The voyage of the blue Mimi

Today is my sister Renee's birthday. She is an incredible person that I dearly love and this post is dedicated to her.
Thanks to a Jr. High. Science video series and Shayne Hatch, I have lovingly referred to my little sister as "Mimi" for over 22 years. Renee and I fought like cats and dogs growing up, until college. Since going away to college in Utah we have grown to be best friends. We talk on the phone almost everyday. I don't know what I would do without her.

She is turning 32 today so here are 32 of my favorite things about Renee:

1. She is probably the most thoughtful person I know. Never forgetting a birthday or any special occasion.
2. She makes me laugh
3. She didn't blow the whistle on me when in high school mom and dad would leave town and put me in charge and I would let a college grunge band practice in our living room.
4. She makes the best pot roast I have ever eaten
5. She is beautiful both inside and out
6. She is fiercely loyal to her family
7. She was cool enough to receive a rose from the lead singer of Depeche Mode (my high school obsession)
8. She won't put up with any American cheese at resturaunts
9. One summer in college when all my roommates were gone for the summer she left her own friends to come live with me for the summer. (One of the best summers of my life!)
10. She is the reigning champion of "Settlers of Catan" in our family
11. Incredible mother and wife
12. Always up for something fun
13. Capable of driving herself to the emergency with a broken baby toe
14. When Jake and I were dating and she first met him she pulled me into the back room and said "you better not mess this one up- I like him!"
15. She has incredibly beautiful straight hair
16. She has courage and inspires me
17. You never leave her house with dirty ears!
18. She got me watching "L's" kitchen
19. She took me to get my very first pedicure
20. She agreed to go out with all of the dorks that we set her up with when she was single
21. When I was first married she would come up and spend weekends with us
22. She loves cats
23. She is extremely organized and tidy
24. She has a great decorators sense
25. My boys adore her!
26. She is my biggest supporter
27. She is very smart and always has good ideas
28. She married a guy we all love
29. She is an incredible hostess and makes you feel so welcome in her home
30. She is willing to do my dirty work if ever need her to
31. She bought brand new bikes for my boys just so they would have them to ride whenever they came to her house.
32. She is the best little sister in the world and I don't know what I would do without her!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RENEE! I LOVE YOU!!!

My new skinny best friend

So I have a new skinny best friend. I don't hate her though because she is too darn helpful. She helps me with the impossible everyday task of keeping the standardized Puerto Rican white tile floors clean.
My wonderful mother in law actually introduced us when she was last visiting here and could see that I needed some help. For some unknown reason I ignored my friend for the first few months. But we have recently become reaquainted for which I will be forever grateful.

Still sneaking into pools

When I was in high school and college we used to sneak into hotels and use their pools. I guess I still am.
On Saturday we went to the east side of the island. Jake did a few things for the business and then we went to our favorite resort beach. We have stayed there a couple of times before and so we know our way around. Not wanting to spend the $300 a night cost, we helped ourselves to the facilities anyways. Sad to say but since we are gringos no one even thinks twice or questions us about being there.
It is a beautiful coastline with awesome sand perfect for sand castles and laying out on one of the many lounge chairs under an umbrella. After playing in some pretty fun waves we headed over to one of the many pools to the kids area. They even have a water slide. The kids had a blast and we did too! Come visit us and I promise to take you there!

Ok....I'll do it!

I love reading other people's tags but for some reason I have never responded when people send it to me. Here goes:

1. What is your occupation? Short order cook to 4 hungry boys

2. What color are your socks right now? BAREFOOT (almost always!)

3. What are you listening to right now ? "Nasty Girl" the club version playing in my head from the most recent movie I saw (see upcoming answer)

4. What was the last thing that you ate? McDonalds snack wrap

5. Can you drive a stick shift? Yes (Thanks Eleanor!)

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? green

7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? sister in law Valerie

8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Yes!

