Our next olympian

Here are some pictures of Bryn diving!  She is getting so good at it, and she loves to keep practicing!

The end of a good thing is just a beginning to something better

We left Salt Lake City before kindergarten was over for Bryn.  It was all okay, because we got here and she just jumped right back in with no set backs or hesitations.  She was in Kindergarten, however because the classes are all so small, she was also with the Pre-Kindergarten.  Her Teacher was Mrs. Cools, and there were about 8 kids in her class combined between the two grades.  Bryn has loved her class and all her friends.  That is two of Bryn's many talents is to make friends very quickly and to be able to adjust easily to changes.  

Well Thursday was the last day of school.  Bryn was a little sad, because she didn't realize there would be something to replace school everyday!  SUMMER CAMP!!!!

She goes from 9-3 everyday and they just have fun.  Everyday when they get there they play games, sing, and do computers.  After that they have a daily activity.  Monday is science, Tuesday is cooking, Wednesday is field trips, Thursday is arts and crafts, and Friday is sports.  We still have lunch with her at noon and after that until 3 they go to the swimming pool.  Friday was her first day and she LOVED it!  

Kyler didn't think that was very fair that she got to go to the pool when he had to go home and have a nap, but we all went after we picked Bryn up and after his nap, so I think that made up for it, at least for friday.  

I also got Bryn's report card on Thursday and she had straight A's!  All of her teacher's comments were how good of a student she was and how fast she caught on to things.  She said that Bryn was ready for a lot harder reading, and that she should practice writing stories all summer.  Which shouldn't be hard since she loves to read, and write stories.  I think it also helps that she loves to play "School" as well.

Tagged!

So I have been tagged again!

20 YEARS AGO....

*  I was baptized.

*  I am almost positive that to the day I was doing the "Hay chopper" on Lee.

*  I was probably playing with Tara or Jessica.

10 YEARS AGO...

*  I had just graduated from high school, GO JUAB!!

*  I was living in St. George with Jandi and Amanda.

*  We had just moved into a apartment behind Harmons.

*  I was spending most weekends in Vegas with Jandi at her mom's house. (Thanks Jodi)  If we were not in Vegas we were at the country dance place.

*  I was working at the college.

5 Years ago...

*  Bryn was 1 years old.

*  I was working at the American Red Cross.

*  Erick was in school full time at the University of Utah.

*  We were living in Murray at Vantana Court Apartments, looking for somewhere cheaper.

*  We moved to the university village where we fought sinus infections with Bryn for a year.

*  We spent most of our free time on the playground at the village.

3 YEARS AGO...

*  We took Bryn to Disneyland.  She got to meet most of the princesses!

*  Kyler was born.

*  We still lived in the University Village, only now we were in the 800 Court! (no more Sinus infections!!!)

*  I was no longer working at the Red Cross, now a stay at home mom.

1 YEAR AGO...

*  We were living at Shoreline Ridge.

*  Erick was trying to decide what he wanted to be when he grew up (glad that is behind us)!

*  Bryn started Kindergarten.  She was in Mrs. Scott's class at Wasatch Elementary school. She rode the bus everyday to school.

*  Braden and Rindi were married.

*  Lincoln and Madix were born.

*  We went to Virginia to be there for the blessing of Lincoln, and we left Sunday before church!  

*  Erick was accepted to Ross University Medical School.

SO FAR THIS YEAR...

*  I have moved to the Caribbean.

*  I have been snorkeling almost everyweek since we got here.

*  I have been chased by a barracuda.

*  I have survived 2 days without water.

*  I have switched to a mac computer, which I love!

*  Bryn and Kyler are both in school and they love it.

*  Erick is loving Medical School.

*  Joye and Taylor were born (though I haven't seen them yet!)

YESTERDAY...

*  I went to church.

*  I made dinner.

*  I watched Pride and Prejudice with Bryn.  (She loved it).

TODAY...

*  I went to the gym for the first time here!

*  I warmed up spaghetti for lunch and got to eat it with Bryn, Kyler, and Erick.

*  I finished up a group project for the online class I am taking.

*  I watched it rain ALL DAY!

*  we watched Lion King AGAIN!

TOMORROW....

*  If it stops raining I am going to Roseau with a few friends.

*  If it is still raining I will go to the gym, get a few groceries, make lunch, and watch it rain for another day. :)

*  Tomorrow night we will have the missionaries over for dinner- TACOS!!

