Oakley, Leaves, and New Babies

 As a little attention-getter to this post, here's a funny story.  Keido and I went to the park the other day and there was a little boy there who was about four.  We were headed up the stairs to one of those tube slides and the little boy said to me, "You better not go down that slide or you are going to get stuck.  Then, we would have to find something to push you out."  I decided that I'm definitely getting to the big days of pregnancy.  I appreciated the honest concern of this little gentleman.

Now, for the meat of today's entry.  We had a great day today!  For the past year and a half, I have been working on a family history/family experience book with my Grandfather.  I've been needing some pictures to go along with the stories and so we went to his house in Oakley, Idaho to dig in his boxes and find what we need.  As the kind, thoughtful man that he is, Grandpa came up with some other ideas to keep little Keido entertained.

Grandpa let Keido play with his  Matrushka dolls from Ukraine.

 The best "Nama" ever!

 While mom, Grandma, and Great Grandpa sorted through boxes in the storage shed, Keido decided to test out Uncle Wayne's Shelby Cobra.

 Keido was thinking, "I should get me one of these,

 "And one of these!"

 Then, we got to see the Lind's nine new Norwegian Elk hound puppies.  

 Josh was so good to help us and keep the momma calm.

The day just got better and better.  Next, we got to ride in this.

 Uncle Wayne let Keido drive as he planted his winter wheat.  For the rest of the day, Keido kept saying "Bye, Tractor, Bye, Tractor."  Not Keido's best picture, but he really did love it.

We ended the day by taking Keido with us to the Relief Society broadcast.  He was so good to sit through the whole thing.  We know that he was even paying attention to what they said, because one of the ladies said, "Sweet joy," and Keido pipes up a couple seconds after her and says, "Sweet, joy."  My mom and I felt like we were in the middle of a revival.

Since the fall weather has been so beautiful, Keido and I have been spending a lot of time playing in the leaves.  We've taken the trucks and buckets from the sand box and have been using them in the leaves.  Fall is my favorite season.  It also makes for great pictures. 

 King of the bucket truck.

 Little boys and their sticks.

 What a handsome little face!

My best buddy these days. 

We are also getting really excited these days for little Emi to come.  Keido and I fixed up the old Larson crib in preparation for her arrival.  My Grandpa Bob slept in this crib when he was a baby.  So did all of my Aunt Beverly's kids, and my brother Bob.  It's almost a hundred years old.  We sanded it, painted it, and made a mattress and bumpers to go inside.  Emi will only sleep in it for about a month, but it will be nice and cozy while she's in Idaho.

I finally did something crafty.  (Are you proud, Boyd?)

Praying for "Joe?"

In the middle of dinner tonight, Keido looked at me and folded his arms as if he wanted to say another prayer.  Of course I said, "Okay," and began to pray.  I thanked Heavenly Father for our broccoli, strawberries, Grandma, Grandpa, Daddy, and Mommy, and then I concluded.  He looked at me annoyed and folded his arms again.  I asked him if I had forgotten anyone.  He said, "Joe."  I thought that he might have meant Jeana, so I prayed again and thanked Heavenly Father for Jeana, Trevor, Natalie, and Wyatt, (the names he knows) just to cover my bases.  When I finished, he still seemed a little annoyed, but didn't say anything and gave up on it.

This evening when we were saying our prayers before bed, I made a point to thank Heavenly Father for everyone I could think of.  When I finished, Keido looked at me again and said, "Joe."  So, I started a new prayer, thanked Heavenly Father for "Joe" and concluded.  Keido looked at me with a big grin on his face and said enthusiastically, "AMEN."

I have no idea who Keido could be referring to, but for all you Joes out there, just know that there is a little boy who is very grateful for you.

