etc. Bright and beautiful and so easy to find at little corner stands. I love that. I need to take some pictures of the guy that sells flowers on our little street. He has big buckets that he unloads each morning. And they are filled with these wonderful fresh flowers! I may have to go take a picture right now!!

Anyway, I am spoiled as they are all fairly inexpensive and are available year-round, I think I have fallen in love with having fresh flowers in the house. They make me smile every time I walk by!!

These are my two absolute favorites. Cala lilies and Anturios. The Cala is so common here. It is considered a wildflower and some of my Tico friends think it is funny that such a "common" flower is my favorite. Same with the Anturio. Very ordinary here. But I had never even seen them before. They come in different shades of red-- but I love this deep dark red. The bloom is waxy looking and heart-shaped. The best thing is that it stays fresh-looking like this for weeks.

I actually like them more simple. Just the flowers in a little vase. But the guy on the corner was trying to be nice and make an "arreglo" for me (arrangement) by adding in the greenery and little white stuff. So I'm using it. But next time just a dozen long stemmed calas or arturios are fine. A dollar or two for a weeks worth of smiles. Always a good deal in my book! :o)

A teenager??!! How is that possible?

2007-01-23T21:22:00.000-08:00

Here I am 13 years ago today. January 23rd, 1994. Holding my newborn son. It doesn't seem possible that it has been 13 years already. How can I be a Mom to a teenager? Crazy, huh??

Crazy but true. Zach turned 13 today and had a great day. We started out by going to a local park that has a course for bikes with big hills and turns and bumps, etc. The boys had always wanted to try it and so today we went. They loved it. I was worried we would return home with broken arms or legs or something. But thankfully, both boys escaped bodily harm!

ready to hit the trails at the park

the bike trails or track or whatever! (that is Zach in the middle background and Austin in the far left corner! Double-click to actually see them!)

We came home and had our friends the Twitchells (our family when we are far from family!) over for pizza and cake and ice cream. (Actually Zachary requested warm brownies instead of cake this year! With a scoop of vanilla ice cream -- Yummy!!)
my gang-- I love being their mama!

He not only makes us laugh--but he cracks himself up too!

Silly face in a new sweatshirt!! :o)

Zachary is really changing. He is getting so tall. He looks different as he has braces now (got his top set almost a year ago but just got his bottom row put on last week!) and a bi-plate (which is the blue thing you see when he smiles). And he is growing his hair out. (eek!) And he can be so nice and kind and helpful. But of course he can then turn around and be so emotional and upset over the littlest thing that his brother did to bother him. Typical brothers and typical teenage emotions, I think. Zachary loves life-- loves to tease, joke, play, laugh (anything but work!!). And his enthusiasm is contagious. Our family is much funner because of him! Can't wait to see what the year ahead holds for him!!

This picture is actually from December but it shows how tall and handsome my boy is becoming!

ps-- Residency update--Long and short = we found a good lawyer. He thinks we may lose our initial appeal but stand a good chance to win our second appeal (that is what he has seen happen in the past.) So we continue to pray for a speedy resolution. Pray with us that our appeals will be accepted and we can stay in Costa Rica without anymore legal hassles!! Thanks

Pray

2007-01-22T11:14:00.000-08:00

Hi friends! Just a quick little note to those of you out there who pray! We found out on Friday that the Ministry of Immigration here in Costa Rica has denied our residency papers. We filed about 2 1/2 years ago. (They are not very organized or speedy!) It appears that they don't have a problem with our papers or our being here but we are still rejected due to a technicality over where we filed and something to do with a law that the new administration is trying to enforce that past ones didn't. Or at least that is what I think. We did file with the help of a lawyer who told us how, when, and where to do things, but alas we are in Central America so that doesn't really matter. :o) The long and short is that we have 5 days to appeal their rejection. If not, we will have to reapply (which means A LOT of papers and time and money and seals from all kinds of consulates in the US, etc. i.e. a pain!)and do so from the US and not from here-- which I would assume means unexpected travel, etc. As you can see I am assuming and guessing some. That is because we found this out Friday afternoon and can not meet with a lawyer until today in the afternoon. We should know more after that meeting. Pray we get a good lawyer who knows what he is doing and is helpful. And please pray this can be resolved as quickly and inexpensively as possible.
Thanks friends!!

Now, just so I don't have a pictureless post-- here is what my desk looks like right now!

So typical-- lots of to-do notes and reminders scribbled on little pieces of paper, a McDonalds diet coke (mmm!)as well as an empty diet coke can (my one real addiction!), my sunglasses, bracelet, and earrings probably tossed off as I got home; my brown stamp pad, a scrap of fabric from the last purse I made, two copies of The Message Bible stacked up in the middle, a pattern for a cute little purse I saw on the internet, and a bunch of other stuff. Every so often I clear things off and make my work place clean again-- but to be honest this is what it usually looks like. The actual objects change--but they are always scattered about like this!! :o)

pure gold

2007-01-19T07:33:00.000-08:00

Flash back Friday

"Make new friends but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold"

Did anyone else sing this as a child? I learned it in Girl Scouts. As far as I know, those are the only words. We always sang it as a round.

One of the hard things about living most of my life in countries outside of the one I grew up in is that I have lost touch with so many friends. When we first moved--early 90s, e-mail was new and still rare. Things are much different now and keeping in touch is a lot easier. But it is still an effort and life moves so fast in the US that it is easy to 'lose' people outside of a yearly Christmas card.

When I was newly married I worked in a small office. I had a co-worker named Tammy who was also newly married and we both found out we were expecting our first child about the same time. So we passed nine months comparing notes, laughing at each other's stories and eating out together! (well--almost nine--her little guy made an early entrance!!). We had been friends in college--but I grew closer to her during that year. Let's face it, first babies are pretty special. And to have someone to share that with was priceless.

I've kept in touch here and there over the years. I knew she now has 5 little ones (all boys!!). She came by and saw me when she was in town and I was living in the US several years ago. But then we left the US again and a few more years have gone by and I haven't really connected with her in ages. Last week when the group of youth ministers from the US came down, one was from the church were Tammy and her husband now work. I was so excited to hear about her and get an update. And I sent a note home with him for her.

You really don't know how excited I was to open my e-mail yesterday and find a long, long, newsy, girly letter -- just like a I love-- telling me all about her and her gang. (She even owns her own scrapbooking business!!) It was such a blessing to me. Maybe I'm getting old and sentimental. Maybe I realize as the years go by that new friends aren't always easy to make. Or maybe I just feel so very far away from so many people I love. But it felt so good to re-connect with an old friend.

I think that song was on to something. "Make new friends but keep the old. One is silver and the other gold."

I hope she doesn't kill me for this old picture! But you all know how I feel about posts without pictures! :o) This is January 22, 1994. The day of my baby shower for Zachary. I only remember the date as I went into labor that night and Z was born the next day on the 23rd! (Yes he will be a teenager next week--Yikes!) This is my friend Tammy in the middle (with her new little bundle!)