MEXICO~Day 2

On Monday morning we woke up early and went to the buffet for breakfast (which was amazing!). As we were sitting there finishing up, our guide came in looking for the list of people to go to Chichen-Itza. He was prompt! We gathered up our things and headed out to the bus. The ride there would take approximately 3 hours with a few stops along the way.

We listened to him talk for awhile as we rode (he said everything twice; once in Spanish and then in English). He was very knowledgeable and easy to listen to. Because he was so prompt in getting us out the door on time, our tour bus was the first to arrive at the scheduled stops. Whether that was the restrooms or lunch, it was nice to be ahead of the crowd! Our first stop was at a Cenote. Because there are no mountains in Mexico, they have no rivers. They do have underground rivers and our first stop was at a beautiful gigantic sink hole to swim in the 74 degree water. The hole was 147 feet deep and because it was full of minerals, it was very 'heavy' water. Sabrina and I decided that it didn't really sound like a lot of fun and we were happy to take pictures of Samantha and Bonnie swimming in the water. They were only in for about 5 minutes because of the temperature and the weight of the water, it's very hard to stay in much longer than that.

It never ceased to amaze me the level of poverty that was everywhere. I just love this old lady. The old people and the kids tore at my heart wherever we went.

This was a park in the middle of a small town. It was such a cheerful place compared to the rest of the town. It was just amazing to see so many people sitting around, like they really had nothing better to do!

Headed down to the water at the Cenote.

So beautiful! Sam and Bonnie are in there....way over to the left.

Beautiful Mayan dancers entertained us at lunch.

Amazing!

Any time we were outside, we were surrounded by young kids selling stuff! Pretty typical to hear them call out, "Hey beautiful Barbies!" or "Beautiful Princess', almost free today! One skinny dollar!"

This mode of transportation was everywhere!!!! I love it! A bike with a huge area to carry kids, groceries, etc.!! I was always amazed at how many people they could load on one!

Our super cute guide, Hector with a sweet little 11 year old Mayan boy. The boy doesn't like approaching people to ask for them to buy his stuff, so he comes to the guides and offers to sing the national anthem for their tour group in hopes that after he's done, people will buy his stuff. It worked.

The awesome Chichen-Itza Temple! As of 2004, they stopped letting people climb the stairs....too many accidents. We were so bummed. We were totally looking forward to climbing!

The day we were there was the Spring Equinox. At a certain time of day, the shadow on the temple looks like a snake coming down from the heavens and going into the ground. We waited forever to see it but it was sooooo hot and we were so tired of waiting.

After we got back to the resort that night we were eating dinner when we heard the most amazing sounds. We got up and ran out to find this band! They took us all down to the beach where they were having a beach party. We stayed down there and danced until the band went home! Ha ha, that was only 10:30......

MEXICO~Day 1

Our Sunday morning started at 3:00 AM, as we got up to get ready. We left to pick up Bonnie and head to the airport about 3:30. We had no problems until airport security. I got stopped because they thought they saw more liquids in my bag. But after careful searching, none was discovered (really?). Check out that lady! I think Bonnie caught her by surprise!! Hee hee.

Sam, however was not so lucky. They spotted her very expensive (4 oz.) lotion in her bag, not with her other liquids. He was very kind however and let it slide on through. Whew. She would need that later in the trip!

Here we are, on the plane. I finally switched seats with the guy who was sitting by Bonnie. That was very nice of him. Here I am discussing with the lady next to me why she didn't want to change seats with Bonnie. There was no way she wanted to move up to the exit row!

Whew, survived the plane ride and on the shuttle bus to our resort!!! Yay!

Our beautiful resort!

Our rooms were very modern and comfortable.

We headed out to check out the resort after we dropped off our bags.

Best friends!

We loved the row of hammocks! They seemed to be calling our names! Although some of us had a little more trouble than others actually getting in the hammock! Ha ha.

Relaxing in the sun!

Everyone wanted to give us a drink every time we turned around. We settled for virgin strawberry daiquiris!

Sunday was a nice quiet, relaxing day. We just walked around and checked out a few things and then headed in to the buffet for dinner. We decided to book a tour to the famous Chichen Itza Temples (recently named one of the 7th Wonders in the World!) for Monday morning. We were pretty tired and actually went to bed around 9 that night!

Stay tuned for an action packed Monday!!

Happy Birthday Samantha!

Before I can post about our trip to Mexico, I need to tell you that Samantha turned 18 yesterday!!!! Since her gift was an amazing vacation, she didn't have much to open in the way of presents. But she did receive homemade cards from all of us and to be honest, sometimes those are way better then gifts! Everyone was anxious for her to open their card first. She worked her up from the youngest ones, which was a good idea since that's about how long their attention span lasted.

