Allredology

"Now I know" and other noteworthy news

2012-02-14T11:27:00.007-04:30

Now I know why most of my friends have quit blogging- Pinterest. I am a late-comer to Pinterest, but when I found myself with some extra time on my hands (you'll find out why in a bit), I decided to take you up on your invites and see what all the hype is about. And now I can see, it really is a fun tool for organizing all the awesome ideas/pics/recipes/links that are floating around out there on the internet. And, as with many other forms of social media, it is another way to practice your self-restraint! Ha!

So I'm sure you are wondering why I have all this free time to sit down and peruse Pinterest when I have a garage full of boxes of things that I haven't seen in four years, unpacking/arranging my home, cleaning, selling some things, etc. Well, 3 days after moving in I had a little incident with a ladder. Actually, it was me and the ladder together that had a little incident with the tile floor. You don't want to know the details, or very many of the gruesome details of the surgery I will be having in a few hours where I will have a bone graft and multiple screws in my foot and ankle that will be attached to a rod on the outside of my foot. I will continue to sit here with my leg elevated for the next few weeks and use crutches to get around a little bit, and probably continue to ask Adrian/kid's/neighbors/family and quite possibly, strangers, for help when I absolutely need it.

In other news, Adrian and Payton attended a Daddy-Daughter Dance at the Elementary School on Saturday evening. They enjoyed the dance/crafts/photos and dinner afterward, and Payton thought it was the greatest night ever. She did instruct him that next year he needs to get her a wrist corsage and she will get him a flower for his shirt. Apparently many of the girls were in glittery heels and some with a tiara, and one daddy-daughter were even dropped off in a limo. Pretty fancy. I think Payton looked darling and we did what we could with a mom who could barely make it upstairs to help her pick out an outfit, and with a neighbor who came to the rescue with barrettes/hair bows because we haven't unpacked any of that yet and really have no idea where they are.

As a last message, I am overdue on catching up with a phone call to many of you, so if you want to email me or leave a comment with your phone number, I will probably have some free time in the next few weeks to make some long overdue phone calls.

Real life

2012-01-27T23:16:00.002-04:30

Now that we are back in the States we can discuss these things openly. Be warned- this is long so you may want to opt out of this post.

The reality is, there are many people and things that we miss about St. Kitts, but the following sources of constant anxiety will not be missed. We feel blessed though, to have been protected from any random violence during our 4 years in St. Kitts, and can relate to you in person someday a few events that took place where we were led by the spirit to leave or drive a different route which otherwise would have placed us directly in some of the following places at the time a crime took place.

FYI- St. Kitts has a population of about 36,000 people.

From this article titled "Year in Review – Homicides."

Five murders reportedly solved

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – LAST year was not a good one for the twin-island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis. It was a year in which many people had lost their loved ones; a year in which the nation saw the continued decimation of its youth; and a year in which, for the first time in its history, the Federation had recorded 34 homicides, most of which remain unsolved.

The first homicide for the year was that of Devon Morton of Upper Monkey Hill, St. Peters, who died at the JNF Hospital 15 days after he was shot. It was reported that on the night of Monday, January 10, while the 28-year-old was inside a club on Lower Cunningham Street, near to Fort Thomas Road in Mc Knight, two masked gunmen approached and opened fire, hitting him in the chest, abdomen, thigh and hand and Ashley Allers in the shoulder. Allers was said to be the proprietor of the club.

Shortly after 3:00 a.m. on March 5 the lifeless body of Sean ‘Tegroman’ Brazier (28) of Pitcairn Street, Newtown was discovered bearing multiple gunshot wounds. The District Medical Officer was summoned and he pronounced him dead on the scene, making it the second homicide for the year.

Twenty-nine-year-old Quincy Liburd of Gingerland, Nevis, who was residing at Lime Kiln Project, was the third shooting-death victim for the year. He was killed at approximately 10:10 p.m. in Conaree Village on March 13.

April can be classified as one of the most horrific months in the year, for among the five homicides committed in this month, four young people were killed within a matter of six days.

