Halloween

This year was Jay's 5th time celebrating Halloween outside the United States and Amaya's 2nd time! We live a crazy life. We had a good time here. Colombians actually love Halloween. It has become extremely popular here among kids and adults alike. It's not even that hard to find good Halloween costumes, although I still prefer to rely on Amazon (or Nonna). This year Amaya was Tinkerbell.  She even let me do her hair in a little bun!

 The Tinkerbell "pouty face."

Jay was Superman, perfect for him. He's definitely obsessed with Superheros now and Cars are on the back burner.

On the Friday before Halloween we went to the embassy for trick-or-treating. All the offices (or most) decorated and handed out candy. Some of the themes were pretty incredible! It was kind of crazy with all the kids and decorations. Jay was amazing with Amaya. He held her hand the whole time and made absolute sure she was always okay and not getting lost. He really is a little Superman brother. The kids got plenty of candy (mom and dad stole the really good stuff :)

This sign so fits Jay!

On Saturday we had our Primary Halloween party. It turned out really well! The kids played games then we had lunch and a piñata.

 I wanted to get their picture together but it was really bright!

 Amaya had a fit that morning and refused to dress up. Oh well! She's still adorable.

On Saturday night Mike and I were able to go to an adults only Halloween party! It was really fun. We danced and ate and had a good time. Mike was Robin Hood and I was Maid Marian.

 Here's Mike with Fico and Manny (two guys he works with and good friends!)

 Mark and Joyce (from our ward).

 Fico and his wife Monica.

The whole gang! It's hard to see Mike in the back behind the jester :) 

Lost Tooth!

My baby lost his first tooth!!! I can hardly believe it. He was so excited. It has been wiggling for the past 4 or 5 days and yesterday at school he was playing on the playground after lunch when it fell out. He searched around the grass for it with his friends but couldn't find it anywhere. He told me, "My teacher said the tooth fairy was so excited to have my tooth that she took it from off the ground when we weren't looking!" Hahaha. I love it! She couldn't wait. Jay woke up the next day to find 5,000.00 pesos under his pillow (about $2.50). I had to take Jay into the embassy that day so he took his money with him and bought an orange soda and a ring pop. I'm not sure the tooth fairy would be too happy with how he used his money :) A sweet kid with a sweet tooth! He saved 500 pesos to give to the bishop for tithing. He's such a good one!

Moving in... again

How many times can two people (turned 4 1/2) move in a 9 year time period?!?! Our stuff finally arrived and we are back to the task of unpacking. It's funny how the only things we were really excited to get were our beds and our TVs and yet we had about 200 boxes arrive at our house with various other things. Ugh! WHY do we have so much stuff?? It is nice to have pictures on the walls though and some decor on the shelves. The kids were pretty excited about all the toys too. Here is daddy and the kids in the middle of it, taking a break watching the BYU vs. Notre Dame game.

We will get there. Slowly but surely! In other news... here is a project Jay made with our maid Aleida for school while I was gone.

It's his angry bird! Haha, so cute :)

Jay loves his bath in the new apartment!!! The jacuzzi tub makes TONS of bubbles :)

Swimming!

It's not too easy to find places to go swimming in Bogota (I think they feel like if they swim when it's "cold" they will get sick, even if the pool is indoor and heated). Mike was able to get a membership to the National Police Club though where they do have an indoor, heated pool so we went with the Tennys last Saturday. The kids had such a great time! Jay and Mika jumped and splashed and played for hours. They also loved tackling their daddies.

Amaya loved jumping off of the side into mommy or daddy's arms and just splashing around.

The club was even decorated for Halloween.

It was a great way to spend our Saturday :) That night we went to see Hotel Transylvania in 3D (and in English!). The kids had a blast. Amaya was mesmerized the whole time, staring at the screen, laughing and eating her popcorn. It was so cute! Jay and Mika sat next to each other and laughed the whole way through (even when they didn't know why it was funny). It was a great weekend!

What a Day!

Today is Conference Saturday. It's also officially Day 1 of potty training Amaya (pics coming soon). And it's day number 9 of Mike being gone. You know what? It's been a good day, although I do miss my husband :)

I have loved conference so far. Key things I remember from Saturday...

- The Tucson, Arizona temple was announced!!! After living there only 2 years (sporadically) I feel so moved by this announcement. It has been something our brothers and sisters in Tucson have been praying for and striving towards for many years. There are so many temples in Arizona now!

- Worthy young men can now serve missions at 18 and worthy young women 19!!! WOW! That was a HUGE one!!!!!

