Cutting the Lifeline...

I won't be posting new blog entries for awhile- Tim has to go turn off our phone and internet today. When we get into the TLF on Tuesday we'll have access to internet again, but our laptop is awful about uploading photos. I'll at least provide written updates. Let's all see how long Jen can survive without her daily internet fix, shall we? It may not be pretty.

Ethan's Birthday Party!

Ethan doesn't actually turn 7 until next Thursday, June 5th. Since Grandma and Grandpa were here, though, we had it early. Ethan is an absolutely great kid. He fits into our family so perfectly (even though he gets teased by his older brothers) and makes us complete. On a Mother's Day card he made last month, he wrote that, "My Mom loves me because I am her favorite kid". I'm so glad he feels my love for him! I hope that each of my children feels that they are my favorite... because they are!

Here are seven things I love about Ethan:

1- Every morning, at family scripture study, he wants to cuddle up next to me while we read.

2-He is a super-smart genius kid. Seriously. When he was in preschool, I would try to work on letters with him, and he just refused. Then one day, when he was about 4 1/2, he asked me how you sound out words. I showed him one word. He could read. Makes me feel a little superfluous sometimes.

3- Ethan LOVES airplanes and helicopters, and can tell you what they are when you pass the airstrip here.

4- He is really good at playing with his little sisters.

5- He can carry on a monologue about Star Wars, helicopters, or futuristic spaceships indefinitely.

6- Kids who don't have many friends call him their best friend.

7- Even though he is the fourth of 6 kids, and has every right to have middle child "issues", he loves me, and he knows that I love him!

This is Ethan's tiger birthday cake. It turned out way cuter than I thought it would. Kinda makes up for the horrendously ugly Barbie cake I made for Emma's birthday.

Touring Terceira

I'm thinking I really should have posted every day about this last week... now I probably won't remember everything that we did, and this will possibly be my longest post yet. Oh well. I'll try, anyway. Friday morning, I took Mom and Dad to the kids' school, so they could chaperone Price and Josh's field trip to Angra do Heroismo. This is the biggest city on the island, with about 25,000 people. They got to tour the museum and the gardens, as well as supervise a whole bunch of 4th and 5th graders. The above photo is from our trip to the beach after school. It was a gorgeous day, so we got the kids into swimsuits and headed for our neighborhood swimming hole. The water isn't exactly warm yet, but it's getting there, and the sun was warm enough to compensate. The best part was the little girl who was there "saving" jellyfish. May here is apparently jellyfish season, because they were everywhere- not so much where the kids were swimming, but a little farther out, toward the ocean. Every time a wave came in, this girl would take her bucket, full of water, and go to find all the jellies that had been washed onto the shore. She would very carefully pick each jelly up by the back of its body, avoiding the tentacles, and put it into her bucket. She told us that she was doing it because she likes jellyfish, and she would dump them back into the water when there weren't so many people around.


Saturday morning, we woke up and got ready bright and early to go to our friend Rachel's baptism. It was on the opposite side of the island, so we drove for a while until we got to Quatro Ribeiras. We'd never been to this particular swimming hole before, and we were so glad we got to go! In the first place, it was an absolutely gorgeous spot, with waterfalls, an old mill with cool millstones, and a really amazing swimming area- lots of big rocks, cliffs, and stairs, all connected by cement. It was a place that would have been totally inaccessible, made accessible by the intervention of man. Probably never would have happened in the States... but we were glad it was there! Also, the baptism was amazing- this was not like the other ocean baptism I have attended... no sand bottom and gently rolling waves for us. No, our friend Jed had to struggle for balance on the rocks in pretty deep, rough water... and this was after he stepped into the ocean and went underwater himself. He did manage not to let go of Rachel, though, so everything was good.



When the baptism was done, we drove up through the middle of the island, back towards home. We had planned to do a hike that we've done before, but the fog was so thick up there that we wouldn't have seen anything. Instead, we tried another one. It was a pretty easy hike, about 5 kilometers long. For part of the trail, we were following wheel ruts in the rock, some of which were created before 1820. I can't even imagine driving a donkey cart over the terrain we were walking. Pretty crazy.


