CHURROS AND CHOCOLATE

Some how this picture did not get posted in my last post. The family enjoying a Spanish tradition of churros and chocolate.

MAGNIFICENT MAY

May was a good month. Nothing really too exciting to report but a lot of good family time. The most significant thing that happened this month was that an earthquake occurred in Spain and the epicenter was about 30 miles from where we live in a city called Lorca. Of course we felt it, but since it is not very common, at least here in Cartagena, it took us a while to realize what was happening. Both Leo and I and the kids were on the couch when it felt like a huge semi-truck was passing by our house. At first we were kind of frozen but then Leo started looking for the pillars in our house for all of us to stand under. The earthquake was really quite short so we didn´t even have time to get under anything. When I told my mom the story and that Leo was looking for pillars she heard "pillows" and told the rest of my family that Leo was collecting pillows to put over our heads for protection. When we found out, we laughed of course but assured the people that we know that tables and door frames are a much better option than pillows.

The earthquake actually caused quite a bit of damage in the city of Lorca and some deaths. In fact some buildings have been condemned and almost all buildings have some sort of damage. Even the church in Lorca which is located on the first floor of an apartment building had some severe damage. Some members of the church can´t even enter their homes because they have so much structural damage. For serveral days thousands of people were sleeping in camp grounds set up by the army but without change of clothes or other essentials. If it weren´t for the supplies passed out by the Red Cross these people would have nothing.

After seeing all the news reports, it made me reflect and I realized that although we have been counseled over and over again how we should be prepared for all sorts of emergencies, in our case we were not prepared for anything. So this month I have prepared our emergency backpacks and we have had a Family Home Evening explaining to the kids what they should do in case of an emergency. Especially Charlie was a little scared, but I explained to him that as long as we are prepared we do not need to fear; God will protect us but we must do our part.

This month has been a very busy month for Leo at work, especially the last two weeks of May working 11 to 12 hours a day. As a result I have had lots of bonding time with the kids. Good thing Grandma Yolanda is around to lend a hand. Seriously if it weren´t for Grandma I don´t know if Avery would sleep much. Avery loves to fall asleep in her grandma´s arms.

Avery is still growing very fast. At her 5 month check up she weighed just over 20 pounds. She is off the charts in both weight and height. Avery was introduced to cereal this month as well as orange juice and she loves both. If it were up to her, I think she would eat the food right off our plates.

Clark continues to increase his vocabulary and we continue to work on his numbers and colors and he continues to play with all his balls. Just recently I asked him to open the door and call the elevator so he opened the door and stepped outside and started yelling "elevator" "elevator".

This month Charlie went on a field trip with his class to a farm school. He had lots of fun. Charlie is becoming quite the dancer and music fan. One of his favorite singers these days is Justin Beiber. In fact, recently I taught Charlie that when someone has an eyelash fall out they can put it on their finger and someone else presses their finger against yours and then they both make a wish and the person left with the eyelash will have their wish come true. I forgot to mention that you should only wish in your head so the first time we made a wish Charlie wished that he could be Justin Beiber. Look out Selena Gomez, here comes Charlie.

In Spain, Mother´s day is the first Sunday so once again I got to feel special 2 weeks in a row. Leo and the boys took Yolanda and I to lunch on Saturday and then made breakfast for us on Sunday. Leo also took me to buy a pair of new shoes on Saturday and Charlie had decorated a picture frame for me in school. It was a great Mother´s day.

The boys on our lunch date for Mother´s day. Aren´t they cute. The boys love dressing like their daddy.

Very proud big brother Charlie with his sis. P.S. You can see Avery´s sunburn on her leg. She is almost "albino" like her mother so we will have to be more careful with her in the sun.

Avery at 5 months.

One afternoon we decided to eat some typical Spanish food. One of our favorites: Churros and Chocolate. Yum, Yum.

Charlie going to school on field trip day.

Avery´s first bike ride.

There are at least 6 scooters/motorcycles/cars in our house which can make for some heavy traffic in such small quarters.