Boo's News & Kay's Days

Our New Blog

2009-11-14T14:29:00.000-08:00

Our names are Isabella and Kaylee. We just moved back from costa rica 4 1/2 months ago. Our mom gave us this blog. Today we tried out for basketball teams. The try outs were lame. We can't wait for Thanksgiving. We like Thanksgiving for the food and for all the thanks we give. Next week were going to our grandma and grandpa's house while mom and dad go to Cancun. We get to help our grandma make all the food for Thanksgiving. We get to help make the cookies and maybe eat some cookie dough. We are so happy we get to start blogging!

New owners!!

2009-11-14T14:04:00.000-08:00

So as you can tell, I've quit the blogging business. I was kind of pressured into starting this thing by my sisters and never really loved it. Anyway, Isabella and Kaylee have asked if they can do the blog, so with me overseeing it, they will be the new authors from now on!

2009-03-23T11:00:00.000-07:00

I saw this questionnaire on Facebook and thought I would do it with all of kids and put it here. I asked each of the questions individually.

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Zoey almost 3: Monkey
Isabella 7: Clean your mess up.
Kaylee almost 10: How was your school?
Braden 11: How was your day?
Austin 12: How was school?

2. What makes mom happy?
Z: You are gone in your car.
I: Me doing the dishes.
K: Us kids.
B: When we clean our rooms.
A: The beach.

3. What makes mom sad?
Z: You sad with my teachers.
I: When dad goes on a trip.
K: When she gets sick.
B: When dad goes on a business trip for a long time.
A: When Zoey gets hurt.

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Z: Like this hahaha.
I: I don't know, do something!
K: When she says funny things.
B: She can't.
A: Stuff you say sometimes.

5. What did your mom like to do as a child?
Z:um what? nothing.
I: I think you like to go outside and play in the river grandpa owned. What? I know he owned a river!
K: Play with her sisters.
B: Shoot guns.
A: Play sports. I'm not sure.

6. How old is your mom?

Z: 1 hey no 2.

I: 33

K: 33

B: 33

A: 33

7. How tall is your mom?

Z: 1
I: 75 inches.
K: 6 foot.
B:Really 5 foot 11, but she says she's 6 foot.
A: 6 feet. Well really 5 foot 11.999.

8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV?
Z: Movies.
I: Dr. Phil.
K: Dr. Phil.
B: Oprah.
A: The food channel or HGTV.

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Z: Play.
I: Shopping...a lot!
K: Read.
B: Go to her friends house.
A:Meet with friends.

10: If your mom became famous, what would it be for?
Z: Zoey is done answering questions.
I: A singer (Austin said "are you crazy Bella?).
K: Acting.
B: Not dancing or singing, I don't know, an actress?
A: Writing a book.

11. What is your mom really good at?
I: Exercising...no, cooking, you're really good.
K: Cooking.
B: Decorating.
A: Reading.

12. What is your mom not very good at?
I: Being a farmer...I know you're good at shopping.
K: Climbing trees.
B: Playing tennis.
A: Singing.

13. What is your mom's favorite food?
I: KFC.
K: Terryaki chicken.
B: Samuri (Japanese).
A: Haystacks.

14. What does your mom do for her job?
I: Take car of 5 kids.
K: Take care of us.
B: You don't have a job.
A: Nothing, stay at home.

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
I: She makes wonderful food and cake.
K: Being my mom.
B: She's smart.
A: She's really smart.

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
I: Cinderella.
K: Minnie Mouse.
B: blue car on Cars.
A: Roadrunner. Beep Beep.

17. What do you and your mom do together?
I: Go to Miami.
K: Go shopping.
B: go to the store.
A: Cook.

18. How are you and your mom the same?
I: We have the same hair color.
K: We have the same color of skin.
B: Both tall.
A: Our genes.

19. How are you and your mom different.
I: You are older, and I am younger.
K: She likes shopping and I don't.
B: She's older.
A: Our gender.

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
I: I think because she had me and she loves me very much.
K: Because she takes care of me.
B: Because she treats me good.
A: Cause she's my mom.

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
I: He's cute or he's hot.
K: That he is handsome.
B: He's hot.
A: He's sexy.

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
I: Walmart.
K: Shopping, to the mall.
B: Hawaii.
A: New York.

NOT Pottytraining!

2009-03-19T10:08:00.000-07:00

We have been trying for a while to convince Zoey it's time to be a big girl and start wearing panties and get rid of the pacifier. She hasn't been to hip on the idea and claims she wants to be a baby. She always tells me "no potty train". We bought Dora panties at Christmas, but she wanted nothing to do with them.

Well Monday afterschool Isabella brought Zoey in to me and said "Look, I got Zoey to wear her panties." Well, although she was indeed wearing her panties, she had her diaper on underneath! Later I took the diaper off and she had a fit for a while but resigned herself to wearing panties. She wore them for about an hour, the whole time saying "I no pottytrain?!" For some reason she has an aversion to "pottytraining" so I told her we were "just practicing".

We have now "practiced" a little every day and this morning she was actually willing to sit on her little potty. I put the potty in front of the tv and she sat there for 2 1/2 hours! Everytime I asked if she wanted to put her panties back on she said "no, pee pee not ready". I even gave her 2 juice boxes to help the process along! Finally she went and was sooo proud, and excited to get a pee pee treat! Of course she also had quite the ring around her butt. I'm thinking maybe she will pottytrain before she turns 3!!

PS. As I was writting this she managed to pee her panties! Maybe the juice was not such a good idea?!

HiS and HeRs

2009-02-12T17:36:00.000-08:00

This is just like 25 things about me,except there are pre-decided questions and it's about you AND your spouse!! And of course,tag people!!!

