Oh what a wonderful life!

Coopers 2nd Birthday!

2012-01-27T18:40:00.000-08:00

My baby boy turned 2 already, I can hardly believe it! Two years ago this beautiful little boy gave us all a scare of a lifetime, and now is a happy full of life toddler. Cooper is the sweetest little guy ever. He is a charmer with his wink and blonde curly locks of hair. Cooper speaks spanglish, as of now more spanish than english. He will switch between the two in one sentence, it is really cute. We love this little guy and feel so blessed to have him in our family.
Birthday breakfast, waffles with whipped cream and fresh berries! Cooper loved blowing out the candles, and did it about 20 times at breakfast.
A nice dirty face after his bday cupcake!
Since Coopers birthday was on a sunday this year we decided to have his party the next day on monday! Here we are setting up for the big bash.
Can not have a party with out a bounce house right!
Cooper and his buddy Marcus.
I have been taking Cooper every monday to a music class which he just loves, so I asked the teacher if he would be willing to come a do a class for his party, and he gladly accepted. The kids loved it!
Cooper playing his drum.
Us singing happy birthday to my big boy!!!
Cooper opening his presents. He really could care less, but his brothers sure loved opening all of them.

Futbol!

2012-01-24T16:29:00.000-08:00

Well as I was deciding what to do with my kids this summer, yes we are enjoying summer while you guys are enjoying your winter, I found an awesome place for the kids to do soccer. It is a program run by Oscar Ibanez, who plays for the national team here in Peru! The program is amazingly well organized and the boys are loving every minute. Oscar even came one day to train with the boys and was so kind to let me rob a picture!!!
The boys in Brocks group.
Zander and Oscar!
Z and his group!

Karate exam!

2012-01-21T11:42:00.000-08:00

Brock just had another Karate exam and did well. He now has a black stripe on his yellow belt. Great Job!

Zander turns 5!!!!

2012-01-21T11:19:00.000-08:00

So my Z man turned 5 and I can hardly believe it. I can still remember the day he was born and all the fun we had taking him back to Puerto Rico when he was 6 days old and Brock was not yet 2, we must have been crazy getting on that airplane that day!!!!

Zander is such a joy to have in our family, he is always full of mischief and laughs. He is the best big brother ever and will share anything he has with you. He can't go anywhere without being noticed, and can speak better spanish than most of the kids in his class. His teachers always marvel at how easy the language comes to him being that it is not his mother language. In fact he probably speaks better spanish than english. We love him very much and are so proud of him.
Breaking the piñata!
Love his smile, it just warms my heart.
Yep it has become a full blown tradition............The Bounce House!
Zander requested breakfast in bed after he saw how awesome it was when we did it for Dad on his birthday, so here he is enjoying his breakfast in bed. He asked for german pancakes and a fruit smoothie.
Zander had a great birthday with about 20 friends at our house. If you ask him what his favorite part was, he would tell you the ice cream cart. We rented an ice cream cart filled with 20 different types of ice cream!!!! Can you say stomach ache. We still have a fridge full that will last all year long, yum!

New Years2011!!!

2012-01-20T20:00:00.000-08:00

Happy New Years!!! I can hardly believe how fast this year has gone and it reminds me of how fast this next year will go. We celebrated the end of this year with a bang, literally!!! Chris put on an incredible fireworks show and we had lots of food and fun with friends. My kids stayed up as well and loved every minute of the festivities.
My family waiting for the clock to strike midnight.
Some friends Nicholas and Carlos.
The crew doing firework warm ups! Oh man was it a mess to clean up afterwards.

Christmas 2011

2012-01-15T18:40:00.000-08:00

Mommy and Cooper enjoying the fireworks!
Christmas PJs. Every year the boys get to open one present on Christmas eve and it is always new pjs, here they are showing them off!!!
We had way too much food, but oh man was it good!!!!
Coopers presents!!
Brock and his presents!
Z mans presents.
Cooper hugging his bear that his aunt Megs sent him.
Opening presents christmas morning! It was a bit tricky this year because we had church at 8.30 in the morning, so the kids only got to open presents from santa and wait for the rest until we got home from church. They were troopers, but I did get just one more please mom all the way out the door to the car.
Every year since we have lived here in Peru Chris has put on a extravagant fireworks show, but this year took the prize. He has found a love for these dangerous little bundles of light and so have my boys. They look forward to Christmas and New Years for this reason. So far no damage just pure fun. I was afraid that our neighbors might get upset and call the police after Chris shot off some of the big ones, but instead we got a round of applause and pleading for more. Every year our group gets bigger and we love being able to share this time with friends since we are so far from home.

Brock sings!!!

2012-01-06T18:10:00.000-08:00

The end of the year is always crazy with activities, but you add ending the school year on top of it and it is madness. We had something everyday for the whole month, parent conferences, end of the year shows, holiday parties, graduations and more. Brock had a beautiful carol night at his school for their end of the year show. It made me laugh a bit to hear the kids sing songs like jingle bells, rudolph and more with spanish accents. They did a great job, and sang so beautifully. Especially my Brock.
Brock and his buds!
So every year we have made it a tradition to make plates of goodies to give as gifts for christmas. People here in Peru do not really bake, so they just love the goodies. In fact the kids teachers can't wait for the end of the year for their plate of goodies. I made about 8 different types and the boys and I wrapped then nicely in cellophane and made the rounds. This year Chris found these cute shoe covers that light up for the boys.

Zander Graduates

2012-01-06T17:50:00.000-08:00

In December Zander graduated from his nido,preschool, and now is off to big boy school in March. He has been in this school for 3 yrs, it is hard to believe how fast time flies. It was so fun to see him in his cap and gown, we are so proud of him.
Oh Zander, how they will miss you at Garabatos!!!
This picture is Zander in a nut shell, full of personality.
Zander and his teacher Miss Marcela. This year has been a tough year but we made it through. We found that Zander has a sensory problem, and it made it challenging working with his teachers, but we are off to big boy school hooray!!!!
Zander and his best bud Santiago!!!

Family Pictures!

2011-12-27T15:24:00.000-08:00

Every year I look forward to taking our family pictures, and every year I am reminded that I have 3 wonderful boys with 3 very different personalities! Brock loves getting his picture taken and will gladly pose for pictures, Zander is impossible and made faces in every picture, and Cooper would not sit still. Mommy was not to happy, but we did get a few good ones out of a very long foto session. This one I love of Cooper my little chubster.
Quick take the picture everyone is looking at the camera!!!
Oh my little Z man!! He is such a firecracker, but he is so adorable. Look at the smile!!!
The three musketeers!
Brock is my model, he will always give a great smile.

