The Villa

The villa exceeded every expectation we had. You never know if it's going to be all that the pictures show it to be until you actually show up. Part of the thrill of the vacation. This was so much better than we imagined, we loved it! The food was also amazing.

A Trip Highlight

This was a definite highlight of the trip. It's called 27 waterfalls! We left the little ones behind, which in and of itself was a bit of an adventure for me, just leaving the babes in a foreign country. They were in excellent hands with their grandma, but still... We hiked up 12 of the 27 waterfalls and the jumped or slid down them, it was so fun. I love it when the kids get to see the parents having fun too!

The People

The kids got to hang out with the natives on the temple grounds, they loved the games we brought for them...
This woman sells used clothes in the streets.
These kids sell yummy candy!
This picture does no justice to the amount of people that are in every car! Oh yes, gas there is $5.00 per gallon!
Sweet Andrea! Savvy spend an entire day helping her clean.
This women set a bbq grill on the side of the street for hot dog sales!

Amazing fruit!

This is an avacado! It's the size of a cantaloupe. We couldn't get enough of them!

The Dominican Republic

Taking family vacations for us is a relatively new idea for us, but this was the best one yet! The place absolutely exceeded every expectation we all had. This trip provided so many unique opportunities for our family that we will never forget and our lives will never be the same because of it. You can't see people living like that and not look at your own life and see what you don't need, and look at the things that really make you "happy." The people, although they have so little in some interesting ways they have more... It was a stark contrast coming back to the U.S., seeing a man in front of us ranting and raving because the line wasn't moving fast enough and he was afraid he was going to miss his connecting flight. Sure enough he did, and sure enough we ran into him again (after we missed our connecting flight) and he was demanding a rental car, a hotel and a transfer to another city. It seemed no compensation could equal his burden of missed time! One thing the Dominicans seem to have plenty of is TIME!

No. 1 not 2

This is the sign Madeline and Savvy made for me tonight! If you look closely you can see the status I have achieved not number 2, but numero uno! I am not sure which is more fun with the kids actually going on the trip or getting ready for the trip. Every spring break we try to go somewhere fun... The kids get sooo excited and we can't wait to have them all to ourselves! This time we are excited to share with Darin's parents!

Seriously!

For the second time this week Easton I have been summoned to this little guy with blood spurting everywhere. This is one week I am glad there is only one of him!!! This was a vegetable peeler fight between he and Madeline, Easton being the clear loser. I do have to say Madeline cried harder and longer realizing her firm grip on the peeler had caused such a wound. Maybe a lesson learned...

Thank You, Thank you!

Madeline has started saying this to me all the time. "Thank you, thank you mommy so much for getting us the sweet, sweet baby." She says it as if we picked this brand out from the store... I couldn't have said it better myself...

Ghiradelli Chocolate Factory

It would be completely wrong for us to go to San Francisco and not go to the Ghiradelli Chocolate Factory. We have so many memories from San Diego. The chocolate factory was right next to our family's "all time favorite" restaurant, Royal Thai. A perfect evening would be Padres game, Royal Thai, and Ghiradelli Chocoalte factory brownie sundae. Every time we go to San Diego it's top of the list.

I am a wife

And for this I am grateful! I have a hard time leaving the kids at the current chaotic state of our life. I can't ever imagine leaving it to to someone else. Lucky for me, my mom was ever so willing to come spend time with her grandkids. I didn't feel I could leave everyone, because we want her to come back! We took Ava and headed to San Francisco last weekend. I think I got a total of 9 hrs. sleep in three days, but it was worth every bit of the sleep. Besides like my dad always says, we'll catch up in the next life... It was so fun, just being with the three of us. I never realize I need a break until I get one. I never realize how often our conversation gets interrupted until it doesn't. I love these convention trips because it's the perfect allocation of time for me. Darin goes to about 4 hours a day worth of education and I get time to do anything in the world I want to do. This time that meant staying in the hotel reading while Ava slept. Reading during the middle of the day, a complete novelty and a great way to spend an afternoon. SF is a great city and we loved being there together, just the three of us.

One thing I know for sure!

Boys get hurt more than girls. We have had minor cuts and bruises with the girls. Easton has had stitches four times and broken his arm. It has been so lucky for me that every time Darin has been home. One of these days he is not going to be there, and I am going to have to be pony up. Every time an incident occurs I scream for Darin and he runs in like the knight in shining armor to save the day. He is always so calm and I can't imagine him being in a field more useful to our family. We actually have never even been to the E.R.

Easton's Current Obsession

Easton is my one child who gets absolutely fixated on certain things. I am happy to say that he couldn't have been more thrilled about getting his scriptures. He kept asking me for his "own." I kept giving him the families copies and it just wasn't cutting it for him. I got him is own paperback quad with his name on it, and he had the prize to be one. He couldn't wait to get home and get started. He even wanted me to read while I was driving. When we got home we couldn't get lunch over fast enough. For an entire week it seemed he thought of nothing else. We would read up to twenty pages a day and it still wasn't enough for him. Try telling a kid you don't have time to read him scriptures. He is such a great kid! Lucky for me he is still excited about it, but doesn't ask so many times a day for me to drop everything and read to him. This is a picture of him reading to the neighbors, that have absolutely no idea what he's talking about. He couldn't wait to read some more. He saw the kids out playing and decided to go read. They all quit playing and went to get their "own" books. I was happy no parents called to complain...

Is a Puppy necessary?

So, this is a question I asked myself over and over. Some swear it's the best thing you can ever give a kid. I think a sibling is the best thing you can give a kid. After Much, much thought we gave in and neither Darin or I ever thought we would. This was the best Christmas present ever! The kids made all kinds of promises, and contracts we promised to get them a dog after a 6 week trial period. They did countless hours of research in search for the perfect dog. The girls had their heart and souls set on a Cavashon, and I found one that would be available at christmas time. I will post the video later of the actual surprise. We will be hard pressed to ever top this one. It was complete with tears from both the older girls and "giddy" excitement from the others. I didn't blog about her before now, because I wasn't sure she would really end up being part of the family after all the poop and peeing in my house was done!! I definitely have had my moments when I have kids crying, dinner to make only to turn around and see the dog peeing on my carpet. Are you kidding me, how did we end up here? Even still somehow she gets to stay another day, however not without "doggie school" at the prison. More on that later... The jury is still out, but we are pretty sure she was a good idea...