1. What are your middle names? John & Dawn
2. How long have you been together? Married for almost 14 years, but knew each other for almost a year before getting married
3. How long did you know each other before you started dating? 3 months, we were really good friends.
4. Who asked who out? Dustin asked me out on a "Hot Date" but I thought he was joking. Turns out he was serious!
5. How old are each of you? I'm 33, he will be 36 next month.
6. Whose siblings do you see the most? Mine. He only has 1 and she lives in Germany.
7. Do you have any children together? Yes, 5, 2 boys and 3 girls
8. What about pets? Zero, much to our daughter Kaylee's dismay.
9. Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple? Dealing with 5 children.
10. Did you go to the same school? No.
11. Are you from the same town? No.
12. Who is the smartest? How do answer that? He's smarter at some things and I'm smarter at others.
13. Who is the most sensitive? Dustin, however I've become more sensitive over the years.
14. Where do you eat out most as a couple? Samurai baby! It's a Japanese place we LOVE!
15. Where is the farthest you have traveled as a couple? That would be where we now live, Costa Rica. Although we have also been to Hawaii.
16. Who has the craziest exes? neither of us
17. Who has the worst temper? Me, most definately
18. Who does the cooking? I do. I'm not sure what everyone would eat if something ever happened to me?
19. Who is more social? I guess I am, but less so as I get older.
20. Who is the neat freak? Unfortunately no one. Of course that doesn't mean we are slobs, just not neat FREAKS.
21. Who is more stubborn? All the way, Angie. I can drive Dustin a little crazy with this one.
22. Who hogs the bed? Used to be Dustin, but we seem to sleep on our own sides for the most part. Gotta love a King!
23. Who wakes up earlier? Dustin, I hate mornings!
24. Where was your first date? TGIFriday's and then we walked the trails at Big Cedar Lodge.
25. Who has the bigger family? I do, 3 sisters to 1.
26. Do you get flowers often? No. Dustin forgot the advice his father gave him before getting married!
27. How do you spend the holidays? Usually with Angie's family, but we also see Dustin's parents too.
28. Who is more jealous? Neither one of us.
29. How long did it take to get serious? A couple months.
30. Who eats more? We are probably equal on this one.
31. Who does the laundry? Until 2 weeks ago, the maid, but I fired her. Now it's all me.
32. Who is better with the computer? Dustin wins this one hands down. I'm very computer illiterate
33. Who drives when you are together? Probably 60% Dustin, 40% Angie.

Superbowl Sunday

2009-02-01T19:03:00.000-08:00

Yesterday the boys decided we should have a "Superbowl Party". I have to say, I have never watched the Superbowl, and quite frankly I've never had the desire to. But we decided to have a family party, with the party food and all. All of the kids helped make the snacks. Austin made chicken salad sandwiches, Braden made a cheese dip, Kaylee made BBQ meatballs, Isabella made Reese's peanut butter bars, and even Zoey made a salad. Zoey actual tore all of the lettuce herself and did a great job! They were all very proud of their food.

We all started out watching the game, but it didn't last long. The girls ended up playing on the computer and with each other, and I ended up doing dishes. I did watch a bit of the game and was rooting for the underdog, The Cardinals. Unfortunately, it looks like they lost it in the end, but that was the most football I've ever watched on TV!

At one point Zoey thought we should all sing a song and of course she would lead!
This is how Kaylee enjoyed the Superbowl
Austin had to call Grandpa Smith so they could watch and discuss the game together.

We're still here!

2009-01-25T15:42:00.000-08:00

It's been a while, but we wanted to let you know we are still here!

We went back to Arkansas/Missouri for almost 3 weeks at Christmas and in spite of the cold, had a great time. We were able to see my parents, Dustins parents and all of my sisters and their families. We also got to see alot of our friends, but unfotunately not all of them. We also were able to get our fill of "The good old USA".

The day after returning to Costa Rica we had a small earth quake in the afternoon, and I thought "welcome back!". It turned out that was nothing! The next day we had a BIG eathquake! It was a 6.2, centered less that 20 miles from us. We live on the 4th and 5th floors and let me tell you, we were movin'! Luckily all of the kids except Zoey were down in the pool, or I'm sure they would have been alot more traumatized. I grabbed Zoey and ran for a doorway. It lasted for 40 loooong seconds. Although we had alot of things fall off of shelves and walls, we were lucky in that we only had 2 minor things break.

The tragedy is that this is a 3rd world country and alot of people live in substandard housing and concequently there are alot of people closer to the epicenter who are without housing now. It's fortunate that it wasn't a highly populated area and I think the death toll was only around 43.

After the quake there were a few thousand aftershocks in the first 2 days, most so small you can't feel them, but we felt at least 20. We are still experiencing aftershocks, but have somehow gotten used to them.

Austin stayed an extra week with my parents and missed all of the excitement! It was his first experience flying alone and he did great! He even got through customs in spanish by himself!

Here are some pictures from our holidays- Enjoy!

All of the Smith Grandkids Christmas Eve

Braden with his new CameraIsabella Christmas MorningKaylee with her new shades
Austin after a Christmas nap
Kaylee
Kaylee, Isabella & Zoey at Grandma Lowe'sZoey checking out her stocking
Zoey and Trista finding trouble!Isabella & Braden trying out the Wii while Dallin watches

What we've been up to

2008-12-16T14:56:00.000-08:00

As I've said before, I'm not too great at updating this, so I am again behind in my blog.

In October the kids had a few days off of school and we decided to hit the road and head for the Caribbean side of the country. There are far less visitors and hotels on the Caribbean side, probably because it rains alot more there. Although October and November are the rainiest months for most of the country, it's the best time to visit the Caribbean. After a 4 1/2 hour ride we enjoyed 3 days at a quiet hotel right on the beach with a few other families we know. We all had a great time, and enjoyed seeing a new area of the country. We passed many, many acres of banana fields and pineapple fields, many of which are sent to the US.

I went onto VRBO.com, a great web site to find vacation rentals, and found a wonderful house with a private pool and awesome views. Again we were able to spend time with some of our friends who were also visiting the area. The highlight of our visit was a night walk on the beach where we were able to see a Ridley sea turtle laying her eggs. The turtles are endangered, and are very well protected here so we had to go with a guard to see the turtle. It was a really need experience for us all.

This week we are getting ready to head home for the holiday's. In fact, Dustin and Zoey are already on their way to Arkansas, while the rest of us will fly Thursday. We will be in Missouri and Arkansas for a little over 2 weeks and we are looking forward to seeing all of our family and friends.

I think Dustin has all of the pictures with him, so maybe I can add them later.

Temple Trip

2008-11-27T05:06:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we were able to go with Austin to the Temple for his first time. It was a wonderful experience for him and for Dustin and I as parents.

Dustin serves in the Young Men's program and we were both able to go with the YM/YW. Dustin did about 150 baptisms and 80% of them in Spanish, I was quite impressed!

Austin at the Temple
This is a picture of our ward youth group and the leaders.

This is our entire youth group except for 2.

Tag, I'm it!