Crazy Vacation #3

Washington D.C., New York City, and now Freeport, Grand Bahama!!!  We are on a roll!  I feel like the luckiest sister ever because my older brother Carl comes to visit us and gives us a great excuse to go see all the sights.  The first trip in D.C. was filled with museums, National Landmarks, Memorials, and lots and lots of walking.  New York was jam packed with visiting the Statue of Liberty, checking out Time Square, catching a few Broadways, and other must see sights in that big city.  This vacation was another packed  adventure, but definitely different from the others.  There aren't many "sights" to see here, but sometimes a beachy getaway is just as rewarding:)

Carl flew in on Thursday afternoon and we let him unpack a little before heading to Port Lucaya, the touristy beach area.  After stopping at a few shops in the straw market, we went through one of the hotels to get to my favorite place to go hang out with Keido.  It's really the only place on the whole island, except for the golf courses, that has nice grass, or even real grass for that matter.  You walk out the door, across the nice grassy lawn, through the sand, and straight into the ocean.  It's great.  We played and swam until we were starving, and then headed back to the rib place next to our house for dinner.  It just so happens that we live next to the best ribs on the island.  The people are open from 7 p.m. until 5 a.m. Really, it's just a canopy over a bunch of grills in the parking lot of the bar, but oh man can they make ribs!!

(Carl Sporting his Beach/Tourist Wear)

(The Hotel Lawn and Sailing Rental at the Beach)

On Friday morning, we woke up, packed up and headed down to the port again to pick up our rental car.  Rental places in the Bahamas are quite a bit different than the states.  The lady who I had talked to earlier pulled up in the little Neon that she had mentioned we could rent.  She got out and said, well, this one's busted, how about that gray one over there.  I looked down the line of three cars in the lot and saw this crappy looking bus thing.  In my mind I thought, "Heck yeah, it fits way more people."  Even though it was a real clunker, it definitely did the trick and allowed us to take a few extra friends along.  I was afraid that it would take all afternoon to write down all the scratches, dents, and missing panels, but in the Bahamas they don't seem to do that.  We just gave her the money, she handed us the keys, we signed a paper, and off we went.  I have to admit that I'd been thinking for days about how to drive on the left hand side of the road.  I had been trying to train my mind to know what to do.  It ended up being easier than I thought.  The only thing that I couldn't seem to get was that the blinker was on the other side of the steering wheel.  Every time I went to turn, I turned on the windshield wipers instead. Carl might as well have grown up in Europe, he was a real natural at driving the streets here. 

(Our Rental Beauty)

(Left Side Driving, Right Side Steering Wheel...AHHH!!)

We cruised in our new ride out to the "Absolutely Trespassing" area near Banana Bay.  Carl wanted to get out and test his snorkeling equipment, and Keido and I wanted to play in the sand.  We found some holes in the sand as we were walking down the beach and decided to dig down and see what lived in them.  As we spooned sand out of the first hole, all of a sudden a little white crab ran out of it and into the ocean.  Of course we wanted to do it again, however, the second one ended in a tragedy.  The little crab popped out and Carl tried to chase him down, as he was running after him, the wave washed in and when it washed back out, the crab was gone.  I had noticed it being just behind Carl when the water washed back out, so I told him to lift up his foot.  Poor little crab- Squished! His eyes just blew in the wind.  Carl tossed him back out into the water, and decided not to dig anymore up.  So, he spent the rest of the time at that beach checking things out under water.

(Definitely not the Most Effective Sign)

(Rest in Peace Little Crab)

After the Banana Bay beach, we took Carl back down to the Port to set off on a Scuba Dive excursion. We were kind of bummed because the Shark Dive people had canceled on us, however, the Reef Dive ended up being where the sharks were, so no loss there.  Carl said that he swam with six foot reef sharks. SCARY!  I can't wait to see those pictures when he gets them developed.

