Bed-Head Blaise

Glorious Galoshes

Gingersnaps

Here I am with my second batch of Xmas cookies, we already polished off the shortbread ones I made on the weekend. Thanks to Aimee for the great recipes!

Earthquake!

Yesterday we felt our third and so far biggest earthquake since we've been here. Mariah and I were sitting at the table when it started, and we both thought it was just a truck going by (we live too close to the highway, I know). But when we continued to feel the table shake we knew we were experiencing an earthquake! The water in the jug on the counter was even gently sloshing back and forth - wild eh. A friend here told me today that it was 5.3 on the scale, but I don't know if that's just hearsay or not. Anyway, cheers to it not being any bigger than that!

Halfway to Baby

We are 20 weeks pregnant now, and just 20 more until we get to meet this new little person! I can't believe how much faster this pregnancy is going compared to my first with Blaise. The baby has started kicking and squirming a bit but the movements are still quite gentle. For some reason I suspect that we're having a girl this time, but we need to get cracking on a boy's name in case it's not a girl. We've got 2 girls names we like but can't decide on a boys name yet.

Amber at 3, 5 and 7

I went searching for some old birthday photos and found these. Notice for my third and fifth birthdays I have a green and pink cake. My mom for some reason went on a streak of making me pink and green birthday cakes, so to this day it's a joke in our family. My favorite is actually my mom's German chocolate cake, mmmmm.

Twenty-Eight on the 28th

Today was my "golden birthday" and it was a good one. I got up to the smell of breakfast cooking and had a nice long shower. Zaak made me pancakes, papaya, fresh squeezed o.j. and Mildred tea. He also surprised me in an email I read after he left for work, with a picture of his gift to me - a new ipod shuffle! The punk had just convinced me I didn't want one when he had this up his sleeve the entire time:) Then I did some errands and later relaxed while Blaise napped for a good three hours after lunch. We ordered tamales and cake for my bday supper so all I made was the ponche, a cinnamon-y, fruity hot drink that people drink at fiestas around Xmas time. Yum. So then we celebrated with our small group and a few other friends. I feel blessed to be me, with the family and friends I have been bestowed with. Thanks to my sweet husband who made my day special, my son for his extra long nap and kisses and snuggles today, and all of you who emailed me your well- wishes. I am truly loved.

Copan Birthday Trip

Here's Blaise and I at a lovely restaurant in Copan Ruinas, Honduras. We left Friday and drove the 4 hours there with Mariah as our travelling buddy. The highlights for me were eating out and getting a break from cooking ( top 2 meals were waffles and salmon, mmm), an hour long body massage (Mariah's birthday gift to me), exchanging 7 of my old books for 6 new ones at a book exchange, and just the change of scene. Blaise did not sleep well the two nights we were away but travelled like a pro. We enjoyed a good night's sleep in our own beds and rooms last night that's for sure. Now its just over 2 weeks until we leave for Canada, yippee!

It's Cold

We are experiencing some seriously cold weather here in Tactic. Before you squack "What!?! But they live in Guatemala, Central America!" keep in mind we live in the mountains. No they are not snow-capped or anything but it still gets cold. Plus houses here have no heating system, so it's like we're camping. It's even warmer sometimes outside than inside! So we are doing all we can to stay warm; eating soup, huddling around our fireplace, drinking tea, wearing layers, and snuggling up to the rice bag and each other. I'm also working on Zaak to take us somewhere warmer for the weekend for my "golden" birthday present. (I will turn 28 on the 28th). So if I get my way (and I usually do:) we may just be a few hours away for the weekend enjoying some +20 degree weather, oh joy, oh bliss! In the meantime I will take any suggestions out there for keeping warm.

