Hirschi family

Kids say the dardest things

2012-01-23T13:04:00.000-08:00

Me: "I hate taxes"
Fenton: "me too".
oh really!!

Fenton: "ok the deal is off"
ok, what deal and who are you to say it is off?

Fenton had a hard time waking up. He did not eat his lunch before his nap, so when he woke up he asked for a cookie. I said no and that lead into 45 minutes of him crying. He then came up and asked for a graham cracker. I gave him 4. He finished those and wanted more. I gave him 2 more and he said no I don't want 2. So I said "do you want zero?" and he said yes. I laughed and took away his graham crackers. He looked at me then said "I wanted zero" and was all mad so being the nice mom that I am I gave him back the 2 graham crackers and he kept saying "no, I wanted zero, this isn't zero i wanted zero" so I took them from him again and he continued to cry waiting for me to give him zero. Fenton does not quite understand that zero is bad and that he should never want zero. I laughed while he was crying to me to give him zero.

Krispy Kreme

2012-01-17T14:40:00.000-08:00

We are still indulging in some of America's finest. We hadn't had a good doughnut in a while so we went for the very best. The kids loved it and David downed a good 1/2 dozen. We also had 2 maple bars within the first week of being back in America. Our waistlines are paying for it but they were quite delightful

Motorcycle

2012-01-16T09:31:00.000-08:00

We got a motorcycle handed down from my sweet sister and the kids have loved riding up and down the driveway on it. Even Carter got in on the action and he loved it. His little chin was shivering while riding in the wind.

More Christmas Pics

2012-01-15T20:03:00.000-08:00

Carter got a new toy but he left it and played with his bottle.

David got a new ski helmet, dry erase markers and 2 A&W mugs. Not hard to make this man happy.

I got a skill saw. I have so many ideas for this. Let the building begin.

Christmas 2011

2012-01-13T07:19:00.001-08:00

Christmas was amazing. It was wonderful to be in America and in our own little house (though it is my parents it feels like our place). All the kids wanted was flashlights and a ball. Here are a few pics of Christmas.

David was in charge of making sweet potatoes. They were delicious and he was very proud.

I made Eliza and Fenton a little desk out of an extra crib. I painted the desk part with chalk paint. I decorated the sides and put up large oil pan catchers on the side so they can magnet up all of their art. They loved that they had their own little space to put their stuff. Orginally I made for Eliza to have a place to color but she loves to have a place of her own.
Also Christmas Eve turned out to be a bit more exciting than anticipated. That night our cousins came over and played and one of them stepped on Fenton's toe. He said it really hurt. We just kissed it better thinking nothing of it. As the evening went on Fenton was limping and hopping. His toe must be really hurting him. I looked at it and it looked red but not broken. I gave him Tylenol and put him to bed but he just cried and cried. By 1:00 AM I gave him more medicine but he was barely sleeping. By 4:00 I knew something was wrong so I took him to the ER. He got his toe X-rayed but it wasn't broken. They perscribed some tylenol with codeine and anitbiotics. That helped him sleep. The next day the toe looked super bad, all swollen purple, red and white. There was an infection already. We popped it and it helped with the pressure but poor kid was in some major pain. After about a week the toenail and the top half of his toenail skin came off. That made for a long Christmas eve for me.
We visited Temple square and it was beautiful. The kids were cold but I asked Eliza after we got back in the warm car if she liked and she said she thought it was amazing.

The desk before Christmas

Our Christmas Eve with a fire stockings hung and christmas cookies and milk. Merry Christmas to all. It is such a joyous time to be with family and remember the beginning of our Savior.

Eliza is 5

2011-12-27T10:56:00.001-08:00

We had a frantic week to get back to Idaho, but we did and had a great little birthday party for Eliza. We had 4 of her cousins, two of her friends from Twin Falls, and the grandparents all came. We played pass the parsel and a cupcake walk. It was a great party.
Eliza is such a special girl. She is so innocent and sweet. She loves beautiful things. She loves to color and can color all day. She loves Barbie movies, dressing up, and playing with her friends. She has such a tender heart and truly wants to be a good girl. She is quite the thinker. She is reading a little and she asks great questions and is always trying to figure things out. She is truly a special little girl and is my favorite Christmas present.

Coming to America

2011-12-27T09:47:00.000-08:00

David finished off his semester with a bang. He did great and we don't have to go back to Grenada. We packed up the last few days but were mostly concerned about selling our car. We have been praying and fasting that we could sell the car before we left but that didn't happen. We were given a name of a Grenadian that sells cars for you. He is a middle man so we thought we would try, but the problem is that we needed to replace the windshield but it wasn't scheduled until 4 days after we left. We left our car with some good friends and they were kind enough to help us out. We gave Sean, the Grenadian, the money for our windshield and he took $200 EC and we haven't heard from him. He totally hosed us. The windshield is fixed but the mechanic is $200 short and won't give up the car. We are so frustrated because we were trying to do nice things for others and be kind but we got hosed, this is not the 1st time either,,, just wait. The day before we left Sean called and said that the power was turned off at their home and he needed $200 EC to turn it back on. We told him we couldn't help because we were leaving the next day and we had already changed all of our money into US dollars. Now that we find out that we are $200 short at the mechanics and Sean is no where to be found we know that he took the money we gave him. Super duper frustrating.
So that is the car, we are still trying to sell it and are in the process of getting it from the mechanics.
Leaving Grenada I wish was a smooth transition but knowing us and our luck with travel it was another nightmare.
Originally we were to leave Grenada at 6:25 AM to Barbados at 7:25 then to Dallas by 10:30. This was plenty of time in Barbados to go through customs and immigration and check back on to catch our AA flight to Dallas,,, but this was not to be.
We got to the airport at 4:10 AM with 3 children and lots of luggage and LIAT airline ticket workers didn't even show up until 5:15 and they told us that our flight was delayed an hour and a half. K, that was bad but that still gave us enough time to catch our next flight. That 1 1/2 hours turned into 4 1/2 hours and we missed our connection out of Barbados to Dallas. The plane was in Trinidad and didn't even arrive until 11:15.... so now we are in trouble. We will be stuck in Barbados if we don't do anything. I talked to the LIAT ticket people and they said they take no responsibilities of flight missed from other airlines. They could not do anything for us.
David and I wanted to make sure that we did all we could to make sure we got back to the states, anywhere in the states so we started to call AA to get on a flight to Miami that was leaving at 4:00. They reserved our seats and confirmed, told us that it would be an additional $1300 dollars for the change. We didn't care at that point because we wanted to get off of the island and it didn't seem that we had a choice, so we booked it.
We finally got to Barbados and went up to the ticket desk and the lady told us that we shouldn't have called. LIAT took care of all of the passengers that missed the flight and payed for the transfer fee for them and booked them on their continuing flights. We couldn't cancel ours or we wouldn't have any seats on the flight. So that phone call cost us $1300. We were so ticked. We talked and talked to them. There wasn't anything that they could do for us and the customer relations people would have to work it out when we got home. At this point we were so ticked off and really had no faith that they would do anything for us. We were just trying to do the right thing and take care of our family. With the information that they gave us calling the reserving us seats seemed to be the best thing for our family, but again we got HOSED big time and it still makes me fume.
The rest of the flights went fine. We had to do customs and immigration in Miami also, but that was pretty smooth although there were tons of people. We got to Dallas at midnight and Michelle, David's sister picked us up and we had a great night at her house and fun morning with her kids. IT was such a blessing to have a warm welcome after being hosed and having a frustrating day. The kids were so great. They were tired from waking up so early and were disappointed when the flight was so late, but they were great on the plane and through all of the customs and immigration. They slept most of the flights. They were great.
We made our SLC flight and we were almost home.
We are glad to be back to the land of the free home of the brave. Grenada was a great experience and are so grateful that David was successful but we love America and it is a truly a blessed country.

Kid's recital

2011-12-07T07:00:00.000-08:00

The kid's school had a recital and they had been practicing all month. I was so proud of them. They sang and did all of the acts they were taught. They didn't cry or anything.

Thanksgiving

2011-12-07T06:53:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is just another Thursday for all of the students. We don't get a day off and the students continue to study. We had pizza on the Thanksgiving Thursday but on Friday we got together with the other families in our apartment and had Thanksgiving dinner. It was delicious. We had chicken cord en bleu, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, jello, and pies. It was nice to be with friends and have David relax for an evening and eat some delicious food.I am thankful for so many things... the USA, my wonderful children, my husband, that he is in med school, my family, water that is consistent, and hot water.

I am especially grateful for my Savior Jesus Christ. I am grateful for the plan of salvation and prayer.

I am glad there is a day to focus on how lucky we are, I have truly already won the lottery.

La Sagesse

2011-12-07T06:47:00.000-08:00

We went to a new beach this week. It is up the island a bit. The beach goes into the ocean for a long time, meaning you can walk with ankle deep water for about 20-30 yards. It was fun for the kids to play in. It is always fun to explore new parts of the island.

Carter dancing

2011-11-14T05:58:00.000-08:00

Carter has just recently started to dance.

He is 9 months old and such a cutie, he is such a content baby , he loves his brother and sister, his top teeth have just broken through, and he has beautiful blue eyes.

Some pics

2011-11-03T17:32:00.000-07:00

At the school's parade

Friday night they have a steel drum band come to a little restaurent on the bay and we went and danced. The kids had a great time.

sipping from a coconut type thing.