The first of the five sent shockwaves through the Federation when on April 3, shortly after 3:00 a.m., the partly nude body of 15-year-old Unique Browne was discovered lying on the eastern side of the building that houses Eustace Hobson & Associates in the C.A. Paul Southwell Industrial Site area.

Some 18 hours after, while 26-year-old Bijorn ‘Bush’ Richardson of Wellington Road, an employee of the Parks and Beaches Unit, was weeding grass within Dorset Park, a masked gunman entered from the northern gate and shot him multiple times to the body. He was pronounced dead at the scene by District Medical Officer Dr. Reginald O’Loughlin.

Shortly after 9:00 p.m. on April 6, the Federation recorded its sixth homicide victim for the year. Just as it was with Unique Browne, the nation was aghast at the shooting-death of Laustin ‘Jamie’ Williams, son of the then Commissioner of Police, Austin Williams and Laura Williams. The 27-year-old popular disc jockey was shot multiple times to the body while in an abandoned yard in Buckley’s Estate. He was pronounced dead by the District Medical Officer who was summoned to the scene.

Just two days after William’s death, Gary Smithen of Brownhill, Nevis was shot at Pennyless Tyres & Hoses, situated on Pump Road, Stoney Grove, where he was employed. It was reported that while Smithen was within the establishment, a masked man entered and shot him a couple of times. He was rushed to the Alexandra Hospital and died while undergoing emergency treatment.

Seventeen days after that incident, the body of Shervin Williams (30) of Godwin Estate, a former resident of Middle Island, was discovered lying on a dirt road in the vicinity of Godwin Ghaut Bridge with what appeared to be gunshot injuries to his neck and head. He too was pronounced dead at the scene by the District medical Officer.

On Monday, May 16 at about 8:20 p.m., Kurvin ‘Yellow Man’ Hanley was found by a family member lying face down in his West Farm home with severe burns to both of his legs. Two days later, he underwent emergency surgery but succumbed to his injuries in the Intensive Care Unit at the JNF General Hospital at about 9:07 p.m. on May 21.

Monday, May 23 saw a double homicide, making the count 11 for the year. Dead were 17-year-old Ikimba Bradley of Keys Village and Ken White (18) of Lodge Village following a shooting incident in Lodge Village. According to reports, the incident occurred at about 7:30 p.m. Bradley was shot multiple times to the body, including the head, and died in the bathroom; while White, who was also shot multiple times, was transported to the JNF General Hospital where he died shortly after arrival.

Kevin ‘Boopie’ Hazel (17) was gunned down at approximately 8:15 p.m. in a street near to his home in Pine Garden Shadwell. It was reported that shortly after playing a game of basketball on the street, Hazel was hanging out with a group of young men when two masked gunmen suddenly appeared from behind a building and started shooting at them. His lifeless body was found lying face down on the road with multiple gunshot wounds to his back. He was the 12th homicide victim for the year.

The body of 25-year-old Kervin Hanley of West Farm was on the afternoon of June 13 discovered lying on a track between the canefields north of Pond’s Estate with what appeared to be gunshot wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene by the district medical Officer.
The 14th homicide victim was Remo ‘Pimplin’ Caines (24) of Government Road, Charlestown, Nevis. An individual who was jogging in the MountPelier area discovered his body next to a clump of bushes with a gunshot wound to the head on June 23.

Two days later, the 15th homicide was recorded in the death of 18-year-old Shaquille Greene of Bird Rock, following a drive-by shooting in the vicinity of the Craft House on the Bay Road in St. Kitts.

Alexter Eloni Jeffers (23) of Lower Fiennes Avenue followed him on June 27.

SKNVibes learned that at approximately 10:00 p.m., while Jeffers was among a group of young men outside of Y’s Shop on Fiennes Avenue, a number of men who had exited a jeep on the Bay Road and made their way up Fiennes Avenue stalked and opened fire on them. Jeffers’ body was found lying in an alley north of Y’s Shop.

