Our 2010 Highlights

2010 was a year full of adventures for our family. The year started with Andy’s deployment to Colombia. Fortunately, we were blessed to have Gaby’s mom come from Chile to help during that time. While Andy was gone and with an assignment to move to Monterrey, CA, we received unexpected news: Andy had been selected for the Olmsted Scholar Program. Our lives changed completely when we found out we were going to live in Taipei, Taiwan for the next 3 years.

Andy had to come back early from his assignment in Colombia. And during all the craziness we still managed to enjoy our first cruise. We took a Disney Cruise to the Bahamas with Andy’s parents and Gaby’s mom. We started to organize and pack for the BIG move and Andy’s mom kindly stayed with us to help with whatever we needed. For instance, she babysat for us for a whole weekend when we had to go to Washington DC to learn about “The Olmsted Scholar Program”. That was the first time that Gaby had ever left the girls overnight and for so long. She survived.

After college finals and graduation, passports, VISAS, military orders, document authentication, yard sales, the moving company, the storage company, house cleaning, 8 big suitcases, and very sad goodbyes, we left our Key West Paradise to start a new family journey. We spent 3 beautiful weeks visiting with family and friends and by the end of July we left the US and had

3 amazing weeks in Japan. We used our Japan Rail pass to the maximum extent possible. We went to Hiroshima, Nara, Osaka, Kyoto, Nikko and obviously Tokyo. It was all very fun and we learned so much about Japan.

When we arrived, Taiwan was not an easy place to live at first. In the first few weeks, a small hotel room became our home while Catalina started school and we went apartment hunting. We celebrated Gaby’s 30th birthday/moving day on Sep 2nd; and after the initial frustration of adjustment we can finally say “we love home”. We love where we live and love what we do. Taiwanese people are some of the nicest people we’ve ever meet. Our church ward is amazing and we have many friends. We truly are living the time of our lives. Andy is just a student but still gets paid. We have a lot of family time, so this is not just a big step in Andy’s professional career but also an amazing cultural experience for our family. We appreciate having Andy home as we pray and think of those service members who are far away from their homes this year. Andy has been away before and we always worried about him. We are so grateful for the time we have to share as a family right now. We recognize the Lord’s hand and tender blessing as we enjoy of this great opportunity, and we wanted to share it with you.

Catalina is five and attends Kindergarten at the Taipei American School. She loves her school, riding the bus (like a big girl), and recess to play with her friends. She is very responsible and has shown big academic progress in just 4 months. She is an innate artist and has a beautiful singing voice. Catalina is an amazing care giver as she takes the role of big sister very seriously. She loves anything that involves princesses, cooking, and art/crafts. She has a wide imagination and is getting smarter (almost too smart) every day.

Julienne is turning 3 this coming February. “Monito” (little monkey), as we mostly call her, keeps us busy and entertained 24/7 (not kidding). She is a fast learner and loves playing with Catalina. She also has a wide imagination and loves “pretending”. She has become very independent and is not afraid to speak her mind. She is very sociable and charismatic. Taiwanese people love her and she is constantly being photographed. We’re hoping she decides to move on from diapers this year.

Gaby turned 30 this year! She graduated from college last spring. She got an Associates in Art Degree with Honors at the Florida Keys Community College. This past Nov. she went through her first surgery ever (umbilical hernia). She is fine and enjoying every minute of our Taiwanese experience. She is very busy with Catalina’s school, caring for Julienne, and her church calling to work with teenage girls. She hopes to make time to also learn Chinese and to finish some craft projects she has been postponing throughout the years.

Andy somehow figured out a way to have the Air Force pay him to be a student again. He is very happy with his assignment and is probably a little bit crazy as he enjoys learning Chinese. Sometimes at midnight he is on the computer learning characters which he says helps him to relax. He finally finished his MBA from the University of Nebraska this year and is very grateful to hopefully never have to look at another finance formula again. Andy also completed the Taroko Gorge half marathon in November (one of the most beautiful places in the world), and looks forward to doing more. He is a dedicated father/husband and is truly grateful for this time to be with his family.

TOO MUCH MONEY!!!