She wore her beautiful new dress from Mexico to church as well as her tan! That's a great gift to get someone from Oregon in the middle of March!! Ha ha.

We love you Sam! We hope you enjoyed your day!

Spring Break means crazy days....

Okay, don't expect too much, this is Tari's husband playing Mr. Mom. While Tari, Samantha and Sabrina are off in Mexico playing and having a good time, we are having a great time here at home.
Monday was a visit from our dear friends the Starbuck family. A great day at the beach, beautiful weather and fun times. We did seem to bring a lot of sand home as the kids just could not stay out of the water. George, Amy, Scott and Mike came from Redmond Wa to spend the day with us. These are pictures after they got out of the water. Tanner, Levi, Vanessa, Scott, Mike (Left to Right).

Tuesday we had the Iron Chef cook off with a guest judge helping to decide which food was the most flavorful. The game is simple, I picked 3-4 ingredients that they must use to make lunch. Presentation and Flavor are key to winning.

After a tasty lunch, off to the park and then back to the pool. Who says you can't swim on Spring Break???? Burr!

Finally, a bit of spicy Chinese food to round out the day. I don't know what we will do tomorrow, but it may be spent cleaning up from all the fun we are having!

Pictures soon.

Scott

One Last Post......

I know, I know, I wasn't going to blog until we got back from our trip but I just had to show you our cute stickers that we finally put on our van! I have been trying for years (ok, maybe a year) to find these cute stickers. I thought I was going to have to order them online but they were so spendy. We ended up getting these at Fred Meyer and thought they turned out pretty cute.

You should be able to click on the picture to see it bigger. The ethnicity doesn't match up for several of the kiddos but for $12 bucks it will work until I save my pennies to buy the ones that really match. But it will be fun to watch people behind us trying to count the heads as we drive in front of them.

Adios!!

It's been kind of an odd week. With all the preparations of the funeral as well as everything else that goes on in our home, it's been a little busy. Tomorrow we will attend the services. Scott will be involved from about 9 in the morning until after 5 tomorrow night. There are so many things to coordinate.

The day after that Samantha, Sabrina and I will hop on a plane to Playa del Carmen (just outside of Cancun), Mexico for 5 days. My very dear friend, Bonnie will be coming with us! Safety in numbers is our goal!! We are celebrating our birthdays. Sabrina turns 16 the second week in April, Samantha turns 18 the Sunday after we get back and I turn 40 the week before Sabrina. And since Bonnie just turned 40 without too much of a celebration, we thought she should come too!! Some birthdays should be celebrated a little more than others.

I won't be taking my laptop with me. Just one more thing to have to worry about, but I will be taking my camera and plan on taking so many pictures, it will be just like being there for those that didn't get to come!!

Scott is excited to stay home with the other 8 kiddos. It should be a very busy 5 days for them......being the one man show is tough but I know he'll do a great job!

So.......we'll see you all in a week!!! Same Bat channel, same Bat time!! That was for those of you that grew up in the 70's (or was that from the 60's??) Anyway, have a great week!!!

Always In Our Hearts, Never To Be Forgotten

On Saturday afternoon we received a phone call that turned our world upside down. Our dear sweet friends lost their beautiful 15 year old daughter. She went to sleep and never woke up. She's part of the family that has 13 amazing children, 11 of them adopted from all over the world. They are very, very special friends of ours, not to mention that several of their children are also best friends of our children.

This sweet girl was a very good friend of Sabrina's and the laughter and friendship they shared will never be forgotten. She came to America from Ethiopia just over 2 years ago. The life she left behind in Africa was a life that no teenager in America could ever imagine. The things she saw, the things she experienced are things that no one her age should ever have to face.

She joined a family that loved her dearly. We will always remember her beautiful smile and quiet voice. She will be missed but never forgotten. She touched our lives in a way that we are better for knowing her.

We love you beautiful African Princess!

At Last......

We had a very traumatic weekend and needless to say, I neglected my blog. More about our weekend later but for now I wanted to share the pics we had taken at the Valentine's dance at the church a month ago. I just got these yesterday and I love them! I LOVE my husband!!!

A Day In The Life.

The older Levi gets, the more flack he gets about his skin color and the fact that he's adopted by peers at school. He keeps much of it to himself but every so often he will let some of it slip out. And every time he does, it breaks my heart.

Yesterday was no exception. He was talking about an incident at school that involved 2 other boys. One is black, the other is bi-racial. Neither one is adopted. He has played football and basketball with both of these boys for years.

They were trash talking and one of them said, "You were adopted cause your parents hated you!"

