Play, Play and More Play........

We love to go to the many parks they have around here. So I thought I would post a few pics of here on a couple of our many trips to the parks.  Cooper will run as hard as he can for hours when we go. It is perfect for him to get some of that energy out.

This is Cooper with a few of his friends Mylee and Evie. They are also our next door neighbors who will be here until April.

He loves to get some mommy time! I also love it!

Daddy and his little girl! She is always sticking that tongue out now that she is cutting a tooth. Darin had to make sure that I was getting the mountains in the background. If you talk to him make sure you comment on the beautiful mountains!

Cooper made a new little Tico friend. This is a big metal boat that goes back and forth and is very loud. All the kids love it though!

This is our neighbor Gabrielle. We are just playing on the monkey bars remembering when we were kids.

It was really cute watching both of them learning how exactly this thing worked.

My big boy! He is growing up so fast. Does it ever slow down? It seems like it is just flying by so far. He is going to be 4 this year. Is that really possible. Surely it will slow down. Right?

REALLY! WHAT NEXT??????

This week has felt like a real roller coaster ride.  We started out in the week with school orientation.  We got to have an oral exam and then a written exam so they would know how much spanish we truly DON'T know. So then two nights ago we were getting ready to go to bed and Darin heard someone crawling on the roof.  So he goes outside and I of course lock the door behind him and praying that nobody would jump down to get him because I was not going to open the door and let them get to my sleeping babies.  So we were looking around for about 30 minutes. Darin said he couldn't see completely on the roof because they could have just been laying down. So we came in turned all the lights off, got in bed and about 20 minutes later we heard it again. They were trying to hurry and crawl off of the roof though. So we finally got to sleep around 1:30 and are beautiful kids decided to wake up at 5:30. We were exhausted.

So yesterday we are at the school with Cooper and Avery waiting to have a scheduled meeting with the head person at the school when all of the sudden everything was shaking.  It kept going and going and everyone was running out of the buildings and the Tico's were crying. It was pretty scary. Well, it ended up being a 6.1 earthquake. Cooper enjoyed it of course.  But I actually got pretty dizzy. It didn't just have a sudden stop.  It just kept going back and forth slower and slower. The head lady has lived here for 20 years and said it was the worst she has ever felt.  Then later in the news they said it was the worst in 25 years and two girls did die in a landslide that was caused from it.

Then later last night we were getting to skype with Nana and Papaw and Cooper was all excited to tell Papaw something and he slipped off the chair and hit his eye on the wooden arm of another chair. It immediately started swelling and then turned blue.  He screamed and screamed and we actually had to get off with them.  Sorry Papaw and Nana, we love you all and hope to skype again soon.  So we got him calmed down and to bed.  Then I heard a gecko in the house. So some say it is good to have them in here but I am no Ace Ventura so Darin had to catch it and get it out of the house.  So we then got to bed around midnight and Cooper woke up with a nightmare around 2am.  So we were calming him down and he asked Darin to pray for him, which almost put me to tears.  Just a reminder from my three year old son that we should take everything to the Lord first and foremost.  Then right after he feel asleep we heard someone run across our roof, again.  So we stayed up for quite a while and we prayed about it.

I felt so relaxed after that just knowing that the Lord is so much bigger and that Satan is doing everything he can to frighten us.  Which don't get me wrong he is getting his job done at times.  But just the reminder of God is in control and only his grace is sufficient.  Look at what he has got us thru already: Lost luggage finally arrived, Cooper's surgery two weeks into our stay, a mouse was caught in the house and there is much more.  So who knows what Satan or the Lord has in store for us, but all we can do is just Praise the Lord for each trial, tribulation and victory.  The Lord has put us here for a reason and we must give Him all the glory!

So this morning we start out tired and one with a black eye, but we just ask for your pray for strength, wisdom, protection, energy and most of all that we acknowledge the Lord in everything we do. 

White Sands, Pools and Sunsets!