Blaise's World

Blaise has got a skirt of mine on here that he rummaged from the dirty clothes basket - funny boy. He was sick this past weekend, vomiting and no appetite. Thankfully he's on the mend now, but man there's nothing in the world like your child being sick and not knowing what to do for him. Not fun. He can say water now (more like "wa-wa") and says "mmmm", "wow", and "wowee", quite the expressive little lad. Zaak started scaring him the other day so now his thing is to walk into a room and say "rawrrr!" and expect us to be scared. He also likes to say "boo" to try and scare us:)

The Happy Couple

Congrats Oscar and Evelin, may you be eternally happy together:)

La Familia Robichaud

This is our third attempt at a family photo with Blaise aka Mr. Squirmy Pants. We were all dressed up for Oscar and Evelin's wedding so I was hoping for a nice shot. Oh well! Blaise likes to be on the go a lot lately, which makes any type of sitting still event a bit difficult. At leasthe can't out-run us quite yet:)

Las Vegas and a cozy fire.

Our landlord, Frank Sr, came over yesterday to size up our fireplace situation with his young son, Frank Jr. Little Frank is a talkative lad and was asking me questions about Canada. Their family lived in States for a year when he was 4. He must be about 7 now, and shared some of his ideas about the world with me. I will quote him here: "The best towns in the world are Canada, the United States, and Las Vegas. In Las Vegas there are no poor people, and even the smallest house is a mansion." Talk about cute eh? I didn't have the heart to tell him there are poor people everywhere, and that Las Vegas is one of the saddest "towns" in the world.
Back to the fireplace situation. Last week I had purchased wood for our fireplace so Mariah made us a fire while I made supper. Soon our house was filled with smoke as it poured out of the fireplace instead of going up and out the chimney. Zaak says it's poorly constructed and I am in full agreement. So today Carlos the Carpenter came to fix it and and it works now! I was so thrilled to have a warm crackling fire going this evening - God bless you Carlos!

Thief Part 2

So unfortunately I have another thieving story to tell. Today I went to the market in Tactic and someone swiped my wallet out of my purse. I reached into my purse to pay for my pineapple and two pounds of tomatoes, and there was no wallet. Mariah was with me so she paid for my stuff but I had this sinking feeling in my stomach. I checked the car, the house, and it was nowhere to be found. So, we have now had our house broken into and robbed, I had my wallet stolen last March in Antigua, a plant stolen, and now my wallet again. I only had Q300 cash in it (about $45) BUT I also had my visa so I had to cancel that and can only get my new one at Xmas. More than the actual losses is the feeling of violation. Why me, and why me again! I'm a missionary here in this country supporting the Guatemalan economy with the money supporters send our family and this is how I'm repayed?!?! Sigh. I guess it's all part of the journey but I just feel sick about it still. And I know I need to keep it in perspective, and fight the feelings of wanting to pack up and head back to Canada. People are robbed all the time in Canada too. The highlight of it all is that Mariah took me out for lunch afterwards to cheer me up - what a sweetie:) Mariah is a Canadian friend who just moved here from AB to tutor the Peters kids in their homeschool. We love having her here, she's been hanging out with us a lot and it's great.

Thief

As I was walking back from my neighbor's this week I noticed something strange. There was something amiss with my flower garden that's outside my bedroom. Two rose bushes, check, white flowering plant, check, aloe vera...? Where's my aloe vera plant? Somebody stole my aloe vera plant right out of the ground?!? I had to laugh it seemed so ludicrous. Later I was not laughing, because is the thief seeing what he can get away with or did he just really want an aloe vera plant? I'm pretty sure they're not expensive and mine was rather bedraggled looking to boot. So, that's my story. I remember Bernd from our home church in AB saying that there were hundreds of dollars worth of plants stolen from the church gardens there. So I guess plant thieves are not that uncommon around the world. Go figure.