Halloween

2011-11-03T17:22:00.001-07:00

We had a great halloween. My mind has been going for a month of how I am going to make halloween costumes here with limited resources and funds. Well I think it turned out great. Eliza was Rapunzel and I made her hair, it wasn't perfect but it worked for about 3 hours during halloween. I made here shirt out of an old Laker's t-shirt, in side out, cut, hand sewn for a few ruffles then criss crossed,,,not too bad. Then Fenton wanted to be an airplane so I started putting that together in my mind. It turned out great and he loved it. That is worth it all for him to love his costume. Incidentally he won the most creative costume at our little party.
For halloween the SO put on a party on campus and about 12 departments decorate and hand out candy to the kids, so the children go all over campus and trick or treat. It is quite unique and fun. Then they come back to the party and have a bouncy house, face painting, cake walk, bowling ect and lots of fun festive treats. It was great halloween and I am glad that my parents could be there with us, it made it a little more special.
Carter was a little tiger, sorry no pics, he fell asleep in the little backpack I had on. I had a sign on my backpack that said "USA or bust" :)

Best surprise

2011-11-03T17:02:00.001-07:00

Before I came down to Grenada my parents said they were going to come visit. I was super excited about it and started looking into tickets and such. In September I told them I had found really good prices and they needed to look into it. As they researched it out they found that it was still going to be out of their budget so my mom told me at the end of September that they were not going to be able to come visit. I was bummed but I understood. It is alot of money to come down here, and I was going to see them in December anyway.
About a week ago my dad called up and said he had a meeting and met some USU guy that wanted to come down to Grenada and check out the university. I thought it was a long shot but dad has met crazy people so who am I to say. Dad told me that this guys dad was a pilot and had flight benefits and that is why he could come. Anyway my dad asked if I wanted anything sent down and of course I had a few items that I would love from the states. Then I told him that I would pick this guy up and show him around. For one brief moment I thought that this would be cool if was really my parents but I truly thought that they had decided against it, plus my nephew, the first grandchild on a mission comes home in 9 days, no way my parents would miss that so I totally displaced it from my mind.
so the night that I was to pick up this guy from USU came and I went to the airport and out comes walking my mom and my dad. I went running over to them just screaming and jumping up and down. I couldn't believe it. They were here!!!! they had flown all that way and they were right here in the middle of the Caribbean with me. It was awesome. My mind was flying... what would the kids say, what would David say... I have to entertain them and how many fun things are we going to do. It was the best surprise!!!!
The kids woke up and saw grandpa and they just looked at him like "I know you, why are you here, you aren't supposed to be here." but they loved it. They had so much fun with grandma and grandpa. They picked a great week. The kids had a little parade at school that we went to and the primary had their program on Sunday which Eliza was in and I helped with and then Monday was Halloween and their Halloween here is a bit different but fun. So we had a memorable week together. We went to the beach, pool, waterfalls, market downtown, beach, pool, and played tennis. Now they are off to see their grandkid come home from his mission in Portland.
Thanks for coming and being with our little family in our little apartment on our little island!!!!

Of course dad had to fit some Charity Anywhere in so we visited the disabled home on the island and left some hygeine kits with the maternity ward at the hospital... DO GOOD AND BE GOOD!!!

Dad drinking a sweet melon. similar to a coconut

Neighbors

2011-10-22T11:10:00.001-07:00

We live at an apartment complex called the Flats and we have great neighbors. We had 5 families living here with 11 children. It was so fun for the kids to run from one house to the next. Eliza loved playing with her friends. At 6:30 in the morning (yes the kids get up at 5:30) she would want to play with her friends. Every night after dinner the kids were let free in the parking lot and they played until it got dark. It was a great way for them to get their energy out. The women would come out on the steps and watch the kids, talk, and kiss all of the scratches of the children better. It is a great little neighborhood we have going. One of the families had to leave last Saturday and she had 3 children. We miss their presence and it just isn't the same without them.
The last night they were here we had a bon fire and the kids loved it. Marshmallows, friends, fire, it doesn't get much better than that.

Cayden, Addie, Eliza, Fenton, Cody, and Allie
playing at the neighbors house.

some stories

2011-10-21T03:14:00.000-07:00

The kids one day were talking about when they saw a porcupine. I asked them what they thought of the porcupine and they both said that it had pokies, then Fenton said "Giraffes don't have pokies" Why he went straight from porcupine to giraffe I will never know.

We live on the second floor of our apartment complex and 3 days ago Carter climbed up all of the stairs. He is everywhere.

I hate ants. There are significantly less here than our last place, but I still hate them. I follow them and watch them to their hideout and then I spray them and kill them all. I know this sounds normal but I feel like I am stalking them or obsessed with them. Well I found them in the bathroom. I was drying myself off and I felt little bites and I had 2 or 3 ants on my back. I looked on my towel and they were all over. I looked at the other towels and they were all over them. I was so mad. I took them to the washing machine thinking that would kill them... nope. So I had David spray all of the towels with bug spray and wash them again. After that I went through the towels individually inch by inch to get out the dead ants. I was so "bugged" that they had attached the towels so I went and found their home and sprayed them. I haven't seen them since. I have found a few trails throughout the house and I use my bug spray like mace now. I HATE ants.

shower

2011-10-04T15:56:00.000-07:00

In the shower today, the water went out and Fenton said "the water isn't working mom. The batteries are broken, we need a new house".

Annandale Falls

2011-10-01T13:18:00.000-07:00

Before General Conference on Saturday, the kids and I went up to Annandale falls and had a great time cooling off, swimming, and jumping off the little cliffs. It was fun to see the kids jump off a little cliff and then swim around the waterfalls. It was an awesome view and fun to be up there with my family and friends.

On the way up, we got a little lost but found these fun monkeys that we fed bananas. It was a fun detour.

Pearls Airport

2011-10-01T13:11:00.000-07:00

On the North side of the island is an old airport and some broken planes. We went up there and looked around.

Mt. Carmel rock slide

2011-10-01T12:59:00.000-07:00

David and Fenton going down the waterfall slide.

After David's test we went to visit Mt. Carmel falls and went down the rock slide. The kids did great. They loved it and was minimally scared.

Our Everyday

2011-10-01T12:50:00.000-07:00

This is my dryer.
at the beach

Lance Aux Epines beach. It is about 400 yards away from our house.

my kids

2011-09-07T12:00:00.000-07:00

Fenton with David's shin guards on

Carter riding big in the shopping cart

MacGuyver

2011-09-07T11:49:00.001-07:00

I have realized that I search for solutions, thus MacGuyver has been my hero my whole life. My companions can attest to this fact and since I have been in Grenada it has brought out the MacGuyver in me.
For the last 2 years David and I have watched TV/movies through our computer. Generally we have it on our laps, which makes it warm, or we have it sitting between us which makes our already small bed even smaller. So after a few days of processing and calculating I decided that I would make David a computer bed table for his birthday. College football started last week and I knew that this would only increase the frequency of watching the computer in bed, often times until 1 or 2 AM. So I went and bought a hand saw and some nails and started tearing apart a pallet.
It took a couple of hours and some adjusting but it now works. It isn't pretty but it will work for us for 4 months.
It has 2 legs that slide underneath the bed then the table is about 2 inches over us in the bed.

Also, I know that David loves to study with a big white board and he wanted to buy one in the states and bring it down but that couldn't work so I started thinking that there has to be some way to have paper or material that is sticky and is white board material (self adhesive white board sheets) so we purchased 24 of them and I bought some plywood, cut it with my pocket knife and made him a large white board and made a border with duct tape. It isn't pretty or perfect but it will work for 4 months.

Fenton is 3

2011-09-04T17:24:00.000-07:00

Fenton turned 3 and all he wanted was a cars cake so I put as much creativity as I could using what resources I had here. He loved it. We had a cars cake, he got lots of cars, cars shirt, cars puzzle and books. He loved it all.

I can't believe he is 3. He keeps up with his sister and often times passes her. He is so coordinated and fast. He loves sports and anything just for boys. He also has a soft side. During the day he will say "mom" and I will say "what" and he will say "I love you". This is a frequent thing that occurs. He has been my 501 child one that needs extra energy to love and teach. I love him so much and am grateful that he came to our family and has the energy that he has. He is a special little boy.

check out his party on youtube

www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6IJ4wO9QBE

why?

2011-08-26T11:48:00.000-07:00

Why is it when you give kids the exact same thing, same amount and everything on different colored plates or cups they have to have a certain color. If you hand them a green one they want the pink one. THEY ARE THE SAME. This eventually leads into siblings fighting. What is the psychiatric reasoning for this phenomenon?

stories

2011-08-24T07:41:00.000-07:00

I was in the lumber store on Wednesday and I found the piece of wood that I needed for a project so I asked how much it was and they said they didn't know the price and they wouldn't know until Friday. That is very typical.

I went to get a phone charger at the cell phone store and they said they don't carry chargers, I have to go downtown to get that....very typical

I went to inquire about a deposit that I never got back and the clerk said that the person in charge of that was on vacation and I asked when she would be coming back she said September.........

