Puerto Rico – Finally a Vacation

Last time Russ and I went “away” without the kids was when Joseline was about 5 months old and my sister (thanks, Sisty!) flew out to CA and watched the kiddos so we could go on a military marriage retreat in Santa Cruz. Scratch that – we did spend a night in a resort hotel in Tucson, AZ last summer. But that was just one night, and we didn’t do anything really spectacular. Santa Cruz was the last REAL vacation. And that was over two years ago.
We were definitely overdue for a vacation.
My flight got in to Puerto Rico on Tuesday morning at 2:30 am. Russ picked me up, took me back to the hotel, we slept for a while, then he left for class around 8 am. And I kept sleeping. In fact, I slept until noon. It was crazy! Then I got up, ate some cereal, and put on my running clothes. I had a great run on the beach, it wasn’t too warm because of Hurricane Irene, and it was overcast. The sand was pretty wet, too, so it wasn’t as hard to run on the wet, packed sand.
After my run, I showered quickly and Russ took me out to a market where he bought me a few dresses! I’ll have to take pictures when we go out dancing. The hotel has live salsa music in the lobby on Wed-Sat, and free Salsa lessons on Thursday nights. Guess where we’re going to be tomorrow night? I love dancing!
Shopping was fun, even though we had to drive back to the hotel in a flash flood (I have NEVER seen such horrible traffic!! Peurto Ricans are probably the worst drivers in the world). Plus half the street lights were out (they are still trying to fix power outages from the hurricane – although one store we went to said that their power outage had nothing to do with the hurricane. Sometime their power just goes out for no reason… What?)
So after we braved the floods in the little rental Kia, we decided we were starving (all the food places at the market had been closed – probably because of the power outages) but the only place open near the hotel was Burger King. Against my better judgment, I had a burger and fries. The fries were probably the worst idea yet. But i think today is better.
After that, we came back to the hotel and I switched my flights (effortlessly, might I add – Southwest and JetBlue… how do I love thee?) and talked about the things I had learned at Education Week last week at BYU. Russ also napped for a while, since he hadn’t slept in until noon. 
Then Russ’ buddy’s wife, Luzmary, flew in and we met them at Casa Dante for some delicious churrasco and monfongo. The meat melted in your mouth – it was even better than the Brazillian style churrasco at Rodizio’s/Tucanos (which I thought was some of the best grilled beef EVER). It was a fun experience to try the monfongo, and it was actually really good. It was a different flavor and texture than I had ever really had, but was kind of like a potato stuffing? Something like that. I will definitely have some more of that before we go home. And maybe some more of that steak stuff. If anyone has food recommendations for Puerto Rico, let me know. I love eating locally when I am traveling (instead of Burger King… which wouldn't have been my first choice, except no one else was open.
After dinner we went in the hotel hot tub for a while (hot tubbing under palm trees? Yes please). Today I would like to try out the little “in-pool” bar. Virgin, of course. But it just looks like so much fun! After the hot tub we went out and walked down the beach. I would like to say we walked in the moonlight, but it was still mostly overcast, so it was more like a walk in the dark. A few stars were out, and the ocean was pretty calm. It was really nice. And the water was so warm. A HUGE difference from that freezing cold beach in Monterey, CA. After the walk down the beach, we sat on a hammock on the beach and talked some more. Talking feels so good, and I feel like we haven’t been able to talk much in the last year or so. Things have been so stressful, and I think that we have been holding a lot in. It’s great to be able to reconnect away from everything.
Oh, and on our way back to the hotel we stopped at a little local grocery story and I bought some locally grown produce! A star fruit (which I couldn’t resist and ate in the car on the way home!), some bananas, and a mango. I ate one of the bananas for breakfast, and the mango I’ll probably eat later. Russ bought me an avocado which I plan on eating today for lunch. It is HUGE. I’ll probably have to share it with him.
Today we’re going to Old San Juan, so hopefully I’ll have lots of pictures for my next post. Right now all I’ve got are pictures of the view from our hotel room (on the top floor!)

I forgot to take my camera out with us yesterday, but I’m remembering today!
Check back tomorrow for more pictures!

