Six Chicks and a Dad

Overheard at our house.

2011-12-06T12:23:00.003-05:00

Heard at our house yesterday after school:

Kami: Mom, you would be so proud of me! The kids asked my why I didn't go to catecismo (catechism) I told them that I was a Mormon and we didn't have it. Then they started asking me about what a Mormon is! And I told them that Mormon wrote the Bible!

Me: Honey, Mormon didn't write the Bible.

Kami: Well, who wrote the Bible?

Me: Different people, You know, like the book of Matthew, the book of John.....

Kami: They were Mormons, right?

Me: No, they weren't Mormons.

Kami: Well, God is Mormon, isn't he?

Kayli: No! God isn't Mormon!

Me: Girls, no fighting....

Kayli: He is Catholic!

I think we need to have some gospel lessons in English........

family motto

2011-09-24T09:49:00.000-04:00

Saw this on a blog and thought it was so funny. And true.....

A tribute to grandmothers

2011-04-08T12:52:00.006-04:00

In April each year the Carol Morgan School has an international fair where the students study about different countries and their peoples. Each elementary class is assigned a country and the students learn about it. Kambrielle was very excited when she came home and told me that this year her class was studying Sweden. We looked up facts online, looked for photos and wrote reports. We were especially excited because one of my grandmothers is Swedish!

Last Thursday Kami came home very happy because she was chosen as the girl from the class to go and speak during the elementary school assembly about Sweden. Then I heard these words: "Oh, and by the way mom...I need you to make me the National Swedish Costume to wear during the assembly"

Panicking, I quickly googled the image and found that it was doable. I had one week to get the outfit done....not that easy here where they don't sell patterns! I felt fairly confident that I could do it, and was pretty happy that I could make it out of inexpensive cotton.....should I need to cut something out more than one time!

This is a photo of Kambrielle in front of her classroom. The flag of Sweden is in the background.

Her full outfit. She was so excited to have a long dress!

Kambrielle sharing her report in front of the school. She got really nervous right before, since the gym was full of students and parents. I was very proud of her! One of her favorite things about Sweden that she wanted to share was about ice hotels. She thinks that we should go there and stay in one this summer.......Don't think that will work!

As I worked this week on the costume, I thought about how thankful I am that my mom taught me to sew and encouraged me in it. I can't tell you how many things of mine she picked the stitching out of when I wanted to scream and throw them away. She learned from her mother, Elsie Butler Speer, who was a professional seamstress. My grandfather passed away when my mom was 2 years old. To provide for her four children Grandma sewed for people. Grandma Speer didn't have an easy life, but I have lots of happy memories of her. Grandma liked to go dancing on the weekends and so she would come over once a week and my mom would wash her hair and set it in rollers and style it for her. Grandma would often sleep over in my room and she would tell me stories about growing up in Texas; picking cotton in the morning, then riding her horse to school and then coming back and picking cotton in the afternoon. After my grandmother passed away I was in a gift shop once in Texas and I found the perfect gift for my mom. It was a ball of cotton, with the husk on it still that had been crafted into an angel.

I also thought of my Grandmother, Sylvia Erickson Pierce, while I was researching Sweden. Grandma Pierce's parents immigrated from Sweden to the Portland area. I grew up with stories of lutefisk (smelly fish that they actually sell and eat all the time here in the DR!) for Christmas. My Grandma Pierce was THE best pie maker. Her apple pie was my all time favorite. She was a great baker and we kids loved going over to their house. We would always get some treats and a can of soda, pretty amazing things for a kid! She and my Grandpa were very supportive of my and my brothers while we were growing up and I don't remember her missing any of my activities, even church ones that they didn't necessarily understand. I think of and miss her and Grandpa often. While my kids were growing up,they got a savings bond from Grandma and Grandpa every Christmas and some birthdays. When Kierstin went to college, she cashed hers in and used it to buy a computer for her studies. It was as if my grandparents were still there, supporting her as she took her next important step.

I am really grateful for the grandmothers that I had. They were so loving and caring to me. I also adore Kevin's grandmother. She has always shown me such love. I also really appreciated the time that we spent together, when we lived in Riverton Utah, since she was so close to us. I tried to do something with her once a week and she gave me such a good example of a grandparent who lives and loves the gospel. I have had some amazing talks with her and I love her! I miss seeing her, but we still get together when we are in Utah.

It hurts me now, as I think of the amazing memories that I have of my grandparents, that we live so far away from my children's grandparents. I feel bad that my kids don't have the one on one experiences with their grandparents that I had. When the kids were little they spent a lot of time on the phone with my mom and they loved that time. They are really looking forward to hanging out with the grandparents this summer!

So, thank you to my amazing grandmothers. I hope that my grandchildren will love me as much as I love you.

As heard in the car.....

2011-03-20T13:24:00.007-04:00

The following were heard on the car ride home from church and while doing the dishes after lunch. Note, these were all discussed in utter sincerity.

Ever wonder what is going on in my children's minds? Take a peek:
________________________________________________

Kami: "Mom is lonely a lot. I think that she needs to get herself another man."
Other girls: " It is just that Dad is always at work"
Kami: "Yeah, that's why she needs two men. One to do the working and one to stay home and give her comfort all the time."
Me: "I think that is illegal"
Kami: "Well, I am going to do it when I grow up!"

__________________________________________________
Kaitlin: "One of the kids in Sunday School was being so stupid. He said he just hates all gays. I told him, 'How can you hate all gays?' and he said he just did"
Kaitlin: " That is really ignorant. Do we hate all people that sin? Do we hate people who smoke because it is a sin? Do we hate Democrats?"
Me: "I didn't know being a Democrat was a sin!"

__________________________________________________
Kaitlin: "Mom, when I graduate will you take me out for cheesecake?
Me: "Yes. We can do that."
Kari: "Will you take me for cheesecake?"
Me: "Maybe." (BTW Kari asks to go out for cheesecake at least once a week.)
Kayli: "Mom, when Kaitlin graduates we all need to go out to that really yummy restaurant. You know, it's called 'Outhouse'"
Me: "No, it's called Outback. We don't want to eat at the Outhouse Restaurant!"

~Kim

Evidence

2011-03-16T16:45:00.002-04:00

I found this note on the countertop yesterday while making the lunches for the kids to take to school. Please note that the high schoolers had allready left for seminary while I was making the lunches. It looks suspiciously like Kari's handwriting. If something happens to one of us....you know who to blame.

Attitude

2011-01-15T21:54:00.002-05:00

Tonight I wore pirate skull and crossbones earrings to the adult session of Stake Conference. Like this, but mine are gold.......

I am becoming a rebel.

~Kim

first generation church members

2011-01-09T17:15:00.003-05:00

Church here is a lot different than at home.

No, the women don't have the priesthood (wait, in one branch on one of the islands a misguided leader DID do that) and the gospel teachings are the same.....but some times some strange things pop up.

I have to remember that most of the members here are first generation; meaning that they are the first person in their family to be baptized. This leads to some sweet teaching moments. About a month ago, a dad was blessing his baby. He went up to the pulpit to do the blessing and started talking, welcoming people, etc. The bishop pulled him aside of the microphone, with Elder Coleman, and the father was given about a three minute instruction on how to give a baby blessing. It was a sweet moment as this dad was given instruction and we practiced patience and love.

Forward to today. I was sitting in sharing time for primary, happy that the Primary Presidency had come today. Last week everyone was gone and so I got to do sharing and singing time. One of the counselors got up to do the sharing time. She is new in primary (since I have been here) and is a very visual, tactile person. She always has great visuals for the children to see and focus on. Today she was sharing how the scriptures and their teachings are a great treasure for us, better than earthly treasures. She had a beautiful red cloth draped over the table area and then placed a box in the middle of it with different jewelry pouring out of it. Great visual aid.......too bad the box was from a bottle of Johnny Walker.
~Kim

Fasting funny

2011-01-04T11:48:00.002-05:00

Kambrielle began to fast when she turned eight in July. It is a huge struggle for her every month and she is trying to get through it.

This last Sunday she began way too tired....having teen-age sisters doesn't do much for her bed time. We just forget that she is only eight and let her stay up with us. And then we pay the price the next day.