Baby

We are expecting baby #2 on or around April 18, 2007! That makes me nearly 15 weeks along. I'm feeling good, just hungry all the time and more susceptible to headaches. I have a feeling that this one is a girl but we shall see! If it's a boy we need to figure out a name, we've got two girls names ready. So we're prepared for twin girls, haha. I have an aunt who has twins and she says she wouldn't wish twins on her worst enemy. Zaak's also feeling good and hasn't put on any pregnancy weight as of yet. (When I was pregnant with Blaise he gained 15 pounds!) I think Blaise is going to be a wonderful big brother, he will already kiss my belly when Zaak tells him to kiss the baby:) So sweet.

The Bug Bite Blues

I don't know if you can tell in the photo but Blaise has bug bites all over his face and hand, as well as a few on other parts of his body. I am also suffering the ravages of a bug feasting on my juicy flesh, with bites on both arms and legs. They itch like mosquito bites but one usually hears mosquitos before they bite, so maybe some kind of spider got us, who knows.
Blaise must have picked up on people using mics at church to sing, because he knew exactly what to do with this one of Zaak's when he found it. Funny boy. The things he picks up on totally amazes me. And I love how he is so easily engaged in any sort of play - anything I invent for him to do seems to delight him. Today Zaak and I were kissing him on his cheeks in unison, Zaak on one side of Blaise and me on the other, and man did he ever laugh. Big, mouth wide open, belly laughs. I love this kid!
Zaak is in the Capital tonight picking up a team so Blaise and I are holding down the fort. I'm thinking I will have a more peaceful sleep since last night Zaak was talking in French in his sleep. I do miss him though. Happily he will be back home with us tomorrow.

A Better Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving yesterday with our other fellow Canadians here and it was a fabulous meal. It was better this year because we didn't bother with trying for a turkey. Instead we had yummy, plump roasted chicken! And when you're eating chicken with stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes - it's not too much of a stretch to imagine it's actually turkey. Also last year Ruth and I did a lot more of the cooking so we were totally exhausted by the time we got to eat. This time I just did the sweet potatoes and she did the pumpkin pies. The Peters's excellent cook Carmela did the rest, except Jessica made the stuffing. I skipped my usual pumpkin cheesecake because really who needs pumpkin pie AND cheesecake? Especially after stuffing yourself on the main course. Blaise's favorite part was my corn cob, that kept him busy gnawing for a good 20 minutes. So here's to our 2nd Thanksgiving in Guatemala! Hope everyone else's was wonderful too.

Happy Birthday Pretty Mumma

It's my Mom's birthday tomorrow so here's a little tribute to her. She's not, shall we say. technologically advanced enough to read my blog but hopefully someday. I'm still having trouble getting her to email me from an address I can reply to! Anyway... This photo of her is from the early eighties, and isn't she lovely. I don't see much of myself in her, my sister April is the one everyone tells looks like our Mom. I won't say how old she is but she had me when she was 20, so if you know my age - presto:) Happy birthday Mom, I love you and miss you.

For the Love of Books

I'm reading this lovely book right now and am about a fourth of the way through it. I bought it in Montreal with April near the place that makes those delectable bagels. My goal is to make this book last the entire month of October, which will be quite the feat for me. If there is one thing I am good at it's reading at an incredible speed, too fast in fact. There have been times I've finished a book and then not been able to remember what it was about! Generally I'm not quite that bad, but I need to slow down. This is the second to last book I have to read before going to AB in December to restock my library. I've loved reading for as long as I can remember, even in elementary school I had a ravenous appetite for books. There's still nothing that can compare to curling up somewhere cozy with a hot drink and good book. I'm always slightly suspicious of people who don't like to read. A few all time favorites would have to be: Life of Pi, The Book of Sorrows, The Screwtape Letters, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Poisonwood Bible, Jane Eyre, Blue Like Jazz, The Narnia Chronicles, The BFG, The Diviners, and countless others. I wish I had a list of every book I've ever read. Bring on any recommendations you have for me to pick up when I'm in Canada por favor:)

Market Finds

Last Sunday I hit the market and scored this little chair for Blaise and these roses. The chair was 15 quetzals (about $2.50) and the roses were 7 quetzals (about $1) - crazy hey. Blaise loves his chair - I think because it's just his size. He's recovering from two vaccinations he got on Monday, so sitting in his chair to recuperate has been what he wants to do. It's good too because we can control his distance from the TV. Before he liked to get as close as possible to it, but now we put his chair at a healthy distance for his eyes and he's happy.