9. How old are you today? 34 years

10. Favorite drink? Milk

11. What is your favorite sport to watch? Football and Basketball

12. Have you ever dyed your hair? Yes

13. Pets? Dog "Rico

14. Favorite food? Mexican

15. Last movie you watched? "Dan in Real Life" (LOVED IT!)

16. Favorite Day of the year? Thanksgiving

17. What do you do to vent anger? Hide my husbands remote control

18. What was your favorite toy as a child? Strawberry shortcake

19. What is your favorite season? Fall

20. Hugs or kisses? BOTH ( Everyone in Puerto Rico greets you with a kiss and hug!)

21. Cherry or Blueberry? cherry

22. Do you want your friends to email you back? Yes- I love learning new things about people!

23. Who is most likely to respond? Collette

24. Who is least likely to respond? any guy

25. When was the last time you cried? Yesterday at a fireside for the youth at our house

26. What is on the floor of your closet? Shoes and scrapbooking stuff

29. Favorite smells? rain in the mountains, Jake's deodorant

31. Who inspires you? New members of the church

32. What are you afraid of? tire falling off (Thanks Collette!) and snakes

33. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? double double animal style

34. Favorite car? Any car that I can keep out of the mechanics

35. Favorite cat breeds? big fat orange and hairy

36. Number of keys on your key ring? 7

37. How many years at your current job? this profession? 8 yrs

38. Favorite day of the week? Sunday

39. How many states have you lived in? 7

40. Where's the most unique place you've traveled to? Agua Azul (Chiapas Mexico)

41. Favorite game? Settlers of Catan

42. Favorite TV shows? Lost, the Biggest Loser, The Amazing Race, HGTV

43. Are your fingernails fake or real? real

44. Favorite hobby? playing games, and girls night

45. Do you think you're funny? I think I used to be

Jett's baptism

Jett was baptized on August 3rd in Utah while we were on vacation. I (selfishly) wanted to wait and do it when we were on vacation so that we could share it with our family. Jett is the oldest grandchild on both sides so it was the first baptism in the family. It was pretty incredible because all of my family (minus little brother who was on honeymoon)and all of Jake's family traveled to share the day with us.

The baptism was great and one of the best parts was when Jake was baptizing Jett and Luke yelled out "Don't drown him Dad!"
Jake's aunt Kay was so great and was able to arrange us having the baptism at her church building and afterwards we went to a really nice pavillion- park area right behind the church. Everyone brought treats to share and we had a great time. All of Jett's cousins were there and it was fun to see them running around having such a good time. It was a really special day and everything went great! Despite the spirituality of it all I couldn't help but think Am I really old enough to have a child getting baptized?!?

Jurassic Park and Gilligan's Island

We kept pretty busy over the Labor Day weekend. On Saturday was the stake celebration of the birthday of the primary. It was hotter than freak but the surroundings were so beautiful that it was hard to complain!

To me it seemed right out of Jurassic park minus the dinosaurs. It was like a giant crater had crashed in the middle of the jungle and left a gigantic circle and they decided to build a park. The kids ate pizza and played games. Kudos to Jake for successfully completing an entire church activity (first time ever!)
Then on Monday we went to Gilligan's island with our friends the Rowletts from San Juan. (Yea- more friends!!!) It is about a 45 minute drive from our house and then you hop on a little ferry and it takes you over to the island.

Other than Ashley and I looking at least as good as Ginger and Marianne, Gilligan's island itself was a little disappointing. It was super crowed because of the holiday, but we managed to find our own little cove of the island, and it was very overcast. But it was very relaxing and we had a good time.
The coolest part is that when we were waiting on the dock for the ferry to take us back to the main land we saw dolphins!

Conversations with Luke

Jake and I have to take turns taking Luke (5 years old) to school because we love our morning conversations with him. We just never know what will come out of his mouth but apparently here is what has been on his mind lately:

*The eternal salvation of dinosaurs

*Why Jesus did not create a "Lagoon" here in Puerto Rico. (Lagoon is an amusement park in Utah).

*Old people watch old tv

*Who is the coolest person in the world and can dad please look it up on the internet?

*Concerns that dad has not bought the "ab coaster" for his big belly.

*If pirates came to our house could dad beat them up?

* After a visit with his great grandmother he says "She smells funny but I still like her."