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From the Desert to the Mountains!

2011-06-16T07:47:00.000-07:00

This week we came to Utah to visit the Clarks and to shop around a few stores (Fun Fun!). Melany and I are very excited to move into our new home in Clearfield, UT. The kids, however, enjoyed swimming with their cousins at Seven Peaks and riding Go-Karts at Trafalga much more than they did visiting furniture stores with mom and dad. Shocker!

Life can change in a blink of an eye!

2011-04-06T00:26:00.000-07:00

How can I start this... we are moving... again! That will make 4 states in less than a year! I know sounds very crazy. It all started a little over a year ago with a diagnosis of Optic Neuritis. After that diagnosis and the finding of some lesions after an MRI, I was told that I had a 90 percent chance of developing MS. I believe I have had other flair ups which would constitute MS, although not officially diagnosed by a doctor. Anyways, my first Neurologist recommended that I start injections of a medication that usually will put MS in remission or at least reduce the flair ups. In lame man's terms MS is your body attacking your nervous system and it can rear its ugly head in a million different ways. So since I would like my nervous system to function as well as possible, I took the recommendation only to find out that our student insurance didn't cover the medication that costs $3000 a month... I was a little, OK a lot shocked with all the news and so, instead of sticking around OK another year while Diego completely finished up his PHD, he started applying to ANY job that he was qualified for and that offered better health benefits. Well, the first job that worked out was a job teaching at a Charter High School south of San Francisco. So we made the move to San Jose and quickly realized that between the commute and expenses, we probably weren't going to stay there a very long time.

Then a job in Las Vegas came along... a great job, although at a 2 year college, we were happy with it. So we moved to Las Vegas in January, anxious to have Diego home a little, OK a LOT more! It seemed to be great, but Diego felt it was a little lacking at times and not very challenging. We just continued to plug along happy with where we are, patiently waiting for our house to sell in Oklahoma so that we could buy a house in Vegas. It had been on the market for about 6 months and well, maybe I wasn't as patient as I should have been. Then we got an offer! Woo hoo it was accepted and we were thrilled for it to close. Then the craziness began. Diego got an email from Weber State University in Utah wondering if he was still interested in a position that he had applied for over 5 months previous. He said yes, and I chuckled thinking that nothing would come of it. He had a Skype interview and then was contacted and told that he was chosen as one of the finalists and they wanted to fly him out to show him the campus and for an official interview... they thought he was still in OK and were a little confused that he suggested maybe he could just drive since I would probably like to come along to visit my sister, who lives in Utah. Once they realized the confusion the Dept Chair agreed to reimburse him for the mileage and driving would work out fine. So we made the trip.

My wonderful sister kept the kids so that I could spend the 2 nights in Ogden with Diego. They invited me to come along on the tour of the campus and city and dinner and reception with the other faculty members. It is a great place and, despite snowy winters, I felt like it would be a great place for our family. His official interview was last Friday and when the Dept. chair dropped him off at the hotel he told him that they would meet on Monday to make a decision, turn the name into the Dean and hopefully know by Friday. I was shocked on Tuesday morning when Diego called me and said "I got it." I was confused and asked "got what?"...of course he was talking about the job! So after listing pros and cons, not really many cons, thought, and prayer we agreed that we should take it. His contract starts in July, but he won't start teaching until the end of August. I know that Diego will be so much happier being able to teach at a University where he will have the opportunity to teach upper division courses, will be required to publish and enjoy the commadery of being part of an official Foreign Language Dept.

All I have to say is that this last year has been quite a whirl wind!! I am so grateful for a positive husband, an all-knowing Father in Heaven, and wonderful children who roll with the punches!! My health is good right now and I feel like, although numbness here and there and sometimes electric shocks through my body, the daily injections are helping and hopefully will continue to keep things under control. I just had an MRI, and am schedule to have a lumbar puncture in a couple of weeks, NOT thrilled about that, so hopefully my DR. will be able to see what is going on and if the MS has progressed. I am really going to miss Vegas and the great friends that we have made in just a few short months. We have truly been very happy here. I must admit that I am very excited to be closer to my sister and some wonderful friends and cousins. The kids are excited to be closer to family too. So these next few months will be crazy, filled with house hunting, checking into schools, and just the normal insanity that our family of 7 is used to!!

To top it all off, the best news of the year is that Diego will be defending his dissertation on May 6th and be done with his doctoral degree and school forever ...maybe!

Welcome back!

2011-03-23T15:21:00.000-07:00

It's been a looooong time since my wife posted anything on our blog! I decided to wait over a year to see if she would pick it up but it doesn't look like she will. Who can blame her? I mean, five children should keep you busy 24/7. I bet after everyone is in bed, the last thing she wants to do is go online and write a new post (why choose that over a good round of bejeweled!). So I guess I'm taking over for a while. I'm not really writing anything special today I just wanted to post a picture of our kids so you guys can see how big they've gotten (is that even the right past participle?). Anyway, life is good! We are busy! We moved to Vegas in January...looking to move to Utah this year, maybe, who knows! I think three moves in one year should be in the Record Guinness book! Either way, we'll (try to) keep you in the loop!

If you stopped reading our blog, I hope this gets you hooked again. I'm hoping it does it for me!

'Til then, hold on tight....life is a bumpy ride!

Long time no blog!

2009-12-13T19:00:00.000-08:00

O.K. so I am going to write this as quickly as possible so that I don't get distracted!! Just some updates so that I have them written down. I have been a terrible blogger and it makes me so sad because I love going back and reading past blogs. I guess I could title this as "My Christmas Letter" IF I was going to send one out! No, really I love to blog so that my kids and myself can look back and read about the past!

Lauryn and Aitana both learned how to ride their bikes without training wheels. I had it all planned out in my head...Lauryn hasn't been real interested in learning so I thought if Aitana got it she would be a little jealous and want to try...sure enough Aitana picked it right up and Lauryn said "when are you going to take my training wheels off?" Then Lauryn picked it right up...yeah!

Jacob is my champ! He has been babysitting for us. I know he is only 9, but I think that he handles things better than me sometimes! The first time that we left him for longer than 10 minutes was for parent teacher conferences. To our surprise when we got home he had done the dishes and both Ryan and Lila were asleep! We were shocked...needless to say he has done more babysitting lately. Jacob is so responsible and does so well in school. He loves music. He is now, on top of taking viola lessons, taking piano lessons. He also really loves playing the recorder at school which cracks me up!! Then he is in the 4th and 5th grade honor choir and was chosen to be in the district wide Circle the State with Song Concert. I think they choose 5-8 kids from each school. I never have to push him to do his homework or get his projects done (maybe because he can't play any video games or have any screen time until it is all done.) Last month Jacob was diagnosed with Benign Rolandic Epilepsy. He had some seizures while he slept so the Dr's had an EEG done on him and that was the diagnosis that the Neurologist gave. He is now on meds and hasn't had another seizure!

Lauryn is my little authoress. At PT conferences her teacher told us that they were writ ting books that would be published (well put into book form). She asked each child to write 4 pages....Lauryn ended up with 12, with illustrations! She loves to read and write. Friday she brought home a story that the teacher laminated and I had to cut the lamination open because the teacher didn't realize that she had written on the front AND the back so what was supposed to be a one page story ended up being a 4 and 1/2 page story. I am very proud of her. She is my snuggler and I love when she cuddles up to me. She usually has a book in her hand and loves the books that Diego picks out for her at the library. I think that she is finally over the Junie B. Jones series. She read each book about 3 times! She loves the American Girl series and was very touched by the Addy books which were based in the time of slavery.

Aitana is our social butterfly. (Most like me of all my kids probably...orneriness and all!) At PT conferences her teacher told us about her little click. She said that there are 3 boys and 3 girls that do everything together and one of them is Aitana. She has informed me that Dane (who is also part of the group) is her boyfriend. GREAT! She had a few issues with kissing boys when she first started kindergarten, but we've got that all taken care of thank goodness! She always wants friends over to play and is always trying to keep up with Jacob and Lauryn. If I compliment her on something she asks if she does it better than Lauryn. She makes us laugh on a daily basis and makes us cry on a daily basis! :) She is reading very well and loves to read to me. She loves the Dick and Jane books.

Ryan is our Toy Story/ Star Wars addict! He wants to watch Toy Story 2 every morning. (The terrible mother that I am I usually let him!) Then we try to not have the TV on the rest of the day, which is sometimes a struggle. He is going to a speech pathologist because I was worried about his articulation. She says that he doesn't have any major issues and that with a few sessions he should get better. She said that the sounds that he has problems with M, W, B, and P are usually some of kids first sounds so she thinks it's a little odd because the other sounds that kids with speech issues usually struggle with aren't a problem. He is a very sweet boy and very independent. At church he walks himself to nursery and a lot of times he wants to walk to the bus to get the kids by himself! (That doesn't happen) Ryan loves his big brother and gets so excited when he gets home from school.

Lila is such a sweetie. She makes us all smile! She is walking now and I think that she tries to say baby...sounds more like DD. None of the other kids made sounds that resembled words this soon so maybe it is because she has so many people talking to her all the time. She HATES the car, which can make my life a little crazy since I spend so much time in it! I am hoping that she will grow out of it sometime soon! My mom got her a little baby doll and stroller for her 1st birthday and it is so cute when she give it loves and says "DD". We are so blessed to have her in our family.

