Angels in Costa Rica

Some of the angels in Costa Rica that we are so grateful to have met and will greatly miss ~

1: Tara Martinsen - She and her daughter Emma came to help us clean the house Wednesday night - Thank you Tara!!! What a beautiful smile! It has been a great blessing for us to meet you, thank you for your help and friendship! We hope to see you again someday ~ we can come visit you in St. George. :) Keep in touch!

2: Magaly and Esteban - Magaly came over on Wednesday night to help us clean, too. She and Esteban also stayed over at our house a couple of nights, made us all dinner, cleaned the house and played with the kids. Thank you for your help! We will miss you! Abi and Lily will miss you too! Here Esteban is holding Abi - she fell asleep while he held her during sacrament meeting on our last Sunday at Church.

Aren't they just the cutest couple?

And last but not least...


3: the RMs -big time blessing having them here to take me and the kids to the airport. Jacob and Dannan let the kids abuse them (see Wes in the above photo? He's got Jacob's legs) Rachael changed Lily's diaper, Melanie and Rachael helped me fill out 8 boarding pass papers with our Chile address and everyone's passport #s. My hands were totally shaking - I think I was now feeling the stress, but they pulled me through the toughest part of checking in luggage and walked us to security.

We said goodbye and then as we were taking off our shoes and checking in then Ethan looked at me with an expression of panic on his face... he started to cry "MAX!!!!" He left his webkinz cocker spaniel stuffed dog, lovingly named Max, in the van. The RMs were still there making sure I got through security, I yell over "Ethan left a stuffed dog in your car!!!" and off they go running to our rescue again. I pace for a few minutes, not knowing how long it will take. Hmm, I'm thinking we can't wait... "Eth, I think they had to park far away! I don't think we can wait... Max will be safe with them, we'll have them send him in the mail, we gotta go!" I go to tell Melanie to just keep him and we'll get him later, but she says "They got it right here!" and here they are back lickity split and Max was returned. Ethan gave him a big hug. A small miracle for Ethan, I look at him amazed and said "You said a prayer, didn't you!!" We smile, finish going through security, and are on our way to Chile.

Bye Costa Rica and all the friends we've met here. We miss you already and will always remember our time here. Para siempre Dios este con voz

Hasta Luego Costa Rica! Vamos a Chile! It will be a grand adventure.

The Drive to San Jose

9:00 - leaving Villareal. Dropped off the keys at Blue Water Properties, and then we're on our way to San Jose. We got there around 2:00 p.m. Flight was at 5:30

Starting the drive - Lily trying to keep herself entertained by making faces - she had us all laughing. She fell asleep right away, then woke up when we filled up the van with gas and was awake most of the drive. Well, that should help her sleep on the plane ride maybe!


Wesley teaching Lily how to take good care of stuffed toys.


She was being very sweet with Wesley's dog. Wes was feeling so proud that he taught Lily something.

Legos!!!

On our last day visiting the RMs, Rachael broke out their bin of Legos!! Playing legos outside by the pool - my kids were in HEAVEN! Wesley was so excited!!!

"MOM!!! They have LEGOS!!!!"


Joseph, Michael, and Joey

Ethan, Melodie, and Hyrum, Wes in the red hat.



All the kids hard at work.

Tiffanie's Last Hurrah

Well, I had tentative plans to go see Volcan Arenal today as my last hurrah. Pros: it would be beautiful to see a volcano. I love the Costa Rican landscape, jungles, and trees, so I'd enjoy the drive. It would be fun if I were by myself or with other adults, but I am by myself with kids. So then I think Cons: it's a long drive with 7 kids in tow. It isn't just my last hurrah, its the kids' last hurrah too... a 4+ hour drive might be a little much for them. They are simple creatures. So we didn't make it to Arenal, and decided to go by the over priced "Monkey Park" instead.


$10 each, but I didn't have to pay for Lily, so = $70, probably cheaper than the gas it would take me to drive to Arenal and back home. Plus now we will have time to go to the RMs one last time and the kids can play and I can see my girlfriends and also borrow their Dyson to vacuum out my rental car so I don't get an extra cleaning fee charge for it being exceptionally dirty from collecting 3 months worth of sand from our family outings to the beach (run on sentence).