2008-10-31T12:30:00.000-07:00

My sister Vicky tagged me yesterday so here it is.

Here are the rules:
"MY UNSPECTACULAR QUIRKS"
1.Link to the person who tagged you
2.Mention the rules on your blog
3.Tell 6 unspectacular quirks about you
4.Tag 6 bloggers by linking to them
5.Leave a comment on each of the tagged blogger's blogs letting them know they've been tagged.
First of all don't expect the links, because I am not that computer literate!

When I first got this I thought, I can't think of any strange quirks that I have. But after brainstorming with the help of my hubby I have come up with a list to share with you all. (I'm pretty sure Dustin came up with most of these. Thanks honey!)

1. I am not an e-mailer. I much prefer a conversation on the phone or in person. When I want to discuss something I don't want it to take a few days, or even hours to make a decision or to hear back from someone. Along with this I'm not a huge fan of e-vites. To me they are very impersonal and how do save that it a scrapbook if you wanted to? No offense to anyone who loves e-vite, that's just me.

2. I love to read! The only problem is that when I am reading a good book I am lost to the world, just ask my family! My husband can't understand how I can be surrounded by 5 noisy kids and not hear a thing when I'm in the middle of a good book. It absolutely drives Dustin crazy!

3. When I am deep in thought or concentrating on something I bite my tongue. Not only that, but when I used to feed my babies I would open my mouth as I fed the baby (unknowingly). It took Dustin a long time to figure out why Austin wouldn't eat for him, he watched me feed him one day and pointed this out to me.

4. I don't know why, but I pass medial tasks, that I could do, to Dustin. It is something I just recently realized, but if, for example, we have a problem with the internet, I will ask Dustin to call them. I don't know why I do this, because I'm sure I have more time and I'm totally capable, I just do. I'm going to have to work on correcting this problem.

5. When I fold laundry everything has to be folded just so (a.k.a. my way). If Dustin volunteers to help I usually turn him down or I let him fold only his own clothes. Now the really strange part of this is that living in Costa Rica I have a maid who does almost all of the laundry and I don't care at all how she fold it (sometimes things are still inside out), I'm just glad I don't have to do it or watch how she fold it!

6. I'm always right! O.K. maybe not always, but at least 99.5% of the time! I can honestly say that I truly believe this when I am discussing something with my husband. In fact one time we were discussing the fact that I think I'm always right and I said "ok, maybe I'm not always right... but really I almost always am!" It made Dustin so mad!

So now I am tagging:
Christine, Kim, Tamara, Crystal, Wendy & Desaray
Have fun!

New York City

2008-10-01T15:33:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago Dustin and I were lucky enough to get away for 6 days with out the kids. I've always wanted to go to New York City and I finally got the chance. We absolutely loved the city! We saw all of the tourist sights and a couple Broadway shows. We absolutely loved Wicked, but weren't crazy about In the Heights. The weather was gorgeous and we walked miles and miles every day. We enjoyed eating American food, walking in Central Park, and of course being together!

The kids stayed in Costa Rica with the maid during the week (I felt a little guilty because she only speaks spanish), and then they went to a couple of my friends houses for the weekend. A Huge THANKS to my friends Jenny and Angela, we couldn't have gone without you both!

Company?

2008-09-29T20:02:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I walked into our dining area and sitting on our window casing was a parakeet!

The parakeets are always around, sitting right outside our bathroom windows and making all kinds of racket starting at about 5 am.

I hurried to get a picture before he flew away, but apparently he had no plans for leaving. The girls went over to the window to visit and he pecked on the glass while they tapped from the inside. Zoey meanwhile was scared to death of it. We played with it (through the glass) for about 15 minutes, but then had to leave, and he was still there.

I guess it was just one of the amazing things you come across living in Costa Rica!

Independence Day

2008-09-12T19:08:00.000-07:00

Some of you may remember our Christmas card last year featuring our "Tico" children (a Costa Rican is refered to as a Tico). Well, Independence Day for Central America is this coming Monday, September 15th, so today they celebrated at school. All of the children come dressed in their typical Costa Rican clothing. The girls get to wear beautiful skirts and blouses, which of course they love!! And the boys dress as caballeros (cowboys) with white shirts, hats and bandannas. Then they all parade around the school grounds carrying lanterns, sing the national anthem, dance and celebrate their independence from Spain. It's fun to see our children dressed up and enjoying this cultural experience.

Braden

ZoeyKayleeIsabellaAustin

All of our little Ticos

Blessings in Costa Rica

2008-09-02T20:17:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to share some great news with everyone that we are really excited about.

You may not know it, but Braden has struggled with school pretty much from the beginning. When he was in 1st grade the school did some testing with him and said he had a learning/reading disorder. When I asked what the difference was between that and Dyslexia, they said "we don't like to put a label on the kids". So, he has gone to a reading specialist for about an hour a day during language arts since 1st grade.

When we were deciding to move to Costa Rica we were really concerned as to whether or not he could get the help he needed here. Well, we found a school that we thought would work and we moved here.

Last year the reading specialists worked with Braden, but they weren't having much success. They tried everything they knew to help him, but weren't very successful. They talked to us about getting him further testing to figure out the best way to help him learn. The problem has never been his willingness to learn because his teacher always say he is very attentive and eager to learn. So in May we started testing him and we finally received an actual diagnosis for Dyslexia.

I never knew you could be excited to have your child diagnosed with Dyslexia, but we are very excited. We have found a tutor who specializes in Dyslexia and will be using the Barton System with him. We are so excited about this program and everything it can do for Braden.

We really feel as though this has been the biggest blessing we could ever receive from moving here. I think that if we hadn't come here we never would have gotten a real diagnosis and Braden could have floundered for years.

So I guess...Thank-you Wal-Mart for sending us to Costa Rica!

Beach Boy Braden

Austin and his Prodigy

2008-08-31T18:54:00.000-07:00

Last year Austin started band and has been learning to play the drums. Well, lately he has been trying to get Zoey to play too. He thinks she has a lot of potential since she can drum pretty fast. I think she had the potential to be a spoiled rock star, since she throws the sticks when she's done!

Here's a few pictures of Austin and Zoey "practicing". They have to use pillows since we live in an apartment and there's no room for real drums.

Concentrating very hard!

That's a wrap!

