Congrats to Jenny

I just had to congratulate my friend Jenny who gave birth to her set of twins yesterday, Walt and Daisy. Daisy came first weighing 5lb 8oz and 19 1/2 inches. Then Walt 21 inches and 6lbs 10oz. She did it at home!!! Hats off for that and also because they are #´s 4 and 5 and her oldest is 5!! Craziness!

Desde aquí quiero enviar mis sinceras felicitaciones a nuestra amiga Jenny que dio a luz a los gemelos ayer, Walt y Daisy. Daisy nació primero pesando 5 libras y ocho onzas y midiendo 19 pulgadas y media. Después salió Walt, 21 pulgadas y 6 libras 10 onzas. ¡¡¡Y los tuvo en casa!!! Me quito el sombrero ante ella, además porque los gemelos son los números 4 y 5 y el mayor de los niños solo tiene 5 años. ¡Es para volverse loco!

Ice Cream Time / Hora de helado

Migue and Leticia called us so we could take the kids for some ice-cream. There is an italian ice-cream shop close to the house so we met them there. Lauryn didn´t like the chocolate ice-cream so she ate Ryan´s chocolate chip. Ryan started at the bottom of the cone so you can imagine the mess (if you can´t, we are posting some pics in here). Diego had some sugar free yogurt (yum!)and everybody had a great time. Presto!



Migue y Leticia nos llamaron para llevar a los niños a comer helado. Hay una heladería italiana cerca de casa así que nos reunimos allí. A Lauryn no le gustó el helado de chocolate así que se comió el straciatella de Ryan. Ryan empezó por la parte de abajo del cono por lo que ya se pueden imaginar el desastre (si no, les ponemos algunas fotos). Diego comió helado de yogur sin azúcar (¡qué rico!) y todos nos lo pasamos super bien. ¡Presto!

Talent Show / Noche de talentos

The truth is that when one has sooooo many talents, one must share them with everybody!!! Jacob and Lauryn played a few songs with their violas, Pily and Diego sang together and well, we spent the evening drinking chicha. (As an extra bonus Diego got to see an old friend, Elsa).

Es que cuando uno tiene tantos talentos, pues ¡¡tiene que compartiros con los demás!! Jacob y Lauryn tocaron un par de canciones en la viola, Pily y Diego cantaron y bueno, se pasó la tarde bebiendo chicha. (Además Diego tuvo la oportunidad de ver a su querida amiga Elsa).

Olympics

O.K. so I know that this is totally lame, but I am really depressed that I can´t watch the Olympics. I think that only my mom will understand because ever since I was oh maybe 8 I have been an Olympic fan. It all started with the T.V. movie Nadia. (I think that I can still quote it) I have always secretly wanted to be an Olympic gymnast, but I don´t think that will ever happen!!! O.K. maybe 4 gymnasts in one body! Anyways I´m in Spain and obviously don´t really care about the Spanish athletes unless it is some cheesy story that NBC concocts about how some Olympian came to Spain 10 years ago on a raft from Morocco. O.K. so I even like all those cheesy stories about the athletes who rose from the dust! So I try to watch some online coverage and across the computer screen it reads....Viewing of this Olympic coverage can only take place in the United States...what in the world!! Yeah I´m going to watch NBC´s coverage and give away all the US Fencing teams secrets!! Whatever! So while my husband is at the movies with his brother and sister I´m griping about the Olympics! If you are an Olympic fan please tell me your favorite memory. Mine is watching Mary Lou Retton get all kinds of perfect 10s...not sure what year in the 80´s.

Pues resulta que no voy a traducir este palique porque no es sino un rebujón de mi esposa sobre lo mucho que echa de menos ver las olimpiadas y seguir las aventuras y desventuras a sus atletas favoritos. Ahora, si te interesan muchísimo las olimpiadas, pues anímate y deja tu comentario. ¿Qué te gusta de las olimpiadas?

2 Weeks With Grandma / 2 semanas con abuela

Well our 2 weeks with grandma have come to an end. Grandma left to go home 3 days ago and we all miss her! Yesterday we were walking to a store and Aitana asked "will grandma be there?" Sadly I told her no, but we are looking forward to spending Christmas with her. Here are a few pics of our fun 2 weeks.

Las dos semanas con la abuela llegaron a su fin. Abuela volvió a casa hace tres días y ya la echamos de menos todos. Ayer cuando íbamos a la tienda, Aitana preguntó "¿y abuela va a estar allí?" Lamentablemente tuve que decirle que no. Sin embargo esperamos con alegría los días que pasaremos en casa de abuela esta navidad. Para que se entretengan aquí les van algunas fotos de estas dos últimas semanas.

Time with our cousin Krista / Momentos con nuestra prima Krista

The kids were so happy that grandma brought Krista as her traveling companion since grandpa has turned into a home body. That´s O.K. Owen, I know that it is a rough flight!

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Los niños estaban contentísimos de que abuela trajera a Krista como acompañante de viaje ya que el abuelo últimamente es todo un ermitaño. Está bien. Owen, ya sabemos lo largo y difícil que es el viaje.

Jacob´s tour of the store / El tour de Jacob en la tienda

Jacob had to give his cousin a tour of the store and point out all of the things that he thinks stink like Jamon Serrano and fresh fish and eel...Don´t ask about the last pic, I guess that´s what you get when you give a 12 and 8 year old free reign with the camera.