Fun

Sirdar got Zaak and I into finding our movie-star look-a-likes. Ahhh, the countless things one can waste one's time on:) So it's pretty funny to see who they match you up with - I'm enjoying teasing Zaak about the Burt Reynolds match:) Zaak likes my Catherine Zeta Jones match and so do I, I have to admit. I wonder who Blaise would get if we did him? If you want to do yours go to Zaak's blog, he has the link there.

Best and Worst

This is my opinion of the best and worst movies I've seen lately. The best was "Little Miss Sunshine" which we saw at the theatre in Moncton, NB. I laughed and I cried. A total 10 out of 10 and two thumbs up. I won't say any more so that I won't ruin ot for you. See this movie! That's an order.
Now the worst was on DVD - "A History of Violence" with Viggo Mortensen who plays Aragorn in the Lord of the Rings Series. He has completely fallen from grace in my books for doing this movie. I don't want to go into details but the fact that this is the worst movie I've seen in a long time should speak for itself.
Alright so bring on your bests and worsts, I'm curious what everyone else is watching...

Goodbye Goldilocks

We cut Blaise's hair tonight after a couple of months of debating to cut or not to cut. Now people won't be mistaking him for a girl (we hope!) I was rather choked up as the first curls fel to the ground but he looks really cute. He's very much a little boy now and not a baby anymore. Plus he can't yank on his locks anymore when he's upset, the little mascicist. He is so funny these days too wanting to kiss and hug Zaak and I and his little friends Hania and Miguel all the time. Even his toys get his affection, especially the hippo and Zaccheus. He can also say thank you now, it sounds like da-doo but it's definitely thank you. Ah my son, genius in the making...heehee.

The Night Train

Bruce Cockburn has a song called "Night Train" and I am listening to it now. It's from "The Charity of Night Album" and one of my all time favorite songs is also on this album; "The Whole Night Sky." I remember hearing it on the radio driving home in the Toyota Corolla one night when I still lived in Smithers. I told Zaak about the song and he tracked it down for me awhile ago (sweetest of all men).
So we took the train from Moncton to Montreal and it was a long 14 hours through the night. Blaise slept from about 10p.m. til 6 a.m. somewhat fitfully, but at least he slept. Zaak and I caught a few hours too as best we could curled up on the seats. I read Bridget Jones' Diary when I couldn't sleep.
I have always wanted to take the train so now I can say I have. I would have preferred a shorter, daytime trip but hey it beats the bus. Count your blessings right.
Sing it out Bruce...

Blueberries and Belles Filles in NB

Blaise and his buddy Noah

Just the 3 of Us

A glam shot from Gabriel's balcony in Montreal

An Afternoon at the Park

Doesn't April look like one of those movie star moms from People Magazine?

Home Again Home Again Jiggidy Jig:)

We're back home in Tactic now after a wonderful visit to Eastern Canada. It's a bit strange to be back but I'm glad that it feels like home. It's almost been a year now that we have lived here. So our trip was fantastic, great to see family and friends, to eat food we don't get to here, and take baths. The hardest part was saying goodbye to my sister April at the airport, I cried all the way through security and to our departure gate:( C'est la vie. I'm going to post some of the sweet shots I got from our trip right away.