July can also be classified as another horrific month in the year. This month had seen five shooting-deaths over an 18-day period; four of which occurred within six days.

The first for this month and 17th for the year was that of former Basseterre High School teacher and horticulturist Brian ‘DJ Ras Benjie’ Farrell of Shadwell Estate. On July 4, shortly after he exited his vehicle and was about to enter his garden in Edwards Lane, New Ponds Site, a masked gunman emerged from a nearby yard that was clustered with tall grasses and small trees and started firing a number of shots at him. According to an eyewitness account, Farrell tried to run away from his attacker but was shot “twice in the bum and once in the back”. He was taken to the JNF General Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries while undergoing emergency medical treatment.

Three days after Farrell’s death, 25-year-old Ricardo ‘Fila’ Pemberton of Old Road was shot to death in Wingfield Road, Old Road. And less than 12 hours after, Wendell ‘Dog’ Wilkinson (22) of Cardin Avenue was shot in the vicinity of a shop in Union Street and succumbed to his injuries while undergoing emergency medical treatment at the JNF General Hospital.

On July 9, 19-year-old Jamone Hanley was gunned down a short distance from his West Farm home at approximately 11:55 p.m. On arrival at the scene, SKNVibes observed his lifeless body lying below the stairway of an apartment building known as ‘The Long House’ with three gunshot wounds to his back, one to his buttocks and one to his neck.

And on July 21, shortly after 3:00 a.m., Michael ‘MK’ Phillip of Shadwell Project was killed by unknown gunmen. According to reports, Phillip, who was said to be about 19 years old, was asleep in his home when gunmen kicked down the front door, dragged him outside and shot him multiple times to the body. His death had taken the total homicides for the year to 21.

August was the most horrific month in the year. This month had realised six homicides and five of them occurred over a six-day period.

Shortly before 5:00 a.m. on August 1, a fight, which broke out among a group of young men in the Bull Pen Bar (an entertainment spot within the Cultural Village in Nevis) and continued outside in the Cultural Village, resulted in the death of Jermaine ‘Chalice’ Freeman (26) of Rawlins Village who was shot multiple times to the body, including his head.

David ‘Dibaloo’ Thomas (27) was the 23rd victim. He was shot multiple times to the body at about 1:30 a.m. on August 14 near to his Buckley’s Estate home that he shared with his grandfather.

Less than 20 hours after Thomas’ death, Karando ‘Kasper’ Otto (29) of Warner Street, Lower Cayon was killed by an unidentified individual in the vicinity of Gumbs Used Parts & Tire Shop while on his way home from a football match at the Cayon Playfield.

The body of 31-year-old Everad ‘Nitty’ Hewlett was discovered on the night of August 15 with a bullet wound to the head in his Mad House Alley residence in Newtown. His death had taken the total homicides committed for that period to 25.

Leon ‘Machine’ Thompson (34) of Buckley’s Estate was the next victim. He was killed at about 10:30 p.m. on August 17 when a lone gunman shot him while he was within the Ground Zero Bar in Buckley’s Estate.

And the 27th homicide, which matched the figure of those recorded in 2009, was that of Lincoln Liburd of Lime Kiln Housing Project who was shot multiple times while in his bed on the morning of August 20.

Although only one person had died during this month, September had been written in the annals of the Federation as the month in which the country had recorded the most homicides (28) in any given year.

That 28th victim was 21-year-old Adjel Jeffers who was shot multiple times by a gunman or gunmen while in the vicinity of his Camps Village home in Nevis sometime after 1:00 a.m. on September 23.

That was the first homicide to have occurred since the Baton of Command of the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force changed hands from Retired Commissioner Austin Williams to Commissioner Celvin ‘CG’ Walwyn.

Six more homicides were recorded over the next three months; four in October and two in December.