After picking him up, and filling our car with a few more Ross friends, we took off for Bahama John's for dinner.  We'd heard from a lot of friends that it was a great restaurant on a gorgeous beach, so since we had a rental car, we had to go.  I knew that it was about a thirty minute drive to get there, but this place was really out in the middle of nowhere.  We became more and more skeptical as we drove east through the woods.  But, when we got there, we immediately knew the drive had been worth it.  The place was exactly what you picture in your mind when you think of going to the Bahamas - forever white sandy beaches, a little hut to eat at, beach volleyball, and a place to whack open your own complimentary coconuts.  For dinner, quite a few of us tried the Cracked Conch, and all of us enjoyed our meals. Going to Bahama John's was the best thing we've done since moving here.

(The Best Place on the Island)

(Carl Cutting Open his Coconut)

(mmmm...Coconut!)

(The food was delicious, too bad the flies thought so too.)

(Keido with a Mouth Full of Fries)

(Boyd Showing off his Gigantic Muscles)

(After dinner we walked the beach picking up shells.  We brought them home and about an hour later, I saw this one moving across the floor.  We didn't realize we had relocated someone's home:)  Keido named this little Hermit Crab "Whatsup."  We let him roam for the night and returned him to the beach the next day.)

Saturday seemed to be just as eventful as Friday.  In the morning, we took Carl over to our friend Justin's place to meet up with another Scuba dive tour.  This time they went and checked out a shipwreck and a reef or two.  Carl told me later that when he was surfacing, all of a sudden he felt something tug on his hair.  His first thought was that it was the instructor trying to get his attention.  Then something tugged again, but harder.  Ouch!  Carl turned around and it was a fish eating at his hair.  I guess they call them the Bahama Chop and you have to look out for them or they will give you a hair cut.  Crazy.  

After he came back, we ate some lunch, talked and found out that Justin caught Malaria in Ghana and other random information, and then headed out spear fishing.  We decided to try out a new beach called "Princess Beach" which turned out to be awesome for little kids to play at, but not so awesome for spear fishing.  The water was shallow enough for Keido to wade out into and play in for a long ways.  However, it was a little too shallow for snorkeling.  We had to swim while skimming our bellies over the sea grass quite a ways before making it to a place deep enough with fish.  I tried my hand at spear fishing and decided I wouldn't make it if I had to survive off of that skill.  However, it was fun, we saw lobster, huge sea urchins, lots of tropical fish, and sea cucumbers.  Carl shot a small lion fish which ended up being the only catch of the day.  Fun times though:)

(Carl with his Lion Fish)

(Keido Loving the Shallow Water)

(The sand was so soft you could sink your legs three feet down into it.  Boyd used this to his advantage to look taller than Justin.  Justin really was standing straight up;)

(Keido- the Mighty Spear Fisherman)

After we were all worn out, we cleaned up a little and went out for some awesome pizza at the port.  They had a live band playing Caribbean music that Keido danced to.  We checked out the gigantic yachts on the dock, dreamed about having that kind of money, walked around a little, and went home exhausted.

Sunday was church in our little branch.  We were really thankful to have Carl with us at church because he taught part of the primary lesson.  In small branches, everyone has to pitch in.  After that we sent Carl back to the airport to fly on home.  What a vacation.  We loved having Carl come.  It was another packed adventure that we will treasure in our memories forever!

(Good Times)

Boyd the Daddy

This is a day early, but I had a little bit of time today while Boyd was out of the house.

Since for Mother's Day, Boyd took the liberty to share with everyone some embarrassing/nice things about me, I thought that I would do the same for him:)

About a week ago, I had one of those proud wife moments.  After a full day of studying, probably ten hours, Boyd was so excited that he was finally going to get to relax and watch the US soccer game that he'd been looking forward to all day.  Now, if you don't know, Boyd is this die hard soccer nut these days.  He Youtubes players videos and tells me all the time about the new move he's going to master.  He knows every player on every team and says that if this whole medical school thing doesn't work out, he's going to train for professional soccer.  Anyways, he had already studied through most of the first half, so would only get to watch the second.  I was getting Keido ready for bed and it came time for the part where dad comes in, reads to us, helps us brush teeth, and then lays with Keido until he falls asleep.  