I tag:  McKel, Jandi, Jodie, Laura, and Mindy

If I missed any life altering events (or any other events) I am sorry.  I was really trying to remember EVERYTHING!!!  

Friday Phrases

Wow, I can't believe it is already Friday again!  So this week has been really fun.  We went snorkeling on Thursday (this is a tradition) and we didn't really see anything to crazy, but of course it was really fun.  After that we went sailing.  One of my friends is a member of the sailing club so she can take the boats out anytime with two other people.  So we hopped on a sail boat and had so much fun.  I had never been on one before, but it was great.  This morning we had a big breakfast for one of the girls here.  She is leaving next week.  Her husband is a 4th semester, but she is going home to get a place to live and find a job.  So we got together to tell her goodbye.  When I got home from breakfast, I turned on the water to wash my hands and there was no water!  And I am not exaggerating.  Last night we had the biggest rain storm we have see here.  They say they get worse, but it RAINED HARD all night, the power went out, there was so much thunder and lightening, it was crazy.  So I have since found out that when it rains that hard here, the runoff fills the water system which is a lake, with dirty water.  So what they do is turn off ALL the water until it is clean again.  They run the water through a filter system of sorts.  But they have to wait for all the water to run off the mountain and the lake to get clean again before they start filtering it again.  So we had a recalling moment today, the kind you have when the power goes out.  When you think to yourself, "oh the power is out, that's okay, I'll just watch a movie, or I will just warm up leftovers.  Anyway you get the idea, I didn't really think about it, but the toilet won't flush, you can't wash your hands, there is no water to cook with, basically THERE IS NO WATER!!!  So naturally I made a mad dash to Tina's (the grocery store) for water, well looks like everyone else had that same idea, no water.  I ran to another store and luckily they had some.  At the second store I ran into a friend that told me they had gotten a bucket and caught all the runoff from their roof, and that is what they were using for the toilet.  Good idea, who wants to use good drinking water for the toilet???  But then again who wants to catch dirty water for the toilet either.  So I talked to Erick at lunch and he's suggestion was that He and Kyler would just go to the bathroom outside.  Well that doesn't solve my problem, since Bryn and I and not jumping on that boat!  Oh well I am just hoping the water is back on tonight!  Oh and by the way the power and internet have been out a lot here lately and our vonage doesn't work without the internet, just in case you were wondering.

For the week in Phrases:

Kyler:

He learned in church last week to say, "I like Tiger woods"  So sunday when the tournament was on, he watched with Erick and he was YELLING, "I like Tiger Woods,  Go Tiger Woods", and then when he would hit he would yell, "he did it!"  The funny thing was he was saying it for ever golfer on TV.  So Erick taught him that Tiger Woods was the one in the red shirt, only he wasn't the only one is red that day.  A little confusing. 

On Monday night Kyler Prayed, "Please bless my mosquito bites."  It was so cute, because he got eaten alive Sunday night because our power was off so we had the doors open for a little while, and he was not liking all the bites.

Bryn:

She told my dad, "either my teacher is a girl or a boy- because she kind of looks like a boy."  I hope she never tells MRS. Cools that.

Bryn also got eaten alive by mosquitos, and the other day I found her putting medicine on all her bites, she was nervous that she was in trouble, but when I just told her if she needed any help to come get me, she relaxed.  A few minutes later when I couldn't hear Kyler so I went looking for him, I found him in the Dr. Bed being taken care of by nurse Bryn.  She was COVERING his bites with medicine.  When I came in, she said, "I think we need more mom."  The medicine was almost gone.

One Down, Many More To Go.

So Erick is obviously not playing all the time like me and the kids.  In fact most of the time he is in one of two places, the Annex, where all of the 1st semester classes are held, or a PBL room when we can schedule a room that has a dry erase board in, a big desk, and all the plugs you can imagine, plus AC!!!  He basically lives in one of these places.  And it has really paid off.  Last friday he took is first anatomy lab exam, yesterday he took is first mini.  Here a mini is a big exam that includes all the classes he has had up to this point.  There are a certain amount of questions from each subject, and also from each professor.  So it is really intense.  Erick felt really well after both tests, and now we are just waiting to get the scores back.  We are all so proud of Erick for how hard he is working.  He is doing an amazing job.  He loves his classes, he has some great study buddies, and everything is going really well for him.  The next mini is in 4 weeks, so he is already back at the books.  It felt like to me that there needed to be some kind of break after such a big test, but no time for that.  Next mini is in 4 weeks, so hopefully things go just as well on that one.  We love you Erick, and are so proud of you! :)

