Almost 3 months....

Wow, so much has happened in the last 3 months.  Two birthdays, lots of adventures, and a fun visit!

First off, Scott had a birthday.  His last year in his 30's, when did I end up married to an old man?  Good thing I still adore and love him so much.

We celebrated 16 years of marriage.  Scott was so nice and didn't make me go to his fancy work dinner, but instead took the day off of work and booked us a couples massage.  It was really nice and afterward he picked up a babysitter for the younger two kids and we dropped the older two kids off at mutual while he took me out to a nice dinner.  (seriously what kind of people have mutual on Friday nights?  The Chileans.  We tried having them change it to Wednesday nights, it didn't even last a month, we are sad....)

Brody had his 11th birthday.  He wanted to have a few friends over.  He had a great time.  His friends on the other hand....it wasn't like any birthday party they had ever been too.  Chileans go all out for parties.  They rent a space, have bouncy houses, and hire entertainers.  We didn't do any of that.  We are too cheap I guess.  All well, Brody had a great day and that's all that matters.

We have gone on a few adventures.  We enjoyed a day at the botanical gardens,  Mia wasn't feeling very well but we went anyways.  On Easter Sunday after missing a week of school and still running a fever I took her to the ER (which was an experience...I miss the familiarity of U.S. medical care) to find out she had pneumonia and an ear infection.  She didn't even complain about anything hurting and wasn't really coughing.  Mom of the year right here.

We  went up North to a town called La Serena for a long weekend and stayed in a cabin on the beach.  Enjoyed exploring a new town, and one night went up to an observatory to check out the stars.  Too bad it was closed.  We looked online for the days and hours of operation and it said it was open but when we arrived the gate guard said it was closed for the winter.  It would have been nice if that was on the website.  All well, we did find a nice dark spot and were able to see the milky way and a ton of stars, so it wasn't all a bust.  While we were up there, we were able to tour a Muslim mosque.  It was really cool to see some of the similarities to a Mormon temple.  We  also were able to go and see a huge Catholic cross.  You take an elevator up the center of the cross and get out in the arms of the cross where you get a 360 degree view of the entire area, it was beautiful.

After being here 9 months we were able to experience the rain.  It was crazy, and I have been in some terrible rain before.  It flooded the streets, we had mud slides, and all the roads which were pretty bad to begin with are even more terrible.  One night I thought my windows were going to break the wind  and rain were blowing so hard.

Scott has been able to go on a few trips.  He spent a week in Easter Island, 3 days up north in a town called Iqueque, and this week is headed down to Concepcion for 3 days.  I usually don't mind him being away, but while he was enjoying Easter Island, I was not enjoying being at home.  All of the kids came down with the stomach flu.  I am just grateful that I didn't get sick, that they all made it to the bathroom, and I didn't have to do any extra laundry. 

Brody has been busy.  He competed in a math competition for his school and came in 2nd for the 5th and 6th graders.  He has also been asked to be on the rugby team, and his first game was on Saturday.  He didn't want to go, but with a bribe he went and did amazing and actually had a good time.

Scott has started taking Emmi out driving in the morning before seminary.  We would like for her to get her license when we go back to the states in January so she can drive herself to seminary in the mornings. We like our sleep, and Emmi loves seminary.  Chileans can't get their license until 18.  I am hoping that it will work out.  Fingers crossed.

Kaleb is Kaleb.  Super smart, and is getting so good with Spanish.  He gave a talk in church yesterday, and people were telling me he did a great job, and that he didn't even have an accent.  He likes most of his classes at school, but his favorite is Technology.  They make all kinds of cool things.  This month he is working on a robotic hand.

Mia is doing great.  She is really quiet at school and can be found in the library during breaks or outside reading books.  She loves to read and to be read too.  What am I saying, all of my kids love that.  She is understanding most Spanish and speaks a little, but still needs to speak more.  Mia and Brody were both asked to be in the Stake Children's Choir at church.  I was able to go and listen to a practice yesterday, it was amazing. I love the sound of all the kids singing.

The Fifa World cup games are a huge deal down here.  I love watching the games with the locals, they love soccer.  It is a huge party when a Chile game is on, the kids also get out of class so that everyone can watch it.  The excitement of everyone is contagious. It is a pretty fun time to be living here.

This last week we were able to enjoy a visit from my sister-in-law Kelsey and two of her friends.  It was a crazy hectic week, but we were able to see and do lots of things in the 5 days they were here.

Ok I think that catches me up for the last few months.  Maybe next time I won't wait as long in between posts.

Another Day in Life.....

Wow, why does time always seem to go by so fast.  I can't believe it has been another month since I last posted.  Here are a few things that we have been up to.