Lately our battery has been sounding weak and yesterday it officially died so we asked our neighbors for a jump, ironically their car battery was dead too. So a friend came over and jumped us (which their battery had died and another families car battery was dead all within 3 days of each other... weird) so while the car was running I wanted to take care of it and went and bought at new battery. This was at 8:30 in the morning. it only took about 30 minutes to change it and it went quite smooth. I took the kids over to the park and as we get out of the car the car starts to hiss. I didn't know what was happening to I took all the kids away from the car and then the tire blew. It was intense but I couldn't believe it. So while my friends watched the kids I ran back and forth to the tire shop to change the tire. It took about an hour. So with in 3 hours I replaced the battery and tire. Things seem to happen in 3's so I am waiting for #3 to happen now.

back on the island

2011-08-23T06:18:00.001-07:00

We are back on the island (Grenada) together as a family. I feel like I haven't missed a beat. We are in a different apartment which I like much better. We live right above our friends with 2 kids and a new family moved in and they have 3 kids so it has been great to have babysitters and friends for the kids. The apartment has AC in all of the rooms, fewer ants and nearly no mosquitoes. It even has hot water, if you can believe it.
We have already enjoyed the island life by frequenting the beach and pool. The kids have started their school and they love it. David is studying like usual but everyone here has said how sad David was without me and kids and it is nice to have the old David back. So until December we are living the island life.

Thanks Blake for this awesome stroller/backpack. Carter loves it.

During a rain storm

Hirschi Family reunion

2011-08-15T07:43:00.000-07:00

David was a co-organizer of the Hirschi family reunion and it went great. We went to a place about an hour south of Moab UT. It was in the mountains so the weather was great. We had activities planned everyday and we think that everyone had a great time.

We were in charge of buying and bringing all of the food and we loaded the van to the top. I was so proud of our packing skills. We brought all of our stuff, including our trip to Colorado stuff, 3 folding tables, a large pile of fire wood, and all of the food for 40 in this van. This pic is to show how loaded down we were. The van ran like a champ.

One of the activities was to play croquet, badminton, ring toss, and other games.

I made 2 fungulators (water balloon sling shot) and we had a war with each other. We shot over 500 balloons and had a great time. David was the target and got hit dead on more than once.

Our day at Moab and Carter's little front carrier.

Fenton and David climbed the double arch and Fenton was a great little climber. Sadly I was on car/children nap duty. There were about 4 kids asleep in the car so I sacrificed and stayed with them. I also had been there before so I wanted others to experience it.

At the double arch again, you can barely see Fenton right under David with his arms up. What a cutie.

The whole group that hiked to the look out for delicate arch. You can see it in the background on the left of us. Eliza had a small breakdown up there when I tried to cool her off by throwing water on her. I had to carry her and Carter all the way down. She finally fell asleep.

Carter just chillin'.

The sad part was that David, Eliza, and I got sick and slowly but surely each day about 2 or 3 more people got sick. It was a nasty stomach bug that lasted about 24 hours and it went through the family for about 2 weeks. This was David's day '0 sick.

Jason built a rocket launcher and the kids all decorated a rocket and shot it off. It was awesome and they went so high that we were worried that NASA was going to report a sighting:)

The reunion was the first of many and it was a great success. The kids loved to play with all of their cousins and it was a great to play games with all of the adults.

our favorite past time

2011-08-15T07:38:00.001-07:00

During the summer David and I love to run down to the river and take a ski run at the end of the day. It doesn't take long but the weather is great, the water is glass and no one is on the river. We have been so spoiled to have the Snake river so close. This year Eliza (4) tried to ski and we were so proud of her. She nearly got up but it was great that she tried. I have many memories of this canyon and this river and we hope to make this a tradition for our family as well.

Colorado

2011-08-15T06:56:00.001-07:00

We spent a few days in Colorado with our friends the Osorios and had such a great time. It was a lodge with a large kitchen and a room full of bunks. It had swings and horseshoes and a sand pit. It had 2 fire rings and was near a small lake. We spent an afternoon at the lake on the zipline and Eliza and Fenton loved it. It was so great to spend some time with our friends again. It was beautiful country, great weather and lots of games.

Daisy

2011-08-02T21:17:00.000-07:00

I didn't know that Fenton knew this song but I love it.

Eliza hoola hoop

2011-07-28T09:54:00.000-07:00

Eliza practiced and practiced and she has become quite good at hoola hooping.

Drive-in

2011-07-19T16:23:00.001-07:00

Some of the Hirschi cousins were in town and we went to the drive-in. I love that Twin Falls still has 2 drive-ins. We watched Cars 3. There was a 50 minute traffic jam getting in to the movies. We couldn't believe the wait, but it was still so fun. This is all of the kids piled in the back of Grandpa's truck.

4th of July

2011-07-19T16:02:00.000-07:00

We visited my sister in Boise for the 4th of July. It was so fun. We had BBQ ribs, Popsicles, water park, parks, and fireworks. It was such a great time to spend with my sister and her family. My niece painted every one's fingernails. She painted mine like the American flag, Eliza's with flowers, and fenton with basketball and footballs.
We went down town to watch the fireworks and while we waited we played football and Frisbee. Eliza loved the fireworks and squealed after each one, Fenton held on to us for his life, but was still enjoying the fireworks.
My sister got all of the pics sorry.

David and Analee's vacation

2011-07-19T15:47:00.003-07:00

A week after David came home we went on a little vacation to Salt Lake city. David booked a super nice hotel room, top floor facing the mountains and the city. It was awesome. We went to the temple for the early session then headed down to Provo and went to the Timpanogos caves. It was about 1 1/2 mile hike and then we went through the caves. It was so fun and so beautiful. After the hike we went to Tucanos, a Brazilian BBQ, all you can eat meat and we just gorged ourselves. Later that night we went to a play, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels musical, it was surprisingly great. The next day we went up to "this is the place monument" and ate at the Joseph Smith building with a view of the temple. It was a perfect vacation.

David's home coming

2011-07-19T15:36:00.000-07:00

I have been counting down to when David comes home. I had the whole day planned out, I just didn't plan for it to feel like the longest day of my life. I was planning on picking him up at the SLC airport and then coming straight home.
I bought a new outfit and dyed my hair. I wanted it to be perfect when I saw him again.
I finally left in the afternoon to go to Salt Lake City and got there early enough to have dinner with my parents. I got the airport a little early and waited for him. It was so great to see him. I just held him for what felt like an hour. He had lost so much weight. He looked amazing. I was so proud of him. I felt like he really accomplished what that semester was all about. He kept telling me that he had so much more confidence about his studies and becoming a doctor. It was awesome to hear him talk like that. Later that week we found out that he did really well in the pathology class.
Driving home with him was pleasant to catch up on everything and anticipate the kids reaction in the morning when they saw their papa.
The next morning the kids got up and went to the computer, because we would skype papa every morning, but this time David walked out of the kitchen and it was amazing. Fenton just looked at him and kept saying "papa papa" and hugged him. He finally could touch him and wrestle with his Papa. Eliza hugged and hugged him and then they all wrestled for about 30 minutes. It was the best Wednesday of David's life.
Eliza later commented that we were a family again. It was amazing to see that Eliza understood that we needed a dad in our life to feel complete.
We missed him so much and we are glad that he is back.
He is here for 7 weeks and then we (all of us) are going back to Grenada for the last 4 months of David's semester. It was a tough decision but we didn't want to be apart any more, so the adventure continues down in Grenada.

Just throughout the day

2011-07-19T15:01:00.000-07:00

We have been counting down for Papa coming home. We had a count down chain and then made a huge poster for him to come home.

The sand box, they love to play in it.

My favorite day, both of them zonked out.

Carter's new hat

2011-07-19T14:58:00.000-07:00

One of my dear friends from England sent Carter an authentic English hat. I have been waiting for it to fit to take a picture but I think it was just adorable.

Memorial day weekend

2011-07-19T14:22:00.000-07:00

We went to Utah for Memorial day weekend. It was such a great weekend. We went to the zoo. We went swimming at the great indoor swimming pool at Bountiful, we went to a park in Salt Lake and I was able to catch up with my childhood best friend, we went the cemetary in West point and I got to see some of my cousins. It was such great weather, food, friends, family.

Some quick details about the zoo, the kids were scared of this fake elephant and spat out water and they would cry and run around it. They didn't like the dinosaurs either. They loved the merry-go-round and the train. It was such a fun day and it was great weather and not a ton of people.

I loved the jaguar the best

slowpoke

2011-07-01T12:33:00.001-07:00

Fenton has recently informed me that I am a slow-poke and he is a fast-poke.

carcarrierkangaroo

2011-06-14T19:33:00.001-07:00

Never forget your diaper bag again!

I invented a diaper bag for a car seat. It is called the car carrier kangaroo. I love it because it goes everywhere the baby goes and you can never forget your diaper bag. I love that I don't have to worry a diaper bag in church or at a friends house or in a store. I always have the essentials right with the baby. My babysitters said they love it too because they know exactly where to find a diaper every time. There is a pocket for diapers, wipes, bottle and then a secure pocket for wallet, phone, keys or camera. This is a great gift for new mothers. Check out the website at http://www.carcarrierkangaroo.com/

It only has 2 different types of fabric but I have a few more. Contact me from the website and let me know what color you want and I will try to work with it.

This is just a new way to make a mother's life a little easier.