Friday Phrases

So I am starting something new, every friday I am going to blog a few of the cute, funny, interesting (we get some of them all) things that the kids say during the week.  I don't want to just do a random post everytime they say something, but I don't want to not have them written down.  I do have to tell you my inspiration for this idea.  First of all, everyone is always telling you when your kids do or say something cute, "you have to write that down", well up until now, I have been horrible at keeping any kind of a journal, so there was no where to really write it down until now.  But the real inspiration:  Today after the kids had had lunch, and we were waiting for the bell to go back to class, I was talking to one of my friends who has a son in Bryn's class.  All the kids were on the playground and it was just me and her there.  Her son is her only child, and she was telling me that yesterday he had asked her when she was going to buy him a brother.  She had asked it what he meant, and he had told her that he wanted a brother and wanted to know when she was going to go buy him one.  She asked him if he knew where babies came from, and he told her "yes, you go to the toy store and you pick one out, you buy it and bring it home."  She of course was laughing so hard, and told him there were no toy stores in Dominica.  She said that he had said, "oh yea, well maybe when we get home?" and then not even one minute later he turned around and said, "I know you can order one on the internet!"

I of course told her she needed to write that down and tell him about it some day, and then I thought, I should take my own (and everyone else's) advice and write these things down.  So there you have it.  Friday Phrases.

Bryn:

One day going to school this week, we had to wait for about 2 minutes for a huge backhoe to finish working in the middle of the road before we could go by.  The kids just sat and watched it working, and then all of a sudden, Bryn said, "I am so impressed to see one of those things here."

One night after Kyler finished saying his prayers Bryn said, "Don't make jealous of other peoples prayers.  It doesn't matter if they are long or short, you don't make jealous of them, right?"

Kyler:

We were ready to leave for school one morning, and I had my breakfast in my hand, it was a package of peanut butter cracker sandwiches.  I guess they looked good to Kyler, because he said, "Let me take those, they are so heavy for you mom."

Kyler really likes to be involved in every conversation, the problem is he doesn't like to wait until it is his turn to talk.  So the other day (most days) when Byrn got home from school she was telling me about spiders and everything she was learning about them.  Well Kyler had something very important to say, so he started saying, "NO, NO, NO, guys listen to me!"  I kept reminding him that it was Bryn's turn to talk right now, and he kept saying it over and over until it was finally his turn to talk.  Then he said, "Know what guys?"  We of course said no what, and he then told us a very LONG story about Hyenas and how they were going to get him in two days, and his daddy was going to save him.  (We are really into the Lion King right now).

My little snorkeling Princess

Bryn has always loved to swim and be in the water.  And since we have gotten to Dominica, she has really learned how to swim.  She is doing awesome in the water.  We go to the swimming pool at least 3 times a week and usually more, and she just goes and goes.  

We also got her some snorkel gear for the ocean, and she loves it.  She doesn't go out too far which is just fine with mom, but she can see all kinds of fish.  She is getting better and better at keeping the snorkel out of the water.  The first few times she got a mouth full of SALTY water.  But since then she has learned where to keep her head, so that is doesn't fill up with water.  And I think she just looks so cute when she gets all her gear on :) !

She is loving life here in Dominica and all the fun things we are finding to do.

Secret Beach

Here at the school, they have an awesome program, or organization for the spouses.  It is a great source for friendship and activities.  The girl who is in charge of the activities this semester had so many fun things planned.

Last Saturday we went to Secret Beach.  It is a small, very nice and very clean beach, that you can only get to by boat.  So we met at the pier at 9am and headed to the beach.  

It was a really fun day, the kids had so much fun.  Kyler found a coconut shell, and he played with it the entire time.  He would fill it up with water and dump it out, and then he would throw it like a ball.  He even tried to use it to make a sand castle.  Bryn loved to watch the pelicans dive down and catch the fish.  It was amazing to watch them how fast they dive down, and then how fast they are able to catch one and back up to the rock they go.  A lot of the kids from Bryn's school were there, and they were all catching hermit crabs.  Bryn of course was not in on that action, but she played with Kyler the whole day.  It was great for both of them.  I feel really blessed for as well as they get along most days.  Bryn is such a big helper to me.  It is a lot harder now that Erick is gone all the time, especially when we go do things like that at the ocean.  I have to be watching Kyler all the time, and Bryn is so good to help me watch and to play with him, that way I only have to watch one place and see them both.  They are both great kids, it is just that Kyler has no fear, so I have to be on my toes all the time!

