Ward Party

Here are a few pictures from our ward party. The ward chartered a couple buses and we went an hour north to a "Jardín." It was really nice. The weather was great. We hiked, swam and just enjoyed being together.

giving daddy loves

skipping rocks

catching tadpoles

the tadpole

I'm such a slacker!

I'm such a slacker! I haven't updated this blog in forever. oops

So here's a recap...

Happy Birthday Isaac!!! Isaac turned 4 on July, 22. I can't believe we have a four year old. He's such a great kid! I love him to death. And right now he's fascinated with Scooby Doo. Isn't that fun. I loved Scooby Doo as a kid. So we had a Scooby party. It was a lot of fun. Really layed back - mostly because I didn't want to try and explain games in spanish to a bunch of 4 year olds but we had a good time. It was really fun to see Isaac speaking spanish with his friends.

For his birthday we finally got him a bike! He loves it! We took it for a ride on Saturday morning and he's a pro. No problems at all. Now we just need to work on Stella getting the hang of it. She has some serious steering issues.

Pregnancy update: So my body thinks that pregnancy is only a 30 week deal. I'm almost 33 weeks but I've started dilating and having contractions. The doctor has me on medication and relaxed bed rest. Hopefully we can make it a few more weeks and hopefully I'm not jinxing myself. It would be kind of funny if I went over my due date. Then I might really go crazy. But for now I'm taking it easy and trying to get everything ready for the baby.

As far as everything else goes life is really good. We're enjoying Spain's parks, the weather and having Isaac home from school.

A few things I love about my kids

On the way home from Alicante a couple weeks ago, we took advantage of having the rental car to stop at the sporting goods store so we could shop for Isaac's birthday present - a shiny red bicycle. So obviously any surprise was spoiled since he was along for the ride. And then, instead of hiding away the box the bicycle was in, we just left it sitting it out in the hallway. I've been really impressed with how patient Isaac has been waiting for his present with it right there in front of him every day. He does ask at least once a day when his birthday is, but he has not once thrown a fit or been the least bit upset that he doesn't get his bicycle yet.

I've been pretty busy the past couple weeks at work, though most days I'll drop by home for at least 15 minutes for lunch and then for about 30 minutes for dinner. Isaac always gives me a very warm reception. First thing he does is give me a big hug. Second thing he does is ask "Are you going back to work?" The answer is invariably yes. The poor kid just wants me to hang out and play with him and it breaks my heart every time he asks me if I'm going back to work. I asked him if he wanted me to stay and play with him, and he said yes. I told him work was keeping me too busy and I asked if I should quit my job so I could play with him. I was actually hoping for a yes, but he said no. He must think that a few minutes with a daddy who has a job are better than lots of minutes with a daddy that's a bum. I wonder if he just loves me for my money. Oh well. I'll take his love any way I can get it.

Stella gives hugs that are even better than Isaac's (if that's possible). She really likes to please me too, which is a lot of fun. We're making a bit of a push to get Stella to give up her binky, (not very concerted), but we get varying results depending on who is trying to take away the binky. Eryka and I both use pretty much the same method. When we see her with the binky, we say "Stella, you're a big girl. You don't need that." When I do it, she pulls out the binky and hands it too me. It's great! When Eryka tries it, Stella just gets angry and starts crying. I can't say it's particularly great that Eryka gets such a bad reaction, but it sure makes me feel nice when I get special treatment.

The Beach @ Alicante, Spain

I know what your thinking, they went on another vacation. It's what keeps us sane. Drew works a ton and we live in Spain so we need to vacation all we can.

It was a lot of fun though. We had a rough start with some hotel problems. I don't recommend hotels.com. But we were able to spend a lot of time in the sun and enjoying each others company.

I love my family and the beach!!!

Isaac enjoying the waves
playing at the beach parks!
This is how Isaac relaxes in the kiddie pool.

Laying out by the kiddie pool.

Building sand castles.

Playing ball with the kids at the pool.
Isaac having a good time!
Stella trying to figure out how the tube works.
Daddy enjoying his time off by giving Isaac rides around the pool.

Summer Fun

I've been meaning to blog but its just so hard to find the time. Or really after I put the kids to bed I get lazy and read a book instead. So right now the kids are playing and having a blast and making a huge mess but oh'well.

So, remember the party I said we were invited to at a friend's country house. It turned out to be an amazing vineyard estate. I'm not exaggerating at all by saying it was the nicest place I have ever been. It was so fun. We drove up in our rented Ford Focus station wagon. Yes, we rented the economy car and they upgraded us to the wonderful station wagon. We didn't care we had a car. Anyways, we show up and our car didn't quite fit. There were plenty of Range Rovers, Mercedes, BMW's a couple fancy sports cars and anything else that costs a lot of money. I thought wow they all got a better upgrade than we did. jk. The landscaping was amazing, the huge fountain in the parking lot, the duck and swan pond, the pool and pool house, and the main home. Wow! The front bathroom was full marble top to bottom and normally I wouldn't like this but it was incredible! Enough about the house just imagine any home in Architectural Digest and you get the picture. I was a little intimidated but as soon as we got out of the car we started to make friends. Everyone was so incredible nice and welcoming. Joanna and Emilio were incredible hosts. I've never felt so welcome to a party. It was a lot of fun. It started with drinks and appetizers for the adults and hot dogs on sticks, marshmallows and all kinds of kid friendly toys. We mingled for a while and met some more people.

Then they broke out the pinatas. They had three all full of candy and prizes. Isaac was the first to take a swing at it. He did a great job but they make pinatas to last now a days. So it took all the kids to break open the first. Then they had parents open the other two. This was pretty funny. Image 45 or so high powered, rich Spaniards swinging like crazy at a pinata. It was hilarious.

Then they had a tug of war contest. This was pretty funny too. I was really surprised how everyone really got into all the games. It was a lot of fun.

After this we headed over to the pool house where they had a huge table set for about 50 guests with full china. They also had a kiddie table decorated for the kids. So we were able to enjoy some excellent Spanish food without worrying about the kids. It was all really good and super fresh. Most of the food was grown at the vineyard.

After dinner we watched a real bullfighter show us how to bull fight. He was one of the guests. So we met a famous Spanish bullfighter. He even invited us to come and see him fight!

We met so many amazing people, ate great food and really had a good time. I'm so glad we went and am really excited to get to know Joanna better.

BTW, she invited us to come and stay with her at her beach house in Marbella. So cool. I can't wait to see what it looks like and enjoy some beaches in the south of Spain.

Firsts...

Stella had her first missionary experience today! We have a couple friends staying with us for a few days and today Stella and one of their girls wanted a snack. So I gave them their snack and Stella wanted to say a prayer to bless the food. So we said a quick prayer and after C, their six year old, asked what we just did. I explained that we said a prayer to thank heavenly father for our food. She asked a few more questions but was really impressed that Stella wanted to do this all on her own at such a young age. I was reminded how easily we can share the gospel. I'm so glad that Stella is such a good example. Hopefully I can improve on this.

Happy 4th of July!!! Enjoy the fireworks for us.