HaLLowEEn

Here's my two little devils ;) They had SO much fun! Xander got to dress up for school the day before and went to another party at a friend's house, so he got to spend plenty of time as a transformer - he kept wanting to see himself in the mirror :D Maggie was slowed a bit by the stairs leading to the doorsteps, but she pushed her way through, nabbed some candy, said thank you, and took off sprinting in any given direction. It was pretty hilarious to see her run so fast in that outfit. But what could be more fun than having people give you candy just for looking cute?

Bumblebee

Little Miss Witch

Halloween morning the stake here put on a 5k. I know that's small beans to many of you, but I've wanted to do one for a long time. I am not what you would call a runner. But I had high hopes of not finishing last. It was a lot harder than I was planning - it was all on grass and it was super cold. The grass was a nightmare for my poor knees and the cold, dry air burned. But I'm glad I did it! My parents and my brother and sister came and brought the kids to cheer me on and the kids got to run in a race too! And I just might be starting to like running...

Firemans and Tutus

Well, thanks to Amy, I thought I'd try this fondant thing. She makes it look so easy...so I made this for my grandma's birthday and my mom and sisters helped a lot with the decorating. Not too bad for my first try :/

in the helicopter

We visited the fire station for the open house last week. They had so many fun things - for the kids, he had a blast! Then followed an afternoon of "Do firemans wear their hats to go potty?" "Do firemans take their shoes off to go to bed?" "Do firemans hang up their hats?" and so on. Needless to say, he now worships "firemans."

Something else I've been procrastinating. So we spent the last warm afternoon doing this. She had so much fun playing with all the pretty necklaces. Thanks to my wonderful SIL who taught me to make the tutu.

Adventures in Colombia!!!

rafting the Rio Negro

I'm glad they didn't get the picture when I fell and busted my bum

Little Bit

Just a little bit of what we've been up to...

we found Xander a preschool so this was his first day there

some Lagoon fun with friends
Maggie was NoT a fan

some Sunday pictures of my favorite little people

and a fab trip to the dinosaur museum - the sand was a hit :)

Lucky Number Seven

So it's not like I forgot today was our seven year anniversary, but I was still totally caught off guard (and not dressed and completely gross) when this little beauty came to the door. Dang, seven years. That sounds like such a long time but it's gone by so fast. It has certainly been an adventure so far and I'm sure this next year won't disappoint. I just know there's all kinds of craziness and happy moments in store. Happy Anniversary and thanks for the flowers, babe. I love you. Call me sometime :)

Bienvenidos a Colombia

This was Sunday riding the streets of Downtown Bogotá

One of the gyms were the Olympic athletes workout.

The Aquatics Center, this is were I work.

The Aquatics Center

We were waiting for the President of the Colombian Olympic Committee to come and welcome us... and I got a little bored.

There are military police every where you look around here, there is no way I'm going to be able to get coke out of this country, sorry Mom

Street vender's got to love em, I don't have a clue what I'm eating but it sure is good.

Here are a few pictures from the first couple of weeks. It has been fun so far but I sure do miss Jami, Xander, and The Mag. The people here are really nice, they love to stare at us and whisper grande gringos. The language is coming along I usually just nod my head and say si, there is no telling what I have said yes to. As far as work I mainly work with the swimming, cycling, taekwondo, inline skating, volleyball, and Para Olympic teams. On Sundays in Bogotá they close all of the streets and you're encouraged to go out and ride your bike or run through downtown it is called cyclovia. So Sunday me and my house mates rode 38 miles it was fun but I'm glad thats over. When I first got here I didn't know how much I would be able to go to Church, there are only a few LDS Churches in Bogotá, and taking a cab when you don't speak Spanish isn't the smartest thing to do... thats a story for another time. When we first got to our house we wanted to go walk around the neighborhood to see what it was like, I walked out the front door looked to my right and across the street was the LDS Church. I went to church last week and didn't understand a word for 3 hours straight but it was sure nice to feel the spirit.

I <3 waffles

Love me some pancakes. But I've always struggled making them for some reason. I like them thick and crispy on the edges. Waffles have always intimidated me because I thought they would be even more difficult. Duh. You pour the batter in and take it out when the light goes off. How hard is that - unless you're feeding a crowd! I've been watching this healthy food blog for the last little while and couldn't wait to try this recipe for healthy pancakes and syrup made from fruit juice. My kitchen was mostly packed up so I tried it as soon as I got here. It is fabulous! Pancakes (waffles for me) with wheat flour that taste great and the syrup is amazing. I used apple juice because that's what we had but you can do it with whatever kind you want. I want to try coconut. Anyway check out this blog here if you're interested and here's a direct link for the waffles and syrup. Now all I need is a Texas-shaped waffle iron :)

heRe we aRe

...once again. Hangin' in UT. For about 3 months or so...So here's a little bit of what we've been up to so far - not much since I've been taking a few mental health days. We're doing great so far though, the kids are loving playing outside, jumping on the trampoline and a few new toys to ease their suffering...including a bike for Xander (courtesy of Mr. Craig and his fine list). But we totally miss our awesome friends in Texas. and the weather at night. Thanks for all your help. and well wishes. and love.

the kids seriously chowing down on some corn

My brother Alex took Xander clear to Park City (thanks Alex) for this little miracle. They got home too late to do any riding, so sure enough, 8 o'clock the next morning we're outside in our pjs testing it out. He kept at it till about noon.

Me and Mags watching the show

first crash

and..gasp..a not-so-flattering picture of my new haircut. you know it's time for a haircut when your mom thinks you look "frumpy"

thanks

Here, for your viewing pleasure (actually for my record keeping) is a picture of my kids watching TV. I know, probably not exciting for anyone else. But I just loved seeing this as Scott and I were packing some boxes this morning.

All this

packing
moving
leaving

is making me sentimental.

We have so loved

this special little house
this place (friends, duh)
this time in our lives

it makes me sad to leave it all behind.
Thanks for making it so great!

Packing woes

So..yesterday instead of packing, I made some peach jam and we played outside. Too bad procrastinating isn't on my list.
Today I've packed two boxes so far and saran-wrapped the glider. Yea!