Fall Update

A friend took these pictures of us on the fly after church a couple weeks ago. We were just messing around, but were happily surprised to see the quality of the photos turned out lovely. So I thought I would post these! Our friend, Nathan, will be taking our actual family photos this coming week, so I will post those at a later date.

Here are our personal updates:

Danny is on the downhill portion of his work here at the hotel. He is mostly bored with work, but enjoys the networking side of it and how his pool design turned out. He has surfed a few times and is looking to do more of that (as am I). He reads a lot, as he often has in the past, but he probably does it more now because we have no TV for sports viewing. When sports geared up in September, he went through withdrawals at not being able to see all the right games, but he is over it! He checks the scores and articles out online, and considers it a bit of a relief not to be distracted by watching games all the time like he used to. At home, he toughens our girls up with games of tigers and pumas. The girls hate it! ...But they LOVE it! I smile anxiously as I watch. On the weekends, we enjoy driving around the island, getting to know new beaches or different terrains. The diversity of country on this island is amazing! And we still have lots to see!

As for me, I am having a good time experimenting with my hair and makeup. I bought a cheap makeup kit at Ross and am trying out a few new things. I even bought my first fashion magazine in over 10 years! I guess I am in the mood to try something new! I am still into diet and exercise, but have been loving on the cookies lately and can't figure out a good exercise time. I either need to get back into paddling in the early mornings, or do exercise videos at night again while the girls are sleeping! I enjoy spending time with neighbors and new friends. I try to journal or read whenever I can. I miss my family. I love this unique and pioneering time in our little family, though. It is very simple, and I enjoy that. It is good for me to be here to evaluate life to this point and make plans for the future.
Melia is beautiful, confident, and a little artist. She colors and draws often, is teaching her 3-d arrangement art forms to her little sister, and she still loves to sing and play barbies! I signed us up for a free playgroup preschool, which she enjoys. It provides five lessons for us to do each week, and then the girls get constructive and free playtime with the class on Wednesday mornings. I still feel like she is ready for much more than this socially, but do not have many options. Oh and I can't forget to mention that she is in love with our upstairs neighbor, Gigi, who takes her to ballet class during Sophie's naps on Mondays and treats her to tea parties and noggin watching some afternoons. Melia loves the attention and the independence. Gale loves to be with her. Melia is also a good little swimmer now and she loves it when their neighbors come over to play. She enjoys church and primary songs very much. The past couple of weeks she has grown bossy and defiant, though; Danny and I are a little stumped. Any suggestions would be great. She is a wonderful big sister. And still a bit of a Mama's girl. She makes me want to be more feminine.

Sophie is no longer a baby! She is constantly talking, shouting, demanding and teasing. She loves being loud. We are trying to teach her not to cry so much or so loudly when she is upset, but use her words instead. She is doing well with this. Each time she is upset, once she gets a hold of herself she says, "I be happy now." Sophie ADORES her big sister, "Ee-ah." She hates to ever be apart from her. Naps are the only separation she tolerates. She wears big kids pants with rarely an accident. She loves to dance and is starting to sing a lot. She is very playful and LOVES her dad. Our kids have chosen clear favorites...Danny is Sophie's pick. She has a lot of boy in her. She loves to swim too, and practices swimming without floaties as long as we will let her do it. She loves indoor water experiments, playing barbies and dollies, and her favorite videos to watch are Dora. She has become very social and enjoys her neighbor and church friends very much. Despite a lot of boy in her, her favorite color is pink.