1/3/11-1/9/11

After our exciting week last week, this week seems very boring and will be a short post!!

Monday, January 3, 2011
I decided that I better head back to the gym after all of the Christmas goodies and eating out on our trip.  I knew it was bad when Cole complained that his pants felt tight after the trip!!  Morgan joined us as well.  We also dove right back into schoolwork.  We are trying to figure out if we will be able to finish the school year before we move!

Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Cole's new friend, Sebastian came to play.  He has been a lifesaver!  Cole does his work so fast and then gets really bored.  It has been nice to have somebody to keep him busy in the afternoon.  I am not looking forward to Sebastian going back to school in a few more weeks!
Now that Christmas is over and our trip is over, I am once again hitting that trunky stage.  Since Dave told us that we could start sending bags back with him, I am really beginning to realize how much closer we are to the end of the job and our time here in Quetzaltenango!   It is going to be a bitter sweet move!

Wednesday, January 5, 2011
So we had two days without frost and I tricked myself into thinking that it might start to warm up a little. HA!  It frosted again and the little heater in the bathroom broke!  UGH!!  I am so ready for some warmer weather.

Thursday, January 6, 2011
After school today, the Bottemas joined us for an afternoon at the club.  The boys played and the little girls tried to exercise but finally went to join the boys.  Morgan read, and Polly and I worked out.  (Somewhat for me!!)  It is always nice to get out of the house.  It is especially nice when all the kids have finished their work and I have finished checking everything and all their work is set out for the next day. This week has been going very nicely as far as schoolwork!

Friday, January 7, 2011
Laina got her staples taken out.  We had fun walking around central park trying to find the doctors office!  We finally found it and left Chris, Laina, and Alysa there while Morgan, Cole and I headed down to the bookstore.  Cole found a couple more books and Alysa picked out some when she got done at the doctors with Laina.  The owner of the bookstore came in and I got to talk to him briefly.  He said that most of the kids books are not in the store and that he would look for some that Alysa wanted.  Hopefully he'll find a few good ones before Alysa's birthday!
After our outting, we headed to dinner at Giuseppies.  We were joined by the Bottemas.  It was their first time there and Cole and I could not hide our excitement to get our Mexicana pizza!  Nobody else shared in our joy but it didn't bother me and Cole!

Saturday, January 8, 2011
Chris and Laina went to Guatemala City to pick up some workers coming in from Utah.  Chris has taken each of the kids individually when he has had to go on a trip.  Laina was so happy that she finally got her turn!  Chris said that she talked nonstop the entire way!  She was especially excited that she still had some of her Christmas money and Chris took her shopping.  I can just imagine Chris at the dress store with Laina!  What a patient dad!  She also found her much anticipated My Little Pony.  (Like mother, like daughter!)   They also got to see a movie and go out to eat before the end of the day.
Morgan, Cole, Alysa and I stayed home and worked on cleaning out stuff that we don't need.  We also packed a suitcase to send back with Dave.
In the afternoon, the Bottemas came over so that I could help Taylor with his math.  It has been forever since I have done slopes and y-intercept but it came back after a few minutes of reading through the book.
Alysa made dinner for us all by herself.  She made some beef enchiladas and they were delicious!

Sunday, January 9, 2010
Church went amazingly well today.  The kids did fine while I was on the stand.  I was able to read through an entire lesson during Sunday School.  I was able to understand more of the Relief Society lesson than any other lesson that I have sat through!  I had several positive comments after church about the improvements in my Spanish.  And, Alysa had a new primary teacher that she loved!
I sat on the stand during Sacrament meeting and contemplated how little I have learned from peoples talks in the last two years.  It has been the examples of people that I have learned from rather than their words.  I thought that that is how most people learn (even when they do understand the words).  It reinforced to me that I need to teach my kids more by example.
Last weeks spontaneous lesson in the car at the hospital made me realize how much that kids are missing out on in primary.  So, I decided that we are going to do our own little family primary.  (We'll see how long it lasts!)  After church, we went home, had lunch, then started our own meeting.  Cole did a lesson, Alysa did the scripture and Article of Faith, and Morgan did singing.  We weren't very organized so it didn't go quite as smoothly as we had hoped but next week should be better.  Morgan wants to have conducting lessons this week so that she can lead the music better next week.  I was very pleased that the kids learned the first verse of the song for this years theme.   It is also great to hear the kids discuss gospel principles and to see what they know!!!  They are great examples to me in so many ways!

Chris and Laina had to pick up the guys at the airport at 6:15.  Laina commented that it was still dark outside when they left the hotel!  According to the internet, the plane was on time.  Unfortunately, it didn't end up arriving until about 10:00! While they waited for the plane to arrive, there was a big group of people dressed in traditional clothing that had obviously never seen a little white child with red hair. They stared at Laina and watched her every move for more than an hour, when one of the built up the courage to go sit by here. All of the sudden, the whole group surrounded her and began touching her hair, touching here face, and asking if they could take a picture with her. Laina didn't want anything to do with the situation. Chris ended up holding her while trying to get her to talk/smile at the people, but she completely ignored everything that was going on. We wonder if she will ever get used to the attention!
Once the guys finally arrived, Laina immediately took to one of them by the name of "Sarge". The guys hadn't eaten and were on the plane for more than 9 hours, so they decided to stop to get some breakfast before starting the drive back to Xela. When Chris went to park the van, he suggested that everyone get out before he parked since the spot wasn't very big. The two guys got out and Laina proceeded to follow them. She grabbed Sarge's hand and walked them into McDonald's. She could have cared less that Chris wasn't around. All through breakfast and for the entire three and a half hour drive home, Laina talked poor Sarge's ear off about her new dress and My Little Pony she got to buy with her Christmas money, the movie she went to with Chris the day before, and anything and everything about princesses and the colors pink and purple. Fortunately, Sarge was a good sport and played along when he wasn't dozing off.