No Longer My Baby

2008-08-20T19:03:00.000-07:00

Well, I can hardly believe it, but Zoey started preschool yesterday. People here seem to start sending their kids to school when they are only 1. Last year everyone kept asking me when I was going to send Zoey. I didn't really think I would send her, but the problem became that all of her sibling are in school, and so are all of the other kids her age. So in order for her to have any socialization we decided to put her in preschool 2 mornings a week. She was very excited to go and didn't care at all when I left her. When I picked her up they said she was very happy all morning and had a great time. I kind of wondered how she would do, since it is all in spanish, but so far, so good! So I guess she is now a "big girl", and not my baby!

Here she is with her Dora backpack, ready for school.

The Best Day of the Year???

2008-08-18T13:23:00.000-07:00

Well, the day has finally come. Just when I thought I might tear my hair out, school started!!! The last week the kids have really been at each other, and I really think everyone needed a break from each other. While I love the fact that I can sleep in a little in the summer and we have no real schedule, I think everyone at our house needs to get back on a schedule.

As is our tradition, we always take pictures of the kids on the first day of school, so without further ado-

Isabella- 1st Grade

Kaylee- 4th Grade

Joe Cool, I mean Braden- 5th Grade

Austin- 7th Grade

Can you believe we have a 7th grader???

1 Year!

2008-08-11T16:01:00.000-07:00

I'll keep this short, but I just thought I'd let everyone know that we have officially been "Costa Rican" for 1 year. It's hard to believe, the time has gone so fast. We are kind of feeling the pressure now to make sure we see everything here. I guess this means we will be vacationing a lot this year!!

I also wanted to post this picture. It is a beautiful tree that is right outside my dining room window. I have no idea what kind of tree it is, but I thought I would share it with everyone.

Summer Fun

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

Well, I guess it's about time I update this blogg! My sister Vicky has been on me for about a month asking when I'm going to make a new post. Well here it is.

We have had a very full summer. The first week of June my cousin Megan came for a 2 week visit. We went zip lining and to the beach and had lots of fun. She was also kind enough to watch the kids over night for our anniversary and we went to the most awesome place ever. It was called Peace Lodge, and that is the perfect name for it. If you ever come to Costa Rica you have to stay there for atleast one night. It's not a family place and is a very romantic place for couples.

Me on the balcony of our room at Peace Lodge

The week after school got out Megan and I took the kids to a beach resort for 4 days. Our friends the Belnaps and Andersons were also there for their last beach trip before moving back to the US. Everyone had a great time and we will miss our friends so much!

Braden in front of a big tree at the resort

The same day Megan left, our whole family flew back to Arkansas. Dustin was able to stay there with us for 2 weeks, unfortunately working most of that time, and the rest of us stayed for 6 weeks. We were able to see lots of friends and family. The kids had a lot of fun with my sister Vicky's kids. It was especially fun to see Zoey and Trista play (and fight) together. They are only 5 weeks apart so they are fun to watch.

Zoey and Trista in matching nightgowns

Austin and Kaylee also got to spend a few days with their best friends, Josh and Katherine Walker, before they moved to Hong Kong.

Isabella, Katherine and Kaylee

Austin and Josh

After Dustin went back to Costa Rica, Vicky and I loaded up the kids (all 9 of them) in our cars and headed to Kentucky to see our sister Rebecca and her family. It was a little crazy with 4 adult and 10 kids in a 3 bedroom house for 4 days, but we had fun. We all went to a water park together and had a blast. My kids and I also stopped by Churchill Downs for a picture and went to the Louisville Slugger Museum, where we got to see them make the bats and all got our own miniature bat to take home.

Zoey listening to the TV in the car

We made a quick stop at the Temple in St. Louis

Trista, Zoey and Jacob at the water park

The Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory

Isabella, Austin, Zoey, Braden and Kaylee in front of the big museum bat

On our way back the kids and I stopped at the St. Louis Arch for a photo op and then continued on to Grandma and Grandpa Lowe's for a visit. We spent a couple days with them and then returned to Arkansas.

Braden, Isabella, Kaylee, Zoey and Austin at the Arch

The St. Louis Arch

We went to Missouri to see my parents the next weekend and Austin and Braden got to go to a Springfield Cadinals game (the minor league). They had a great time with grandpa and Braden caught a hat they threw into the audience and Ausin caught a T-shirt. On Monday we sent Austin to Boy Scout camp for the week. It sounds like he had fun, although he came home with poison ivy and a million bug bites!

Zoey helping with brownies at Grandma's

(she had it all the way to her feet)

Braden and Austin at the game

Last Friday the kids and I flew back home to Dustin and Costa Rica. I am glad to no longer be living out of a suitcase and of course to be sleeping in my own bed. Now I am just counting down the days until school starts! (11 days, yeah!)

Happy Birthday Austin!!!

2008-06-05T20:54:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe it, but my first born is now 12!! He's also 5' 4 1/2", Crazy!! Lucky for me he is a pretty good boy. He still likes his mom enough to go out in public with me and he's not too embarased when I give him a hug in front of his friends. He's actually a very helpful young man, especially with Zoey. So, I just want to say,

Happy 12th Birthday Austin!!!

Austin, around 1 year old.

Helicopter Flight

2008-05-17T21:30:00.000-07:00

This blog posting is from Dustin, Austin, and Braden.

On Saturday, May 10 (Zoeys 2nd Birthday) the three of us for the first time had the opportunity to fly in a helicopter! Our Bishop (David Patey) took us for a 1 ½ hour flight!

In Austin and Bradens words, IT WAS AWESOME!!! I totally agreed with them!

We took off from the Pavas airport (town that is part of the San Jose metro area) around 12:30 p.m. Austin was the co-pilot and Braden and I were in the back seats. From the tar-mac we lifted off the ground a few feet and moved to the middle of the runway. We then hovered about 10 feet off of the ground in the middle of the runway for a minute or so until we were cleared for takeoff. Once cleared for takeoff, he pointed the nose of the copter down a bit and accelerated quickly off the ground. It was very neat as the copter glass wrapped all around the pilot/co-pilot so you had a full few of the ground below as you were rising above it.

After takeoff we headed to the Northwest. We first flew over and around the San Jose, Costa Rica temple.

Then we headed West out toward the Pacific Ocean (normally a minimum 2 hour car ride) and we made it in 20 minutes! We flew between 2,000 – 3,000 feet at around 120miles per hour!

We all agreed that this is the best way to go to the beach from San Jose. You avoid all the curvy roads that climb up, down, and around all of the mountains between here and there and best of all your at the beach in 20 minutes!