So, Kami was ultra-tired and then went to primary and the substitute teachers brought everyone in class cookies if they were good. All the other kids ate theirs immediately and Kami held on to hers. So, here she is staring at these delicious cookies and knowing that she has to wait and wanting to wait, but wanting to eat them too! (Know the feeling?)

She started whining and whining and whining and........ Finally we had all had it! Kevin told her to find something to keep her mind off it and she cried "I did! I was practicing my Spanish on Rosetta Stone and it started a new lesson! It had me saying 'Ella come. El come. Ella bebe. El bebe' I can't stand it!!!!"

I burst out laughing......translated those mean; "She eats. He eats. She drinks. He drinks."

She just couldn't win.
~Kim

Newest Members of the Family

2010-11-27T19:38:00.004-05:00

I have been looking for some kittens for the girls for the last two months. I told my friends Charmaine and Julie and they were on the lookout for a kitten for me. While at the vet, Julie found out that there was a mother cat that had just had kittens and that we could have one in three weeks, when it could leave its' mother. She took photos of the kittens, so that we could choose, and brought her camera to Girl Scouts. I showed the photo to Kari and Kambrielle and told them that Kevin and I had decided that they could get a cat. Kari about hyperventilated and cried right there at school. They went home and told their sisters and we had the happiest girls around.

Fast forward a few weeks........ The lady with the cats won't call us back. No kittens are available..............insert sad and disillusioned children here. You can't get kittens here like at home. You don't really see them on the streets much, or people giving them away. I don't know why you don't see them more, especially with all the rats that are here, but I have my suspicions......(think dinner meats)

Friday when Kevin got back from work in the early afternoon we loaded the girls into the van and headed off to El Arca, one of the pet stores here in town. They had two kittens.... and only wanted $210 a piece. They were a himalyan siamese mix. I asked the worker there if he knew of anywhere we could go to get a kitten that just needed a home. He looked at me like I was insane and shook his head no (of course, I did interrupt his computer games he was playing...)

We went to another pet store in town and they also had three kittens for sale. These were a steal at $278 for the black ones, or $334 for the orange one. Needless to say, we left there without purchasing anything. We did enjoy looking at the monkey they had for sale. It had an infant that was clinging to its' back and it was really cute. They won't sell them to Americans, is the rule, but I am sure that if I had the money they would sell it to me! (something about the way we can't bring them back into the US)

Kari suggested we try a pet store in a poor area of town, that we pass on the way home from Kevin's work. We headed back there and headed in to talk to the owner. They only had dogs, birds and fish. I asked the owner if he knew of any kittens and he was very kind to make some phone calls. I told him we didn't want a pedigree, just a kitten that needed a home. About 15 to 20 minutes later a man showed up on a motorcycle, holding a box with 2 very scared kittens. The girls immediately fell in love and, after a bit of negotiation, we left with 2 little girl kittens and spent about $27 for the two. Kevin and I decided that we would get two so that they could keep each other company.

We brought them home, bathed them, and fluffed them up. (They took the baths without a problem) Throughout the night the girls played with them, observed them and came up with names. The one with the gray markings is smaller, but more adventuresome. She goes exploring and gets into everything. She is named Sophia. The one with the black markings is much more timid. She jumps at everything and is learning to trust us. She is named Giuliette (Kaitlin wanted the Italian spelling of Juliette).

Hopefully the twice weekly baths and brushing them will keep my allergies at bay.
My eyes are itchy, but my children are happy!
~Kim

Really Random

2010-11-22T09:21:00.006-05:00

Yesterday Kami was hugging me as we waited for the elevator to come up to our floor. She squeezed me really tight and said, "I am glad you are chubby. It is nice to hug chubby people."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two weeks ago I was riding in a taxi home from the temple. We have only one car and Kevin needed it and so I was using public transportation. I was having a chat with the guy driving when he needed to swerve to miss a pothole. I asked him...(conversation translated from the original Spanish)

me: "What do you call those holes in the road?"

him: "Holes in the road?"

me: "Yeah...you know, the holes that we get after a big rain."

him: "holes"

me: "You don't have a special name for them? In English we call them potholes"

him: without a pause "Maldito hoyos" (translation... d*#* holes)

They have really amazing potholes here. They are everywhere after a big rain, which translates to all the time. People in Utah complain about the road conditions there, but they have nothing on the roads here. When you are driving down the street you are constantly swerving around these potholes. It feels like living in a video game.

Once I was in the Colonial Zone with Elder Coleman's daughters. They were visiting and wanted to do some souvenir shopping. Since the Coleman's were busy with an assignment I volunteered to take them. We got a bit lost coming back (lots of one way streets that are wide enough for one car only) and so were coming back up a street I don't normally go on, when there was a big pothole in the road. I am talking huge! This hole had one of those blue plastic water barrels in it, and then another water barrel stacked on top of it that was 1/2 way in.....so this hole was 1 1/2 barrels deep! I barely squeezed the van by and the ladies started yelling for me to back up so they could get a picture! No way! We barely made it by the first time.

Wish I had the picture though!

~Kim

Computer challenged

2010-11-15T14:17:00.001-05:00

Hey look! I changed my background! And without Kierstin's help!

Will wonders never cease?

~Kim

Still laughing.....maybe.

2010-11-13T08:34:00.008-05:00

Still trying to keep up with the attitude of laughing at what life throws at you.

Woke up last night with the bed shaking and the door slamming ......yep, earthquake (5.6). I kept shaking Kevin, it felt like forever but was only a few seconds, trying to wake him up saying "Kevin, earthquake!!! EARTHQUAKE!!!!" He says "Yeah, I feel it", then turns over and goes back to sleep!

I got up, checked on the girls, checked the house and then went to bed and worried about Kaitlin and Kari. They are at a Stake overnight campout for seminary students. There was no information here about the earthquake, so I had no idea where it was centered (93 miles SW of Santo Domingo, in the ocean) and didn't know if it had affected the girls more or what.

This morning, when Kayli checked Facebook, she saw that there had been an earthquake (her friends talking about it) and came running to tell me. I informed her and Kami that I knew, that they had slept right through it and that all was fine. Their only real experience with an earthquake is with what happened in Haiti and here in February. Kami was, understandably, concerned.

All is well, and it was just a small earthquake. Hopefully, I WON'T get used to them!

-Kim

Laugh or Cry.... your choice!

2010-11-12T08:48:00.002-05:00

Things have been stressful here lately. The cultural differences are taking their toll on our family's happiness and Kevin has been EXTREMELY stressed out about work. Seriously, he could work 24/7 and he would still never be able to get things caught up or up to the level that they should be. He allready works several hours on Saturdays and Sundays and every night..... like 70+ hour weeks! (Imagine living like this for the last 21 months!)

Things are difficult in our ward, and I noticed that Kevin and I were turning into Laman and Lemuel (insert murmuring here) and it was rubbing off on the kiddos. (insert murmuring here) I even asked Kevin if, since you could do "home school" it would be possible to do "home church". He was not amused.

Kevin came home from a church meeting last night that was a disaster and told me that we just need to start laughing at these things. We can't change them.....seriously, you just can't change other people who don't want to change!..... and so we just need to start laughing more.

I got to thinking about a quote from Sister Hinkley that said "The only way to get through this life is to laugh your way through it. You either have to laugh or to cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache."

So, here's to less headaches!

One thing that I had to laugh about yesterday......
The maid comes on Thursday's. She is very organized and hates me having anything out of place. So, if she sees anything that isn't where it goes, she puts it in a pile. (No, she doesn't put it away, just in a pile. Yes, I have tried to ask her to put away the things that she knows where they go (ex: hair stuff), but it doesn't happen). Just imagine the piles around my house now! I was working on organizing my bedroom in the morning and early afternoon, as I am wanting to work on my goal of scrapbooking in my extra time here. I had been working on one thing at a time, so as to not get overwhelmed, while I was doing the laundry and other chores I needed to accomplish.
Imagine my surprise when I entered my room with a load of laundry to fold, to discover that Morena decided that I should finish all the organizing in the room yesterday afternoon (about the time that I was starting dinner). She had taken everything off my dresser, Kevin's dresser, my night stand, Kevin's nighstand, my piles of books and magazines, etc and stacked them all over my bed so that I could put them away.

I thought that I was the boss.

