Friday, December 30, 2011

Conil Sleepover


Our friends Robert & Tina Leholm live about 40 minutes south of us.  Robert is a big surfer and they moved there in search of waves!  They ended up finding this great ocean front house.  It's got killer views!  If I lived there I'd never leave my living room.  Honestly, I think I'd just sit and stare at the ocean all day long!

We went down for a game night and sleepover.  The boys fished and the girls played all after noon.  At sunset, everyone went for a walk along the cliffs.  It was very beautiful and peaceful since the kids had playmates.   After our walk it was bedtime for the mites, but my night was just getting started.

The adults pulled out Settlers and played until 2am.  We played and snacked on sugar cookies all evening.  The game got a little heated and competitive at times, but we still had so much fun!

CeCe with Aili
Savea
This is a cove marker, so you know which beach your on.
my boys
hello gorgeous!!

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

CeCe As A Knight

At school CeCe has been learning all about medieval times.  They took a little field trip down to the castle in Puerto and she's brought home all sorts of fun little games and pictures.  It's been a lot of fun for her.  Today she came home like this...


Monday, December 12, 2011

Now Hear This!!

We watched a documentary over the weekend called, BUCK.  It was very heartwarming, wonderful and inspirational.  The film is about Buck Buckingham, the horse whisperer.  He works mainly with breaking young horses and is incredible with them. 

As a young boy, he was taken out of an abusive home and placed with the Shirley family, which raised 21 orphaned boys in all!  We found the mother, Betsy, to be funny and charismatic.  We couldn't help but fall, instantly, in love with her.  She's the type of old lady that I'd love to hang out with for an afternoon because I'm sure she has buckets and bucket of wisdom to share. 

During part of the story she shared her motto:



Fabulous!!  Genius!!  I have adopted it as my own motto.  I made a poster of it this morning and have hung it up on the mirror in the kids' bathroom.

Do you think it will work??

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Date night in Jerez

We went on a date with our friends Andy & Judy to Jerez to do a bit of holiday shopping and have dinner.  We drove into the city center and enjoyed the nativity by the cathedral and the general ambiance.  The streets were decorated with Christmas lights and it felt very festive.  We passed a group of people sitting around a fire singing Christmas carols.  Then we found this tiny out of the way restaurant.  The staff were so nice and the food delicious.  I had alinada with my steak and it was the best I've had so far anywhere.  The entire evening was a delight,  spent in good company over yummy food...that's perfection to me! 




Cub Scout Cake

Luke had to make a cake for a cub scout fundraiser and Trent helped.  It was really cute watching them create a sugar masterpiece.  I wasn't allowed to help, mom's were sidelined, according to the rules.  I had fun watching them work together.

They made the cake into a ski jump.  The ramp ended up listing to one side and we were afraid it might tip all the way over before he got to show it off.  Luckily, and the kids is lucky, it made it through the voting process and then toppled over into a heap of mess.  We laughed about it because he didn't care.  He's so resiliant.  He was fine with it because all his friends had already gotten a chance to see it and more importantly vote on it.  I love this boy!

After the cake auction, during witch we ended up buying our "pile o cake" back, they awarded prizes.  Luke ended up winning 3rd place because all the cub scouts had voted on his cake before it fell over.  Congratulations Luke!!






Wednesday, December 7, 2011

iPho, Entrepreneurs & The 2fer

I have this friend named Judy.  We met on the airplane on the flight over the Atlantic.  We're both here for 3 years and have much in common.  It's a little freaky...we both still have a baby tooth, in the same spot & we have the same silverware!  I think it's fair to say that we were destined to be here at the same time and become BFF's!  Judy is my partner in crime.  She speaks the language very well and has helped me immensely since I arrived.  Our kids play well together too which is a nice bonus.  Ok, I'm rambling here, what I want to say is that Judy is a funny lady.  She has coined a few phrases that are really hilarious and which now serve as daily reminders that I no longer live in the US of A.

The iPho...I love my iPhone.  If you have one, I'm positive you love yours just as much.  When I arrived Trent had a cell waiting for me because we didn't know if I'd be able to use my iPhone or if I'd need to get a new one.  Well I thought I could live without it.  I thought the cell he got me would be fine.  He even picked one out that was similar to an iPhone just to make me happy.

It only took a few days for me to realize that nothing could replace my iPhone.  The one Trent got me was an impostor, a fake, wannabe.  The reality of the situation was that it was kind of hard to turn on and use.  It wasn't simple...and simple was what I'd grown accustomed to.  So out it went.