So we went to the Monkey Park. I thought it was like a petting zoo, but it's not, it's a non-endangered wild animal rehabilitation park.

Loved the Toucan - such beautiful colors on it's beak.

The Scarlet Macaw - I love this bird. I predict that someday it will be the Geico Gecko-type mascot for M o v i e Mouth.

Ethan's got the map, the kids saying cheese to be before continuing on the trail.

Hyrum was sweet holding Lily's hand. Love my big kids!

Un Crocodilio!

Another beautifully designed creature - the Ocelot. Love the patterns in it's fur, beautiful. The kids had fun, but Hyrum wished there had a been more turtles. Not really worth the $70, but what are ya gonna do. I would have felt the $30-$40 price range for our family to be more appropriate, so $5 a person. I'll let them know that for when you come.

Little Kids & Big Kids

I love being a mother. It's hard to explain the joy you feel as you see your little children grow and learn new things. Also, seeing the creative things they come up with always makes my heart happy. For example, Wesley figured out how to make Woody fly like Buzz. Do you, too, want to know how to give your stuffed cowboy dolly arm support. Wesley presents the perfect solution: Polly pocket dresses


Actually, they're not from Polly's closet, these are Cinderella and Snow White dresses. The rbber material makes his arms still pliable and playable, but also provides enough support to make Woody fully capable of flying to infinity and beyond! The older kids and I all enjoyed Wesley's creativity.

I'm also discovering how great it is to see these older kids come into their own. They are such good helpers. Sometimes they revert into their little kid fighting and teasing modes, but most of the time, these 8+ year olds have become my second, third, and fourth pairs of hands.

Joe is so good at helping with Lily - ever since we tried our hand at homeschooling in January 2010, he's been the one with the magic touch to get her to take a nap and go to sleep. He's saved my sanity many times.

(He can't be very comfortable scrunched up in there like that, can he?)

Melodie is a great older sister too - I love to see her nurture her younger sisters. She will be a wonderful mother someday!


Melodie playing with Lily, making Lily laugh. Lily's smile is precious

Ethan loves to play and joke and have fun. Sometimes he is a bit too clever for his own good :) He's a smartie pants. He loves to have fun with everyone and is usually the last one to get worn out.

Ethan and Hyrum dancing to the music with Abi. They are great big brothers.

Corey in Santiago

Hey! My first time uploading a video to Blogger! Does it work?

This video is from when Corey arrived in Santiago two weeks ago. His friend Jansi and her fiance Rodrigo picked him up from the airport. Corey taught and baptized Jansi when he was a missionary in Chile (1995-97). He and Jansi have kept in touch over all these years, and wouldn't you know, what a miracle that Corey and I are going to be in Chile when she and Rodrigo enter the temple and are married on January 7th! What a great blessing for Corey to see the fruit of his labors so many years ago, and for Jansi to have her missionary attend her wedding! From this video it sounds like Corey is even going to play the sax at the reception! Should be a party!

And on Sunday when I didn't hear from Corey at all during the day or evening, I got a skype from him at 1 a.m. Monday morning telling me that he had been over at Jansi's house for an engagement party - they were having a gathering for the extended family members to meet each other. He said Jansi and Rodrigo were practically the only members there except for a couple of cousins. "It was great, and I played the sax for them. They are quite the missionaries" - with a picture of Jansi's baptismal day on the wall as backdrop, and even starting with a prayer
"We all had to give them wishes." Corey said (to which everyone laughed) "Que tengan mas hijos que Yo" Translation: May you have more kids that I do! Corey is so funny. :)

Skype

Corey took this picture and says I'm hot stuff. I like that. This is our skype chat that led up to our phone call last night. I thought it was funny. The "Martin" story is something goofy that for some reason is part of our engagement. I can tell that story if you'd like.

C: it's you
C: you're the woman that I love, are you not?

T: yes
T: but the kids follow me
T: I turned off all the lights two hours ago, thinking it would calm them and ease them into thoughts of slumber, but they've been playing hide and seek in the dark. I'm glad they're being creative. It's cause we haven't had the tv on today.
T: I like no tv.