Christmas Tree

2011-12-07T19:40:00.000-08:00

On the 4th of December 2002 Chris asked me to marry him, and so we have made it a family radiation to put up our christmas tree very year on this day. As my kids grow I am finding it harder for my kids to wait until the 4th, but so far so good. This year it was greg because it was a Sunday so we were able to spend the afternoon listening to christmas music and decorating the tree. Also Chris wrote a book for me when he proposed so he read it to the boys as well. It was a great day!!!

Our tree!!!

Yep, mommy is the light lady!
So excited to finally put up the tree.

That is my boy!!

2011-12-03T06:58:00.000-08:00

Every bimester at Brocks school they have to choose an activity like soccer, art, acrobatics, dance, etc. Brock picked dance for his last activity this year and they put on the cutest show for the end of the year. They did a traditional dance from the jungle here in Peru, and it was fantastic. For a mom who ate, drank, and lived for dance that was blessed with three boys, it was so much fun for me to watch. To make it even better Brock was awesome, a natural. It is even more fun due to the fact that he is learning traditional dances from Peru, what a great experience.
I am having trouble uploading my video of Brock dancing so stay posted as I keep trying. You don't want to miss it!!!

Campeonato!

2011-11-29T12:02:00.000-08:00

Last week Brock had his second karate competition and he did great. His first competition was really intimidating so it was great to see him more confident this time around. We are so proud of him and all of his hard work.
He was so excited to finally have his gloves, and they are red even better!

Bunco!

2011-11-29T11:44:00.000-08:00

Once upon a Time!!! November was my turn to host our monthly Bunco night, and I picked the theme Once Upon a Time. Each month a group of 12 of us get together to play Bunco and rotate who hosts and the host picks the theme. I had a blast getting things ready for my bunco night, complete with my Dorothy costume. Everyone was so creative and we had a blast.
The crew!! They all look great.
Great food and fun decorations! Bacon wrapped water chestnuts, artichoke dip, pesto pasta, stuffed avocado and yummy dessert. Yum!!!

Gotta luv a day off!

2011-11-17T10:25:00.001-08:00

November 1st was a holiday here in Peru and Chris fortunately was in town so we went to a park called Rancho Aventura in Cieneguilla with some friends of ours. The park had rides for the kiddos and a small little water park. It was great because we had the park pretty much all to ourselves. This picture is of Chris and Zander going down the big slide into the pool!!

Jessika, and her two sons and half a picture of uncle Joe!!!

Me and the Coopster!! He had a blast on all the rides and especially the water park. The only bummer was they dont sell water diapers here yet, so you gotta love the water filled diaper ready to explode crystals everywhere. Luckily we never got to that point, but close!!

I think this was the favorite ride of the boys, a good old sack and a slide.

Cool uncle Joe being a good sport and getting in this car with Cooper.

Cooper loved this trampoline. They strap you in a harness and raise you up so you can jump higher, the laughter from him was priceless. I can´t believe my baby is old enough to even do this.

Halloween!

2011-11-13T19:25:00.000-08:00

I love this picture of Cooper, he is such a little cutie. Lately he loves finding hats, shoes or anything to put on and play with. He has got such a funny personality, it is so fun to watch it blossom each and everyday. He was not so fond of the whole halloween costume thing, so this was about all I could get out of him!

Or this one!

The pumpkins!

It´s a boy thing! Chris decidied to carve pumpkins one sunday while I was cooking dinner to do something fun and messy with the boys, and I could not believe that not one of my boys just dug in and got messy. Zander was the first one to get in and get dirty, Brock took more convincing and Cooper wanted nothing to do with the slimy pumpkin goo.

Brock´s pumpkin. The silly boy would not put his hands inside to get the seeds out. It took us 15 minutes to convince him to do it.

The best uncle Joe!!! Joe has been living with us for a few months now, and he is so much fun to have around. The boys just adore him!!!

It´s me Mario!!! When Chris was back in the states in Sept, he bought the boys each 2 costumes for halloween, Zander was mario and dash from incredibles. Brock was a transformer and luigi. It was fun to have to so they could switch off for each activity they had, and great for me so I was not washing them everyday.

I just loved the look on Brock´s face in this picture. They had so much fun on this bounce house it was amazing!!!

Cookie Decorating!!!!

The grub!!!

We had a blast making these fun spider cookies!

My powerful transformer!

Busy Busy!

2011-11-13T19:03:00.001-08:00

A group of us girls have started playing bunco once a month, it is a fun easy game and a good excuse to get together and have fun. We get together once a month and each month has a different theme. Last month was a vampire theme, and this month I get to host at my house so expect some pics soon.

As most of you know that the biggest perk to living abroad is having help in the house. This is Mary Lou our newest addition. It was her birthday so the boys look for any excuse to have cake and celebrate, and for me it is fun to do something for someone who doesn´t have the resouces to have a special day! She is a great addition in our home and Cooper calls her LuLu, it is so cute. We still have Iris with us and we feel so blessed to have such sweet spirits in our home and that we are giving them an opportunity to work in a good enviornment and earn a living. Mary Lou has 5 kids and a husband but lives with us 6 days a week. I feel guilty sometimes, but then I remmember that I am actually helping her to earn money. Life here in Peru is very difficult and there is a lot poverty. It is just a good reminder to me daily as to how blessed my family and I are.

Last week was Zander´s special week at his school. Each child gets a week that they are spotlighted for the whole week. On the first day they bring a collage of pictures, on day two their favorite book, day three their favorite toy, day four a special activity to do with the class, and the last day they bring a snack to share. I found some halloween candy necklaces to bring to class for each child to put together, they all had a blast. Zander was so happy and felt so special, which in turn makes me very happy!

See that smile!!!

Baby Loghan´s Blessing!

2011-11-11T18:27:00.000-08:00

Oh how we miss cousins. That would be the only downfall to living abroad is seeing how much fun these guys have together. My sister-in-law just had a baby so we made a quick trip for the blessing so the boys were excited to see family, and their new lil cousin.

Brock and Loghan!! Brock just loved being able to hold him, now Zander on the other hand had no interest, and Cooper did not know what to think of this lil guy.

I just loved this picture of Cooper and how blue his eyes are.

Yep that is Cooper crying at the pumpkin patch. Everyone else had great time, except for him. He was so tired and hot that he just lost it. The other kids were just trying to convince us to buy a gigantic pumpkin. My boys thought it was awesome since it was the first time at a pumpkin patch. Halloween is something totally different in Latin America, so it was fun to have this experience.

Daddy and Zander go to Cuzco!