A Year Ago Today

I was doing about this same thing – fighting tears (not putting up a very good fight, I should add…) and mourning the passing of my oldest brother – my hero, my idol, the man I wished desperately that I could have better understood. How I wished I could have known how he felt about him, and how I wished I could adequately express my love for him.

I don’t know if he knew. But I hope he knows now.

Ironically, on this day a year ago, Russ was also gone for the military, and I mourned my brother alone. Today, he is also gone on a military assignment, and I am yet again alone in my sorrow.

But not entirely alone.

My family remembers him this day, and I am sure there are more tears that just mine as we remember, painfully, the day our brother, son, husband, and friend was taken from us so quickly.

There are so many questions.
Not nearly enough answers.

And time goes on, life goes on, nothing is the same for long. Even the pain is not as sharp as it was a year ago, and yet it is still there, surfacing every now and then to puncture my careless days.

My dad made a tribute video for Ross and I want to share it here.

And now, I just want to repost what I wrote a year ago, because I feel like if I don’t keep reading it and telling it, I will forget. I wish that I had more memories with and about Ross. I feel like they slip so easily through my fingertips. And I am left with a gaping hole in my heart where those memories should be warming my soul.

My Post from a year ago, today:

Ross Richard Werner passed away Saturday, August 14, 2010 in the presence of his wife Jane, father, sister Christy, brother-in-law Adam, and other friends and family. His passing leaves a very large hole in my heart, and I am aching with the desire to say more, do more, and be more to and for him.

I am actually writing this on Friday, August 6, 2010.

Two weeks before it will post.

I’m not ready to face what is coming, and so... like anyone else, I’m denying it will happen, and pretending it won’t, until it’s too late.

Yesterday we talked with my oldest brother, Ross, on Skype.

He beat brain tumors and swelling from a fall, and is getting stronger every day in rehab.

Meanwhile, the tumors in his chest are growing and growing.

The doctors have given him a timeline – weeks, maybe a few months.

Probably more like weeks.

They gave him a choice to do some more chemo, but it won’t help, they say.

 

So, I’ve booked a flight to Seattle to see my brother. Probably for the last time.

I would like to tell you my story about my brother.

 

Ross

from my perspective

Growing up, I loved my brother. I wanted to be just like him. I wanted his stuff. I wanted his friends. I wanted his talents (he is so talented!). In fact, when I started junior high – I wanted to even dress just like him. Big baggy pants and big baggy shirts (what was I thinking? I got a little smarter the next year, and realized that I could be like my brother without sacrificing fashion).

Ross played the violin. Really well. I wanted to play the violin just as well as him. So I practiced every day until my fingers were raw. I even tried to get into the BYU Music School. No one made me love music more than Ross (except maybe my mother – but he got it from her, too). Ross played the piano. Really well. I wanted to play the piano really well, too. I didn’t practice all the time. Piano and I have never really gotten along, as far as practicing-to-get-good goes. But I do enjoy playing. Then Ross learned how to play the guitar and got good. I wanted to play the guitar, too. So I practiced every now and then.

Ross was great with computers. He even taught me about RAM once when I was in high school, or maybe college. He showed me how to install new RAM in a computer. I developed a new level of admiration for my brother. He is so smart! My interest in computers at all is because of Ross. I wanted to learn some programming languages. I wanted to learn how to build my own websites. I wanted to learn how to fix computers and mess with them and stuff. I even wanted to learn how to use Linux (which I did, sort of, for a while... but then I got lazy... er, had kids).

Ross loves to read. He loves music. He loves to learn. He loves to play games (my love of European board games? From Ross). My love of reading? Ross. My intense desire to Google anything that I don’t understand? Ross.

Probably the only things Ross didn’t inspire me to do is read my scriptures, pray regularly, run, and eat healthy. That was Janie (his wife).

I hold him on this pedestal (and Janie goes right beside him on it). And I don’t think he knows that. Really, all I want to be I want to be because of my brother. Because he is such a great example of hard work, honesty, learning, knowledge, having fun, and being a good person.