C: I also like no TV

T: although TV is an easy escape from their noise and I've been tempted several times.
T: but I resisted
T: and I am glad.

C: are you as beautiful as I remember you?

T: no

C: no?

T: nope, cause I've gotta scowl

C: why do you have a scowl?

T: too many kids and too many bites of chocolate = scowl. tomorrow I'm going to try too many kids and no chocolate and see what that equals. I'm experimenting with how diet affects my mood

C: what are your plans for tomorrow?

T: oh, I got BIG plans, it's my last hurrah
T: you can read about it
T: the kids all took a vote
T: tune into the blog tomorrow night

C: hum...
C: no sneak preview?

T: I'll email you the preview tomorrow
T: cause it's contingent on my mood at 6 a.m.

C: is it something I'd approve of?
C: you're not one to use the word "contingent" are you?
C: who is this?

T: um, maybe I should look up the definition of contingent.

C: no, I think you used it properly...just the 2nd or 3rd little thing that seems out of character
C: how can I be sure it's you?

T: Yes, contingent
T: con.tin.gent
T: adjective
T: Definition of CONTINGENT 1: likely but not certain to happen : possible 2: not logically necessary; especially : empirical 3a : happening by chance or unforeseen causes b : subject to chance or unseen effects : unpredictable c : intended for use in circumstances not completely foreseen

T: contingent isn't so impressive of a word for a person to use, is it?
T: how low is your opinion of my use of vocabulary?

C: I'm not saying its impressive or not, just saying I didn't expect it from TiffanieC: I suspect I may be talking with someone else
C: someone who has taken my wife captive and is trying to pass for her

T: well, it would probably be used by Tiffanie, er, by me more often if we planned out our weeks and days. You know, used a schedule. And events of said schedule would be contingent on a lot of things I bet.

C: I'm not interested in the use of the word "contingent" - I'm interested in confirming your identity

T: sorry, the webcam is busted.
T: it got black permanent marker drawn on it's little window.
Tiffanie Wride: you know kids, they do the darndest things.
T: shucks

C: hum...if you weren't Tiffanie, that would be a clever way to avoid having me see a picture of you to prove it's you

T: Okay, fine, I admit it.

C: "shucks" isn't a word Tiffanie uses much either

T: I am Martin

C: just as I suspected

T: Tiffanie belonged to me years ago

C: where is she now? I demand to know

T: just cause I had to drive a Tico car from CR to SLC and got stuck in Honduras in 1999 does not give you the right to her hand in marriage.
T: I've been following you for years, and I finally saw my chance.
T: haha!!!
T: I contacted my Gadianton robber friends in the Chilean government to lure you there
T: you'll never see a dime
T: or your wife again either!!!
T: (...but I think I'll send you the kids.)
T: HAHAHA!

C: You're not Martin
C: Spanish speakers do IM laughs like this "ja ja ja ja"
C: who are you really?

T: Well after living around the corner from your for years in Sandy, I've assimilated very nicely
T: Tiffanie will be very happy with me
T: I'm a dentist now.
T: I drive a truck and have been trained in weekend honey-dos, I plant flowers, paint tree houses, and work from 9-5

C: it wont work
C: she's given up on all that

T: you don't have a chance

C: she's still my wife. I'll have you arrested. I'll come after you. I'll never let her go! I can be in CR tomorrow if I have to

T: ok, nevermind, you can have her. Her kids are here buggin' me. I'm outta here. T: Corey! Thank goodness for all these kids!
T: Can we call?

C: Yes!
So then we did a video call. We tried to talk around the kids for a bit, kids who like to see their lego creations on the monitor screen, then we got tired of trying that and sent them to bed, then we stared at each other for an hour and wonder how we ever survived 3 1/2 years apart. I can tell that story too for anyone who doesn't know. It involves both of us serving missions for the Church, lots of letter writing, and missing each other by a week. If we pretend we're back in time at that point again, of when I was about to come home, then 3 days doesn't seem like much. Actually I think serving a mission was a really good move on my part. I had been longing for his love since 7th grade, so it had always been there, it was good for me to be gone and doing my own thing to let him get that longing feeling for me. Now he's hopeless. JA JA JA!