2011-11-09T05:37:00.000-08:00

I am back tracking a bit to June of this year so I can post about Zander´s daddy son trip. The boys were both lucky this year to be able to go on a trip each with Chris. Brock went to the jungle and Zander went to Cuzco. Zander and Chris were lucky to be in Cuzco for the 100 year anniversary of Machu Picchu. They had a wonderful time together and Zander still talks about it. They took a day and hired a private guide and went horseback riding for 3 hours to a llama farm and got to see some of the less traveled parts of Cuzco. I was surprised to learn that Zander handled the horse ride for that long on a horse by himself, but he did and loved every minute.

While at the llama farm they got to touch and feed all the animals which of course what 4 yr old would not be in heaven!

Zander on his horse and his guide!

Daddy and Zander!

The happiest boy in the world to have his daddy all to himself for 3 days!

Big Event!

2011-10-04T17:52:00.000-07:00

A week ago Chris´s company had a huge event here in Lima, actually it was a tour but ended in Lima. Chris was in Mexico, Los Angeles, Columbia then back here to Lima. We had a special treat this year with the presence of Chris´s dad being able to come and see what exactly his son does for a living!! It was a blast to have him here, and of course the boys were in heaven. At one point we had both Chris´s brothers and his dad all here!

Here is a picture of the boys on stage before the event with gramps!!

The boys taking a picture with Dad!!!

The set up!!

The largest mug I have ever seen!!!!!

The coolest part for the boys was that there was a carnival before the event with all the kids favorite toys and bounce houses. Best of all it was free for the bosses kids. hahaha! Actually when Chris told me about it, I thought he was just trying anything to get me to come early o the event, good thing I believed him because the boys had a blast.

My boys just love these trampoline things, I think they stayed on these for a half hour or more doing flips.

Brock riding a wave!

Another one of the boys favorites!!!

Poor Cooper still too little to participate!!!

Daddy and Brock

2011-09-28T10:24:00.000-07:00

Chris has been traveling a ton this year so he decided in May that he would be great if he could take Brock with him on a short trip, well as you can guess Brock was so excited. They went to the jungle for 3 days, the amazon, and had a blast having boy time together. As you can imagine I had a little boy named Zander at home with me jealous, so next time it is his turn.

Getting ready to go catch some piranha!

Dad and Brock having fun in the waterfalls!

View from their hotel room!

Chris´s Birthday Bash

2011-09-09T09:10:00.000-07:00

On August 30th Chris celebrated his birthday with his first peruvian style party. We have done it for the boys but had yet to do a big bash for either of us and he wanted his, so he got it. It was actually wondeful in the sense that we did absolutely nothing, not even clean up, because we had it catered. We rented a bounce house for the kiddos, a ball pool for the babies, and uncle Joe(who had a birthday right before Chris) got his Ice cream cart! Chris´s mom was even able to make it out as well, so that was fun.

Chris had the company prepare all non alcholic drinks, including pisco without the sour. It was funny to see the look on some peoples faces, like something is wrong with this drink, because it was missing the alcohol. It was a great day with great food and great friends. I think we had about 50 or more people which was fun. We would never be able to throw a party like this in the states, so it was fun to at least do it once!!!!

Me and the birthday boy!!!!

The caterer´s setting up in the back, I can´t tell you how nice it was to not have to prepare anything!

A bunch of Chris´s friends and co-worker´s.

Chris enjoying his causa topped with shrimp! They were delicious, it is like a puree of potatoe filled with different ingredients topped with shrimp, yum! It was so relaxing to have people serving the food, cooking the food, and cleaning up.

Bounce house! It was a tight fit in the front yard, but luckily it fit!

Uncle Joe with his Ice Cream cart! They have guys that ride with these carts all over the streets here, so we rented one filled with ice cream for Joe.

A picture of the causa!

Cooper enjoying a Chorizo, grilled sausage!

Brock and his friend Alejandro having a blast in the bounce house.

Cartegena, Columbia

2011-09-06T11:52:00.000-07:00

Lets get dirty! Totumo Columbia is where to go. A couple of weekends ago we had the opportunity to go to Cartagena, Columbia as a family with some friends. We mainly hung out by the pool and the beach, but one day we took a trip to see this famous volcano, Totumo, that is filled with this goo that you see Zander in. It is really deep, but you just float. Zander loved it, Brock would not get in, and Cooper screamed while inside with Chris. When they got out a man helped Chris out, but then proceeded to take Cooper down the long flight of stairs much faster then I could catch him, and when I got to the bottom I could not find him. Talk about panic! Carlos, one of our friends that was with us, handed me his daughter and went to search for him, oh yeah I forgot to tell you that at this moment we were in a down pour of rain. Turns out that after you bathe in the mud they take down to the river to clean you, and that is where he had whisked my son off to. Whew!! It was a fun trip, and great to spend some time together as a family.

Oh and talk about treatment, I got a massage while sitting on the beach watching my boys play in the sand!

Us on top of the volcano waiting in line! Look how sunburned my poor brother-in-law was!!

Brock to chicken to get in!!! He told me he was thinking about it, and then it started pooring down rain. His daddy got him though, Chris picked him up and rubbed mud all over him.

The line to get up the Volcano, it was a pretty steep climb.

The view from the moro, wall surrounding Cartagena.

My three angels!!!!!

Zander is my dare devil, he found this high rock that to him looked just perfect to climb up, or to give his mom a heart attack. Here he is safely at the top.

Brock posing on one of the cannons! It made me miss Puerto Rico and how green everything is everywhere.

Cooper climbing his way up the big giant hill! We did not take a stroller and this guy is weighing in at 35lbs at 18 months, so he had to walk!!

Some brotherly love.

Sorry made it in 2x.

Chris, Carlos, and Josh all went out scuba diving one morning!!!

Dinner in the plaza of old Cartagena one night!!

Carlos, Brock, Nico, and Zander walking through the plaza.

Dancers in the center of one of the plaza´s.

Empresa Peruano Del Año

2011-08-17T18:17:00.000-07:00

In July Chris won this really cool award for bussines of the year, one of the most prestigious awards given in Peru. He has worked so hard for the past few years, so he really deserves it and we are so proud.

At the awards ceremony! They are super long and boring, but anything for my hubby! We also came out in a magazine here as well, the equivalent of people magazine in the states, kind of fun!!

More Vacation!!!!

2011-08-14T19:19:00.000-07:00

My Dad Mark and my brother Taft were able to come down for a quick visit, which was so fun. My boys love spending time with their family that they don't often get to see, especially their really cool uncles, and super fun grandpa!

Out to dinner for my brother Taft´s bday! Chris had just flown in, so we met up in LA to have lunch before they headed back home. It was so fun to have everyone together even for a minute!