Fenton is a crack in the pants

2011-06-03T20:01:00.000-07:00

Fenton has proved to be all boy yet have such a personality. He is the boy that I love, but want to hurt sometimes. His facial expressions are priceless and melt my little heart. He has been quite picky about what he wears but usually it is hilarious. He loves wearing Eliza's big pink socks. He calls them his soccer socks so he wears them to the store with Eliza's pink running shoes. He has no qualms with pink and thinks he is special. He only wants to wear football shirts, and that includes Carter's 12 month onsie (the last pic, please notice that he is wearing pink slippers and Carter's little onsie and you can see where you are suppose to snap the legs.. hilarious) He loves his head band and loves swords. He puts the sword right into his pants because you have to pull it out just like Robin Hood. He is so silly. He takes off his pants and underwear all of the time. My poor nieces have seen his naked bum more often than not. I am always weary when he answers the door when friends come because I am not sure if he has underwear on.
Some of my favorite things that he is saying now is "uhm... sure"
"delicious" "dangerous" "papa come out of the computer" "he is my best friend" "how's your day". and When is super excited he hops on one foot.
He is quite the athlete. He is super fast and loves all sports. He loves throwing, catching, volleyball, and kicking. He is quite good if I might say so. He hits the tennis ball with the racket 6 times of 10, not bad for a little squirt. I can't wait to put him in a sport to use his energy for good and to have him do something he loves.
He has been up to some mischief lately. He has been trying for over a month to start my car and drive. He thinks it is his turn. I have tried to always have my keys to avoid any major problems. I left my kids with my dad and he calls to tell me that he couldn't find Fenton and sure enough he was in my car trying to start it, but luckily it was with my dad's keys. My dad said I better watch out or he will be driving before he is 3. This last week I have been super cautious and have locked the door and kept the keys on me.
Well yesterday I was over helping with cub scouts and told the kids to go get in the car and I was getting Carter. I wasn't but 30 seconds and I hear Eliza screaming and I run to the front, sure enough Fenton had un-caribeanered the keys from my purse, found the right key, put it in correctly and turned it and put it into gear. Eliza had the door open halfway in and screaming. I went running after it and stopped the car. No damage was done but I made sure that Fenton understood that this was a big deal and he was in trouble. Anytime someone asked him if he had been naughty, he started to cry, so I think it sunk in. Nevertheless, he was driving at 2. I have my hands full.

at the zoo, he is wearing a football shirt and he is right in front of the elephant, he wouldn't move.

Eliza's slippers and Carter's onsie and one of Fenton's many silly expressions

Fenton and his football shirt, sweat band and sword. priceless

Coach Hirschi

2011-05-14T13:40:00.000-07:00

I had an opportunity to coach track for 7th grade girls at Stuart. I was so excited and I loved it. Grandma watched the kids every day for about 2 hours while I went and coached. At first I was so excited to share my vast knowledge about track but quickly realized that I was more taming teenagers and teaching the very basics of track. After the first couple of weeks I really took my girls and separated them from the rest of the team and that helped reduce the chaos. After the first meet things went smoother and they had more experience. I had to remind myself that this is their first experience with track. Some of the questions that they asked were hilarious.
"what is a 200" this was asked almost daily...... seriously
"is long jump a field event?"
"is hurdles a field event"
"in 100 meter hurdles, does it have 100 hurdles" they would ask with a scared look on their face.
Some of the things I said almost every day is "sprint, run on your toes". Oddly most of the girls didn't know what that meant, but they quickly figured it out.
I was excited to coach high jump especially but quickly did I realize that I wasn't really coaching the precise physics of jumping, but the very basics like.... you have to jump off one foot. You have to jump HIGH, you have to land on your back.
All my girls really improved over the 6 weeks and hopefully will run again next year and really get a grasp of what track is all about.
I really enjoyed it and I hope that I get to coach again in the future. It also helped the time go by quickly while David was gone, so that was a bonus.

The season was very cold. Every meet was freezing, windy, snowy, and rainy. This is what I looked like most of the time, in my beanie and winter coat.

Some of the girls at triple jump.

One of the boys high jumping.

The other girl's coach. She was great.

Some of the girls trying to stay warm.

Me in my official Stuart track coat.

Melinda's house

2011-05-14T13:30:00.000-07:00

Melinda, my sister, went on a vacation with her husband and she asked me to come to Boise to take care of her 5 children. I said of course. So I brought my chaotic life up to her chaotic life and it turned out great.
Her kids are ages 6-17 so they are all quite self-reliant so I just had to make sure they ate and were at the right place at the right time.
I ventured out and took the kids swimming and made some pizza. Most of the bigger kids had places to be for dinner so that was stress free.
Saturday was the big "soccer mom" day. Two of her younger kids had soccer and I had to take them.
This is where it gets interesting. It was very cold and windy on Saturday so I had to make sure to bring lots of blankets for the kids, chairs, and I was worried about Carter being cold. We had lots of hands to help take out the chairs and blankets to watch our first game. The only concern was that my kids were cold but besides that it went fine. It was the afternoon game that proved to be a little more difficult.
On the way over to the game all three of my kids fell asleep. I dropped off Megan to find her field to play on but she didn't find it, so I had to run and find it for her with all of my kids still in the car. When I got back Carter was crying and Eliza was out of the car with her chair super tired. Fenton was still asleep and I didn't know how I was going to carry Carter, blankets, chairs and Fenton to the field. I was trying to get Fenton out of the back, while I have Carter in his car seat crying and Eliza crying. One mom walked by and asked where her mom was. I had my bum sticking out of the car trying to get Fenton. Finally he woke up but wanted me to carry him. After a lot of crying and being a pack mule we made it to the field. It turned out fine but I knew then I am not cut out to be a soccer mom, or I need a wagon to carry everything.
Melinda had a great time and I am glad that I could come and help. The kids loved playing with their cousins.

PS while in boise 2 major events happened. prince william and katherine got married and Osama Bin Laden was killed.

Mother's Day

2011-05-14T13:16:00.001-07:00

And Yes I took a nap

Having Mother's day without your husband kind of makes it just another day. Although I did feel a lot of love from my kids. My mother came up for about 27 hours and we celebrated together.

The kids made me wonderful cards at church and my brother and his family came over and made dinner and cleaned up. My sister-in-law took the kids shopping for me and they picked me out a cute present. It was very thoughtful of Deanna. I got a new necklace and earings and a new shirt. I loved it.

My husband skyped me as soon as he could to tell me he loved me and wanted to be here to pamper me.

Happy Mother's day to all the other mothers!

Carter is smiling

2011-05-08T19:59:00.001-07:00

Carter is nearly 3 months old and he is just getting to the fun stage. He is starting to smile and giggle. I love it! and boy does he love his mama.

He is such a good baby. I am blessed to have him right now. He doesn't fuss much, he sleeps well and he naps well. I love him so much and am grateful that he was sent to our family. I can't wait for David to come home and just eat him up.

Easter 2011

2011-05-03T10:43:00.000-07:00

Easter was great. We had some cousins come into town so we played with them. We went to the big Egg hunt down town at the park. It is the same place that I went when I was a little kid. It was fun to see Fenton and Eliza with all of the other kids. Then we had a egg hunt at Grandma Hirschi's and they loved it. Then we had a candy hunt at the Carter's with the Carter's and it was great fun, so needless to say my kids were hunted out. Eliza got a beautiful new dress and Fenton got some new shorts.

I know the concept of resurrection is hard to understand for little children, but I hope that they learn and understand something new each time we try to teach it to them. We watched "To this end was I born" and Eliza wanted to watch it again. I am glad that she wanted to watch the movie about the Savior and bring the spirit of Easter into our home.

I know that this great event happened and it is the only way that we can return to our Heavenly Father and with our loved ones. I don't know how to show how grateful I am to my Savior for His love and sacrifice for me and my family. He truly is the Son of God.

pics March 2011

2011-04-26T06:13:00.000-07:00

we tried a new hair style with eliza and she was beautiful

For spring break we went swimming with their cousins at an indoor swimming pool. The kids loved it.

Fenton riding a bike

2011-04-21T11:56:00.000-07:00

Eliza is coloring

2011-04-19T11:26:00.000-07:00

Eliza has found a new passion of coloring. She colors all day and wants to sleep with her new pictures. She asks if she can keep coloring no matter where we go. She is getting quite good and I love that she is concentrating and focusing on coloring. Here are just a few that we have put up.

One day she was being really quite so I went to see what she was working on and she fell asleep while she was coloring. I thought it was so cute.

Just pictures

2011-04-13T08:29:00.000-07:00

These are from a photo shoot with my sister in Boise.

The kids love to go "real bowling" (opposed to bowling on the Wii) at least they know the difference right?

Multi-tasking

2011-04-12T18:59:00.000-07:00

I have realized lately that I am a huge multi-tasker, like most mothers are, but now I have realized that if I am not doing at least 2 things at one time then I am falling behind. So right now I am blogging, bathing the kids, washing the dishes, talking to my mom, watching "biggest loser" and holding Carter.

Single mother of 3

2011-04-05T13:25:00.000-07:00

I really should be blogging way more so that I won't forget this time of my life, but my life has been quite full. One thing that David and I have tried to do in our marriage is that if one parents can't give a 100% to helping, loving, keeping the house running, FHE, cleaning, disciplining, and sleeping then the other spouse would help. That is the beauty of marriage. I have greatly missed my other half. It is hard to always give the 100% everyday. With David gone for 4 months, I have tried to keep up on everything but I can't. I have a wonderful support system of my mother-in-law, mother and brother that have all supported me in one way or another. My mom comes up every couple of weeks just to give me a little break, let me sleep in and I don't have to do the dishes and laundry every day. My mother-in-law have taken the kids while I coach track and she truly loves them. Clint and his family have been so great to take the kids so I can at least run to the grocery store alone without having a break down. It has been tough on the kids to not have their papa around. They talk about him and pray for him but they don't quite understand that it is going to be a long time for him to be gone. They save things for papa like a cookie from a friend's or a fruit snack. It is sad to explain to them that he won't be around for a while longer. Fenton has had a difficult time. He has really felt a loss but doesn't know what to do about it. He kisses me more and snuggles more and he doesn't sleep as well. Eliza just misses playing with her papa. We have less than 3 months left to be apart then he will be home for 6 weeks. I have a new appriciation for single mothers and also a new dependency on the Lord for help daily.