I plan on telling him all these things (and more) when I get to see him in person.

I hope it doesn’t sound too cliché – making amends with him as he’s dying. I would have said these things before, but I never knew the right words to say, and I worried that he wouldn’t want to hear it. But now it doesn’t matter if he wants to hear it. There are no bridges to be burned. There won’t be another chance. If I want him to hear it, I need to tell him now.

That is my story about how much I love my brother.

the great outdoors

Even though we weren’t officially attending our English ward at the time, we still went on our ward campout out in Spanish Fork Canyon.

Our friend Jenna had just got into town with her two boys, so we offered to take them with us. Vince loved having some other boys to play with, and Gabe and Noah loved being outdoors and exploring (basically all the boys in the ward wandered around finding sticks and playing whatever games little boys like to play – warriors, army men, etc). Russ’ little brother Jordan also came down with us. We were super surprised that his mom let him come – but it was so awesome to have him with us! He’s an awesome kid and was really helpful with the younger kids and with keeping the campsite clean and pitching tents – and really anything that we needed him to help with.

The recreation area had a zipline that our ward got to monopolize for the most part on Friday afternoon. Gabe loved it, and to our surprise (and delight!) Vincente went on it, too! Twice! He is such a little stud. It might have helped that his friend Nick went down several times as well. I even went down once. It was pretty crazy.

Joseline had a good time playing with Nick’s little sister Miriam. The camp area was great for the kids – it wasn’t near any water or cliffs or anything, so we could just let the kids play without having to worry too much. And the older kids in the ward helped keep an eye out on all the little ones. We even brought Doc (apparently dogs weren’t allowed, we found out later, but we kept him on his leash for the most part and he really enjoyed being in the great outdoors! And everyone was really sweet to him).

We built a bonfire down by our campsite, and our wonderful neighbors (our real neighbors who live behind us) were also our neighbors at the campout and they shared some really yummy dinner with us – BBQ pork and funeral potatoes all in dutch ovens. There’s something about cooking food in a dutch oven when you’re camping that is just right. In the morning the ward did pancakes, eggs, bacon, the works for breakfast.

As you can see, these two really enjoyed the trip. It was fun to get to know more of the ward members, and I think going on this campout helped us decide to switch wards. So far we haven’t regretted it!

Spaghetti and Music in the Mountains

Earlier in the summer when my mom was in town for a few weeks, my sister, my mom and I had a girls’ day out in Park City. We went shopping at the Tanger outlet mall there, and then in the evening went to see Time for Three (a two violins/double bass trio) perform the Bach Double Concerto (well, the two violinists performed the double concerto – I’m not sure if the bassist played in the chamber orchestra or if he just sat back stage for that part of the concert). The second half of the concert was the three of them playing all sorts of good stuff, and interacting with the audience. They were amazing. If you ever have a chance to see them live, do it. Think Jon Schimdt and Steven Sharp Nelson, but three of them, and with violins and bass instead of piano and cello.

Anyway, I didn’t take any pictures of us at the concert, but it was fabulous, and I thought I would share this music video with you. Hope you like it.

Back to the story. So my mom, my sister and I spent that whole day shopping. I found this awesome shirt that I really wanted at the Dress Barn, but they didn’t have it in my size. Let me tell you how awesome Dress Barn is. They called up the nearest store that had it in my size (in North Carolina – what!?) and after I gave them a 25% “down payment” they shipped it to the Park City store for freeeee! All I did was pay them 25% when they shipped, and the other 75% when I picked it up. Talk about customer service!

Well, since I had to go back to Park City to pick up the shirt, we decided to take a little bit of a family trip. We didn’t do much other than go to the Dress Barn and then walk up and down historic main street, but it was fun anyway.

We ate at Main Street Pizza & Noodle company. It was delicious and I hope we get to go again some day. We ate right out on the sidewalk. They had crayons and coloring for the kids, and even though they made their macaroni and cheese out of those multi-colored noodles (you know, the green and orange spiral ones you use for pasta salad?) we still had a good time (strange colored noodles = no children eating food, just sayin). We’re also pleased to inform you that Joseline was not harmed by the big bear, and even thought it might be kind of cuddly.