While my dad was down we kept it pretty low key, we just hung out at the beach and played. My dad brought these heavy duty shovels to build sand castles and dig holes with, that the boys thought were so cool. Here is Brock getting buried alive!

Cooper loves the beach, at the end of the day he was covered from head to toe in sand, super fun to clean off a baby!

Zander buried alive!

The boys building a volcano.

We also spent a couple days playing at my kids favorite place, Sea World. Here is Zander playing in the water area that they have in Elmo´s world.

Cooper thought this was the best place ever.

More Disney!

2011-08-12T20:03:00.000-07:00

Getting everyone to look at the camera at the end of the day, what a feat!

Go Brock go!!!!

5 very naughty boys!

Winter/Summer 2011

2011-08-12T19:35:00.000-07:00

During our winter break, summer break in the states, we took a little trip back stateside. We took the kids to Disney, Cooper´s first time, and we had a blast. Here is the little chunker making a go at lifting this weight!

Dad and Zander sharing a sucker. Anyone who knows Zander knows he has got a major sweet tooth like his mommy, so I am amazed he shared with his dad.

Cooper trying to figure out how the piano keeps making noise by itself. Take a look at his hands, I think a career as a pianst is out!

Grandpa Marv and Brock having a rest, man walking around all day is tough work.

Zander so happy with his giant Sucker, it does not take much to make this boy happy!

Mothers Day!

2011-06-02T08:39:00.000-07:00

Zander performing for us mommys, what a fun day. I am so glad to share such special days with each of my boys.

My silly guy and I at his mothers day celebration. We had a class together with their theatre teacher and then they sand us a couple of songs. Super sweet. Gotta love his face in this picture.

Mothers Day at Brock's school, we had sucha great time doing a project together. He is growing up so fast, and is such a sweetheart.

Making his project, they made little baskets for us to put by our bedside to put jewelry in. Very cute.

Yep this was my big present for mothers day this year, not really a gift that I would ask for next year that is for sure. The day before mothers day I was walking down the stairs with Cooper in my arms and Zander was going down head first when he began to fall he grabbed my leg and I tried not to fall face first on Cooper so I threw my body back and my leg bent wrong underneath me and yep broken. To make it even more exciting Chris left for Malaysia for two weeks the next day. Thank heavens for the girls that work in my home, they were life savers. At least I can say that life is never boring or dull right????

Fashion Show!

2011-05-24T08:04:00.000-07:00

Fashion Show!!!! A couple of weeks ago my sis in law and I had the opportunity to go to a fashion show that was put on for charity by two very big designers her in Peru, and can I just say how beautiful the clothes were. We had a great time and had fun dreaming of having a closet full of these gorgeous clothes.

My good friend Lis and I.

My sis in law Christina and I after the show.

The gang of expats here in Peru closing down the party. Free gift bags, dinner, show and a night out with the girls, what more can you ask for right???

Easter 2011

2011-05-09T19:08:00.000-07:00

This year for easter we spent it the beach house with some great friends and family. Chris's brother and his family are here staying with us before they make their move to Columbia, so they were there as well as two other family friends. Benjamin and Mariela and their baby, and Jessica and her husband and 3 boys. Yes thats right, 16 people plus two employees. It was a blast, lots of food and laughs. It was a great Easter.

Cutest Easter bunny ever!

Everybody hop! We had an egg hunt, and the Easter bunny even found us at the beach. It was fun to share some traditions with the peruvian families here.

Beach fun!!! Alejandro, Brock and Zander.

Chris and Benjamin!

We turned puruvian!!!!

2011-05-09T18:54:00.000-07:00

In March Gano Excel, the company Chris works for, had a big event where we were asked to dress up in Peruvian garb. We walked the cat walk and the boys actually loved it. Cooper started dancing and the boys felt like super stars. I have never worn a dress that weighed so much in my entire life. Oh the things we do for our husbands. The boys look cute though.

Zander's 1st day of school 2011

2011-05-05T10:53:00.000-07:00

My big man Z on his first day of school. He is the big man on campus now and can not wait to go to big boy school next year. In Peru you have to take an exam to get into your school of choice, so he is getting ready for his on May 21. It is like trying to get your child into college, but luckily we have the advantage because Brock already goes to the school, so hopefully all will go well.

Zander is my comic relief. He is always making me laugh and the kids at school gravitate to him. He is super energetic and learns so quickly. He loves his Nido, preschool, which makes each and every day easy as we get everyone off to school for the day.

Brock's 1st Day 2011

2011-05-03T20:00:00.000-07:00

I still have a hard time with the way the school year is here, having school start in March, Christmas in the summer, easter in the fall, it gets my internal calendar all confused. So yes the school year has just started for us, and Brock was so excited. He wakes up every morning by himself at 6:45 and gets dressed and most of the time makes his bed, and comes down stairs for breakfast. If I try to go in his room to help him I ever so gently get told to "get out I can do it by myself." It is amazing to me how fast they grow up and how fast they learn and process everything that goes on around them. The other day I was helping Brock make sentences with some word strips he has for reading homework, when Chris walks in and asks if he can make a sentence for Brock to read with the strips. Brock replies yes and Chris proceeds to make his sentence. Brock reads the sentence out loud and says "Dad that was not a very intelligent sentence." I could not help but bust out in laughter as my poor husbands face looked at me in shock as if to say "did he really say what I think he said?" Oh you gotta love the little stinker.

Summer

2011-05-03T09:34:00.000-07:00

I am just going to give a few highlights of our summer 2011, and all the fun stuff we did. We had family visit, beach house, and lots of playing. Stay posted as I am almost up to date.

Lima just opened this place called Divercity, that is really fun for kids. They have stations where the kids can go and learn about natural gas, vets office, chef school, hospital, firefighting where they get to get in a small fire truck with uniforms and put out a pretend fire. They even get to go to driving school to get their license and test drive cars for Toyota. So here is Zander and his friend Lilly getting ready to go change gas on the gas truck. It is basically like a mini city where the kids participate in everything. We had a blast and the boys can't wait to go again.

Lilly and Zander waiting so patiently to drive after going to driving school.

Z man driving, but had to stop for some gas!

Here is the Coopster with Iris and Sara. Iris is the girl that has been with me for the last 2 years helping in my home, she is the best, but has just left because she had her baby a couple of weeks ago.(She will be back though yupeee!) Sara, the other girl is new to our home and we love her as well. She is super sweet and really good with the boys. What a team I will have when Iris gets back. I am so grateful for the help that we are able to have in our home, and that we were able to find such magnificent women to be a part of our family.