Along the way to the beach, you normally go over a bridge called the ‘crocodile bridge’. We have posted pictures in the past that we have taken from the bridge. This time instead of being on the bridge we flew along the river bed up to the bridge and could see the crocodiles from the air and then continued on flying over the bridge and along the river bed. What was very funny was Austin said “Look at those people, they are taking pictures of us”. So, at the same time he took a picture of them!

From there within 2 minutes we were at the beach. We flew over a man net fishing with his boys in the Ocean.

Then, we flew along the beach where we saw a large flock of seagulls so we flew down and around them, cutting back and forth, up hard and then sideways and down. We all really loved this. We would fly along the coastline then out a bit over the water flying low and then taking off hard toward the sky, then cut down around sideways! This was awesome!

After playing for several minutes we headed South and flew along the coastline (flying over Punta Leona --- a resort we have stayed at a few times). Then onto the Jaco beach area and over Los Suenos (a Marriott Hotel/Resort).

From there we headed back to the East (back towards San Jose). Along the way, we flew by a waterfall that was spectacular. The waterfall was in a canyon so we were able to drop into the canyon and sit right in front and next to the waterfall. Before leaving we rose up, flew right above it where the water was flowing from and then back around to the front of it again.

After this we continued heading East back toward San Jose. There were some really strong storms moving in to the North of where we were flying as we saw some BIG lightning bolts (in a helicopter you definitely have to fly quickly away and around storms!) About 2/3 of the way back to San Jose we starting getting light rain.

We flew over many interesting things on the way back --- bridges to nowhere (long story but in short about 20 years ago a road was contracted to be built from San Jose to the Pacific coast and the only thing completed were the bridges…after the government/contractor dispute, 20 years later, they are now working on the roadways), water hydroelectric plant, Tu Ru Bari (place where our family had Ziplined a week and a half before, and then into Santa Ana (the town we first lived at when we moved to Costa Rica), and finally into Escazu (city we now live in) and around to the Pavas airport ---just in time before the storms started to move in!

It was a great day and all three of us had loved every minute of it! Hope you enjoyed this awesome adventure…

Happy Birthday Zoey!!

2008-05-11T18:03:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Zoey's 2nd birthay. It's hard to believe that our "baby" is now 2! We didn't do much since there's no family here, but she did enjoy her presents. Her favorite was a talking Dora phone that you can easily program to say her name. So when she pushes the buttons it says different phrases like "Hola Zoey, it's Dora! How are you? Como estas?" We did go over to our Bishops house and have cake and ice cream with them, but that was the extent of our celebrations.

Canopy Adventure

2008-05-10T20:39:00.000-07:00

OK, So I've been meaning to do this blog for a week now, but Dustin has been out of town and things have been crazy here.

May 1st here is Labor Day and so of course there was no school or work for Dustin and the kids. We have talked about taking the kids on a canopy tour/zip lining for a while now and decided this would be the perfect day. We found out about a great place about an hour and 20 minutes from here called Turubari.

We left a little later than planned and so we didn't arrive until close to noon. Because Dustin has neck problems the plan was for the older kids and me to zip line while Dustin and Zoey hung out. Isabella and Kaylee were a little nervous, but also very excited. Because Isabella is lighter they had her go with a guide, and Kaylee also opted to ride with a guide. The girls were the first to go and went with smiles on their faces, and much to my surprise, no screams. The boys were also excited to go and had a great time.

Shortly after starting the clouds started to roll in. We were told you can still zip line in the the rain, but of course if it started thunder and lightening we would have to stop. Because the storm was coming they really rushed us through the course and I didn't really get to see Isabella and Kaylee do much because they were already gone by the time I got to the next line. Unfortunately the lightening started and we had to cut our tour short by a couple of lines but we did get to do the last line that was 700 meters long or close to half a mile.

We still had a great time and will definately be back (since we have a credit there now). Here are some pictures of our adventure.

The crew before the big adventure!!

Geared-up and getting our instructions.

First up, Isabella. Is that a nervous look??

Look at her go!

Next up, Miss Kaylee May!

You go girl!

The boys, getting ready for their turns.

Next up, Austin. He thinks he's a pro because it's his 2nd time zip lining!

Show Off!!

And here goes Braden!

Loving every minute!

Last, but not least, Angie.

Last one in, but we beat the storm!

Trip to Miami

2008-04-27T19:11:00.000-07:00

I'll start this off with a little background for any one who didn't already know. Right about the time Isabella turned 1 we started noticing that her right eye was turning in or "crossing". We took her to a Pediatric Ophthalmologist and she was diagnosed with Ambliopio and accommodative esotrophia. Most commonly referred to as a lazy eye. We started patching the good eye a few hours a day and when she was about 2 we tried glasses. Of course trying to get a 2 year old old to wear glasses is a near impossible feat! We also tried Atropine in her good eye to blur the vision and strengthen her other eye. All along we have known that there was a strong possibility that she would one day need surgery to correct the crossing in her eye. So we did everything we could to strengthen her eye on its own as much as possible and of course as she got older she got better at actually wearing her glasses.

Well... Last summer, about the end of July, I took Isabella for her regular check up and guess what her doctor said??? That's right, he said "It looks like Isabella's eyes have improved as much as they are going to and it is time to do the surgery". That would have been great except we were moving to Costa Rica in less than 2 weeks! So I talked to the doctor about the possibility of doing the surgery when we came home for Christmas, and that was the plan. Well Unfortunately Isabella's doctor got cancer last fall and was undergoing Chemo and was of course unable to do the surgery. He did however recommend that we go to Miami, to the Bascomb-Palmer Eye Institute. They are the #1 eye clinic in the world and he said his parents had taken him there when he was a child.

So in February Dustin and I decided that we would indeed take Isabella to Miami to have her eye surgery. Well, actually, Dustin stayed home to work and be with the other kids and i took Isabella to Miami. We flew out Tuesday April 15. She was scheduled to see the doctor and have a bunch of tests done on Wednesday and then have the surgery on Thursday. We went to the doctor as scheduled on Wednesday and the started doing the different tests on her eyes. After about 3 hours we saw the doctor, along with a "fellow" doctor from China, a 4th year resident and a couple other student doctors whose ranks I don't know. Isabella was a little hesitant about being looked at by all these people, but I explained it to her like this: Remember a couple of weeks ago when we went on a field trip at school to Zoo Ave to study the birds? Well instead of studying birds these guys are here to study you and your eye. She seemed to accept this and we continued with the testing. Well in the end all of the doctor's agreed that Isabella's eye had improved and that right now there was no need for surgery! There is still a possibility she could need it in the future, but right now, with the glasses, her eye is doing great. As a parent, of course this was a relief. On the way out of the clinic I asked Isabella if she was glad she didn't have to have surgery. She quite angrily replied: No, because that means we came all this way for nothing!