And then the kids fell asleep on the way home. Can’t beat that.

Jiggety Jig

To market, to market, to buy a fat pig
Home again, home again, jiggety jig.
To market, to market, to buy a fat hog
Home again, home again, jiggety jog.

(this is the final post in a four post series about our trip to Denver)

  

All good vacations must come to an end, but this trip’s end was a little drawn out (in a good way). We had to take Megann to the airport in the afternoon, but we had to check out of the hotel in the morning, so we found a park near the hotel with a water fountain and all sorts of fun for the kids. Since it was nice and warm outside, the kids had a blast in the water. Some of the other kids at the park had water guns, so I had to find a water bottle for Vincente to use for a “water gun” – there were some other kids doing the same thing, so he wasn’t totally weird, I promise.

There was a field on the other side of the hotel parking lot that was inhabited by many little prairie dogs. Every time we left the hotel we saw the little guys standing watch at their holes, and sometimes scurrying around looking for food. On our way out after checking out of the hotel, we stopped to take some pictures and I got this cool video of one of them chirping at me like I was going to steal their babies!

We were happy to be home, even if we didn’t get there until about two in the morning. The kids were relatively good on the drive home, but they didn’t really enjoy having to fall asleep in their car seats. But we all survived, and we loved spending time with Megann and her husband and seeing a new place.

I love to travel. I love to see new places, and I’m grateful for the opportunities I have had. And grateful that I got to share them with my kiddos!

I Love to See The Temple

On Sunday I found an 11am ward meeting and took the kids. In all of my careful packing I had completely spaced bringing any of our church stuff. No books, no crayons, nothing. I did have a few toys, so I brought them hoping we could get through sacrament meeting without too much trouble. Apparently that was too much to ask of my travel weary children. They fought and screamed so much I had just about decided to leave church altogether when a really nice sister from the ward caught me as I was getting the kids into the car. She introduced herself and asked if she could help. I was in tears I was so frustrated. She offered to sit outside in the grass with Vincente so I could go in an listen to the meeting. My tears changed to tears of gratitude. She was so sweet. She even got Vincente ready for Primary and helped me find the class. I can’t for the life of me remember her name. I should have written it down somewhere! I felt really loved by Heavenly Father that day. He basically sent me an angel.

After church we went back to the hotel and met up with Meg (Geoff had left already) to have lunch and then head to the temple in Littleton. I had been trying to think of things to do while we were traveling that would help us keep the Sabbath day holy. Church took a good 4 hours, and a trip to see the temple grounds would be another couple of hours, then we could watch a Church video and have dinner and the kids would be ready for bed! It was a perfect plan, and other than the slight hang up at Church (which ended up with a beautiful blessing) Sunday was a perfect day.

It was fun to take Megann to the temple. She didn’t know much about the temples, so before we left I told her a few things and showed her the Church temple website and some pictures of both the inside and outside of the temple. On the drive to the temple I got to talk to her a little more about the temple and share my testimony of the temple. I love going to the temple. Even just being on the grounds feels really special to me. It melts my heart to see my children eagerly looking out the window trying to see the angel Moroni at the top of the temple as we got closer to it. I love that they love the temple so much. It was fun to find a new temple to visit.

There was a family of little bunnies hopping around the temple grounds. The kids got a kick out of that. The bunnies weren’t nearly as fond of the kids as the kids were of the bunnies.

We took some pictures at the temple and then headed back to the hotel and watched The Testaments: Of One Fold and One Shepherd (a movie that always makes me cry and is highly recommended – you can buy it here).

It was actually one of the best Sundays ever.

Jars of Clay

(this is the second in a four part series about our trip to Denver)

Saturday was another adventure filled day. We decided to explore downtown Denver and then meet up for dinner at the Aquarium.  We had heard about the restaurant at the aquarium where you eat with the fish, basically. It was a little pricey, but we thought it might be worth the experience.  Meg and Geoff actually went through the aquarium while I took the kids to the Denver Art Museum’s free day and to a little gelato place on the 16th street mall. I’m pretty sure I took the kids back to the hotel for naps, and then we met up with Meg and Geoff for dinner.

