The Beverly Hillbillies go abroad!!

Sweet little faces...

2011-01-18T17:52:00.005-01:00

????Chucky Cheese????

2011-01-18T17:45:00.004-01:00

This is the closest thing that we have to a Chucky Cheese here. The food is great and Grady loves it. Hey...it's better than nothing!

Superhero

2011-01-13T10:19:00.007-01:00

Grady by day.... Ironman by...well it's still daytime, but you get the point.... The koozies on his hands were his idea. Apparently, they help him kill robots! Who knew?? This scary looking superhero also has a softer side as well. He has taken over Greenlee's glowworm doll and has made it his baby. He puts it in his backpack and takes it wherever we go, rocks it to sleep, and then sleeps with it at nighttime.

Someone is about to start crawling!!!

2011-01-13T09:52:00.010-01:00

Yes, Greenlee is trying to crawl! What happened to my little baby?? This week she has been getting up on her knees and rocking back and forth. It looks like she could take off at any moment. She gets so excited when she is doing it too. I'm not too sure that I'm ready for two mobile kiddies, but ready or not here she comes! How do I get these things move?

Jammin' on the one

2011-01-13T09:30:00.006-01:00

Grady got this for Christmas and he loves it. He'll sit out in the garage and lay down some tracks and then put it on his ipod, so he can listen to it later, LOL. We might have a little DJ on our hands. THEN... At least once a week he will have a jam session with Scott. This week on the jam list...Undo It by Carrie Underwood. That is his favorite song right now.

Grady's 3!!!!

2010-12-22T14:05:00.023-01:00

I can't believe it...Grady is three! It seems like he has always been in our lives. He is one of the funniest, smartest, sweetest, most loving little boys that I've ever seen, and he is by far the most talkative kid ever! He is a big entertainer which he get from his Papa. He makes us laugh daily, yet at the same time makes us crazy daily. He is an awesome big brother! He loves to take care of Greenlee and tells me that she is his baby. We are so blessed to have him in our lives and he is(as well as his sister) one of the best decision that Scott and I have ever made. We had no idea how empty our lives were without this little guy. **************************************************************************** ***************************************************************************** Anyways...we had a bounce house birthday party for him. He loves bounce houses, so it was a hit. He bounced for about two hours straight only taking a break to blow out his candles and to eat the icing off his piece of cake. He had a good time and we were all ready for bed that night. About to open presents from everyone back home. Ready to get this show on the road. I think Grady has a little crush on Amber. Just realizing that he has more presents to open now that the bounce houses are gone and the party is over.

Jumped herself to sleep

2010-12-22T13:03:00.005-01:00

Bedtime

2010-12-05T22:49:00.006-01:00

Grady is obsessed with his Texas Ranger hat. He even wants to wear it to bed and this is how he usually ends up.

I'm back to blogging!

2010-12-03T10:57:00.021-01:00

Okay, I'm really far behind on blogging, so I think what I'm gonna do is just post a bunch of pictures over the past several months. Not much has been going on with us, just our normal day to day type stuff. Everyone is happy and healthy, and amen to the happy part! Greenlee went through a phase for about a month of being unhappy ALL the time. I was about to lose my marbles when she started getting better. I think she knew that mommy was about to go crazy. Grady is an awesome big brother. He loves her so much and always wants her around. He can be a little rough with her, but not really in a bad way. He is always kissing and hugging on her and is surprisingly patient with her. Greenlee is 5 months old now and is in the 94% for weight, is rolling over, grabbing for things, laughing and smiling, 'talking', and has her first tooth coming in on the bottom. Grady has informed me (in a very excited way) that Greenlee can speak spanish and has made the observation that she does not have a 'weenie' and likes to discuss it. He can be extremely funny at times and he knows it. I'm pretty sure he gets his showmanship from his Papa. We get at least one good laugh a day from that kid. Greenlee loves her brother and is a major daddy's girl. If Grady can't make her happy, her Daddy certainly can. She can just see him or hear his voice and she is all smiles. It is so cute! Scott has the magic touch with her. She falls right to sleep when she gets all snuggled up with him. I'm convinced that he is the best daddy in the world! Overall, we are doing wonderful (wonderfully tired most of the time though) and are so thankful for our happy and healthy kiddos. Now I'll recap the past 5 months with a ton of pictures.