Obviously, I am wrong.

-Kim

~What is going on in your life lately that you need to laugh about?

Basketball

2010-05-08T16:23:00.005-04:00

We had Kaitlin's basketball invitational tournament today. The girls Varsity team had basketball going on, while the boys JV and Varsity soccer had games outside. Quite a lot of fun. Kaitlin's games started around 8:00. There were 3 games, with about a 20-30 minute break between, and then on to elimination for the final game. They won the first game, lost the second by one point in the last 10 seconds, lost the third game by four.

Kaitlin played almost the entire time.....maybe sitting out 3-5 minutes per game. Needless to say she is exhausted. However, she did great on her rebounding and putting in some shots. She made more than half the points in the first game!!! Great job Bubbs!

They lost the first round elimination game by 5 points. The last game was played on the outside court and the girls just had this glazed look in their eyes as they pushed it for all that they could to finish in the heat and humidity. Kevin and I were texting about the games, as they went on (I am the slowest texter in the history of the world), so that he could feel a part of the action while he is flying home from a long trip today.

I ran home between the 2nd and third games and got the girls to come and cheer on the team. Kambrielle watched a while and then ran out to play on the playground and blow bubbles while Kari immersed herself in a book (she looked up enough times to get furious with the other agressive team!) and Kayli was my water/gatorade/flavored water runner to buy things in the cafeteria while I yelled and cheered my head off (I was a cheerleader, you know. Don't worry, I didn't bring my pompoms or anything...... this time.)

Great job Kaitlin. CAISSA is coming up at the end of the month. This is a competition where other international schools come in. We will be hosting two girls in our home during that time. Should be a lot of fun!!!

With love,
Kim

Cultural Differences

2010-05-07T11:12:00.002-04:00

So, just about every day I think of something that I want to put on my blog. And then I think about all the time that has passed without writing and how I need to "catch up" (being the crazed OCD manager that I am) and so I get exhausted thinking about it and then I do nothing.

Fast forward to now......I am now going to write whenever I want. It will probably be random. It will probably not have a lot of pictures, because my lovely computer likes to freeze up when I am putting on photos (Fred, help me!!!). But it will be me. And I am trying hard to remember the funny, happy things that are going on here. So, beware. Read on if you want.

Yesterday Morena (the lady who helps me clean) was here when the girls got home from school. I went and picked up Kambrielle at school and got Kaitlin and took them to the Ortho for Kaitlin's appointment. The other two girls stayed at school and did basketball (Kayli) and band practice (Kari).

I went back to talk to Morena in the laundry room (she was doing the ironing) (OK, get all your jealousy out now..... yes, it is wonderful to have someone else do the ironing) and Kambrielle came with me. Morena got this happy look on her face (she just loves kids. She was a nanny for 18 years and really, that is her calling) when she was looking at Kambrielle. She loves her, it is obvious, and with a very proud expression said "Ella es gorda! Ellas es gorda y grande!"

Ugh. I didn't know what to say! So, I just said "Si!, esta!" and then went in the other room and busted out laughing. Her sentiment translates to " She is fat! She is fat and large!" I don't think that I would ever have anyone in the US come and proudly tell me how fat and large that my daughter was getting!!!!!

What she was lovingly trying to say, was that Kambrielle was growing and getting big. And in a country where lots of kids are tiny because they don't eat well Kami does look healthy and strong.

I wonder how she would describe ME to other Domincans????????

With love,
Kim

Whale Watching

2010-03-24T14:28:00.000-04:00

In February, three friends and I went to Samana Bay to go whale watching. My friend, neighbor and fellow ex-patriot Kathy Jackman is the reigning queen of fun trip planning. Anything fun that we do, she is likely to be behind. She has wanted to go see the whales, and so when she realized that the peak time was at hand (mid Feb) she called to see who was in for an adventure.

I am always up for some girl time, and so the kids were assigned to their daddy (wonder what the hair looked like at school?) and off we went!

People were so excited to go whale watching with me that they even made a sign so that people would know where to line up! Wow! Are these people friendly or what?

We left at 6:00 in the morning and drove the 2 plus hours from Santo Domingo to Samana Bay. The road to Samana is a toll road and is also one of the best roads on the island. It is only two lanes (one going each way), but there are no 2 foot pot holes and so it is great! You drive for awhile, pay a toll, drive awile, pay a toll, etc. I believe that there were three tolls to pay each way. And the strange thing is that each toll was a different, odd amount (like 72 pesos, or something like that), so that the toll workers had to make change at every toll and you were never prepared with the amount, because it was different at each station.

We arrived in Samana about 8:15 or so and so we had some time to drive around the town a bit before we went to the office. Our boat was scheduled to leave at 9:00, so in traditional Dominican fashion it left at 9:30.

A view from the boat of the bay.

My ex-patriate friends and sanity savers. From left to right they are: Denise Lilly (from Layton. Her hubby is over the welfare department here), Nancy Rappleye (from Layton. Her hubby is over seminaries and institutes here) and Kathy Jackman (from South Jordan, or maybe West Jordan. I can't remember! Her husband is over the accounting department here). Kathy has been here the longest, going on three years in July. Denise came a month after we did and Nancy came this last summer. They are so fun and a great support. Kathy lives in the same apartment building with me and Denise and Nancy live in the building next to the temple.

We decided to go out onto the front of the boat to enjoy the view. It lasted about 15-20 minutes and then it decided to rain too hard to stay outside. Drat!

Sitting in the front of the boat. Wish I had thought to bring my binoculars! I loved the look of this little island that was in the bay. You could snorkel out to it from the beach area. Unfortunately, it got too cold and rainy to do it while we were there.

This is one of the workers on the boat. Seen here tying us up to the dock.

I stole this photo from Nancy's facebook and thought that I could blow it up bigger, but it was too grainy. The water was so beautiful and I just love the little islands with the palm trees on them.

Sighting the whale! Thar' she blows! My camera batteries were too slow to catch anything good, but you can see the dorsal fin of the whale in this picture.

Whale going down for a dive.

Wish that my camera was fast enough to catch the spouting and the tail, but alas, it was not to be.

The seventh grade class from Carol Morgan makes a trip to Samana every year, as a culmination of their whale study unit. Kari lucked into going on it the very first week that we got here last year. The 7th graders had gone a few days before us, and Kathy's son was part of the group. They were so lucky to have a huge group of whales in the bay when they went and they were very active. They were even seen breaching the water! When Kari went they had dolphins gliding along the side of their boat and there was a large sea turtle swimming by the boat too.

Unfortunately, probably because of the weather (you know that whales just don't like to get wet), we just saw this one guy the day we were out.

Some of the boats that were at the dock. Boy am I glad that we were in a bigger boat and not one of the small ones that were going out. I got a bit seasick, even with 2 dramamine pills, and so I can't imagine what it would be like for someone in one of the small boats! Notice the people on the dock wearing sweatshirts..... these are Europeans, not Dominicans, so you know that the weather was a bit cold that day. The one time in the last year that I have wished that I had brought a jacket along with me!

We got back from the boat ride at about 1:00 and decided to eat our lunch sitting up in this tower. There were several of them along the "malecon" here. A malecon is what the Dominicans call the street that runs along the shore line.

After lunch we found a group of shops and went looking for some souveniers. Nancy found some jewelry that she liked, as did Kathy, and Denise got some fridge magnets and some other fun things. I was a party pooper and didn't get anything.

Around 3:30 we headed back home, back to the chores, children and chaos!

As we were driving home, I snapped this photo of a home along the side of the road. This is pretty typical architecture for the homes here. The nicer ones are also painted in this type of bright paint.....looks like something that Kambrielle would pick out!

This is one of the rice paddies that we passed by. They were all along the roads in this one area and so I got a decent picture of this one. The green of the growing rice plants is very vibrant, like something in a photo that you would see of Ireland.

There was one stretch of road where there seemed to be a palm tree plantation. The trees were growing as far as you could see and as deep as you could see as we drove thru. I have no idea what they were being grown for, but you could see in some sections where old trees had been harvested and new ones were growing. Hmmmm, must investigate this further......

We got home around 6:00. I gave hugs and smooches all around, helped with homework and dishes and then thoroughly crashed around 9:00 (love that dramamine)

Can't wait to go again next year with Kevin. There is a lovely resort there that would be fun to stay at. Maybe he and I can get away for a weekend and enjoy the quiet feel of the beach there.