Best Buddies!

The kids were really hungry after 3 hours of swimming!

Kyler's coconut!

A Long Awaited Visit

So we have been on the island a little over a month, and my parents came to visit last Saturday!  It was so great!  The kids had been counting down the days since we had arrived.  Bryn kept telling Kyler they were coming in one month, even after we had been here for two weeks.  When it got down to one week, the first thing Bryn would say when she woke up was _ days left, Right mom?  

We went to the airport to pick them up and the kids could hardly stand the wait, but finally Grandma and Grandpa came out the doors.  

So we picked them up and made the hour ride back to our house.  They had brought a lot of things with them that I had asked them to bring that I couldn't get here, and it was like Christmas here, I got two flyswatters, a candle, and some Febreeze among other things!  It was wonderful.

They got to go to church with us, we took them to a couple of the beaches here, we went snorkeling, and swimming at the pool, and just got to hang out with them.  It was so nice for us.

Bryn was so sad when they left.  When we got home that day I couldn't find Bryn, and when I did find her she was in her room crying because she missed Grandma and Grandpa.  So we both had a good cry and then decided that we needed to be tough and that Christmas was not that far off!  Thanks Mom and Dad was coming and spending a few days with us.  It is an adventure to come here and to be here, but we are really glad you braved it.  We all love you so much!

Here are some pictures of the trip:

Snorkeling at Purple Turtle
Can you find the Iguana?
This was just fun trying to get the picture when he made that thing on his neck balloon out:) (by the way it is a lizard on the tree, about the middle of the picture)

PHB beach! 
Eating at Tomato 

bedtime prayers

Last night Bryn started this thing with her doll where she now gets a turn to say prayers with us.  She "Whispers" in her ear and then in her "I'm a doll" voice she repeats what she just told her to say.  At first I didn't know if this was something I really wanted to get started doing since she has a doll and a kitty, and Kyler has a puppy they sleep with.  I looked around the room and thought we might have to move bed time up a half hour to accommodate.  However it turned out to be a very good thing.  Kyler has always relied on us to help him pray and even with encouragement he wouldn't do it by himself ( which is funny since everything else he does he will "Do myself")!  Anyway I have really been working with him to say his prayers by himself, and during the prayer I would prompt him with ideas, but he would never just do it.  So after Bryn had her doll say her prayers, of course Puppy Joe had to go ( that is Kyler's Puppy) and he did it all by himself.  Exactly like Bryn had done, voices and all!! :)

So tonight, when it was his turn I didn't say a word and this is what he said:

"Heavenly Father,

Bless Grandma and Grandpa, Bless Bryn, Daddy, Bryn, Mommy and ME! Bless my puppy Joe, and Bryn's dolly, and Bryn's kitty, and puppy joe.

Amen"

I was so proud of him for doing it all by himself.  And he was so proud when Bryn kept praising him for doing it all himself.  We have a good support system here :)

It was just so cute I had to share.

little boys

So I have heard a saying that goes:  Mothers of little boys work from sun up until sun down.  When I first heard this, I thought, " they can't be that much different than girls."  But let me tell you, THEY ARE!!!

If I am not watching Kyler all the time, he is getting into or doing something that he shouldn't, and we are past the point of discovering what is off limits.  He knows what he is not supposed to be doing, and what is okay.  He just chooses the things that are off limits.

This is what Kyler found to do while I was on the phone the other day.  Which by the way I am getting a cordless phone when we are home for christmas.  I have now decided they are an essential when you have kids.  So I was on the phone and it got really quiet.  I know- always a bad sign, but I didn't want to just get off the phone, but I couldn't move enough to see him.  When I got off the phone this is what I found!  Yep- I need more salt.  He emptied the entire can of salt, and it was FULL, on the table and then mixed in a whole bottle of water.  But that was not enough for him.  He had to see what it would do if he made balls out of it and threw them.  We found out it makes a mess, so if you are wondering don't try this at home!

They do things like this, and you still love them more that anything in the world.  However, Girls don't do things like this (at least mine doesn't) and you love them more than anything in the world.   Ironic don't you think?

