Our Second Anniversary!

For two years in a row (wow!) we have been able to return to our honeymoon hotel, a beautiful, old - but updated - former mansion with beautiful, fragrant gardens just perfect for relaxing.

I didn't expect anything big this year since we've been really busy and have four kids and all, but Jake said we needed the time alone and found the babysitter (thanks, Danyelle!!). He had several gifts up his sleeve, including a very fascinating book we were able to read half of on our Kindles during the 23 hours away (The Underground Girls of Kabul: In Search of a Hidden Resistance in Afghanistan, by Jenny Nordberg). We also did the love language quiz for the first time together during a leisurely dinner at our favorite special occasion restaurant.

We've managed to take pictures at the entrance every year...

I love doing these things...

 

Check-out after our honeymoon. Next stop: our new apartment!

(We look SO YOUNG! I can't imagine how we would look if we had actually married when young, ha.)

 

 

Check-out after our first anniversary celebration, 2013
(Away from home with our feisty 7 week old for the first time. I look haggard for a reason!)

 

 

 Out to dinner for our 2nd anniversary, 2014

(Our first night ever away from the kids. I was so glad that they did very well!)

Christmas Time!

After Jake and I got back from our quick get-away anniversary, we planned to put up the Christmas decorations. "We" turned out to be us reading on the couch while the boys did the tree with just a little supervision. They did great!

 

When Sophia woke up, she was surprised!

 

That box of toys was put there by brothers with the idea of distracting Sophia from undoing the tree. Yeah, that didn't work!

 

 

 

Everybody "helping" Dad hang lights...

 

 

 

Joel wanted to take pictures in their Christmas pajamas, recent gifts from Grandma Thompson. Michael suggested that Jake and I really need the same style, so that we could join them. Uh... No thanks! :)

 

I won't show the pictures of the screaming baby... She was NOT in the mood, so this is the only real picture I got.

(What we call "baby candies" is all that let us get a couple pictures!)

 

What are those crazy brothers doing?! (I have no idea!)

 

 

First Family Visit to the Ocean!

On Day Two of our whirlwind Oregon side-trip, we drove several hours south to Grant's Pass, Oregon, to meet Jake's new boss at his new job. The scenery was lovely, it was just hot and cramped with all the kids in the car for that long...okay, very! Sophia doesn't nap well in car seats, and Fanny roars as she goes. But I was glad that Jake was able to have a face-to-face meeting even though we live so far away.

Then that evening, Rudi Booher suggested that we do a quick half-day trip to the ocean the following morning! We readily agreed. Visiting the ocean while in the US ranked pretty high on the boys' priority list, right alongside visiting the zoo (which we did in Memphis)!

 The Beaty Family on the Oregon coast

 

 

First thing Monday morning, we piled into their 14 passenger van. First, we visited their lovely coffee shop (see yesterday's post) and then continued down country roads to the shore.

 

  Rudi at the wheel in beautiful Oregon

 

 We pulled over to watch a herd of elk alongside the road

 

 

 Arriving after the pleasant hour drive

Our kids made a beeline for the water! Pretty excited!

 

 

It was SO perfect for our kids to experience the ocean for the first time both with other kids they already know and love AND in Spanish! Rudi and Carla said they were glad their kids had the chance to speak Spanish again.

 



Sophia got right to work playing in the sand

 

She LOVES playing in water, in dirt, grass, sand... She's a nature lover, like her daddy!

 

 

 

It was chilly and windy, so Jake created this shawl out of her blanket. I tried dipping her feet in the water, since she so enjoyed the creek we played in two days prior, but she hollered! It was just too icy cold - for me and her! It made my feet go numb after only seconds. Only the kids ventured in!

 

 

 Joel with a special find

 

It was fun to watch the seal floating near the coastline, checking us out above the waves.

 

After being in the water a bit, we played on the sand dunes. I was holding Sophia and trying to keep blowing sand out of her face so there are no pictures, but it was lots of fun! Taking 10 kids to the beach, 4 of whom have never been, is quite the experience.

 

We are so grateful to the Boohers for hosting us for the weekend, even as they are busy serving other people (as usual) AND getting ready to move back to Bolivia and adopt siblings. We had a wonderful time and look forward to getting back together again in landlocked Bolivia come October! :)

 

 

 

 

Oregon Side Trip

We took a whirlwind trip to Oregon in early September. Rudi & Carla Booher and family had insisted that we visit them in their US home, and we were happy to be close enough to oblige! It was only a four hour drive from Jake's parents home, our Western Washington "home base".

Our first stop, however, was... Well, at some gas station between two points on our journey, where we got stuck after a diaper change! "Fanny", Jake's 1969 Ford Fairlane (a VERY COOL car, if you're a guy :)  ), sometimes gives us fits since it sits unused while we're in Bolivia. Here we were waiting for it to cool off...and then a jump-start (from a man who spoke Spanish)...before hitting the road again! (By trip's end, Jake had figured out how to get us going without jump starts every time. Cool!)

 

Sophia doing some modeling while we cool off, too! Oregon was experiencing unusually high temps for the season (mid 90s) and we had no AC.