Haiti - From Kevin's View

2010-01-14T19:31:00.001-05:00

What the church does is amazing. Since the earthquake, we have held a daily coordination meeting with Church Humanitarian Services. They ask what is needed and then pull all of the strings to make it happen.
Here locally our Area Welfare Manager is working all hours coordinating all kinds of aid that is being offered. Because of congestion at the airport in Port au Prince people are having to land in the DR and then drive over land to Haiti. Bennie is coordinating doctors and others asking to volunteer and then flying in to help. There will continue to be shipments going over land from here. Like Kim mentioned, we transferred 2 good brothers to the border today with two pickup trucks, 40 gallons of diesel and as many hygiene kits, first aid kits, tarps water and other things as we could get into the pickups. After about a 6 hour drive we met a couple of key priesthood leaders at the border, transferred everything from one of the pickups into his vehicle and then sent the other pickup with our two good brethren on into Port au Prince. These two brothers will help assess buildings, member needs, help coordinate the massive church shipments that are coming in and anything else that is needed.
I was amazed and touched at the amazing amount of Heavy trucks, equipment etc that we saw at the border. There had to be 100 semi-trucks, apparently full of supplies, waiting to cross over. Most of that had to be coming from the already impoverished Dominican Republic. On both our way there and back we passed many other trucks, cranes, trucks with bleach, large tank trucks, and people and everything else between. A very touching show of support and solidarity for the Haitians.
As we put our arms around our Stake President/Facilities Manager at the border today we saw the shock, sadness, and stress in his eyes as he told us that he already knew of 15 deaths in his stake. We said goodbye to our friends, knowing that they will be sleeping on a hard floor tonight and doing without all of lifes conveniences. For food they took two 72 hour kits, two boxes of granola bars, 6 cases of water (for others) and one filter water bottle between them (these things will filter anything including urine, mud, you name it, so that it is drinkable). I got back home a couple of hours ago. Please pray, pray, pray for these people. Haiti was already extremely impoverished before.

Thanks. Kevin

Earthquake

2010-01-14T06:53:00.007-05:00

Tuesday evening at 5:53 we were all hanging out on the fourth floor in the Munives apartment. The fumigator had come at 4:00 and so we couldn't go into our apartment until after 6:00. I had just returned from the school where I had picked up Kambrielle after Girl Scouts. I was visiting with Emma and the girls were watching "Phantom of the Opera" with Keny and Emily while Alex and Parker were playing on the computer. Emma got up to answer the phone and the couch felt like it was moving. I haven't been feeling well this week and so I thought, "Wow, I must be getting really sick! I had better go lay down!", thinking that I was dizzy or something from not feeling well. A second later I realized that the plants were moving and lamps moving and went "AUGH! Earthquake!" A minute later Kathy Jackman ran down the stairs and gathered us up, along with Parker, and we went out onto the tennis courts/park area to wait and see about aftershocks.

While waiting there, we learned from cell phones that the earthquake had been centered in Haiti, and had registered at 7.0. What we felt had been registered at about 4.2 (is what I read in the paper, but I can't find it to confirm the exact number) Kathy felt it more than we did, since she lives on the 14th floor. We learned that we were in a Tsunami Watch, and that continued until around 10:00. They did measure a very small Tsunami in Santo Domingo, but it was just a displacement of a foot.

The older girls were a little frightened, but kind of excited. They were hoping for no school on Wednesday, but no luck there! Kambrielle was afraid and very clingy and I worried that she would be sleeping with us that night. Thanks to girl scouts, she was wiped out and crashed on the couch and was able to get a good night's sleep.

When we returned to our apartment around 7:00 we turned on CNN and were able to hear the small amount of information that they had available. Kevin stayed quite late at work, working with the brethren there trying to get information from Haiti and share it with the Presiding Bishopric. The church has some satellite phones and so late in the evening they were able to contact some brethren in Haiti and begin to get an idea of the devastation.

Yesterday Kevin went to work early and stayed quite late gathering supplies and organizing how to distribute the supplies that are being sent by the church. The church generally sends things and has them distributed by other organizations that are all ready up and running in the country, generally Catholic Relief Services.

Kevin left this morning at 5:00 and is driving with some other men with trucks full of supplies. They were purchasing walkie talkies for the leaders to be able to communicate with each other. He was looking last night for gas cans. They were taking as much gas as they could, since there is not gas available in most of the country. I am not sure of the other supplies that they were sending, since Kevin came home after I went to bed and got up at 4:00. They are meeting priesthood leaders at the border and transferring supplies there.

He told me that he was able to speak with one of his Facility Managers yesterday. Kevin asked him how the people in his stake had fared. Kevin was told that almost every family in the stake had lost their homes. (He only knew of one home that had survived) Several families had deaths in their families....... two of them had all their children die, as the home collapsed on them.

I am so overcome with grief for the people here. There are 3 people from Haiti in my Spanish class. One of them was there yesterday. She had been able to talk to her mom for 5 seconds, right after the first quake (there have been many, many strong aftershocks). and at that time they were OK. Part of their house had fallen off and crashed onto their car (they are one of the wealthy families that has a car). Their home is destroyed, but they were alive. The other two weren't there. One is an older gentleman (a lawyer in his early 60's) and he has children and grandchildren there. I am sure that he was driving to try to get them out.

One of our friends here works for Cure, International. He is leaving today with several doctors to help however they can with the injuries. Please keep all of the people that are there in your prayers and pray that the service people that are going there to help will be safe. Haiti was very unstable and unsafe before this happened.

This is the post from the church website of what the church is doing. If you have been feeling that you should do something, please give at the link attached. Or add to your fast offering this month under Humanitarian Aid.

SALT LAKE CITY 13 January 2010 In the wake of the devastating earthquake in Haiti, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is mobilizing resources to address the most pressing needs of the people in the Caribbean nation. Images of collapsed buildings and devastated families tell the story of the widespread destruction.
Two planes, one departing from Denver as early as Thursday and another leaving from Miami later this week will each include over 80,000 pounds of food and emergency resources such as tents, tarps, water filtration bottles and medical supplies donated by the Church. Transportation is being provided by Airline Ambassadors and Food for the Poor will aid with distribution in Haiti.
“We are constantly assessing needs to determine how our resources can directly help the people of Haiti,” said Nate Leishman, manager of the Church’s humanitarian emergency response efforts. “We are fully committed to this ongoing process and doing our best to help wherever we can.”
These new shipments are in addition to emergency supplies being sent by truck from the Dominican Republic including personal hygiene kits and supplies for newborns announced early Wednesday by the Church.
“We express our sympathy and prayers on behalf of the citizens of Haiti following the recent devastating earthquake,” said Kim Farah, Church spokesperson.
All Latter-day Saint missionaries serving in the country are safe, and Church leaders continue efforts to account for Church members in the area.
Donations for relief efforts can be made at http://give.lds.org/emergencyresponse.

Uniforms

2009-11-17T08:30:00.008-05:00

Pics are from the first day of school in August. I tried to get Kierstin to have a roommate take one of her so that I could continue the tradition, but she was reluctant.......wonder why?........

The law here states that anyone attending school must wear a uniform (the exception being college). This applies to private and public schools. I don't know the reason for the rule.

For our family it has been a good thing and I actually love that they wear uniforms. I will often hear the girls wondering "Hmm, should I go with the blue polo and the khaki pants?" And then the other will say "I was thinking the khaki pants would look better with the blue polo" At the beginning of this school year Kari told me that she was glad that they wore uniforms, since it would be impossible to "keep up" or feel comfortable with the other kids that they go to school with.

Kambrielle, being in elementary, has 2 uniforms. The blue polo with khaki's for regular days, and the PE shirt and shorts for PE days (they alternate, every other day). I only purchased 3 blue shirts for her, since that is normally the most that she would wear in one week.

When I do the laundry I hang the polo shirts to dry, since they would shrink terribly if I were to dry them (1. 100% cotton; 2. My dryer has only two settings..... hot and hotter) This makes them a bit wrinkly when they are dry. A few months ago I started asking the lady who helps me if she could press the shirts (they iron EVERYTHING here) and so the girls have been going to school nicely pressed and starched.