Continued

2010-12-03T09:45:00.024-01:00

Family Belly Pics

2010-05-25T16:49:00.006Z

We had pictures taken after we got back from our vacation. It was really windy the day we took them, but we didn't have that many options. I thought I was going to be leaving that upcoming weekend (couldn't get on a flight) and every other day of the week was calling for rain. We were pleased with how they came out though.

Belly/Family Pics

The Hillbillies do Paris!!

2010-05-23T15:27:00.003Z

We had the best time ever in Paris! We got to spend one fabulous yet exhausting week there. Grady did great for as much stuff as we did. We've got the travel bug now and are already trying to decide where to go next.

Paris baby!

Pukin' in Paris!

2010-05-22T17:33:00.014Z

One thing that I was really looking forward to in Paris was taking an Illumination Bus Tour. Just as it sounds, it is a tour of the city at night on one of those double decker buses. I've heard that Paris is amazingly beautiful all lit up at night. So we spent the whole evening before finding the place to make reservations for the tour. It didn't start until 10pm and was going to be about 90 minutes long, so we prepared that day by making sure that Grady had a good nap. Well, we got going and about 15 minutes into the tour Grady throws up everywhere and a whole lot of it. Of course people scatter, they stop the bus for us to attempt to "clean" it up, and then say in a sweet french accent, "You get off bus now, oui(wee)?". We get off and Grady is pantless, shoeless, and has Scott's jacket wrapped around him. It's about fifty degrees, Scott and I only have t-shirts on, and I'm covered in puke from my pants to my socks and shoes. As the bus from our recently began tour burns off leaving us in a dust cloud of European diesel exhaust, and as we take our first look around to see where in the crap we are, my son laughs and yells "Paris baby!". So needless to say he felt a lot better. Scott and I could do nothing but laugh as we thought about those poor suckers on that bus that had to spend another hour and fifteen minutes smelling some American kid's puked up Happy Meal (good measure of how trashy we are for going all the way to Paris for Mcdonalds). We finished cleaning ourselves up on the side of the street and headed for the subway to get home. All in all, a good night with good memories. I guess Scott will have to take me back so I can get my Illumination Tour!

We saw the Pope!

2010-05-22T17:24:00.011Z

On our way back home, we had a couple of days of canceled flights in Lisbon due to the ash cloud. We were aware that the Pope was in town, but didn't know exactly where he would be. Anyways, we had just woken up from a much needed afternoon nap and Scott turned on the TV. There was lots of news coverage about the Pope and he was about to get in his Pope-mobile. Then it showed a shot of the street he was going to be going down. Scott looked at me and said, "Hey, I think that is our bus stop!" which was only a block away from our hotel. So we put our shoes on, ran down the street, and sure enough the streets were lined with people waiting on the Pope to drive by. Within two minutes of being there here he came in his little glass car. Pretty cool that we got to see him! We can now check that off of our list of things to do (not that it was really ever on it).

Paris baby!

2010-05-18T09:57:00.004Z

Here is just a glimpse of our trip. We have tons of pictures to go through and it is going to take me forever. We had a blast! I'll try to get more up soon.

Big Belly!

2010-04-27T22:26:00.004Z

I'm more than 30 weeks now! Time is flying and I feel like April never happened. Both the baby and I are doing great and I am (for sure) coming back to Texas to have the baby. We were at first going to have the baby in England, but after much thought we decided that going back home would be best for Grady. I have already found a doctor and have my first appointment scheduled. Grady and I will be coming home at the end of May which is only about 4 weeks away! I'm super excited to be coming back home 1) to see everybody, but 2) because that means that I am so close to finding out what this baby is!!! Will it be a boy OR will it be a girl??? I DON'T KNOW!!!! Actually looking forward to labor...so weird!

Finally SOME pretty weather!

2010-04-27T22:11:00.006Z

It has been raining so much and has been really windy this winter! According to the locals, this is the worst winter that they have had in about 8-10 years...yeah, we are really lucky I guess. Anyways, we are finally starting to have some nice days here and there. Grady has been asking (a lot) if we can go see the big water, so we went over to Porto Martines to play and eat dinner one night. It was extremely nice to get out and enjoy the beautiful surroundings again.

