Summer 2010

Day 1 - Picnic

 

Day 2 – Stroller Races

Calling Puerto Rico

If you call a business in Puerto Rico you can expect one of the following to occur....

1. Phone rings 12 times and then disconnects you.

2. Phone answers immediately with loud annoying static filled music and advertisements that repeat incessantly. After listening for 10 - 15 minutes, you are disconnected.

3. Phone answered with a phone tree. Press 2 for English and be disconnected.

4. Phone answered by an actual person. Ask if they speak English. They say a little. You try to communicate in mixed Spanglish and when they get too frustrated or confused you are "disconnected".

5. Phone is answered by a person. Person says they can help, then puts you on hold for 20 minutes. Then you are "disconnected".

6. Phone is answered by a person. They need to transfer you to someone else. During the transfer- "disconnected".

I've been on hold in scenario #5 for the time it has taken me to write this post. One-handed typing. Any guesses what will happen next??

ETA: I was on hold for 18:12 and then.....DISCONNECTED.

WE ARE GEORGIANS!!!!

After seven long months, we are finally back together as a family. It feels so good. I feel like I will never get the house all put together, but just being here is blessing enough. Just to give a quick summary.

We bought this house.....

Which is very close to this....

Friendship Elementary

and this.....

Lake Lanier

and this.....

Mall Of Georgia

and this.....

Atlanta LDS Temple

and this.....

Peach Orchard

and this......

We are so happy to be getting settled in here. Within the first 4 days of moving in, we had met over a dozen neighbors, been given numerous plates of treats and house warming gifts. Everyone stopped by to offer their help, phone numbers and e-mails. They invited the kids over for play dates with their kids. It was awesome. We really feel like we chose wisely, when we chose this neighborhood. All in all we are very happy since moving back to the states. Now, if only Bill could finally be done with his Puerto Rico job responsibilities, the all will be right with the world again.

FINALLY Freedom!

Thanks to all of you who commented on my last post. It's nice to have the support of so many friends. So...the time has FINALLY arrived. After a year of discussion, we're officially in the relocation process. We are headed to Georgia sometime in the next 6 weeks or so. We haven't figured out the exact details but we are putting our house on the market next week. Next we need 2 appraisals on our PR house, a house hunting trip, get our stuff packed, ship 2 cars, etc. etc. I'm frustrated because we probably aren't going to be permanently settled before school starts in GA. It starts on August 10th!! However, I'll just be happy to have my family all under one roof again. YAY!!!! More news as I get it.

It's May

I can't believe that it is May. The fifth month of the year. I have been living a life of limbo for officially one year now. Yep...it's been one year ago that we were told we could expect to be moved out of Puerto Rico in "the next few months". Frustrated does not even begin to express how I feel. We are so ready to move on to the next phase of our lives. I can't really complain too much. So many people have lost their jobs in this economy. I feel blessed that Bill even has a job. Luckily his company has not been affected very much. We are all healthy. Allison is doing well in school and is learning so much. She has an amazing teacher and comes home with new information to share daily. That's the main reason the kids and I are living here in the states and that makes it all worth it. It still sucks though. Slowly but surely things are beginning to change. Our relocation package is supposedly in the works, and we should stop spinning our wheels shortly. Bill was talking to his boss about the move the other day. Bill's boss says"pack your bags"...Bill says "they have been at the curb for weeks". We are so ready. So that's all that is happening here. Here's hoping that we know something SOON!!

Things I Miss About Living in Puerto Rico

Surprisingly, there are things I actually miss about living in Puerto Rico.

1. My husband. (No surprise there.) Whenever we are apart I particularly appreciate all he does for us (and me especially) that much more. Love that man!
2. My friends. I have so many great friends in Puerto Rico. Miss them like crazy. I could really use lunch at Orange Blossom and a movie in Dorado with the girls.
3. My wardrobe. While I enjoy wearing blue jeans again, I do miss wearing the same old cotton capris and T-shirts every day.
4. My swimming pool. The kids love love love the swimming pool. I have to admit that I really enjoyed it as well. I doubt we will ever own another house with a pool so I miss it.
5. Not fixing my hair. In Puerto Rico my hair barely gets brushed every day. I mean what's the point...it's going to be a frizzy sweat drenched mess in two seconds anyway. I just put it up in a knot and call it good. Here...people expect me to fix my hair a bit. Sheesh!
6. Flip Flops. Sandals and Flip Flops are the standard in Puerto Rico. It's so nice to not have to worry about finding socks for myself and three children every day. Don't even get me started on how the sock issue has changed my thoughts on laundry. I hate socks.
7. Saving Money. While most things are more expensive in Puerto Rico, I don't shop as much there. With no Target around and massive crowds everywhere you go the shopping appeal is gone for me in PR. Since I can literally walk to Target from my parents' house, me thinks I spend more money here. Not to mention the layers of clothes necessary for me and the kids to accommodate the ever changing weather. (70 degrees today....19 degrees tomorrow morning) We've saved a bundle over the last 3 years not buying winter boots, coats, mittens, hats, scarves etc.
8. My bed. Oh... how I miss my own bed.