Just a shot of Cooper checking out these goats. In Peru they have Granja's(farms)everywhere. This one is at the mall, they have a bunch of animals the kids can pet and feed, and Cooper was just mesmorized with all the animals. Brock and Z love to feed the baby pigs bottles they just go crazy when they see them walking over with the bottles.

As I had mentioned in another post we rented a beach house for the summer. (Summer here is Dec-march) So here are the boys playing with Iris and Lucy digging holes.

To top off the summer we got the chance to have uncle Joe come and stay with us for 3 months while he did his internship here in Peru. I can't even begin to tell you how much fun my 3 guys had with uncle Joe. In this picture uncle Joe is letting the boys draw all over him with markers. What a trooper right? The funny thing is it was his idea. He is so good with my boys and it was so much fun to have him here with us. In fact one day Zander thought it would be nice to make a special drink for unlce Joe for lunch that consisted of: limon, water, sugar, chunks of bananas and Ice cubes. It looked so disgusting but Z was so proud of what he had made and so when Joe got home he was presented with this drink. Much to my delight Joe drank it and made a big deal about it and Z was so excited. His own dad would not drink it, so big props to Uncle Joe.

Brock turns 6

2011-04-29T19:30:00.000-07:00

In February Brock turned 6, I can hardly believe it. I still remember our first move abroad when he was 5 months old and now look at him, he speeks 2 languages and goes to school. For his birthday he got a bike with no training wheels, and learned to ride it in about an hour. He loves being a big guy, and also rubbing it in with his brother. Brock is still my sweetheart and always thinks of others. He loves school, football(soccer) and karate. He is such a special boy and always tells me how the bitter truth. We love you big guy.

Cooper turns 1!!!!

2011-04-28T18:49:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how fast time flies my baby turned 1 in January. Cooper is such a wonderful baby, he is a good sleeper and has such a fun personality. They call him "Gordo," and the people here just die over his blue eyes and chubby legs. He started walking before Christmas so nothing is safe now and Brock and Z are having to deal with him tearing through all thier toys. For Cooper's big day we let him eat pretty much whatever he wanted. I think his favorite was getting his hands on a big chorizo at lunch, well and of course his cake. We have a tradition in our family that for all the kids first birthdays we have angel food cake with whipped cream and fruit, so of course he loved that as well. I feel truly blessed to have Cooper with us, it was such a rough time through the pregnancy all the way to his birth, he is a real tresure.

Birthdays!

2011-04-28T10:43:00.000-07:00

I know I am behind, but I have to start from the beggining of the year to feel like the blog is complete so bear with me as I recap for the first part of the year.

In January Zander turned four but thinks he is six. He is such a funny kid and has more energy than he knows what to do with. He is very smart and catches on to things very quickly. He loves to talk, and makes friends every place he goes. He will walk right up to someone and say "Hola me llamo Zander, y tu como te llamas?" There is never a dull moment and I am so glad he is my son and we have been blessed with his sweet spirit in our home.

Blogging Bug!

2011-04-02T18:26:00.000-07:00

Wow, can time go by any faster? Time has been flying by and for what ever reason I have not found the time to update my blog, but fear not I have caught the bug! My goal is to get caught up, and keep on track!!!

Since January we have been running. Birthdays, starting new school year, Chris has had work events, and much more. We rented a beach house for the summer here in Peru in Asia, which has been fun. The boys have loved having the freedom to ride thier bikes on the boulevard and swim and play until they crash. The house we rented was right on the beach so the boys could play and I could be with Cooper in the house. I have lots of pictures to come so stayed posted. We have also had Chris's brother Joe here with us since January. He is here doing an internship for a few months which has been fun. Also Chris's other brother Josh came for a week as he is coming on board to work with Chris. So it has been very busy but very fun. Keep posted as the flood of pics rolls in.

Happy Holidays!

2011-01-16T17:27:00.000-08:00

We had a great Christmas, a little crazy but I would not expect anything less. Zander got Chicken Pox a few weeks before Christmas, gotta love the vaccine! He had a mild case but I was scared that Cooper would get them. Luckily no one else got them. We had a few people over on Christmas eve for dinner and our annual fireworks show which gets more amazing every year. . Stayed up late, woke up early to open presents and then we were off to Puerto Rico. We had a great time, but crummy weather.

We kept Christmas very small this year since toys are so expensive here and we would be able to buy some things in PR. So Santa laid out all the kids presents on the sofa's and when Brock woke up he said he thought Santa had been mistaken, because he wanted the things Santa had left for Zander. Oh you gotta love the little ones and how they think. We love you all and hope that you had a wonderful holiday.

Holiday Shows!

2010-12-19T18:28:00.000-08:00

The last few weeks have been crazy busy, with end of the year shows, school meetings and getting ready for the holidays. It is the end of the school year here so we are now on summer break, so weird to say that, and after three years I am still having a hard time getting into the Christmas spirit. Brock's school did Toy Story for their end of the year show and it was great. As you can see Brock was Rex. He did a great job, and loved performing.

Brock and his class!

Zander's show was great as well, he was a lion trainer. All the boys were trainers and all the girls were lions, so what message are they trying to send these little ones??? Zander looked so cute, and really got into his part. He thought it was great because he had 2 lions to train and the others had one.

Here is my little Papa Noel! I dressed Cooper up for each of the boys shows, and the people just ate him up. He makes a great mini Santa though right?

Year end Reflection!

2010-12-06T17:08:00.000-08:00

As some of you know this year has been especially challenging for me personally and our family. It seems that even though this year has been so challenging it has also been the most rewarding as crazy as that might sound. I have had a lot of time to reflect on the things that are most important in this life, and how short the time we have is here on earth. Things don't matter, clothes don't matter, cars, houses all the material stuff that we sometimes get caught up in thinking we must have just don't matter in the end. I have found a new love for many things this year, I ran my first 10k, enjoyed playing with my kids more and helping them develop their talents, serve, and be served, be a supportive wife even when it is not easy, and to always listen to those little promptings!
In January Cooper was born and we both almost died, a real scare, both of us recovered very well thankfully. I feel so blessed to have had my baby here in Peru, I had such wonderful doctors. I am incredibly grateful for 3 beautiful healthy boys that have been sent to me, and for all the joy they bring me evryday.
In July I was diagnosed with Melonoma, but thanks to some great doctors and plastic surgeons I am free and clear for now. We kept this pretty private, but as time has passed, I really feel that the awareness for this disease is very low, especially for the teenagers who think they are untouchable. You always here "Oh it won't happen to me." My boys now know the routine of the everyday application before school, if fact if I forget they remind me. Brock says "we don't want to get a sicky mole like you mommy!" Being careful with your skin it is so important and I was lucky that I was able to get it taken care of early. So please be careful everyone and put on your sunscreen!
The rest of the year thankfully has gone by with out any other health issues for anyone. But work has been crazy for Chris, keeping up with all the kids activities, school pick-ups and all the fun mommy stuff has made for a really busy year. This year I feel my bond with my kids has increased ten fold and my appreciation for the little things has grown as well. I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I won't ramble anymore, we love you all and send our love from Peru. Besos Grandes a Todos!!!!