On Friday, Kambrielle went with her class to see a ballet. The rule is that when you leave campus all students must have on their blue polo uniform and long pants or a skirt. This kind of messed up our laundry schedule, as Friday was supposed to be a PE day. When Kambrielle went to get dressed yesterday, she found that there were no shirts in her closet, due to the extra shirt that she used on Friday when she went on her field trip. It was clean and hanging up in the laundry room. She grabbed it from the hanger and then there was a giant pause.

"What is wrong with this shirt?" I quickly looked it over and didn't see any problem.

"Nothing", I replied.

"It is all.......krinkly and has.......lines in it!"

"It just didn't get pressed yet, honey"

"Am I really supposed to wear it this way? Aren't you going to iron it?"

What have I created?

This conversation was going on as I was doing someone else's dinner job that they "forgot" to do the night before. Nope, I didn't iron it. Yep, she went to school without that fresh starch feeling. Cruel child punishment, for sure.

-Kim

It won't be like this for long....

2009-11-13T11:26:00.009-05:00

Snapped these a few days ago. Kambrielle was so excited to get her turn on the Guitar Hero, as there was no school due to parent-teacher conferences. She is so cute when she plays it. She can play better than me! (OK, everyone can play better than me!)

I didn't hear anything for awhile, so I looked over to see what was up and caught her fast asleep with the guitar laying across her. So cute.

I got a new CD when my parents came. It is a collection of popular country songs, since I can't get them on any stations here. I was listening to the song "It Won't Be Like This for Long" by Darius Rucker. I love the words and the idea behind this song. Now that my youngest is growing up I find that I am trying to enjoy the stages that everyone is going through more.

I am thinking of having "it won't be like this for long...." put in vinyl and put it on the wall in my living room. It is a great reminder for me. Remember to enjoy the fun that you are having right now, with my children, with my husband and with the experiences that we are having. Also, when I am going through something really hard, remember, it won't be long until I can look back on it because I made it through.

-Kim

Tender Mercies

2009-10-25T11:20:00.003-04:00

Going to church here is kind of hard for me.

It is hot and uncomfortable, as there is no A/C and the benches are hard wood, no padding at all. There is no carpet anywhere and the building is always dirty (There is no custodian at all for the building and when families are assigned to come and clean it, most of them do not show up for their turn. So, if we are lucky it might get cleaned once a month). I don't understand 90% of what is being said and someone stole part of the translation equipment, so Kevin can't translate for the ward anymore. He ordered a new set, but it will take several months to get here and make it through customs. I really have not bonded with anyone in the ward and so there is no social interaction in between sacrament meeting and when I go to primary. And, I teach Primary in a room that is really just for storage of old junk that for some reason they can't get rid of....... our class of two sits in there with the broken ping pong table, the broken ugly green metal (rusting) cabinet that stores the primary junk that no one uses and the broken, chipped top table that I use to put my primary manual on. The room doesn't even have it's own door. I have to try and listen to what is going on in the other room and then open the accordian door that separates us from them when it is time to go, so that we can go out their door.......

These were the things going through my mind as I left for church in a rush with breakfast still sitting on the table, calling out to the ants, no makeup on as I spent all my time getting some extra activities for my primary class (which I forgot on the kitchen counter, sigh). I told Kevin "Will I make it through today? Maybe I should just stay home." (Of course I didn't)

We made it into sacrament a bit early and had to sit on the front row, as there were no benches with enough space available where we could sit together except there. (Older girls loved sitting there!) Smiled at a few people and waved at a cute girl from Primary who I just love. (That is all that we do, is smile and wave as we can't really understand each other that well. She does like to come and sit by me during sharing time)

The first speaker got up to give his talk. He looks to be in his early 20's and was baptized a few months ago. Kevin knows him, but I don't really know him at all. He was well prepared and looked anxious to share his message with us. What I didn't know is that he has a very pronounced stuttering problem. Probably the worst that I have ever heard. Ever. He struggled and struggled and struggled to get through his talk. Since we were on the front row, I sat looking at the brother, trying to encourage him with my eyes and attention (Don't you just hate it when you are giving a talk and you look out at the congregation and it appears that maybe 2 people are listening? Everyone else is looking down, texting, studying their lesson to give next hour, etc?) I was praying for him, as was everyone else in the congregation. I thought that maybe he would be blessed to be able to share his talk clearly, or to be able to get through a sentence without struggling. Here he was, brand new in the gospel, giving a talk in Sacrament with lots of visitors here today. If anyone deserved a miracle, he did. And yet, he didn't get one. He struggled to the very last sentence of his talk. He tried and tried and tried to share the scriptures and messages that he had prepared and yet he couldn't get the words to come out of his mouth.

And yet, what could have been agonizing and awkward wasn't. I haven't felt the spirit as strongly in our Sacrament meeting in a long time. You could tell that every member there today was really rooting for him and pleading for him to be successful. When he finished, I could hear and see several sisters crying; being overcome by the spirit. I don't know how many people understood his words. There were a lot of American missionaries and ex-patriate families, like ourselves, there who speak mostly English. There was a family there from Russia. There was a large group visiting today from Guadalupe and French Guyana who spoke only French. And I am sure that those who spoke fluent Spanish had a hard time understanding. Blessedly for us, the Spirit can speak to each of us individually so that we can understand the love that our Heavenly Father has for us.

So, I guess that it doesn't have to be perfect to go to church. No, I don't have my great ward family from Utah anymore. No, I don't have a building that is new, nice or even clean. No, I can't communicate with most of my Brothers and Sisters in the ward. But I can feel the Spirit. I can know of the truthfulness of the gospel. And I can know that my Heavenly Father loves me enough to try to teach me what is really important here on the earth today.

-Kim

Scripture Study

2009-09-23T20:12:00.004-04:00

When we went to Stake Conference one of the Stake Presidency asked the members of the stake to read the Book of Mormon. I didn't understand everything that they said, but at the end of the conference they handed out charts to track your reading, where you color in one block for each chapter that you read.

I decided that we needed all of the blessings that we could get, so for FHE this week we talked about personal scripture study, read an article from Elder Bednar in The Friend about how to get the most out of your scripture study, read an article from The Ensign about scripture study and then made some goals. We broke the chapters in the Book of Mormon into 20 chapter segments and then decided upon rewards that the girls could earn. They were things like a candy bar, a pack of gum, and when they finish, a dinner date with mom and dad. The rewards were every 20 chapters for the first 100 chapters, every 25 chapters for the second 100 chapters and then just one reward for the final 37 chapters. We taped the charts up on the wall in the kitchen so that the girls can fill them in when they finish a chapter.

You have never seen such scripture reading in your life. Kaitlin got the first prize (as she had been reading for Seminary) and now Kambrielle is determined to be the next one to earn it. She is allready on chapter 11, after only three days. Mom is the one currently in last place!!! Kambrielle has declined watching Dancing with the Stars with us the last two nights and decided to read scriptures instead. She has fallen asleep with her Book of Mormon on her face for the last two nights!

Today I went to the Distribution center and went a little crazy for Spanish items. I got the CD's for the car of the Primary children's songbook, then I got pocket size hymn books for everyone in the family (there are never enough hymn books in the chapel), Spanish triple combinations and the new Spanish bible. I also ordered a subscription to the Liahona, so that I can read the Ensign in English and then practice my Spanish with the Liahona. Hopefully I can have a moment like Elder Groberg, in the movie The Other Side of Heaven, where he learns the language by using the scriptures........hey, it could happen!

-Kim

What have you done with your family to encourage individual scripture study?

Yummy Black Bean Salsa

2009-09-20T19:52:00.004-04:00

A month or so ago I was looking around on allrecipes.com and decided that I wanted to make some black bean salsa. Making things here is always a bit of a challenge, since I can't always find the ingredients. So I took a few recipes, tweaked them to the way that we like and threw some things together and came up with this. Granted, it is a little different every time that I make it, but that is how a good salsa is.

I guess technically this really isn't salsa. My friends from Mexico remind me that for it to be salsa the ingredients have to be ground together with a mortar and pestle and the vegetables are usually cooked slightly by roasting them. So, I guess it is really a black bean pico de gallo, if you want to be Mexicanally correct (like that word I made up?)

