Alan Turns 2!!!!!!

Wow! How is my baby 2 years old already? We had a "party" for Alan on his birthday (which is the 10th of April), and it was a good time.



We had spaghetti for dinner, which is one of his favorites, and then he got a cake. Alexandra was such a big sister. She kept asking me all day when Alan's party was. He then opened his gift, and it was a big hit. It has only taken me two years to pick out a toy that he will actually play with. A race track! We ate cake and ice cream, and he spent the rest of the evening playing with his toy. Pretty good birthday for turning 2.

We had a great time on our trip to Houston. We had a good time shopping, and we just hung out and chatted with the family in the evening. Aunt Marty and Uncle Dan were great. Alexandra was a bit confused about the grandma status, but all worked out fine. One morning Alan sneaked out of his crib and wandered around down stairs. Uncle Dan found him grunting at the back door trying to open it. I guess he didn't want to be the only Alan who didn't set the alarm off at 5:00 am. Luckily we got home and he hasn't tried to climb out of the crib. I don't know what I would do with him if he could get out of that thing. Overall, it was a welcomed trip. We are enjoying our last week off work/school, and it will be back to the action again. I think the kids will be glad to get back to school since Alex has already been asking if she has school today.

Alexandra's Easter Egg hunt at school. Check out the tail!!!

March Already, Update

Hola! Things here are rolling along. We have been crazy busy. Between work and kids and life, we keep things interesting. We have been checking options both here and in the States, and we have decided to extend our time here by at least another year. The kids like school and the schools are fantastic and affordable. Alexandra is speaking Spanish, and so is Alan in his limited almost 2 year old vocabulary. The economy in the US is not very good, and the job markets are tight. We both have job options here (although the pay is low), and we really have no reason to return at this time. We are starting to find our comfort zone with the language and culture. We have made many friends, love the weather, and are really starting to embrace the lifestyle. Maybe we may never leave!!!!

We are planning a 5 day trip to Houston, TX next week to take care of some things, and get some "supplies". Mexico has tons of benefits such as inexpensive fresh fruits and veggies, great weather, and any pirated movie you can imagine for about $10 pesos, but if you want a decent sippy cup, shoes you can afford, toys, or a decent makeup counter, you really may have to go to the US. Alan's birthday is coming up, so we planned to get there and back before he turns 2 so we don't have to buy another full price ticket for him (considering I will be holding him with all my might the entire trip anyway). We have a 2 week vacation for Easter/Spring Break, so we figured it was a good time. It is hard to believe we have been gone for almost a year already. We are planning on driving up to Colorado sometime in July. Depending on when we leave here and how long it takes us to get there, we should arrive time time mid-July. We need to take care of some things up there, and it will be a good time to visit with some of our friends and family. We have 6 weeks off during the summer until school starts again in mid-August. Summer is the rainy season here, and we are looking forward to that. It hasn't rained a drop here since October, and it is getting dry. We arrived here during the rainy season, and it was fantastic. May and June are supposed to have a decent amount of rain (approx 6 inches?), so that will start soon. We have been looking at some other homes to move to that might be a bit quieter than in the city. There is a lot of street noise and roosters here, and we are hoping to find something with a bigger yard for the kids. We might move sometime in June or so. We will see how it works out.

We have discovered an unknown resource here. Birthday Parties!!!!! As of late, the kids have been invited to several of these, and they are really fun for the whole family. Even Alan gets involved. One or more pinata's is a guarantee, and there is usually a bounce house, icy pops (called Bolis), face painting, and other activities. They have a company that you can hire, and they send a group of teenage girls to keep the action going. Alex LOVES it. The adults can usually hang out and just keep track of the constant flow of sugar, hold the pinata bags, and chat with the other parents. It seems like there is one every week lately. For the price of a small, inexpensive gift, you get several hours of kid fun. When the kids get a little older, we may even be able to do a drop off, and not have to spend a full 3-4 hours there!!!

That is about all the update for now. You really just want to see the pictures anyway. Alexandra and Alan in their "fubol" outfits, and us at a chili cookoff (awesome time). Will update soon.