- Parents have an incredible responsibility. This was a huge topic!!! Elder Cook: We must teach our children in our homes correct principles. We must monitor the environment they are in and vigilantly be on the watch out for bad influences and temptations entering our homes. Elder Perry: Teaching in the home is THE most important place for children to learn. Pray in earnest for Heavenly Father's help. Pray together, hold FHE, Eat together. Communicate with your children's church leaders. Share your testimony often with your children and COMMIT them to keep the commandments of God. Set rules and teach your children to work (chores... pay... tithing). As parents we join God to bring to pass His work and His glory. Elder Oaks: The MOST important determination for a child's success and happiness is if they are raised in a home with their parents who remain married. Husbands and wives have a sacred responsibility to love and care for each other. This permeates everything, doesn't it?

- President Uchtdorf: Don't spend time on the trivial. Don't do things artificially. Spend our time making meaningful connections (ummm... facebook??). Good intentions are not enough. We must DO. We determine our happiness. Don't think "I will be happy when..." Choose to be happy NOW. Life is not meant to only be appreciated in retrospect. Spend more time with those we love, strive to become the person God wants us to be and choose to be happy now.

- Elder Ballard: Our church should act as a great beehive. The world needs the love of Christ and will need it more in the years to come. Each of us can do small and simple things and together these tiny acts will create something incredible - our small acts of service can add together to sweeten and nourish the world. HUGE: In your morning prayer, ask Heavenly Father to guide you that day to help one of His precious children. Then go throughout the day looking for that opportunity, committed to help no matter the inconvenience to you. Have I done any good in the world today?

I may have missed some golden nuggets as I was interrupted by my two little prides and joys but those are the things that hit me the most. One thing I will probably never forget about this conference Sunday is the image of my little bare bumped girl running and playing, pooping and peeing on the floor and then FINALLY sitting on the potty. She did it!!! She didn't want to wear her new princess undies, but she probably went potty in that toilet 15 times today. Amazing :)

I won't forget Jay's complete disgust at the process either. It was pretty funny. They both had these big tupperware buckets and were hiding underneath them. When Amaya popped hers up there was a little (big) treasure underneath! She also had plenty of it still stuck to her bum and she was trying to wipe it away with her hands. Like I said, not a moment I will be forgetting soon. I finally got her into the kitchen sink and cleaned her up, then attacked her gift to mommy. Jay was so sweet. He obviously was repulsed by the poop (much like he dry heaves every time she throws up because she doesn't like the texture of her food) but he didn't complain. He encouraged her, helped her and showed her the way. Have I mentioned how incredible my little guy is? I am so proud of them both! It was a big day.

Jay spent part of they day with me doing "conference activities" I had printed out online. We also spent a long time talking about the word of wisdom as he played this little game I had made for primary one Sunday. That conversation moved on to talking about baptism, repentance and testimonies. He has so many good questions. Children are so incredible!

We also made a yummy conference treat (chocolate cereal treat.. what's it called?).

I'm not saying it was a picture perfect day though... there was the moment when Jay knocked over the roses and water went ALL over the floor and the carpet. And the multiple times I had to break up fights over stolen toys. Obviously cleaning up all that wee wee and poo poo (thank you potty book) wasn't ideal but hey, that's life! The afternoon did end a little sadly for Jay. He had been waiting and waiting for his friend Mika to come over all day (the incessant questions of when she was coming was a bit distracting ;). In the end she couldn't make it. He was SO disappointed. So we gathered our things (stuck Amaya in panties, a pull-up and finally some clothes!) and headed over to Parque 93 to go to Crepes and Waffles. A minute away (we were walking) it started down-pouring! Of course, it was the only day Jay has ever worn his sandals in Bogota. We made it to the restaurant though and had some delicious crepes followed by ice cream for dessert. When we got back outside it was still raining. Not as hard, but definitely raining. We had about 2 blocks to get back to our house so we went for it. About 10 steps in Amaya tripped and flew head first into a giant puddle! It was actually pretty hilarious. Well, she didn't think so but I couldn't help laughing :D Luckily it wasn't really cold out but I'm pretty sure all the Bogotans with umbrellas (yup, I forgot mine) were looking at us like we were insane. I picked up Amaya and carried her back to the apartment with an extra pair of pants on top of her head. Jay used her extra sweatshirt as a rain cover. We sang, "Sining in the Rain" and made it back fairly wet but in good spirits. A warm bath made everything better. Just a funny little night but one I want to remember because I feel so much love towards my littles. I hope they and their daddy know how much joy they bring to my day every day just by being in my life. Hopefully tomorrow will be another successful, spiritual, silly day!