What an amazing getaway. This trip was right before Christmas but haven't had time to blog about it yet. It was pretty cheap with all meals included. We all took a public bus ride that was almost three hours. It wasn't too bad except they also sell tickets for people to stand in the middle of the aisle. So that made an interesting trip!

This was one of the views from the bus! It was very pretty and a little scary taking all these sharp curves and one lane bridges in this huge bus. 

Cooper was a little tired from the bus ride so he caught a luggage ride to the room.

This is one of the two beaches we could go to. The closest one had darker sand and the one that we would catch a little tram to and ride about 5 minutes had white sand! It was just so nice to be at the beach, but we did enjoy the white sand one more!

This is one of three pools. The kids pool was amazing. Cooper could touch through the entire thing. It even had that little thing in the corner of the picture that had water coming down from it and you could walk through it. Cooper loved the pool!

We didn't really fix Cooper's hair this way! He was just so hot and sweaty that it stayed that way after playing with it. Kinda cute though. What do you think?

This is what Avery thought of the beach!

She woke up not knowing what to think. Can you tell she has a very frightened look on her face!

Avery's first step into the sand. Not really sure what to think about it. 

Should I cry or should I smile?

Cooper liked Avery's float more than his. I think he likes to take anything she has though.

Two gook lookin' guys if I may say so!

The kids loved watching the monkey's at breakfast! There were five or six of them around at that time!  Cooper and Darin could have stood there all morning watching them but we had to get to the pool.

This was the gang building a mermaid on Jake. Well Cooper kept saying, "Look mommy, we're making Ariel."  He didn't quite know what the chest was so he kept putting sticks in there. It was pretty funny!

Avery enjoyed sitting and the stroller while just feeling the breeze and looking at the ocean.

We then put here in the turtle float and let her lay out in the sun. She loved getting to sunbath.

A family picture! Well, you can't tell it is Avery but she was so fascinated at the sand and water that she wouldn't look up. So this is the best we could get.

I am not sure why Cooper had these on. He would not even think about going under the water.

Ok, he must have only been wearing it to make a cute picture! Thanks Coop!

Besides monkeys, iguanas, lizards, birds...... there were also raccoons. This one came to the pool and decided to steal Cooper's banana off of the chair. They were not scared of people at all. One even came and sniffed the leg of one of our friends. I didn't like that part of all. They are just nasty animals. 

I did not even bring a bathing suit to Costa Rica. So thanks Crystal for letting me borrow one.

The baby pool was really amazing. It had a slope that Avery loved to sit and crawl on. Perfect for her to get to play in the water as well.

Well it was time to leave and Cooper was very sad about it. He thought we were moving again. So when we did get back home he said that he wanted to go back to the other house. Poor guy thinks we are always moving now. Nothing that ice cream can't help calm down and make everything be alright.

WOW! We are so blessed!

Wow, the Lord is so sweet in his timing. I was pretty down this past week about Christmas and being away from friends and family but how the Lord just truly blessed me this past Wednesday. Since school being out we can only check our mail on Wednesdays. So this is a picture of the kids right before we left to take the long walk to go and check our mail.

WE HAD MAIL! Not only mail, but packages! We were so excited. Avery was so happy that she tried to bite right into it.

This is Cooper with a few of the packages in the mail room. Sorry about the blur, it is more for security reasons.

Darin could have been more excited then the kids. Ok, maybe I was!

We got a package from Nana with lots of goodies, Darin a bible, Cooper movies, Avery some stockings (panty hose), lots of medicine for the kids and me some earrings. There were of course alot more then that! Then Baga , (my mom) sent Avery some clothes and shoes and some goodies as well. Nana, Papaw and Baga already gave Christmas gifts but they decided to send more. Thanks so much and we love and miss you all more the words could ever express.  Also we got a package from our Sunday School class. It had Christmas cards from lots of them, some incredible fudge from Amber, lots of goodies, some books and then a movie from Lane Stokes. This is Cooper holding his movie. Thanks Lane! 