Sunday, Mom and Dad got to attend church in our tiny branch- Mom even came to nursery with me. It's more fun when there is another adult to talk to! That evening, we drove to the top of Serra do Cume, a high ridge which kind of divides the coastal region of Praia from the farming interior (literally the interior of a caldera). The road at the top was closed for construction, so we took a walk around the loop. Annie had a good time looking through the binoculars.


Monday morning, we were all very excited for the long-awaited dolphin watching trip. You had to be 5 or older to go, so we left Annie with Karla for the morning. The older kids, Tim and Mom had a great time on the trip. There was beautiful scenery, fun waves to get splashed by, and Portuguese Man-O-Wars and birds to watch. There were, however, no dolphins. We were out for over 3 hours and didn't even see a fin. The rest of us didn't care much about the lack of marine life... we were more interested in getting back to the port and off of the boat. Ethan threw up 4 times, Emma once, and Dad and I just wished we could. Too much information, I know. Oh well, at least we can say we've done it now, and I know not to get back on a boat ...ever again... for the rest of my life!

That evening, after our stomachs had settled a bit, the adults set out for a restaurant that we'd heard about from a few people- "Os Moinhos", or "The Mill". It is literally made out of an old stone mill, and had tons of ambience. The food was pretty good, too, but very salty. That's pretty typical, but still a little annoying. While we were waiting for the place to open, we walked around Sao Sebastiao. The above picture is the spirit house there.


Tuesday we drove into Praia. It is the second biggest town, and has the only long stretch of sandy beach on the island. We did a little shopping, saw the old church (built in the 14-1500's!), and drove up to the statue of Mary that overlooks the port there. After school was out, we drove up into the middle of the island, toured the cave and the fumaroles that remind us we live on a volcano, and saw the BIG, black, mean-looking bulls that live up there. These are former bullfight contestants. Here, they don't kill the bull after the fight, but honor it by putting it out to pasture for the rest of its life. I don't think I'll be hopping the wall any time soon.


Sorry for the very long travelogue. To sum it up, we have had a great time with Mom and Dad, and are not anxious for them to go home on Friday. It's a good thing we're coming home soon, or we'd be really sad to see them leave!

Visitors!

The day that we have been anticipating for seven long months finally came... Grandma and Grandpa came to visit! We picked them up at the airport Wednesday morning, and have been having a great time together ever since. Wednesday we went for a walk on the boardwalk, and on a drive through part of the island.


Today, we drove all the way around the island... that isn't as big an endeavor as it sounds, since it only takes 1 1/2 hours if you don't stop. We did stop, so it took 3 1/2. Lots of beautiful scenery- they had fun, I think. Tomorrow, they get to be chaperones for Price and Josh's field trip to the gardens and museum in Angra. I think, that by the time they leave next Friday, they may be pretty worn out. Or we will be. Or both. We love having them here- 9 months was too long!

37 1/2

Today is Tim's half-birthday! We don't normally celebrate these things at our house, but it seems like a good excuse for a post. We even had cookies and ice cream to celebrate (never mind that it was family night).

Tim is a wonderful husband and Dad- and he has to put up with a lot from all of us! Tonight, when I complained about the ear-splitting game of Uno that ended family home evening, he told me I should "embrace the noise." He's probably right. I'm glad we are traveling this path together- he makes it way more fun.

Isn't he cute?

Itchy Head

There are certain things in life that, having never experienced them, I dread. When one of these things actually occurs, it is sometimes a relief to know that I can get through this... I can handle just about anything. Friday I had the opportunity to stretch myself once again, when I discovered that Annie had head lice. Yuck. I know. Stop reading now if you have a weak stomach.

I was just getting ready to do her hair Friday morning when I looked down and saw movement. I was partially prepared for this, since I knew that another family in our branch had them, and it was a possibility. After ascertaining that the movement did, indeed, come from multiple tiny bugs on her scalp, I called Tim. This is usually my first line of action in any emergency. Being the noble husband and father that he is, he took matters into his own hands. Tim took the kids down to the nurse's office at the school, had them checked out (all clean), went in and told the principal he was taking half a sick day, stopped at the store for lice shampoo, and came home. With him, he brought a special $10 lice comb that the nurse loaned him. Do you see why I married this man?

