4/2/09-4/5/09

Thursday, 4/2: Today was definitely better than yesterday. We still had quite a bit of boring time in the hotel but we did venture out to a new mall. It was the Oakland Mall and was pretty much like any mall in the U.S. The kids were excited that I actually let them go on the carousel. The highlight of the trip (other than getting to/from the mall without incident!! What an adrenal rush!!) was lunch. The restaurant that we went to had a big aquarium inside. The kids had a lot of fun watching all of the fish. I had a great time sitting down watching the kids being entertained!!
Another great highlight for the day was getting the bag of "stuff" from Dave (Chris' boss). He did some shopping for us and brought down a bunch of stuff from Utah. Bread making stuff, raisins, chips, licorice, gummy worms, etc. It was like Christmas!!

Friday, 4/3: Today was another adventurous day. I drove pretty far to get to another mall. I was trying to get to some other stores but didn't make it and decided to stop at the mall instead. Most of you probably know that I can't stand going to malls and do everything in my power not to. With that said, we must have been desperate for something to do for me to go to two malls in two days with four kids!! I did get way out of control and let the kids each get two books at a store that had some English books. I spent WAY more money on them than I ever would have but the kids were happy so I guess that's all that matters. I've definitely got to find a way to get them cheaper books!!
After the mall, I tried to get to Chuck E. Cheeses but once again couldn't quite get to the right place! We ended up back tracking several times before we gave up and went to Pollo Campero. The kids were pleased with the selection since it had a play place and they got helado (ice cream). When we tried to get back to the hotel, I ended up in construction with detours going everywhere. I do have to say that I am extremely proud of myself for finding my away around and not getting killed. After this week, I should be able to do anything!!

Saturday, 4/4: Another beautiful, crazy drive back to Xela. It was such a relief to leave the big city. We did stop at a little shop along the way and bought our first trinket; a tiny painted clay pot. It ended up costing $1.25! We got back into town just in time to pick up our last pieces of furniture from the street vendor. The pictures show a couple of the pieces. The coat tree is the most amusing to me. We had them make it especially for us and I don't think they fully understood how it was supposed to work. Notice in the picture that rather than having hooks to hang the coats on, it has hangers!! Also, it is definitely made for short people! It'll work out great especially for the little girls!

Sunday, 4/5: Cole has a new pet. "Archie" is our new spider that we found when we got home. He is currently living (well, sort of) in a Glad container. I think this pet will probably last about as long as Stevie did !!
We were able to watch General Conference over the internet today in English! It was very nice to understand what was being said and for the comforting messages! I always feel inspired to do better after watching conference. My mind is going crazy trying to think of projects that I can do to help others. My latest brainstorm is to teach piano here. There is an article in the April Ensign magazine (pg 76) that talks about the churches Basic Music Course and how they send keyboards with the course to many areas around the world where learning music isn't readily available. I am trying to find out more information.
This evening, the Orellanas came over to introduce us to her parents and to share some mangoes with us. Alysa and Laina really liked them. Morgan and Cole weren't too sure though! Lily Orellana teaches at the school that we are hoping to send the kids to and she told us that the school is trying to arrange for a special teacher to teach the kids Spanish for half of the day. I hope everything works out with that!! Everybody seems to get a kick out of Laina's spanish right now. She adds an 'a' or an 'o' to words and says that it's Spanish!! Cat = cato, dog= dogo etc. The funny thing is that some of them are right!!