So these are some of the things that I miss most about living in Puerto Rico. I'm sure there are others. I could write another list of reasons why I don't miss living in Puerto Rico, such as... in and out of the ER in less than an hour, banking with no lines, customer service etc. , but I don't think my blog has enough room to contain it all. I am definitely without question a USA girl.

So Far....

Many of you know that the kids and I are staying with my parents for a while. We sent Bill back to Puerto Rico after Christmas to figure out the whole job transfer debacle and we took up residence here in Indiana. It's hard for our family to be separated and we miss Bill and our friends terribly, but Allison is thriving in school here. Blake loves his Preschool class and I'm loving Target. We are hoping this time of transition is short and that we can all be back together soon. So what have we been up to in 2009? Here's a glimpse... We got 10 inches of snow and school was out or delayed for a week. Temperatures were below zero and the kids loved every minute of it. Allison would've played outside all day despite definitely not having the right clothes and equipment for this type of weather. Actually, the kids' main complaint about being here instead of Puerto Rico is how many clothes they have to wear all of the time. They miss the ease of shorts, T-shirts and flip flops everyday. Well..that and they miss the swimming pool.


The boys have discovered video games with a vengeance. Blake could play all day if I let him. Between the Nintendo DS and the Wii it's all I hear about. Carter doesn't really care about the Wii yet, but that Nintendo DS can keep him entertained for quite some time. It's shocking really how good he is at Mario.

Carter loves to call Daddy on the phone.

Allison "loves" to do her homework.

There is lots of silliness to go around, but overall, I think the kids are really happy right now. They miss Daddy and their own rooms but we are hanging in there and look forward to our new adventure....whenever or wherever that may be.

Confessions

I procrastinate. I am a procrastinator extraordinaire. What can I say I've been that way all of my life. I would like to think that the only reason I put things off is because I am a perfectionist. I think that's partly true. I do like to do things well. Especially things that everyone I know may be looking at and critiquing (aka my blog - oh hush you know you do it). However, I also procrastinate because I'm lazy. It's a horrible mixture of laziness and perfectionism that keeps me from getting things done. So there you have it. The reasons that my blog drops off the planet for periods of time. I'll try to put off my desires for perfection and get some motivation and do better at keeping this blog going. I love love love reading other people's blogs and I hope my friends and family enjoy mine. I've got a lot of catching up to do...but I'll think about that tomorrow.

No Photographs Please

Carter loves to play Nintendo DS. He asks to play all the time but he really doesn't play that often. I use the term "play" loosely as he doesn't exactly know what he is doing, but he's trying. It's a great tool when I need him to sit quietly for a few minutes. Getting it away from him...that's another story. Oh..and obviously he's not a fan of the camera either.

Election Day

Election Day in Puerto Rico is LOCO!! The island basically shuts down. All government offices and buildings are closed. The grocery stores and malls are closed and people are off work. My Puerto Rican neighbor actually told me that it is against the law for an employer to require that his employees work on Election Day. This just seems crazy to me seeing as Puerto Ricans can't even vote in the presidential election (although they were voting for a new Governor). So, instead, everyone heads to the streets to honk, shoot off fireworks, blow airhorns, wave flags, drink, act crazy and generally do anything that is very crazy and very loud. It is one big party. We ventured out and about a little to see what the hubub was about. We didn't get very far because every street was one big traffic jam. We gave up and came home pretty fast. Here are some pictures of the craziness. I couldn't get over the disregard for personal safety all over the place. Little children hanging out of cars waving flags and not even holding on as they zoom down the street. All the while the cops are right there with them. I'll never forget it. Oh,.and I didn't get a picture, unfortunately, but we saw one van with 5-6 people riding on the roof. Loco I tell you!!

Carter Rides Again

Metro Ward Halloween Party

We had a Halloween party at the church building on the Saturday following Halloween. The kids were excited to put on their costumes one last time. There were games and of course more candy.

Superman was a popular costume with the 2-3 year olds. Luke Alkema, Carter (he's flying), Luke Riggs and San Mortensen.

Allison and Hope had fun running around together. Look at how hot and sweaty they are!

Blake's favorite game was this one that involved shooting a Nerf gun. It's all he wants for Christmas now. The pirate in the picture is our Bishop, Phil Reid.

This was by far Carter's favorite game. He wanted to play it over and over again. He loves doughnuts. Later he found a box of doughnuts on the refreshment table. A much easier way to get his fix. Also pictured, Ashlee Bunderson and Brandon Zappe.