Happy Birthday Dr. Zeuss

2011-03-03T09:22:00.000-08:00

It was Dr. Zeuss's birthday yesterday and the local elementary school had a fun little festival with cake and ice cream, games and a little musical with Dr. Zeuss. The kids loved it and we loved watching Coby perform again.

Park City

2011-03-03T09:06:00.000-08:00

We went to Park city for one day and I took the kids up the gondola to the canyon's resort and the kids loved it. They wanted to do it again and again, even with it being so cold.

new spectator sport

2011-03-03T09:01:00.000-08:00

Carter got a new swing and it has become the new spectator sport. The kids pulled up their chairs to just watch. They sure love their new brother

Carter Gordon Hirschi

2011-02-15T14:44:00.000-08:00

Carter Gordon Hirschi is here. He arrived Friday February 11 at 2:40. He weighted 6 lbs 6 oz and he is doing great. We blessed him Sunday morning. We know that that is very fast but it was the last Sunday David will be here before he heads down to Grenada.

We are very blessed to have this new spirit in our home and are very grateful that all went smooth and that we are all healthy.

Our day as fugitives of the law

2011-02-12T18:05:00.000-08:00

David had one of his best friends from high school come into town to visit and we wanted to have a fun day with them and their 3 little girls. We decided that we were going to go to a fish hatchery outside of town. I really didn't have any idea where is was, but I pretended. Needless to say after passing 2 other hatcheries, asking where to go, going the wrong direction for 7 miles and a warm dispute with David and 3 1/2 hour drive we saw some fish.
We actually saw some really big steel head, tiny larva, and a lot of regular size fish. The kids weren't too impressed but they knew that if they endured this trip they could go swimming.
We were all dressed and ready to go swimming and headed down to the pool. There were a lot of cars in the parking lot and we knew that was not a good sign. The pool was closed due to a swim meet, so we had to start thinking of plan B. We decided to go to the Y. We got all the children excited and out of the car. The pool closed at 11:00, so the kids were super sad. We had to find a plan C. There are no other public pools in Twin falls so we had to resort to being creative. How could we tell 4 little girls and 1 little boy that have their little hearts set on swimming that they were all closed.
We went to a local hotel and I walked right in and kind of snuck into their indoor pool and opened the back door for everyone else. They were so excited and we stayed for 45 minutes. I felt the guilt for about 15 minutes but I saw the joy on my kids face and it was worth it.
I realized that I love my children enough to perform an illegal act.

A glimpse of Eliza

2011-02-12T18:01:00.000-08:00

This week Eliza has had a few days without naps and we thought maybe it is time for her to out grow naps but we were mistaken. She still needs a nap. The days that she didn't take a nap she threw some pretty amazing tantrums. I have never seen her scream or be so angry. She was slamming doors and yelling at me. It was a huge indication that my sweet Eliza still needs naps. After this tough day for her, I had a talk with her why she was acting like this and explained that we both didn't like it so we needed to fix it. She has been great ever since, but it gave me a glimpse of what my sweet Eliza could be if she wasn't my "sweet" Eliza. I love her and love that she is so sweet and kind.

2 speeds

2011-02-12T17:59:00.000-08:00

I have noticed lately that Fenton has 2 speeds, hi (jumping running skipping), or off (sleeping). There is no in between. I think that he is so happy with life and has such a happy spirit that he has to get out all of that energy. He is a great ball of jumping joy.

uncle blake's house

2011-01-20T08:42:00.001-08:00

Last weekend we went up to Bountiful to visit with my parents and Blake and Estee. We had a great time. On Friday we dropped the kids off with Amy, David's sister to play with cousins. They had so much fun, they didn't want to leave. While they were there we went to the Carl Bloch exhibit at BYU and it was awesome. I would highly recommend going if anyone is near BYU. David and I walked around campus and I showed him all of my hideouts. It was fun to reminisce with him.
On Saturday we went sledding with the kids and it was awesome. The kids loved it and it was a great day with great soft snow. We told Eliza that if she can pull the sled up the hill by herself she could go down by herself. It was only about 30 seconds before she was pulling that sled up the hill and would slide down all by herself. She loved it. She did great and had only minor spills.
The hill was perfect enough that I even went down a few times. It was a blast!!

just for David.... he hates this coat I am wearing and I do have a coat that matches the rest of the family, but it doesn't fit around my belly so I had to resort to this ugly one (although I love how warm it is)

It is definitely a boy

2011-01-09T16:34:00.001-08:00

I had a proper ultra sound a few weeks ago and they said that it is a boy! we are very excited.

Here is a picture of me about 34 weeks along on New Year's eve.

New Years 2011

2011-01-09T08:51:00.000-08:00

For New Year's Eve we went up to my sister's house in Boise. There were quite the festivities. It was New Years, my brother-in laws birthday and my nieces birthday and a baptism. For New Year's we all had to wear crazy hats and we had a chocolate fountain that the kids loved. We counted down the evening at 10:00 and then we put the kids to bed. David and I fell asleep while putting the kids to sleep. We almost made it to 12:00 but not quite.
We played games, went swimming, watched some football and had a great time. It is so nice to be around family and be apart of their life even for a little bit.

Christmas surprises

2011-01-03T17:24:00.000-08:00

I knew what I was going to get David for Christmas for a few weeks so I was excited and ready. I bought him some new scriptures while he was still in Grenada and I wrapped them up inconspicuously and was excited for him to have it. I thought it would be a nice surprise for him. He came home and saw the present and didn't know what it was. But a few days later he commented that he wanted to scriptures for Christmas so I felt like the surprise was taken away and I had already thought of it a couple of weeks ago. This is him opening it up and being a little surprised and excited.

While this was all happening I really didn't know what David was going to get me. I gave him a few ideas and we went shopping but I knew that he hadn't bought anything. I also knew that he didn't have much time to shop and buy something for me. He and his dad and brother went down to Las Vegas for the BSU bowl game so I knew he was gone for 3 days and he didn't buy anything on Christmas Eve, so truly I didn't think he got anything for me. I even went out and bought a few small things for me from him. When all of the presents were opened, I started to gather all of the kids toys thinking that it was over, he truly didn't get anything for me this year. I almost started to get tears in my eyes but tried to not care. Just then he went back and brought out a guitar stand, then a guitar case, then a beautiful guitar. I couldn't believe it. He bought me a really nice guitar. He knew I played a little bit but saw a twinkle in my eyes the last time I played in Bountiful in June and got the idea that it would be a good hobby for me. It was great, the guitar is beautiful and sounds wonderful. I am excited to get better. It was very thoughtful. He did the true surprising this year. Thanks David !!!

Christmas

2011-01-03T17:10:00.001-08:00

Christmas was great with so much family around. We spent Christmas eve with the Hirschi's. We all hopped in the back of the truck and went caroling. The kids loved riding in the back, even though it was super cold.

Santa made a special appearance and kids loved it. We also had a short nativity with all of the grandkids and it was great.

I feel very blessed to be back in America and we were spoiled for Christmas. Just being back in the USA is the greatest gift. David and I had to readjust to a few things but we always looked at each other and feel very blessed with everything that we have and all of the opportunities that we have had and can have here. I am grateful that we have a time of year that people want to feel peace, feel more generous to the less fortunate and remember the life of Christ.

change of direction

2011-01-03T17:02:00.000-08:00

In November we had to make some quick decisions about our future that we were not prepared for. David really felt impressed that he should re-take a class to prepare better for the STEP I test. After we both decided that this was the best for his future, not necessarily the best for the present, I had to start thinking quickly of how it was going to affect me and the kids. So with much prayer and planning, we decided to come home for Christmas and I would have the baby in the USA and then David would go back to Grenada for that semester.
After that decision was made, we had to start preparing for it, move out of our house, get a new apartment for David, see if I could have the baby in the USA, where we would stay and book flights.
We really looked forward to being home for the holidays and be in the cold and snow.
I took the kids home and then David flew to Charleston then drove all of our stuff to Idaho. We are staying at my parents home while David returns to Grenada. This is not optimal and it will be a tough year, but it will be the best for our family.
I flew to NYC and my dad met me there to help with the kids and all of the luggage I had. It was so nice to have him there to help take the kids to the bathroom, for a walk, be a distraction, and help with the luggage as I am large with child.
So quick decisions have changed the direction of our lives.

GAP performance

2010-11-29T15:15:00.001-08:00

Eliza and Fenton's playgroup had an end of year performance of dancing and singing. It was fun to see my little kids up there with all of their friends. Eliza did great singing and Fenton was ok until he saw David and I in the audience then he was super sad.

GAP was such a blessing in my life and for the kids to have friends and learn new things. I am going to miss it when we are back in the states.

Gran Etange

2010-11-29T14:27:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we went to a national forest here in Grenada called Gran Etange (not sure on the spelling). It has a little museum and a little trail to walk around and see the island from about 1900 ft. There are supposed to be monkeys there too so we had told the kids all day that we were going to see monkeys.