The first one was that of Denzil ‘Dino’ Flemming who was said to be in his late 20s. He was originally from Ponds Pasture in St. Kitts but was residing in Hardtimes, Gingerland in Nevis at the time of his death. According to reports, shortly after unplaiting his hair at a bar in Gingerland sometime after 8:00 p.m. on August 6, Flemming left in his car for his home. However, after he exited the vehicle and was approaching the gate to his residence, a gunman fired a number of shots, hitting him multiple times to the body.

Seven days later, Vincent Williams (17) of Herbert Street, Newtown was shot multiple times to the body including his lower back and right arm. This incident occurred at about 6:35 p.m. while he was among a group of young men riding a bicycle along Mad House Alley in Newtown.

Less than 12 hours after, Trafalgar Village was in an uproar with the news of the death of Noel ‘Zambo’ Heath of Cardin Avenue, commonly referred to as the ‘Father of the Village’. He was reportedly shot multiple times to the body outside his home while preparing to go to his farm shortly before 5:00 a.m.

On October 20, the motionless body of Ashton ‘Tuba’ Williams of Pitcairn Street, Newtown was seen sprawled on the sidewalk in front of his relative’s business entity, Williams Auto Rental, at the junction of Pitcairn Street and Mad House Alley. Reportedly, he was killed by a number of gunmen between 11:30 and 11:35 a.m.

No homicides were recorded for November, but December had seen two which took the total for the year to a record-breaking 34.

The 33rd homicide occurred on Christmas Eve with the stabbing-death of 17-year-old Zamique Heyliger, an employee of RAMS Supermarket, who hailed from Newtown, St. Kitts but had gone to live in Stoney Grove, Nevis. According to police reports, the incident occurred at approximately 11:25 p.m. on the Island Main Road in the vicinity of Dr. Walwyn’s Plaza.

And on December 30, the body of a 60-year-old American citizen, Matthew Murphy, was discovered within a canefield in St. Paul’s Village with what police claimed to be apparent stab wounds in his torso.

Murphy was employed at the Rawlins Plantation Inn as a handyman and, according to the police, he had died between December 28-30.

Indeed 2011 had been a very eventful year that no national or resident of the twin-island Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis would like to see repeated with regards to homicides.

However, information reaching SKNVibes states that a number of persons were charged with the murder of five of the 34 victims.

Charged with the murder of Kelvin ‘Boopie’ Hazel were 19-year-old Kai Cabey and a juvenile, who both reside at Fort Thomas Road, Basseterre; while 19-year-old Raphael Wallace of New Castle, Dustin Lapsey (27) of Bath Village and Asim Parris (31) of Stoney Grove were charged on warrants in the first instance for the murder of Gary Smithen.

Jointly charged with the murder of Laustin Jamie ‘Big Ship’ Williams of Bay View Gardens were 19-year-old Jahari ‘Baddie’ Bart and Kelroy ‘C-Face’ Hazel (22), both of St. Johnson Village; while 25-year-old Kevis ‘Yellow’ Riley of George Street, Newtown was charged with the murder of Bijorn ‘Bush’ Richardson of Wellington Road.

And the General Manager and owner of Rawlins Plantation Inn, Kevin Horstwood was charged with the murder of Matthew Murphy. The remainder are still under investigation.

To this article titled "On the Crime Scene - Year in Review."

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – EACH year the Federation of St. Christopher and Nevis, much like many other countries the world over, experiences its fair share of criminal activity which sometimes results in death, injury, expense, heartache, psychological and or emotional trauma, and 2011 was no exception.

While some acts of criminality - though frowned upon and condemned - are expected, there are those which cause a chill to run through one’s body and which leave many to wonder, “How can anyone do such a thing?” or “Did that really happen?”

Take for example, the January 22 shooting of a bus driver who was doing some shopping in a Sandy Point supermarket.

It was minutes to 9:00 that evening when Dollar Stretcher Supermarket, the supermarket in which Vincent ‘Saga’ Jarvis was shopping, was entered by two armed, masked individuals who demanded that everyone hit the deck.

Jarvis, who failed to comply with the bandits’ demand, was reportedly shot in the face at close range after which the establishment was robbed of a large sum of money.