Too cool for school

2010-04-27T21:58:00.005Z

Grady found these glasses in some baby boxes that I was going through the other day and he thinks they're so cool. He also loves to have a koozie on his sippy cup these days. Like I said "Too cool for school!"

It keeps growing and growing....

2010-03-24T16:00:00.006-01:00

I'm almost 26 weeks now!! I'm feeling good most of the time, but I'm still having my sick days every couple of weeks. Some days I feel giant pregnant and can't imagine being like this for 14 more weeks and other days I forget that I'm pregnant until the belly gets in the way. Grady is so cute! He loves to kiss the baby and tells the baby that he loves it all the time! He told me to sit down so he could kiss the baby.

Daddy's boy

2010-03-24T15:54:00.005-01:00

Ewww...Worms!

2010-03-24T15:08:00.015-01:00

The other day Scott was spraying off the porch and after a little while worms started attacking the driveway. It was Grady's first encounter with worms and he thought they were just as gross as I did. Well Scott made him hold some and he quickly got over his fears. Ewwww!

Happy Birthday to...well, nobody!

2010-03-24T14:52:00.008-01:00

Grady has been obsessed with birthday cake ever since his little friend, Chloe's birthday party. He regularly will ask for birthday cake, so Scott promised him that he would get him a cake. So we went to the grocery store and this is the cake that Grady picked. Scott's excuse for being such a sucker is that 'well the boy is right...why does it have to be someone's birthday in order to have birthday cake?' Grady was so excited and I think Scott was just as excited about it. Happy Birthday...nobody!

First trip to the Emergency Room :(

2010-03-24T14:03:00.015-01:00

About 1 1/2 weeks ago we had to make our first trip to the emergency room. I was about to get Grady out of the bath when he slipped and busted his eyebrow wide open. He only cried for about 5 minutes until he saw his own blood on my shoulder and thought that I had a boo-boo. At that point he was more concerned about me than himself. We jumped in the car to head over to the only hospital on the island. It is nothing like what we have in America. It is an older building with no air, so all the windows are open and it isn't anywhere near as clean as our hospitals. So, I'm feeling pretty bad at this point that I am the cause for us being there. Everything went surprisingly smooth though. We met a liaison and she took care of everything. We were in and out in about 45 minutes. Grady was such a big boy! We laid him down on the table for the doctor and nurses to clean it up and he just put his hands behind his head and crossed his feet. They were opening it up and cleaning it out and he never flinched. Thank goodness they don't use stitches that much anymore, so he had to get it glued back together. When they got through he set up and said 'thank you'...so sweet! Here is a picture of my baby's perfect little face the day before and then some after pictures. Right when we got home from the hospital. Judo chop!

Babies, More Babies, and Weddings!!

2010-03-23T14:57:00.013-01:00

While I was back home I got see all of my besties! We had a great time and lots of laughs like always. All of our lives just keep getting better and better. I got to see Brook and Karlie (or little Mikey as I like to say), a 'due any day Sarah', and a newly engaged Stephanie! I was so excited because I thought that I was going to see a pregnant Sarah and then an unpregnant Sarah and Miss Lainey. Well, Lainey was being stubborn and I unfortunately had to fly back home a few days before she decided to arrive. She is gorgeous and has a full head of dark hair! Karlie looks exactly like her daddy!! I don't know if any baby has looked more like one of their parents than she does. She is an absolute doll and a perfect little baby! Stephanie is planning her wedding and has a beautiful ring! It was so much fun getting together with all of them and I miss them so much. Giving Lainey a pep talk! Past my due date and yes...I'm still pregnant! Hi, my name is Karlie, but you can call me little Mikey!