What can I say about my awesome husband Diego. He works his tail off!! At home and at work. He has been teaching 3 classes at OU while working on his dissertation, and trying to keep his crazy wife happy! His dissertation is going well, but I'm sure not progressing as fast as he would like because he spends so much time with us. We are so blessed to have such a great dad in the house. He has applied to about 10-15 Spanish faculty jobs so now it is a waiting game. We decided that he wouldn't apply to the ones in the mid west or east coast because then if something opened up on the west coast we would want to move and well moving isn't our favorite thing to do. We'll just wait it out here in OK if he doesn't get one of the jobs on the west coast that he applied for. I was very impressed by the letters of recommendation that he was given by the Department head, and 2 other faculty members. He works hard and is a very talented teacher and I know that everyone that he works with can see that. He was given an online class to teach next semester so that will be nice that he will only have to be on campus to teach the other 2 classes. He is also taking an accelerated Portuguese class for Spanish speakers next semester. He is going to kill me when he reads this, but I can't brag about him enough.

I am the same....crazy mom of 5! I love it and wouldn't change my life for anything. I am so blessed! I sometimes have a hard time balancing it all which leads to eating fast food, but I'm working on that! I can't update much about myself because I am the same as always! Love to talk on the phone, go on dates with my hubby, and play on FB. I AM going to try to be a better blogger, but I won't keep my fingers crossed!

Lauryn's Baptism

2009-08-07T19:25:00.001-07:00

Last Sunday my sweet Lauryn was baptised! It was a sweet night even though I was wrestling my 2 year old the entire time! It's so amazing how fast kids grow up. My mom worked her bootie off and sewed two beautiful dresses. She is amazing!

Up and coming photographer!

2009-07-14T23:00:00.000-07:00

Just a few of the awesome pictures that my step niece Andria took of our family. She has been taking photo classes and did such a great job! I love the photos. Here are a few of my favs.

Happy Birthday Aitana

2009-06-02T19:20:00.000-07:00

Well another birthday down!! Starting in January we have one every other month in our house until July. Then we get a break until Lila's in December. May was Aitana's month. I can't believe that she is 5. It seems like yesterday that she would start crying at 4 pm and wouldn't stop until 9pm!! She sure makes us laugh so I guess she is making up for it. I love this girl! She wanted a Barbie Diamond Castle tea party. The invitations were Diamond Castle and that was about it!!! We tried to find her a Diamond Castle dress, but they aren't in stores anymore so we were bummed...thanks to Taryn who called a few days after the party from TJMax and said that they had them so she picked one up for Aitana. Thank you again. Anyways the cupcake plate was supposed to look like a castle. Diego did a pretty great job...I leave all the creative things in the house to him!!! The girls loved the tea party. Who doesn't like chocolate covered strawberries!! I took a couple of great pics of all the girls together, but my dumb camera said that it couldn't read the file...argh!!

I just love the princess hands!

The night after her birthday party she was already talking about her 6th birthday party...nothing like planning for the future!!

I love my boy

2009-05-29T20:07:00.000-07:00

Tonight Diego is at the Father Daughter camp out with the girls so I put Ryan and Lila to bed and Jacob made us dinner. He wanted it to be a surprise and he said that he was going to make quesadillas. So when I came in the kitchen and sat at the table he had cut mine in the shape of a heart. He is such a sweet boy and I love him so much. A memory I will cherish forever. Me and my boy eating heart shaped quesadillas...who could ask for anything more! I'm so lucky. Sorry no pics my camera is on the fritz!

Lila My Love

2009-05-24T20:20:00.000-07:00

I decided to try to feed Lila some cereal....

Didn't go so well!

She was still happy!

Diego decided to let her taste his popsicle....

She was so fast that Diego couldn't stop her before she grabbed it and took a big bite!

I think that she got a brain freeze!

We went to the school and had lunch with the kids on super kids day and Lila was the main attraction! Lauryn loved showing off her little sister.

Loaded Weapon and Diego's New Job

2009-05-20T06:40:00.000-07:00

The title of this post has to do with Aitana. I just never know what is going to come out of her mouth and when. Last night we were getting into our car at a restaurant and there was a man in his car next to ours. He was talking on his cell phone with the window down and as Aitana walked by she looked into the window and said "YOU BETTER WATCH OUT MISTER!" then starts cracking up. I was a little shocked and was going to get on her, but then Diego started laughing and we all started laughing....a little random wouldn't you say!

At Lauryn and Jacobs viola recital I asked her what instrument she wanted to play with a very serious face she looked at me and said "The Tuba." Well O.K. whatever floats you boat.

What a blessing kids are to keep us laughing all the time...or yelling or crying...I sure love mine!

Diegos new job!

Yep after years of school Diego finally found his dream job! Working the drive thru at McDonalds! Last night it was McTeachers night at McDonalds and Aitana had been begging to go (They put stickers on the kids at school to wear home so the kids remember to beg their parents)...thanks a lot. Anyways we weren't going to go, but time escaped me yesterday and I didn't have time to get my dinner together before Lauryn and Aitana's gymnastic recital so McDonalds it was!! Well for a school to do that fund raiser you have to have parents volunteer to help and our friend is the PTA president so he was working the drive thru. Another friend of ours was there too and he and Diego decided that it would be fun to help so they hopped behind the counter and went to work. I had to get Diego's attention by pointng to my watch so that we could go because I was past ready to go home and I think that the manager was really enjoying the free compitent help! When Diego came out he said "That was tooo much fun." He told us about a lady who drove thru with a huge cat in the seat next to her and that the cats name was Tiger. Wish I had seen it! Leave it to Diego to enjoy that...at least we have a plan B if he never gets a teaching job! HA HA

Mother's Day

2009-05-10T19:18:00.000-07:00

I think that each mother should get to pick which day she wants to celebrate Mother's Day. I had a good Mother's Day today, but yesterday was less stressful and more fun so I would consider that my Mother's Day! Yesterday I spent time with my kids in a fun relaxing way and then went on a fun date with my hubbie. I think that at first Diego thought that I was a little crazy when I told him that I wanted to ride our bikes (I got a new one for Mother's Day) down to campus and have dinner and then ride home. We had a great time, but my bum is still a little sore! We ate at this little international restaurant called Monique's Corner and it was great. We even left Lila with the babysitter for the first time and she did great. I love Diego and am happy that he always goes along with my silly ideas even though sometimes they don't turn out that great...this time it did.

There were a lot of great things about today (actual mother's day)...let me list a few in no particular order...Waking up to my sweet Lila's precious smile, Aitana telling me happy Mother's Day about 20 times, Diego making me breakfast (not that he doesn't already do it often) and buying me the cookbook that I had mentioned I wanted, talking to my mom on the phone like I do every day (usually twice a day!), the little box of chocolates that they gave all the mothers at church, listening to the primary kids sing at church, Lauryn snuggling up to me at church and any time I am sitting still, listening to Ryan tell me exactly what happened in detail only understanding one word he said: "broke", watching Jacob play with Lila and Ryan, seeing all the women at church that I love and admire and picking out the one trait that I admire about them and would love to steal from them, listening to Jacob and Lauryn perform at their viola recital, eating the treats at the reception after the viola recital that I know I will regret tomorrow, reading to my girls curled up to me in bed, getting one last sweet Lila smile before I lay her down for bed, getting a sweet kiss from my wonderful husband who picked up the house after a crazy busy day.....OK I have a lot to be grateful for...what a great Mother's Day! Oh how blessed I am to be a mother 5 times over!

Dosie doe your partner!

2009-04-28T21:43:00.001-07:00

Quick fun trip!

Two weeks ago Michelle and I decided to meet in Albuquerque with the kids. The kids had a blast being with their cousins. We swam at the hotel pool and had a fun night at a pizza place called ITS. Michelle and I were a little beat as you can see, but it was worth it. No time for hair or makeup! Too bad we don't live closer. As we were leaving Jacob said to me "I wish Scott was my brother." Aitana decided the first day we were there that she didn't want to swim with her floaties so off they went. She is a great little swimmer. I was so grateful that Diego kept Ryan so the 8 hour drive wasn't too bad...2 year olds are into everything and very hard to reason with!

Adam and Lila enjoying their fingers.

Aitana was a crack up trying to steer the bowling ball with her body.

Last Friday was Square Dancing day at Washington Elementary. I didn't even try to pull a costume together for Jacob, but Lauryn was heart broken that we didn't have anything for her to wear so I attempted to put something together...Um the closest thing that we had to cowboy boots were her high black boots and the closest thing that we had to a western skirt was a short plaid looking thing...LOL! Didn't really look too rustic to me, but she was happy. Anything to please. The funnest part of the entire thing was watching Jacob spin his partner. It was like she was a sack of potatoes. He would just fling her around...I was cracking up!

So Blessed.

2009-04-06T15:09:00.001-07:00

Yesterday while sitting with my family watching conference I couldn't help but think about how very blessed I am. I can't even begin to list all of my blessings, but I have to mention 3 things that I couldn't live without. My Heavenly Father, my Savior Jesus Christ, and my family. What a wonderful feeling to know that we can be together forever with our family and Savior! Who could ask for more? It really made me think what the most important things in life are. Although money sure makes things easier I could live without it if needs be, but without my family or the Savior it wouldn't be much. Just some random thoughts that I wanted to get onto paper...or should I say into cyberspace somewhere.

Aitana's class had some animals come for a visit from the Little River Zoo. I don't think that she was too sure about it! The teacher invited siblings to come and Ryan was all about it! The women even commented how gentle and well behaved he was with the animals for his age...who knew? I love the look on Aitana's classmates face.

Jacob earned is Wolf in cub scouts. I now understand why the mom gets a pin at the same time! It takes a lot of proding to get things done...especially when you wait until last minute. We have a fun cub master who always has good ideas for pack meetings. This last pack meeting she arranged for a fire truck and ambulance to come...the ambulance got called away, but the boys thought it was great.

Ryan is in a big boy bed now...or should I say next to a big boy bed. Lila definately has outgrown her bassinet and was sleeping in a porta crib so we thougt it was about time to make the move. Ryan was climbing out anyways and I was too cheap to buy another crib. Well he is doing great, but the first night he decided the floor would be better. How comfie!

Lots to blog about!