The 61-year-old wounded man was transported to the Joseph N. France General Hospital where he was treated.

The public was more than surprised and outraged when a 16-year-old had accused members of the St. Kitts Nevis Defence Force (SKNDF) of raping her. The officers were arrested on February 24 for allegedly committing the February 19 offence.

Reports suggest that the teenager was standing on the road which leads to Shadwell Estate sometime after 12:30 a.m. when a SKNDF vehicle pulled up next to her and a soldier ordered her to enter. She reportedly refused and was allegedly forced into the vehicle, taken to the Fort Thomas Hotel and allegedly raped by two members of the SKNDF.

Two officers were subsequently charged with the offence and the SKNDF had indicated that it was making investigations into the allegations.

A look at the article titled “Peacemaker loses hand in Spanish brawl” reminds of an incident where a native of Santo Domingo lost a part of his hand while he tried to promote an atmosphere of peace between two individuals.

The incident occurred on February 27 at Mi Sitio Spanish Bar, Pond Road, Newtown. Jesus Skelton was reportedly having a drink with someone in the bar when a fight broke out between two individuals. He is reported to have made an attempt to part the fight and one of the individuals “chopped off his left wrist with a machete”.

Skelton underwent surgery and one individual was taken into police custody to assist with the investigations and other persons of interest were being sought by the authorities.

Thirty-four homicides were recorded during 2011 and all were and continue to be of great concern to the people of St. Christopher and Nevis. However, on April 3, when the lifeless body of a 15-year-old girl was found at the C. A. Paul Southwell Industrial Site, it more than caused a stir.

The partially-nude body was that of Unique Browne of Wellington Road and she was found on the premises of Eustace Hobson & Associates. According to police sources, her body bore signs of violence and blood was found on her head and chest.

She was pronounced dead on the scene and an autopsy revealed that she died as a result of traumatic head injury.

“Our country should not be like this. We should not be living in fear in our own homes! What happened to my country?” were the words expressed by one individual having heard of the attack which was perpetrated against two women.

The women were sharing a conversation while on an Atlantic View, Conaree veranda when two masked gun-toting men demanded money from them. In addition to being bound at the hands, the women were robbed of jewellery, cellular phones and cash and one sexually assaulted.

The robbers made their escape in a vehicle which belonged to one of the woman and abandoned it along the West Basseterre By-pass Road in the Buckley’s area.

And who can forget the kidnapping of a banker and his wife?

Over the past couple of years, the incidences of kidnapping seemed to have increased and the most recent to have taken place (Oct. 27) was that of senior employee of the CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank Larry Vaughan and his wife Gilda Rawlins-Vaughan.

A sum of money was demanded from the couple and the husband was released to fetch a ransom from the bank, which was to be returned to the perpetrators before his wife could have been released.

Acting on intelligence, the Royal St. Christopher and Nevis Police Force (RSCNPF) extracted an unharmed Rawlins-Vaughan from an unoccupied house at East Park Range at about 5:00 a.m. on October 28 and a number of individuals were taken into custody.

Approximately four individuals were arrested and charged with the offence.

November 10 was the day this media house published an article indicating that a national footballer was arrested and charged after allegedly committing a sexual offence.

The young man was arrested on November 6 and subsequently charged with two counts of rape and two counts of unlawful knowledge which were said to have been committed in June and October 2011

Similar charges were preferred against a member of the RSCNPF who is accused of sexually assaulting a minor while she was in police custody with her brother. That alleged incident occurred on October 30 at the Cayon Police Station.

Co-owner of Bobsy’s Restaurant, Lynne Hawley was at her establishment at about 10:35 p.m. when three masked, armed individuals entered and robbed the establishment. She was able to escape from them by running into a room and locking the door behind her. And although the bandits fired a number of shots into the door, she still escaped the ordeal unharmed.

By all accounts, the Manager of TDC’s Maintenance Department, Curtis James, was simply driving to work on the morning of December 10. But something strange happened.