So we ended up staying in Miami until Friday and then went to Carley's for a few days, back to Miami and home on Wednesday. Of course I shopped like a mad woman after being out of the United States for 4 months. I think Isabella has had enough shopping to last her a good long time.

Thankfully everything went well at home. We were gone for Kaylee's Birthday, but friends of ours invited the family over and had a small party for her.

Here are a couple of pictures Isabella and I took at the beach in Florida.

Happy Birthday Kaylee!!

2008-04-20T20:20:00.000-07:00

Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday Kaylee! It's hard to believe Kaylee is 9 tomorrow! Even though Isabella and I (mom) can't be there we hope she has a marvelous and very happy Birthday!

Manuel Antonio

2008-04-20T07:29:00.001-07:00

The Beach

2008-04-20T05:52:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was a three day weekend and so we decided to head for the beach. We decided to go back to Manuel Antonio because it seems to be the favorite of everyone in the family. The beach is really big and the waves are perfect for bodyboarding without too much of an undertow.

Manuel Antonio is actually a national park, but we have never really been inside the park area. We had been told that it was a bit of a hike into the beaches in the park, but we decided to go for it this time. The hike actually turned out to be quite short and we were able to see monkeys on our way in and a sloth on the way out. The sloth was right next to the path and was just finishing climbing down this tree. I was literally 4-5 feet from the sloth when I took its picture. Unfortunately the kids didn't like the beach in the park as much as the one outside of the park. The waves weren't as good and the beach was much smaller and crowded.

We ended up having a great weekend. We rented a 3 bedroom condo from a guy who just happens to be from Calgary. There was a great pool and plenty of space for everyone. And the best part was we didn't even hit any really bad traffic all weekend!

Sports Day

2008-04-12T20:09:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was Sports Day at the kids school. So of course I went to support and cheer them all on in their events. It was only for elementary school, so that meant I only had 3 kids events to keep track of! So I drug Zoey all over the school grounds trying not to miss a single event, but unfortunately I can't be in 2 places at once and I missed Kaylee's swimming event. Thankfully Austin is in Middle school so I didn't have 4 kids to keep up with!

Isabella is in Prep (kindergarten) and they don't do as many events so she only ran in the girls relay race. She and the girls in her class ran their hardest and won gold medals which she is very proud of.

Kaylee had 2 events. The first was the girls swimming relay (which I missed). Her teacher said she did a great job and they came in 3rd, earning bronze medals. Her other event was the girls running relay. The girls ran very hard and Kaylee won another bronze medal.
Braden also had 2 events, his first event was the boys swimming relay, and they won second place. The last event of the day was the 4th grade boys running relay. Braden was in the first position for his team and had quite a lead for them. In the end they won 2nd place, although from my view point it looked like a tie.

Of course Zoey thinks she needs to be a part of everything and wanted her pictures with the medals too!

Update from Costa Rica

2008-03-09T16:39:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody! I haven't written for a while, so I just wanted to update everyone as to what we are up to.

It's hard to believe we have been here 7 months already! The first few months were rough, but it really feels like home now. Dustin is as busy as ever with work. He has actually been doing 2 jobs since shortly after we arrived here, but they have finally hired another expat who should hopefully be in position by May. He is looking forward to being able to concentrate on what he came here to do! I am still running the household and taking spanish classes a few times a week. I really enjoy learning the language, but sometimes I leave class with my head spinning from trying to take in so much!

Austin has been playing soccer and will be playing in the championship game tomorrow (hopefully his team will win!). He also recently went on a 3 day school field trip to Ricon de la Vijea Volcano. He got to go zip-lining, he saw the startings of 3 new volcanos, he rode an ox, saw boiling mud pots and swam at a waterfall. Braden has been playing basketball and had his first game yesterday which they won. When we are home he is never in the house, he is always outside with the neighborhood boys and doesn't come in until dark. Kaylee has recently started swimming classes after school on Fridays. She and Isabella are also in the Drama Club and will be munchkins in the play The Wizard of Oz. Isabella is really liking school and especially loves math. She is always doing math problems and "quizing" me to see if I know what x+y equals. Zoey is still the high maintenance girl she has always been. Recently she has discovered our Baby Einstein movies and has become a bit of an addict!

That's about it for now, enjoy the pictures!

Isabella after a super fun B-day party!

Kaylee, also after a super fun B-day party!

Of course Zoey wanted in on the pictures!

Sorry, I don't have any recent pictures of the boys or Dustin and me, I will have to take some and post them the next time.

Happy Birthday Isabella

2008-02-15T05:38:00.000-08:00

Well, It's hard to believe, but Isabella is 6 years old! Her birthday was February 7th, but I am just now finding time to post this. In our family the kids get a party with friends only every other year. Lucky for me, this year is a no party year (yeah). We did have a small family celebration after dinner on her birthday, and she got to pick what ever restaraunt she wanted to go to Saturday and take 1 friend. I don't think she really minded not having a party and it was certainly easier for me! Here are a few pictures of Bella.

The Birthday Girl

Isabella with her new "laptop" and Webkin

Bella blowing out her candles

The Birthday Girl at school

Happy Birthday Isabella!!

A Visit from Mom and Dad

2008-02-08T07:58:00.000-08:00

My parents were able to come and visit us for about 10 days and we had a great time with them. They flew in late Wednesday night and on the way home as we were getting closer to our house my mom said "I think we're in the getto", she was refering to all of the razor wire around the top of everyones fences and gates. Unfortunately there are alot of homes that get robbed and in order to prevent that people have guards and razor wire. Lucky for us we are in a gated community with guards and have heard of no problems here.