2009-03-19T08:57:00.000-07:00

Like always life continues and I am running slower and can't catch up. I have lots to blog about and I don't want to leave anything out so BE PREPARED!

RYAN TURNED 2

Ryan's birthday was in January and yet again didn't get a chance to post about it. He is so fun and we even put up with his fits! He loves to be out and about, but especially loves getting dirty and pouring out whatever he finds. Time flies by so fast. I can't believe how he has grown. One of my favorite things is when we are in the car and I will ask the kids if they want to go to the park or something of that nature and they all yell yah! Then a second later Ryan yells yah! He tries to do everything that his older siblings do which can sometimes be a problem. Good or bad though he follows their example which gets the older ones in trouble sometimes. Today he decided that he would plug my blow dryer in since he always watches big brother and sister plug their games in. Well he got a little shock and wasn't happy at all!

Jacob Turned 9

Well my baby turned 9 this month! How did that happen? He is such a blessing in our lives. Right now he is making pancakes for everyone. He is very responsible and helps me so much. Whenever I ask him to do something he usually gets it done super fast. Like every kid though I do sometimes get a groan, but for the most part not. Last night he put Ryan's diaper on and got him dressed for bed all by himself. He is a reader and loves just about any book. Aunt Michelle sent him 2 books for his birthday and he had the first one read in I think 3 days. What a fun 9 years I have had raising him, but the sad thing is that he doesn't need my help much anymore so I will just have to stand back and watch him grow up and learn lifes lessons. That is the hard part because I hate to see him sad when he fails at something or gets dissapointed, but that's how we grow. I love you my Jacob you are such a light in my life.

Jacob wanted to have a breakfast birthday party so the kids showed up in their jammies, ate a lot, wrestled, and had a pillow fight! I guess we are past the age of party games! Thanks for keepin' the cakes commin' Amie. I couldn't have feed them fast enough without you.

MALL MARATHON
Jacob, Lauryn, and Diego played their violas at the Mall Marathon. (Kids from Norman perform on their musical instruments all day at the mall, they even bring a piano in) The Norman School for Strings always participates and they did a great job. They have an awesome teacher! Lauryn doesn't hate it that much!

I FINALLY GOT LILA'S PICTURES TAKEN

So I have been a huge slacker about getting Lila's picture taken in her blessing dress, but I finally did it! My computer is being a huge headache so I only scanned one. Hopefully I will scan more of them later!

IT'S A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD
It is finally official! Our good friends the Searcys are moving in 3 doors down from us. We are all so excited and couldn't believe it when she first told us a couple of weeks ago that it was a possibility. They got the final O.K. and Lauryn is especially excited because their daughter Izzy is Lauryn's good friend and they will get to ride the bus together. I am especially happy for Amie because she will finally have another bedroom and a kitchen that she deserves. That girl can cook!

Well hopefully I will be better about posting more often. It has taken me a week to finally get this done! Tommorrow I am off to my mommys house in California for a long weekend. Just me and the baby. I can't wait to see her and relax a little...oh wait we are going to attempt to sew 3 Easter dresses! Maybe I won't relax much. Thank you my hubbie for being so great and keeping the kids so that I can see my mom. You're the best! I love you

Aitana and her comments

2009-03-03T12:43:00.000-08:00

Just a quick post on Aitana and some of her silly comments! This is a conversation that we had after I met with her Pre K teacher for conferences.

Aitana - "Mom what did my teacher say?"

Mom - "She said that you are very smart."

Aitana - "Are you lyin' or what?"

I'm not sure if she just doesn't have very much confidence in her ablilities or if she thought that maybe her teacher should have told me that she is into mischief all the time! She sure makes us laugh.

Then on Sunday we had stake conference (for my friends who aren't LDS it is a big church meeting). It was a broadcast and Elder Uchtdorf was speaking. Aitana looked at the big screen and asked me who he was so I told her and she said to me "He sure is handsome" I agreed with her.

Back From the Dead!!

2009-02-24T19:40:00.000-08:00

O.K. so I guess that I am back to the land of the living! Or maybe not. I still have to get up with Lila several times a night, but at least the others are adjusted back to being home. I am finally sitting down to update our blog. I decided that after gaining some major poundage after getting back from Spain, I needed to do something to keep myself from eating my favorite missed foods like...powdered donuts, cookies, Ben and Jerry's ice cream, etc, etc, etc!!! So here I am trying to keep myself out of the kitchen and decided that I would finally listen to all the emails and comments asking when we were going to update our blog. I had to start with Christmas pictures...I know, only 2 months late, but since this is like a diary I thought that I had better not skip it! So we spent Christmas at Grandma and Grandpas in Northern Cal and had a blast! Michelle and Robert surprised us and showed up the Saturday before Christmas. I couldn't have asked for a better gift. I love my family and there isn't anything that I would rather do than sit and hang with them. They are the best!!

So of course we did the nativity story. Thanks to Michelle who can pull anything together even in chaos. The kids did a great job and were so cute!

Aitana was Mary

Along side Todd as Joseph and Lila as baby Jesus

Lauryn played the Angel

Jacob played one of the wise men

Ryan and Rex played the Shepherds

Scott also played one of the wise men, Krista was the narrator and pianist, and Adam wanted nothing to do with the whole thing!!

After the nativity Santa made a surprise appearance. Ryan and Rex were not all that happy with him!!!

Michelle and my mom worked their booties off to get 4 dresses, 6 ties sown, and 6 suits ordered so the kids would all look fancy for church. My mom and sister are wonderful seamstresses and they all looked so cute. Krista sewed all the matching jammie pants!!

It was a little tough to get them all happy in the picture, but we got one O.K. one!

It was really fun to have Rex and Ryan together and hopefully one day they will be the best of pals!

I think that our little Lila enjoyed spending Christmas with the entire family too!

Hopefully I can be better about posting more, but I must admit having five kids has smacked me in the face pretty hard!! Thanks to Diego my house isn't a pit and I am still sane! I love my kids and wouldn't trade it for anything!

FINALLY, the Little Piggie We Were Missing!

2008-12-02T08:23:00.000-08:00

Lila Maria Batista was born (TODAY!) on December 2nd, 2008 around 2:45pm (Canary Islands time). She weighed 3.3 kilos (over 7 pounds). She has dark hair (that will change eventually) and big lips (as you can see in the pics). Melany and I are sooooo happy to welcome her into our family. We were waiting for the last little piggie that went wee wee all the way home, and she is finally here!

Oops!!

2008-11-28T10:00:00.000-08:00

Um our blog list got deleted so I would really appreciate it if anyone who reads this can look to make sure that we have you listed and if we have forgotten you please leave a comment with your blog address. I have a terrible memory! Thank you, Thank you! Stay tuned for our next post...fire in the building! Scary! Oh and by the way, in our new picture that Diego posted I just want you all to know that I would never buy the shirt that Ryan is wearing, it was given to him. I don´t think that it is true! I only put it on him here because most people don´t understand what it says! I actually picture Naydene who lives in a double wide, feathers her hair, wears stretch pants, and weighs in at about 350 putting it on her son!

Heart melting!

2008-11-25T01:53:00.000-08:00

I just had to post this before I forgot! Lauryn was asking to have her own email address because Jacob does, so we got her signed up yesterday. I always check their emails with them or before they do because you never know what is going to get sent to them. I just opened Lauryn´s email and found this from Jacob...too much for a mom!

Dear Lauryn,
You are my sister, and I am your brother, and I love you.
Jake

They are only 16 and a half months apart and they are best friends. Hopefully it stays that way even when they get older. I love listening to them at night talking and giggling. (Until it starts getting too late and then...well you know) They usually sneek into the same bed. Lauryn plays legos with Jacob and Jacob reads Junie B. Jones books with Lauryn. They are too cute! Lauryn was beside herself when Jacob was out of school for a week and she couldn´t play with him at recess. What more could you want as a mom! I am so glad that Lauryn has a wonderful big brother like I do. What a blessing.

DNA

2008-11-23T07:03:00.000-08:00

I love what kids come up with!! So on Friday Jacob came home from school and was very anxious to show me something. He pulls out this little notebook and opens it. The first page reads, "DNA Book By Jacob." Then he turns the page and there is a hair taped to it and written underneath it says Jacob´s hair, his sex, age, and color of eyes. I was cracking up. Throughout the day he managed to collect many different people´s hair, eyelashes, and eyebrows. He then informed me that when he grows up he wants to be a scientist that works with DNA. In my head I am thinking, "yeah stick to that one you can make good money being a scientist!" I once got in trouble with Diego when Jacob told me that when he grew up he wanted to be a writer and I pretty much shot him down informing him that it is very difficult to become a successful writer and they usually don´t make a good living. O.K. so definately not one of my shining mom moments! I learned my lesson so now I just agree how great it would be to become a shop owner, construction worker, lego architect, Wii game maker, or whatever the choice job of the week is!

I was also happy that Jacob informed me that he changed his mind about what he wants for Christmas (for the 100th time.) He said that he wants a science kit with a "microscope and tubes to do science experiments." I am definately happier spending money on that than another lego set, or wii game! If anyone has any suggestions on where or which one is good please let me know. I am going to have minimal time to do Christmas shopping when we get home.

So back to DNA. We are all sitting in the living room when I glance over at Lauryn, who is sitting next to Ryan on the coffee table, and without even blinking she grabs a large tuft of Ryan´s bangs and cuts it off!! Um, did I just see what I think I saw? Now, I must admit Ryan´s hair is getting a little too long, but I get an uproar from the entire family including Diego when I even mention cutting it! And yes Amie, he is starting to look a little like a man child! Luckily you couldn´t really tell that she cut it. Anyways after putting Lauryn in time out and explaining to her that we don´t cut anyone´s hair, including our own, and after she apologized for not asking permission (yeah, because I would´ve said yes if you asked, or NOT!), I did have to laugh to myself and be greatful that my kids like to help each other out with their projects. After all, she said that she was just trying to help Jacob get more DNA! I did catch Lauryn today trying to pull one of Aitana´s eyelashes out! When I got on her about it Aitana looked at me and said "I want her to." O.K. kids whatever!