We are not lottery winners, we didn't rob a bank or anything like it. Right after our arrival to Taiwan we started to look for apartments to rent. We decided on one that fits our needs of: space, neatness, near a metro station, relatively near Catalina's school, and of course in our price range. After 3 visits to the apartment and a whole week of negotiations we signed the rental contract last Saturday. We'll be moving into our new home on Sep. 1st. Well, here comes the funny part. Like most rental agreements, you have to come with F-L-S and that of course is always a lot of money. We don't have a bank here yet and the landlord doesn't have an international bank account, which makes impossible to make a bank to bank transaction. So our only option is to call our bank in the States and ask for a 24 hr raise in the limit of money we can take out of an ATM. The highest currency here in Taiwan is the $1,000 NTD (new taiwanese dollar) bill which is a little over $31 USD. So here is Andy holding, and sleeping on $160,000 NTD which is just half of all the F-L-S (do the math). Yes, Taiwan is a very expensive place to live.

We are alive!!!

I have opened this blog many times with the intention of catching up on stuff but I just feel overwhelmed with ALL the things I have missed telling. We've had some very hectic time this first half of year that I don't even know where to start from. I decided to just start blogging again and move forward, and when I have time move backward into our life. To my defense we have been traveling and moving from one side of the earth to the other. lol.

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

We are counting the days to be reunited as a family again. It's been crazy how many times we've been separated during the past 3 years. I wish we could be together to celebrate your 31th birthday, Andy. The only thing I can say is that I love you tremendously. I'm thankful to have you in my life. I'm so proud of the amazing man you are. Your achievements are also mine. You are a wonderful man and a excellent father. Thanks for all you do for me and the girls. I've followed you to so many places and I'm happy to keep journeying with you forever. We miss you so much!!!
Happy Birthday my LOVE!!!

Household Photo Tag

My friend Emma has tagged me in a "Household Photo Tag". The Rules are that you have to take the pictures how your house is now- no cleaning up.
What a fun way to take a break from organizing and preparing documents needed for passports, visas, and so on.
May I present my house...

Kitchen Sink
Fridge

Favorite ShoesI got these shoes about 2 months ago. I use them most of the days. I think they are better than flip flops. I often check if Payless Shoes has brought more but I'm not being lucky.


Favorite RoomMy favorite room is my kitchen. I love everything about my kitchen and I spent most of my day here. In this room is where I teach seminary, study, cook, eat, and so on. I followed the "tag rule" so you can see the big mess I have with documents and all the forms I have to fill up.

Laundry Room
Bedroom Closet
Bathroom

What my kids are doing right now
Catalina going down the stairs.

Julienne playing "Sorry" and "Pictionary".


I also included my sweet Mom who was putting the clothes away after ironing it. Thanks Mamita...you're the best. I could not do it without you.

And here is Cuba about to get back inside the house after going potty.


Self Portrait

OK, so now I now want to tag Emily (show me your house in Ecuador!!!) and my awesome friend Shelly (I'm dying to see how your new house looks like). And anyone else just for the fun of it!

Happy Easter!!!

I've been an awful blogger. I totally acknowledge the overwhelming catching up I owe to everyone. I'll try to do it soon. For now I want you to see these beautiful Easter weekend pictures of the girls. I especially want Andy to see them: Look Andy our beautiful girls!!! And thanks Grandma Margaret for sending these adorable yellow dresses for them.

Yesterday we went to a Primary activity. We had a very fun Easter Egg Hunt.

Here is Abuela helping my little egg hunters.

I love this picture of Catalina. It's so funny that she was picking just the "girl eggs" (as she said), which are the different shades of purple and pink exclusively, until I told her that she better pick anything or she was not going to have that many; not that I was going to let her eat all that candy anyway...lol.

Monito did so much better this year. She learned that she has to pick up a few eggs and then open them and enjoy them. Last year she was just worried about opening the egg and instantaneously eating its content, and then going for the next one. That also reminds me that I no longer have a baby in our family. She has grown up so much...sniff sniff.

Here are most of the Key West Branch primary children.

The following pictures I took today in the Church garden.

I adore this picture. I told Julienne to go by Catalina to take a picture and Catalina hugged her little sister in such a spontaneous way that I just love it.