It rained all day so no monkeys, the trail was super muddy and the view was somewhat covered by the clouds, so it was kind of a bummer.
It was still nice to get out of the house together as a family.

her mother's daughter

2010-11-23T03:57:00.001-08:00

Eliza is definitely my daughter,
One of her photo books had a page that was ripped out and I told her that I couldn't fix it.
She then said "can't you just put some duct tape on it"....

around town

2010-11-11T14:19:00.000-08:00

the church in Grenada, notice that it has a great view.
the road in down town St. George. They are narrow, very hilly, and often one way.

St. George's market

The public library

The public hospital that David waited at when we got his stitches. It wasn't the first place with the sign, but off to the left behind the building under the cement pillars.

The kids playstructure

2010-11-09T09:15:00.001-08:00

There is really only one park that we have found on the island and that is at the kids school. They call it the play structure because it really shouldn't be defined as a park. It is small but the kids still can have a little slide and some swings so they don't complain.
The picture of the beach is about 100 yards from the playstructure so this is where we like to go because we have good parking and it is beautiful. The waves were really big today so I took a picture. Generally they are much smaller, more like the waves of a lake so the kids can really enjoy the water.

8 stitches later

2010-11-09T09:03:00.001-08:00

David played soccer on Saturday afternoon and I took the kids down when I thought he would be finished. They continued to play for another 20 minutes and said "next goal wins". David went after a ball against another player (who was wearing cleats) and the guy kicked David and split his shin open. It was pretty deep and David was in a lot of pain. We took him to the general hospital and we waited for about an hour and knew it would be quite some time before he was seen. The general hospital is quite primitive. The only way I can explain it is an unorganized warehouse of medical supplies. We called the campus on-call nurse and explained our situation. We took him to the campus and the nurse attended to him quickly and the doctor showed up about 20 minutes later and sewed up David. The wound was nearly 3 inches long and very deep. He got 1 internal stitch and 7 external. Though he has been in a lot of pain, he doesn't complain much and is trying to walk around, go to class, play with the kids, etc. He has never gotten stitches before so why not the 1st time be in Grenada? He will have a nice scar in about 2 weeks.

Halloween

2010-11-02T09:42:00.000-07:00

Grenada does not celebrate Halloween but the SO group from the university orginized a Fall festival for all of the children to participate in. They organized about 15 offices on campus to hand out canding for trick or treat'n and then they had 2 bouncy castles treats, bowling and face painting after the trick or treat'n was over.

It was so great. The kids loved it. Eliza kept commenting on how she loved trick or treat'n. It was a great little halloween on this island.

Eliza went as snow white and Fenton went as Dash Incredibles. It was perfect for Fenton because all he wants to do is run, and he runs fast.

shopping

2010-10-22T08:03:00.000-07:00

If you know me well, shopping has never been a big favorite past time. I am a shopper that goes into a store and knows what I want and gets it and leaves. I don't love the browsing or the actual "shopping" and digging through things.
But lately, being deprived of this experience nearly 100%, I have missed it.
I miss shopping for clothes for my kids, walking around Costco just to see what they have, hunting for bargains, going for sales, and getting the excitement of getting a great deal and calling my sister to tell her about it. I miss being able to go somewhere for 20 minutes that is air conditioned just to waste some time. I also feel I am missing out on the excitement with a new baby coming to buy things for it, get a room ready, buy new books, blankets, and clothes for it, but I guess I will have to make up for some lost time when I am back in the States with my mom and my sisters.

petting zoo?

2010-10-22T07:55:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday the local Veterinarian school opened up their pasture to the kids to come in and pet the animals. Fenton loves to look at horses in books and so I thought this would be a great idea. I learned quickly that my kids like animals at a safe distance and contained.
We went to the pasture and they just let us in to roam with the animals. Fenton was already in hysterics when we went through the gates. He was crying and holding on to me for dear life. Eliza was hiding behind my leg the whole time.
The animals there were horses, cows, donkeys and 2 very large bulls. These were big animals and any movement from the animals the kids would cling on even tighter. The animals were walking around freely so they would come right next to us, right behind us and follow us and frighten the kids. I was a little jumpy too, I have to admit.
We stayed only 30 minutes before I was carrying both of them with the faces buried in my chest. After about 10 minutes I thought that I should have brought my camera, but as the time passed I realized that there was no way I could have taken any pictures with my kids scared and my hands full. Needless to say my kids probably won't grow up to be vets.

Eliza is growing up

2010-10-22T07:53:00.001-07:00

You would think in a place that you would only wear flip flops that learning to tie her shoe was not a priority, but that is not the case for Eliza. Our friends gave Eliza a pair of running shoes with laces and Eliza has been quite diligent the last 2 days to learn how to tie them herself and she has done a great job. I can't believe that she can tie her own shoes already. It isn't perfect, but she does a great job. She is growing up way too fast.

10-10-10

2010-10-10T10:38:00.001-07:00

What a cool date... 10-10-10. I have been thinking about time passing and how we each measure time. It can be measured in seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months or years. Some have calendars, day books, schedules from school, tests, appointments or vacations that measure their time, or how much time has passed. I don't have a calendar, but I have noticed one way that I monitor time and it involves one of my favorite things to do, throw things away.
I bought toiletries and such in England for me to have here in Grenada because I knew it would be a bit cheaper that way. I bought diapers, laundry detergent, soap, tooth paste and other such items and it is exciting to me to throw box away and open another box. It is a measurement of time for me that we are using all of these items I bought and that means time is going and that means we are getting closer and closer to finishing with the second year of med school and with living in Grenada. It is a bit pathetic that my time is measured in laundry detergent, which I only have 5 boxes left, but it is how time is measured in my own bizarre way.

Eliza's 1st testimony

2010-10-10T10:33:00.000-07:00

Today was the 1st time that Eliza bore her testimony in sacrament meeting. We have been practicing with her for a while. She showed interest in bearing her testimony a couple of months ago and so we taught her and we practised. She went right up there and said her testimony. I didn't help her or say anything and she was amazing. I almost started to cry. What a special little girl that we have. She truly is naive and beautiful. I feel so blessed to have her as my daughter.

Boy or Girl?????

2010-10-02T10:27:00.000-07:00

I knew that having a child in a third world country would offer some complications. They do things a bit differently here. I have to bring my own chart to each of my appointments and if I get blood work or an ultrasound I have to do it at a different location then pick up the results and bring them back to my doctor. A bit different than at home.

I am about 20 weeks along now, (half way!!!!) and I got an ultra sound. I found the ultra sound technician downtown Grenada. Finding the place is always half of the battle here. I asked several people where it was and I got 3 different directions. I have a pretty good sense of direction and I learned quickly on my mission to rely on the Holy Ghost to help me find things and places that I needed to find. So I went into this hoping to find the place. I found it quit easily.
With my past experiences with ultrasounds, they are usually at the same location as the Dr. and the technician will describe and explain what we are looking at explain the measurements and the sex of the baby.
While I was getting my ultrasound here, I waited patiently as she took measurements, took pictures and listened to the heart beat for her to explain everything and tell me what she could but she didn't say a word.
She started to wipe off my belly and she said "you can come back tomorrow to pick up the report to take to your Dr."
I then asked, "that's it? well how does everything look?"
She said that she can't say anything and that it is the Dr.'s job to read and assess the report. She was not at liberty to make any calls. I asked her if she at least knew the sex of the baby. She said that from her view she saw that it was a boy.
I was surprised because I had a Dr. appointment 2 weeks ago and the Dr. did an ultrasound and he said that he saw that it was a girl. I told the technician this so she decided to look again and she still supported her own assumption that it was a boy and said she was rarely wrong, but it was still early and it was really the Dr.'s call to make any real decisions.
So who do I believe? I guess I will have to wait a little longer. The final decision has yet to be determined.
FYI...... the ultrasound cost about $30 US.

Mother's treats

2010-09-28T05:48:00.000-07:00

I sometimes hide my treats or sneak a treat in just so I don't have to share with the kids. Is this something that all mother's do, or am I just selfish with my treats?

Our swimming pool

2010-09-28T05:37:00.001-07:00

Monday's and Thursday's we are allowed to use the University Club's pool and it is something we always look forward to. The pool is great and the location awesome. Eliza is learning to swim really well and of course Fenton is right behind here. There are 2 pools, one for the little kids and one for the adults and it is the biggest one on the island. It has a large tree on one side so it can provide shade. It is right next to the beach so if they get bored swimming they can go play in on the beach. There are hammocks and kayaks to use. We order drinks and sip it next to the pool. It is quite an escape from the heat and humidity. Here are just a few pictures to make you jealous.

David is 30

2010-09-28T05:31:00.001-07:00

David turned 30 last week and he celebrated all week. On Monday we had a special breakfast and dinner and opened a present. Then on Saturday we had a party for him and another student that had a birthday that week also. It was a pretty fun party. We had quite a few friends come and the kids just went wild. We had treats and balloons and then we played some games from "minute to win it". I wanted to make David's 30th special, even if he was studying all of the time. We are still waiting for a package for the rest of David's presents.

This is how David's spent a lot of the party,,,watching college football on the computer, exactly where he wanted to be.

Happy 30th David and I am glad that you have joined my generation!!!!

bouncing off walls

2010-09-28T05:26:00.000-07:00

Fenton is full of energy and he is always running around or jumping off things, or just jumping. He has reached his terrible two's for sure. He is potty training and doing quite well. Diapers are super expensive so I wanted to potty train as soon as possible. I am hoping I survive till he reaches 3. Here is a quick video of him flipping. He sure is a dare devil.