Here is the infamous hair that Lauryn cut from Ryan´s locks!

Most would agree that it is at least time for a trim.

My brave boy

2008-11-14T01:34:00.000-08:00

Well just a quick update on my boy. Jacob is recovering well from his surgery and being very brave. We got to the emergency room at around 10 in the morning on Tuesday and he was in surgery at 1 in the afternoon. I was impressed at how fast they were. The doctor said that everything went well, but that his appendix was very swollen almost to the point of bursting. What a blessing that we got him in before it burst! I always used to think to myself, "I hope that nothing painful ever happens to Jacob because he will scream the entire time." He doesn´t deal with pain well at all! Well I was wrong about this. He has been amazing! He hasn´t complained much at all, well a little when they changed the bandage, but not much. They finally let him eat soft foods yesturday and today probably a little more variety.

We are all very proud of him and are anxious for him to come home. Hopefully tomorrow or Sunday he will get to come home. It is wearing on all of us especailly Lauryn. She had a terrible day at school yesturday becuase she misses him so much, and of coarse it was picture day! She said that she didn´t smile at all so I will make sure to post that gem of a picture when I get it.

We are very lucky that the Tranvia stops one street from our house and stops right in front of the hospital or changing off would be a real headache. Diego has been sleeping there and then I have been spending the afternoon with him. (We have been playing a lot of Phase 10!) We were going to switch off nights, but there was no way that I could´ve sleep in that reclining chair with hopefully only a week or 2 to go till our new addition. They won´t allow visitors in under 12, but the kids dropped in for a short hello last night and Ryan got to say hi quickly the day before. Thanks for all the prayers and notes!

Jacob said that he was like a human fire engine with all the tubes coming off his IV.

When it rains it poors!

2008-11-11T04:54:00.000-08:00

Well just a quick note to let everyone know that Jacob is at the hospital right now and has to have his appendix out. (Not sure how to spell and I´m a little frazled right now!) Anyways say a prayer for him. I´m sure that he will be fine, but it sure is tough as a mom to see him go through this!

What the heck is the deal!!

2008-11-10T12:52:00.000-08:00

O.K. so I am a little bitter right now and I have to vent. I truly enjoy being pregnant...I know I´m sick and wrong. I wouldn´t have almost 5 kids if I had terrible pregnancies. Anyways so since we arrived in Spain a little over 5 months ago I have only gained like 7 pounds and I weigh the least that I have ever weighed with any of my pregnancies. I totally attribute this to having to walk everywhere and not being able to drive through any of my favorite fast food joints anytime I feel a touch hungry or I didn´t plan dinner. (Now I am not saying I am thin by any means because I definately started this pregnancy way over my ideal weight but at least I haven´t tacked on another 20-30 pounds like I usually do.)

So back to my frustration. I have always chuckled to myself about these super thin women who look like a tooth pick with a pea on it and have high blood sugar or high blood pressure when they are prego. I don´t laugh because I am super jealous that they look so great, but I just think that it should be the women who can throw down the super sized Big Mac meals with no prob. (like myself) that should struggle with those issues. It just seems logical to me. Hope I don´t offend any of my fellow big eaters!! So I have my first glucose test and I pass it. I have never had an issue with any of my pregnancies, but for some crazy reason the Doc has me do another one. Not sure why, maybe they do it differently here. Well that great orange drink that they give you isn´t quite as great here ha ha. They don´t even try to make it somewhat drinkable. Nope, the second time I had to do it I just about lost it!

So I go to the OB tonight and he has the results from my blood tests and says that my blood sugar is a little high and then the nurse takes my blood presure and says that it is a little high!!! Wait a second....I am like 15 pounds less than any of my other pregnancies, how can this be? Then the doctor procedes to tell Diego that I have to go in for the grand daddy glucose test of them all tomorrow which is 3 hours and they have to draw blood 3 times, oh yeah and I couldn´t leave out that tasty orange drink!! Oh, if I had a Taco Bell close I would have driven there and thrown down a few burritos! Oh, and the biggest Dr. Pepper that I could get my hands on. Oh wait maybe not, the heart burn would have killed me! So needless to say I am totally bitter! I am definately happy that I haven´t gained as much weight, but someone help me understand the logistics because I am definately not a doctor!!

I also had an unltrasound this morning and the tech said that the baby looked chubby (gordita) and that my amniotic fluid was okay to low. She scheduled me to have another ultrasound a week from Friday. The baby´s health comes first but it would be great timewise if I had to be induced a little early. We´ll see!

Quick note of funny things kids say
The kids are watching some Chinese show called something like ninja warrior. It looked a little bit to me like American Gladiators only there weren´t any steriod using gladitors on this show, just really strong Chinese men. The contestants have to go through these crazy obstacle courses that require massive amounts of strength. Don´t ask me why, but the kids think it is the greatest thing. So this is the conversation.

Jacob-Mom do they have any shows like this in the US?
Me-Yeah they have a show called American Gladiators

A few minutes pass.

Jacob-If Daddy ever went on that show he would have to lose a LOT of weight and gain a little bit of muscles.
Me-HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa.........................................
Lauryn-But Daddy isn´t from China, he is from Spain.
Me-HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaha.............................................

Entry from Jacob and Lauryn

2008-11-06T09:08:00.000-08:00

I have a feeling that this blog is soon going to become overtaken by the kids! (Not like pretty much every entry is about them) Every little thing that they do they ask to post it on the blog and usually I say no because it is chaos sitting down with all the kids to try to do this kind of thing, but finally I gave in. so here are there entries! And no Jacob does not watch wrestling, but they didn´t have the soccer chips that he wanted.

Jacob´s new wrestiling chips

Well, I got these new wrestling chips, as you can seen in the pics. The people on the chips, or

W chipz, are JTG, Trevor Murdoch, Mick Foley & Chris Jericho.

(P.S. I Jacob wrote this.)

Lauryn´s new journal

This is my journal. I call it "My Private Journal" and it´s nick name is "Diary." I already wrote on 2 pages, but I like reading them a lot of times. Well I wrote that at school one day we were supposed to draw a leapord, but when a girl named Nedea saw my leapord she said "que feo" which means how ugly. Then when she showed me hers I said "que bonita" which means how pretty. So now I´m her friend. The End

Halloween in Spain / "Jalogüín" en España

2008-11-01T08:09:00.000-07:00

Although not many people celebrate Halloween here in Spain I couldn´t pass up celebrating one of my favorite holidays, so we decided to have a small little family Halloween party. Grandma sent a fun Halloween package with some cute tops for the kids and fun treats. Thanks Grandma! Diego and I started out the day running around getting all the things that we needed for the party and we actually found some Halloween decorations! When I say running around I literally mean running around since we don´t have a car. I would say that we probably walked 4 or more miles! We also had an ultrasound scheduled for the day so we had to fit that in too. The OB said that everything looked normal, i.e. amniotic fluid, heart, kidneys, bladder, and her size. We were happy with the results since when we had the last ultrasound the tech was a little worried about the amount of fluid and her size.

So here are the results of all our work. I must say it definately paid off! The kids loved it and we didn´t even get one whine or complaint! The kids decided to dress themselves up and this is what they came up...Jacob decided to be a mad scientist, Lauryn a Flamenco Dancer, Aitana a princess, Ryan, well he ended up dressing up like a white trash baby after spilling one too many things on himself, and Alejandro, a farmer.

We started off with a fun and healthy dinner, hot dogs, pizza, chips, and punch. Oh, did I say healthy? My mistake. After dinner we play pin the nose on the pumpkin. Even Ryan liked it.

The kids loved the eat the donut off the string with no hands, but it didn´t last too long since the donuts quickly fell to the floor. Three second rule!!

Next, crafts! I am always a little leery of crafts during parties because the kids are usually a little crazy and uninterested, but the kids actually enjoyed the candy spiders and Halloween book marks. Short, sweet, and to the point!

O.K. why not a few more treats to get the kids completely sick. Grandma sent this Halloween cupcake kit and it made a whopping 6 cupcakes, but enough sprinkles and frosting mix (you had to add powdered sugar, butter and water to the frosting mix, I think that the frosting mix was just food coloring) for like 20 cupcakes. The kids loved them!

Next Tía Pily told the kids a spooky Halloween story. She gets hired to do story telling a lot and the kids loved it. They got a little creeped out when the vampire in the story grabbed a knife, but then were cracking up when she started singing about using the knife to spread some peanut butter!

O.K. finally the grand finale! Trick-or-treating!! The kids went door to door to each bedroom. They had such a fun time and since we bought all the candy we didn´t have a plethera of too many tootsie rolls, hard candy, mints, dumb dumbs, etc. You know the candy that sticks around until the next Halloween! Purely the good stuff that we knew they would like!

All and all it was a hit and I must admit it ended up being just as fun or funner than Halloween in the states....No one got cold trick or treating, no one was over tired from a day full of too many activities (well, except for mom and dad), and no one threw up! (at least not yet).

So sad to say goodbye!