Christmas/Puerta Vallarta

Merry Christmas!!!! Thank you for all the Christmas cards we received, and the well wishes. It has been an exciting month for us. I have been busy as always teaching school, and managing the house. It is amazing how much time it takes to do laundry and keep this place clean. We had a month of school programs and activities, some parties for the holidays, and we spent 5 days at the beach in Puerta Vallarta. Tough life I know.


School is out for Christmas break, and we don't have to go back until Jan 7th. Joe found a great "last minute" deal at an all-inclusive in Puerta Vallarta, so we drove over there on the 18th, and returned on the 23rd. It was a 4 1/2 hour drive. It was beautiful. The kids loved the pool and we had a great time. The hotel itself was older, but we didn't mind. The food was great. We watched CNN every morning, and giggled when we saw all the snow. I don't miss the snow at all.

While we were in Puerta Vallarta, we visited a Mexican Zoo. The place was AWESOME. You purchase a bag of miscellaneous animal food when you enter for $50 pesos. Then, you walk a paved path through the entire zoo. As you go, you see the different animals, and you can feed them. Peanuts, carrots, bread, etc. We got to feed a Giraffe, and it was great. You could touch him if you wanted. We also fed monkeys which took the peanuts right out of our hands, and Zebras and camels also. They even had a baby tiger, and a baby jaguar that you could hold and get pictures of. It was the coolest zoo I have ever seen. I would go back anytime.

Whenever you go outside here, it feels somewhere between 70-80. It is like a beautiful spring day in Colorado when you take a deep breath and just smile. FABULOUS!!!! It hasn't rained since September, and it is sunny EVERY DAY. We spent this morning opening gifts from Santa. It took Alexandra about 2 seconds to rip the paper off her two gifts. She also got a bike. Along with the doll and the stroller, her life is now complete. For now anyway. Alan got a truck and a trike. Alexandra couldn't wait to see what Alan had received, so she also had to help him rip the paper off his presents. Joe and I carried their bikes to the plaza for the kids to ride, and both of them have already crashed. It was a nice morning. The weather is perfect as always, and it is a quiet day in Mexico.

Weekly Update/Manzanillo

These are pictures of us at the beach in Manzanillo, and Alexandra for her school program. She cried before she got on stage, and this is the only picture we have of her before the program.






Hola! It has been a while since I posted, and we have been very busy. Life keeps us that way. We made a weekend trip to Manzanillo, Mexico, and it was a great time. The kids were good, with only a few glitches. We found a hotel that is right on the beach, and was less than $50 dollars a night. The have a pool, and the breakfast was included. Overall, we loved it, and are planning another trip for the week before Christmas. Manzanillo is a 3 1/2 hour drive from Chapala, and is a major port town in Mexico. The beach was very nice, and the weather was warm. When we first arrived, the kids were hungry so we decided to go to the Burger King because it had a playland. We parked and walked in, and Alan must have been a little car sick or something. He threw up all over the floor as we were waiting to order. Needless to say, I was mortified, and we left with no food. Luckily, there are not a lot of sympathy pukers in Mexico, because no one seemed to notice. He was fine after that. The kids loved the sand and they could have stayed there forever.



Here is me and Alan on our first day of school, and me and Alan at his school program. He was dressed as a Christmas ornament.



I took a job. I wasn't sure it was the best idea, and I am still wondering, but I was offered a job at a ...... you better sit down for this..... a preschool teaching English. The school is called Tohui. I have no teaching experience, so I couldn't tell you if I am doing a good job or not. I guess I speak English, so that is the only requirement other than showing up. The classes have about 1/4 English speaking students. It is actually a very good program, and it is right down the road from Alexandra's school. I can take Alan with me, and he is in the Maternal program at a discount. He is there for about 2 hours including eating lunch, and then he is at recess with me, and then he takes a nap and we go home. I was a little nervous about putting Alan in there, but he seems to be doing good. So far he hasn't made as much of a fuss as Alexandra did when I took her to preschool. They also speak only Spanish in Maternal, so he will be learning that as well. It could work out really good that the kids can both get some good exposure to Spanish in the next year. I have spent 3 weeks there so far, and I am catching on. If you would have told me several years ago that I was going to be a preschool teacher, I would have said NEVER! It is a bit challenging, but the best part is that only 1/2 of the day I teach English with the help of the Spanish teacher in crowd control (there are 21 students total), and the other 1/2 I am a helper to the Spanish teacher (crowd control). We also have another helper in the classroom with us. It is a definite eye opener to me on how 4 year olds act. I wonder how Alexandra acts at her school. I also think she is ahead of a lot of these kids in speech. They are planning on giving me my own classroom after Christmas, and split the class so that I only have about 10 kids at a time. I am actually looking forward to that. It doesn't pay much, but it does cover the kids tuition, and I am finished when they are finished. School here runs from Mid Aug to the end of June, so they only have 6 weeks off during the summer. Since Alexandra is only right up the road (about a block away), I walk up there right at 1:30 and bring her to my school until 2:00, and then we all go home. It works out pretty good. I could have never gotten a deal like this in the US, I could have, however, made a lot more money.