Erick's first time snorkeling

So Erick had a half day free, and we decided to go snorkeling.  He had never been and the kids really wanted to go to the beach.  We gathered all our stuff up and headed to Purple Turtle.  It was really fun.  Most of the time it is me and the kids, so to be blessed with Erick's presence for half a day was great!  The kids stayed by the shore and either Erick or I was with them while the other went out snorkeling.  It was great.  

Erick had gone out and was out for quite a while.  When he finally came back he yelled at all of us to come over.  He had found a huge star fish!  It was really cool.  The kids were fascinated by.  Erick had a hold of it, and by the time he got back to us t

he arms or legs or whatever you call the points, were starting to curl back.  I think it was a sad effort at trying to get Erick to let go.  If you have never seen a live star fish, they are very slow.  So it was not having any luck getting rid of Erick!

Marriage Tag

1) How long have you been married? 7 years and counting  :)
2) How old is your spouse? 29
3) Who eats more? Hands down, Erick does
4) Who said I love you first?  Erick did.  We were at his mom's house on new years eve!
5) Who is taller? Okay so I am paranoid about this, but Erick will tell you he is taller.  However when I look at us together I feel like we are pretty close, and then Erick will drag me to a mirror to  prove that he is in fact taller.
6) Who sings better? That is a tough one!!!!:)  You guys tell me???
7) Who is smarter? Erick
8) Who controls the T.V. remote? Erick did, and now he is never home, so I am going to go with Bryn!  She knows how, but when Kyler learns how to control it who knows!!
9) Whose temper is worse? Both of us have a VERY SMALL temper:)
10) Who does the laundry? I do
11) Who does the dishes? I do, but I love it when Erick will surprise me and do it for me every once in a while.
12) Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do, the other side is the wrong side.
13) Who cooks dinner? I do
14) Who is more stubborn? equally both. 
15) Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? Erick, he is so good to say sorry.  
16) Who has more friends? Here in Dominica it a toss up.  Erick is friends with all the students and I am friends with their wives.
17) Who has more siblings? Erick by one!
18) Who wears the pants in the family? I do!
I tag Sherrie, Mindy, and Adreann

Back in business

Okay- So I have not blogged for a long time and here is the story:

Last Sunday we got up and got ready for church, had the house all cleaned up, dinner in the crock pot and was on our way at 8:45.  When we got home around 12:00 noon, we opened the door and there was a huge mess on the front room floor.  My first thought was that my backpack had been blown over and spilled.  Everything that was on the floor had been in my backpack.  But the very next second I remembered that my backpack had been put away.  We took another step in the house and that was when we saw all the glass, the huge rocks, and the broken window.  

We have bars on all the doors and windows in our whole house, except one window.  It is above the door in the kitchen and it is very small.  There is no way to see the door or the window from the road, so someone had been watching our place and waiting for a chance to break in.

The first thing I did was run to where my computer was, and yep it was gone.  We looked for Erick's and yep gone too!!!  Then I started running all through the house checking on our passports, money, cameras, Ipods, anything else I could think of.  As I discovered something missing, I was yelling at Erick to tell him.  Pretty soon the kids were following my lead.  Bryn ran in her room and couldn't find her doll.  She broke into a loud sob and kept saying, they stole my doll.  Later that night we did find the doll.  They had gone through our whole house and thrown clothes everywhere, so the doll had gotten thrown behind a dresser. (good thing, since it was the only one we brought with us)!!!!

In the end we lost both of our computers, all of our cash we had in the house, my backpack and a few of Erick's clothes.  They took his flip flops, which he had just said the day before how comfortable they were and that they didn't hurt his feet!  Hopefully they will be just as comfortable to who ever has them now!

So after we walked in and saw the mess I of course was bawling, and Erick was very calm.  I called our landlords and Erick called the police.  Everyone got here, they took a report, and then just hung around for a while talking.  When I remembered dinner in the crock pot, I figured it would be burt, but the power had been out most of the day, so the chicken of course was bad. 

The worst part is, when they police got here, they told me that they were sure they knew who did it, because they have this problem a lot when new students move in.  So he said that the guy who usually does it had served his time in prison and had just gotten out!  I am not sure if that was meant to make me feel better, but if so it didn't work.

The day had to be the worst I can remember in a long time!

We now have our computers replaced, and things are back to normal.  They replaced the window, and put up bars.  I still am a little scared when we are home alone (which is most of the time), but we are all okay and life goes on!!!  And I am now back to blogging:)