Happy Birthday Michael! - Hannah

He's 29 again :)

How School is Going - Hannah

Things have been a little rough here. Let's just say that behavior problems can be amplified when you're put in difficult situations. I don't want to share too much, so I will be a little more general than specific. But going to school where you don't speak the language is a challenge. Obviously we knew this would be the case before we came. And we're hoping it gets better. But every day we seem to have to rethink our approach. Also, I know the kids miss their friends at home, and that is difficult too.

We've become very flexible. Partly that is due to the fact that we never really know when school is going to be cancelled, or even what time school will be over. Each morning when I drop the boys off, we ask what time I should pick them up. And it varies each day. Also, there are times the kids just don't want to go to school and so they stay home. We try to encourage as much as possible, and just yesterday Michael and I were trying to figure out more good activities that the kids could work on in their increased spare time. 

Jonah

I usually go to school with Jonah less than the three days we pay for, but the principal at the school told me essentially that it's my time, and to come whenever I want. So we often go late, leave early, or don't come at all. It depends on if Jonah wants to go--sometimes he says school is long so he doesn't want to go. It depends on whether I need to be home with other kids who don't have school. And it depends on whether I have to get laundry or shopping done. We try to go as much as we can though. 

Today the students did self-defense, and Jonah was proud of the jumping jacks he learned how to do. Tomorrow will be a costume party--not exactly a Halloween party because Halloween seems slightly frowned upon in this heavily Catholic area, but it's still a good excuse for a fiesta.

Dylan

Since Dylan's running away episode, I pick him up early each day. He usually goes from 7:00 until 11:30. Much longer than that is difficult for him. Yet when he's in a good mood, and I ask him how school was, he tells me it was good. Today he was showing me how he did a math problem that wasn't even assigned, and got it right. Last weekend he was able to go to a friend's house and had a good time playing the Wii.  

He usually likes the school lunch, which is often beans and rice. The United States could learn a lot from Costa Rica about what food they feed their children. 

Since Dylan comes home early, he often has a long rainy afternoon ahead of him. He sometimes gets antsy and could use more outlets for his energy. I'm hoping that will get better as the rainy season comes to an end and he can run around outside more.

Caleb

Caleb is probably at the ideal age for this adventure. He's still in elementary school, yet is old enough to understand why we are here and the difficulties involved. He has been making great efforts in the language and it seems to be paying off. He says the day is sometimes long, and he spends a lot of time copying things off the board, but he generally has a good attitude about it all. 

He's also had some great opportunities to explain the Book of Mormon to people at school. He has a goal to read the Book of Mormon before he turns twelve, and is well on his way. So he brings the Book of Mormon with him to school to read during breaks. His home-room teacher, English teacher, and several classmates have asked about the book. We plan to pick up some Spanish copies of the Book of Mormon next time we go to the temple, so he can give them away.

Julia

For Julia, she hates her Tuesday morning class which is some sort of agricultural class. Once they were harvesting tomatoes for several hours, and another time they were beheading chickens. She escaped to the bathroom that morning. So we've compromised and she doesn't go those mornings anymore. Also, when she first started school, she was going from 7:00 until 4:30, which was way too long. So we pick her up early as well. But it seems that more often than not school is cancelled for who-knows-what reason. 

I have not been as pleased with the high school as I have with the elementary school. The classes are so big, and Julia talks about how little discipline there is, so that students are always getting up and talking over the teacher. If it were possible to pick up the language, it would be much easier to do with only one person talking at a time. Also, I think it's probably more difficult for her since as kids get older, they talk together much more. When they're younger, they can play together, and that often doesn't require a lot of language skills. So making friends can be easier. But when so much of friendship involves communication, that can be a challenge. We invited a few of her classmates over last weekend for hamburgers, making cookies, and a movie. I appreciate her classmates efforts to try to include her, but there's only so much you can do when communication is so limited. 

Watching "Forever Young" (originally in English, 
dubbed into Spanish, with English subtitles) and eating treats

Yummy chocolate covered marshmallows that the kids made together.
Julia's friend brought all the ingredients. 

Mental looking oatmeal raisin cookies. I can't quite figure out
our gas oven with celsius degrees. They were still tasty though.

Anyway, we are still hopeful but every now and then wonder and hope that we are doing the right thing. Our next step is to get some Spanish tutoring for me and the kids. Hopefully that will help alleviate some of the difficulties we are facing.

Esterillos Beach - Dylan

Last Saturday we went to the beach. Here are some pictures of what we did.

Here is a lobster that we found.