I got my own iPhone up and running with a local company which shall remain nameless.  It took about 2 days before the phone actually worked and I could receive calls.  It sat idle for 2 days and then just started making all these noises and I began receiving texts from the company.  I was relieved, because I was beginning to think it would never work.

So I could make and receive calls, receive texts, but I couldn't text.  That took a few more days and a few trips back to the phone store.

Now onto Internet...I still don't have Internet capabilities on my iPhone.  We've made a few more trips back to the phone store and a couple of time consuming phone calls to try to fix the problem, but still no go.  For now, as my friend Judy would say, my beloved iPhone has been demoted to an iPho

I don't know when it will be a full fledged iPhone again...but for now, it's not living up to its potential.

Entrepreneurs...what would the world be like without them?  In many nations around the globe an entrepreneur is defined as, someone who owns or manages their own small business.  Here in Spain, a lot of people are out of work.  A lot of people have become entrepreneurs.  When you park your car in any FREE parking lot, you will encounter said entrepreneurs.  They don't ask much, only a euro or two.  They always ware "official" reflective safety vests.  They give you a friendly ticket to put in your dash and you're on your way.  BUT if you don't pay, watch out, you may return to find your car keyed or tires slashed!  It always pays to help out the entrepreneurs, you're investing in the future of your vehicle!

The 2fer...two is better than one, right???  In the states, when you need something done, you go and do it.  When you need to pay a bill, you pay it.  When you need to get a paper from the courthouse you go and get it.  Here in Spain, it doesn't work quite like that.  You can never just go and get anything.  You never get to just go and pay for what you need in 1 trip.  That would be way, way, way too easy.  

Here you have to go to the courthouse to pick up a paper, then return with all the appropriate documents.  Then come again after two weeks time and pick up the paper and finally after another two weeks you can have the paper signed.  All the while keeping in mind that these are rarely done at the same offices.  

So was born the 2fer!  Anytime Judy or I get anything done in a streamlined process it's big news...HUGE!  It doesn't happen often, but it does happen.  A 2fer is possible!  It's an amazing thrill to get a 2fer and is always worthy of a phone call to share your happy news with a friend! 

Saturday, December 3, 2011

2011 family photos

We wanted to take a photo that felt like we were living abroad.  I was hoping for a candid, urban vibe.  We headed downtown on a chilly Saturday morning and had a little luck.  We ended up freezing out, so we didn't take as many shots as I would normally.  I didn't quite achieve my vision, but we did fine in the end.  Here are my favorites.




getting churros next to the market

enjoying the churros on the cathedral steps


I kept clicking because when I said we were done everyone bolted!  It was pretty funny, but maybe you had to be there!


And the winner was....


Thursday, December 1, 2011

Yes, I'm still here

Some of you have wondered where on earth I've been...well in Spain duh!!

Seriously though, the last few months have been C-R-A-Z-Y!!!

I'm finally to the point where I can start to update my blog!  I'm going to attempt to get caught up over the next 2 weeks.  If you're curious you can look back starting in August, but otherwise just know that I am still here.  I am still planning on blogging to keep everyone and myself updated.  I have been taking lots of photos since I got my camera.  And no, I won't leave anything out!

That should answer most of your questions for now, you'll have to check back for more!  Some of you will be extra pleased because this means you don't have to send me anymore emails wondering what's up!!!

I'M BAaaaaaCK!!

I'm going to keep a living log here so I can keep track of my progress...I need incentives YO!!
  • August - complete.  done.  check!
  • September - complete.  done.  check!
  • October
  • November
  • December 

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Daughtry

The band Daughtry came to the Naval Base we're stationed at as part of the USO and gave a free concert.  We decided it was a great opportunity to take Luke to his first concert!  We left the girls with a sitter and headed out.  He was really really excited, but didn't know what to expect.  He'd heard their songs on the radio, but wasn't prepared for how cool a live show can be.

The concert was in an airplane hanger and a lot of people brought kids, he saw a few boys from cub scouts and he was in heaven.  They ended up in the front row!  Crazy kids!

I'm not a huge Daughtry follower, but I know their music from the radio and thought they put on a really great show.  They were so kind and appreciative towards the troops.  I loved that their performance was extremely clean and family friendly too.  Overall the night was a huge success.  Luke still talks about the concert.  I'm so happy that Trent and I were able to share this experience with him.

















The Cronicles of Tapa...the cat.

OK Cat lovers of the world explain this....we're going on vacation and wanted to board our cat, but they wouldn't take her unles...