Scott took the Young men up Sand boarding, he was able to get some great pictures and Kaleb had a great run until the edge of his board caught and he went flying and landed on his head.  He came home with a concussion, a great story and a very sore body for a few days.  

The kids finally are back in school.  I am one happy Momma.  School is more difficult for the kids here, I think it has something to do with the language.  Who knows.  For Emmi, this school year is the most important.  It is the year she has to do the most.  I am still a little confused about the entire thing, so I just go with the flow.  Brody and Mia haven't picked up the language as quickly and will be having more Spanish tutoring throughout the year.  Kaleb seems to be trucking along, and doing well enough.  I haven't heard anything otherwise.

Scott was able to head to the States for a couple weeks, leaving the rest of us behind.  Seriously who leaves their wife and 4 kids in a foreign country all by themselves, where earthquakes seem to happen on a weekly basis, and where one particular person doesn't speak very good Spanish?  Thankfully nothing terrible happened, except I had to take Emmi to seminary in the morning and hope the other 3 kids would get ready all by themselves in time.  Most mornings were not to terrible, but there were a couple that were not so great.  I was able to attend two parent meetings, and understand about half of what was being said, get gas all by myself and actually carry on a two minute conversation with the gas attendant, teach a lesson in Young Women's with only an hour notice, go grocery shopping and to the farmers market all by myself, get the entire house cleaned how I like it and most importantly have a family birthday party for Mia!  No wonder why time goes by so quickly.  Lets just say that by each Thursday I was exhausted and would put myself to be by 8pm. We won't talk about how my kids had terrible dinners, ramen noodles 3 times and leftover birthday cake another night.  Good thing they didn't complain to much, Mia only told me once that I needed to take a nap while they were at school so I wouldn't be so grumpy when they got home.  Love her!

 The kids decided to would be totally awesome to build a blanket fort in the front room and sleep in it one night. 



One of the best things that happened this last month was Mia's 9th birthday!  I can't believe my baby is 9!  We just had a family party and she said it was one of her favorite birthdays, she didn't even cry.  Every time she has had a friend birthday party, she cries for one reason or another.  Things have to be her way, and all of her friends should want to do what she wants to do.  Not sure where she gets that from.....ok, maybe me.

 





The days are getting darker and colder here.  I am jealous of the spring pictures I see in the states.  We are going into fall, and my heat doesn't work in my house.  Hopefully it will get fixed soon.  I have put the flannel sheets on and am constantly in socks, slippers, and sweaters.  I guess since I am pretty much always cold this may not be a surprise.  The cold here isn't as cold as I make it out to be, yesterday was 61, but it has been foggy for a week and living right next to the beach and feeling the cold breeze really makes is seem colder.  Ok, I will stop complaining, I live by the beach!  I am truly blessed indeed, and I also have the most amazing family ever! 

 


For anyone who actually still reads this thing, Thanks, and I sure love and miss you!  Until next time....

Ok, so I'm a little lazy....

I am sure you are surprised that I am actually updating our blog.  I am not even sure anyone even checks it anymore.

So much has happen since I last posted.

My grandmother passed away the end of November, so I made a quick trip back to the states.  It was great to see my family, I just wish it would've been under better circumstances.  When I got back to Chile, I was pretty depressed.  We were still in our temporary apartment, and I knew that we were going to spend Christmas there. I was really missing the U.S., all our family and friends, and I felt like I wasn't progressing on my Spanish skills.  Oh and my kids had finished up the school year here, and would not be back in school until March.  I was adding it up and they have only had 10 weeks of school since June of last year.  This Momma needs a break!  Only 7 more days until they are back in school...woohoo!  Although I am sure after the first few days I am going to be missing them like crazy! I digress, but needless to say December was a rough month for me.

Christmas in our temporary apartment was actually really good considering the circumstances.  We all were blessed to feel of our Saviors love.  Before I flew back to the states, Emmi and I made 24 envelopes and in each one placed an activity for each day.  We were able to have a fun thing to do each day, and serve others.  It was great.  We all decided that we want to do it again next year.

After Christmas, it was time for us to move.  We were so EXCITED!  We received the keys to our new apartment on the Friday after Christmas, so we cleaned it up,  painted a couple of rooms, and installed light fixtures.  Here in Chile, you always put in your own light fixtures.  When we got into the new place there were live wires hanging from the ceiling.  The owner was nice and didn't take all of the fixtures, so Scott only put in 4.  That Saturday and Sunday the movers came with all of our things.  We thought is was weird that they worked on the weekend, but at least we were able to get all of our stuff in before New Years. 

New Years Eve was good, most of the boxes were unpacked, and our place was looking like a home. We invited the senior missionaries over, we played games, ate too much and enjoyed the firework display from our balcony.  I must admit, I was exhausted after moving, painting, cleaning, unpacking, cooking, cleaning some more, that I fell asleep on the couch during one of the games and had to be woken up for the fireworks. 

