Daddy's Little Helper

Our dryer had a few issues the other day (it is a natural gas dryer from the States that has to be converted to propane), so Linc went to work trying to fix it. Kylee saw what Daddy was doing & decided that she wanted to help...

It's no surprise that she wants to make her Daddy proud. After all, when he is always doing cool things like building her a big house out of the washer/dryer boxes, why wouldn't she?

(This house includes windows, a door with a handle, and a covered porch!)

P.S. I love the things that I notice when I am uploading my pictures...like the fact that Kylee was touching the dirty mop the whole time that I was taking the dryer pics. Whatever. :)

Tonala, Mexico

 Thomas & Lincoln didn't have school this past Monday, because it was a Mexican holiday. We took advantage of their time off & followed Thomas & Jenn to a town about 30 minutes away, called Tonala. It is basically a town filled with vendors, who sell things for pretty cheap. We needed a toy box for Kylee's room & a desk for Lincoln, so we were excited to see what Tonala had to offer. On the way there, I realized just how nice the part of Mexico is that we live in. It was pretty crazy to see how quickly things changed once we were out of the city. 

When we arrived in Tonala, we parked in a parking lot...right in front of this guy.

 How funny is that? A random horse living in front of the parking lot? He gave me a great smile when I took his picture though! (I should have told Kylee that her teeth would look like the horse's if she keeps drinking her bath water!)

 Family picture by a random skeleton...

Kylee got really excited when she saw this horse ride. It only cost 2 pesos (like 20 cents)...these normally cost like $2 in the States, don't they? That's my kind of ride! And I have to say, I think Kylee makes an awfully cute cowgirl!

 We finished our trip with a yummy lunch...

We didn't find what we were looking for in Tonala, but we did get a dish drying rack (since we don't have a dishwasher here) and some cool laundry baskets. We also ate at a yummy restaurant while we were there. We will definitely be taking another trip to Tonala sometime fairly soon. It was a lot of fun!

Getting Adjusted

Trying to get settled into our new home has been quite the task. Since we moved almost a month into Lincoln's first semester of school, we have been trying to make sure that he studies every night, while still trying to get things done. I don't have a car during the day & don't know how to communicate effectively with anyone yet...so Linc & I have to run errands when he his home. Things here in Mexico seem to take a lot longer too. (For example, our downstairs bathroom doesn't work. The plumber was supposed to come a week ago. We are still waiting for him. Apparently that is kind of normal here.) So needless to say, things have been kind of crazy these past two weeks.

It was quite the task getting our new mattresses upstairs when we moved in. Luckily Linc had some friends to help him...

We moved in without a fridge or dishes. Thank goodness for nice friends who invited us over to eat with them. On the other days, we settled for fast food or tacos. They even have Burger King here...

(Apparently Linc's fries were quite fascinating.)

What do you do when you don't have Saran Wrap or Ziploc bags yet? This...

(Can you tell we are in Mexico? Beans, guac, red sauce, refried beans? :) )

Because we didn't have a microwave either, Kylee & I were lucky enough to eat things like cold tostadas. Kylee didn't seem to mind...

We also have to constantly remind Kylee that she can't drink the water when she is taking a bath. We use the words "yucky" & "owies" a lot here. :)

Now that we have most of the big items that we need, we are slowly adjusting to running a household here. We still have some work to do, but we'll get there!

Some More Pics

Here are a few random pictures that we took before we moved into our own place. They don't really need much explanation...

Love this girl!!!

Leaving Our Cousins

We sure will miss seeing our cousins everyday! Kylee loves playing with Kirtlyn, Thomas, Hyrum & Maya.
Kylee is obsessed with Maya & calls every baby she sees "Mayna".

The kids were so sweet to Kylee. They kept her company while she was sick...

And kept her entertained in the car.

Kylee definitely enjoyed not being stuck with just me everyday!

I will miss eating Thomas's yummy food, my daily conversations with Jenn, putting on makeup with Kirtlyn, listening to little Thomas's songs, telling Hyrum every morning that he is cute & funny and hearing him exclaim, "I'm NOT cute! I'm just funny!", and seeing Maya's huge grins. Luckily, they still live close by. We can never thank Thomas & Jenn enough for all that they've done for us since we've been here. I have NO idea what we would have done without them. Thank you, thank you, thank you Thomas & Jenn! We love you guys!!!

Our House!!!

Here is a picture of our home here in Mexico. It definitely has its quirks, and I still have a lot of work to do to get it in order, but we love it! I'll take pictures of the inside in the next week or two. (Don't you think Mexican-style describes it well? :) )
 P.S.- We have INTERNET now! Yahoo!!!