This is what the left overs looked like..... yep, I should have taken a picture first, but just thought about sharing it after we had all ready devoured a large portion. The bowl was full, so you can see how much the girls like it. Kevin wasn't home, or there would have been no left overs. Plus, it is a very sneaky way to get them to eat fresh veggies!

Black Bean Salsa:
7-9 roma tomatoes
1 large yellow pepper (you can use green or red, I just like the flavor of the yellow)
1-2 large poblano peppers
2 serrano peppers (or to your hotness taste)
1 15 ounce can black beans (or that amount of cooked from scratch beans, what I do)
1 15 ounce can corn (or even better, that amount of frozen sweet white corn, defrosted)
1 medium to large red onion
1 bunch cilantro
1-2 limes
2-3 tsp. ground cumin
about 1 1/2 tsp. salt
about 1 Tbsp. white sugar

Dice the tomatoes, onions and peppers and place in a large bowl. I like to seed the serranos, because we don't like it too hot. When you cut the serranos, make them as teeny-tiny as you possible can and then wash, wash, wash your hands. Add the corn, which has been drained. Drain and rinse the black beans several times until the water from them runs clear. Add to the bowl. Take the bunch of cilantro and cut it up with a pair of kitchen shears. Add to the bowl. Sprinkle seasonings over the vegetables and mix well. Cut limes and squeeze the juice over the vegetables. Mix well and then taste. Season according to taste. Kevin likes a bit more sugar, to cut the acidity of the tomatoes and I like a lot of cumin. Mess around with it until you get your favorite taste. Let sit in the fridge at least 30 minutes for the flavors to blend.

The salsa is better with frozen corn, but I can't get that here. Or you could use fresh corn on the cob, cut it off and blanch for 2-3 minutes, cool and then add to the salsa.

For dinner tonight I made the salsa, then grilled some chicken breasts and made some rice that I cooked in chicken broth, in place of the water. Served the rice with chicken on the side. Covered the chicken with salsa and then gave the girls a big scoop of salsa on the side to eat with tortilla chips. It would have been really yummy if I had melted a bit of Colby jack cheese on top of the chicken breast before putting the salsa on top..... thought of that one too late.

I have started cooking the black beans from a bag of dried beans and then putting a serving in a plastic container and freezing them. Then I just pop a container out of the freezer and put it in the fridge the night before (if I think of it), or I will defrost it by letting it sit in a larger container of hot water, like I did today, since I didn't plan ahead. The canned beans are a lot more expensive here than the dried ones, and black beans are very easy to cook.

Give this a try and see if you like it! Buen Provecho!
-Kim

Spanish Humor - Middle School Style

2009-09-18T08:20:00.007-04:00

Kari has been working hard in her Spanish class. The girls all have SSL (Spanish as a Second Language) every day for 1 period. It is pretty easy in Elementary school, but gets serious in middle and high school. Kaitlin's class is all in Spanish, no English spoken.

Today Kari came home with some writing on her hands and couldn't wait to show it to me. And so, we share it with you.......

If you don't know what it says..... too bad!!! Look it up! If we have to learn Spanish, so do you! Go to freetranslation.com and see what it says!

Kari is on the Middle School Peer Team. They help at school functions, do service for the other kids in the school and when someone new moves in they are there to help them, provide support for them and be a friend. It has been a fun experience and I know that the other girls want to try to do it next year too.

-Kim

Bad, Bad Parents

2009-09-14T13:03:00.002-04:00

CAUTION - Bad examples enclosed - Don't read if you don't have a sense of humor-

Yesterday we had Stake Conference. It was being held at a chapel that we had never been to before, so we were up and left an hour early so that we could follow our neighbors, the Munive family, who knew how to get there. Sister Anderson and her two sons met us at our parking garage so that she could follow us as well.

We made it to the chapel with plenty of time to spare and we staked out a row that was as close to the front as we could get, while still being under a moving ceiling fan. They were trying to get as many people in the chapel and gym area as they could, and so the chairs were as squished as you could get them (my knees were touching the bum of the lady in front of me when she sat down..... you get the picture......) Needless to say we were a little warm and a bit uncomfortable. There was no A/C, but the fan did help a little.

We were there a full 35 minutes early and so we were visiting quietly with the Munive's behind us and watching people while they came in. There was some cheek kissing going on when people that we knew came in and some hand shaking, but mostly people watching. Kami had her coloring book out and ready and Kaitlin and Kari were working on their personal progress books, the stuff that they could do that involved scripture reading. They were prepared, as there would be no translation and so I knew that no one but Kevin would understand what was being said. The girls were being great. There was no fighting and they were just troopers to go in and sit in that hot area for 2 1/2 hours where they would not understand anything.

Back to the story. There was a woman about 4-5 rows in front of us who kept standing up (this was before it started) and she was turned around, so that she was facing the back. She had her children around her and a baby (maybe 10-12 months) that was pulling on her shirt. After a long while she picked the baby up and was holding it (don't know if it was a boy or girl) facing the back. YIKES!!! You know how some babies are just not cute. Well, this baby fit into that category. It had a LOT of curly hair and was very fat.... but not cute fat.... just, weird fat. I was trying to be polite and just be quiet about the whole thing. A few minutes later, right before the opening song, Kevin leans over to me and says "Did you see that baby up there?" "Yes", I whisper back. "I just can't figure out what it looks like" says Kevin and after a pause we both look at each other and whisper "The Grinch!" at the same time.

I am serious, just imagine this picture with brown skin, no body fur and a lot of curly brown hair and you have an image of this baby. (The eye brows are just about right)

We were trying to control our laughing, but then the girls wanted to know what was causing this quiet shoulder shaking. We told them and then of course everyone was peering around the people in front of them, trying to get a peek at this baby. Kaitlin and Kari were just rolling their eyes at us, they couldn't believe we were their parents.

Later, as we were driving home Sister Anderson was following us to find her way home and when we got to a place that she was familiar with she went into the other lane to try to pass and let us know that she was OK from there. Of course, this resulted in Kevin speeding up and the girls yelling at him to pass her car. "Don't drag race with the General Authorities wife!" was coming out of my mouth, as we were going down the road.

I think that we needed a time out.

Swimming Lessons - 2009

2009-08-04T20:01:00.005-04:00

Today was the last day of swimming lessons for Kayli and Kambrielle. They started them the end of may and they ended today. This week was sort of a make-up for missed lessons due to pool closures and the teacher being sick. We had lessons on Mondays and Wednesdays at 4:30. The nice thing was that the teacher came here and they were held at our pool. Not too bad of a commute!

This is the girls with their teacher Angeli. She is a marathon and triathlon competitor and teaches PE and Chemistry during the school year. She does swimming lessons during the summers to augment her amazingly high teacher salary. (If you thought teachers in the US were paid bad.....)

Kayli perfected her freestyle stroke this summer and learned the back stroke and the butterfly. Her butterfly is really strong.......I see a swim team member in high school! She started learning Olympic turns this week and her homework was to work on them the rest of the summer. Not her favorite thing to do, but they sure look cool when people do them!

Kambrielle came to the DR five months ago with pretty much no swimming skills. I had signed her up for lessons but things kept getting in the way and then last year they closed the pools in Utah due to cryptosporum (sp?) and so her lessons were cancelled. The breaks of being the last child!

Since she has been swimming all the time and having great lessons she is now an outstanding swimmer. She has the crawl stroke down to a T, with the right breathing technique, can do the back stroke, and started the butterfly this week. Pretty good for a 7 year old! Plus, she looks so cute in her new yellow swimsuit, mirror goggles and lime green swimcap!

An Amazing Experience

2009-07-30T20:22:00.006-04:00

Today I had an amazing experience! It was truly fabulous and life changing. "What was it", you ask breathlessly.......... swimming with dolphins, a pedicure on the beach with the wind blowing my hair, watching the whales swim off the side of my boat while we race thru the water? No, none of those.

This was better.

Today I had a maid clean my house. Not just any maid, but a real maid. One that I didn't have to explain anything to. One that scrubbed down my walls, cleaned out the fridges, made the glass shower stalls look like glass again..... I could go on and on. If this blog were auditory, you would be hearing the Hallelujah chorus right now.