Pirate Ship

2010-09-19T03:49:00.000-07:00

The Saturday after David's exams we were able to go on a pirate ship to Flamingo bay. There were about 70 other students and their families on the boat. We had a great time. There were drinks and a few snacks and lots of chatting with others.
It was a true pirate ship from about the 1700's with sails and everything. They had a plank to walk, a rope swing and 4 cannons that they fired. When we got to the cove we jumped off the side and swam. It was a bit choppy that day and about 10 people got truly sick on the boat, but we did fine.
It was a fun way to spend our morning with David and the kids and an experience that we probably won't ever have again. Argh, avast ye matie!!

Airplane, takeoff landing

2010-09-19T03:36:00.000-07:00

Fenton loves airplanes and David's school is right next to the runway so some days we go see the 737 take off and Fenton loves it. In the picture you can see the runway in the back, but you can see how happy Fenton is just to see the big plane.

Real life in Grenada

2010-09-10T16:05:00.000-07:00

To begin, I would just like to say that this is neither supposed to be complaining nor bragging, but just a document of life in Grenada, for my benefit in the future, so I won't forget the little details of living here. It is also quite long, just a warning.
Grenada is hot and humid. It doesn't get much over 88 degrees but it doesn't drop much below 80 degrees, even at night. It is humid! I have lived in Charleston and it was hot and humid there too, even hotter than here, but at least you had the comfort of your own home with AC running 24/7. Here it is a luxury to have AC. We have it in only the two bedrooms which we find solace in at night and during naps. It is quite a refuge for me to know that though I may be sitting all day in my sticky sweaty body, I know that at night I get to take a shower and sleep in my air conditioned bedroom, as do my children. It does cost us a pretty penny to even run it at those limited times, but that is our choice of luxury on this island. But please do not forget how hot, humid and uncomforable it is.
Water. Water here is fine when you have it. The island turns of the water at various times during the day and I rely on the reserve tanks that we have. This is fine except when it comes to taking showers. The only water pressure that exists then is from gravity from wherever your water tank is, thus not causing enough pressure to even come out of the shower head. We have had nights where we can bearly get a trickly out of the shower head and let the tub run for 30 minutes just to get enough water in it to take a bath and get relief from the stickiness. We also have the luxury of hot water, but his also has a twist. The hot water consists of a switch outside of the shower and it heats the water at the head of the shower. I have been shocked a few times, not too bad. You have no choice of temperature, whatever the heat element is doing to the water is the temperature of water you get, sometimes too hot, sometimes not very hot. Then of course you need to turn off the heater before you turn off the water so you don't burn out the element, which is just messy and not convenient. I am not complaining because quite honestly cold showers are exactly what I am looking forward to after a hot sticky day.
Washing clothes. We luckily do have a washing machine but sadly no drier. The washing machine is hooked up to some wattage thing that keeps running to suck enough power out so the washing machine can work, until I turn it off. I only tell you this because I can't just put a load in in the morning and leave to go swimming for a few hours because even though the washing machine is finished, the power is still being sucked out, and power is a high commodity on the island. So when I put in a load I need to stay near for 30-45 minutes until the load is done so I can turn off the converter and hopefully save a little energy. No big deal, just something I need to be aware of. Then of course comes the drying. I have to hang each individual piece out on the line and then wait all day hoping that it doesn't rain so that I can have clean underwear to wear the next day. The commercials that claim drying by the sun leaves a nature feeling and smell of the sun are lieing. Clothes are not soft and fluffy and then just smell of the island, which I would never want to bottle and sell. Again not too bad, but I do miss a drier that I could just throw all of the clothes in, in a pile, not individually, and then it would be dry, fluffy and smell super clean in 50 minutes.
The bugs. There are ants and I hate them. It took me a couple of weeks to figure out how to combat them, but I am getting better. They come back every 10 days, but I do my best at killing them. I see their little scouts all over trying to find their next treasure to feast around. This has also caused me to try to be cleaner. I have tried to tidy up and keep surfaces clean and keep to eating only in the kitchen and dining room. I hate co-habitating with bugs.
Outside there are catipillars everywhere which I don't mind but the kids love. They pick them up and race them, squish them and step on them. There are really large catepillars (refer to previous blog) which are quite unique. There are butterflies everywhere. It is kind of cool to walk down our little road and see so many butterflies and the kids go wild. It is like our own little butterfly sanctuary. There are crazy looking spiders but nothing too bad. The concern I have the most is with the mosquitoes. They are pretty bad right now because of the rainy season. When we first got here the kids and I got eaten up. Our poor little legs had bites all over them but it has decreased dramatically since we have been here. We still get a few, but somehow our bodies do not react as badly too them. The concern I have is Dengue fever. It is found rampant here right now. I know af probably 10 people that have gotten it and it can be quite delapidating. It is a mosquito born virus that causes a temperature of 104-105. It usually knocks you out for 3-5 days, sometimes longer. Generally the body can fight it over time, but there have been a few fatal cases on the island, so I am super concerned. I wish I could let the kids play outside without worry, but I am worried and I lather up and the kids up with insect repellant and pray that it works.
The road up to our house is quite trecherous for about 20 feet, up a pretty steep hill with large crevices on both sides. I am quite the skilled driver to manuever up the hill every day. Again it is only 20 feet, but if done incorrectly could be quite damaging to our car. Which I am very thankful for that I have. I have a car! I love the freedom, I love that it has AC. I love the I don't have to have the kids in their seats if I am only going 300 yards to the beach, (although most times I do).
Grocery shopping. I can find my peanut butter, doritos, oreos, Lucky Charms and of course root beer. The hard part is that it doesn't always have what you need. I have only seen bananas 2 times, and of course have bought about 4 bunches. Milk is a commodity that generally only comes on Friday so I have to make sure to plan our milk supply. It hasn't been too bad lately. The meat is ok, if you look for the good meat. Bread is not always available and just to finish, it is expensive. Almost double what I would pay in the states for my grocery bill. At first it was difficult and really bothered me to buy certain items, but I get used to spending $5 for one bunch of grapes. It is quite difficult to find general things on the island, clothes, shoes, toes, kids stuff, so I generally get things online and have my parents send it. So shopping isn't enjoyable here nor can I do comparable shopping, if I find something I like, or even resembles something that I could like, I buy it because I am not going to find it anywhere else on the island, and there are no bargains.
My life. I have tried to get a good schedule here for me and the kids. Monday and Thursday is pool day and the University club and I love it. It has 2 pools, a tree by one so you can be in the shade, a bar and grill so you can order a drink or some fries, right next to the beach with hammocks, chairs and kayaks for our use and a beautiful view. It is quite the luxury spot. I will post some picture later. The kids love it and love it more when their friends show up.
Tuesday is playgroup at a tiny park. Wednesday and Friday are their preschool days and they love it. I love it. I get 4 hours in the morning to clean, do laundry, read, and even excercise. I have access to a gym on campus and it is a nice distraction for me to do the eliptical.
There is a group here called the significant others group, or SO which is for the wives, husbands, boyfriends, ect of students here and they plan activities so they are not bored. I have made some good friends through that and the kids have found their best friends and that has been fun to play with them. With this lifestyle, though my hair isn't done or I don't wear makeup, I do have quite a nice tan, as do my kids. I don't even work on my tan. We wear SPF 50 everyday but still I get some sun and I don't ever burn so it is quite a nice side effect. Fenton has bleach blonde hair, Eliza has bright blonde streaks and my hair is getting lighter, yet with some red in it.

I wear a swimsuit nearly every day. I don't do my hair except on Sunday and generally it is some sort of braid and if you know me and my humidity, I have the crown of fuzz around the crown of my head, which is always attractive. I don't wear makeup because I am in the water at some point during the day, but on Sunday's I wear makeup. I feel like it melts off my face within the first 30 minutes because the only room that has AC is the sacrement room. I am in the nursery for the 1st hour, then I teach gospel doctrine the 2nd hour, which is in the sacrement room, so that is nice. I have enjoyed teaching, not because I am a great teacher, but because I have had to really study the old testament stories to try to find the things to teach. I have learned a lot and have enjoyed this experience.
the TV. We didn't have tv when we first got here but we purchased one at a yard sale for $20 and we knew that we were taking our chances on if it would work for us. It was great, for about a week, then it died. We loved watching DVD's on it and playing the Wii for that one week. After about 2 weeks of the tv being in the shop, they decided that they couldn't fix it so we bought a new tv. Nothing fancy, 21 inch but it plays DVDs and the Wii. Sadly I blew the fuse to the Wii, again so that part is on order but we will enjoy that luxury once again.
When I came down here I was so excited to make smoothies every day with fresh mangoes in my new Magic bullet. Well it is NOT that magic. After about 4 weeks of use the motor blew and quite honestly I wasn't that impressed, but I was kind of disappointed.
This is real life in Grenada. A great place to visit and vacation and quite an experience for us.

Eliza

2010-09-10T15:50:00.000-07:00

Eliza has been asking A LOT of questions lately but here are just 2 of my favorite.

Eliza "Mom, are we going to keep Fenton"
Me "what do you mean? when the baby comes?"
Eliza "yeah, when the baby comes are we going to keep Fenton".

Eliza "why hasn't Fenton turned into a girl yet?"