The new year brought in Spanish Tutors.  We had 2 come each day for 1 1/2 hours for 5 weeks.  I only broke down once or twice.  Spanish is hard! The kids did really well though, and I feel like it was worth it.  I still don't speak it very well, but my understanding is way better.  We had the sister missionaries over yesterday and they even commented on how much I have improved. 

February was our family vacation month.  Scott was able to take a whole month off of work.  I don't think he has ever taken that much time.  At first I was thinking I was going to go nuts with them all home, but it ended up being great.  The first two weeks we stayed home and explored a little bit around this area.  Emmi went to EFY the second week and had a really good time, it was held in a town about an hour east of us.  I was never more thankful that she didn't have a Facebook than now.  She said that a lot of boys kept asking if she had one and was grateful that she didn't.  I have told her on several occasions that if she wanted to have one she could, but she is not interested in it at all.  One persistent young man asked for her email and he emailed her the next day.  Not looking forward to August when she turns 16, but I really don't' have anything to worry about yet, she still thinks boys are gross.  Thank goodness. 

The Monday after Emmi got home from EFY, we headed south and explored a lot of southern Chile.  We had a fabulous time and tried out new things and new food.  We decided that we don't really like going out to eat here, the food is very expensive, and I would say 9 out of 10 times it isn't very good. That said, we had 3 excellent meals over the two weeks and a lot of PB&J.  Brody found a new favorite cereal it is called Mono Balls (translation monkey balls, perfect for my little monkey), it was actually pretty good, all that chocolate and sugar, and washed down with a benadryl (For me at least)  Cereal is not very good here and really expensive so we don't eat it very often.

We saw 4 different waterfalls, went hiking, white water rafting, zip-lining, horseback riding, enjoyed some thermal pools, regular pools with a slide,  boat tour, and saw some really beautiful places.    We stayed in a couple different cabins, and the further south we got, the worse the beds were.  We were really happy to get home and have our beds back.  The kids fell in love with a lot of the stray dogs and wanted to bring them home, but to bad for us, our apartment complex doesn't allow pets. Bummer.  (not really)  On the drive home we asked the kids what their favorite part was and they said everything.   Scott and I both agreed, vacation success.  Although come to think of it, we haven't ever had a bad vacation.

Now on to the pictures, they are super large sorry.  I couldn't figure out how to make them smaller on our new computer.   Enjoy, until next time.  Hopefully it won't take me as long.

I am terrible at blogging.....

Good thing it is not my job, because I would have been fired a long time ago!  It has been less than a month since my last post, not by much, but still less than a month!

Where to begin.  Time is really flying by, and so much has happened.

The embassy came out and inspected 3 more apartments.  They denied two, and we were pretty excited that they accepted the last one, on one condition. That the building have a green gas certificate.  No biggie, the owner of the apartment said it was going to be done by last Wednesday.  Come to find out, the owner was only able to get his apartment certified.  The embassy then told us no because it wasn't the whole building, so that means we have to start the process all over again.  With the holidays coming up, I don't see us getting into a place before Christmas.  It is a good thing my kids are so used to not having a "typical" Christmas.  We have spent 2 in hotels, and this third one will probably be in our temporary apartment.  I guess it is a good thing because my kids really do know the true meaning of Christmas.

Kaleb has been on a school field trip to Southern Chile.  I haven't heard from him  for over a week,  I really miss that kid.  He is the only child, that if I am busy doing something, (like washing dishes)  he will just walk up to me and say "Mom, it looks like you need a hug"  and then will give me a wonderful hug.  (even if i have wet soapy hands)  From the pictures that I have received from his school, it looks like a blast.  Although the last 2 days I guess it has been raining pretty good. They have toured a mine, gone on a boat cruise, toured a winery, and have visited some other schools. On Friday he will finally be home and I am so excited to get my hugs from him!

The weather here has been amazing this last week.  It is November and I am wearing shorts.  On Mondays in Brody's class, he has sailing.  Yesterday he said it was the best day on the water.  I told him next week he has to take the camera so I can see what he is seeing.

On Saturday, we went with our friends the Smith's up to Zapallar and were able to take a boat ride to see some penguins out on a little island preserve.  The day was perfect, and it was awesome!
Here are a few pictures of kite flying on the beach, and our trip to see the penguins. 

