Happy Birthday Charlie Bug!

Happy Birthday Charlie!  I can't believe you are 4 years old!  Have a wonderful birthday.  We miss you!

Too much time?

The girls have resorted to silliness in all of this extra time after school.  Spring break is coming up and Michael and Hayden are out of town for two weeks.  I am going to have to come up with something fun so we don't end up with too many of these pictures!  

A few fun pictures....

The girls showing off their fans that they got at Los Portales.

Hayden and Brittan were invited to a 15 anos party.  

Michael with his childhood friend Pepe Gonzalez.

On our anniversary we took the day and went for a long drive.  We found a little town south of Veracruz where you can drive on the beach for miles.  Very fun!!

18 years...

Yesterday was our 18th anniversary!  Michael surprised me the night before with a mariachi band at 11pm.  It was so unexpected (as I was peacefully reading in the living room) that I jumped out of my chair (and my skin) when the trumpets sounded their horns!  My first reaction was "how do I make this stop" followed by laughter and  shear surprise!  I went to the door to find Michael on one knee with a dozen roses and the Cors family all dressed up in their sombreros and Mexican attire.  What a fun surprise!  P.S.  I love my hubby!

Sleeping angels....

We have found the perfect solution to getting our kids to go to bed at a reasonable time.  We have been studying the scriptures every night, and I regret to admit that it puts them right to sleep!  We are having an enjoyable time and good scripture study time with the kids- but it does seem to do the trick every night!  This photo is not staged!

Isabelle vs. mosquitos

Notice the size difference!

Isabelle has been fighting a serious war with mosquitos here in Mexico.  This morning she woke up complaining about her leg.  I took one look and about died!  She had a bite on her leg the size of an apple!  We took her to the Dr. and got some medicine so hopefully she will be on the mend quickly!  We are starting her on some Vitamin B also (thanks Mary J for the tip!) so hopefully they will leave her alone!  

Tia Fabiola is the bomb!

Michael's hermana Fabiola is so cool!  Way cooler than I will ever be!  She has spent a great deal of time with our kids and is very concerned that they have a great time while learning about the Mexican culture.  She is known here in Veracruz for her collection of wigs.  When she goes out, she wears wigs- both to save time getting ready and to see the look on Pepe's face when she comes out of her room with a different look.  She and the girls organized a fashion show called "Acada mia" (Academy awards) and they all dressed in Fabis' clothes, shoes, wigs, bra's etc.  Like I said, Tia Fabiola is the bomb!  They had a great time.  Brittan was the MC (aka Reese Witherspoon) Olivia was announced as "Mary Morgan" and Isabelle was announced as "Kati Verburg".  Of course Michael and I burst into laughter when they were announced.  Im sure their aunties will get a kick out of this!  

Los Portales, Veracruz Mexico

Last night we went with Fabiola and Pepe and some of their friends to downtown Veracruz for dinner.  When they invited us for dinner we assumed that they would pick us up around 8pm because they do things late here.  Instead, they picked us up for a 9:30pm dinner and we didn't get home intil 2am!  We had a great time- lots of laughter and story telling (right up Michael's alley).  I caught about 20% of it all, but had a fun time watching everyone.  

Happy Birthday Delaney Jane!

Today is sweet Delaney Jane's birthday.  She is a favorite in our home and we miss loving on this little one!  Have a fabulous birthday Delaney!  We love you!

Happy Birthday Uncle Nate!

Thanks for all of the good times, laughs and great stories!  We love you!

Our home in Veracruz

The front of the house.  We can't park in the garage because our car is too tall so we park on the street!

This is basically the only furniture in the house.  If you look carefully, you can see some of our artwork!

This is where we hang laundry.  Most of our laundry is done at a laundry-mat because we have too much to do by hand!

Our courtyard in the back.

The kitchen.  Liv is the head chef in our home.

I finally remembered to take a few pictures of our home here in Veracruz.  It is a 3 bedroom house with hardly any furniture in it.  When we first arrived the kids about died when they saw the artwork on the walls.  Throughout the house there are paintings of 1/2 dressed women!  We had our first (but not last) lesson on cultural differences and somehow forgot about all of the naked picures and have just learned to live with them.  Pretty funny really...

Escuela de Colegio Americano

Today was the first day of school for the kids.  They all did great!  Michael and I secretly stressed all day long hoping that they would survive.  When we picked them up they were all happy and had already made friends.  I am so proud of their bravery!  

Waterfall stops

The rickety foot bridge that we crossed.

These are the hitch-hikers that we picked up along our way.  Two separate groups- one group was from France and one of the guys was from Eugene, Oregon.

We had two other waterfall stops on the way home.  I can't properly describe the color of the water.  See for yourselves!  

Becan

On our way home from Playa de Carmen we stopped in at a set of ruins called Becan.  Michael remembers pulling into these particular ruins with his dad after hours, late at night (while David and Kati slept in the car) jumping a fence, being chased by a dog etc... he shared with us his memories of this as we sat at the tip top of these ruins looking out at the most amazing scenery.