Good times back in Texas

2010-03-23T14:05:00.020-01:00

Scott had to do some training in San Antonio for couple of weeks, so Grady and I decided to go back home as well. It was great to see everyone, but like always it was a busy trip. We spent part of our time in San Antonio with Scott and the other part in Princeton. I think Scott really needed this trip because he got to see some familiar faces. Scott's whole family including his Uncle Terry and Mawmaw came down to spend the weekend with him. I think they were just as excited to see him as well. Mawmaw who is 82 years old actually flew down!! We enjoyed the River Walk, saw the biggest pizza I have ever seen before (Big Lou's - 42 inch pizza!), saw some friends (The Hursts), and just enjoyed the conveniences of America. Back in Princeton, Grady and I just hung out with the family. He got lots of play time with his cousins! They are all so cute and get along so well. The whole trip didn't go without its inconveniences though. A few days after we got home Grady got an ear infection, I got sick down in San Antonio and was hotel bound for a couple of days, and we got into not only one, but two fender benders in our car! So needless to say, we had a great time, but it was nice to get back to our home.

Sonogram!

2010-02-18T13:43:00.006-01:00

Today I had my 2nd and final sonogram. We were really excited to get to see the baby again, but sad that this is the last time until it arrives. I had an issue a few weeks ago that led the doctor to believe that I might have a low-lying placenta. She said that this would be diagnosed with the sonogram. Well, everything turned out to be perfect! We aren't going to find out the sex of the baby and that was really hard for me today. I was hoping that we would accidentally see, but we didn't. I actually begged Scott to change his mind because I wanted to know. Obviously he didn't give in because we still don't know. I would post some pictures that we got today, but there aren't any good ones. The baby was face down and wouldn't move, so we got a picture of a foot, a thumb, and the spine. We unfortunately didn't get to see it's face :( Scott still says it's a "woman" because it wasn't COOPERATING with letting us get any good shots of it. He thinks he's so funny.

Halfway there!

2010-02-16T19:46:00.001-01:00

I'm a little over 20 weeks pregnant now! It is going by so fast. I'm feeling good these days and as you can see starting to get a big belly. I can feel the baby kicking all throughout the day now and Scott can even feel it sometimes. We are getting more excited about meeting the baby everyday!

Big boy undies!!!

2010-02-16T09:53:00.009-01:00

We decided to try to get Grady potty trained in preparation for the new baby. He didn't quite catch on as fast as I thought he was going to but he did love his big boy underwear! It took a good week for him to really grasp the concept. He has it figured out for the most part now, but he still has a few accidents here and there. We heard using a cheerio in the toilet as a sort of target was a good trick. We were out of cheerios but we had plenty of goldfish crackers. Now he loves to go pee-pee on the goldfish and make it swim away. I think the goldfish turned out to be the trick. I'm glad he caught on when he did because I was about to go crazy. I think a dog might be easier to potty train than a kid...at least you can put a dog outside for awhile.

Mommy's cooking assistant

2010-02-16T09:22:00.027-01:00

The day of the Superbowl Grady and I spent it in the kitchen making snacks. He helped me make the brownies and cheese dip. He licked the brownie bowl clean and then was ready to follow it up with some cheese dip. He had a blast, but was a mess afterwords. He went straight from the counter to the bath! He didn't get to watch the game with us though. The game didn't start until about 10:30 or 11:00 our time. It was a long night, but a good game.

Cowboys Fan

2010-02-16T09:01:00.009-01:00

Scott had to go to Atlanta for a conference back in January. He had a good time in the states and I think he ate himself sick. I talked to him the first day about 1:00 and he had already eaten McDonalds, Dairy Queen, and Chick-fil-a! The whole week he was there was pretty much based around food. He did however take a break from eating long enough to pick us up some presents. He got Grady a Cowboys jersey. This was of course right before the play-off game. Grady actually liked what Scott had gotten him and when game day came he was dressed and ready. Unfortunately, we didn't get the outcome that we were hoping for. He did look cute though!!

Grady's first wedding appearance!

2010-02-15T20:40:00.010-01:00

Blair's wedding

While we were back home in December Scott's cousin ,Blair, got married and Grady and his twin cousins, Addison and Ainsley, got to be in the wedding. They all did a lot better than I thought that they would. They made it all the way down the isle without screaming or crying! All three of them looked so cute in their fancy little outfits! It was a beautiful wedding and Blair looked gorgeous! I was so happy that Grady and I were able to be there, but sad that Scott couldn't. Scott was upset knowing that he was missing out on seeing all of his family and Grady's big debut. We all tried to take plenty of pictures and video for him. The wedding did have a special surprise guest though...Elvis! When I found out that Elvis was there I couldn't believe that this was the one wedding that Scott was missing. I think Grady jammed to Elvis enough for everyone else and Scott. If Scott would've been there it would have been a dance off between him and his son. We really had a good time and wish Blair and Marshall the best! Congrats guys!!