This is a really big crab.

This is a suspension bridge that we drove over.

This is us in standing by a statue of a mermaid.

This is us walking to the statue. We saw lots of little hermit crabs in the tide pools.

Fun Birthday - Jonah

This is me when I was a baby, and me in the morning on my birthday eating Fruit Loops. I am four years old now.

This is a birthday sign Caleb made. One side says Happy Birthday in Spanish, and the other side says Happy Birthday in English. I like the words.

This is a picture of us eating cake. My friend Reed came over, and his mom and dad. We had pizza for dinner.

I liked the pinata. I hit it with the broom. And we have a bird feeder.

This is a picture of me opening my presents. I got a rain car and a fire car. And I like Reed. I got Play-Doh. I made a Santa out of Play-Doh. I got sand toys. I am going to take them to the beach. 

Church Music - Hannah

At church, there has been no piano. Everyone has been singing acapella. The branch used to have a keyboard but it broke, and since their only pianist is currently on a mission, they hadn't replaced it.

But a couple weeks ago they bought a keyboard and now Julia and Caleb can play it at church. We've been able to keep it at our house so the kids could work on some hymns. They have had a great attitude about practicing, and have been quite self-motivated so far. Dylan might need a few more weeks, but if he would like to play he'll have that opportunity. He might be able to play in Primary too. Also, around the time we go home the branch's piano player should be coming back from his mission, so the timing should work well.

So yesterday was the first day Julia and Caleb were able to accompany the hymns. It was great to see them play and contribute in a very concrete, meaningful way. The plan is to learn a song each week to play in Sacrament Meeting. Sometimes it might be right hand only, but that's okay.

There were three sacrament hymns. One of the sister missionaries played the opening hymn, Julia played the Sacrament hymn, and Caleb played the closing hymn. 

Caleb played a hymn that is not in the English hymn book, called "Placentero nos es trabajar." During the chorus, there is a part where the sopranos and altos sing a short phrase, and the tenors and basses are supposed to echo it. However, when Caleb played, everyone sang the melody, and when he came in on the echo, everyone jumped too quickly to the next phrase, so it was all a little off. But he adjusted so that in the next verse, he didn't play the echo portion. That helped everyone stay together with the piano. Being flexible while accompanying is a tricky skill, and I was pleased with how well he did. And Julia did a great job too.

I was also able to play a violin solo, an arrangement of "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief." Our friend Wayne, who has been in the branch for four years, said that was the first time he's heard a musical number. An investigator who was sitting next to Michael seemed excited about hearing a violin. He said that was the first time he's seen a violin in real life, and told me it was like Michael Landon (Pa from Little House on the Prairie :)). 

I had originally not planned to bring my violin to Costa Rica, but changed my mind after thinking music might be something I could contribute. Without being able to speak the language, I can still share music. So I'm glad I was able to participate in that way.

La Cangreja National Park - Hannah

Today we found a beautiful little paradise during our first visit to La Cangreja National Park.

The park is about an hour's drive from our house. Before we went to the park, we had some lunch at a "soda" nearby.

This kitten made friends with the kids. Caleb said, "This kitten is vibrating!"
We have utterly failed as parents--he's 11 years old and has never felt a cat purr.

We hired a guide to take us to some amazing waterfalls, and he also pointed out some of the flora and fauna along the way.

I never really felt the need for a fancy camera, but when we saw this pretty bird
we wished we could have zoomed in closer. It's called a Blue Dacnis.

This is a termite nest. It was a little bigger than a basketball.

This crab was about the size of my fist.  These crab holes were all over.
The park's name, La Cangreja, means "the crab."

A 4-inch centipede

A Chocolate Mint Poison Dart Frog. We saw a few of them, and licked them for fun.
Or maybe not. I'm not quite sure. It's all a bit of a blur...

Again, we needed a zoom lens.
But way up in this tree--the roundish ball in the center is a sloth.

We called this a baby plunger plant. I think this is where plungers are harvested :).

This fungus in the center is called a dead finger. Creepy...

This flower is a labios caliente--hot lips.

This picture is a little blurry, but you can see a hummingbird nest built
right on the bottom of the leaf. Cool.

And here are a few photos along our hike.

And finally we arrived at this gorgeous waterfall. Like the beach, the water was cool and refreshing, but not cold. We would love to go back there again.

Noni Fruit - Hannah

This post is for you, Jon. This is a picture of a very stinky fruit I found near Jonah's school.

Someone had told me there was a noni bush near there, and as soon as I smelled it I knew I had found it.