2008-10-28T01:53:00.000-07:00

Well I had to say good bye to my treasured flip flops! (Side note: I always called them thongs growing up until the all so popular underwear took over the name and people looked at you weird when you yelled across Payless Shoes "Look at these cute thongs!" I begrudgingly changed my verbage.) Anyways I bought these on clearance at Wallgreens as I was running out after picking up a perscription over a year ago. If I remember correctly they cost me $1.50. Wow what a treasure I had found only didn´t realize it at the time. I just wanted some cheap shoes to throw on when getting kids from the bus or running to Taco Bell. Oh how great they have been! I can´t count the miles that I have walked through Tenerife in them. I even bought some better looking flip flops, but nothing was as good. Why is it that we can shop and shop for hours for something, but it is never quite as good as the wonderful items that we find on clearance at Walmart, Target, or even Goodwill! (Another side note: One time Diego found a Willow Tree at Goodwill for a dollar...he was so proud!) I know that these flip flops are so disguistingly dirty, but that never bothered me. If you look closely you can see where Lauryn stuck a sticker on them and then I couldn´t get it off so the adhesive just collected dirt...nasty. Anyways you can judge me like all the other fasionable ladies here do or you can feel sorry for me and tell me to go buy some knew shoes either way my feet are in mourning! I wish that I had taken a side shot before I threw them away so that all could see how worn down they were. Oh what a sad day!

Ryan´s Musical Debut / El debut musical de Ryan

2008-10-22T03:05:00.000-07:00

Before playing the video, make sure you stop or pause the playlist at the bottom of the page. Enjoy!

Antes de ver el video, asegúrense de parar o pausar la lista de canciones que está al final de la página, porque si no escucharán dos canciones al mismo tiempo. ¡Qué lo disfruten!

Book Worms / ¡Suelta ese libro!

2008-10-21T01:11:00.000-07:00

Our kids love to read!! They usually ask to go to bed about a half an hour early so that they have time to read their favorite books. Sometimes they are upset when we are out too late and we have to tell them to turn the lights out before they have a chance to read. When we got to Spain we didn´t really think about not having English books for them to read. They got through the ones we brought very quickly. We checked out as many English books from the local library as we could but you can guess the English section wasn´t that big! Finally, when Melany´s mom came to visit in July, she brought a whole suitcase full of books from Michelle and as gifts for the kids. Well, we are just about done with all of those, they´d better learn Spanish faster so they can read El Quijote, and One Hundred Years of Solitude before we get back!

Harry Potter is still Jacob´s favorite but he has now read many classics he has really enjoyed. Currently, he is venturing into the Lord of the Rings. We are not sure if it will be too much for him. It doesn´t look like he´s enjoying The Hobbit very much, does it?

Ryan is really starting to enjoy books, especially anything with a dog in it. Right now, every animal makes the same barking noise! "Woof, woof."

Aitana loves to be read to (especially by her sister Lauryn) and look at picture books. Hopefully she will pick up reading as quickly as the older two. We are sure once she does she will love reading as much as the others.

Lauryn LOOOOVES the Junie B. Jones series. All the ones that she owns she has read 4 to 5 times each. She doesn´t just read one at a time, she usually has 3 to 4 going at the same time. That would confuse me but she always knows exactly what happens in every book and quotes Junie quite often. Last night we had to take them away from her for an evening after her aunt Pily asked her what was wrong with Aitana and she replied that it wasn´t any of her "beeswax."

Blogging

2008-10-14T02:45:00.000-07:00

"I´m Melany and I´m a blogaholic!" I just had to laugh as I was reading my friends blog about her crazy day. We all talk about how crazy it gets and how we don´t have enough time to get things done....then we blog about it. That takes some time, but I would rather do that than dishes! I love it!! I am addicted to blogging and reading others blogs. The other day Diego asked me what I did and I said, "Um wasted my time on the computer!" But then again it isn´t a waste to me. I feel like I am friends again with my old friends and back in touch with my cousins and whoever else I find while going from blog to blog to blog. I love to read about peoples lifes. Maybe I´ll make a pact with Diego and tell him that I will stop eavsdropping at restaurants since I spend so much time on blogs. O.K. or maybe I won´t! Thanks Diego for getting us started and thanks Taryn for pushing me!!

Side note - Ryan is talking a little! Ryan has been repeating words here and there. His first was agua. He doesn´t just come out and say things usually, but he does a lot of repeating. Anyways last night we were playing with the camera and he grabbed it and said "say cheese." Diego and I looked at each other and were shocked. He continued to do it as he tried to take my picture. Lauryn and Aitana didn´t talk until they were 2 so I guess that he has a leg up on them!

Pregnancy Update, 8 Weeks and Counting / Recuento del embarazo, 8 semanas y contando

2008-10-10T06:52:00.000-07:00

Well I went to have an ultrasound yesterday and it was short, sweet, and to the point. I had Diego take a pic of me before we left because I don´t have many pictures of myself pregnant. I would love to have a picture of my mom when she was pregnant with me. Anyways the tech said that things look good. She said that our baby girl is a little small and that my amniotic fluid is O.K., but not great. (I have had low amniotic fluid with just about every pregnancy.) She said that if she continues with this growth that she probably won´t weigh more than 3 kilos, which is about 6.6 pounds. I´m still a little baffled as to why Diego and I have small babies! Looking at us you would think that we would have 10 pounders! Ryan has been our biggest at 8 pounds. She scheduled me to come back in a month to check my fluid so hopefully things get better. She told me that I need to rest...yeah right...I have to walk everywhere and have 4 kids...that´s going to happen. We´ll keep everyone updated. We are very excited to meet our baby girl, but not as excited to rush to get a passport for her so that we can come home. It´s a lot of paperwork and we have to go to another island since there isn´t a US consulate on this one, but it is only a 45 minute ferry ride. Hopefully she comes in enough time!!

Ayer fuimos al tocólogo para que le hicieran una ecografía a Melany. Fue entrar y salir. Diego le hizo una foto a Melany antes de ir porque no tiene muchas fotos del embarazo y además a Melany siempre le habría gustado tener una foto de su madre embarazada de ella. Pues, la enfermera dijo que todo iba bien. También nos informó de que la bebé era un poco pequeña y que aunque el líquido amniótico estaba bien, no había demasiado (Melany ha tenido un nivel bajo de líquido amniótico en todos los embarazos). La enfermera dijo que si la bebé continuaba así no pesaría más de 3 kilos. Todavía nos sorprende el hecho de que tengamos bebés tan pequeños. Mirándonos cualquiera pensaría que nuestros hijos nacen pesando 4 ó 5 kilos. Ryan ha sido el más grande de todos por ahora (3.700). La enfermera nos dio cita para dentro de un mes y así verificar el nivel del líquido amniótico y ver como van las cosas. Le dijo a Melany que necesitaba descansar...sí hombre...con lo que caminamos aquí y 4 hijos, no creo que eso vaya a ocurrir muy pronto. Les mantendremos informados. Estamos muy animados de conocer a nuestra bebé, pero no tanto como de tener que apurarnos para conseguirle el pasaporte americano para volver a casa. Es un montón de burocracia y tenemos que irnos a Gran Canaria ya que en Tenerife no hay ningún consulado americano (pero solo es un viaje en barco de 45 minutos). ¡Esperemos que la niña venga con tiempo suficiente!

Park After Park / Parques y más parques

2008-10-07T06:07:00.000-07:00

Santa Cruz of Tenerife (and Spain in general) has a lot of parks. Our children love to go out in the afternoon and spend some time at any of the many parks around the city (which also gives us a chance to let them run free and stretch their legs). We have been taking pictures during the last four months and I believe it is time to let you see some of the places we have visited. I hope you enjoy the slideshow!

Santa Cruz de Tenerife (y España en general) tiene un montón de parques. A nuestros hijos les encanta salir por las tardes y pasar un rato en uno de los muchos parques de la ciudad (lo que también nos ofrece la oportunidad de dejarlos correr y estirar las piernas). Llevamos cuatro meses sacando fotos y creo que ha llegado la hora de mostrarles algunos de los lugares que hemos visitado. ¡Espero que disfruten las diapositivas!

New Music / Música nueva

2008-10-05T10:27:00.000-07:00

Well my husband finally put some music on our blog. Um do you like the song choice about not wanting to go to rehab by Amy Winehouse. Maybe I can go to rehab if it means a few days of silence by myself!! Maybe a while in solitary confinement and detox would do me good!! :) No I don´t mean to make a joke out of it and it is a catchy song, but not quite sure if it fits our family!! What do ya think??

Por fin mi esposo le puso música a nuestro blog. ¿Qué les parece la canción sobre no querer ir a rehabilitación que canta Amy Winehouse? ¡¡Quizás yo necesito ir a rehabilitación si eso significa que puedo disfrutar un par de días de silencio!! Tal vez un poco de confinamiento en solitario y desintoxicación me harían bien. :) Con esto no intento burlarme de nadie (al fin y al cabo es una canción pegadiza, aunque no estoy seguro de que vaya con nuestra familia). A ustedes, ¿qué les parece?

My spanish, or lack thereof! / Mi español, o falta del mismo

2008-09-29T13:48:00.000-07:00

Well last Sunday we got to church, not having to run the entire way which is usually the case, and sat our family under the only air conditioning. After the branch Pres. made his announcements he said that Diego would be giving the opening prayer. I said "did they ask you" and he said no, but who cares really it´s a prayer how hard can it be! We got through the meeting with not too many issues with our 4 wiggly kids and I heard my name towards the end right before the closing song. I asked Diego "did they announce that I am speaking in a couple of weeks?" Which I am! It seemed a little odd to me, but you never know. He said no he said that you were giving the closing prayer!!! Um great! They asked me to give the closing prayer one other time and I was a nervous wreck!! It´s not like you can just write it down, have your hubby translate it and then read it! I have a terrible memory so I didn´t even try to memorize it. So the first time they asked me I thought that I could just practice in my head during church and ask Diego how to say some of the things that I was thinking about. Well it just happened that Jacob rolled his ankle the day before and it was getting worse so Diego took him to the doctor Sunday morning! I was on my own. I did ask one of the elders (my dentist from Californias son...it´s a small world) to translate a few things. I did o.k., but made it short and sweet. Anyways back to last Sunday. So I had very little time to play things out in my head and just got up and winged it. So after my short and sweet prayer I go walking off the stand and see Diego grinning and talking to his sister! O.k. I´m sure that I screwed something up!! So I sit down and Jacob looks at me and says "doesn´t Sabado mean Saturday?" In my prayer I said that I was greatful for this Saturday!! Am I LDS or Seventh Day Adventist? O.k. great my 8 year old son knows more Spanish than his dumb mom! No, I know my days of the week for heavens sake, but that is what you get for springing a prayer on an unsuspecting gringa!!!