Mt. Brasil

2010-01-25T18:13:00.002-01:00

Mt. Brasil

A few months ago we spent the day at Mt Brasil. Mt. Brasil is small mountain along the coast near the town of Angra. Angra is on the southern border of the island. The Azores, specifically Terceira, were pretty important during the time of the discovery and exploration of the Americas when explorers were making multiple trips back and forth between Europe. They used the islands as a port for rest and resupplying. Many battles took place between invading Spanish and later during the civil war. Mt. Brasil was used during theses times as a look-out for approaching fleets and also by whalers. The whalers would sit a look-out up on the island and use fire signals to signal to the whaling ships in the port when groups of whales were passing. I'm not real sure about exactly when the guns were placed but we think it was in the late 1930's to early 1940's by a Portuguese dictator and then maintained by the US/British. These things were huge-as you can tell. You can see some of the original fortification built by the Spanish up on the mountain. It was built there to protect the Spanish from the local Portuguese they were governing who obviously didn't wan them there.

Doctors appointment

2010-01-18T20:14:00.007-01:00

Last week I finally got in to see the doctor. Due to our traveling and her traveling over the holidays this was the soonest appointment that I could get. I was 15 weeks and nervous. I haven't felt very good with this baby and hadn't gained any weight. In fact, I was losing weight. Normally, this wouldn't bother me, but I was 15 weeks pregnant and wasn't feeling the baby move. After my exam she said that the baby was doing great, but that she really wanted me to try to eat more. She said I should be gaining about a 1 pound a week by this point. Scott is pretty freaked out that a doctor had to tell me to eat more. He is completely not use to me not wanting to eat. I'm 16 weeks along today and have felt much better for the past few days. I'm hoping that the feeling good sticks around this time. I have another appointment in a couple of weeks just to get caught back up. At this appointment we will schedule my next ultrasound. I'm really excited and the closer it gets I'm more tempted to find out what the baby is.

Christmas

2010-01-18T18:47:00.004-01:00

Christmas was pretty low-key for us this year. We really missed our families, but enjoyed our quiet family time. I made a Christmas Eve dinner that surprisingly turned out to be pretty good. I spent all day cooking. This would have been a lot more fun for me if I would have felt okay. This new little one that is growing inside me had me close to passing out all day. Scott was making fun of me because at any given time he would come in the kitchen and I might have been laying in the floor. Grady had lots of fun and now realizes that boxes from the post office usually means presents!

Christmas

I'm 2!!!

2010-01-18T18:25:00.005-01:00

We had a small birthday party for Grady before we left to come back home. All the kids had a good time playing together and it was really good to see everyone one last time before heading back. Daddy unfortunately was not there for it, but we did Skype him during the party. He enjoyed seeing everyone and was able to take part in the festivities from across the ocean. Here are some pictures with all of the cute kiddos.

Grady's 2nd Birthday

Cheese Factory

2010-01-12T22:20:00.003-01:00

Back in October we went to the cheese factory on the other side of the island. We didn't expect it to be that nice, but it surprisingly was. As we pulled up there were two men pumping fresh milk into containers to be made into cheese. It's not only a factory, but more like a cheese/wine bar. They had plenty of local wines to choose from along with the many different cheeses. Both were very tasty! It is pretty close to the water, so we sat out on the patio to enjoy the nice weather and view.

Cheese Factory

We're pregnant!

2010-01-12T21:56:00.005-01:00

Okay, I'm pretty sure that everyone already knows, but just in case...we are having another baby!! My due date is July 6th and I don't think we are going to find out what the baby is this time. Scott didn't want to know with Grady, but there was no way that I could wait. I have a strong feeling that it is another boy and Scott/Grady seem to think that it is a girl. Grady will pat my belly and say 'sister'. I guess we will find out soon enough. I wanted to post these Halloween pictures of Grady sooner, but I couldn't b/c it has a 'big brother' shirt in the background. It is the end of the night before bed and Grady is eating a sucker and watching football.

