Wednesday, April 11, 2012

our new house



We are in the process of building a new home in Grantsville. This is whats gotten done so far. The house near us from start to finish took 7 weeks so hopefully we will be in the house in the end of May.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Cabin in April



Hello all! It's Carrie masquerading as Nikkie again. I was getting my car serviced in Orem yesterday and it was such a nice day that I thought I would drive up to Brickerhaven and make sure things were okay at the cabin. I thought I would post some pictures for those of you not able to do so. This really is the best place in the world!
It seems dark and dreary but give it one month and Stewart Falls will be gorgeous once again!

This was just pretty. I almost dropped my iPhone in this lovely stream so I'm posting the picture to spite my phone.

What's a trip to the cabin without a stop at the playground...

...And the fishing pond!

Kim, I added this picture for your boys. This is what the beavers have done. You can show Eliot and Ben real beaver dams. Not that theirs aren't every bit as creative.

I have seriously always hated this sign. It should say "Slow! Children Playing" Otherwise it just seems mean.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Crime, Puzzles, and Good Friday

So this past week we were finally victims of a crime.  We've been pretty lucky and haven't had any problems up until now.  Last Saturday we decided to take a new family zip-lining.  When we got to the zip-lining place I locked the car doors.  Shortly after we arrived Maggie asked me if I could unlock the car so she could get her stuffed animal out.  We were in a "secure" parking lot so I used the remote on the key to unlock the door from a distance and told Maggie to go ahead and get it.  The car was unlocked for all of 2 minutes.  In that short time, and while the car was within view, someone snuck in and stole our camera.  Luckily we had recently removed the photos so we didn't lose too many.  So, the photos that I'm posting tonight are from my cell phone.  I have a Blackberry, which I am convinced is the worst brand of phone available and the camera is just as bad as the rest of Blackberry functions so some of these aren't too clear.  Anyway here's a few photos.



Traci zipping through the jungle.


We've been living in the "Valley of the Hammocks" now for 8 months and just finally got around to buying a couple of hammocks.  The kids have made up for lost time.  I think there has been someone in a hammock around the clock for the last two weeks.  As a sidenote, San Salvador is called "Valley of the Hammocks" not because of the hammocks but because of the weekly earthquakes.  They're pretty small.  In a 12 hour period a while back there were seven earthquakes.  Here's hoping they stay small.
Last night we went to Pizza Hut.  With the kid's menu came a little puzzle.  Maggie started doing it with her mom.  After a few seconds Maggie turned to Traci and said, "Mom, I really miss Grandma, she always does puzzles with me."
It broke our hearts a little.  Grandma and Maggie have a special puzzle bond that Maggie has obviously not forgotten.
So it's Good Friday.  The entire country shut down for the festivities and rituals.  Tonight we went to one of the many neighborhoods around the country where a large procession takes place every Good Friday.  Prior to the procession the residents create beautiful larger than life religious scenes on the streets.  These scenes are called "carpets" and they are made from colored salt, sand, and saw dust.  Photos don't do them justice.  The sad thing is that a couple of hours after their completion they were trampled by the procession.  But here are a few photos I took before they were completed.
I was impressed by how members of the community are able to come out and work so well together to make these artworks. 
Here's a little photo that I like to call "Traci and the kids under hanging Judas".  I found it especially enlightening that Judas was wearing jeans and tennis shoes the night he died.