in the jungle...

The hotel we stayed at in los Yungas is called Jungle River Resort. I could have stayed here the whole three weeks. It has hot water, wonderful paths to wander, of course pools and waterslides and all you can eat buffets for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Now, how much would a place like this cost per night? Take a guess. Lower. Lower. It was $35 a night/ per person...and Diego was free!

(Joaquin is posing here with his Flat Stanley before we walked up a skinny path to some beautiful views.)


This very threatening river rushes right by the whole place.


But half the fun is just driving there. Joaquin was thrilled to be sitting in the front with his cousins...and no car seat.


You have to go up, before you go down. We stop at a statue of Jesus to challar...that's a tradition where you pour alcohol on the tires of your bus and on the ground for a safe journey. This is a picture of all of us right on the edge of the cliff.


I can never quite capture how amazing the views are from up here.


We passed lots of waterfalls right on the edge of the road.


Everyone went straight to the pool when we got there. Diego didn't care much for the water...


but he did enjoy walking around in his cousin's shoes.


That frog is spitting right on Joaquin's head.

At first, we thought there were just the two pools at the resort, but we were very excited to discover this playground right near the rushing river.


Joaquin is peeking at the bananas growing on the tree right by the slide!



It was hard to get a good shot of the WATER SLIDE, but here it is winding through the palm trees. It was SUPER long and had some parts of it open, and other parts like a tunnel. The kids said there were glowing eyes in the tunnel, but I had my eyes shut and was screaming, so I never saw them.

There must have been at least 10 slides...some big, some small and all different colors.


Juan Pablo is getting ready to go down the BIG ONE for the first time. He's not too sure about it, but Joaquin had already gone down and not come back, so he had to go.


Here's some of the family after they shot out of the slide. There's that river again!



One morning, Juan Pablo, Joaquin and I decided to hike the trail up the mountain to the miradores, or look-out points. Isabela had wanted to stay with her cousins, and Diego most certainly would have fallen off. It was such an adventure. We had been warned no to go to the top because it had rained the night before...and there's always the danger of landslides. We even had to give our names to the guard, in case we didn't come back. But once we got started, it really wasn't that scary...although Joaquin made up some story about a bad guy that had left his broken glasses up there, which we had found. The circling vultures added a little to it, too.


This is one of the look-out points.


And here's a view below to a wooden bridge across the river.



I thought it was funny to see the bed sheets hung out to dry here.


The morning we left, it was foggy and rainy. This is typical of los Yungas, but it doesn't last long. The trip back up the mountain was another adventure. I think I screamed once at how close we were to the edge. It was even snowing a bit when we got to the top! You really can see all four seasons in one day here.

up, up and away

We only packed four large suitcases and three small carry-ons for our three week trip. Of course, it has been warmer than we thought it would be here, so we haven't used most of the clothes that we packed.


We waited in the airport for several hours for our flight.


I had brought lots of things for the kids to do, but most of it I didn't need. I had forgotten about the novelty of seeing the planes take off and land...


Diego spent most of his time glued to this window.


In flight, it was a little harder to entertain him, although since it was overnight, he did sleep. Luckily, there was a little girl in the seat in front of him who didn't mind his antics. And the nice woman behind me commented on how well the children did during the flight. That always makes it better.

anyone miss us?

Just wanted to let everyone know we arrived in Bolivia safe and sound (several days ago). We went on a little trip to the jungle...los Yungas...can't wait to post pictures!! All I'll say about it is GIGANTIC WATER SLIDE.

Love, us

a handmade Christmas

Here are some projects that kept me pretty busy over the last few weeks. I always imagine having a purely handmade Christmas for my kids, but usually cave at some point and start buying things. I hope to start earlier this year, so I don't have to stay up so late in December.

The big gift was this playhouse. I pretty much copied HomemadebyJill's with a few changes. Her table is bigger than mine, and more importantly, her sewing is much better. But this is the biggest project I've ever taken on, and I'm quite proud of it.

The mailbox opens on the front, and there's a jingle bell doorbell. The door, of course, lifts up to go inside.


This side has a flower garden that you can plant, and apples on the tree that can be taken off and on. I put cloves in the flowers so they smell good.


There's also a peek-a-boo owl on the tree.


And this is the vegetable garden. The corn ears come out, the carrots can be planted in the dirt pockets, and the lettuce velcros on.


The last side is the dog house. The bone has a magnet in it that will stick to the dog's mouth, or the bowl. The flap opens to pass through animals, or crawl in as well. And clothes can be hung out to dry on the line above the house. (Those are build a bear clothes.)


I started to make a bunch of felt food (found at Skip to My Lou)...I got as far as some chips, a lunch bag, and some eggs...

...but then I found all this great cheap food at IKEA, so I saved myself some time.