Left To Figure It Out

When we got home from church yesterday, the kids were changing into their regular clothes. As I previously mentioned (see paragraph 2), all of their clothes have been moved out of their bedroom closets and are together in the room downstairs where I am sorting and packing. So, Hyrum had already changed, Mel and Abi were changing, Joe and Ethan were waiting for their turn, when I hear the kids yelling for me over a "situation" - my code word for problem. Seems the door handle won't open and Mel and Abi are stuck in the room.

Joe and Ethan are trying to open it, I go to help. We all try doing the same things: wiggle, turn the handle, turn the handle harder. We try to see if we can get a plastic card (room key from the Marriott) into the crack, nothing. I turn it really hard as if willing to have it bust, just get them out. Abi and Mel are both calm. Mel's trying to open it from her side. 10 minutes into it. They are still calm, Joe and Ethan are still trying to turn it, we've made plans to slide them tortillas under the door for food, luckily they have water and a toilet in that room's bathroom. I'm online trying to get in touch with the property managers or Corey who has their cell numbers - I did have their numbers, but they were written on a piece of paper that has probably been thrown away since I left it by the phone instead of on the fridge.

Ok, no one is online, I leave both Becky and Yira messages on skype to call me. So, no luck there, now what? I don't even have the phone numbers of ward members. Doh! 20 minutes into the lock in, Joe and Ethan go outside to the window to give Abi and Mel some bananas. Seeing the window panes, they get the idea that maybe they can slide the glass out and get a hole big enough for the damsels in distress to escape.

Brilliant! It worked. Abi and Melodie were set free, then Joe and Ethan climbed in to get their pjs for later, and the property managers got my messages around 9 pm. The door stayed locked all day Sunday and through today until noon when the fix-it guy from Blue Waters came and busted it off. He had to climb through the window too. I never knew that was a possibility to climb through the windows that way. Pretty easy to do, doesn't make a lot of noise, seems like a convenient way to break and enter. I'm glad I didn't know about it until now, might have been more nervous here in CR without my provider and protector around.

So! Now it's all fixed and I did a great job packing and cleaning today. We might reward ourselves with a trip to Arenal tomorrow morning, or may go see the RMs, or both! We'll see what I think I've got energy for. I'm very thankful the girls were locked in a bedroom on the bottom floor so we could break in from the window without needing a ladder. Thankful for my smart boys who figured it out. My heros! We are feeling like survivors. Grateful our trials aren't anything big (knock on wood). We got plumbing, food, shelter, and sunny weather! Thank you Lord~ I know he loveth his children.

Big Grasshopper Again

But only recently has it given up the ghost, and so it's perfectly preserved! Hey! That makes it easier for taking photos! I place it by our license plate - for size comparison.


Abi is amazed. She doesn't know it's dead yet.

I tell her, and she holds it for me - another photo for size comparison - these buggers are supersized hoppers!


Then we gave it to the community cat to see what she thought.


She fiddled with it for a bit, but I guess they're not as interesting if they're not flapping their wings and trying to get away. Oh well.

The Parent Trap

I think some day I'm gonna be in trouble... when these kids are older, they might try something sneaky on me. Wes in the red had, Abi in her little white slip, right?
(Or her negligee as Corey calls it, and did not approve when I took her to run errands dressed in it. She's a little kid, it's okay for them to go out in their almost underwear)

OH NO! You guys tricked me again!!!

I think this picture of Abi is so cute!!!!

Well Wesley! Don't you look pretty!

Since I was laughing and taking pictures, of course it got all the older kids' attention and they wanted to play too. Ethan as Mel and Mel as Ethan


Joe as Hyrum, Hyrum as Joe. Hmm, not as convincing, but I'll give you points for trying. 5 points for Gryffindor.

Pretty Lily

aka Little Lilly

aka Linda Lily
(pretty or elegant in Spanish is "linda", also my mother's name!)
Silly Lily
Love your little face and cheesy grin!

I'm always experimenting with the flash - if I use the flash it makes it look like it's night time. If I don't use the flash the subject will often be fuzzy. But these photos were all taken one after another.