Cooper 10 months!!!

2010-11-17T16:56:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how fast 10 months have gone, time has just blown like the wind. Cooper is such a good baby, and a happy one at that. He brings such joy to our home with his sweet smiles. He is my fat bundle of joy. He is very content watching his brothers play, or listening to a conversation, and of course loves his food. He wants nothing to do with crawling and wants to walk straight away.

Check out the rolls on the back of the legs! Poor lil guy, Roxy wants to bite his diaper.

Sweet little face, we love you Coop.

Cardboard houses!

2010-11-12T16:42:00.000-08:00

What to do with those giant refrigerater boxes? Well we made houses each with their own style. The boys loved playing in them, and they are still usable to this day. Now with the puppy they think it is fun to hide in them with her. Fun days, free days!

Finally I caught the boys singing, they never want to perform for the camera. Sorry folks it is spanish, they play mostly in spanish together. Poor boys when we ever get back to the states, it is ESL for them.

Doggie!!!!

2010-11-09T07:36:00.000-08:00

This is Roxy the newest member of our family! She arrived this morning and I am still not to sure about the whole thing. I am not really a dog person, but my boys have been asking for one for the longest time. So a friend of ours had puppies and low and behold we now have Roxy. I have to say she is really cute, but I have no idea what I am doing, and she cries all the time.
Chris has been traveling a lot lately, and is home just for today, so we decided to keep the kids home today and play with the new puppy. Bummer though Brock woke up sick so has not been able to enjoy the new puppy. Z on the other hand is in love. He keeps hugging me and telling me how much he loves Roxy. So I guess it is all worth it right?

The happiest boy in the world right now!!! The kid has not left the yard yet, and she has only been here for a few hours.

Big Event!

2010-11-05T18:36:00.000-07:00

This last Sunday Chris had a huge event that he put on for the founder of Gano Excel and his boss. It was amazing what Chris put together for this three day conference. We literally did not see him for the entire month before hand while he was trying to put together the last touches. On Sunday night they had a huge event with over 6 thousand people, and sadly had turn away a couple thousand due to space. The kids and I went and sat front and center which they thought was so fun, but got quite tired of everyone wanting to take their picture. This picture is of the boys in the VIP room backstage being as patient as they can, thank heavens for my little friend DS, nintendo. They do not get to play it very often so they had the time of their lives. Chris worked so hard, and everything went wonderfully. Way to go Chris!!!

The boys!

Just loved this pic of my gordo, he is such a happy guy, and was so good the whole night.

Halloween!

2010-11-02T17:40:00.000-07:00

Happy Halloween, well not like in the states, but we had a great time. There was no trick o treating for us, but we did have quite the bash. Pics below!! This is Cooper's friend Benjamin at his birthday party.

Ok, so I was toying around with having some kids over to decorate halloween cookies, ya know something small, and this is what we ended up with. Yep my boys convinced me to throw a full blown fiesta complete with bounce house. We did decorate halloween cookies, but added the bounce house, good food, and good friends. What a fun day, and my kids were on top of the world. This is the view from the balcony of my room!!

Is he not the cutest giraffe you have ever seen? I think so but I am his mom. Poor guy I could not zip it all the way to the top because of his triple chin,

Batman's to the rescue. This is Z and Luke as super heroes. Z is the black batman.

The kiddos decorating cookies, which lasted all of about 5 minutes and then they were off to the bounce house. Can you believe it kids passing up treats to play!

Random!

2010-10-30T20:05:00.000-07:00

Crazy hat day at Zander's school, and a mom with no ideas, so this is what you get. It was one of a kind that was for sure. I used a pair of Cooper's old pants and a little paint and you have a crazy hat. Everyone thought it was pretty crazy so A for us!!!

Just thought I would share a cute picture of chubbers, he is such a good baby we all love him dearly.

Paracas!

2010-10-25T16:54:00.000-07:00

In September Peru had elections which meant that church was cancelled so we took a quick weekend trip to Paracas, about 4 hours outside of Lima. We stayed in a beautiful resort, and since it was election weekend had the enitre hotel to ourselves. We swam, played wii, and Brock and Chris went on this catamaran. It was a fantastic weekend.

When we got to our room I found this baby robe and slippers laying on our bed, so cute right! I just had to get a picture of my "gordo." He is only my 27lb. bundle of joy.

See this Island, yes folks those are birds. This is Islas Ballestas, this island is full of sea lons, penguins, and more birds then you have ever seen in your whole life. They actually send a team out to collect the poop and sell it. Fun job!

Penguins!

If you have done any reading about Peru you know that it is full of history and lots of unknown mysteries. This candle stick is on the side of this island and there are many contradicting theories as to when and who made it. So many things to see and do here, you really need to come visit.

My crew, love the smile on Cooper.

The sweet that we stayed in was right in front of the pool, so I could sit and relax while the boys played and Cooper slept in the room. What a perfet day!

Cooper loves the water just like his brother Z.

At the pool they had these fun giant balls you can play in the water. The boys were not to sure about it at first, but it did not take long for the fun to begin.

The cutest slippers in the world.

My little model. I swear Brock is a natural, he loves to have his picture taken. This is him in our room.

Diamonds for Puno

2010-10-24T15:03:00.000-07:00

Here is a video explaining the campaign "Diamonds for Puno."

Puno!

2010-10-23T07:35:00.000-07:00

The last weekend in August we went to Puno with Chris for work. Every year Chris organizes through his company a big project called "Diamonds for Puno" to collect clothes, food, medicine etc. to donate to a small village in Puno. For those that don't know where Puno is, it is on the border of Bolivia and it is very cold and there are many small towns that the people don't have very good living conditions. Children die every year from the cold, and all suffer from not having warm enough clothing. So they organize this project to help improve the lives of these people.