We set up a chair in front of the computer, set up a DVD for Annie to watch, and started in on the nitpicking. Gross. She ended up not too badly infested... I only found 15 bugs and about the same number of nits (eggs) on her head. I think probably she hadn't had them for too long (we were at the house of the other infested family on Wednesday- and no, I didn't know they had a problem until we were getting ready to leave).

I went through her hair again this morning (literally, with a fine-toothed comb) and didn't find any new bugs. I am so looking forward to daily searches for the next week or so. I hope my poor back and eyes survive. On the positive side, the nurse says she is fine to be out in public.

Now that you've read this... does your head itch? (Shudder)

One more thing to check off...

The final concert of the Lajes Elementary Chorus was last night. This was a big relief to me, since I have been accompanying on the piano twice a week for several months. We're done! Josh was the only one of my kids singing this time around- and he is the main reason I agreed to play again. As I was trying to decide whether or not to say "yes" to the choir director for the second time, I asked Josh if he was going to sing this time. He said he was. I asked if he would still sing if I weren't a part of the chorus, and he said no. So guess what? I played.


Both concerts this year turned out really nicely. It's the rehearsals that give me high blood pressure. Apparently the same kids who like to sing enjoy talking, also. A LOT. Oh well- not my problem anymore!

At Christmas, the concert included the middle/high school bands, and Rebekah, Price and Josh were all involved. This time around, it was mainly the elementary chorus, with a small high school choir singing one song, and a percussion ensemble, also. The best numbers, in my opinion, were the combined patriotic songs at the end. They gave me goosebumps. Good job, guys!

Rebekah's band concert was a couple of weeks ago. We got there, sat down, and started reading the program. We were a little surprised to see that Rebekah had two solos! She had never said a word. I'm not sure if it's humility or if she is just practicing being a teenager. She was wonderful- I was super proud of her. The rest of the band was okay (1st year, 6th and 7th graders, you get the picture), but Rebekah's solos were beautiful- and I'm not just saying that because I'm her mom! (Well, that might have something to do with it.)

These pictures are from the performance we did during school for the students and teachers. I asked Price's teacher if he could come sit by Emma and Annie to make sure they didn't run around- he did great. It is so nice to have older kids to help with the younger ones- and they never even complain (about that- there is plenty of complaining about dishes, piano practicing, making beds...). My kids are great!

I should really be doing something else...

No, really. I have so much to do, and so little time to do it in, but somehow I can't quite manage to make myself do it... yet.

I have exactly 8 days until my Mom and Dad come to visit. Hooray! We are so excited to have them come! Their visit won't take too much preparation on my part... just some food shopping and maybe a little de-junking of noticeable bad spots in our home. I do have a cleaning lady, after all. Having them here will be wonderful... we can hardly wait!

The real problem starts when they leave. Their flight home is on Friday, May 30th. On Monday, June 2nd, the movers come. I have done NOTHING to prepare for this day. I know, at least I have other people packing my stuff, but I will have to have everything separated out before they come- what we're taking with us, things we want to get rid of, etc. That same day, we have to take our car to the port to have it shipped back to Utah (actually to California, and then we have to go get it... lots of fun). That means that I will be supervising pack-out and trying to get the house clean afterwards without a car. I'm really hoping someone has one for us to borrow for a few days.

After the house is packed and clean, and the keys given back to the landlord, we will settle in at the TLF (basically the hotel on base) for 2 1/2 weeks. I am not looking forward to this time, since being trapped on base without a car is not my idea of fun. I am excited, though, that this flurry of activity/ living with our 6 kids in two hotel rooms precipitates moving back to Utah! I have loved our time here, but it will be really nice to get back. Especially for our family reunion in July!

Okay, I've psyched myself up now.... I'm off to find a drawer to sort through....

