Tag Archives: Family

No excuses. No regrets.

12 Feb

Our time back in the states flew by.  We were blessed with 5 weeks between SJO-DEN-DFW , DFW-ICT, ICT-ARK- and ICT-DFW-DEN-SJO.  There is never enough time to spend with the people you cherish.  A wonderful family from our home church allowed us to borrow their car while we were in Kansas and we cannot thank them enough.  There are so many selfless, giving people in this world and we were beyond blessed. We are now back in the groove of the life we left on pause to be refueled by so much love from home.

A year is an incredibly long time in the life of a child and an elderly person and both of these things were brought to my attention in my time back.  My grandparents, whom I adore with my whole heart, have really aged over the last year….really since our big move in 2010.  I treasure every single moment I am able to spend with them knowing that the next time could be completely different.  The differences in Kyah since our last visit to the states are remarkable. She is at such an awesome stage and I just want time to slow down and be able to breathe in every second of her being.  She brings so much joy to our life and we can’t wait to bring another bundle of fun into our family soon.  It was wonderful to share our joy and excitement with friends and family in person instead of over skype.

Since a ridiculous length of time has passed since I last posted, and my main goal with this blog is to collect a few memories before they are forgotten (and to keep the grandmas happy), I’m going to document our time in the states with pictures.  Here is a snapshot of our last few months.

 

 

Kyah's note to Santa. :)

Christmas morning

THIS is what makes you the best Gigi in the world!

Chase and Kyah (& Frenchie) had lots of time to play together! Little buddies. :)

Meeting up with more cousins!

We won't show this pic to my brother. :)

NYE firecrackers with the fam

At the Alley with the Johnsons. :)

Her favorite friend, Owen!

She was pretty stoked on her clothes matching her doll.

Look at this picture! If your mouth doesn't start instantly watering something is wrong with you. Love me some Grandy's.

Reunited and it feels so good! We miss our big guy every day.

Grandma Texas (as Kyah calls her) had an endless supply of cake pops.

Frenchie visiting the states for the very first time! :)

After accepting the fact that EVERYBODY (even little girls) have to wear the blue coats, she was ready for the 9 degree Shrek ice tour.

Everything is made of ice.

Once you can get past his sweet gangsta face you will notice he is using Ky's coat to keep his hands warm. It was that cold!

This was one of the many ice slides they had inside.

K went down this with Big Daddy a few times and then she wanted to go solo. She is sooooo much like her daddy! Scared. Of. Nothing. :)

Her favorite face to make when taking pictures with mommy. Silly girl!

The wait for Santa at the Gaylord was long, so we went exploring. She saw the sled and just had to get a picture!

Such a poser.

Christmas in Texas!

Amigos

12 Nov

In our small barrio we have met some of the most wonderful people.  People we will stay connected with throughout the remainder of our lives.  We have developed true  friendships – the kind where they just pop up at your house to hang out – no  invitation needed. We had friends like that in the states (and we miss them like crazy!), but here it has been more difficult to find heart friends.  Why?  At first we didn’t know Spanish well, so that was an obvious barrier.  I also think being here as “missionaries” put a flashing light above our heads.  It’s unfortunate, but many missionaries will enter a place and try to convince people they need to become more like them. i.e. wear certain clothes and don’t wear others, fix your hair a certain way, do this, but don’t do that.  We have always had the mentality that God would change the things that need changed and we are going to live a transparent, authentic life.

Some of our new friends live just a few houses away.  Robert and Cody both have a love for fishing and he was the first one to invite Cody to hunt lobsters at night with a water pistol.  Swimming with crocodiles and/or sharks at night would freak me out, but not Cody.  I love my manly man.  As you may or may not know, I also love to fish.  One of the many things that Cody loved about me when we first met.  Haha!  Many women don’t fish and I don’t enjoy being the “only female” so I usually stay behind.  Luckily, Robert’s wife Rudy is a fisherwoman.  So, as couples (with our small daughters) we get to hang out and fish every once in a while.  Then we usually have a big dinner and enjoy the day’s catch.

Kyah and Ester ready to roll.