No, I didn't sit on the couch eating bon bons while she worked. I was sorting through the piles of papers that are sitting on my kitchen counter, my desk and my dresser. Maybe some day I will be able to have a place for everything and everything in its place, but for now I am just so excited that the toilets are clean and you can see the top of the dryer.

When I found out that we were moving here lots of people asked me if I would get a maid. "Of course not," I scoffed. I was a modern American woman who could do everything. Well, I have fallen off my high horse. I can't do everything. And so, I am very grateful for a humble, hard working woman named Morena who is willing to help me and for so little pay.

And the best part........ she comes again next week!

-Kim

PS: Kierstin comes in a few days...... then there will be posts with actual pictures from my camera, as she will be helping her technology impaired mom with her blogging skills!

I can have it my way......right?

2009-07-02T18:20:00.005-04:00

We Americans are spoiled. Yes, you say, we are...... but I want to tell you how spoiled we are. Really, Really, Really spoiled. I didn't understand how spoiled until moving here.

One of my favorite things to do in Syracuse, on the drive home from the gym, was to drive thru the gas station (yes, I didn't even have to get out of my car!) and pick up a 44 ounce diet coke (caffeine free, even, since it was Utah!) for only 89 cents. This would get me happily thru the day. Throw in some of their 99 cent tater babies with the free dipping sauce and life was really good. Love that carbonation and crunchy ice. Ummmm, I am drooling just thinking about it.

Fast forward to the DR and here you get teeny tiny drinks with your meals. I am talking Happy Meal size for this 44 ounce girl. And don't even suggest asking for no ice so that you get more drink.....no way. AND (gasp here) no refills. Really. No where. So, when you finish those fries, which were given to you with one small ketchup packet that you had to beg for, and your throat is parched because it is like 90 degrees with 95% humidity it is just too bad for you.

Imagine our excitement when we found a new Burger King a few weeks ago that has a drink machine in the dining room, instead of under lock and key back with the employees. We saw stars and exploding fireworks! The excitement!!! The possibilities!!! Needless to say we were excited to try it out. (insert here kids home from school.....mom can we go? mom can we go? mom can we go? Get the picture?)

Today the fumigator came to kill the disgusting bugs that like to live in my apartment and so I saw a perfect opportunity. We have to vacate for awhile after he is done spraying the toxic fumes and so we went to Burger King where there is not only a drink machine, but also a play land. Could life get any better?

The kiddos ordered their combos and when the food was ready Kambrielle was inspecting her hamburger to make sure no disgusting things were lurking there. It had just ketchup on it and so I thought things would be fine.

" There are no pickles here" she said with an interesting face.

So, I trooped up to the front and tried to remember how to say pickles in Spanish to get the mishap resolved. When I told the "server" that we were missing the pickles the following conversation ensued:

" I am just missing the pickles on this hamburger"

" They don't come with pickles."

" Yes they do."
"No, they don't"

"Yes, they do."
" No, they don't"

"Look at the picture. There are pickles there." (pointing to the kids meal picture over her head)

"No there aren't"

"Yes, a hamburger comes with ketchup, mustard, and pickles. I just need the pickles"

"There are no pickles on it"

From the lady standing in line next to me....."Yes, there are pickles on the picture."

" It doesn't come with pickles"

"PLEASE, just give me the pickles"

At this point the huffy lady hands the burger to another worker, who takes it back to talk to another worker, who points to it and then talks to another worker, who nods in agreement. (I am watching this all carefully to make sure no "extra" liquids end up on Kami's burger) Finally the third worker takes out three pickle slices, places two on top of the hamburger, vascillates for a moment about whether to "throw in" the third pickle, decides not to and puts it back and rewraps the burger and brings it back to me. All the while I have a smile pasted on my face, so that they don't think that I am an "ugly American".

Remember, this is all at Burger King, where the motto is "Have it your way"

Fabulous Fideo

2009-05-25T12:42:00.004-04:00

So, I am really missing Cafe Rio. Yes, Jenn, Kathi and Billie Kaye, I know that you are all shocked! :-) Each day of the week Cafe Rio has a special. Fridays are Fideo Friday and I would sometimes get that when we would go out for date night. It is really delicous there and I was hoping to recreate it. While this is not exactly Cafe Rio, I think that your family will enjoy it. It was a hit at our house!

Fideo:
2 Tbsp. oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 (12 ounce) package fideo ( I used a 14 ounce package, because that is what they sold!)
5 Roma tomatoes (I used 4 large salad type)
1 large onion, chopped
1 large yellow pepper, chopped
1/2 tsp. ground cumin ( I use a little extra!)
salt and pepper to taste
2 (plus) cups of chicken broth (or water with boullion)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (that is all they have here. At home I would use a 1/2 cheddar 1/2 monterey jack blend)(or colby is good too!)
fresh cilantro
sour cream
tortilla strips ( I don't know how to do these.....any help Heidi?)

Put the oil into a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Cook chicken breasts in the oil until nicely browned on the outside (and cooked through). Remove from the skillet and set aside. Add the onion and pepper to the oil and cook until tender, but not brown. Add the fideo noodles. Cook, stirring constantly until the fideo is lightly browned. Drain off any excess oil and add tomatoes and seasonings. Dice the chicken breasts and return to the skillet. Pour in the water, cover and simmer over medium-low heat until pasta is tender and water has been absorbed, about 10-15 minutes.

Garnish with shredded cheese, sour cream, cilantro and tortilla strips. Eat it and think loving thoughts about me!

A word about the noodles and the water:
They sell fideo in any supermarket. I always bought mine at Walmart or an IGA store. If you can't find them with the regular noodles, look for them with the Mexican food items. At home I only saw them sold as Fideos Corto, which is Cut Fideo..... so they were in small pieces. Here they sold them as very long pieces, all wound up together (coiled vermicelli). Because of this I used like 4-5 cups of broth when I made this last week. You want the noodles covered while it cooks and the Fideos very moist when served. Mess around with the amount of water, checking every few minutes and adding when necessary. I think it probably uses less water is it is the Fideos Corto. You want it saucy when it is done, but not soup.

You can also make this a beef version by using beef broth and cooking steak strips, in place of the chicken. Personally, I wouldn't cook it with hamburger, but to each his own.

The really interesting thing is that this is called "Mexican Spaghetti" by some. When I told my neighbor, Emma Munives, who is from Mexico City, that I was making fideos for dinner she said that in Mexico fideo is only a soup. She had never had it the way that I prepared it (and had assumed was Mexican!) but she really liked it!

So, give this a try. It is relatively inexpensive and way good!
As they say here in the DR "Buen Provecho!"
-Kim

Free Chocolate Friday

2009-05-15T11:33:00.002-04:00

Today, May 15th, Mars (makers of my favorite, peanut M&M's) is giving out coupons for a free Mars candy to the first 500,000 people who go to their site http://www.realchocolate.com/ and simply ask for the coupon!

I filled one out and put in Kierstin's name, as the coupon won't do me much good, and it only took a minute. One per e-mail address and 4 per mailing address. You get it in about 6 weeks.....how's that for delayed gratification?

SO, who doesn't love free chocolate? Get one and enjoy it for me!

Do I have sucker stamped across my forehead?......wait, yes, I think I do

2009-05-13T18:50:00.003-04:00

Today my new friend Denise came over to help me with my overwhelming house. I am at that point where there are piles of things sitting around because I just don't know where to put them. (Kind of like I have been for the last 20 years!) It is always easier to get something done when you have a friend there to keep you going and motivated and so she came over to kick my bum into gear.

We tidied and I emptied a big box and we got everything off of the floor in the "great room" area. It earned this remark from the kids when they came home from school. "Hey wait, it's clean in here. What happened?" (said in an incredulous voice). Well, after all that work we definitely needed some lunch out and so we hopped in the marvelous mini-van and toodled down the road in search of a place to eat lunch.