Laundry Ponderings...

Why is it that, although I have a husband and three sons, there are seven white church shirts in the laundry today?

Rebekah's Birthday/Mother's Day

Self Portrait

Rebekah made it out of Primary! She had a great birthday yesterday- a date with Mom to the bowling alley, lunch, shopping (three new shirts and scented body spray) and ice cream. Then home for more presents, cake and ice cream. She asked for an i-pod cake. This is how it turned out. I am not the best cake decorator around, but hey- I tried.


Today was Rebekah's first day in Young Women! She was so excited, and they were extremely glad to have her, too. Up to now, the young women's program here has consisted of two sisters with their Mom as leader- so they're glad to extend out of the family! They all came into church and hugged Rebekah this morning. I'm glad she felt so welcomed.
Since today was Mother's Day, I was also able to reflect on my years as a mother. Rebekah's 12th birthday marks 12 years of motherhood for me. In some ways it seems like it was yesterday, and in other ways I feel I've lived several lifetimes since then.
Sometimes, I wonder about my ability to help all of my children learn, grow and thrive, and to feel the extent of my love. I can only be split so many ways, after all. On Friday, Ethan brought a Mother's Day card home. In part, it said, "My Mom loves me because I am her favorite kid." I am so glad that he feels that. My prayer is that I can try my hardest to be a good Mom, and then rely on the Lord to make up the difference. I believe that is what the Atonement is all about.
Being a Mom is harder than anything else I've done, but it also the most rewarding thing I've ever done... by a long shot. I am so humbled that Heavenly Father has entrusted these six souls to us. And if my kids are reading this... thanks for the PB/banana French toast this morning. It was yummy!

The Full Azorean Experience

Driving in the Azores, you never know what's going to be sharing the streets with you. Cars, buses (the drivers are fearless- they drive down narrow streets that I'm nervous about in my minivan!), tractors, "putt-putt cars" (tiny little things with motorcycle engines), cows, and wooden carts pulled by a horse or donkey. Yesterday, I even saw a tiny, ancient man, staggering along, trying to carry an armload of long bamboo sticks down the middle of the road. That was a first. I think alcohol was probably involved. Add in the width of the roads, the fact that there is very little off-road parking, and the tendency of Portuguese drivers to stop in the middle of the road when they need to talk on their cell phone, and driving can often feel like an insane obstacle course.

Tuesday, I had a horse cart run into me! These carts are used all over the island, mostly to transport milk from the fields where the cows are milked to the central dairies.

The "crash" was quite dramatic- I was driving down a narrow street near our house, and the cart was coming towards me. Normally, the horses/donkeys that pull these things are bomb proof- nothing disturbs their quiet plodding. This horse, however, was a little nervous, and really didn't like it when a car passed him just before he got to me. For a minute, I thought he was going to run straight up my hood- I was completely stopped by this time, but he kept coming. At the very last second, the horse veered around my hood, but the cart ran into my bumper. I think it's probably a good thing I don't understand Portuguese very well, because the two people on the cart (a man and his teenage daughter) were really letting the horse know what they thought of him. They were pretty nervous that I would be angry, but seriously... what was I going to do? Ask for their insurance information? I just smiled and told them it was okay.

Luckily, when I checked the bumper, I found nothing more than a tiny black smudge from the cart tire. Even if there had been something more, it would just have added to the myriad scrapes that I have inflicted on the car since we've been here- there are just way too many tight corners, narrow openings through volcanic rock walls, and roads just barely wide enough for two cars to scrape (literally) by each other to avoid a few scratches. Fortunately, there hasn't been anything too serious. We're going to need a little body work when we get the car back to the States!

By the way, the picture here isn't one I took- just something I found online. This is a much nicer looking horse than most here. Normally, there are sad-looking little ponies pulling the carts.

Things I'll Miss

For Family Home Evening this Monday night, we took a hike up the hill near our home. It's not a long hike, but it's pretty steep, and has a wonderfully rewarding view at the top. We could see this whole end of the island. Standing there, looking out over our island, I started to think about all the things I will miss when I'm back in Utah. Here, in no particular order, are a few of them.