Thursday I took them around town, showed them the church, the kids school and the community in general. Friday we packed up the whole family and went to the beach for 3 days. The roads to get there go over the mountains and are very windy and slow. On the way we stopped at the "crocodile bridge". It is a large bridge that crosses a river and everyone gets out to see the crocs. Well the 2 times we stopped in the past there were only 1 or 2 crocs, but this time my dad counted over 40, some of them very large. We stayed at a condo up on a cliff with awesome views overlooking the ocean. We bought boogie boards at Christmas and this was the first time we've been able to use them. Everyone had a blast, dad really got into the body boarding and ended up sunburnt from being out there so long.
On Monday mom, dad and I rode the city bus down town to go to the markets. We met up with Dustin and went to the Gold Museum. The museum has the largest collectio in the world of pre-columbian gold. They had all kinds of little animals and people made out of gold. Afterward when mom and dad and I were walking back to the bus stop we ended up getting a little lost and found ourselves in the red light district (prostitution is legal here). We quickly got out of there and found the bus stop.

On Tuesday mom dad and I drove to Arenal Volcano. It is about 3 hours away on windy, hilly roads. After checking into our hotel we went to the hanging bridges for a 1.8 mile hike. The bridges are really cool and you are surrounded by the rainforest. When we were almost to the end of our hike we saw a mommy monkey and her baby up in a tree. It was the first time I've seen a monkey in the wild. My dad and I got some pictures but they didn't turn out really great. On our way back to the hotel we went to an area we were told you could see the lava rocks when they come off the top. When our family went in November it was very cloudy, but this time it was clear and we were able to see the top of the volcano. It ws really cool to see the hot red rocks tumble the side of the mountain. That night we enjoyed the natural hot tubs and pools at the hotel and of course played some cards.

On Wednesday we had a reservation for a Canopy tour near the volcano. A canopy tour is a series of zip lines way up in the trees. When we were waiting for our tour to begin we were looking at the volcano when it suddenly let out a big stream of smoke which was followed by a long, loud rumble! It was so Cool!! We rode up to the start of the canopy tour in a sky tram and the views were awesome. The tour we went on had 7 long zip lines, the first one being the highest and over 1/4 mile long. We were in a group of about 12 and of course dad volunteered to go first. Mom turned to me and asked Does that mean we have to go next?". Well I went 2nd and mom went third. After the first terrifying 3-4 seconds it was amazing. You are high above a canyon zipping across a cable and the views are spectacular. We had such a blast. The longest cable is just under 1/2 mile long and reaches speed of up to 55 mph! We will definately be doing this again next year.

(Top: Volcano Arenal; Bottom: the lava rocks coming off of the volcano at dusk)

On Thursday and Friday we just hung around the house and went down town again. Friday late afternoon Dustin and I were able to go to the Temple with mom and dad and then out to dinner to calebrate their anniversary. (33 years, yeah!) Saturday we hung around the house and pool and unfortunately they had to go home Sunday.

Mom and Dad at the Temple

Our family at the beach

We all had an awesome time and can't wait for mom and dad to visit again next year!

A Wonderful Christmas Time

2008-01-18T21:40:00.001-08:00

Christmas Break

2008-01-17T15:45:00.000-08:00

We've been back in Costa Rica for a week and a half now and I am finally getting around to updating this. We had a great trip back to Arkansas/Missouri (although a little cold!) and enjoyed seeing evryone there. We really miss seeing our family and friends regularly and had a great time catching up with everyone.

For Christmas we were able to go to my parents and had a few days with all of my sisters and their families, my parents, my grandparents and even my cousin and her family. For 1 night there were , I think, 26 people staying at mom and dads house- 5 of them being babies. It was crowded, but fun. We, the adults, enjoyed staying up late playing games and eating too many good treats! The kids enjoyed playing with their cousins and of course playing with all of their new toys.

A few days after Christmas we went to Sedalia and were able to spend a couple days with Dustin's parents. Grandpa Lowe gave Kaylee a very fashionable haircut that she loves. We had a great visit and especially enjoyed warming ourselves by the fireplace.

The last week we were able to spend in Arkansas with our friends, Brian and Deanne Walker, and with my sister Vicky and her family. I was able to do a lot of shopping that week and see several of our friends.

Kaylee was especially sad to come back to Costa Rica after spending several days with her best friend Katherine. In fact on the morning of the day we came home I was asking Kaylee and Isabella if they were ready to go home. Kaylee's answer was NO! To which Isabella emphatically answered "Yes we are Kaylee! We're freezing here!!". I have to admit I was feeling the same as Isabella. For most of the time we were there the highs were in the 30's, but of course it started to warm up the day before we left and hit record highs the day we came home! Doesn't it figure!!

After getting home the kids still had one more week off of school, and thank goodness they started up again this week! I think everyone was ready for a break from one another, especially me!

Well I guess that's all for now. My parents are coming next week so we are looking forward to that and we'll keep you all posted as to what we're up to.

Livin' La Vida Loca!

2007-12-19T18:09:00.000-08:00

I just tought I would give you the latest update on the Irlenborn family. The first bit of news would be that we had a lot of ongoing problems with the house we were renting and after 3 months I was fed up! So, of course I started looking for a new home for us. We were very lucky in that we found a penthouse apartment in the same complex as a friend of ours that is going to be perfect for us. There are so many benefits to the new place, such as a heated swimming pool, saves us money, closer to EVERYTHING, lots of kids for ours to play with and it cuts Dustin's commute in half.

So how this gets crazy is that Dustin was in Guatemala Nov. 27-30 and again from the 2nd to the 6th. And at the same time I had a trip planned to Florida since September from the 5th to the 10th. So I got home late Monday night (3 a.m.), had to pack Tuesday and Wednesday, the movers came Thursday and didn't get done until 8:30 p.m. So Friday and Ssaturday we were unpacking and on Sunday I had to pack myself and the kids for our trip back to the U.S. Of course on Saturday night Zoey got sick and kept us up half the night and this continued through Sunday night. Lucky for us on Monday morning she was well enough to travel.

I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to fly home alone with the kids before Dustin. I had obviously forgotten about customs! The really tricky part was that we only had 1 hour and 20 minutes between flights. Of course the customs line and the security lines we enormous, but luckily there was a nice gentleman who let me in front of him, or we would never have made it. I'm sure we were quite a sight, 1 mom with a baby on her hip and 4 children trailing as we are running as fast as we can through the airport. Luckily we barely caught our flight (I think they knew we were coming and held it for us.

Our arrival in Arkansas was a chilly one! Of course the kids were so happy to see their cousins and I was excited to see my sister Vicky again. We are looking forward to spending lots of time with our friends and family. And of course for oll ofyou who know me well I am looking forward to alot of shopping!