Then, after all that we had another package to open that was from Cliff and Nikki. They sent Avery a new bunny blanket. Which Nikki is the one that got her hooked on the first one. They also sent Cooper a neat little Cars thing that has magnets all in it and a Cars jacket that lights up and a book (even though it could have been for Avery but Cooper decided to claim it). They also sent me and Darin a gift certificate and some candy. Well we say that candy is for us and not Cooper! They always go overboard but we appreciate it all very much. 

This is a picture that Lily Bug made for Cooper. He loved seeing all the Dora stickers on there.

It really is true love when you make pictures for one another!

Here is Cooper and Avery in the middle of most of the stuff. They were so excited. 

As you can tell Avery got some headbands and bows from Baga. That is why she has three of them on her head.

Thank you everyone for your generosity and giving to us in this busy time. It helps so much knowing that people are thinking about you. We really do appreciate everything so much!

Here is Cooper with his jacket and magnet set from Lily. It was one of the warmest days and he insisted to leave the jacket on almost all day!

Avery really enjoyed the candy! Ok, she didn't eat the candy but she loved the crinkly noise the plastic made.

After all of this great stuff the Lord didn't want to stop the blessings! Mom gave me a call and said that Jonathan and Jenny Buhl gave her lots of little Katy's clothes that were too small to give to Avery! I was so pumped. You really don't know how tight your budget is until you get here. So thanks Jonathan and Jenny for giving those to us. I sure hope little Avery will be as cute in them as little Katy. We love you all and just pray the Lord will bless you as much as you have just blessed us!

Thank you everyone for lifting our spirits and just helping us through the difficult times! We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Costa Rican Christmas

Christmas was very different for us this year! It was really hard not being with family. We did get to skype and that helped a little. But we felt a little bored. Cooper opened his presents in record time and then we took a nap after that. It was very hard buying gifts this year since we don't have room to take stuff with us to Mexico. So there wasn't many gifts. Which that isn't what Christmas is all about right? Cooper was still very happy and understood Christmas a little more.

One of his gifts were his first pair of boxer shorts (you know, instead of the underwear). He was happy that it was Spider Man, but from the picture Avery looks like she is more amazed by it. Or maybe she is still asleep since her brother decided to wake her up!

He was so happy that we got a baby stroller for Avery. Ok, so we said it was for Avery so they would have the same amount of gifts but we knew Cooper would play with it more. Every time we go to someone's house he always plays with the baby stroller. He is the only little boy on our street so he just wanted to fit in. He does push his cars in it at times. So maybe that makes it more manly.

Avery got a little toy that I am not going to try to spell. But she only likes to suck on the ball of the stick. I know, this isn't safe at all. We had to get a picture of her!

After he opened his presents he said, "I wanna do it again!"

So we all took naps and then we watched the Disney Parade. Avery doesn't usually dress like that, she just woke up from her nap that way. I really think it is from Cooper trying to help her get out of the crib.

All the "gringos" went to eat lunch at our director's house. We ate lots of food and desserts but it just wasn't Mom's candy, Angie's banana pudding, Phyllis' lasagna, Grandma's fruit salad, Mamaw Reba's sweet potato casserole, Sarah's red velvet cake and must I go on? We miss all the good food that we get to eat this time of year. But the food was good here and it beats the sandwiches we ate on Christmas Eve!

This picture is the guys trying to save the coffee beans that they kids decided to run through!

These are all the girls playing dominoes (Mexican train/Tico train) while the guys are in the house watching the bull fights. Now that is a different Christmas show!

All the kids had musical instruments running around like crazy! I think this picture is right after Cooper decided to just pull his pants down and pee. Buddy when he gets any urge he just pulls them down. Doesn't matter where, when or whose around. Just hope you are around to pull them back up and get him to a potty!

Here is our little nut on Christmas!

And then here is our little chunkster on Christmas as well.

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! We missed everyone so much!