Puerto Rico Month 1

I wish we could tell you that this is where we are staying. 

A girl can dream right?

Here's where we are really staying:

Isla bela beach "resort"

We live in a fantastic area. It really is lovely, but the house is a little ghetto.(Needed a good cleaning, mold/mildew smelling, outdated furniture etc)  We spent the first four days cleaning it...but check out the location: right by the ocean. Another great benefit to this location:  see the play ground on the lower left? It just happens that we have some L.D.S neighbors who are doing the same thing as us.  Who knew there were people as crazy as us?

They are the Shaw family from Draper Utah and have three kids ages 6, 4, and 1.  They have been here for 4 months and are planning on staying for two more.  What a wonderful resource they have been (filling us in on the good local spots) and our kids love playing together.

So many people trick or treating, it looked like a street party.

They don't like pictures!

Halloween was really fun here.  Really low key for us.  We bought the costumes the day before at the local Walmart/ Kmart.  I don't think everyone gets into Halloween here, but the ones who do, really do.  We went to a neighborhood called Camaseyes (our property manager recommended) and it was an amazing turnout. There were lines of about 30 people waiting for candy at every door.  The adults were all dressed up too.  My favorite part?  Nothing beats trick or treating in 85 degree weather. Just watch out for the mosquitoes.  They are abundant here.

Isabela, PR

We started out in San Jaun, took a trip to Fajardo (East side)  for a few days then ended up in a cute little beach/surfing  town called Isabela where we will be staying for the rest of our time here.  Everyday I wake up and can't believe we are actually here.  I appreciate Jon everyday for making the sacrifice to bring us here.

I've asked everyone in the family how they would rate Puerto Rico on a scale of 1-10
Michelle= 7
Jon=  6
Jackson= started out as 4 but changed it to 6
Boomer= started out as 5 but changed it to 6
Sadie= " I want to go home, I miss my toys"

We'll keep working on Sadie....

My new Perfume

scratch scratch scratch...

It's time to put on more perfume....

Colors of Puerto Rico

One of my favorite things about Puerto Rico are the colors.  Amazing!  Every time I go running along the beach I have to stop to take pictures.  (Mostly because it's pretty...sometimes just because I'm too out of shape to run in this heat.)

The ocean:  Blue/Aqua/Teal

The foliage: Greens

                         The Reds:  My face after running...It's humid and hot here.

Not complaining but with the beauty also comes the heat....phew!

Almost first day of school

Boomer and Jackson decided they both wanted to do homeschool this year.  ( I think Jackson might have talked Boomer into it)  Home school gives us the flexibility to start the school year whenever we want so, we decided to start our new year in the summer and work year round only three days a week. This gives us Monday and Friday to do extracurricular activities (Piano lessons, Sports, Dr appointments etc.).


I should be traditional, and have the kids take a picture with their teacher on the first day of school.  (This would not be a pretty sight..the boys teacher would be wearing glasses and pajamas and look tired from staying up till midnight planning for school.) We therefore don't have a picture of the boys on their first day of school.

However, Sadie did start preschool this year. I loaned my camera to my Mom and Sadie lost my phone (which is a great story that I will tell below) the morning of her first day at school.  So we have a few pictures from the second day of school.


Story as promised.  First thing in the morning, Sadie got my phone and started playing games on it.  She then carried it out to the garage where I was cleaning up our mess of packing boxes.  When I came in from cleaning,  I was looking for my phone and calling it but could not find it anywhere.  After about an hour of looking, I started to check the garbage in fear it had gotten thrown out.  (It was garbage day as well).  Not being able to find it I turned to the internet and found this fantastic app that will help you find your phone if it is lost. It's called plan B.

 I downloaded plan B onto my phone and follow the instructions which eventually sent an email telling me where the phone was on a map.  The map pointed to a neighbors house about 200 feet away.  My kids were nowhere near the neighbors house, so now I'm guessing that the app isn't very accurate.  I search the house again, my car, my purse, Sadie's room again. I've already checked under beds and in the garage.  I'm about to give up when again the app tells me that the phone is at the neighbor's house.  There is no reason to believe the phone is at the neighbors house.  But what should I do?

On a crazy whim, I knock on the neighbors door.  She cracks open the door and her dog is barking like crazy.  She says "just a minute" and then comes back with my phone.  Whaaaaaa?????  Seriously, I had to give her a hug.  She found it when she was taking her Dog for a walk, on the sidewalk outside our house. She had tried to call and email me but I was so frantic looking for the thing I hadn't checked my phone messages or my email.  Thank heavens for technology....Now, I just need an app to help me find my missing keys.

Puerto Rico anyone?

So as we were thinking about where to move in Wilsonville, I got this crazy idea that maybe we don't have to stay in Wilsonville.  Maybe we could go somewhere warmer for a few months.  Maybe Puerto Rico.

Why Puerto Rico you may ask? Here are the answers my friend:

1) It 's another country but still part of the USA
2) It's warm and sunny year round (It's a Caribbean island)
3) They speak Spanish and we want the kids to learn another language (sooner than later)
4) We don't need passports to travel there.
5)  Beaches, forests, and glow-in-the-dark water!
6) It just sounded like a fun adventure.

Surprisingly Jon thought it would be fun too.  I can't believe he agreed to it.  We will be leaving Oct 19 and will stay a month or two or six (or maybe forever if I like it enough. And if we don't like it then...we will have a short vacation in Puerto Rico and continue on to the next island).  We would love for you to be our guest in PR. You can get tickets on Jet blue for $477 round trip (including taxes) or if you don't want to go back home: $239 one-way.

Missing tooth

July 28 (Just one month shy of his 6th birthday) Boomer lost his first deciduous (baby) tooth.  The tooth fairy came and brought him two shimmery/glittery dollar bills.  (she must have run out of the gold coins she usually gives).  Horray for Boomer. We love his little toothless grin.

I found this picture on the internet..Boomer spent his dollars before I took a picture.

Boomer and Jackson's Birthday Party

Our Little Boomer turned six at the end of August.  He, and Jackson are best pals (albeit sometimes best enemies too).  The two of them love to do everything together, so why not share a birthday together?

B&J had been talking about doing a party together for a while.  The reason's were as follows:
1) Boomer has a summer birthday and Jackson's is in the winter.  Thus, Jackson can never have an outdoor birthday party.
2)  There is a possibility that we will be in Puerto Rico for Jackson's Birthday and he didn't want to miss celebrating with friends.

Boomer, was completely willing to share his birthday party with Jackson. Which is typical of our little 6 year old.  One of the things I love about Boomer is he makes friends so easy and can get along with anyone.  (including his brother) Keeping in that vane of brotherly love, and being that the Olympics were still fresh on our mind we decided to throw an Olympic themed party.

We are lacking terribly on pictures because I was manning the games.

 Each of the participants received a shirt. Then we started out by "lighting the torch"  (passing a ball from one contestant to the next)


"

Next, my niece was the flag bearer which meant that she ran off with the flag while the rest of the kids chased her.

Let the games begin:  The kids participated in the long jump, fencing, synchronized snack toss, hurdles, archery, balloon toss and a 25 meter dash.  It was a crazy chaotic mess but I think the kids had fun.

We finished the party by opening gifts and eating olympic cake and olympic torch ice cream cones.

Phew, just thinking about the party makes me feel anxious again. It was the craziest thing I've been a part of. Definitely glad I did not choose event planning as my career. Happy Birthday Boomer (and Jackson). I love you sweet boys.