Blaise the Break Dancer

Busy as a Milk Man:)

We have been so crazy busy since last weekend and the arrival of the RWCC team here! It's wonderful to see their smiling familair faces and to visit with them. They also brought us a huge hockey bag full of gifts - very sweet. Zaak is with the group in Tikal right now and Blaise and were going to go too, but he has another cold so I decided we'd stay home and rest. I'm trying to figure out why he always seems to be sick with something! Is it the climate here, is it the food, or is it just the fact that he's a toddler and susceptible to every germ he encounters? I'm reading on the net to see if perhaps the unpasteurized goats milk is making him get cold more but so far I'm only finding 1.) Don't drink it because of the chances of diseases and 2.) That kids have less allergies and are healthier in general. Slightly opposing views huh. So maybe I'll start boiling his milk - I don't know.
Any wisdom or knowledge in this area is most welcome. P.S. We leave for Canada in only 8 days from tomorrow! Yippee!

This Is Us

It was our 6 year wedding anniversary Sunday. We went out for a wonderful meal - a delicious feast of steak, chicken, potatoes, corn, and fresh bread all brought out to us on this little grill. Dessert was a decadent piece of kahlua cake and a perfect cup of coffee. We strolled around the beautiful grounds a bit after eating too, admiring the giant goldfish and birds of paradise flowers. The best part of the meal though was sharing it with Zaak. I can't believe how I love him more and more as time goes by. I'm so glad I married such a thoughtful, handsome, fun, kind and generous man. I look forward to many more adventures as we go through life together. I am and always will be, completely enamored with Zaak Che Robichaud.

No Peudo Creerlo! (I Can't Believe It)

I finally decided to start drving again today. Since my wallet (with my license in it) was stolen in March I haven't been driving anywhere except around town here in Tactic. If I needed to go to Coban (the nearest big centre) I would get Zaak or my friend Ruth to drive. Zaak was going to be gone all day so I asked my neighbor Priscila if she wanted to go to Coban with me. I'd never been stopped by the police before with Zaak or Ruth driving, so I figured what are the chances? Plus I can always play the "no hablo espanol" card. So we're happily toodling along to Coban when we see there's a police checkstop ahead. No problem, they usually just pull over trucks with cargo. Much to my chagrin, one of the policemen signals US to pull over. I could not believe it. The first time I have driven since having my license stolen in March, and I get pulled over. So he asked for the car registration and my license. Priscilla explained that I had my license stolen, and I explained how I was going back to Canada to visit and get a new license there. I handed him my passport with what I hoped was my most winning smile. He studied my passport and the registration for a few minutes behind the car, while Priscila and I tried to stifle our nervous giggles. Finally he returned my documents and wished us a happy trip. Phewf! I am very thankful that he didn't hassle me or give me a fine. And I'm looking forward to having my new license soon.

Insomniac

Ironic that my last post was about a lullabye, as I'm having difficulty getting to sleep lately. I don't know what it is! I've always been a bit of a sensitive sleeper (Zaak will heartliy agree with that) - I like the room really dark, no music playing, not too many blankets, and cool air. But the thing is I am totally exhausted from getting up at night with Blaise who has a cold. So I go to bed early, read, journal, relax and then turn out my lamp to sleep. And I lay there, still awake when Zaak comes to bed an hour later! It's very frustrating. I wonder what I am doing or not doing? Zaak keeps teasing me about having a guilty conscience about something but I can't think of anything. I don't have any caffeine during the day and I don't eat too late. The only thing I can think of is that I could be excercising more, but how do you find the energy to excercise when your dead tired from not sleeping? So if you have any good advice for me about getting to sleep there folks, bring it on. My last resort is to try some of the Melatonin pills that a team left here.

All Bound for Morningtown

I finally tracked down the lyrics to the childrens song "Morningtown Ride." (I only knew it as "Morningtown") When the twins and I were little we sang this for some kind of talent show at the Hazelton SDA School. I remember my Mom being irked because our friend Tina, who sang all by herself, was louder than the 3 of us were. Funny. I want to get Zaak to figure out the chords for me and learn how to play it for Blaise and all my babies to come:) It really is a sweet lullabye.