I could see in his face that he was anxious to watch the game, so I told him that I could lay by Keido instead.  The anxiousness melted away and he said, "No, Keido is more important to me than the soccer game."  Wow, did he really say that.  Of course, I knew that he loved Keido more than soccer, but he wouldn't even make an exception this one time.  He wanted to spend time with his little boy.  Sadly, it took Keido a while to fall asleep, so Boyd only saw the last three minutes of the game, but he didn't complain about it at all.  I was so impressed and proud.  Boyd is a wonderful father and has shown in many ways how much he loves and cares for Keido.

Boyd is Keido's favorite pal these days.  All day long he will ask me where "Daddy" is.  I have to tell him he's at school or studying.  I can see that he's disappointed.  But, as soon as daddy comes home, Keido gets really happy and excited.  They play ball together, dance together, sing together, watch shows together, wrestle together, and pretty much spend as much time as they can together.  Then every night Boyd says to me before we fall asleep, "I sure love that little boy."  We will lie awake and talk about all the small things that we love so much about Keido.  

I feel so blessed to have Boyd as the father of my children.  He is just as excited for number two as he was for Keido.  Sometimes he will talk to my belly and tell the baby how much he loves it already.  As I've gotten bigger, he has become more and more excited.  

Our family is growing in more ways than one.  Since being here, I feel like we have really bonded together.  Boyd has stepped up to the plate in many instances and truly cherishes the time that he gets to spend with Keido and I.  It's amazing what a little bit of trial and distance from other family can do to help strengthen marriage and family.  Not saying that I don't love being near family, but just that this has been really good for us:)

I love you Boyd!!! Keido loves you too!!!  We hope that you have a great Father's Day!

Other Attempts at the "I Love You Dad" Picture

Keido helped cut and tape the sign;)

Our Week

(Random flower from my run)

We've been in the Bahamas now for two months and I can honestly say that it has gotten better and better since we arrived.  I guess I should speak for myself, since Boyd mostly studies and goes to class, but I can sincerely say that I have been happier these past couple weeks than I ever thought I could be.  I think that a lot of it has to do with having some fun things to do during the week.  It's funny, people usually feel bad for me, thinking that I'm stuck at home all day without a car or bike, just taking care of Keido.  Little do they know that we have become pretty busy people.  I just wanted to map out what we do during the week, for myself to look at later on, and for others to know that they don't have to feel bad for me.

Monday-
Usually this is our grocery shopping day.  Our good friends Brittany and Kurtis will generally pick us up in the morning and take us to the store with them.  Then, sometimes we hang out for a little bit after.  In the afternoon, we usually do some swimming in our pool, make bread, cook dinner, read books, have a dance party, cleanup, hopefully have an FHE, and then get ready for bed.

(Private pool party)

Tuesday-
Most of the time in the morning, Keido and I will run a couple of miles down to the beach and spend time swimming, building sand castles, feeding birds, watching boats, making friends with the Cruise ship tourists, and hanging out in the back of the Grand Lucayan Hotel (my favorite place.)  Then after lunch and a nap, we get to go teach piano lessons to the Kanekoas (Brittany, Kole, Karson, and Kelly).  I love being able to give back to Brittany and her family who have done so much for us.  Plus, they are great students.  Keido also loves to play with Kurtis while everyone is having their lessons.  After we get home, it's dinner and bed time.  Another day gone!

Wednesday-
Wednesday's have recently become more fun.  We will wake up and do some exercise and then this is usually our big cleaning day where we sweep, mop, maybe to the bathrooms, and just get things done in the morning.  In the afternoon, we make dinner a little early and then Keido and I will meet with a couple of ladies in the ward who are in the YW presidency.  I have been called as a Young Women's Presidency Trainer.  The program is pretty new here and they just need some help getting things going.  Hopefully by next week we will be starting Mutual activities on Wednesday nights.  President Kanekoa said that whatever I teach these ladies is the type of YW's program that will be left behind for years.  I hope I can do a good job.

