Still alive in Central America

So it's been a very long time since we've posted on the blog.  I think the last time was in May.  This is mostly due to the fact that our camera was stolen and we haven't had photos to add.  Well we finally got a new camera so I figured I'd throw a few photos up.  Truth is there's nothing too new going on down here, but we're safe and happy and enjoying the 85 degree November weather.

Traci and I have been so happy to see our kids become such good friends.  They've all done a good  job of making friends down here.  But at the end of the day their best friends are each other.  Their friendship and our love for movies makes this is a common sight at our house.  

So Simon now sleeps in a big boy bed which is great.  However,  he doesn't ever want to go to bed.  For the last couple of months our nightly ritual has been to put him down to sleep and then we wait about two minutes when he appears again at our door.  He does so very quietly and sneaks his way back into our room.  He doesn't think we see him and he slowly makes his way to either a corner of the room or under our bed.  If he suspects that we see him he will cover his eyes because doing so clearly makes him invisible.  The above photo is of Simon about to begin one of his stealthy entrances into our room. We took video of it the other night but for some reason I can't upload it here so I put it on youtube, here's the link.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3lQPgIXQQs&feature=youtu.be

The two babies of the house crashing for the night.

A couple of weeks ago we found a great little hike close by our house.   We hiked right through some low level clouds.  It was really cool and a little spooky.  These photos also show Abe's broken arm.  He had the cast for a month, just got it removed.  It was a tough month for a kid that never stops moving, plays football every moment he gets, does training drills in his bedroom, etc.  

Up on top of the mountain.

We found a large overhang that was kind of like a cave.  Abe and Mag decided to do some thinking.

Traci kept with tradition by making the kids costumes for Halloween.  Her annual  sewing fest ended just in time for the kids to have their costumes.  I'm guessing that only the kids/teenagers of the family will be able to make sense of this.  The kids decided to be Fin, Jake, and B-mo from a cartoon called Adventure Time.  I've never seen it but apparently it's wonderful.  Maggie won best costume at her 1st grade Halloween parade.

Every year the Marines throw a fancy black-tie ball.  It becomes a pretty big deal with women spending hundreds of dollars on fancy ball gowns.  I definitely married the right woman.  Not only was she stunning but she also paid $10 for fabric and then sewed her own dress.  She looked amazing and everyone at the party was shocked when they learned she made the dress. 

We are so proud of Viv.  In the last few months she has completely come out of her shell.  She has been outgoing and has found ways to be social and interact with lots of kids her age.  Without any push from us she joined the school choir.  Here she is in the choir's first performance.  They sang a couple of great songs at a school carnival.  Viv says she was really scared but it didn't show and she rocked it.  She says next stop is the drama club.

On election day Abe woke up with a cough that was bad enough to keep him home from school.  As I left for work I found him on the couch watching CNN and making graphs to chart the election throughout the day.  He watched all day long and absorbed all the analysis and predictions.  By the end of the day it was time for him to go to sleep.  He was a complete basket case.  12 straight hours of election coverage will do that to a person.  Finally he had had enough.  He made his own ballot which I think sums up how everyone was feeling at the end of an election campaign which lasted way too long.  This is a photo of the ballot.  For those who don't know "White IV" is the running back for the Utah Utes.   I think he showed his wisdom by voting for the person who he's seen perform but never heard speak.