Allison's favorite game was the cupcake walk. However she didn't care about actually eating the cupcakes. Whenever she won she ran over, handed the cupcake to me, and went back to play again.

It was a fun night and by the end, everyone was exhausted.

Oh...and even the Stake President, Pres. Page, got in on the costume thing.

So despite the lack of crunching leaves and cool weather, Halloween in Puerto Rico turned out to be pretty fun after all.

Mama's Loving Little Lion

More Halloween Pictures

Dame Chavo no Mani

We celebrated Halloween in Puerto Rico this year. It was odd really because we have been in Indiana for the last 2 Halloweens. The night just didn't seem right without my parents, cool weather and tree lined streets. We had a good time here though. The kids actually got to celebrate twice. Once on Halloween night here in the neighborhood and once the next night at the ward Halloween party. First, however, I had to procure some pumpkins. Sounds like an easy task right? Well here in PR it's not as easy as you might think. Luckily, my friend Heather was willing to take me to the commisary on the local Army base to get one. My original plan was to buy 3 pumpkins. Well that plan was shot when I saw that the pumpkins were $6 each and ginormous. So we decided to go with just one pumpkin. The kids decided that they wanted to paint the pumpkin so we divided it in half and they went to it. Poor Carter was napping and missed out this year.

For some reason I didn't get an after picture.

After the pumpkin painting project we moved on to decorating cupcakes for the ward Halloween party that was happening on Saturday. The kids had a good time designing and eating their creations.

Friday night it was time to trick or treat. We met up with friends around 6:15. Daddy made it home with 5 minutes to spare, and we took off with a gaggle of kids and parents to take over the neighborhood. Most houses weren't participating yet. 6:30 is so early here. The Puerto Ricans didn't get going until around 9:00. It was pure pandemonium but the kids had a great time. Carter caught on quickly and did a great job staying close to use and saying "Gracias" after getting his candy. Our Puerto Rican neighbors were very generous handing out handfulls of candy at a time. We had to unload the kids' pumpkins twice before we got home as they were getting "too heavy".

We got home just shy of 8:00 and the candy inspection began. First we removed all of the nut products so Allison wouldn't get one accidently, and then dumped it all into one big pile on the center of the table. The kids each ate a few pieces and that was pretty much it. They just don't get that excited about the candy. They were whipped so they got to bed by 8:30. Everyone fell asleep quickly and missed out on the party brewing outside. Around 9:00 we heard a chant that became quite familiar as the night went on. Here in PR they clap outside the door and sing this phrase:

Halloween Trick or Treat
Halloween Trick or Treat
Dame chavo, no mani
No te escondas, ya te vi
En la casa del coqui

We ran out of candy in a nano-second and had to turn out the light. The nieghborhood had a little party for the kids but I don't think it started until after my kids were in bed so we missed that. It was really a great night and good experience for all of us.

And it Begins...

As I was picking up Allison from school yesterday a boy approached me. He was fairly tall and obviously older than Allison. As he followed us back to our car, he told me that he wanted Allison to come trick or treating with him, but that she had said she couldn't. He proceeded to beg me to please let her come with him to the mall on Friday night so they could trick or treat together. He was actually very sweet. I told him that we had already made other plans and sent him on his way. I was wondering who this boy was as I hadn't seen him before. When I got in the car, I asked Allison who he was. The conversation went as follows.

Me: So, who is that little boy?
Allison: He's my friend. He wants me to meet him at the mall on Halloween night.
Me: What is his name?
Allison: I don't know, but he's my friend.
Me: What grade is he in?
Allison: I don't know, but he's my friend. Can I meet him at the mall?
Me: Well, we have other plans remember.....
Allison: Oh yeah. Okay.

She reminds me so much of my sister. She always had a million no-named "friends". People who knew her, but whom she had no clue existed. (She probably still does!) Allison is such the same way. I think a lot of it stems from her being so unique in her Puerto Rican school, but a lot of it is just her personality. Everyone is her friend. I hope she can maintain a bit of that as she gets older and eventually learn at least some of her friends' names.

There She Is.....

Miss Universe!!

Allison had Career Day at her school today. At first, she wanted to be an astronaut but then decided that a helmet and jumpsuit might be a tad hot for all day long. Next she concluded that she didn't care what she was, as long as she could wear her church shoes and be "sparkly". This is what we came up with. She originally wanted to be Miss Puerto Rico, but apparently when she told the teacher of her intentions the teacher told her that her skin was too light for that. (Hmph.) So...we decided to trump that and be Miss Universe instead. HA! I'm sure the school is proud of my parenting skills in encouraging my daughter to rely on looks and poise as a career. Not that there is anything wrong with that. ;) It was fun and she was happy to be in the costume that no one else had.