(I've seen Nutella used on many things, but I've never seen it used as face paint)

Thursday-
We either do one of three things this day.  Sometimes we will attend the Bahama Mama play group. Or, if our friend Mary is available, we will have her over and help her as she learns how to read and use a computer.  She grew up in Jamaica and never had the opportunity to go to school, so as an older woman, she still can't read.   If she can't make it, we usually run down to another beach and play for the morning.  Then, in the afternoon we do whatever we want until we cook dinner and get ready for Boyd to watch Keido and for me to teach online piano lessons.  That pretty much finishes off our day.

Friday and Saturday-
These two days are filled with laundry, swimming, going to the beach, getting together with friends, going to the Library to do story time (The Librarian needs volunteers and asked if I would read to the kids. I've become the official story time lady:), preparing for whatever we've been asked to do on Sunday, having more dance parties, and spending time as a family.

(Beach Bum)

Sunday-
This is the best day!  We go to church, have people over for dinner, and then chat with both our families.  Then, Boyd, Keido, and I just spend time together.  Sometimes we go for walks, shoot hoops, kick a soccer ball, and of course have a dance party.  Have I mentioned that Keido LOVES dancing?!

Every week is not the same, but I've really enjoyed having a few things to do to fill up the days.  Time is flying by!  We only have 7 weeks left!  This has been a great experience for us and I feel like we have grown a lot as a family being able to experience it together.

Junkanoo

The other day I went to the church for a meeting and ended up waiting outside with another member and his kids for an hour or so.  They call it "Bahamian Time."  Fortunately, he was really fun to talk to and gave me some good information.  I asked him about the upcoming Junkanoo festival that we were planning to attend on Saturday.  He said that it's a parade that runs downtown with people who have created these amazing costumes and dance to the Bahamian Beat.  "As they start playing a ways off, your feet start tapping the ground.  Then as they get closer, you find that your legs start stomping and your head starts bobbing.  Pretty soon, your whole body is just dancing to the music.  Then as they pass right in front of you, you can feel the drums beating in your chest and you just can't help moving right along with everyone else," said Brother Cash.  The best part was that he acted the whole thing out and had his kids rolling with laughter.

Sure enough, it was exactly like he said.  Even though it started later than we thought it would, and we had to leave early, we loved every second of it.  Keido's favorite parts were the dancers, the band, and the little boys next to us fighting with their blow up noise makers.  When there was a break in the parade, Keido took off running after the little boys who had gone to a grassy area.  They were probably 6 or 7, but he just stood right in the middle of what they were doing.  When they went somewhere else, he followed right along.  He definitely wants to be one of the big boys.

I guess way-back-when people used to take "Junk" and make it "New" for their costumes, hence the name "Junkanoo."  Since then it seems to have evolved into a competition where people use nicer materials to make their costumes.  I was still pretty floored at what they came up with using paper and feathers.  Some of the costumes weighed at least a couple hundred pounds and I felt bad for the people who had to wear/carry them.  I also wanted to take the dancers home and have them do morning Zumba classes for me.  Bahamian girls got MOVES.

Anyways, here are a bunch of pictures of what the parade was like.  It was one of those multi-cultural experiences that I will always cherish.  I just wish Keido was old enough to remember it.  Maybe one day if he hears that "Bahamian Beat" again, he will feel right at home:)

 (The beautiful sunset sky)

 (Keido and Dad enjoying the show)

(With our good friend Lemuel) 

 (The first float, just one guy moves it using a handcart underneath)

 (A dancer)

 (The most awesome looking tuba player I've ever seen)

 (costume)

 (bigger costume)

 (cool bird costume)

 (spiky costume, we were standing a little too close and I got whacked by this one)

 (green and pink man)

 (fish lady)