There was a place called "Don Pinchos" that we have passed on our frantic trips down the one-way streets of the capital. With all of these one way streets and no left turn signs around here you get to see a lot of areas you never would have traveled on. So we decided to be brave and give it a try. Remember, we are 2 ladies from northern Utah with a very minimal hold of the language going into a lunch spot that is teeming with locals. (Denise got here 1 month after me. She is from Layton, Utah and her husband is the new director of Church Welfare here. They have 6 adult kids and are here being empty-nesters. They are here on a three year assignment. We have a good time laughing at ourselves and our hacking of the language)

When we entered the restaurant we came in a door right next to the bathrooms. I thought that we must have gone in the back door, but that was the front! There was a buffet type area where everyone was walking down the line and giving a lady their order (kind of like a line in the school cafeteria when you grew up) and then paying at the end of the line. The food looked good, but as we were struggling to try to ask the server some questions a waiter came up to us, shook his head, and directed us to a table with some menus. Well, this looked promising. Denise and I commenced trying to guess what the items were. We knew it was some kind of beef or some kind of pork, or some kind of chicken or a mixture of something, but exactly what it was we were ordering was still a small mystery. I went for the easy way out and got a chicken sandwich while Denise was brave and went for Pinchos Mixtos which ended up being a delectable shish-kabob made of beef, chicken breast and pork. The meal was yummy, but no one else seemed to be eating what we were. When the bill came around, my sandwich (insert sandwich only, no pickle, chips or fries accompanied that lonely plate) was $150 pesos and Denise's kabobs with salad and rice were $315 pesos. Add on to that a 26% tax and a tip and you've got the idea. We paid up and while Denise used the restroom I asked the serving lady at the line, in my broken Spanish, how we would do the line, if we came again. She informed me that the cafeteria style line came with your choice of several rice dishes, a meat choice and a salad for $90 pesos.......no tax and no gratuity added on top.......... and then she smiled and sadly shook her head at me. Yep, that waiter saw me coming..........

That is one thing that makes me crazy here. I feel like I constantly have to be on the defensive against being ripped off. They expect a tip for everything and there is someone at every corner asking for money or selling something and they will not leave you alone. I just say no, shake my head and wave my pointer finger back and forth (that's the way you say no here) and then pretend they are not there. Which, by the way, is against all the courtesy and charity lessons I ever received in the US in Relief Society!!!! The prices are always higher for me, because of my white skin, unless it is at a store where they scan things in. Several times my friend Emily Munives, from Mexico, has taken me to the farmer's market. When I come with, the prices are higher than when she goes alone. The last time the guy actually gave her one price for a pineapple and then told her my price would be higher. Now I have to sit in the car when they shop. :-) Her mom went and got the plants that I wanted for the house for me. When I was there they were 1,200 pesos for one. When she went back without me, she got 3 for $1,200 pesos. Now we have a system where I show them or tell them what I want and then they go buy it for me..... making sure that the seller doesn't see us together!

Isn't discrimination illegal?

Rain, Rain, Go Away....Come Again Tomorrow About 2:00

2009-05-12T19:18:00.005-04:00

I can't find my camera!!! Darn it all. I hope that it is just misplaced and hasn't "walked away", like some things like to do here. Unfortunately, with all of the different people who come into my home to work on the constant leaks, outages, etc. things can sometimes dissappear! I have things that I want to post, but I always think "How boring!" without a picture, but I will forge on and hope that the camera shows up.

We have just begun the rainy season. Tonight I went to Domino's for pizza (yes, Kevin is gone and I just couldn't cook tonight!). Kambrielle and I drove in to get the pizza and while we were waiting the downpour began. It is hard to describe without seeing it. The rain pours down in sheets and when the wind blows you can see the rain moving...... it looks just like in one of those really bad 1960's movies with the terrible special effects. We waited an extra 5 minutes and decided we would have to run for it. By the time that we got to the car(it was parked close to the door) we were soaked. Kami was laughing her head off. It is really refreshing!

By the time it had been coming down 10-15 minutes the streets were flooding. Imagine that much rain at home and then try to imagine it trying to drain with inadequate or even non-existant storm drains. The streets became swimming pools at certain places, but were just fine in others. Everyone was just mainly driving down the middle of the 2 lane road, so that the puddles were to the side of your car. These rains can come and then be gone in a matter of a minute or two, or can last for 20-30 minutes, or you can have them for a long time during a storm. I can't imagine what it will be like during a tropical storm. My friend says that is why so many people have 4 wheel drive. I am not sure that my mini-van will be able to handle it. Maybe I can get it jacked up and have some mondo tires installed...... Something to think about!

I am glad for the rains as it cleans up the dirty air. It poured on us once when we were trying to put a mattress in our car at PriceSmart (Latin America's poor version of Costco) and in 2 minutes we were drenched to the skin. Kayli was with us and she had on a white shirt. It was just filthy from the rain when she made it into the car. Our car was also dirtier after the rain than before!

The interesting thing about this rainy season, according to the Dominicans that I have talked to, is that it generally only rains in the afternoon! Weird, huh? It will generally be clear in the morning and then there will be an afternoon shower which will only last a little while and then it may rain during the night (generally while you are asleep). I bet everyone in Oregon wishes that they could have scheduled rain like that!

Catching up.....

2009-04-28T21:55:00.004-04:00

Every day I think of things to put in this blog, but then I think about all of the things that I need to catch everyone up on and I post nothing!

So, a quick update to catch up:

* At the end of December we were asked to take an International assignment for the LDS church. We moved to the Dominican Republic on February 16th and are still trying to unpack!

* Kevin's new job title is Area Physical Facilities Manager. He is over all planning, construction and maintenance of the church buildings, temple, CES buildings, mission homes, etc for the Caribbean area. He is gone a lot. (Insert sad crying sounds here)

* The girls are attending an international school here in the DR. It is called Carol Morgan School and you can google it if you are interested in finding out more about it. Classes are taught in English, although you hear an awful lot of Spanish being spoken everywhere! The girls take SSL (Spanish as a Second Language) as well as their other classes. The school is about 90% Dominican and 10% kids from other countries. They have friends who are Korean, South African, German, Iranian, and from other countries that I can't think of right now. It is a lot of fun, althought they miss their Utah friends terribly!

* I spend my day trying to not get killed when I drive everyone around (We have just one car here). The driving is insane. I also spend all day trying to buy groceries. And sometimes I watch Ellen when I can find it on the cable.

* Yes, we live by the ocean. However, it takes a minimum of 45 minutes to get to a decent beach. The good beaches are two hours away and some European ladies like to sunbathe there.....if you get my drift. You can see the Caribean Sea from my windows, but since Santo Domingo is a port town there are no beaches. Just waves crashing onto cliffs. Two weeks ago we were walking along the Malecon (road by the ocean) and we watched three kids climb down the cliff and go harpoon fishing. It was kind of scary.....attention kids, don't do this at home.......is the information that I wanted to make sure the girls got as they watched them climbing down!

* We live in an apartment building now in the middle of the city. A big change for this country girl. I am getting used to all the noises and to riding in an elevator. Love the pool, gym and tennis courts but really miss gardening and my beautiful yard. I just hope that some of you are enjoying my fabulous tulips since I can't enjoy them this year.......

* My saddest thing is selling our lovely home in Syracuse and knowing that we now no longer have a permanent place to call home. We have had 2 offers, one ridiculous and one waiting on a counter-offer, on the house and it will be sold to the relocation company on the 15th of May if no other offers are accepted before then. I am really missing all of my friends and the fabulous support that I had in Utah. Don't forget us just because we moved!

So, my goal is to share some of the fun, weird and interesting things that happen to us here with you. Remember that we are just a phone call away! (801)776-9323

-Kim

I'm posting again!!!

2009-01-07T18:54:00.001-05:00

sorry about not writing! I didn't know anyone was reading it until today!

this is kaitlin by the way. my mom is out taking kari to the optometrist. she is pretty busy lately. she was the one who made me make this blog in the first place. maybe someday she will actually post on here!

anyways, we have been pretty busy around here getting ready to move to the Dominican Republic. we leave next Thursday to go down there to test and look for a house. it has been pretty busy around here. we've been packing up, getting physicals and shots!!! not extremely fun.

that's pretty much all I can think of to write. nothing of extreme importance or interest!

Hello!

2008-11-02T22:55:00.002-05:00

hello everyone!! welcome to our fabulous blog. if anyone ever reads this please tell us!! I don't expect anyone to. Halloween is finally over and we're up to our necks in candy. I have been getting all of the little girls' chocolate because they feel so bad for me that I didn't get any candy. Ha!!!