 

 

 

 

Next stop: Brownsville, OR! We were meeting up with the Baker family, other Bolivia friends currently in the states. Although I've known them for over 10 years, this was the first time we've been together in the US. After a while I realized that I kept wondering why everyone around us was speaking English, ha! With this sort of scenery, should've been hard to forget we weren't in Bolivia... 

 

 

The kids had a blast cooling off in the creek! We only had a half hour - they could've played hours.

I think this creek was part of the Calapooia River, if we remember correctly

 

 

 

At first, Sophia was having fun with the pebbles on the bank, but Jake said to let her test the water.

 

And... She loved it!! She threw a little fit when it was time to leave.

 

 

Sophia loving the water!  

It was so nice to chat with Linda Baker again, this time about our adopted children.


A bit later, we made it to the Booher family's AMAZING home!

Booher family restaurant! As usual, they had a crowd for dinner

 

 Our boys loved the creek and zipline at the Booher kids' grandparent's house!

 

 

We were put up in the Boohers guesthouse and really enjoyed our time at their Sunday morning home fellowship, as well. That's a place where one doesn't feel out of place for having a big family! :)

 

 

 

High on our list was visiting the coffee shop that helps support the Boohers while they're in Bolivia. We filled up the place trooping in with the 10 children amongst us!

 

 

It's a actually a drive-through coffee shop!

 

Rudi loaded us up with goodies and scone samples before we were on our way to...the ocean!

 

See the note at the bottom?

 

 

Stay tuned!

 

 

Sophia's New Room!

Actually, this is Sophia's FIRST room! It was high time this baby had her own space. She FILLS UP a whole bedroom with no problem. I think the number one reason I was excited about the move was to get to decorate a nursery for the first time! Well, okay, I've chosen paint colors for a couple of Casa de Amor Baby Homes, but that was a long time ago.

Also, she's a light sleeper and very aware of where Jake and I are, so it was near impossible to go into our room without waking her up, much less talk at all. Now she's sleeping much better!

Welcome to Sophia's room!

She loves playing here! It's warmed by the sun almost all day, very nice in a house without heat.

 

We haven't hung proper curtains yet. What she has up is just for some light blockage. 

 

Looking at her books at her new little table

 

"Got more?"

 Sophia's toys and books keep the boys just as entertained as her!

 

This shelf used to hold almost all of her things. Now there's room for a whole shelf of books! I used to think she loved reading. Now I think she likes ripping books apart! ;)

 

Her clothes are organized by size...

 

Too small clothes and too big clothes hang here, with shoes above

 

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the light cover thing (whatever it's called)!

 

Katrina... Have you spotted it yet?? 

 

I designed the room around the flags you sent me for a birthday a few years ago! :)

 

Green rug as "grass", with flowers on the walls...

 

And there she is! I bought the painting above her crib when I was a little girl and slept under it for many years.

 

It's not done quite yet! I've printed a "few" of our favorite pictures to hang on her walls. 

 

Sophia loves playing in her room, but playing with anything that is NOT a toy is still her favorite!

And to finish, a picture that doesn't fit the theme except for being SOPHIA!

SUPER BABY! The boys fixed her up in this cape one day.

I don't know when I'll have a chance to post again, as our first flight for our big trip to the US leaves in just 5 1/2 hours!!

We've Moved! (Part II)

Here's a little tour of the upstairs of our new (rent) house!

 

In this house, we decided to let the boys doing something they had been requesting ever since they found out we might move. Joel and Michael have their own room, and Samuel has the chance for some peace and quiet and keeping things organized the way he likes them in his own room.

 

With 5 bedrooms, that is possible! We just might get spoiled here.

 

 

Joel showing off their newly organized room!

 

Plenty of storage space in the biggest bedroom of the house!

 

 

Jake and I are a little jealous of all their storage space! Our clothes overflow to other rooms, but I wanted us to have the bigger bathroom since I spend a WAY more time in it than even all 3 boys combined.

 

The boys bathroom is inside J & M's room

 

Favorite pictures to be framed for the walls when we're back in October...

 

Samuel's room! He and Sophia get views of Mt. Tunari, Cochabamba's highest peak.

Samuel showing off his nice closet.

 

Mine and Jake's room (still need to put up real curtains, as in every room)

 

 

The view from our little balcony off our bedroom!

 

 

Our bathroom

 

 

After 8 years in a bathroom with no cabinets or drawers or counter tops, to our apartment with an actual counter top, this bathroom has a closet, multiple drawers and cabinets, AND all of these lovely shelves! It's pretty great! And already almost full. Because of Sophia's stuff, I'm pretty sure, ah-hem...

 

And, one of our fav spots of the whole house!!

The upstairs balcony!

 

 

One evening, Joel fixed up some candles for us. He's been determined since we moved in that we should have a candlelight dinner (there is no lighting from our house), so he made it happen as soon as we discovered some matches.

 

Some mid-meal star-gazing :)

 

The balcony is a great spot for meals on pleasant evenings, AND school work! I thought we would work in the kitchen or dining room table as before, but we love being outside. That way, it's also quieter for Jake as he works, and I can tend to Sophia in her room.

(Not clear in the picture: tall mountains in the distance!)

 

Just had to include this picture of one of Michael's creations from leftover moving boxes, a huge boat. The boys are so creative!!

Next post: Sophia's room!