Another Week

Another week has gone by and I still don't have Internet or a phone. I have to admit, it is getting a little old. However, we made a lot of progress in other areas this week. We bought a refrigerator, washer, dryer, a microwave, and other smaller things that we needed. We have mattresses sitting on our bedroom floors. We will wait until next semester to buy actual beds. One thing we weren't counting on was how insanely expensive most things are here. Yes, it is true! Things here in Zapopan are more expensive than in the United States. For example, a half gallon of Blue Bell ice cream costs over ten dollars, an ugly one piece baby outfit from the cheapest grocery store I could find costs about thirteen bucks, and milk is almost four dollars a gallon. For someone who is obsessed with finding good deals, it is a wonder that I don't have a total mental breakdown every time I go to the store!

But enough about that. Let's move on to some positive things that happened this week:

1)Kylee suddenly started talking in sentences. ("That's my chair!" or "I want crackers.") She also learned how to say "Gracias!". It is the cutest thing I've ever heard.

2)We ate elote (the corn with chili powder on Nacho Libre!) and pezole (a chicken and corn soup)for the first time this week. DELICIOUS!

3)Kylee went to nursery for the first time by herself. (She had been going with Lincoln & I since she was eight or nine months, but she is finally 18 months and can go by herself.)

4)I bore my testimony in my new ward. I bore it in English. I'm pretty sure nobody ever does that here, but I was proud of myself for doing something way out of my comfort zone.

5)Daisy and I worked out a very efficient system to kill the roaches that have come in our house. I call her and tell her to get the roach, she runs after it and flips it upside down with either her paw or her teeth, then steps back so that I can smash it. Not even kidding.

6)I went a whole week without eating a pastry. Trust me, this is a huge accomplishment!

7)I drove here! Twice! Without dying!

8)I paid for something all by myself. The whole peso/dollar thing can be trickier than it seems.

That is all I can think of for now. I know I've said this before, but the weather here is absolutely incredible. I am also thoroughly enjoying the cityscape view from our bedroom window. I love how much I end up walking around town here, coming to the realization that I now prefer a Mexican meal to an American one, and understanding even more what unbelievably loving and supportive families we have. There are days that are mentally exhausting, when I want certain things to be easy and familiar like they were a few months ago. But there are more days that are filled with good, uplifting things that I have never experienced before. This is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I sure am glad that we are here.

Our New Neighborhood

I don't have pictures to post yet. I am blogging from Lincoln's iPad, using our next-door neighbor's wi-fi. By this weekend, we should have our computer set up with an Internet account. Until then, you get to read more of my ramblings. Let me just start off by saying that my English is already worse than it was when we moved here a month ago. Lincoln's English is even worse than mine. I'm afraid when we come back to visit in five months, we won't even be able to talk to any of you Americans! :) Now, don't assume that this means that I am even close to being fluent in Spanish...I just have all of these Spanish words floating around in my head because I hear them and see them anytime I go outside. I understand now why the fastest way to learn a language is to live in a country where it is spoken. It's all around us!

We are officially moved into our new home. We have a bunch of boxes everywhere, and we have a lot of deep cleaning to do, but we are excited to be here. The house feels huge. Kylee is SO happy with this house. She spends so much of her time just running around looking at everything. Her new thing is to look around the house for different things. She will say, "Clothes...are you?" ("Clothes, where are you?") Then she will run to the closet in her new bedroom, where her clothes are, and yell, "Clothes!". It is incredibly cute!

Our little neighborhood feels SO safe and secure. I mentioned before that there is a guard in front if the entrance to the neighborhood 24/7. He calls us when we have a visitor to ask our permission to let them into the neighborhood. We have a clubhouse with a round pool (it is really cool-looking) a tennis court, a little swing and slide, and some grass where the dogs
can run. One of my favorite parts about it is that it has a BEAUTIFUL view of the city, which we can also see from our bedroom window. I love it.

We have such friendly neighbors. Our next-door neighbors are awesome. Their names are Montse and Robbie. Robbie is earning his masters degree in translating here. He grew up in the U.S., and his wife Montse is from Mexico. She has already driven me around to look for appliances, fed us dinner, brought us treats, and let us do our laundry at her house. She knows both English and Spanish, which I'm sure will be a huge help to me. We also met our neighbors who live across the street from us. One man is a cardiologist, so he likes Lincoln because he graduated from the medical school that Lincoln attends. The other man and woman are tv personalities here. The man is on a show about dogs, so they like us since we have two dogs that we love. It works out well!

I think that is it for now. Thanks for putting up with my incredibly detailed posts. There are more to come!

Home Sweet Home

We've made the final decision on our new home! We actually really loved the style of the first house that we looked at (such a cute little Mexican home), the layout of the second house (big upstairs & a circular layout downstairs, where the dogs & Kylee can run in circles all they want), and the community playground of the third house (huge, gorgeous park is more like it)...but we could only choose one, of course. Do you want to guess which one we went with? That's right...STYLE! 