Finally fixed

2010-01-11T15:06:00.002-01:00

Hey folks, my laptop is finally fixed! So, I will be slowly trying to catch back up this week while Scott is out of town.

BOO!

2009-11-03T13:59:00.017-01:00

Halloween was a hit in our house this year. We started it off earlier in the week at a Halloween party for Grady's playgroup. I had asked my mom a few weeks ago if she could send Grady a costume. This was a lot faster and easier for me rather than trying to find a store that would ship it over here. Well leave it up to Nanny to send him 3 different costumes...Spiderman, Buzz Lightyear, and Nemo. Anyways, so for the playgroup party he was Buzz Lightyear. He wasn't sure why he was dressed up like that until he saw the other kids dressed up too. He ate way too much candy and had a lot of fun. A few days later we had the Fall Festival on base and Grady went as Nemo. They had lots of games, food, dancers, and a costume contest. I'm proud to announce that Grady was one of the finalists of about 30 or so kids. Sadly he didn't win though :( Finally the next day was Halloween. We went trick or treating in our neighbor and there were tons of kids out. Grady had a blast and was so cute walking up to the houses with his little Nemo fin bouncing. As much fun as he had trick or treating, I think he had more fun when we got back to the house to hand out candy to other kids. He would answer the door (still dressed as Nemo) and yell 'HI' to all the kids and then yell 'BYE' about a thousand times as they were leaving. He loved his costume so much that it didn't come off until he had to get in the bath. And now we just put it on during the day to be cool. Thanks mom, he really, really loves the Nemo outfit! Look how excited he was to see all the other little kids when we walked out of the house! So funny.

Bounce House Birthday Party

2009-10-05T07:19:00.004Z

Bounce House Party

Saturday we went to a bounce house birthday party. They had two bounce houses and a face painter there. Grady loved the bounce houses and got a frog painted on his arm. All the kids were worn out and sweaty by the time it was over. We were really surprised because Grady was doing whatever the bigger kids were doing. He could shimmy up the ladder to go down the slide all by himself...such a big boy!

Another bull fight

2009-09-29T07:06:00.004Z

On Sunday we went to a bull fight in Biscoitos. It was the biggest fight of the year and everyone on the island had to have been there. It was so crowded! We had a great time. Well, Grady got cranky into the second bull, so we gave him a Three Musketeers bar to buy us a little bit of time. He, of course, loved it and it worked like a charm.

Bull Fight in Biscoitos

Italian Food!!!

2009-09-29T00:20:00.004Z

A few weeks ago we went over to Porto Martines. This is the village with the most Americans. So far it is our second favorite place on the island next to Biscoitos. There is a board walk, lots of swimming wholes, several restaurants, and a coffee shop. Buzius is popular little Italian food restaurant that is really good.

Terceira 2

So Creepy

2009-09-28T23:20:00.004Z

A few weekends ago we walked down to the cliffs by our house. We had been told that there were some stairs that would take us down to the water, but we couldn't find them. Oh well, maybe we'll find them next time. It was really creepy standing out there by those cliffs without a rail or anything to keep you from falling. We got a few pictures near the edge, but for the most part kept our distance. Grady's poor little feet hardly touched the ground because I was so scared.

Terceira 3

Picnic

2009-09-27T23:23:00.002Z

On Saturday we went on a picnic to Duck Lake. It was one of the many stops on our island tour. The only problem was that we didn't remember how to get there. So, we figured that the island isn't that big and that we would eventually find it. Well, we did! We had a great time and thank goodness Grady was worn out and ready for bed when we got home.

Terceira 4

"Sansie can't hear"

2009-09-27T22:52:00.002Z

So, for those of you who know and love the Sansie, you know she is extremely technologically challenged. There has been a small learning curve for everyone in the family to become more computer savvy since we have moved away. This has been a huge hurdle for the Sansie. Here is a preview...enjoy(shanna ruth) p.s. T is making me put that she had nothing to do with it Sansie-and that's true.