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Jacob tuvo que darle a su prima un tour de la tienda y señalar todo aquello que él piensa que apesta, como el jamón serrano, el pescado fresco y la anguila...No me pregunten que pasó en la última foto, imagino que eso es lo que pasa cuando le das a una niña de 12 y a un niño de 8 libertad con la cámara.

The Beach, Aqualand, and Parque Marítimo / La playa, Aqualand y el Parque marítimo

Water, water and more water! Maybe that explains why Aitana is now in agony with an ear infection!

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¡Agua, agua y más agua! Quizá eso explique porqué Aitana está sufriendo de infección de oído.

At last Dr. Pepper / Por fin Dr. Pepper

We spent 5 nights in Costa Adeje (the south-west part of the island) where most English and German tourists spend their holiday. All the restaurants advertise English breakfast and the stores sell things not commonly found on the island.....including Dr. Pepper at only .85 euros a can! Diego couldn´t pass it up!

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Pasamos 5 noches en Costa Adeje (la parte suroeste de la isla) donde la mayoría de los turistas ingleses y alemanes pasan las fiestas. Todos los restaurantes incluyen desayunos británicos y las tiendas venden cosas que comunmente no se encontrarían en la isla...incluyendo el Dr. Pepper a sólo 85 céntimos la lata. ¡Diego no puedo dejar pasar tal oportunidad!

Here are some other pics at the aparthotel where 85% of the guests were English speaking.

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Aquí hay otras fotos del apartahotel donde 85% de los huéspedes hablan inglés.

Sites of Tenerife / Lugares de Tenerife

We did lots of walking to see the sites of the city...as much as we could do with so many kids!

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Caminamos muchísimo para ver algunos de los lugares de la ciudad...tantos como pudimos con 5 niños.

Independence Day / Día de la independencia

Well I finally gave in!!! I let Ryan have the spoon! While some kids are eating with spoons very young, mine arent!! I hate the mess and although I am not a super organized person, messy eating drives me crazy. Im trying to get over it because obviously with 4 kids there is usually a spill. Ryan stopped his screaming the minute that I handed it over and ate the whole yogurt on his own with a few helps from mom. All in all it wasnt a terrible mess thank goodness!

Pues bien, por fin ¡¡¡me rendí!!! Le di la cuchara a Ryan. Aunque algunos niños comen con cuchara cuando son muy pequeños, los míos normalmente no. Odio que se ensucien y aunque no soy la persona más ordenada del mundo, que se ensucien de arriba a abajo me saca de mis casillas. Estoy intentando superarlo porque obviamente con 4 hijos normalmente hay más de un desastre. Ryan dejó de llorar el segundo que le di la cuchara y se comió todo el yogur el solito con un poco de ayuda de mamá. Al final no se ensució tanto como pensé, ¡menos mal!

The Tie is Broken!!

Well, we finally had our ultrasound and GIRLS WIN, we are having another girl! When the tech started the ultrasound she wouldn´t let Diego come in even though he told her that I didn´t speak Spanish. I was really bummed! I wanted him to be there when she told us the sex of the baby. Once she did some measurements she brought him in so I was relieved. She then asked us if we wanted to know the sex of the baby and being the impatient people that we are we of course said yes! At first her legs were completely crossed together so Diego said it had to be a girl because it took us I think 3 or 4 ultrasounds to find out what both Lauryn and Aitana were and Jacob and Ryan were both open to the world the first chance they got!! I hope that the girls stay that shy!! So after she wacked the baby on the head a few times (I was a little shocked by that) she finally gave us a peek! Usually the ultrasound tech doesn´t say that she is 100 percent sure of the sex, but this tech said she was positive, it´s a girl......With my luck, the baby will probably come out a boy!!! All the kids wanted a sister so they were screaming when I called my mom who was with the kids and told them "its a girl!" Anyways we are all excited for the new addition although I´m a little nervous to have 5. I´m sure that the more I show the more crazy looks I will get here in Spain. There are a few people who find out we have 4 and 1 on the way who actually tell us how wonderful that is, but most are old school older women! We will try to keep posting on any new developments!

Todo esto para decirles que esperamos una niña para primeros de diciembre, por lo que tendremos un desempate, 3-2 para las niñas. Si todo sale bien, nacerá en el Hospital de la Candelaria, el mismo hospital donde yo nací hace ya....bueno...una burrada de años.

A week ago, we went to Tejina to celebrate Aynara´s baptism into the Catholic Church. As it happens in most family reunions, we spent a portion of the afternoon taking pictures. The cousins did okay, as good as it gets when dealing with 8 kids. It´s not perfect, but at least they are together.

Hace una semana, fuimos a Tejina a celebrar el bautizo de Aynara en la iglesia Católica. Como ocurre en la mayoría de las reuniones familiares, pasamos parte de la tarde haciéndonos fotos. Los primos se portaron bien, o al menos tan bien como puede esperarse cuando hablamos de 8 niños juntos. La foto no es perfecta pero al menos están todos.

We also took a picture of each one of Diego´s siblings (with their families) and a group picture of the entire family.

También les hicimos una foto a cada uno de los hermanos de Diego (con sus respectivas familias) y una foto de grupo con toda la familia.