Monito showing her beautiful big front teeth (bunny teeth) smile.

My sweet Catalina and her adorable smile. When it comes to taking pictures she is a pro in giving me her best smile and pose.

The girls showing their beautiful dresses.

"Shocking kiss". I just told Catalina to kiss her sister for the picture. Julienne has a hard time staying still but I guess Catalina knows exactly what to do to make her stop moving. LOL.

Going around...
and around.

Monito's Birthday

Happy Birthday Julienne!!!
I can not believe my "baby" is 2 now. We are so happy to have her in our lives. She fills up our lives with happiness, scary moments, and excitement. To commemorate Julienne's 2nd year of her "monkey life" we throw her a "Monkey Girl Party". Some of our friends came and we had a great time. We had an awesome lunch consisting of: BBQ pulled pork sandwiches, sliced fruit, chicken-cheese dip, veggies, chocolate cake, and tres leches (cake). Everything was so yummy.The BIG (and terrible) 2's.

Monito's best monkey face.

My first slow cooker BBQ pulled pork. I thought it was awesome.

The food!!!

The cute decoration and some of our friends.

I'm so proud of my cake. I know it looks like Minnie mouse but it is really a "Monkey Girl".

Trying to blow. So cute!

I ended up helping her because she still drools too much but she was super close to get it herself.

Yayyyy!!!
I love this picture of how enthusiastically Catalina is eating her cake.

Daddy's little monkey.
Some kissing for my baby girl. I adore you, Julienne.

Catching Up...

I already feel like this year is going to end before I know it. I can not believe is February already!
As a follow up from the last post I have to say that we had so much fun with my sissy and her family. In the first week in January (which happened to be the coldest week in Florida in the past 100 years) we went to some awesome theme parks. We went to Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, Sea World, and Bush Gardens. It was so cool to be able to switch the care of our kiddos and going in twos to do the big rides. We were so cold that had to go and buy winter stuff. And nobody expected such cool weather, so finding what we needed was NOT an easy thing because due to the high demand everything was sold out. I'm so happy that Julienne and Catalina can sleep together while traveling now. They love this new thing my two big girls can do. No more cribs in the hotel room for us.

Hollywood Studios and a bad photographer. How can you cut a person out and say that you got a good shot of us?

I think that Donkey had just burped and that's why we were smiling so enthusiastically.

I like this shot I got. Andy is having a real great time.

My girls' favorite "Curious George".

I love this picture. My niece Camille barely made the height requirement for this ride and I thought that it was pretty intense for a 3-4 year old (Catalina didn't even dare to try it). This is a picture of us going for the second time because Camille didn't wanted to get down. lol.

Catalina and Camille enjoying themselves.

LOL.

Here are my sister and her hubby in Manta from Sea World. Definitely my favorite coaster ever. It was just out of this world.

Catalina and Nicholas.

My oldest kid having fun. LOL.

I guess it is not that easy to be a child.

It was such a blessing being able to spend time with my sister and her precious kids. We had a hard time saying goodbye. My nephew Nicholas was very upset and worried that my girls would forget about them. After all, they spent about 1 month with us and we usually hardly see them. He is so especial and sentimental...love him.
Picnicking at the beach.

Yes, my daughter eats sand. In this pictures she is not sad because of how dirty she was. She is actually whining because I was holding her to take this picture.

Cousins having more fun.

They look so adorable with their matching dresses.

All the cousins together. It is so hard to make them smile and look at the camera all at the same time.

My sister Daniela, I, and our "4 things" minutes before the sad goodbye. I miss you all so much.

After our awesome winter break we once again came to reality. We started school and our routines.
I underestimated the difficulty of this semester. I thought I took "just 2" classes but oh, my goodness. I have a Microbiology class on Fridays from 1 to 7 pm. This includes lecture and laboratory. It's just overwhelming not just for the class itself but because I've been annoying some friends to watch the girls from 12:30 (so I can leave and get to my class on time) to 4:30pm (until Andy gets back home from work). Along with this, Andy has been traveling a lot and will continue to do so until we move. So, because of this situation we decided that it was necessary to bring my mom to the rescue. My sweet mother will be arriving from Chile on March 2nd and will stay with us until the end of May.