We decided this year to take the boys with us, to give them an opportunity to do service and to see that not everyone is as blessed as they are. It was a wonderful experience for all of us and I was so glad to see how giving my boys are. In fact I had to keep an eye on Z or he would have given away everything in my bag. I had put some snacks for them in my bag and he decided to give them all to the little kids, he had such a huge following that Chris had to go to the local store and he bought every cookie/treat they had in the store. The store was tiny so with $10 he was able to clean the store out. It was a touching experience to see my boys with kids and adults that don't have shoes, jackets, food and are suffering. I had the boys each pick a toy of their own to bring with them to give to a kid that they choose, and they did so with joy. Zander had the opportunity to give his favorite shoes away to a little boy his age that did not have any, his face just glowed. I look forward to next year for sure!

It was a quick trip, but we were able to go to Lake Titicaca to see the floating islands and what an amazing experience. Here is Cooper while we were on the boat out to the islands.

Here is the line of people waiting for us to arrive and recieve their packets. Many of these people had to walk for hours to get to the main center of the village early Saturday morning. It broke my heart to see some grandma's being wheeled in wheelbarrows because they could not walk. It really makes you realize how blessed we are to have the things we have.

Lake Titicaca and one of the floating islands we stopped at, see the fish in the air. When we stopped to get off the boat Zander ran and climbed all the way up to the top of this fish. The funny part is that he could not get down so Chris had to climb up and help him down. The people build these structures, their islands and boats out of a type of weed called tortora, they are incredible to see.

Chris and I in front of one of the houses on one of the islands we stopped to see.

This is how these kids get to school everyday. I was told that it takes about 1-2 hours to row this boat for them to get to school everyday.

Trying to stay warm on the boat! This is Iris with me, my lifesaver. She lives with us 5 days a week and helps me with the kids and the house. We love her dearly!

Cooper 6 months!

2010-10-19T17:03:00.000-07:00

My friend Giovanna in Puerto Rico, good times. Oh how we miss PR!

PR Continues!

2010-10-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

We have some very good friends Giovanna and her family that we love to go see whenever we are in town, hopefully someday in-laws!!! Brock and Sara are in love, and Brock tells me all the time he is going to marry her. They have 2 daughters the same age as Brock and Z, so the odds are good right?

K.C is one of my favorite Young Women. She was in the YW's program when I was president in PR. My boys just loved her, and she was such a great help to me.

Mommy and Brock!

Sara and Brock playing in their pool in PR. They are so cute together, it is so fun to see how they really remember each other after all this time.

Puerto Rico!

2010-10-18T08:31:00.000-07:00

The end of July we went to our old stomping grounds, Puerto Rico, with my sister-in-law and her two kids. It was so fun for our kids to be together, a little bit crazy with 2 adults and 5 kids but so much fun. I miss PR and all its beauty, and our friends as well. We had such a wonderful 3 yrs there that it is fun to be able to go back when we can. We had plenty of beach time, parks, museums and of course shopping!

El moro, we went to fly kites and go to the children's museum. What a fun day, until the boys kite's flew away with the wind.

The kids first time ice skating, poor Em had to take all 4 kiddos so I could stay with Cooper. They loved every second, and beg to go again.

Dia de Patrias!

2010-10-15T07:53:00.000-07:00

I have so many pictures like this of these two guys, I am so grateful that Z loves his brother so much. This pic was taken during Zander's fiesta de patrias, kind of like the 4th of July in the states, but they celebrate all month. Every year Zander's school does a show where the kids perform, and this year Zander played the cajon and danced the marinera. It was adorable!

Zander with his cajon and his costume.

All the boys in his class playing their cajon's on stage.

El Pueblo!

2010-10-13T17:34:00.000-07:00

So cute right! For Easter weekend we went back to the resort El Pueblo that I posted a few days ago. Chris had not been so we took advantage and had some family time. We had a great weekend, and again the kids did not want to leave.

There is a huge water slide that Brock was too scared to go down, but Z on the other hand begged to go down a billion times with dad. He is my dare devil for sure.

Gordo, some fatness too bad it is only cute when your little right? Cooper is about 2 1/2 months in this picture.

Having some laughs with dad!

Cooper's first pool experience, he did not know what to think. He now is my little fish like Zander.

Easter!

2010-10-12T19:02:00.000-07:00

This was the madness that was my house when I decided to have Zander's class over to dye eggs and have an easter egg hunt. Dying eggs is not a tradition here so they all thought it was pretty cool. Funny story though: so the morning of I had the girl that helps in my home boil 40 eggs so that they would have time to cool, and when I came home I found 40 eggs boiled alright, but also peeled! I was so mad, poor girl was trying to be proactive and help. So I asked her how I was supposed to die the eggs with no shell??? So yes she had to go buy more eggs to boil, and to help me think of something to do with 40 hardboiled, peeled eggs!!!

Our try at an easter egg hunt!

I made an attempt to make bunny cupcakes, but man was it hard to find the right ingredients to make the faces here, but they tasted good. The mom's all think I am some sort of Martha Stewart, but only because they do not cook so it works in my favor!

On a Roll!

2010-10-11T18:13:00.000-07:00

Random pic, Zander is just changing so much so fast. I just love his face. And the ladies love the hair.

This is how Z is everyday with his "baby." This was when Cooper was not even 2 months old. I often have to tell him to leave poor Coop alone, he is just so full of love.

First day of school in March, he just loves his preschool and has a great teacher.

When Grandpa Higbee came to town we went to this really fun resort called El Pueblo. They have everything a kid could want, pools, horses, bowling, shows, and more. We had a great time and the boys of course did not want to go home.

Just look at Z's face. This is how he is folks, good luck at getting a real picture of him. Brock on the other hand is my model boy, he will strut his stuff fo the camera!

Cooper 2 months!!!

2010-10-10T14:32:00.000-07:00

One of my friends gave me this outfit and I just loved it! Cooper just looks like such a bruiser with those arms, they grow way too fast. He is about 2 months here.

Knock em dead smile just like his brothers, watch out ladies!

Big ole blues, he gets lots of attention here in Peru that is for sure. It is so funny though, everyone asks me why he does not have any hair, since latin babies usually have a full head. They often think there is something wrong with him, or that I had his head shaved.

March 2010

2010-10-09T18:22:00.000-07:00

My dad came out in March to see the new guy Cooper, and we went to this restaurant on a cliff where there is this guy who jumps off the cliff everyday to reinact a sad story of a priest who did this back in the day and died, I will spare you the whole story. It is a crazy thing to watch as you eat lunch, the cliff is crazy high and the water is really cold and then he climbs back up the rocks that you can see in the pic and does this a couple times a day.

Brock started big boy school in March, the school year here starts in March, and was so excited as you can see! He is going to a british school her in Lima and loves it. It is a long day, but a great school. I really wanted to take him and pick him up from school everyday, but his school is about 30 min. away and with Zander in preschool, and Cooper only 7 weeks old it was crazy. So we ended up putting him in a transportation service through the school and thankfully he loves it. He leaves at about 7:20 and does not get home until 4, so really long day for a 5yr. old, but he is happy to go each and everyday.