We took the boat down a back river that comes off the ocean. These trees lined both sides of almost the entire thing.

One of Cody's fish.

Robert cleaning some of the fish. We caught 11 that day!

FINALLY getting to swim!

A venture to Panama

9 Nov

Took a trip down to Panama with the fam for our 90 day exit.  We weren’t supposed to have to do this again, BUT our lawyer apparently doesn’t care about our plans, sucky mode of transportation, or rapidly decreasing funds, so we took off for the border and tried to make the most of it.

Yummy lunch at a little soda in southern Costa Rica.

Frenchy made the trip with us.  I’m still not entirely sure she was allowed to cross w/o some form of paperwork, but since she’s only 2 pounds, I shoved her in my bag and never let them see her.  She’s a pretty chill dog, so that helps.

This was Frenchy’s spot for many, many hours.

We made the trip with only a couple of backpacks.  There’s a lot you can do without for 3 days.  Kyah is such a great traveler, we often take it for granted.  Once we made it to David and checked into our hotel we just let her run around.  She and Frenchy were stoked to get rid of a little extra energy.

The lady at the front desk upgraded us to a room with a fridge free of charge. This room ended up being the size of a studio apartment. It was huge!  We had to stop and just thank God for all the ways he blesses us daily.
Thanks, Panama, for displaying the freakiest mannequin I’ve ever seen.

A little friendly competition between Big Daddy and Ky.

She had to knock her cups over and he had to hit the middle one and make the top fall into the bottom…and he still won!

     

We decided to take Ky to the circus one night.  Big Daddy ended up being the star of the show.  He didn’t get selected to go into the center ring for one act….nope.  He was picked for two!  Although there were clearly signs posted saying “No Video Recorders” (in Spanish of course), I played dumb and caught the whole thing on video.

            

There was a huge park across the street from our hotel, so when it wasn’t raining, we were there.

I love my little social butterfly.  She finds a friend wherever we are.   Such a blessing since we are often in different areas with new people.

Ok, girls, hear me on this one.  Cody just didn’t understand.  Kyah needed to use the restroom so we found a great little spot.  She went in, tinkled, and then kept insisting she needed toilet paper.  I told her to just grab some and she informed me there wasn’t any.  I checked the next stall and there wasn’t even a toilet paper holder.  After checking all the stalls, I told her to wait and headed out to ask Big Daddy to check the guys restroom and noticed this right by the exit door.  What in the world?  So apparently you are supposed to get your tp upon entering the restroom.  I’m still dumbfounded by this.  Only in Panama.

On our way home.  Thankful for the BEST travel buddies.

Say what?

26 Sep

“Wait, did you see that grandpa guy?  He had a ponytail, but he’s still a boy.”  (after a minute of uninterrupted thought) “It’s okay if you’re a grandpa with a ponytail.  If you have white hair like Santa Clause you can have a ponytail and be a boy.”

Watching Curious George with a 4 year old is never boring.  Her giggles are worth the world.   Pure joy!

The bigger the better

2 Sep

Many people believe this to be true.  The bigger house the better.  The bigger salary the better.  The bigger your son is the better.  The bigger church the better. Chicken fried steak?  I like mine plate sized.  This saying had me thinking about birthdays.  I turned 30.  I’m okay with it.  I feel a little sexier at 30.  Don’t judge me.  I’ve had many friends tell me that 30 is where it all gets started and I think I might believe them.  An old friend from high school wrote on my FB wall and said “You’re not just a year older, you’re a year better.”  I am choosing to believe it.  It’s been a great 30 years and I am excited about the next phase in my life. I was able to celebrate with my parents and felt the love big time from all my friends back home.  A special shout out to my sweet friend Kelly for making me feel so special and all the ladies at GP for your overwhelming love.  Love you friends!   Cheers to the next 30.

Cards and gifts from the sweet ladies at GP. Love them!

Waiting on Gigi and Papa at the airport. She wanted to make a silly face. I love my girl.

These wild horses come in our yard and eat our banana trees. They came just as I was opening my gifts. =)

Our sea turtle =)

 

 

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