I Was Almost Done with the Nighttime Routine...

Yes, I almost had everyone put to bed...

We had read scriptures (had a great little discussion on 1 Nephi 11:17) and said our family prayer in the east room where Joe, Mel, and Hyrum have been sleeping. After giving each of those three a hug and kiss we turned off the light and moved onto the next room - the West room to put Abi, Wes, and Ethan to bed. All three of their blankets were on the floor, which makes me nervous. It was upstairs though, and I don't think bugs can make it up that far easily, except for the tree frogs that jump up on the roof near the window. I shook of Wesley's blanket and put it on him. I picked up and shook off Abi's. One more kid to go. Ethan's was over on the floor tucked under the bed a little bit. And here's where some inspiration came in. A little voice reminded me that the day before I had seen that blanket in the dark corner of the house by the front door that no one uses - our version of a storage area. In the kitchen this week the kids used a towel to wipe up some spilled milk and there was a dead frog in it, so I've been trying to keep large mounds of cloth material (i.e. blankets, towels) off the floor. Ethan's blanket, I think, had fallen onto the floor from having been set on the rocking chair over there (moved there to not take up room space?). So I pick it up Ethan's folded blanket and think I see a little squished tree frog on it. I squeal a little too loudly as I quickly drop it and say "there's a dead frog" - I shake it, tried to flick it off the little squished frog, it either dropped or was alive as it fell into a different fold of the blanket. I flipped it over again, still looked like a squished something (not very good lighting in these houses) and looked at it - it wasn't a tree frog. I yell "Aaahh!!! It's a scorpoin! (trying to look at it but not too closely...) It's dead..." I said and thought as I tried to flick it off with my shoe. I always wear my shoes. And I flicked it, and it started to run across the tile to anywhere where it could get away from us. I scream louder "AAHH!" as I give it a shoe smack trying to kill it. No effect and it's still running. It's reached the wall and turned left and is headed to disappear behind the closet - one more jump on it with my shoe and it sticks to the bottom. "AAAHHH!" as I give my shoe a whiplash to flick if off - it goes flying, hits the wall, lands on the floor, and starts booking it again. The three kids from this room are all on the bed freaking out, the other three have heard my startled yells and are all at the door wondering what's going on - the door is only slightly open and the scorpion has stopped and hunched down right in front of the door. I don't want to open the door more in case that sends it running again. I tell Joe/Mel/Hyrum "There's a scorpion, go get me a cup... don't open the door - just go get me a cup!" They return with a little blue Ikea cup, "No a big cup, a glass cup..." They return with it. I put it over the scorpion. I go downstairs and find something hard and thin to slide under the cup... Wesley's hard laminated ABC book should do the trick. We slide it under, flip it over, and examine our prisoner.

I did step on it twice. Hard. Or atleast I tried to do it hard. I'm thinking maybe it's hurt and is dead. And it looks dead, but it looked dead on the blanket too. The kids keep telling me it's alive. I look. It looks dead. "It's dead".
"It's alive!"

I saw it and then believed the kids - it is alive... every 30 seconds or so it'd briefly push up with it's tail and try to reach out of the cup. Glad it's a tall cup. We've all got the heebie jeebies and everyone wants to go sleep in my bed with me. "NO! - there were 2 scorpions in my room, remember! You don't want to sleep in there..." No, everyone into your own beds. Okay, fine, everyone into JMH's room. But I let Abi sleep on the couch. But first she came with me outside to cannon-shoot the scorpion out of the cup and into the dirt lot across the street. All the dogs came running thinking I had some leftovers. I thought momentarily that I'd like to see what a dog does to a scorpion, but then just throw it. Hopefully it won't find it's way back before Thursday.
Abi pointing a lazer light on the scorpion. Wondering if it will damage a scorpions eyesight to have a lazer shooting straight into it. Didn't seem to phase him.

So, everyone has different opinions - some say a scorpion will kill a small kid like Lily, other say scorpion stings just sting, maybe make you a little numb. Well, hopefully this will be our last scorpion visitor here and hopefully also we'll never get to find out who's right about what happens to ya when you get poked by these ugly guys. Icgh!