I´m going to start quoting my kids when I can remember some of the funny things that they say at the end of my posts. This blogging has been great journaling for me!!

I was getting on Aitana for splashing water all over the bathroom and this is how our converstion went

Mom.."Aitana stop splashing and flooding the bathroom"

Aitana.. "Why does Ryan get to?"

Mom.."Because he is a baby and doesn´t understand that he shouldn´t. You are a big girl and know better."

Aitana.."I wish I was a baby."

Mom.."You were once."

Aitana.."Did I splash when I was a baby? Because I really wanted to."

Mom.."Yes of course!"

Si realmente quieren saber el significado del palique éste que se metió mi esposa, pues me avisan y se los resumo...

This Week / Esta semana

2008-09-26T01:30:00.000-07:00

Well this last week has gone by fast. Last Friday night Diego and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary and we were able to go away for a night thanks to Diego´s sister and Louise, a good friend, who kept our kids. We went to dinner and then went back to the hotel and did absolutely nothing, but enjoy the airconditioning, silence and each other. Oh yeah and I took a bath for the first time in almost 4 months. (We don´t have a tub at the house.) Diego asked me do you want to go for a walk or shopping or anything and I said no way I just want to relax and do nothing!! We did just that. Diego had 10 roses and some of my favorite treats waiting in the room when we arrived, but I am sad to say that I didn´t eat many of my treats. Unfortunatley or fortunately I am running out of room in my tummy and get really sick if I eat too much or too many sweets. The kids were thrilled that we came home with left overs which we used for bribery....isn´t that what any good parent would do!!

School is going well for the kids. Jacob still gets a little frustrated with the language, but is picking up a lot. They come home from school and say things that I don´t understand!! I guess I had better study more. Jacob gets a little extra help in language on some days since we opted not to have him attend religion class! The title of the book that they use is "Me llamo Jesús." "They call me Jesus." Um you wouldn´t see that at a public school in the good ol´ US of A. Lauryn was invited to a birthday party so she is very excited! Diego and I had to laugh when she came home with the invitation because her name was spelled Loring!! Hey at least they tried. We took the tranvía to Toys R Us last night to pick a gift. The kids haven´t been to Toys R Us in nearly 4 months so they were in heaven looking at all the new toys. I can happily say that we made it out with no tears or fits and only the birthday gift in hand! That was a proud moment!

Aitana-I love how honest kids are. We were walking a couple of days ago and Aitana was behind me and she said "mom your butt shakes when you walk." Obviously!! Then she stopped and asked "watch mine, does it shake when I walk?" I wasn´t quite sure what answer she was looking for and I guess it moves a little, but I´m sure that it doesn´t even compare to mine. So I answered no and she looked a little dissapointed. Then she went behind Lauryn and said "Lauryn´s does." That made me feel a little better! :)

We also had a chance to spend some time with Rosa, an old friend of Diego´s, and her kids (Dexter and Sharon). We took the kids to Parque Boulevard to play in the fountain. They had a great time!

Esta semana se ha ido volando. El viernes por la noche celebramos nuestro décimo aniversario y pudimos escaparnos una noche gracias a Pily (la hermana de Diego) y Louise, una buena amiga, que se quedaron con los niños. Fuimos a cenar y después a un hotel para no hacer absolutamente nada, sino disfrutar del aire acondicionado, el silencio y de nuestra mutua compañía. Melany se dio un baño por primera vez en casi cuatro meses (la casa donde nos quedamos no tiene bañera, sólo plato de ducha). Diego le preguntó a Melany si quería ir a dar un paseo o ir de compras o cualquier cosa, pero Melany sólo quería relajarse y no hacer nada. Y eso es justamente lo que hicimos. Diego tenía preparadas 10 rosas (una por cada año de casados) y una cesta llena de las golosinas que más le gustan a Melany, aunque no las pudo disfrutar tanto como le habría gustado. Desafortunadamente (o afortunadamente) a Melany le queda poco espacio en la barriga con el bebé y se pone mala si come mucho o muchas chucherías. A los niños les encantó que volviéramos a casa con tantas golosinas que usamos para conseguir que se porten bien....¿no es eso lo que hacen todos los buenos padres?

En la escuela les va bien a los niños. Jacob todavía se frustra un poquito con el español, pero está aprendiendo un montón. A veces llegan a casa diciendo cosas que Melany no entiende. Imagino que tendrá que ponerse a estudiar un poco más. Jacob recibe ayuda extra en lengua algunos días ya que optamos por que no tomaran la clase de religión. El título del libro es “Me llamo Jesús”. Me pregunto si un libro así se vería en las escuelas públicas de EE.UU. ¡Lo dudo! A Lauryn la invitaron a una fiesta de cumpleaños y está emocionadísima. Nos tuvimos que reir cuando recibimos la invitación porque habían deletreado el nombre como “Loring”. Bueno, al menos lo intentaron. Fuimos en el tranvía a Toys R US anoche para comprar un relago. Nuestros hijos no han estado en una tienda de Toys R US en más de 4 meses así que se hallaban en el paraiso mirando todos los juguetes que han salido al mercado. Podemos afirmar que salimos de la tienda sin que nadie se enfandara o pidiera llorando que le compráramos algo, solo con el regalo del cumpleaños. ¡Fue un momento para estar orgullosos!

Aitana-me encanta lo sinceros que son los niños. Hace unos días íbamos caminando y Aitana estaba detrás de Melany cuando dijo “mamá, tu culo se mueve cuando caminas.” ¡Obviamente! Entonces se paró y preguntó “mira el mío, ¿se mueve cuando camino?” Melany no estaba muy segura que tipo de respuesta Aitana quería oír, y supongo que se mueve un poco pero estamos seguros de que no se compara al de Melany. Por tanto, Melany le dijo que no y vio la cara de desilusión que ponía. Después Aitana corrió donde estaba Lauryn y dijo “el de Lauryn se mueve”. ¡Eso hizo que Melany se sintiera un poco mejor!

Además tuvimos la suerte de pasar la tarde con Rosa, una vieja amiga de Diego, y sus hijos (Dexter y Sharon). Llevamos a los niños al Parque Boulevard para que jugaran en la fuente. ¡Se lo pasaron en grande!

10 years with my best friend!

2008-09-19T03:12:00.000-07:00

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Well this post is for my husband. I think that he will actually be impressed since I figured out how to scan this with everything on the computer in Spanish! Yeah me! Anyways we are celebrating our 10 year anniversery today and I just had to post a cheesy entry to surprise my hubby. What a wonderful 10 years that I have had with my husband. He is the most patient man I know...at least with me! He has been so understanding and caring all of these years and I am so blessed to have him as my own! Well I guess that I have to share him with my kids. If you know Diego he his a very hard worker and determined, but also always has time to have fun and have a good laugh. I have never had to worry that we would go without. I know that he would work 10 jobs if he had to so that I could do what I love and stay at home with my kids. I have really enjoyed being in Spain and meeting so many people that have been a part of his life and people that he has touched. He is truly loved by many! Diego I love you so much and I am so glad that we have eternity to be together! Happy Anniversary! Thank you for loving me.

Dang it...he beat me to it!! I hurried to post this while he was gone and when I finished it he had allready posted something to me....Cheater you lied and said that you were going to visit a sick friend!! Great minds think alike!

10th Year Mark / El décimo aniversario

2008-09-19T00:51:00.000-07:00

I want to be first to let everyone know that today, September 19th, is our 10th wedding anniversary. It´s been 10 years since I married the most wonderful, beautiful, and generous person I could have ever dreamed of! Heavenly Father has really blessed me in so many ways. Melany is at the top of my list!

To be continued...

Quiero ser el primero en hacerles saber que hoy, el 19 de septiembre, es nuestro décimo aniversario de boda. Hace ya 10 años que me casé con la mujer más maravillosa, bella y generosa que pude haber soñado jamás. Dios me ha bendecido de muchas maneras, y Melany está a la cabeza de mi lista de bendiciones.

Continuará...

Odds and Ends / Cabos sueltos

2008-09-18T01:18:00.000-07:00

This post is a request from our children. I think that they feel like they are celebrities when they see themselves on the computer. We were at the park and Lauryn said take a picture of us at the top so that you can post it on our blog! Then Jacob wanted me to document his mohawk. He definately needs a hair cut!

Nuestros hijos nos pidieron que publicáramos esta entrada en el blog. Creo que se sienten como los famosos cuando se ven en el ordenador. Estábamos en el parque y Lauryn dijo que les hiciéramos una foto para que la pudiéramos poner en el blog. Más tarde Jacob quiso que documentáramos su cresta. ¡No hay duda de que le hace falta un buen corte de pelo!

Now my little bit of mom stuff...I have been terrible about documenting statements that my kids have said throughout the years so I am hoping this blog will push me to be a better historian. Lauryn....she has cracked me up the past few days. A couple of days ago I was helping her wash her hair and if you know Lauryn then you know that she always has a story or a comment...The apple doesn´t fall far from the tree! Well, she was telling me something -don´t remember what it was about- (Diego can attest that I need to work on my listening skills), so after she told me her story I said "No Way!" Then she looked at me and said "Mom I think that parents just talk that way to make kids happy when they tell them things." She is very observant and probably realized that I wasn´t listening as intently as I should have been, but tried to act interested. What a great mom! Then yesterday she was asking about child birth. Well she has asked before and trying to be honest with her I explained some things and also about the epidural....That totally traumatized her!! So I was talking to her about it more yesterday and she seemed very disturbed about, should I say, trying to fit something the size of a watermelon through a hole the size of a lemon! I did tell her it was a little painful, but then reminded her that there is very good medicine that helps with the pain. She then said "like when they stick the needle in your back" I said yes then she got this horrible look on her face and said..."That´s why I want to be a boy."