I instantly thought of his beautiful birth parents and the amazing 2 days we spent with them in a downtown Miami hospital, in one of the scariest neighborhoods I have ever been in. I thought of the way they held him and talked to him and things they told him. So full of love and kindness. Wanting a life they could not provide for him, their gratitude to us for adopting him. I remember that day so clearly. More importantly, I still feel the love in my heart that they shared for their sweet son. There was not a doubt in my mind that they were placing him for adoption because of the love they had for him.

When Levi told us what the boys had said, I immediately said, "Levi, you know that's not true. Your birth parents loved you so much!" My voice caught on that last word as emotions flooded to the surface. All of those previous images had already raced through my mind and I knew that nothing was further from the truth. But it wasn't me I was worried about. I reminded him of the dvd we watched about a year ago. I had taken some of our old vhs tapes in and had them transferred over to dvd's. We had all sat down to watch one that was labeled "Camping" It turned out to be the video from the day we adopted Levi.

All the kids got quite a kick out of seeing it and I sat there and bawled my eyes out. Watching it with Levi, watching his face as he watched the video for the first time, wondering what he thought about those two "strangers" on the video. Wondering if he felt some sort of connection to them. Wondering if he would laugh at the funny jokes his birth father was cracking.

Anyway, I reminded him of that dvd and told him again, this time with tears that wouldn't stop flowing, just how much his birth parents loved him and that those two willy nilly boys at school didn't have a brain in their heads if that's the best they could come up with.

He laughed it off but I hope he remembers that the next time it happens. Because it will.

I know sometimes you get to read lots of stories about Levi and adoption on here but you have to remember he is our oldest child that joined our family through adoption. We get to experience many things with him first because of that.

Getting that little glimpse into his every day life reminded me just how many things our children go through each day. It's a tough world out there. Give them an extra hug today. And make sure they know how much you love them.

The Wrath Of A 4 Year Old!

This morning I overheard Talisha and Savannah having a heated discussion. One of them was not playing what the other one wanted to play. Finally, exasperated with her sister, Savannah said, "Talisha, when baby Jasmine wakes up, I'm going in our room and scrumbling up your bed!!"

A couple of thoughts: 1. I was glad to know that Savannah knew she had to wait for their baby sister, who was still sleeping in their room, to wake up before she could go in there. 2. I was happy to hear that the worst thing she could think of doing to her sister was to "scrumble up her bed". Now granted, that's still not a kind thing to do but it sure beats a million alternatives!! 3. I love that she used the word scrumble! That's such an awesome word! I use it all the time!

I tend to use nonsense words a lot. Sometimes they just help to make a stressful situation a little less tense.

Typical??

Do most 12 year old boys wake up in the morning and make their own breakfast? Probably, I'm guessing. But do they make hashbrowns, turkey ham and 2 scrambled eggs???

Levi is not afraid of the kitchen. I will never worry when he grows up and leaves home that he's not getting enough to eat. He will throw spices together and ingredients and create the most amazing recipe. Sometimes he is the only one brave enough to try it, but that's all that matters.

What's In The Toaster???

This morning as the kiddos were getting ready for school, I walked into the kitchen as one of them was making their lunch. They were pretty excited about their great idea for a sandwich. To be honest I couldn't imagine what they could have possibly come up with.

As they stood by the toaster, waiting for whatever was in there, my curiosity got the better of me.

"What is your great idea?" I asked. "Well, I'm making a toasted salmon sandwich with some of the leftover salmon from last night's dinner!"

"Wait a minute, what's in the toaster???" I asked.

"My salmon!", they replied.

"Holy Mackerel, Batman!! You can't put salmon in the toaster!!!!!!! Unplug that thing and get it out!!!"

Now I'm just wondering how long the toaster will smell like salmon.......

Hmmmm, Really??

So many things get said in our home that just crack me up and I try not to post too many of them because I know your kids say funny things too.

But today after school, Tanner was showing me part of his project he's working on for school. As he was putting it away, he left a couple of tiny pieces of Styrofoam on the table. Thomas, who is always watching out for his baby sister immediately yelled, "Oh great Tanner, you left some Styrofoam here. If Jasmine eats it and dies, you will have to pay for a new baby!!"

Ha ha, only in our home would that be funny!!

Waiting To See!!!!

We know you have all been sitting on the edge of your seats, waiting to see Tommy's finger after the surgery.....we were excited as well! On Tuesday, we headed in to see the doctor and he took of the soft cast.

When Thomas saw his finger for the first time, I think he was a little shocked. Usually when you have a band-aid on your finger, what ever was underneath looks better when the band-aid comes off. He was quite shocked to see a blue drainage tube poking out of his finger and it didn't look anything like it used to. I don't think he really knew what to expect, but what he saw wasn't it. He kept looking at me like, "What is this???" The doctor said it appeared to be healing nicely. To be honest, I kept my eyes on Thomas to see what his reaction would be. It was still a little hard for me to look too closely at his finger. I still have that mental image of the "before" picture in my head.

