Friend's and Beaches

You are probably seeing a theme to my posting. Visitors and beaches. It works...right?

This past week a dear friend of mine came to visit. Lauren and I were missionaries for our church 10 years ago at this time. We became so close that we have remained friends over the years. Though I haven't lived in the same place as her for the past 3 years I have always gotten a yearly visit. As usually there were many hours spent of the beach playing with the boy's. There were also many, many hours of girl talk. Andy became so attached to Lauren in the week she was here that when she didn't come back into the house as the taxi drove her away he flopped onto the floor and cried for 20 minutes. 

Thanks for coming and helping with the boy's Lauren. We will look forward to next year's visit ;)

Grandma and Grandpa Cefalo come to visit

The first week of September was an exciting week around here. Every weekend the boy's get excited to Skype with their grandma and grandpa Cefalo. That week they got a big treat when dad came home for the weekend he pulled up with grandparents. Jake was able to take some day's off of work and spend some down time while they were here. We got the chance to take them on a few adventures. They flew into Santiago and had the drive of their life on their way to our house in Cabarete. It is a 1 1/2 hour drive and I will explain it as switch back up a tall mountain road with 1.5 lanes and speeding cars, animals and cyclists.

We spent time at the pool and we took them over to Playa Grande which is one of our favorite beaches. They also got to go to church with us a couple of times. It was a fun time for the boys and for Jake and I because they even gave us a date night. It was a wonderful week and we are excited to see them again in just a few short months.

The perfect sunrise

Towards the end of the summer we had a few storms come through. Thankfully we didn't get hit by anything big this hurricane season. One of these day's just prior to the storm hitting I woke up early and there was a stunning sunrise.

Nathan turns 5

Nathan turned 5 on August 29th. I couldn't ask for a sweeter boy. There is a little girl named Veronika that is in Nathan's class at school. She is from Russia. One day her mother approached me and told me a story about Veronika. He mother was trying to help her understand and Russian phrase that she had heard on a movie that her parents were watching. Her mom explained that the word meant someone that is kind and has a gentle soul. Veronika then said "Oh like Nathan in my class".

I have to say I agree with Veronika. I couldn't ask for a kinder spirit. He is the sweetest little boy. He is so good to me and his brother. He is our protector during the week while his dad is gone. He is also so smart. He is always asking questions. He then expects detailed answers. I love this boy with all of my heart. He made me a mother and I am so happy he is my son.

We put off birthday cake for a day so we could celebrate Nathan's birthday with Jake.

Nate had also requested fireworks for his birthday so this is as close as we got :)

Andy turns 2

Sweet Andy baby turned 2 on August 20th. He is such a wonderful baby. The he really isn't a baby anymore. He is such a blessing and seriously brings us so much happiness. His little big personality makes me smile and laugh every day. 

When it comes to him and Nathan you couldn't find 2 boy's with such different personalities. He is outgoing and funny. He has a sparkle in his eye that just tells you that he is a little stinker planning his next adventure. He is also a copycat and want's to do everything his brother does. He is my little tornado that doesn't ever want to sleep. The things that currently melt my hear are when has ask's for "nuggles". He loves to snuggle and if it were up to him (and sometimes he get's away with it) he would make me snuggle with him until he falls asleep every night. He is also our little puppy dog. When he want's go get your attention he will start crawling around on the floor by your feet and barking. If you continue to ignore him he will actually get up and bite your butt. No lie! He commands attention and he is so darn cute that he get's it. 

We love him so much.

Jake had to work on Andy's birthday so this was when Jake got home the weekend of his birthday.

Summer =

Santo Domingo

The first week of July we had to make a quick trip to Santo Domingo for our visa's. I didn't get to take a lot of pictures. I actually only took phone pictures and not much else.

Before we moved here we had the choice to move to either Santo Domingo or Cabarete. Cabarete turned out to be our choice because Santo Domingo was just a little overwhelming to me. It was good for me to go back though. I realized I have adjusted to the driving in this country and it has made Santo Domingo a much more exciting place to visit. We had the time to go out to a bakery and also hit the LDS temple. It was a fun quick visit but we plan to make another trip in the near future so we can visit a few more sites.

Auntie Corney!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and friend :)

The same week that Nathan ended school my sister Courtney came to town. It was pretty much a girl party for 10 days. He sweet friend Allie came on the trip with her. The following pictures pretty much sum up the experience...

Lots of beach time

                                                           more beach time while wrestling
                                                             

                                                        Walks on the beach with Allie

                                A visit to monkey jungle where a monkey pooped on my head...
               

The boy's had so much fun with two additional playmates for the week. I had fun staying up late and having girl talk. Court and Allie had fun getting hit on and helping me with the boy's. That includes dishes and Andy's nightly dinner clean up.

I love you girls and I hope you get to come again next summer.

A little catch up...or ketchup...whateve's

Well I seemed to leave things hanging for a bit. Only a 6 month break in blogging. No big deal. I have decided I have fallen off the blogging wagon. The mail reason I am currently blogging is to keep a journal of our experiences here in the DR. So don't really plan for anything consistent. Just know that I plan on journaling as much of this experience as I can.

As I left off the boy's were REALLY sick thankfully that past and life went back to normal with happy kids. Looking  back on the whole experience I am happy to say that we survived. It was all very scary at the time and even now I feel like we got really lucky. I never want to see Andy that sick again.

A few short weeks after the sick babies school wrapped up for Nathan. His teacher was Ms. Hannah. She was from England and we was lovely. Nathan had a wonderful start to his schooling experience in her class. As the end of the school year they had an awards ceremony and a goodbye party for the kids. The goodbye party consisted of horseback riding and a pool party! It was a very fun experience for Nathan. The kids spent their morning at Seahorse Ranch in Sosua where they took turns riding on ponies. After lunch the were able to spend their afternoon at the club.

                                        Andy wanted in on the fun...not really...he was terrified.

The day after the big party was the awards ceremony. It was fun. Nathan was awarded the "Always doing his best" certificate...I don't think they are very original with there awards. Over all it was very fun and we really enjoyed Nathan's first half year of school.