Morningtown Ride
Words and Music by Malvina Reynolds Performed by The Seekers (1966)

Train whistle blowin', makes a sleepy noise
Underneath their blankets go all the girls and boys
Rockin', Rollin', Ridin', out along the bay
All bound for Morningtown, many miles a-way

Driver at the engine, Fireman rings the bell
Sandman swings the lantern to say that all is well
Rockin', Rollin', Ridin', out along the bay
All bound for Morningtown, many miles a-way

Maybe it is raining where our train will ride
All the little trave'lers are warm and snug in-side
Rockin', Rollin', Ridin', out along the bay
All bound for Morningtown, many miles a-way

Somewhere there is sunshine, somewhere there is day
Somewhere there is Morningtown, many miles a-way
Rockin', Rollin', Ridin', out along the bay
All bound for Morningtown, many miles a-way

All bound for Morningtown, many miles a-way

Rain Rain and More Rain

So if you think we live in a hot tropical paradise - think again! The area we live in is called "The Land of Eternal Spring" for good reason! SInce May we have had rain almost every day or night. It feels like we live in Vancouver! Or what I imagine Vancouver life to be like, since people always complain about the rain. We have this neat program on our computer that shows the temperatures for almost anywhere in the world and here were the temp's one day last week:
Edmonton - 33 degrees
Montreal - 27
Smithers - 26
Squamish - 25
Cap-Pele - 21
Tactic - 18
So if you come to visit us - bring your rain slicker and a nice cozy sweater!

An Afternoon Photo-Shoot

I don't seem to take as many photos of Blaise as I used to, not sure why. So today after getting back from lunch with Rita, Blaise was already up from his nap (and thankfully content with finding Jonny here and not me); I grabbed the camera. I got some great shots of him but a lot of them are of him trying to get the camera from me:) He is so much fun these days! He can give me "cinco" (high five) and is getting braver about walking on his own. We're going to go and run some errands here after Blaise finishes his snack (of whole-wheat crackers, peanut butter and grated apple).

International Man of Mischief:)

Odds and Ends

I saw a lady biking through town the other day with her baby, asleep, in the basket on the front of the bike! I love how little things can still amaze me after living here almost a year now. Blaise tried pizza and kiwis for the first time this week and loves them both; last night he ate an entire kiwi for his dessert. Zaak is in Antigua for two nights with the team from Stony Plain so Blaise and I are holding down the fort. I've been trying to watch movie trailers tonight but they are taking forever to load! I think I'll just go to bed:)

Happy 1st Birthday Blaise!

Yesterday was Blaise's birthday, and he had a good time I think:) We had a qiuet morning just the two of us, then in the afternoon when he got up from his nap he opened his presents from our Canadian freinds and family. He is quite tickled with his new toys, especially the toy phone from Kurt and the toy hammer that goes with the Bob the Builder book from Ken and Luana. I'm hapy about the new clothes he got because he really needs bigger clothes! (Thanks Dean and Saison, Carl and Mish, Paul and Tash, and James and Amy). At 4 pm Blaise's party got underway and wow we had a lot of guests! We think over 60 people showed up, which is pretty good since we invited about that:) Blaise still has a whack of gifts to open from all our friends here, because we were too tired last night and wanted to get Blaise and ourselves to bed. So our baby boy is no longer a baby - he's a toddler. Hard to believe! We're so thankful for this year we've enjoyed seeing Blaise grow - what a joy he is to our lives!