We rode the bus down the 16th street mall, and then walked the rest of the way to the art museum. I was kicking myself for not bringing a stroller with me, but Joss kept up pretty well (on the way there – the way back was a different story). The area was really pretty and we walked through a really neat park with lots of shady trees (thank goodness – because it was kind of warm).

The museum had a fun hands-on area where the kids got to make their own something out of clay. After putting some lace on a piece of clay to make a pretty design, Joss and I ended up with a snake that we textured with the lace. After stabbing his piece of clay repeatedly, Vincente finally ended up with a “waffle” (a flattened piece of clay that he cut in two directions multiple times). We left our clay creations to dry while we looked at the rest of the museum.

There were lots of fun exhibits, including one where you make shapes with your body, and the computer would fill in the holes with a piece of “stained glass” which would shatter when you “let go” of it. I hope the picture helps that make a little more sense. It was really fun. The little kids were having a rough time though because adults and older kids kept standing behind the little ones and blocking them. Eventually I went “mom” on them and asked them all to let the little ones have a chance. The littler ones weren’t as good as it, but they had fun anyway.

There were a lot of places with big building blocks and things to color and dress up clothes. I liked that instead of the “kids” area being just one area of the museum there were several different areas, so I got to see a few cool things as we walked from one place to the next. The kids enjoyed making Jaguar masks and “stealing cheese” (big foam blocks where Vince played with some big kids like mice or rats or something and stole the blocks from each other, calling it their “cheese”).

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a sack lunch on a rooftop of the museum, which reminded me of the numerous trips we made to the Monterey Bay Aquarium and how we ate our sack lunches out by the ocean.

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the roof there were some fun pieces of art. This one above that Vince is staring intently at is a stage coach or something. I think the firing gun was what fascinated Vincente the most.

You could see the Denver skyline behind Joseline. I think that we were up in the shiny black building the day before when we were visiting Grant.  

Dinner at the aquarium was kind of disappointing. The atmosphere was cheesy, not like the nice restaurant at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the tanks were itsy bitsy and only on one wall, so we didn’t even get to sit next to the fish. The food was all really rich, and not nearly worth the price. But it was fun to experience something new, and the kids got a shark and sting ray from the gift shop. They enjoyed the whole thing. Especially getting their picture taken next to this shark.

Over the Mountain

230.
That’s how many picture I have from our trip to Denver this summer. In trying not to overwhelm you, I am going to split this trip into four different posts:
Day 1 – Over the Mountain
Day 2 – Jars of Clay
Day 3 – I Love to See the Temple
Day 4 – Jiggety Jig
A high school friend of mine and her husband had a job hunting trip in Denver in August. Russ was gone on some military trip or another (I think to Kenya this time), and I had not seen said friend in over a year (basically since her wedding in 2010), so I decided to take the kiddos on a little trip over the mountains and into Denver – just because we deserve a vacation, too!
It was not really my first road trip alone with the kids – when you are an army wife, especially with a husband who travels a lot, you do a lot of things solo. Driving is one of them. It was actually a pretty good trip. Before the trip I had brand spanking new tires put on Russ’ car (which I took instead of the van to save gas) and made sure to buy a new movie for the kids (Rio!). Between the movie, naps, and stopping in Little America for $.50 cones and to play on the playground, the drive wasn’t too bad at all. It felt like we stopped a million times for potty breaks.
We got into Denver on Thursday afternoon and checked in at the hotel. Mostly we just hung around that night at the hotel and ate Wendy’s for dinner in the hotel.
Friday was a big day. We spent the morning hanging around at the hotel, and then around noon we met our friend Grant for lunch in downtown Denver. He was doing an internship for the summer and was spending a few days in Denver in a very, very tall building. We got to go up to his office (on the very top floor!) and see almost all of Denver. Then we got the kids hot dogs at a corner hot dog stand – Vince had been asking for one ever since we got downtown, how could we deny him? Grant and I got sandwiches at a local salad and sandwich joint. The name eludes me right now – but it was definitely tastey. I had a BLT with avocado. Delish. There was a little folk band playing some music in a grassy area just outside the restaurant, so we sat in the shade of a big clock tower, listened to the music, ate food, and caught up. It was really good to see our old friend and catch up.
After our lunch time meet up, we rode the bus back to the parking lot and headed back to the hotel where we met up with Meg and Geoff to drive up to the top of Mt. Evans – a mountain near Denver that is over 14,000 feet tall. Whoa.
The drive was long and the traffic was bad for a little (I think there ended up being an accident along the highway), but the kids were relatively sane for the whole drive. Thankfully Meg and Geoff had rented a Jeep with four wheel drive. It did a pretty good job of getting us up the mountain.
Our first stop was for snacks at a little lake at the base of Mt. Evans. It was a cute little lodge and restaurant. The kids needed to stretch their legs, and everyone needed a potty break. I bought Joseline some new sunglasses because she had been complaining about the sun in her eyes as we climbed the mountains. I think they were pretty stylish.
Back on the road again, driving up the side of that big ‘ol mountain.
 