Weekly Update/Joe's Birthday

Hola!!! It has been an exciting week here with the Day of the Dead. They don't really have Halloween, although most of the children know what it is. We went to a Halloween party at some American friends house, and it was mostly us and a bunch of kids. It was fun though. I always think Alex is getting big until I see her around a bunch of 8 yr olds. We carved pumpkins and had a big pinata (check that thing out! $65 pesos for custom made) Alex loves the princesses, and Alan loves Elmo. Joe got the costumes when he was in Vegas. Then we went trick or treating. Only about 1 in 10 houses was giving out candy, so we had to walk a bit more, but they got a good amount of stuff. We tried to stick to the Gringo neighborhood. I am posting some pictures of the kids and such.


The Mexicans use Nov 1-2 to remember those family members who died. They buy these very elaborate wreaths and have parties and such. It is similar to Memorial Day for us, only they take it up a notch. They decorate the graves and hang out there and eat food, sing songs, and party all night. We went by a cemetery today and they had vendors with food, flowers, etc setting up outside. They did have a procession of sorts that went right by the house with a small statue of a virgin? They did not say it was Mary, and it was sanctioned by the Catholic church because the altar boys and priests were involved. If you double click the picture, you can see the statue. They have it on top of the truck. It is very difficult to understand some of it when the language is still not strong for us. Either way they had a little carnival for the kids, and fireworks and such. It was all good until the church started blowing off these bombs at 6:00 am the next morning. When I say bombs, I mean BOMBS. Sounds like a canon. Very loud. Joe thinks it is a half stick of dynamite. We are approx 1 1/2 blocks directly diagonal from the church, and they are close and loud. The only one who didn't wake up was Alex. I swear she could sleep through a war. The Mexican people are always up for an event with food and music and such. We heard a saying that says, "Mexico is easier to love than to understand." That is VERY true. In a country that has a good bit of poverty, why is every kid here running around with cheetos and pop and always snacking on something?

Joe had his birthday, and is now officially 40. Alan and Dan paid for a trip for him to go to Vegas and they had quite a trip. Dan sent me a few pictures, and I am going to attach. The deal was that I did not pack a suitcase for him, just a few necessities, and they were going to provide the wardrobe for him. I guess they found a few select clothing items that would have made your average person take a serious double take, but then again, they were in Vegas. Notice I said average person. Is that pink tie dye, and what does that shirt say? Not Mastercard, Master Pimp? Aren't those pants a bit tight? Where do you find these things? They had a ton of fun and I am forever grateful to them for footing the bill and the arrangements for the trip. Joe is already talking about the next trip. He did get a chance to do some shopping while he was there, which was nice. Toys are very expensive in Mexico. Actually anything that is imported from China has a HUGE tariff on it, so it makes most of the plastic stuff expensive. Your average barbie doll here is about $140 pesos. In the US it is about $5 dollars. Even though they have Walmart and such, the prices and the selection are different. He did get the kids some stuff so that we have Christmas covered here, and he paid for it all with his winnings!!!!! Thanks guys. For Joe's actual birthday, Alex was sick, and she didn't go to school because I didn't want her hacking on all the other kids, so we went for a drive and stopped at the Burger King playland. It was just like the US. The prices were about the same too. We had Whopper combos for Joe's 40th. Now thats living, right?

