The park

After we unpacked the U-Haul and returned it, we went the park down the street. This was one of the reasons we picked this apartment. It's location was perfect. Close to campus, the hospitals Paul will be doing some rotations in, and PARKS! Yay! :) This park is particularly amazing. It has a HUGE playground, surrounded by a forest for exploring. Perfect for my boys.

We ALL had fun. Little kids. Big kids. Moms and Dads. Grandmas and Grandpas. Everyone!

It was the night before Christmas and all through the house... Actually, we don't own that story yet, but I'm not too sure that the boys would sit through the whole story anyway. Maybe next year. :) I did call my dad that night (as is the tradition) for him to read me the story. He is quite famous for it. Thanks Dad. :) These little boys settled for a few unrelated stories with their dad and papa. :)

Drive from Phoenix to Miami

So... I don't really do New Year's resolutions. I think it's a good idea to sort of keep yourself in check all year round, not just once a year. BUT... What I would like to get better at is keeping my blog up to date. I am pretty good about posting daily, or at least every other day, but I would like for them to be current too. With that being said, here are picks from the long drive out here from Arizona (December 21st - 24th). It was a 2,400 mile trip and took us about 35 hours of driving, although we stopped for the nights.

I finally got my wallet that Paul overnighted to me. We even hassled the postal workers and tried to get it from them before they put it in another truck and delivered it to the house. I thought that would have been helpful to them, and saved me a few hours, but I guess not. They delivered it to us around 1pm.

Brianna, Colleen and Lee were my sidekicks as we ran around spending up the money left over on my grocery card. They were very helpful, and MUCH appreciated. Thanks guys!

Then Mr. Poppins, I mean, Lee :) packed the U-Haul. He has a very methodical brain and can easily visualize how to make oddly shaped and too many things fit into a tiny space. He got all of our stuff packed into a 4x8 trailer... What?! :) Good job Lee.

Since we didn't leave Arizona until 6:30pm, we didn't make it very far. Sad. We only drove until midnight and stopped somewhere in New Mexico for the night.

We woke up early, drove to Texas...

And drove and drove and drove through Texas. That state is WAY too big. We had a few interesting experiences with bathroom breaks, and running on empty...

We stayed the night in Louisiana (I think), where Colleen tried to capture a small litter of kittens,

then in the morning we drove through Mississipi, Alabama, (not too much to see through those states) and made it to Florida. Hooray!!!

Sadly, we didn't make it all the way to Miami, because Florida (who knew?) is a CRAZY big state. So we stayed the night only a few hours from Paul, Stacy and the boys. I was bummed to not be with them, but getting a good nights sleep was probably the best idea since we all were a little loopy. :)

During the trip there was a little of this:

And a LOT of this. Colleen is a professional sleeper. It's actually impressive. :)

In the morning, we drove HOME. Our new home. I was super excited to see Paul and the boys. Although Paul was excited to see me, the boys didn't really know what to think right away, which was good. Stacy took such good care of them while I was gone. They warmed right up and there was lots of snuggling to be had. I missed them SO much.

I don't have any pictures of what they did here while I was driving, BUT... They were busy! :) Matix got a real big boy bed (pictures to come), Hawken upgraded from the pack and play to a real crib (for the first time in his life). They picked out a Christmas tree, colored Christmas pictures, and made home-made ornaments for the tree. They went to the park just down the street a ton, and soaked up all the Grandma time a little boy could want. :) Thank you Stacy, Lee and Colleen for all your help. It made our trip and transition back to the States SO nice.

The Francois' wagon

Our friends, the Francois family, stopped by before we left to give Matix a ride in their wagon. They built it to look like a car, with a working steering wheel and everything. Amazing, huh? Matix pretty much thought this was the coolest thing ever. He loved it.

They were on their way to do their wash in the river, and Matix asked to go with them. I thought he would turn around half way down the road, but he didn't. :) He "helped" them with their laundry and they brought him back when they were finished.

Before they came back, Paul's friend Darshan, came running into the yard and asked if I knew where Matix was. I said he was down by the river with our friends. And he said, "Oh... (out of breath) I thought he had wandered off, or maybe was taken... He is splashing in the river, and I thought I should grab him and run him back..." He was panting from running all the way to the house, worried Matix had been stolen. :) Thanks Darshan.

Paul's last Dominican adventure

Paul decided to help a local lady, Birdie, with her roof on her house. It was very old and leaking, and with all the rain, things seemed pretty bad. Paul raised the money to pay for the roof, tools, nails, supports, everything. He even put in all his birthday money he got this year. He got enough money and the day before we left, he and some of his friends met up at her house and got to work.

As with ALL of Paul's projects, this one took way longer than he had initially planned. He thought with all the help he had, that it would take only the morning. They started at 8am. Well, after many, many, delays and problems (broken tools, smashed and bleeding fingers, and lots of rain), they finished at 4:30pm.

The finished product was perfect. Birdie was happy and thankful. Paul is such an amazing person. So giving and thoughtful. I am so proud that he is my hubby.

Jessie's last Dominican adventure

My last adventure in Dominica was hiking back to the hidden hot springs. Liz had showed me where they were before she left, and then I passed it on to Tracy, Monica, and Jacki. This first attempt in, I got lost. It was VERY muddy and not at all how I remembered it. We went back out to the road re-grouped, rinsed the mud off in the river, and tried again.

This time it was a breeze. Just as I remembered it, and no mud. Thank goodness. Tracy carried Matix for me and I carried Hawken. Seeing the starfruit tree on the way in meant we were going the right way. These fruit were HUGE too. YUM! :)

We made it to the hot springs and pools. I love it there!

On the way out Matix kept shouting, "I a jundle boy!" (I'm a jungle boy).

What a fun adventure. I am glad I showed Jacki, Tracy and Monica the secret hot springs. That way they can show it to more people when they leave the island in a few semesters. So fun.

Dominica

Returning the glass bottles from the soda. We loaded up the little stroller and walked them over to Rosie's snackette. I will miss doing things like that. See the big pothole/mud puddle right in front of our house? I will not miss that.

last package on the island

Back on the island, the week we left (talk about good timing), Hawken got his last birthday gift from my sister Robin and her family. It was a fun surprise. Paul also got his last gift too. Hawken got a new book (which he LOVES) and a cool motorcycle (which has been claimed by Matix) :) Thanks guys for thinking of Hawken. He loves you!

Paul got a new pair of trunks. They are Matix brand, which is what they usually get for Paul. He LOVES them. :) As you can see by his excited face. Thanks again!

Reunion with Liz and Emmy!!

Hooray hooray for America and all the reunions it brings!!! :) We drove up to Orlando to go to a friends wedding (pictures and a post about that to come) and we got to stop and see Liz and Emmy!!! Hooray! :) Look at these pictures. They have to marry each other now... :) Adorable.

Little miss Emmy is cuter than ever. We had fun playing at Liz's parent's house. They are from Wisconsin and are pretty fun. We get along well. :) They have an amazing backyard and the little boys had SO much fun. Paul went with Liz's brothers to hunt for gators... Yes. Gators. They didn't find any, which I was a little relieved about. :) Fun adventures.