Cry Cry Smile

Tonight at church I was sitting in the same row as a Mom who went to the front for prayer after the sermon. She left her daughter, who had been peacefully slumbering against her Mama most of the service, on her chair. As she left the little girl stirred and opened her sleepy big eyes, which I thought nothing of as I glanced over at her. A couple of minutes later I looked over again and the little girl (she must have been 3 or 4) was crushing her shirt into her crying little face! So I edged over to her and patted her arm, telling her that her Mom would be back soon. She kept her face hidden in her shirt and the crying didn't cease. So I put my arm around her and then stroked her hair - didn't help. Finally I took her onto my lap and her crying turned into sobbing. I also gave her one Blaise's whole wheat crackers and she kept it clutched in her hand, not eating it. So I tell her again that her Mom is going to come back; the sobbing only crescendos. I carry her close to where her Mom is and she seems to fall back asleep in my arms so I just stand and hold her. At the end of the service her Mom sees me and is surprised that I am carrying her daughter. I tell her she was sad and crying, so she thanks me and I give the little girl to her Mom. I look down at my shirt, wet with tears and snot, and smile.

A Gardeners Gold-Mine

My lovely neighbor Priscilla (pronounced "Pree-see-la" en espanol) took me yesterday to a wonderful little store here in Tactic. It was sort of a pharmacy but also had SEEDS! Boxes and boxes crammed with flower and herb seeds! Since we moved here I have been wanting to grow some sweet peas and they had some. I also bought sunflowers, poppies and hollyhocks - all some of my favorites, as well as some herbs and lettuce. I'm so excited to plant them all and see them grow. It's a bit of a crime to not be growing things here when the climate is mild enough to grow plants year-round. So I'll keep you updated on how my garden grows:) I sometimes wonder what my passions in life are besides my relationships with God, family and friends. Then I get into growing things and I can hardly sleep I'm so excited:) There's just something about working with dirt and seeing things grow, it's good for the soul I think.

Scrub a dub dub...

Three little hoodlums in the tub! I see so much of Blaise in each of our faces! He's got Alanna's nose, April's mischievous grin (and teeth) and my chin.

Canada Day

This is Blaise's first Canada Day outside of the womb. Too bad we couldn't celebrate with fireworks and the like, although he probably would have been afraid of them. (He started crying when he was near a rooster that crowed the other day). So I tried to think of something to do today to celebrate but it's hard when everyone around us doesn't give a rip. Not that I blame them, I certainly wasn't interested in Guatemala Day (if there is one) when I lived in Canada. Last year we watched fireworks from our balcony in Spruce Grove with Brian, Karel, Meena and Angie - that was fun. I'd love to hear about everyone else's festivities today...

My Husband - FilmMaker Extraordinaire

I am so proud of Zaak! His bike trip documentary has been accepted into the Montreal International Film Festival! I've known for awhile now that he's incredibly talented and now the rest of the world will too. What a dream come true. So in two months we will be headed for Canada's best city, to celebrate the world premiere of Zaak's film with my sister and our friends there. I can hardly wait! I've started excercising in earnest now so that I can wear something fabulous to the premiere:) April will help me out with that I'm sure. All the hours of playing with, feeding, and changing Blaise so Zaak could work on the film have paid off. He couldn't have done it without me - I take full credit for the big help that I was:)

Mmmm - food!

We were ravenous after our strenuous hike so stopped for supper on our way home. I ordered what I thought was going to be just soup with tamales, but ended up getting this huge chunk of turkey meat in the deal! Blaise is looking rather enviously at it but all he would have done is slung it across the restaurant, so I didn't share it with him. My calves are wicked sore today, two days after the hike but the excercise was good for me. Zaak's mom brought me a skipping rope (on my request) so I want to start doing some cardio with that. I love walking and hiking but the highway is not a very enjoyable place to walk and taking Blaise in his stroller up the mountain and back is a bit more of a challenge than I'm up to. So I'll skip:)

Pit Stop for a Bum Change:)

How badly do you need a bathroom?

These two outhouses were what we encountered on our trek to the highest waterfalls in Central America this past weekend. Pretty funny, especially the one with the view:) None of us used them but I looked in the one with walls and decided I could wait. Funny how the conditions of the facilties determines if you can wait or not:) Also we saw lots of little lizards on the hike and I had visions of them crawling on me - not cool.