More August Moments

Out on the town:

   The Tortilla Factory Restaurant.  The only place I can find in Chile where we can buy corn tortillas!

Kai Restaurant.  Yes.  That is the entrance.  Joe and I had just come from the temple and I wanted to try someplace new.  I had heard this was quite the quirky restaurant.  It took a few attempts and drive-bys  to actually find it, as there is no sign out front!  It was passed 10pm and we were slightly nervous parking our car in this sketchy part of town, but for some reason I was feeling confident.  Ready for an adventure :)  When you find the door, there is a little doorbell that you need to ring and then they let you in.

  

 Quite the quirky Thai restaurant!  

 I was just glad we made it and nothing scary happened to us when we walked through the gate after they let us in :)

 Thanks for putting up with me and my ideas, JB.

 A trip to the ice cream parlor was a great way to celebrate Friday 

 Russel, Jake and Paden couldn't eat fast enough... 

 They wanted to get home to our house to PLAY!  Such CUTE, GOOD, HAPPY boys.  

Glad they are friends.

 Just a pretty moment on my run that needed capturing

At Church:

 All are welcome to come unto Christ.  ;)  This was a first for me at church.  He made his way into the chapel and was pretty comfortable during Sacrament meeting!

 Noche de Hogar con el barrio.  Family Home Evening with the ward and investigators.  We were in charge of the lesson.  You can tell how it went just by looking at the boys faces.  Jake and Luke were pretty naughty during the entire thing.  I've never given so many hard arm squeezes and glares before in that short of a time frame.  Huge Sigh....

And at Home:

 Enjoying a game of Candyland with our friend Isla, in our newly put together playroom!

 And that's Jake ;)

 Friends at home

 And catching up on some sleep here and there when we can find the time :)

Love a few things about this picture:  Somehow they both ended up in our bed in the middle of the night.  When I woke up in the morning, I found them like this.  Love those arms intertwined.  Also love that Jake decided to sleep in his uniform so he wouldn't have to change in the morning.  Get up and go :)  Works for me!  

Some August School Moments

Here's Jake's 1A class getting ready for pictures.  Glad to see he is smiling :)  Unfortunately, Kate had pictures too, but we didn't know it.  Sent her to school in a ponytail.  She came home and told me she looked like a boy for her photo.  She could never look like a boy, but I felt bad that we hadn't done anything special!!!  Maybe a 9 year old photo shoot needs to be taken soon at home :)  

 Jake's wishes for this year:  "I wish to be a better writer" and "a better _____."  Your guess is as good as ours.  He couldn't remember what it said :)  

 LOVE Jake's 6 year old self portrait.  

Around the same time, Luke had science week at school.

  

 We went to check it out.  It was pretty cool :)

 Loving puzzle time together with friends :)

It's August 12, 2014, Kate!!!!

And all of your family called and emailed and texted because they wanted to wish you the best day ever.  Including your aunt and uncle:

Woke up to these faces on my phone sending you some love.  Cracks me up every time I see it.

 Then Luke and I showed up to your new 4th grade class to surprise you with cupcakes.  Everyone was VERY excited to sing to you and they were even more excited for homemade treats!

 Luke gave Kate flowers and provided quite the entertainment for the 4th graders.  I was trying to not make too much of a scene so we wouldn't disrupt class for Mr. John too much....

 but I think we failed.

 After school we went right home to open presents

 And then an early dinner at Kate's favorite restaurant... La Creperia 

waiting for Dad to get there

 Love our girl

To try and get everyone to smile and look in the same place,  Joe started a thumbs up thumbs down thing...

 It hung on for the rest of the night ;)

 Nutella and Banana Crepes.  The reason she loves this place.  Me too!!!

Happy Birthday to our WONDERFUL daughter and big sister.  We are so proud of who you are.  May you never change and may you follow every single one of your dreams.  

Now, it's off to your Open House at school ;)

Someone is Almost 9 Years Old!!!

A week into our new home and Kate would be celebrating her last year in single digits.  Unbelievable.  It goes so fast.  I'd love it to slow down just a tad, please... Because her actual birthday fell on Nido's Open House for parents, we decided she needed some celebrating the weekend before.  We started off our Saturday with one of her favorites-- German Pancakes.  (Don't knock the burnt edges until you've cooked in a Chilean oven) And yes, that is a bagel on Jake's plate.  He doesn't seem to enjoy most of the fancy breakfasts the rest of us all crave on special occasions. Shocking to me.  Every time.  

 Then, sweet thing that she is,  Kate told me that she didn't want a big birthday party this year.  What she really wanted was to invite one of her best friends out for a really spectacular day.  Either it was her true desire or she sensed that there was no way I'd be able to pull off an event in the state that we were living in.  She's an amazing girl.  So that's what we did.  I got to take Kate and Gaby out for a lunch date...

 witnessing quite a few cool cars along the way

 And then we hit the mall for a little shopping...

 ...and when they found what they wanted (it wasn't these furry vests)

 we decided we needed a little frozen yogurt break.  

From treats to spa treatments...

 manicures and pedicures and a lot of laughter finished up this fantastic day. 

 We had a blast!  Kate is so blessed to have good friends like Gaby and I am BEYOND BLESSED to be her mom.  Kate is something else.  I love her with all of my heart. 

In Limbo

So for the first week or so of school, we were living like this:

Have I mentioned before how much I detest moving?  ;)  I have to admit though, when you have a moving company and a "nana" to help, it sure makes things A LOT more bearable.  

So, we said goodbye to so many memories in this:

And soon we were surrounded by boxes, living like this:

 The only comfortable spot in our new home.  Loved that I walked in to witness this.  

And even though our brand new home is absolutely gorgeous and a tall families' dream (ceilings so high I can't even jump up and touch them- with doors to match), I'm still struggling with one aspect of the closets.  Apparently no one wears dresses as long as I do in Chile.  It's ok.  

I can sacrifice here and there ;)

So we've kept ourselves entertained while the "maestros" finished the home. 

 Lessons in how grass is put in:

The many options for multiple sized rocks and even figuring out that an empty pool makes a really great race track for cars. 

 It was a MUDDY MESS for long while.  In fact, as I'm typing this, 2 months later, we still have people coming to finish things, when we were told the home would be ready 2 months before we even needed to move in.  But that is alright.  It's the Chilean way.  And when you have a view from your rooftop like this:

You realize it all wasn't that bad after all.