My back yard

2010-09-07T17:15:00.000-07:00

So living in a tropical island, our backyard is quite full of tropical fruits. It is quite entertaining to have so many fruit trees that I will never have again. We have 5 mango trees, a cherry tree, a green orange tree, lime tree, a guava tree and a noni tree. For those of you not familiar with noni it is a rare fruit that the juice is sold as a cure-all in the States. It is the weird looking white fruit.
Sadly I am not very good at keeping up with all of the fruit or using it properly, or even at all.
We made some guacamole with fresh lime which was nice. I always cut up the mangoes and freeze the fruit for smoothies later, but the rest I don't use. I tried the guava and it turns out that you can't eat the seeds and they feel like gravel, and the green oranges, I never know if they are ripe, and they are not very juicy.
So that is just a little of my backyard here in Grenada.

Fenton's 2nd birthday

2010-08-27T17:23:00.000-07:00

Fenton turned 2 on Thursday and we had a little party with some of the families here. It was fun to see them run around and scream and eat lots and lots of starburst.
We have been calling Fenton 2 years old since he was about 18 months because he acts like one, runs like one and talks like one. Now he is officially 2 and we can't wait to see what this year brings.
He is such great kid. I love him so much. He just makes me smile. He is a snuggler and yet he knows how to tease. I am not sure how he learned that, or if it is just innate from being a brother, but he is great at it, and he knows he is doing it. He loves tunnels, trains, planes, cars, balls, and wrestling. He is becoming quite a little swimmer with his floaties. He has a great vocabulary, he loves to jump and run anywhere and he is full of energy. He is already in the why phase and sometimes he answers himself and says "cause". He has to do everything himself.
We love him so much and he is such a special boy. We are glad that we have seen him grow up this year and really become a little boy.

Please note that I am not an artist but I drew that Eeyore and the tails for pin-the-tail-on Eeyore and I was quite pleased. Also noticed my attempt at the Winne the Pooh cake (above)

The Biggest smile ever!!

See if you can count how many times he says "happy birthday"

14 weeks

2010-08-22T15:55:00.000-07:00

I wanted to announce that we will have a new Grenadian baby Hirschi in February.
I am 14 weeks and I have felt really good. I haven't been sick at all and I am hoping that it stays that way.
I am starting to get tired, but that could be due the fact that my kids get up at 5:30.
I am due February 18 and I am planning on having the baby here in Grenada.
We are excited to add a new little one to our family.

the kids

2010-08-11T06:35:00.000-07:00

The kids are starting up at a preschool and it is their first day of school. Eliza is super excited.

Eliza hit herself on a gate we have in our front porch, she had a shiner for about a week. She looked so tough.
Fenton wears his sunglasses at night.....

The kids are sporting their new t-shirts David got for them that sponsor his Medschool.

Carnival

2010-08-11T06:13:00.000-07:00

This last weekend was Carnival in Grenada. It is basically 3 days of partying. It is filled with a lot of drinking and a lot of inappropriate things for my family, so the only thing that we could participate in is was a parade.
We met up with a few other families on the island and we headed over to the parade. We were told that it started at 1:00, so we left about 12:45 to get there. We were surprised that when we got there that no one was around, the streets were closed and there were a few venders, but there was hardly anyone out. We slowly started to realize why. The parade really wasn't going to get going till 3:00. Now in America, being early to a parade is normal, but here, in Grenadian time, whenever everyone shows up is when the parade starts.
So we stayed in the shade for a few hours then started to head up to where we could catch our bus and waited there for about 20-30 more minutes. It was a hot day and the kids fell asleep right when the parade came. It was quite the site though. A lot of color, dancing and loud music. It was quite the cultural experience.

little critters

2010-08-11T06:05:00.000-07:00

Here are just a few of the critters that are around here. This caterpillar is huge and so odd looking. The kids watched it for about 20 minutes.

Doesn't this spider just look mean? There were two of them on a bush in the back yard.

I was talking on the phone with my sister and the kids were outside playing. Eliza kept calling my name and so I got off the phone with my sister to open the door and let her in. She was standing there holding a 8 inch long lizard and I about flipped out. I kept yelling at her to drop the lizard, drop the lizard. I didn't know if it was alive or fake, but it was long. It was dead, so I don't know if that is any better, but Eliza didn't even blink an eye about holding it. She isn't afraid of anything. She picks up the little caterpillars all of the time, and Fenton loves playing "step on it" with the bugs. I don't think the bugs like it because they always lose.

Royal Mt. Carmel Falls

2010-07-23T11:53:00.000-07:00

Last week was David's midterm and always after tests David has a little extra time to play with us. We went snorkeling Friday night and then Saturday we headed up to Mt. Carmel falls. It was about a 45 minute drive, and we luckily found the little sign on the side of the road that pointed us in the right direction. As we started on the little hike, the natives said that we needed to be prepared to get wet, a storm was coming in. We got about 25 feet into the trail and there was a covering of banana leaves and it started to down pour, so we took shelter underneath the trees for about 10 minutes. We got a little wet, but it did a pretty good job at keep us from getting drenched. I truly felt like I was in the jungle shelting my family with banana leaves and trees,, what a memory.

As you can imagine, the trail was quite muddy from the recent down pour but we literally trudged through the trail. It was only about a 15 minute walk and the kids did great. Eliza was wearing a little skirt and flip flops and she was walking in the mud right with us.

We got to the falls and had a little snack and let the kids play in the shallow water. It was such a unique place and beautiful atmosphere. What a fun day.

kids growing up

2010-07-14T11:40:00.001-07:00

Fenton is growing up right before our eyes. He is so silly.

The kids have been waking up at 5:30 every morning, like an alarm clock. I told Eliza that it isn't time to wake up yet, and then she said "but the cock a doodle dooed and said good morning". I just laughed.

I don't know why but Eliza is really worried about getting baptized. She is worried about going all the way under and she talks to me everyday how she isn't going to be baptized. But then she said "I will be ok, I will just bring my goggles". She is so silly.

the beach

2010-07-14T11:31:00.001-07:00

My life so far on the island consists of the pool and the beach. There are several beaches within 5 minutes of our house. The water is clear and warm and quite mild, and the sand is soft and clean. The waves are so mild that the kids get in and just float and swim. They love it.
The island is beautiful. It is green and mountainous. It has a bunch of water falls that we need to go explore and some snorkling that we need to do. Here are just a few pictures so to entice few to come visit.

4th of July

2010-07-14T11:23:00.000-07:00

Though the 4th of July is not celebrated here, we got together with a few couples and had our own BBQ on Campus. Ashley made some cake and had an American quiz for us. I made some potato salad, because that is as American as you can get. I hope you all had a great 4th of July and God Bless America.

Living on our Island

2010-07-14T11:14:00.001-07:00

David was accepted to the Keith B. Taylors Scholars program when we was accepted to St. George's medical university. This allowed us to live in Newcastle-upon-tyne for a year and then move to Grenada, West Indies for a year. So the day after Blake's wedding we moved to Grenada. The kids did well on the flights and we were excited to finally get to the island. The transition was sooooo much smoother than moving to England. We had 2 girls come pick us up at the airport, take us to our house we already had prepared, pick up our car, take us grocery shopping and our Internet was already hooked up. We are excited to start the second half of this adventure and that means we are one step closer for going back to America and David is one year closer to finishing medical school.
Here are a couple of maps to see where we have been and where we are now.

Blake's Wedding

2010-07-12T06:25:00.000-07:00

Blake got married!!!!! YEAH!!!!! We are so excited for him and we love his new bride, Estee. They were married June 26 in the Denver Colorado temple. It was such a celebration and great day of family, fun, dancing, weddings, pictures, dresses, suits, and flowers.

The room that Blake got at the wedding generally sits 30-35, well we crammed 72 people into that room to witness these two getting married. It was so special.

After, they had a nice luncheon and then we all rested for the big party that night. Eliza got dressed up and wore her wedding shoes, Fenton had a new tux and pink tie and we were ready to party. It truly was a great night. Eliza played with her cousins and danced all night long. Fenton just wanted to sit and watch the horses but he got up and danced too.

We were so excited to be apart of this wedding. Congrats Blake and Estee.

These are just the pics at the temple but I can't wait to see the pictures from the reception.

Martin's Cove

2010-07-12T06:05:00.000-07:00

My brother Blake was getting married in Denver, CO so we decided to make a trip of getting there, so Clint and his family, my family and my parents spent a day in Martin's cove. For those of you who are not familiar with the Mormon historical site, it is where the Martin hand cart company got caught in a bad winter and many died. It is a very sacred place where many of the faith died and many survived. It was a great experience. David and I had been here before with our parents ward when we were dating. This is the place that I fell in love with David. He has such a great testimony and is such a survivor. It was great to see him in a place that our faith could be tested and also strengthened.
This trip was a bit different, of course with 2 kids, but they were great. We hiked the trail with 2 hand carts and the kids rode in it most of the time. We had lunch and then headed into the actual cove of which you can't bring the hand carts so we carried the kids. We saw rabbits and antelopes. It was a great experience.

As we were watching other wards and families enjoy this same experience the words to "Come come ye saints" came to mind. The line "though hard to you this journey may appear." It is amazing that the journey may appear hard, but I knew what the end was. I knew that there was a promised land so it isn't so hard to walk that far when you know something is better out there that you are trying to achieve. That is how I feel right now in my life. I may not be walking across America but I am on my own journey as I try to support David in medschool, and though this isn't the easiest path, I have faith that the journey is worth it and there is a better place for me after this. I love the gospel that I can learn something about my life from the pioneers a hundred years ago and have greater faith. Isn't that how Heavenly Father works though, with all of the scriptures...

Anyway it was a great day, not too hot and we all made it with no injuries. After we made the 5 mile hike we went to Independence rock and David and I hiked to the top of it.