Other than that, it is just the same things. The weather here is PERFECT. It is cooler at night, so we actually do use a blanket, and you sometimes need a long sleeve shirt in the morning until about 9:00 or so, and then it is sunny and a high is the 70's. The rainy season is over, so it probably won't rain until April. Alex is doing good in school. She is using Spanish words a lot, and doesn't even notice it. When I take her to school, the teachers talk to her in Spanish, and she responds with yes or no answers, so I think she understands more than she knows. Joe and I are still struggling with the language, but now everyone around here has seen us with the kids, and they know we live here, so they are patient with us. Hey, they need to make money too, so they are very willing to accommodate the caveman language we are using. Alan has learned the word, "no", and is using it. He also knows, "Hola", and yells it at everyone we pass while he is on the stroller, or those he sees in the street. Very cute. I never put a lot of thought into socks until now.......

The circus, Alex got her ears pierced

Time is flying by here. The weather is fabulous. It is truly one of the best parts about being here, especially when we know it is COLD in Colorado and other places. It was sunny and about 80 degrees today. We went to the circus, and it was great. Both of the kids really enjoyed it. Alan sat very good and paid attention for almost the whole thing (1 1/2 hrs). For an amateur performance, it was really quite good. They drive around with trucks blasting the announcements (in Spanish of course) but they have trailers with cages with animals. You can go up to the trucks a buy tickets to the show. We have seen the tigers many times, a kangaroo, some lamas, and some miniature ponies. One thing we did discover is that the tigers are very neat, but they are not in the show. Just the cages outside. For the entire thing being in Spanish, it was fun to watch. Mostly some low grade acrobatics, but they did have a big ball that three motorcycles drive in at one time. It was quite impressive, except they seriously need to tune those machines up. I was starting to become concerned that we might all asphyxiate from the exhaust while watching a bunch of crazy acrobatics in a giant blue tent in Mexico. We also about lost consciousness while laughing so hard when the tightrope walker repeatedly bagged himself while bouncing on a rope to "She Bangs" while wearing something stolen from a Brady Bunch episode. Well worth the money if you ask me. We would definitely go again if it comes to town.

Alexandra got her ears pierced today. She had been asking for a long time, and we finally said yes. It is very common here for girls to get their ears pierced at birth. Literally before they leave the hospital. All the girls in her class have them, and she was very concerned that she was missing out somehow. It was worse for me than for her I am sure. We had to buy the earrings and take them to a doctor or pharmacist. I find it extremely odd that in a country that you can buy just about any drug over the counter, but you have to have a physician pierce your ears. Where's Claires when you need them. Almost any jewelry counter in the US does ear piercing. The earring that we bought had a point on them, and a ball on the back that you screw on. The pharmacist just soaked them in disinfectant, put some numbing stuff on her ear lobes, and shoved them right through. She was so brave. She only cried just a bit on the second one, and once she found out it was over, she was A-OK again. She is so proud. I hope it all goes well after this. She is definitely a girly girl, so we have a long life of girly stuff. She is adorable though.

Joe and I found a babysitter and are trying her out for the second night. She speaks NO English, and we speak little Spanish, but Alex seems to like her. She probably feels like she is at school. She is a maid for another friend of ours, and she has three kids of her own, so crying probably doesn't bother her a bit. Her name is Lulu. We also got the house sprayed for roaches and such. Every morning since, we are excited to get the "count" of dead roaches and such. We have not seen any more scorpions, so that is good. As long as we don't all die of an unknown cancer later in life, it is working out great. The guys who sprayed the house is the "rooster" guy we spoke about early. He told Joe, "it kiills eeveryting!" He was right. As long as it doesn't kill us right? Not much else for now. I will try to include some more pictures of the Circus. My ESL article was published in the paper, so I am going to write a Circus review next.

Pictures are of me and Alex and with her earrings, the tigers that are paraded around town, Joe and the kids, and Alan unhappy about his pacy being taken. Until next time......

Crazy busy doing what??????

Hey Everyone. Sorry it has been so long since I have updated. Joe and I have been very busy it seems, but what we have been doing is a mystery. I have been teaching my class two days a week, and I really like it. I wrote an article for a local newspaper here, and another small publication. Nothing great, but I am going to clip them for sure. Joe and I have been looking around for other interesting things to write about.