This is the house that was originally out of our price range, but now is cheaper than the house we put a deposit on. We are pretty excited about it. It is a cute little Mexican-style house (that is the only way I know how to describe it) with 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, a wing off of the master bedroom with a desk where Lincoln can study, plus a maid's quarters (another small room with a bathroom off of it). The only thing we really don't like about this house is that it doesn't have grass. The little backyard is all tile...but it is cute & seems like a fun little hang-out spot, where we can sit outside and enjoy the nice weather. So we will just have to deal with taking the dogs out for a walk multiple times a day, like we did in AZ.

(Also, after seeing the bright blue dolphins on the shower door & the angel with the sword on the front door of house #3, plus realizing that house #2's water heater could give us carbon monoxide poisoning, we figured that house #1 would be our best bet. :) )

We went back to our soon-to-be home tonight to work out some details (this was the 3rd time we've been there) & it was even cuter than I remembered. It actually felt like home. I am so glad that we will finally have a place here to call our own. Even though we don't have any appliances, furniture, bedding, dishes, etc. just being together will be enough...at least for the first day or so. I'm sure the novelty will wear off pretty quickly if we don't at least get a refrigerator & bed. :) 

I'm so thankful that we are receiving so many blessings. Last night I was up until 2am & couldn't sleep, just feeling so anxious about everything. Then, when I was reading my scriptures today, I just happened to be in 3 Nephi, chapter 13, which ends with this:

"Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself."

If I could live by that scripture, I would be a much happier person. It's funny how I look all around me for answers & EVERY single time I end up finding answers that actually help me, I find them in the scriptures or through prayer. I love the gospel. And I love our new home!!!

(I'll post pictures when we move in!)

Elder Holland Can't Roll His R's Either!

We had stake conference today. It was a broadcast from Salt Lake. Some of the talks were given in English & some were given in Spanish. We Americans sat in another room where the Spanish talks were translated into English. Elder Jeffery R. Holland was the final speaker. He started & finished his talk in Spanish. And guess what? He can't roll his R's! Just like me! 

It was so endearing to hear Elder Holland speak Spanish in his very American accent. He admitted to the congregation that he knew his pronunciation was horrible, which made his talk feel more genuine to me than if he had a perfect Spanish accent. He was so humble, but not afraid to speak Spanish the way he knew how to speak it. I took 2 1/2 years of Spanish in junior high & high school & never figured out how to roll my R's. As a result, I absolutely dreaded the verbal tests that we were given in class, because I knew my pronunciation was terrible. I could write fairly well in Spanish, & I knew how most words were supposed to sound, but could never get the words to sound right coming out of my mouth. 

I've forgotten a lot of the vocabulary & rules that I learned in class, but am determined to be fluent in Spanish by the time we move back to the United States. In my mind, though, I never thought that I could be fluent unless I learned how to roll my R's. While I still hope that I can learn that seemingly simple talent, I have more confidence that I can communicate with the people of Mexico, even if I never master that ability. Hopefully I can show them that I am trying, even if I don't sound great. It definitely worked for Elder Holland.

As I stood outside & listened to the end of Elder Holland's talk through the wall, while Kylee played in the wet grass, I heard him bear his testimony of Jesus Christ...in Spanish. It was such a heartfelt, tender testimony that I couldn't keep from crying. What a wonderful example these apostles are to us! They love us and they love the Lord.

While I have learned many lessons from the leaders of the Church during my life, I learned a very personal lesson from Elder Holland today. He reminded me that if I do my best & have good intentions, the Lord will make up the rest. That was exactly what I needed to hear. The Lord truly blesses us if we are trying to do good things in life. Thank you for the reminder Elder Holland!

Our Week in Pictures

These pictures should give you an idea of how our week went...

I'm happy to say that Kylee & I are out of our PJ's & doing well today! Kylee has been SO sick, but is finally getting back to feeling like herself. I'm so glad. It was so sad to see her hardly able to move. I'm sure once Kylee is off her meds, she will be even happier. Medicine time (3 medications, 3 times a day) involves pinning her to the bed & forcing her to take her meds. Fun times.

Cabeza Tacos

Last week, we met our friends at a taco shop for a late meal. I had been wanting to try "cabeza" (head) tacos, since I saw them on a menu here. According to Lincoln, here in Mexico they boil the head in a big pot & peel the cow's face off & serve it in tacos. Hmmm. I tried "labio" (cheek) also, but I liked the head better. 

Getting ready to try it...

Juicy!

(Remind me to never pose like this for the camera again. Not cute.)

Kylee even had a taste, although she had no idea what she was eating. Please don't call CPS. Oh wait, they probably don't have that here! :)

Next time we are going to try "lengua" (tongue) tacos!!!