Moving to Puerto Rico

We are in Puerto Rico!

Our trip went great and was as uneventful as could be with 11 people, 2 dogs, 21 checked bags, and 22 carry on's.  The only thing less then great that happened was a $10 dollar stroller was lost which I would call a pretty successful trip (plus the stroller has been found we just have to go pick it up).

Sarah and the boys had a big job packing all of our luggage into two rented minivans for our drive to Dallas.

We drove to Dallas on Monday and ate supper at the Magic Time Machine, a themed restaurant with different themes for every table and all the waiters and waitresses dressed up as characters.  We had Cruella de Vil for a waitress.  It was very fun.

The next morning we drove to the airport leaving plenty of time to fly out on our evening flight.  It took us quite awhile to unload all of our stuff and check all the bags.

We ended up only having to wait past security for a few hours.  It was a very nice airport that even had a special room for pets to use the bathroom.  The kids loved watching the planes out the window.

From Dallas we flew to Ft. Lauderdale.  We were in a brand new section of the airport that was still under construction.  It doesn't have much in it now but it will be very nice when it's done.

From Ft. Lauderdale we flew into Agudilla, PR which is a old Air Force base turned into a very nice, small, airport.  We flew on Spirit Airlines which was actually cheaper to fly into Agudilla then San Juan which was great since were staying near there.

The caretaker of the house we're staying at met us at the airport in the middle of the night when we landed.  After having to rent a third car to be able to get all of our luggage to the house we were off.

It was a short 30 minute drive to the house.  The streets were for the most part completely empty.  I was surprised at how many stores and restaurants they have here from the states.  Dayton was happy to see Chili's. =)

After sleeping in the next day we went to the grocery store to get ready for Yom Kippur.  The store we found was just like any of the stores in the states.  They had many brands I recognized and a surprising amount of organic food.  Most of the labels and ingredients were in English which was very helpful for us non Spanish speakers. =)  Learning Spanish is on the top of my priority list.  The language barrier as far as speaking to people is a bit more than I was expecting.

Now that Yom Kippur is over I'm planning on checking out Fresh Mart tomorrow.  I''m hoping they'll have vegeniase.  =)

Moving and 2015

Well it's official!  We're moving to Puerto Rico!

I guess it's been official for a while but not as long as you'd think being as how we're getting on a plane in two days. =)

This year has been crazy.  We haven't been in one place longer then a couple weeks ever since April.  We've been splitting our time between Dayton's Grandparent's because of health issues and Colorado for work.  I am looking forward to being stuck on an island for awhile. =)

~ 52 Week Photography Challenge ~

I've also started a 52 week photo challenge with my sister, my brother and sister-in-law, and a friend.

This weeks challenge was "Self Portrait".

We're posting a new picture every Friday over at seeathousandwords.weebly.com.  Voting is open over the weekend.  Go and vote for your favorite!

~ ~ ~

Here are some more pictures from our year.

...

Kittens

{This is a post I wrote last year and never got around to publishing.  So "this summer" was actually last summer.  Just thought I'd share some pictures of  cute kittens. =)}


While we were visiting Grandma this summer Deborah, Ronen, and I had fun playing with the kittens.

 Ronen enjoyed the grass on his feet.

They were good photo subjects.

 

While we were playing with kittens Dayton and Trey pulled down some branches that had broken off and were just hanging there.

They decided it would easier to hook the branches up to the truck and pull them down instead of cutting them down with a chainsaw.

Fall 2014

Four days after Ronen was born, on June 16, was Dayton and my first anniversary.

Dayton took me out to eat and watch a movie a few days before Ronen was due because we figured I wouldn't be up for going out on our actual anniversary.

Mackenzie Smith made a wedding video for us that we got on our anniversary.

After the 16th our first year was over and Dayton had to start working again.  We got a bit of extra time since I had just had Ronen but we actually had to stay home the end of August and September to work. :)

Just because we stayed home didn't mean we didn't have fun.