Here is a note about the medical care and facilities. Alan had a bad string of diapers (if you know what I mean), and we started to get worried, so we took him to the doctor here to get checked. Turns out he has an 'Intestinal Yeast Infection". Who would have thought. They think it was something he ate, or found somewhere. The amazing thing was, it cost us out of pocket less than $100 dollars. We had a doctor appt, a lab test on one of his diapers, three different medications (two prescriptions), and about 6 bottles of Gatorade. The doctor was awesome. We never even saw a "nurse" accept to drop the diaper off, and get the test results later that day. We got there when the place was just opening (they only make appointment for tests and specific things), and we waited about 10-15 minutes until the doctor could see us. We went right into his office, he asked all the questions and filled out the paperwork. He spoke PERFECT English. He examined Alan thoroughly, and wrote up a prescription and a lab order for the next diaper. It was amazing. The doctor charged $150 pesos. PESOS!!! That is the equal to about $15 dollars. The lab was the most expensive at $29, and the medicines and Gatorade were the balance. The worst part was we were told that Alan could have no bread, pasta, or juice for a week. Can you imagine what you feed your child with no bread or pasta. He has had a bunch of eggs, cheese, bananas, and Gatorade this week. He does seem to be getting better, but he HATES to take medicine. I have to hold him down and hold his mouth open and keep my finger in there until he swallows, otherwise, he will spit it out. I know the stuff tastes OK because Alex licked the dropper and said, "MMMMMMMM", so I am not sure what the problem is other than he hates you to tell him what to do. He saw Joe put the medicine into his Gatorade one time, and he REFUSED to drink it. After that, I just force feed it to him.

Joe got a surprise trip to Vegas this week for his birthday. His brothers paid for the ticket and we sprung it on him at the last minute. He had NO clue. I packed his computer and a few things, and called a cab (our landlord), to come get him. He was a bit confused as to what was happening, but he left, and I haven't heard from him. I am sure they are having a good time. He will need to come home just for the rest when they are done with him. Alan and Dan had an idea to buy him some clothes for his trip, so I didn't pack him anything but an extra pair of undies. He left with only the clothes on his back. Hopefully, customs didn't give him too much trouble for going to the USA for 5 days with nothing but a computer, a shower kit, and an extra pair of undies. Then again, it is Vegas. Knowing Dan, he may be showering with his clothes on a few times.

Not much else going on for now. I should have some good stuff in a few days with the Vegas update, and such. The weather here is beautiful every day. The high is around 80, and the low 60. It did rain yesterday, which is unusual during the day. It usually rains at night, and clears by mid morning. With the rain, I wasn't able to hang clothes out for a few days, so I got a bit backed up. Of course I planned to wash the sheets, which take up most of my lines just with them, so it pushed me back another day. Alex found a small scorpion on the back patio by the washer this morning. It made me a bit nervous. I squished him, but I wonder if there is more. They can be a bit dangerous for the kids because they are so young. So far we have only seen two, and the other one was across the street under a rock. I have heard other people report seeing more, so hopefully they will avoid us. We are getting used to the roosters and dogs. It does seem that I am sleeping better. There was a band practicing for a while that was playing until 3 am, but they have seemed to move locations lately. We still don't know many of our neighbors other than in passing. The language barrier is a bit of a problem so we are mostly polite in passing. I am sure they all talk about us though as we are the only Americans they have seen with no maid or gardener. The family across the street is Mexican, and they have both.

We started going to the local church, and they have a fair amount of children there. They have several missionaries that attend that do not know how long they will be there, so that accounts for some of the children. Alex does OK, and Alan sometimes falls asleep. He is just 18 months, and sometimes that morning nap just doesn't wait. The biggest problem is that he usually fusses quite a bit before he will fall asleep, so that can cause a problem. Most of the people there have been wonderful, and they have ESL classes, so I may switch next year depending on the arrangement. So many of the American/Canadians we have seen here are somewhat disgruntled. Not sure what the story is. The rest look like they are about to drop dead at any moment. Clearly here for the health care?????? If we would have know there would have been so many retirees, and so few younger people here, we may have picked another location. Until our language skills improve, we are somewhat limited. Once we can get in with the Mexicans, we should be good to go. We do have an invite for a BBQ this weekend, and other prospects in the wing. We will see how it goes. Will post soon.........

Pictures are of an activity at Alexandra's school (notice she is the blonde), meat delivery, and another visit to the lake. The liros are gone now and it looks good.