Melany dice que no ha hecho su trabajo como madre de documentar lo que nuestros hijos han dicho y hecho a través de los años (sobre todo lo cómico), esperemos que este blog sirva como excusa para documentar sus aventuras de aquí en adelante.

Hace unos días Melany estaba lavándole el pelo a Lauryn (si la conocen ya saben que nuestra hija siempre tiene un relato o comentario que hacer-la manzana nunca cae lejos del árbol, dicho americano para decir que "de tal palo tal astilla"). Pues bueno, ese día Lauryn estaba contándole algo, Melany no recuerda sobre qué era exactamente (si le preguntan a Diego él podra atestiguar que Melany necesita desarrollar sus técnicas de escucha), y al terminar la historia, Melany dijo "¿De verdad? No me digas". Lauryn se quedó pensativa unos momentos y después dijo "mamá, creo que eso es lo que los padres dicen para que sus hijos estén contentos cuando les cuentan cosas". Lauryn se fija en todo y ya se ha dado cuenta de que Melany no escucha con la fervosidad que debería sino que intenta parecer interesada, digamos. ¡Qué madraza!, ¿no? Justo ayer, Lauryn le preguntaba cosas a Melany sobre el nacimiento de los bebés. Ya se lo había preguntado antes y en su intento de ser sincera le explicó ciertas cosas, incluyendo lo de la epidural. ¡Creo que eso la traumatizó! Así que ayer estaban hablando un poco más sobre el tema y como Melany la vio bastante preocupada con la idea de que algo del tamaño de una sandía saliera por un agujero del tamaño de un limón, Melany le confesó que era un poco doloroso pero que había drogas que ayudaban con el proceso de dar a luz. Lauryn dijo "como cuando te clavan una aguja en la espalda...?" Melany le respondió que sí. Lauryn puso una cara que expresaba su horror ante la información y casi con lágrimas en los ojos suelta "¡por eso quiero ser un chico!". Esta niña tiene cada cosa.

School Is Finally Here / Ya llegó la escuela...¡por fin!

2008-09-12T01:07:00.000-07:00

We looooove our children, but let´s face it, 3 months of summer in a small house could drain anyone, even the most devoted parents! So when the first day of school arrived, no one was happier than we were. Still we were worried that school in Spain would be a hard time for our kids from the start. We crossed our fingers and sent them to school hoping for the best.

Queremos a nuestros hijos un montón, pero hay que reconocerlo, 3 meses de verano metidos en un piso puede volver loco a cualquiera, aun a los padres más devotos. Así que cuando llegó el primer día de colegio, nadie estaba más contento que nosotros. Aún así nos preocupaba que la escuela en España fuera bastante difícil para nuestros hijos desde un comienzo. Cruzamos los dedos y los enviamos a la escuela deseando lo mejor.

Surprinsingly enough, Aitana had the best time (even though this is her first time in school ever, and in Spanish). She loves her teacher, she already made new friends and likes to be doing what her older siblings have been doing for a while. She is such an independent princess! Lauryn enjoyed it as well. Even though at first she felt lost and frustrated, after a while, she realized she could do it, even in a foreign country. Now, she loves going to school and has no problems making friends and completing her work (aftre three days, the teacher realized she was in the wrong class, so they had to send her to a new teacher. We were worried thinking she wouldn´t take the change well, however, she still enjoys school and she is excited she now has double the friends). Jacob had the roughest time at the beginning. Being the perfectionist he is, he felt frustrated when he couldn´t understand his teacher or the work to do. Jacob thought the teacher was mad at him because she used a "loud voice". Every day, however, he does better, (yesterday he commented "it was the best day yet!"), and we are confident he will do great at school. We really hope the kids will learn a lot of Spanish during these 3 months, so we can continue working on it upon our return to Oklahoma. By the way, in case you noticed the girls´ribbons, since they couldn´t pick their first school outfit (the school requires uniforms), we let them pick any color of ribbon they liked (even if it didn´t match the white and blue of their uniforms!).

Para nuestra sorpresa, Aitana se lo pasó de miedo (aunque esta es la primera vez que va a la escuela y además en español). Le encanta su profe (Maria Isabel), ya ha hecho nuevos amigos y está contentísima de poder hacer lo que sus hermanos mayores llevan haciendo un par de años. ¡Tremenda princesa independiente! Lauryn también lo pasó bien, aunque al principio se sentía cohibida y frustrada, cuando se dio cuenta de que podía completar el trabajo, empezó a disfrutar de la escuela, incluso en un país extranjero. Ahora, le gusta mucho ir a clase, no tiene problemas haciendo amigos y puede terminar el trabajo a tiempo (después de tres días, la maestra se dio cuenta de que Lauryn estaba en la clase equivocada, así que tuvieron que mandarla a otra clase. Al principio, nos preocupó porque pensamos que no se tomaría el cambio de manera positiva, sin embargo al regresar a casa nos dijo que ahora tenía el doble de amigos). Jacob lo pasó bastante mal al principio. Como perfeccionista que es, se sentía frustrado al no entender a la maestra o el trabajo que tenía que hacer. Jacob pensaba que la maestra estaba enfadada con él porque hablaba en "voz alta". Ahora, después de varios días, se encuentra más a gusto y no tenemos ninguna duda de que pasará esta prueba sin problemas. Esperamos que en estos 3 meses, los niños aprendan mucho español para que podamos continuar mejorándolo al volver a Oklahoma. Por cierto, en caso que notaran los lazos que las niñas llevan en el pelo, pues como no pudieron estrenar vestido (la escuela exige uniforme), les dejamos que llevaran el color del lazo que quisieran (aunque no pegara con el color del uniforme, que es azul marino y blanco).

For those that wonder what Ryan does while his brother and sisters are in school, just look at the picture below. I think he´s living it up!

Para aquellos que se preguntan qué hace Ryan mientras sus hermanos están en la escuela, miren la foto. ¡Yo creo que se lo está pasando en grande!

And if you want to know what we do while the kids are school for 4 hours every morning...well, just look at the picture for a little preview.

Y si quieren saber que hacemos nosotros mientras los niños están en la escuela 4 horas cada mañana...bueno, simplemente miren la foto para que se hagan una idea.

Kids clothes

2008-09-05T01:11:00.000-07:00

So I had to post this quick blog because I was laughing so hard and I am usually really bad about writting down funny things that my kids say. In the last few days I have been thinking a lot about how my kids match their clothes. I used to care, but with 4 I don´t really care anymore unless we are going somewhere special or to church. Jacobs´favorite thing to wear is a pair of camo shorts and a camo tshirt. They are different shades of green and styles, but he insists on wearing them together. When I get a chance I´ll take a pic and post it. Lauryn does pretty good probably because most of her clothes I bought to go together. Aitana on the other hand has a plethera of hand me downs so her outfits can get pretty crazy. Anyways back to the funny comment. We were getting clothes for Aitana today and she said she wanted to wear "hot pants." Well my definition of hot pants is tight short shorts (usualy worn in the 80´s, but I have spotted them way too much here in Spain!) She obviously was refering to long pants, but it made me chuckle because unless she sneaks them when she is a teen, she will never wear hot pants!

The Final Days of Summer / Los últimos días del verano

2008-09-02T02:59:00.000-07:00

This summer has been the longest summer ever! Normally I wouldn´t mind spending 2 or 3 months off, but when you spend soooo much time with five children (my four and my nephew Alejandro) in a small house without a yard, you have no other choice but to go a little crazy and pull out the few hairs you have left. Either way, we´ve been enjoying our extra long summer since we got out of school early in Oklahoma and don´t start until later here in Spain. We are trying to fit as much in as possible. We spent a day at the Museum of Science, a day with Diego´s family at Loro Parque, and a day shopping for school uniforms and supplies. With 3 kids in school, you can imagine the expense...Anything for a good public education.

Este verano ha sido más largo que nunca. Normalmente no me importa tener 2 ó 3 meses de vacaciones, pero cuando uno se pasa tanto tiempo con 5 niños (los cuatro míos y mi sobrino Alejandro) metidos en la casa buena parte del día, uno no tiene más remedio que volverse loco y arrancarse los pocos pelos que le quedan. Aún así, hemos tratado de aprovechar este largo y merecido descanso antes del comienzo del año escolar. Pasamos un día en el Museo de la ciencia, otro en el Loro Parque en el Puerto de la Cruz con la familia de Diego y otro comprando los uniformes y los materiales para el colegio. Con tres niños en edad escolar ya se pueden imaginar el gasto, pero bueno, todo sea por una buena educación pública.

The kids wanted to take a picture with the parrots. By the time we realized Ryan had been eaten by one of the birds it was too late.

Los niños querían hacerse una foto con los loros del Loro Parque. Para cuando nos dimos cuenta de que uno de los pájaros se había comido a Ryan, era demasiado tarde. Eso o resulta que el pequeño es muy tímido...¡Nooo! Seguramente fue lo primero.

Thanks to Diego´s aunt and uncle, Pilar and Antonio, for the fun day!

Desde aquí queremos extender un voto de agradecimiento a los tíos de Diego, Pilar y Antonio, por el magnífico día que pasamos juntos (y no digamos ya la pambufeta que vino más tarde).

The kids wanted to sit in the splash zone, but Jacob was the only one that lasted. He didn´t get too wet! What a lazy Orca!

Los niños tienen cada idea. Querían sentarse en la zona del salpicadero, pero al final el único que resistió fue Jacob. Y tampoco se mojó tanto. ¡Vaya Orca más gandula!