Hooray!!! We finally got our stuff!

2009-09-26T22:52:00.008Z

After a month and a half of waiting patiently on our stuff...it finally got here! My kid has WAY too many toys!

Hide-n-Seek

2009-09-20T12:37:00.010Z

Grady has discovered hide-n-seek and "BOO". He for the most part gets Boo, but not really hide-n-seek. When he hides, and I am looking for him calling his name, he answers, "What?". His favorite hiding spot is under the kitchen counter. I guess he'll eventually catch on one day.

New wheels

2009-09-19T20:41:00.012Z

Grady's newest obsession is bikes. Every time we go outside it seems like there are kids riding bikes everywhere. He cries every single time because I won't let him steal that kid's bike. All I hear is BI, BI, BIII!!! So we decided for our own sanity to order him his own little bike. He absolutely loves it and we go to the park to ride it everyday. He's a little dare devil and likes to go down all the hills.

Bull Fight

2009-09-06T22:31:00.006Z

Bull Fight

We finally made it to a bull fight and it was awesome. They basically wall off the sides of the streets in town and let a bull go. A rope is tied around its neck to keep it in a certain area and then idiots jump in the streets and try to make it MORE mad. At each fight they do four different bulls and each lasts about 30 to 45 minutes. It's pretty intense. As you will see in the videos below, when that bull comes at the wall you are behind...you need to get the heck out of there. One bull broke through a wall a few yards down from us!! Yeah, we had an escape route all figured out. We had a blast and Grady loved it even though he wasn't anywhere near the wall when that bull would come by. Scott held him most of the time back away from the wall near our escape route. The local people here live for these fights. There is a bull fight almost everyday of the week somewhere on the island. Oh and sorry about the first video...I wasn't sticking around to see if that bull could jump the wall! When the locals run, you run!!

Festival de Vinho

2009-09-06T15:34:00.005Z

Wine Festival

We went to the wine festival in Biscoitos on Saturday. They were going to have a parade from the winery down to the vineyards to pick the grapes. Well of course we were running late, so when we got there they were just leaving the winery. So we had to quickly find a parking spot and catch up with the parade. Little did we know that it was about a mile down to the vineyards. Saturday was probably the hottest and least windy day since we've been here. We were so hot and sweaty and Grady wanted to be carried. We finally made it to the vineyards picked some grapes and then we had to go back to the winery...uphill almost the whole way!! When we got back everyone took a much needed break while they unloaded the grapes. Then the part I had been waiting for...we got to stomp on the grapes. I was so excited! Grady did more standing in the grapes then stomping, but he had a good time. They then fed us dinner and we got to taste some wine, yum-yum. By the time we left we were exhausted, but not too exhausted for some sightseeing. We stopped at a lookout/hiking park and got to see some more amazing views. It was a great day and we still can't believe we are getting to do these things. We are so thankful for this opportunity we have been given.

Mr. Clean lives with me!

2009-09-03T18:30:00.004Z

Grady loves to clean! I can give him a wipe and it will keep him entertained for at least 30 minutes. He will clean anything in sight including: TVs, lamps, floors, phones, anything. It's so weird, yet really cute.

Just like his daddy

2009-09-03T18:09:00.004Z

As all of you know we still haven't gotten our shipment of stuff, so its been a bit of an adjustment for Mr. Grady. In the lodge he had a crib to sleep in, but here at the house we tried letting him sleep with us. Well he is a wild sleeper and that only lasted one night before he got kicked out. So we put a twin mattress on the floor in his room. He has done pretty good sleeping in a 'big boy' bed, but has problems staying on the mattress. He has rolled out of the bed 2 nights in a row so far. It's weird because he cries for about 15 seconds and goes right back to sleep...on the floor. For those of y'all who don't understand the title - a few months back Scott rolled out of bed! Yeah, I know...how dumb for a grown man to roll out of the bed! It was hilarious though!!

I love, love, love our new home!!!!