I saw a taggie football on some toy site and thought I could make that...knowing how much Diego already loves his taggie blanket. There's always someone who's already done it...so I found this example at Grace Violet and tried to copy it...somewhat. I put a jingle bell in it, too.


For Isabela, I made a camera case for her digital camera Santa brought her. I saw these on etsy. Now, the one on etsy is MUCH BETTER, but Isabela loved hers and that made me happy. Next time, I'd use good felt for the whole thing to make it a little sturdier...the black was fleece and that's too flimsy.




And Joaquin's homemade project was a pile of sticks **. Actually the idea is using fallen branches, and cutting them into different size pieces to make building blocks...like these here.


I pulled an awesome old cedar branch out of the woods and Juan Pablo began cutting it. There was this perfectly shaped circle hole bored into it. Hhhmmm?? What could have made it?

A bunch of carpenter bees, of course. I think we poured about 12 out of the branch. I'm glad it was a frigidly cold morning.


**a note on these...Joaquin's afraid to play with them. I never got around to sanding them, so he thinks bugs might be in them, although there's none. Plus, Diego picked one up and bopped Joaquin on his head with it. And that hurts! So I'm not sure these were the best idea.

So that was it. Lots of late nights. I learned two new hand stitches...the chain stitch and the blanket stitch...and best of all, Juan Pablo got me a new sewing machine for Christmas.

(That's a funny little story, too....he made the mistake of taking Joaquin with him to get it. As soon as they got home, Joaquin told me, "Daddy bought you a sewing machine for Christmas!" Juan Pablo said he took it back since Joaquin had told me. But then one day, the kids wanted to watch a movie. Joaquin went to get the movie from the cabinet and said, "Mom! I can't get the movie because your sewing machine is hiding in here!"---So later, I had bought Juan Pablo a present and refused to tell Joaquin what it was. A few minutes later, he was talking to Daddy on the phone and I hear: "I don't know what it is. Mom won't tell me." I'm a quick learner.)

seeking

My loss for words carries over into the new year. And when that happens, sometimes a simple quote will help me organize my thoughts.

So I found this, and it was for me. And maybe for you:

We spend January 1 walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives... not looking for flaws, but for potential. ~Ellen Goodman

Maybe it's because our family's on the verge of a giant trip...and I have lists of to do's and to get's. Maybe it's because my birthday lurks around the corner.

But I don't want to look for flaws this year. This year, I'm seeking potential, and goodness, and joy, and kindness. As I write that, it sounds like I may just be seeking the fruits of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.) But that's a mouthful.

So I think I'm going to focus on KINDNESS and JOY.

I saw them in my children today, my great teachers of what's important in this life.

KINDNESS in self-less sharing of an ICEE, unprompted from Mom. It was beautiful and I was inspired.


And JOY...in three siblings that can fight like the rest of them...but deep down, there's JOY and I hope to find it.


But how will I do this this year? I hope it's with heavenly help. There's a manual.... if I'll only read it.

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Micah 6:8


But if all else fails, I'm comforted in knowing:

Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails.
Proverbs 19:21

Blessings to you this new year in all you're searching for.

it was very merry.

The first Christmas. The first for us with just us. No other family. We made it ours. And it was special. And it was happy.


Angels and wise men at our Christmas Eve service.


I love this image of Santa and Wiseman...so conflicting for me.


Hop on Pop. We had a beautiful fire for the first time in two years. I'm not sure why we didn't use it last year, but its warm glow mesmerized us all for a bit.


New pjs on Christmas Eve!


Lasagna and Texas toast. Lasagna on Christmas Eve has always been the tradition. This was the only meal I cooked all weekend.


Thanks Nancy and Lew! I think the box was his favorite present.


Santa went overboard, as he usually does. But lit-up faces on Christmas morning are priceless.


My cake for Jesus' birthday would NOT come out of the pan. But I made the frosting from scratch and it was delicious.


Diego opened all his presents with his teeth.


We wrapped up their passports that had arrived a week ago.


The giant lion and tiger were my favorite gifts this year...I thought they were for Diego but the big kids confiscated them.


Diego's checking out Isabela's new dog, Jingles. Looks real...just doesn't smell or sound real. That's good, right?


Diego's playhouse. This is why you haven't heard from me for weeks. Sorry about that. I'll post more about that later.


And the wagon was waiting for them in the big room after all was opened. There's nothing better than one more present.


After lunch we headed up to my aunt and uncle's house. Leah Ann got a Wii for Christmas, and I'm telling the truth, the kids played it for two days straight...and we let them. The morning after we got home, they both woke up complaining about their arms hurting. I thought they had slept funny, but then we figured out it was from bowling and sword fighting.


Ava and Diego...she's always super patient with the kids....and they love her.


Far away cousins.


And a Merry Christmas was had by all.