All Boy

Shane is all boy. He delights in rocks, leaves, dirt, and the trucks that pass our house. He has such a deep little voice, and grunts and makes man noises. I just cut his hair yesterday and cried because my little baby no longer looks like a baby, he is my little boy now! Needless to say, we spend a lot of time out here!

He loves this pile of dirt and rocks. Every morning he walks me to our front door and bangs on it hoping I will let him outside to play.

Licking his lips, in preparation for eating one of his treasures? Don't worry, even if I let him, none of the locals passing within 100 yards would allow him to get the rock near his mouth!

Stopping to stare at the truck passing by

Pulling off his shoes, another pasttime of his

This face was accompanied by fist pumping and deep grunts

I love you Shane! Thanks for making me laugh every day and keeping me entertained!

A Big Step for Me

If you know me well you know that I am not a fish person. After some coaxing I will eat it about once a year with my family just to say I've eaten it, but would never choose it. So when I started getting emails from another spouse here selling fresh fish he gets from the local fisherman I was a little hesitant to order. Eating fish is one thing, cooking it is something else! (At least he cleans and guts it for you) But I want to really experience everything here, and knew this would be the easiest way to get fresh fish, so I stepped up to the plate and ordered some of today's catch, Red Snapper. Aren't you proud of me? I googled it and found that it is not really fishy tasting and has a nutty flavor and firm texture. I guess it can be a pretty popular and expensive fish in the states, so I was happy to get a pound for $15 EC (about 6 US dollars). Here's how he gave it to me Then I marinated it in a mixture of fresh lime juice and chili powder, topped it with some tomatoes,

and baked it

Don't tell anyone, but I really liked it!

Secret Beach

Yesterday Shane and I went with the spouses group to Secret Beach. It was absolutely beautiful, like out of a movie or something, except it was just us there.
As you can tell from the sheer cliff face, it's not too accessible except by boat. So Shane got to take his first boat ride. This face makes me laugh, I'm not quite sure what it's about.

But once he realized we were in water, he became a fan of the boat ride.

I went snorkeling for the first time and couldn't believe how just yards away from where we were sitting on the beach there were such beautiful schools of fish and coral. There are tons of great spots to snorkel on the island, and I am excited now!

He's Official Now

Last Friday Josh had his White Coat Ceremony, a ceremony kind of welcoming you into the profession of medicine. We got there ridiculously early so that Shane and I could get a seat, and I felt kind of crazy at times because I think there was only one other kid in there. But Shane did pretty good and as usual enjoyed flirting with the girls around him. It was funny to see the families there snapping pictures of every detail that happened and every person that spoke. Here is Josh right after he got his coat put on.

I kind of missed the moment because I had stepped outside to get Shane to do this:

But my friend took some pictures for me and I thought this one was hilarious. It's like the professor saw Josh coming and thought he looked ridiculous or something. Or maybe Josh was cracking jokes.

The lady sitting next to me was super nice and was really worried about if I was okay because I had been dealing with Shane when Josh got his coat put on. I really appreciated the concern, but to me getting the white coat was not the big deal, it was just a symbol of something bigger- that we really are embarking on this journey and that Josh really is going to be a doctor. I know he will be a good one. And I think he looks pretty cute in that white coat :) This picture makes me laugh. At least Shane knew which camera to look at- really because the girl behind that one was cuter!

We're proud of you Josh!

Fun Friday

Josh has been studying his little tail off since school started and had a free day today so we took advantage of it and explored some of the old Fort Shirley the British built here and some ruins. It was just a short ride from our house and a fun place to explore. Shane was beside himself with excitement. Thanks for a fun day boys!

My New Friend

Lately in the mornings when I go into my bedroom I find this little guy who I've affectionately named Lenny. I wasn't so sure how I felt about him at first.

Especially when I found him one morning on my pillow (thankfully he's never been there while I've been sleeping!) But yesterday he took our relationship to a whole new level- he killed a cockroach for me. I hate cockroaches. I love you Lenny.

Keep doing your thing and don't let me find you in my bed at night and you can hang out all you want.

Shane Loves Rain!

Today while I was walking with Shane outside our house it started to rain pretty good. I came in and set him down in front of the screen and let him watch the rain come down. He loved it!
He just stared out the door and laughed to himself.

Cute, yes. Except really I think he was mocking me because those are my clothes "drying" on the line.

I wish he could tell me what he was thinking

Josh and I have been noticing that Shane is a lot more interactive and receptive now, so we decided we'd try teaching him a little "lesson" every Monday for family night, and by that I mean opening up the Gospel Art Book and showing him a few pictures and telling him about them. We opened the book and this was the first picture:
Immediately a smile lit up his face and he started waving his hands in excitement. Then he put his hands on the book and touched right where his face was, and kissed the picture on the lips. I know he has an affinity for kissing, but we looked through about 5 more pictures, and none had the same reaction as this one. I have been a little bit frustrated with Shane on many an occasion here as he seems to have taken a few steps backward in sleeping and eating, but this little moment was just I needed to humble me and make me realize how precious he is and what a responsibility I have.

Life's A Beach

Surf, sand, and lots of splashing. Life doesn't get much better for an almost 9 month old!

Embracing It!

So I talked to my brother Bryce on the phone the night before we came here. I asked him if he had any advice for us about moving to another country. He said something like, don't let yourself get annoyed or frustrated because of things you don't have there or things that are different about it, just embrace it. I thought it was pretty wise, and am really thinking so now that I'm here! (He's single ladies, and pretty close to being a dentist :) ) And it wouldn't be an experience if everything was the same as the states right? On that note, here are some things I have been, ahem, experiencing!

-We have a maid! I don't think I'll be able to say that for awhile! She comes on Mondays and cleans the floors, bathroom, and dishes. She even made our bed (okay so it's too hot to have any blankets, but she made the sheets look really nice!)

-Laundry is a little different here. It's pretty rare to have a washer much less a dryer, and there aren't really laundromats either. You kind of have to hire someone to do yours for you. So Frederica comes on Fridays and hand washes our clothes and then we hang them on the lines outside. Unfortunately it was raining all day so we have had clothes draped over our table and chairs with the fan on them. It finally stopped and we put some outside, I am praying that noone steals them tonight!

-We had our first power outage last night! It was only for a couple hours, so it was almost kind of fun, because then it came back and you could hear everyone cheering.

-I am quicking learning about humidity- apparently if you leave your new knife wet overnight it will rust or if there's a little moisture on your baby's bib inside the diaper bag it will get mold on it.

-The previous fact, and the fact that there are constantly ants searching for food, makes me a little bit better and faster and cleaning things up!

-The locals are not afraid to just stop right in front of you on the road and pee off to the side. Or bathe naked in the river, from what I've heard.

-We went to KFC and asked if they had grilled chicken- yes the grilled chicken sandwich. Great, could we get that without a bun? Without a bun? No! No, it comes with the sandwich. Bless that KFC worker's heart, I'm sure she was just doing what she was told and never considered the option of a sandwich not coming with a bun. Maybe next time we should tell her she can take it home to her kids.

-There is a little bar a couple houses down from us, and I think that's who keeps playing the same song on repeat every morning. At least I like it okay!

-The locals will tell you the water is safe drink, but it's not for white people. So we go to up to campus almost every day and fill our bottles with filtered water from the fountains there.

I really am enjoying it here, and am excited/nervous to see what experiences await!