The ocean. No surprise here. I've never before lived close enough to the ocean to walk there every day, and I may not ever again. I love the beautiful, changing colors, the crashing of the waves that I can hear from our house, and how quickly the mood can change. One day the waves will be calm and smooth, the next day huge and pounding. I will suffer ocean withdrawals, for sure.


Stone walls. I love how everything here is surrounded by hand-piled, black stone walls. The locals probably aren't so enamored of them, considering that the rock had to come out of the fields they are trying to plow. However, the character and geometry these walls give to the countryside is priceless.


Instant hot water. I don't know the reasons that Americans insist on heating 30 gallons of water and then leaving it there until ready to use, but I have fallen in love with our little "flash" heaters. Upon turning a tap, I have hot water within a few seconds, and I NEVER run out. Unless we run out of gas, that is. Calling the gas guy to deliver our canisters because we've run out again is something I won't miss.

Missionaries. I know there are missionaries everywhere, but in Utah we just don't have the same access to them that we do here. I have so much appreciated the elder's influence on my children, especially my boys. We have loved being able to feed them and give them a little taste of home.


The beach. I know, I already said the ocean, but this is not the same thing, trust me. Here, to go to the beach, we can go three blocks, walk down 2 stairs, and sit in our beach chairs, on the cement, while the kids play in the sand and water feet away from us. I know I'm a wimp, but I'm way more likely to take the kids to the beach if I don't have to get dirty! Besides that, I've found that there is nowhere better than the beach to make us a happy, no-bickering, everyone-gets-along family.


Time with my family. We have had a unique 10 months here- fewer commitments, less challenging church callings, more time together, and nowhere to go except around the island! While this hasn't always been super fun, it has created many, many opportunities for our family to get to know "us" better. We know what we want for our family- eternity. I think this time has helped us to come just a little bit closer to that.


Flowers. All year round. They're not always as spectacular as Utah flowers in the spring, but I love that there is always something blooming.


The school. Like any school, ours has its strengths and weaknesses, but the kids have had the best teachers this year, they have an awesome speech therapist for Price, Josh and Annie, and they have "specials" out the wazoo: P.E., Music, Art, Computers, and Host Nation (learning the language and culture of Portugal). I hope that the kid's school experience next year is as good as this year was.

I don't know exactly what is coming for our family, but I do know that Heavenly Father is watching out for us. He will guide us to the places and opportunities that are best for us. I know that, because He brought us here.

I will miss the Azores.

24 Things About Me

Thanks for the tag, Debie. It's really silly how excited I got about being tagged... pathetic, I know. So here goes... try not to get too jealous of my super-exciting life.

*Four places I go over and over-

Lajes Elementary/High School
The commissary
The base post office
Walking on the boardwalk along the ocean.


*Four people who email me-

The school (including kid's teachers)

Allrecipes (The Daily Dish)

Mom and Dad Walker (on a mission in Australia)

Juli (soon I'll be back in Utah and we can TALK again!)


*Four of my favorite foods-
(Are you kidding me? Narrow it down to four? I'll try...)

Cheesecake- or anything else with cream cheese in it.

Peach Cobbler- my ultimate comfort food.

Cream of Wheat with butter, brown sugar and raisins

A perfectly ripe nectarine


*Four places I'd rather be right now-

Here, but with Mom and Dad (2 1/2 weeks!)

At our family reunion

At BYU Women's Conference

Anywhere with my sisters and friends


*Four movies I could watch over and over again-
Sorry, this question really isn't relevant to my life- I don't like watching movies over and over again. Instead, I'm going to list the four movies I've been cajoled into watching over and over in the last few weeks.

The Princess and the Pauper (Barbie)

Barbie Island Princess

Go Diego Go

Various Dora the Explorer Videos


Can you tell I have little girls?

*Four people I think will respond (this is a tag invitation)-

Marian (because she LOVES being tagged)

Sarah (ditto)

Liz (my cousin)

Jenni (or Matt, if you can talk him into it!)