The next stop was at a little glacier lake farther up the mountains. A herd of mountain goats was grazing nearby and liked to stand in the area between the restrooms. They seemed to be rather unalarmed at the presence of so many humans.  Until Vincente ran past them back to the car when we were getting ready to leave (he was just running because that’s what little boys do – not because he was afraid or anything). The mountain goats took off. Geoff (who had been herding Vincente back to the car) said the goats seemed to give him a “look” as he walked by – as if to say, “Was that thing yours?” Ha ha. Silly goats.

While we were looking at the lake, the goats, and the view, Megann and Geoff wanted a few pictures taken, and I happily obliged. As I was snapping away, playing photographer, Vince came up to me and asked if we could go down to the water. I told him to wait just a minute because I was taking pictures. Well, we finished taking pictures, and we turned around to find Vince. He was nowhere to be seen. After freaking out thinking maybe the mountain goats had eaten him, we looked down toward the water, and there was my little four year old adventurer – high tailing it down to the water’s edge. Not knowing how deep the water was at the edge, I left Joss in Meg and Geoff’s care and took off after Vince. I caught up to him right at the water’s edge where he was happily throwing rocks in the water. Thankfully the water was not deep, just cold. Very cold.
Back on the trip to the summit we started seeing a lot more mountain goats. They were everywhere, and sometimes perched in the most precarious spots.
By this time the kids (mine, not the goats’) were getting pretty bored in the car, and they’d finished their snacks (or crumbled them all over the car – I had to convince Meg and Geoff that rental car companies don’t care if there are crumbs on the seat. They have to vacuum it out anyway. Which is what I love about rental cars and children… because children always make messes in the car). To entertain them for a while they got to take turns taking pictures with the camera. Mostly they took pictures of the inside of the car. Or their shoes.






Other than the subject matter being a little boring (although I have to say I love those shoes of Joseline’s), the photos were pretty clear. I think Vince even got a few of the scenery. At one point we opened the windows for some fresh air but Vince didn’t like the air blowing him so he put up his hands in the window. As if he was going to block the air. Ha!
At last we made it to the top! The lack of oxygen actually felt invigorating to me (although there were lots of signs warning about altitude sickness).








Apparently it was invigorating for Vincente, too, and he hadn’t learned his lesson about running away from Mamae on the side of a very big mountain. He loved all the rocks everywhere at the summit and really wanted to climb all over them. Including the ones that were on the other side of this sign and were basically a cliff. He took off, but this time I was prepared and I grabbed him. Crazy child just about threw himself off the top of a 14,000 foot mountain. Seriously.
I told him we could climb over some rocks on the other side of the summit that were farther away from the edge. That seemed to please him.
I’m pretty sure the kids fell asleep on the way down the mountain, and then we went out to eat at Chili’s. I’m not usually one to eat at a chain restaurant when I am traveling (I must get that from my dad – we like to discover new places. Especially local joints), but we were all tired, and the kids ate, so I won’t complain.