Super animated! Not only will he be brushing up on his english but he will learn french as well. How lucky to leave school knowing 3 languages!

Grandpa and Brock walking to school, bad traffic on the first day. Poor grandpa was a trouper driving with me everday 1 hr. to school and another hour in the afternoon. Good times, good chats!

A little more!

2010-10-07T07:28:00.000-07:00

Too tired to even open presents!

Last post for birthday's promise, the boys picked these ones themselves. Such opinions at such a young age I must say!

Birthdays!

2010-10-06T07:02:00.000-07:00

Ok so bear with me as I try and catch up on the last 8 months of no blogging, I will make it quick. The boys insist that I post their "ultimate" birthday bash, so here is a quick overview. Just to let you know a time frame we are now in February of this year!

We decided this year to combine the boys bday party becuase we were going to attempt to throw a "peruvian" style party. Which includes, inflables, food, show, cake, servers, etc. We thought about it long and hard, but things are so inexpensive here we decided to go for it since we could never afford to do anything like this in the states. We had it a hacienda that was beautiful and had horses for the kids to ride and all sorts of animals as well. We had three inflables, inflatables, two trampolines, hot dog and hamburger stand, cotton candy stand, a show with Diego, and Power Rangers, and the list goes on. Way over the top, but the boys had a birthday they will never forget.

Zander got tired of waiting to ride the horses, so he went and got one of the workers to get one out for him to ride. He is a do-it yourself kind of guy!

Brock on the water inflable, it was so hot that it was nice to have some way to cool off!

The kiddy candy table equiped with all the peruvian favorites!

A look at the grounds, it was hard to get a good picture of the whole thing!

More Cooper!

2010-10-05T07:15:00.000-07:00

I have to say I was a little worried about how the boys would do with a new lil guy around, but those worries were for nothing. Brock and Z are awesome big brothers, in fact Z can't keep his hands off of him, even to this day. He loves his little brother more than words can say. He tells me all the time how much he loves "his baby," and is very protective of him. I could not have planned it any better.

A few weeks after Cooper was born my mother-in-law came out to help, and get to know this new guy. It was wonderful to have her here and the boys loved having Grandma around. Zander got her up bright and early every morning to remind her, and Brock loved cuddling with her in her bed reading stories. That is the only hard part about living out of the country, no family close by!

I have never seen a big brother quite like Zander, he is so good with Cooper and showers him with kisses every day. Brock truly is a big brother and helps me all the time. He loves knowing that he is the oldest of three brothers, and loves his little baby too.

He has Arrived

2010-10-04T08:27:00.000-07:00

........well to my blog anyways! Eight months late can you believe it? Cooper Alejandro Tidwell was born January 15, 2010, at clinica Montesur Lima Peru. He weighed 3.760kgs., 8.3 lbs. and was 51 cm. long. He made quite an entrance to say the least, and we are so glad he is a part of our family. Not to bore you all with the bloody details, both of us are lucky to be here today. Which is why it has taken so very long for me to post. It has been a crazy eight months. I had a emergency c-section, without an epidural, very fun but don't recomend it. Cooper was purple and scored a 1 on the apgar scale, so not off to a good start. But long story short we are all healthy and happy now, it was very scary but we had wonderful doctors and a great hospital. Cooper is such a joy and please keep checking in the blogathon starts today!!!!!

Sad but I do not have any pictures of when he was just born because he was rushed to the ICU and I was not in good condition, so here some day after shots.

The new crew, the boys are so excited for their new brother!

The smallest Tidwell, but two weeks early!

Dia De Abuelitos 2

2010-09-30T18:42:00.000-07:00

It is about time right! Long time no post, like 8 months too long. I am now in the process of organizing the last eight months of craziness that has been our life to post and catch up. So be patient and please check back in, Cooper will be making his big apperance!!!

Yesterday was grandparents day at Z's school and so I thought I would share this with his abuelitos first. Sorry my camera stopped working right when it started to get good, oh well. We love you all, and he was so sad that he had no appearances from his grandparents. Such is the life of living abroad right?

Ward Christmas Party!

2010-01-04T17:54:00.000-08:00

Our family at our ward Christmas party, and yes Santa is you know who. Brock is such a smart little cookie that he relised it was his dad by the ring on his finger. What four year old notices such a thing?

That is one tall Santa, don't ask me how he got roped into doing this for the second year in a row.

Zander getting ready for the primary program part of the party, what a cute little burro!

Of course I can't forget my king. Brock picked this costume right off, he loved being the rey for the program.

Graduation!

2010-01-04T17:33:00.000-08:00

The 15 of December Brock graduated from preschool and is now moving on to his big boy school, collegio, in March. The Nido, preschool, that they both go to had a real graduation with cap and gown and the whole nine yards. It was very cute and I have to admitt made me a little emotional that Brock is not my baby anymore.

Brock and his teacher Miss Lilliana. He actually had her for two years straight so it was sad to say goodbye, but then again Z is still there so I will still see all our favorite people for some time to come.

Brock walking the line, he is so handsome!

Holiday Season!

2010-01-04T16:43:00.000-08:00

It has turned into a yearly tradition here that I bake a ton of sweets to give as gifts to all our friends here in Peru. It is not a common thing here to have someone make baked goods so the people here think it is amazing. I made lemon bars, no bake cookies, rice krispy treats, magic cookie bars, zucchini bread, and mint chocolate brownies. The best part of it all is that I bake and someone else cleans up the mess, yahooo!
Loved this picture of Zander after a birthday party a couple weeks ago. He thinks it is so fun to get his face painted.
One thing that I really love about living here is the fact that I can take my boys to the theatre for next to nothing, less then the movies in the states. They have about a dozen of different theatres in our area that always have some childrens production going all throughout the year. We went and saw one of the boys favorites, Chimoc the Navidad version. Here is Z shaking hands with one of the characters after the show.
My lil men after thier holiday show at school. We are so proud of them and all they have accomplished this year.
Zander's class had a Christmas party at one of his classmates house, and even Santa came. I have never lived anywhere where they love Santa as much as they do here. We went to over a dozen activities where Santa was there. He even roamed the isles of our local grocery store everyday. Man that Santa is amazing! Here is Z with some buds from class, Santi and Christina.

2009-12-29T01:01:00.000-08:00

You want to know why we love living here? ... there is nothing quite like a good latina "Nochebuena" and yes that is from the roof on our house. Dont worry I still have all 9 fingers!