We played a lot of disc golf...

Did some sight seeing and enjoyed the beautiful mountains...

And watched a lot of football.

After working for a couple months we headed down to Tennessee to spend Tabernacles with friends.

The rest of Dayton's family (except for Will who stayed home and ran routes with Dayton) was already in TN for the birth of Barrett and Devin's little girl.

We went to join them and meet Torah.

All the Warren grand kids.

Ronen and Torah.  They're only three months apart.

Ronen's first time camping in a tent.

It was a busy week for Ronen.  He fell asleep during worship multiple times.

While we were in Tennessee we decided to take a quick little trip over to North Carolina to visit Grandma Rogers.

He also got to meet his Great Great Grandpa Bill who's 102.

When we got back home we got our first real snow of the year.  It was snowing when we left but this was the first time it stuck.

One of the views from our condo.

Right now were up in Alaska with no snow whatsoever and a balmy 45 degrees.  

And everyone thinks Alaska is cold.  :)

We drove up the Alcan to Alaska to have a little family reunion.  Deborah and Trey are here also.  Ronen is having fun meeting his Grandpa for the first time and all his Uncles and Aunts.

More pictures of that later.

Summer 2014

Well, so much for posting more often... :/  Oh well, better once or twice then never.

It has been a summer full of traveling.

After spending March in Alaska with my family we drove down the Alcan with them for Family Week and, although we didn't know it at the time, Deborah and Trey's Wedding.

Flying out to Anchorage on our way to the lower 48.

On the Alcan.

After making it through Canada we got to North Dakota and Deborah and Trey got betrothed.  After spending a few days with Grandma in ND we headed for Colorado to our house.  The whole family spent the weekend with us and went skiing for a day.

Sarah and I taking a break.

After skiing we headed to Kentucky for Family Week and Passover then on to North Carolina to visit Grandma and Grandpa and for the Versteeg family reunion.  

 We had five generations in one picture.  Ronen, the fifth generation, was still inside of me though. :)

This was the last time we got to see Grandpa Rogers.  He had a heart attack and died a week before Ronen was born.  Ronen would have been his first great grandchild.  He was a great Grandpa and I wish he would have been able to meet Ronen.

The Versteeg family.

After leaving Grandma and Grandpa's house Dayton and I headed back to Colorado to spend a week at home for a midwife appointment.  The rest of my family headed to North Dakota to get ready for Deborah and Trey's Wedding.  

After a week Dayton and I headed to ND also to help get ready for the wedding.

We had the wedding on Grandma's farm.  It was a lot of fun.  A lot of people came and camped out for the whole weekend including Dayton's family.  It was a weekend of continuous volleyball.

My entire family.

All the girls.

 All the boys.

The wedding cake I got to make.  (Wedding pictures from A-Team Photography)

After the wedding my family went back to Alaska and Dayton and I drove home to Colorado with his family.

I was 36 weeks pregnant at this point and we decided we should stay home for a while. :)

Ronen Eliyahu was born on June 12.

A couple hours after he was born.

Mom was there for the birth.  She was in North Carolina for Grandpa Rogers funeral and flew straight to Colorado on the day Ronen was due.  I went into labor the morning after she flew in.

I had him at home with a wonderful midwife and the labor was great with no complications.

Four days old.

After spending a month at home recouping we hit the road again for family reunions in Oklahoma and Texas. 

Ronen enjoyed meeting Papa Warren.

After spending time in Oklahoma for Mema's birthday Dayton and I, along with his borther and sister, headed to Minnesota for Deborah's sister-in-law's wedding.

Deborah got to meet Ronen while we were there.

After the wedding we spent a week at Grandma Effie's with Deborah and Trey.

After spending the week at Grandma's and going to another friends wedding we headed back home and actually stayed there for a couple months.

That was our summer up to August.  I'll finish up the fall later. :)