Halloween was pretty laid back here.  The Chileans really only started celebrating it about 12 years ago.  We had our regular Halloween dinner, and just ate candy.  We had 2 trick or treaters.  They were really cute little kids.  When I went to order some candy online, I went to check out and it said my online cart was empty so I had to start over.  I didn't realize until after I placed my order that it found my "lost" cart items and I ended up with about $80 worth of candy.  I told Scott when it arrived it was my year supply.  All well, such is life, and the kids were super excited to see all the candy.  I just let them eat whatever they wanted Halloween night and  the rest is put away in a box.

Two weeks ago I was called as a 1st counselor in the young women program at church.  I am not sure what they were thinking asking someone who doesn't really understand much Spanish, or even speak Spanish to help with the young women here.  It has sure given me motivation to work on learning and understanding the language. This is making Scott really happy.  I think he is tired of doing everything that has to be done with the schools, church, banking, apartment finding, car shopping and work.

The Kids only have 3 weeks left of school before they are out for 3 more months.  It seems like they were just out of school for 4 months!  It is a good thing I like having them around.  (most of the time anyways!)  Here are a few pictures of the boys riding the mechanical bull at the boys school.  They had a huge celebration at their school where there were a lot of games, rock climbing, zip-lining, paint balling, tons of food, loud music and a lot of people.  It was pretty fun.  

Here is our Halloween grub!

Scott sick again.  He has been sick 3 times since moving here.  He has also been getting more grey hair.  He has never been one to stress about anything, but this whole housing situation has him stressed to the max.  He hasn't been sleeping very well and when he doesn't get his sleep, he gets sick.  Hopefully we can get into to something soon, because I want my healthy Scott back.  When he doesn't sleep, I really don't sleep!  At least he is a happy sicky most of the time!

One of my favorite things to do here is every Saturday we go to the "fairia" to get our produce and sometimes flowers for the week.  They have the best fruit and vegetables!  This is the one thing I will miss the most when we go back to the states.

Well, I think that catches me up for a little while.  Now back to studying my Spanish, and apartment hunting!

Really, it's been that long?

I can't believe that it has been 5 weeks since my last post.  So much has happened I don't know where to start. 

My kids finally started school!  Today they started their second week.  I think they look adorable in their uniforms, and they are picking up Spanish so much faster.  Who knew?  I was asking Scott what something meant yesterday and Mia answered faster than Scott and she was right!  I have a long way to go, but feel like I get about 10 percent of a conversation instead of none.  It is all about the little things right. 

Emmi told us that her first day of school here was the best she has had out of the 9 different schools she has attended.  That is saying something. It is an all girls school, and she stays with the same girls for 6 out of the 8 classes she has.  The other classes (Math and English) she is with girls in the same level academically.  All the girls in her classes were so excited to know that Emmi will be graduating with them, that she is from the United States and speaks English.  They all practice their English on her and she has to use her Spanish, it is a win, win situation for all the girls. 

Mia loves her class.  When I asked her how the first day was and if the girls were nice, she used her little sassy voice and said "um, ya duh Mom"  That is one thing I love about here, everyone is SO nice!

Kaleb and Brody are adjusting to their school.  I have to say, that I am not as impressed with it.  The school is still good, but the communication is not as good as the girls school.  Like today, there was a knock on the front door at 2, and Kaleb was home already.  The same thing happened last Thursday, Brody didn't know where he was after school and was freaking out when he got home without Kaleb.  It makes it really hard to go anywhere in the afternoons because I don't know what kid is going to be coming home early.  When it happened last week, I wasn't home and Kaleb just had to sit and wait.  We only have one house key for our temporary home.

Speaking of our Temporary home, I don't know when we will be out of it.  Trying to get into a permanent place is not easy.  The embassy has very strict requirements.  Some are that it can't be by any construction or empty lots, (which are all over) it has to be gated with a guard, railings have to be a certain height, and other crazy stuff.  So when we do find a place that might meet the requirements, then we have to set up a inspection from the embassy.  They come check it out and then we have to wait to see if they approve any of them.  The last time they came out, they looked at 3 places and didn't approve any of them and didn't let us know for a month.  They came out again last week and looked at 3 more places, now we just have to wait and see if they approve any of them.  If they do approve then we have to negotiate with the owners to see if they are willing to do the upgrades to the place that the embassy wants. (like screened in terrace, alarm system, windows that only open 10 centimeters  and other crazy things) If the owners are willing to do all these things, then the embassy comes again to reinspect to make sure everything was done.  After all of that we can then move in.  So it has been a long frustrating process.  The crazy thing is that the embassy won't approve our temporary place, but it is alright for a short term thing.  Living in Chile would be really great if we didn't have to deal with the embassy.  I figure the Lord has a plan that he doesn't want to share with us yet.  I feel like I am a pretty patient person, so I am not sure what I am supposed to learn from this experience. 

Well I better get dinner started.  Now that all the kids are in school all day, I will have time to update more often and even post some pictures.