The next day when Scott came home from a trip, he changed the dressing and took these great shots!!

We will go back in 4 weeks for the doctor to check it again. Now he just has to start moving it. He is still very protective of his finger and hasn't wanted to really try doing anything with it. And I don't blame him one bit. I would be the same way!!!

Homemade Granola!

I have been wanting to make granola for awhile now and today turned out to be the day. I went on line to find an easy recipe and got to work....ok, it only took about 2 seconds to throw it together and toss it in the oven.

If anyone out there cares or loves granola, here is what I did:

4 Cups of rolled oats
1 Cup unsweetened coconut
1 Cup Slivered almonds
1/2 Cup olive oil
1/3 Cup Agave

I combined the dry ingredients and then in a separate bowl, mixed the oil and agave. I poured that mixture over the dry ingredients, stirred it well and tossed it on a baking sheet (the kind with edges!).

I put it in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes. After 15 minutes, I took it out and stirred through it and then put it back in for another 15 minutes. When the time was up, I took it out and spooned it on to a paper towel to cool. When it was done, I tossed it in a gallon zip lock bag.

Super easy and so yummy!! Now the funny part. When it came out of the oven, Isaiah and Jasmine stood there the entire time, like seagulls crying, "More, more!"

Finally Talisha came over to see what all the fuss was about. She tried it and then called to Savannah to come try it. "Hey Savannah, come over here and try this chunka lunka!!"

What on earth??? She had no idea what it was called but picked some words she thought best described it!

Give it a try. Let me know what you think! It would be delicious with sunflower seeds, dried cranberries, walnuts or anything else you love!!

The Fire Station

I was driving past the fire station the other day and noticed how similar my life is. Confused? Well, let me explain. The next time you drive past, slow down and take a good look.

There were 3 trucks. Each one had the doors open wide, ready to go. Boots sat ready, just waiting for feet to jump in them. Their jackets and helmets were on ready alert as they hung on the hooks.

How does that have anything to do with my life???? Let me show you an inside look at how my evenings go after all the kiddos are in bed:

Let's just assume the child whose turn it was to wipe the counters and table has done their job and that the other child whose turn it was to rinse and stack the dishes has done their job. Whew, that gives me a few less chores on my list. The sauce pan goes on the stove and the specified amount of basmati rice is added to it for the next day's breakfast. The measuring cup sits next to the pan, waiting until morning when I will add the right amount of water to it. My Vita-Mix blender comes out from the cupboard where it's stored, to sit on the counter next to the veggies that will be blasted together to make our "green shake" for breakfast. Lunch bags get lined up on the counter in a line and chips, granola bars, etc. get added to them. In the morning, sandwiches will be added. Water bottles get washed out and lined up ready to be filled. The bagel knife gets pulled out of the drawer, to lie on the counter until it will be put to use in the morning. The cheerios and rice krispies (the only two cold cereals we eat) get pulled from the cupboard to sit and wait on the counter for anyone who doesn't want rice.

Whew. I'm sure I am forgetting something (and if so, Scott will add it in the comments section! ha ha). When we're done in the kitchen and head to our bedroom, there is much of the same organization that takes place in there. Clothes are laid out, make up is pulled from the drawer and set on the counter, towel is placed on the hook next to the shower and finally, when there is nothing left to do, we go to bed.

Basically, anything I can do the night before to help my morning run more smoothly, I do. I have always done this. But I have noticed my list of things that I do at night has gotten longer and longer with the addition of each child.

My days begin at 5:15 and I go non-stop until just after lunch when the two youngest lay down for a nap. I usually have just a few minutes when I can blog or check my email. And then it's time to get busy again.

So there you have it! Extreme type A personality? Maybe OCD? Or maybe just a mom of a large family that knows it's better to stay ahead of the pack or the pack will run you over!!!!

Does anyone else do this? What kind of routines do you have?

Life Without Facebook!!!!

Is that even possible??? How did we survive before Facebook came into our lives???

As a project for a class at school, Samantha and Sabrina were asked to choose something in their lives to give up for the month of March, that takes up their time/money/etc. Many students chose to give up texting or junk food and yes, even facebook!

Sabrina came home and told me about the project and that she had decided to go without facebook for the month. I thought, "Good for you. Glad it's you and not me!" Then she said, "You should try it too Mom!" Uh Oh! Peer pressure!!!!

Samantha came in later and said that she had decided to do that as well! That got me really thinking, I could live without fb. Think of all the time I would reclaim!!!!

So as of this morning, I logged off facebook for the rest of the month of March!! Goodbye friends, have a great month and I will see you in April......maybe. Maybe not. Maybe I will have so much fun without fb, I won't go back. Maybe. Maybe not......