Almost Heaven

We're back home after a quick but fun trip to see the family in West Virginia.  Why, you ask?  Because...

He’s back!  Those two years went by very, very quickly.  We’re glad to have Aaron home and in one piece (he survived the earthquake in Chile, the tower of Q-tips he made the day before did not).  And the best part?  He was an awesome missionary.  His homecoming talk made me all teary (but not as much as Dad Blood).  Welcome home, Aaronhead!

As always, we had a fabulous time with the Bloods.  Seth was in heaven--a 5 gallon bucket of cars + Uncle Jakey to play with (wherever Jacob was in the house, Seth was) + cousin Rebekah to run around with.  He really is the happiest little guy while we're there.  Except he has a hard time falling asleep because he's so excited about all the fun things to do. 

Seth, Rebekah (drinking Seth's milk) and James

Jon kept himself busy around the house: cleaning out the entire fridge and freezer (with the help of Dad, Joanna & James), replacing the mailbox that James tried to run over with the car, and setting up hotel rooms for the wedding next month.  Somehow he still found the time to pester his siblings and complain about losing while playing Mario Kart on the Wii.

I, on the other hand, kept myself busy trying to remember how to speak Spanish.  Claudia was a very patient listener--I read, listen and write much better than I speak.  But it was fun to get some practice!  We managed to figure out wedding cakes and hairstyles using our Spanglish!  Luckily I can understand her Spanish really well.  Apparently Peruvian Spanish is the easiest for non-native speakers to understand.  Thank heaven!

Scott was a very gracious teacher (as he should be, considering that was what he did for a living until Rebekah was born).  He brought me a Spanish reader and sat on the couch for a couple of hours correcting my pronunciation and answering my questions (and Jacob's, too).  Probably not how he would have preferred to spend vacation time, but I really, really appreciated the help.  Thanks, Scott!

By Sunday evening, I found myself translating everything I heard into Spanish.  I could even understand 90% of the conversations between Stephen, Claudia, Aaron & Scott.  I told Claudia I'm going to have to call her up on Skype--then she can practice her English and I can practice my Spanish. 

I didn't get as many pictures as I meant to.  I forgot the camera when we went to the wave pool, brought the camera but forgot to use it at the ward BBQ, and forgot to get a picture of Seth and Claudia.  He LOVES her.  If he wasn't with Jacob, he was with Claudia.  If he got hurt, he went to Claudia.  She's fantastic with him.  And I forgot to get a picture...

But I did get the boys to pose for pictures for our 'family pictures' wall (we're putting pictures up along our basement stairwell so Seth can see all his relatives and learn their names).

James and Rebekah

James & Aaron

Timmy & Rebekah

(Seth wouldn't cooperate for pictures, so we got lots of pictures of Rebekah)

Mom & Dad Blood--thank you SO much for letting us crash at your house (again).  Thank you for finding me pictures of you and your parents for our family picture wall, and for trusting me to take them home because we couldn't find a working scanner.  Dad, thank you for the tour of the garden and for the amazing tomatoes and corn.  Maybe next year we can visit in June when everything is starting to peak.  We appreciate everything you do for us!

Oh, and I ran another 5K.  My second in two months.  Sure, I was the last of the runners to finish (they had a walking group, too) but I was still proud of myself.  I ran 2/3 of the distance, so about 2 miles.  And I haven't ran since my last race.  Not bad for a pregnant asthmatic lady, huh?

PS--February 11th, 2011.  Jon thinks it's a girl.

How to Hide a Pregnancy for 15 Weeks (plus belly pictures!)