2009-09-03T17:15:00.006Z

Island Tour

Well, we took our tour and got to see a whole lot of the island. I found out where to shop, saw all of the best scenic points, found some great restaurants, and learned some history on our great island. Scott and I really enjoyed our time alone on this tour. That's not to say that we didn't call and check on Grady to an annoying level though. Grady had a great time playing with his new friend Layton and I think he really liked the nanny, Connie. Connie is a local lady that is a nanny for some people we know and she said she would keep Grady anytime. Scott and I both really liked her and we were very happy with this whole experience. Once again if you click on the picture above it will take you to an album. Make sure to read the captions at the bottom because some pictures you might not know what you are looking at. Enjoy!

Going on a tour.

2009-09-01T22:53:00.002Z

I'm so excited because tomorrow we are going on an island tour. Grady is not allowed to go though:( So one of Scott's co-workers has a nanny that comes to their house and Grady will be going there tomorrow. I'm not really sure how he is going to do, but I know that I'm not too excited about leaving him with strangers. They have a 10 month old and a 2 year old, so he will have someone his age to play with. Wish us all luck that tomorrow goes well.

Shopping in Praia

2009-08-31T21:52:00.006Z

Today Grady and I decided to get out of the house and go shopping. We went to downtown Praia to wonder around. We ended up down at the beach where we had some ice cream! On our way back to the car we stopped in at the Farmers Market to get some fruits and veggies. We also stopped by a garden to take some pictures. It was a good relaxing day, but Grady was tired and ready to go to bed by the end of the night. Hopefully he'll sleep in tomorrow!

Basket Man and new swimming hole!

2009-08-30T23:27:00.005Z

Okay, so back several months ago when we first found out that we were moving here people that had lived here kept telling me about the Basket Man. I was thinking probably exactly what y'all are thinking now, "What does that even mean and who is the Basket Man?". So as soon as I met some other ladies I asked. Well the Basket Man is a man who hand makes baskets. He grows all the materials himself and then will make whatever you want him to. So my mission this weekend was to find this man to see what it was all about. His house was a little difficult to find, but we found it. Turns out...it's pretty cool. He can make literally whatever you want. Plain ole baskets, furniture, anything. Anyways, I ordered a couple of baskets and we'll see how they turnout. I know this isn't that exciting to y'all, but that is one of the main things we heard about before moving here. Next, we finally went swimming! We went swimming at the bottom of the cliffs on Saturday and it was super cool. After our long hike down the stairs to get there, we were so excited to jump in the water! Well we had heard that the water here is cold and it is!!! It is really, really cold! The local people were splashing around in it like it was as warm as a hot tub. Scott and Grady got all the way in, but I just couldn't do it. It was so cold that some other little kids around us were crying, but Grady loved it and didn't what to get out. We had a great time and we were all worn out by the end of the day.

Yea....Pictures!!!

2009-08-29T09:15:00.003Z

Terceira 1

Ok, we finally got some pictures up for you guys. If you click on the picture above it should take you to an album. This place is gorgeous!! We have just been driving around and coming across all this stuff. Today, we are going to swim at the swimming hole we found. So stay tuned for the next post.

Our first video blog

2009-08-28T23:45:00.003Z

We came across this swimming hole today while we were exploring our new home

Amazing!

2009-08-25T18:12:00.003Z

Hey everyone! We are finally getting settled in over here. Well as much as we can right now. We have moved into our house, but we still haven't gotten any of our stuff. So all we have is what we brought with us on the airplane, which is pretty much just clothes. We aren't sure when we will be getting all of our stuff. We are just waiting and trying to be patient. We had to borrow some blankets and towels from our neighbors because everything was closed on Sunday and Monday. On the upside...our house is really nice and we have a view of the ocean from our front porch!! Who would have thought that we would be living somewhere so amazing! The ole Grand Am still hasn't arrived and probably won't be here for at least a month, so we had to buy an 'island bomb'. This car is hilarious! There will be pictures soon. It smells like someone has dumped gas in the seats, there is NO power steering, and the drivers side door doesn't always open. All and all it's a pretty good car, LOL. Seriously though, I have never been more thankful for an old beat up car. Grady has finally decided to give in to the new time change. OMG, it took almost this whole first week to get him adjusted. I've been exhausted, but I think we are all getting back to normal now. We are doing good and enjoying the amazing view. We miss all you guys and hope to share our experiences with y'all through this blog. We will hopelfully post pictures and video soon.