Thanksgiving Costa Rican Style

2007-12-05T05:35:00.000-08:00

This year for Thanksgiving we we did not do the traditional turkey with all of the fixings (a small turkey is $40-50 here). Instead we went with a few families for the weekend to a resort at Arenal Volcano. It was a lot of fun although the clouds covered the top of the volcano the whole time we were there so we were never able to se the top or the lava flows. We did have alot of fun though at the pools with waterslides, the hot springs, hanging bridges and just relaxing.

On Friday our family decided to go to the hanging bridges. It is a 1.8 mile trail through the rain forest with these awesome (sometimes scary) hanging bridges. A few of them were around 300 feet long and just as high. Amazingly enough none of the kids complained at all on the hike, and other than having to carry Zoey alot it was amazing. I am planning on taking my parents when they come in January.

On Saturday we went to a place with our friends to watch Austin's friend Brady bungee jump. They also have this huge swing that we let Kaylee, Austin and Braden ride. My friend Kari made a video that I will try to post. We really had a great time throughout the whole weekend.

Zoey and daddy on the first bridge

Some of the views from the bridges

Kaylee, Braden and Austin on the giant swing.

(sorry I can't get the video to download, maybe next blog)

Halloween

2007-11-06T16:44:00.000-08:00

I just thought that I would post a few pictures of the kids from Halloween. Enjoy!!

Zoey as a butterfly

Isabella as a cheerleader

Kaylee as a witch

Braden as a dead basketball player

Austin as a vampire

The latest from the greatest!! Haha!!

2007-10-31T08:16:00.000-07:00

O.K., so I am quite obviously not very good at blogging. I must say though that I often think about updating this, my thoughts just don't seem to be followed by action!

Isabella, Kaylee, Austin and Braden at the beach

Since I last posted a lot has happened around here. A few weeks ago we were able to go to the beach again. Austin is getting to be quite good at bodyboarding and really enjoyed the waves. Kaylee and Braden went on a crab hunt and I think they ended up with about 12 sand crabs by the end of the day. They weren't very happy when I told them they weren't taking them home. Maybe next time we can plan ahead and get a small cage and bring 1 or 2 home, we'll see. Really we all enjoy the beach except for Zoey, who absolutely HATES water. She won't even put her feet in it without us forcing her to.

Zoey loving the beach!!

A little background on this next little tidbit: When we were looking at moving to Costa Rica this spring we had a family meeting. At this meeting we asked each of the kids if they wanted to move and why or why not. Well when we got to Isabella she was very excited to give her answer. She said yes, she wanted to move to Costa Rica and when we asked her why she said "Because I want to drink from a coconut!". Apparently she thought we were going to be living at the beach. We thought it was funny and had to explain that we would not live at the beach, but that we would be able to visit. Well on the last day at the beach, just as we were packing up to head home, a little guy came down the beach with a wheelbarrow full of coconuts and flowers selling you guessed it, coconuts to drink from. Of course we had to get one for Isabella and actually got one for Kaylee too. Isabella was very excited, but quite disappointed when she actually got it. I'm not sure if it wasn't ripe or what but they tasted awful. Of course we really only did it for the novelty of the whole thing.

The coconut man making Isabella's coconut

Isabella with her coconut (and the coconut man)

Kaylee with her coconut (and the coconut man)

Another thing about our weekend at the beach is that on the way home we decided to take a different road because on the way over there were alot of mudslides. Well it turned out that a bridge on this other road had been washed away and so what was supposed to be a 3 hour drive home turned into 7 hours! We said to the the kids "This is an adventure!" and they said "We're sick of adventures!". (In Costa Rica there are no street names or addresses so we have gotten lost several times and I always say "This is an adventure!".)

Zoey and Braden enjoying the ride home

Bella, Zoey and Kaylee on the way home

In other news 2 Sundays ago Isabella fell and hit her chin on the tile and split it open. We had to go to the ER and get 10 tiny stitches. The funny thing is she never even cried when it happened, but she sure wailed when it was time for the stitches to come out today. I wrestled with her for 30 minutes while the nurse tried to take the stitches out while Isabella was yelling in her ear. A 5 year old can be stronger than her own mother when someone is coming at her face with scissors. After 30 minutes the doctor finally came in and finished up in about 3 minutes with the help of a bribe from her mother!

Bella's new chin

Irlenborn update

2007-09-25T15:23:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I've been meaning to get this thing going for over a month now and I'm finally doing it. My sisters all have their own blogs going and I really enjoy checking them out so I thought it was time I got my own started. I also thought this would be a great way to sort of journal our family life. (FYI- I am not technically gifted, so don't expect this site to get too fancy!)

First off, we are now living in beautiful (although rainy) Costa Rica! In August we moved to Costa Rica with Wal-Mart (Dustin's job). The plan is to be here 2 years and then return to Northwest Arkansas. Just in case you don't know where Costa Rica is, it is the narrowest stretch of land in Central America that connects North America with South America.

The unfortunate thing about arriving in August is that this is their winter which means that it rains almost every day. I've never seen so much rain in my life!! Since arriving on August 10th we've seen 3 days without rain, and they say the rain won't stop until December. The good news is that they say it doesn't rain at all January through April and it's just beautiful. Oh, I forgot to tell you that although it's the middle of the winter most days average around 80 degrees and it gets down to the low 60's in the night.

One of the benefits of living in Costa Rica is that there are tons of beaches, both on the Pacific side and the Carribean side, and we plan to visit as many as we can in the next 2 years. We were lucky enough to go to the beach the first weekend here and really enjoyed ourselves. Some of saw a sloth, monkeys and some rather large iguanas.

Although we've had our challenges since arriving (problems with the house, living in a hotel for 10 days, the language barrier etc.) we seem to be getting settled. The kids go to a private school that is very american and they have transitioned pretty well. We actually feel very blessed to be here and to be able to give our kids this great life experience.

Well, that's enough for today, I'll keep you all posted on life in Costa Rica!

Here are some recent pics. of the kids, enjoy!!

Isabella (5), Zoey (15 mo.) and Kaylee (8) playing in the sand at Manual Antonio beach.

Austin (11) and Braden (9) body surfing at Manuel Antonio.

Isabella

Kaylee

Braden

Austin

Zoey

Kaylee buried in the sand.

Braden and Kaylee hanging out.

The end of day 10 in Costa Rica!