How exciting can Orcas be....I see one in the mirror everyday!!

A ver, ¿cuán emocionante puede ser ver las Orcas.?..! Pero si me veo en el espejo todos los días.

Aitana wanted to pose for a picture with dad! Oh wait dad doesn´t have that much hair or gold nipples!

Aitana quería sacarse una foto con papá. Espera un momento, papá no tiene ni tanto pelo ni los pezones de oro...

Even though Melany thinks that Ryan didn´t enjoy the show as much as the rest of us, I believe he was the smartest! Between the voice of Miliki as the narrator (an old clown from Spain) and the puppets (that looked like a strange fusion between the Dark Crystal and a B version of Sesame Street), he had the great idea of taking the nap of the century. The rest of us had to put up with a story about a deformed meteorite with a canarian accent. Even my friend Carlos could make better puppets than those. In the words of Gloria Fuertes "this is for the children!"

Aunque Melany piensa que Ryan no disfrutó tanto del planetario como el resto de nosotros, yo creo que fue el más listo. Entre la voz de Miliki como narrador y los muñecos de la historia que parecían una fusión entre La bola de Cristal, el Volcán y una versión clase B de Barrio Sésamo, Ryan tuvo el buen tino de echarse la siesta del siglo. Los demás nos tragamos el rollo de un machango de meteorito con acento canario. Hasta mi amigo Carlos haría las marionetas mejor que lo que usó en ese espectáculo. Bueno, como diría Gloria Fuertes, "esto es pa los niños".

I´ve decided that I am moving to the moon. This scale showed how much you weigh on the moon...I only weigh 10 kilos, (22 pounds).

Melany ha decidido mudarse a la luna. La báscula donde está subida marca tu peso lunar. Solo pesaba 10 kilos (22 libras). Si se quiere ir que se vaya, pero que se lleve a la suegra también...

Lauryn and Aitana can lift a car with a simple machine! I´m going to buy one of those so they can clean up their room!

Lauryn y Aitana pueden levantar un coche con una polea simple. Voy a tener que comprar una de esas para que limpien su cuarto.

Congrats to Jenny

2008-08-27T13:23:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-22T02:45:00.001-07:00

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

2008-08-22T02:26:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-09T14:49:00.000-07:00

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

2008-08-08T06:06:00.000-07:00

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!

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.

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!

¡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!

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.

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!

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

Independence Day / Día de la independencia

2008-08-08T01:47:00.000-07:00

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!!

2008-08-07T06:28:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-08-05T05:49:00.000-07:00

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.

Happy Birthday Grandma / Feliz cumpleaños Abuela

2008-07-26T09:44:00.000-07:00

We had to do it! We bought some party hats and party blowers and surprised grandma at the hotel. The kids loved the idea and grandma Purser gave them a big smile when they knocked on the door and sang Happy Birthday to her.

¡Tuvimos que hacerlo! Compramos gorritos y matasuegras y sorprendimos a abuela en el hotel donde se estaba quedando. A los niños les encantó la idea y abuela les regaló una gran sonrisa cuando todos llamamos a la puerta de su habitación y le cantamos Feliz cumpleaños.

Throw me a bone / Dame un hueso

2008-07-24T01:03:00.000-07:00

Ryan loves dogs. As soon as he sees one anywhere, the park, the beach, the streets, the airport, he wants to play with it. While we waited for Grandma and Krista, Ryan spied a little puppy and right away he wanted to touch it. Without a bone to offer, Ryan gave the puppy his finger to lick.

A Ryan le encantan los perros. En cuanto ve uno en cualquier parte: el parque, la playa, la calle, el aeropuerto, enseguida quiere jugar con él. Mientras esperábamos por la abuela Purser y Krista, Ryan vio un perrito y quiso tocarlo. A falta de un hueso, Ryan le ofreció uno de sus dedos para que el perrito lo lamiera.

Grandma has arrived / Llegó la abuela

2008-07-24T00:39:00.000-07:00

Well the long awaited day has arrived!! The kids have been counting down and Grandma and Krista are finally here! They definately had a long journey, but toughed it out to come and visit. They wanted to get on the time schedule here so they stayed awake until bed time. Krista was having a great time with her cousins, but I think that Grandma could have gone to bed the second she arrived! We are all excited for the time that we will have together and Diego is happy to share his favorite things about the island with others.

El día tan largamente esperado por fin llegó. Nuestros hijos han estado contando los días y finalmente la abuela Purser y Krista están aquí. Sin duda fue un largo viaje para ambas pero hicieron el esfuerzo de venir a visitarnos tan lejos. Querían acostumbrarse al nuevo horario así que decidieron esperar a la noche antes de ir a dormir. Krista se lo pasó en grande con sus primos pero la abuela podía haberse ido a dormir el segundo que pisó el aeropuerto. Estamos animados por el tiempo que pasaremos juntos y Diego es feliz de poder compartir sus lugares favoritos de la isla con otros.

Transportation #1 / Medio de transporte número 1

2008-07-19T01:26:00.000-07:00

Santa Cruz is the capital of Tenerife. One year ago, they opened the "tranvía" (a tram system) just one street over from the house where we are living. It was interesting to come back after three years and see this main street transformed into a tram system. We used to walk up and down this same street daily. Now we just jump on the tram and can go from Santa Cruz to La Laguna (the next city over) much faster than riding a bus. The kids love to ride the tram. One time, on our way back to Santa Cruz, Jacob and Lauryn wrote a song using the name of our stop (La Paz) to the music of one of their viola songs. The following pic is from our last trip to the beach.

Santa Cruz es la capital de Tenerife. Hace un año, abrieron el tranvía en la calle por detrás de la casa donde nos estamos quedando. Fue interesante volver después de tres años y ver los cambios en esta calle principal. Antes solíamos subir y bajar caminando por esta misma calle casi diariamente. Ahora nos subimos en el tranvía y podemos ir de Santa Cruz a La Laguna (la siguiente ciudad) mucho más rápido que con la guagua (autobús). A los niños les encanta el tranvía. El otro día, cuando volvíamos a Santa Cruz, Jacob y Lauryn se inventaron una canción con el nombre de nuestra parada (La Paz) y la música de una de las canciones que saben tocar con la viola. Esta foto es de nuestro último viaje a la playa.

Black Sand / Arena Negra

2008-07-18T05:37:00.000-07:00

Since the Canary Islands are of volcanic origin, a lot of the beaches (especially the western islands) have black sand. After a sunny day, it gets really hot which makes it very difficult to walk on the sand. The kids, however, love it and it feels good to get your feet in the cold water after running across the beach.

Como las Islas Canarias son de origen volcánico, muchas de sus playas (sobre todo la de las islas occidentales) son de arena negra. Después de un día de sol, se calienta mucho y se hace difícil caminar por la arena. A los niños, sin embargo, les encanta y qué gustazo da meter los pies en el agua fría después de correr por la playa.

Grandpa Fumero / Abuelo Fumero

2008-07-18T05:26:00.000-07:00

Grandpa Fumero (Diego´s dad) came to the house today. I guess we couldn´t let such an opportunity pass without taking a few pictures. Both Alejandro (Pily´s son) and Ryan wanted to be on grandpa´s lap. Thank goodness there was room for both of them.

Abuelo Fumero (el padre de Diego) vino a casa hoy. Imagino que no pudimos dejar pasar una oportunidad así sin sacar alguna que otra foto. Tanto Alejandro (el hijo de Pily) como Ryan querían sentarse en la pierna del abuelo. Menos mal que hay sitio para los dos.

Welcoming Aynara / Bienvenida Aynara

2008-07-17T12:20:00.000-07:00

Jacob and Lauryn loved holding their new cousin, Aynara. We visited Miguel Angel (Diego´s youngest brother) and Leticia at their house in Tejina, a little town 30 minutes away from La Laguna.

A Jacob y Lauryn les encantó coger a su nueva prima Aynara. Visitamos a Miguel Ángel (el hermano menor de Diego) y a Leticia en su casa en Tejina, un pueblito a 30 minutos de La Laguna.

Mermaids & Mermen / Sirenas y Sirenos

2008-07-17T05:43:00.000-07:00

On June 26th, we took our kids to Las Teresitas, a small beach on the east coast of Tenerife. They had a blast! Especially when Diego turned them into sea creatures. We had to capture the moment. Even Ryan stayed still long enough for this pic.

El 26 de junio llevamos los niños a las Teresitas, una playa en la costa este de Tenerife. ¡Se divirtieron mucho! Especialmente cuando Diego los transformó en criaturas marinas. Tuvimos que plasmar ese momento. Incluso Ryan se quedó quieto lo suficiente para hacer la foto.

Spain Versus USA

2008-07-16T12:54:00.000-07:00

I guess since everybody we know has a blog, it is time that we get one ourselves. It seems to be the easiest and the fastest way to communicate with old and new friends, to mantain some kind of journal, and most importantly to spread gossip around in a more sophisticated manner. For those of you out there that don´t know, Melany and I have been married almost ten years and have four beautiful children (I can say that in my own blog, right?). Melany is pregnant with our fifth and hopefully, the baby will be born in Spain before we return to the US this December. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that we are in Spain right now. We arrived here last June to stay six and a half months. Besides visiting family and friends, spending time at the many beaches around here and eating delicious food, the main purpose of this trip is to research Literature from the Canary Islands in order to complete my doctoral dissertation. If I am successful I will be graduating soon as a Doctor in Spanish Literature. And then, who knows! We would like to move back to California but it still is a little too expensive for us. I know Melany would love to live closer to her family and I don´t really have a preference to where we should live or even work in the US. Anyway, life is good to us right now. We promise to keep this updated as much as possible. Please visit us soon and let us know what you think and what´s going on with you and your family.