While driving along a Bird Rock road, a vehicle that was in front of his abruptly stopped and blocked his path. The driver of that vehicle reportedly disembarked, approached James’ and asked why he was following him.

The man reportedly drew a firearm and James, recognising the danger, drove around the vehicle that blocked his path. But during the process, the individual fired upon James’ vehicle which resulted in one of the bullets grazing his temple.

These are but a few of the jaw-dropping incidences that occurred within the Federation during 2011, and the RSCNPF have made inroads with their investigations into some of them.

This study sums up some of the statistics about crime in St. Kitts-

"Crime, especially violent crime, remains a major concern for the eastern Caribbean region not only because of its effect on the inhabitants but also because of its effect on tourism. Similar to most eastern Caribbean states, the murder rate in St Kitts and Nevis has been on a steady rise during the past few years. This rise is primarily due to gang violence associated with the drug trade. At the moment, St. Kitts and Nevis has one of the highest murder rates per head in the world (2^nd only to Jamaica in the Caribbean)."

We're here!

2012-01-03T22:29:00.011-04:30

We left cold and snowy and beautiful Colorado early morning as the sun was coming up.

Through New Mexico.

Into Texas where we spent 2 full days of driving.

Had to stop here for dinner. The kids got to see the rattlesnake and the curated animals, and also got to see where Daddy tricked Mommy into eating "calf fries" for the first time. If you don't know what those are, how about another term- "rocky mountain oysters." If you still don't know, ask someone from Texas.

A Texas sunset.

Got to see some of our favorite Texans. Some of our other favorite Texans were out of town for Christmas, but luckily we got to see them in Colorado.

Visiting another special place which brought back many memories from our time in Port Arthur.

Into Louisiana.

Adrian wanted some real "Loozianna" Cajun food, so he stopped at Rabideaux's for some boudin. If you don't know what boudin is, think of a combination of dirty rice, herbs, onions, and pork- all packed inside a pig casing, a.k.a. pig intestines. Would you like to see a diagram?

Louisiana is a very unique place. It is the epitome of the Cajun, bayou culture. If you drive the southern route along Interstate 10 east from Lake Charles, this is practically all you will see advertised (with a few ATV, truck, RV, gambling, and adult entertainment billboards interspersed.)

Continuing east into Mississippi.

Alabama.

Finally. Day 4. It wasn't very sunshiny like they claim on the sign.

Getting close.

Excitement as we see DisneyWorld, Sea World, Epcot, Universal, Gatorland, etc.

Arriving at Adrian's hotel and our home for the next 3 weeks.

Would you believe?

2011-11-29T11:04:00.007-04:30

I actually cried at the grocery store today.

Adrian and I are in Orlando, Florida to find a home for our little family for the next phase of our life. We traveled all day yesterday and got to bed at 3 a.m., and this morning decided to make a trip to the supermarket to pick up a few things.

The 2-mile drive was pleasant. The roads were smooth, we didn't get run off the road by a taxi or bus driver, and we were able to turn on a radio station and hear something that suits our style.

The grocery store was beautiful. The shelves were full of so much food. There were different brands and varieties, different sections for different ethnicity's. The produce was fresh and beautiful. The bread wasn't moldy. I didn't need to check every item to see if it expired 6 months ago. I didn't need to do a thorough examination of every item containing wheat to see if it had bugs inside. I didn't see any crazed person walking around with a machette that I had to tell management about. There was Christmas music playing, and the store was clean and bug-free. The people were so nice to us, and nobody took anything out of my grocery cart because they were mad at me for buying the last of an item. I was able to find everything on my list at one store, and I didn't need to drive to 4 different stores to find a gallon of milk. And that gallon of milk didn't cost me $9. U.S. And I wasn't concerned if the gallon of milk was sour, because I knew that things can be returned and if it was sour, I wouldn't have to just suck it up and drink it or pour the $9.00 down the drain. I decided to buy a bottle of bodywash, and just like that- it was in my cart. I didn't have to decide 3 months ahead that I wanted a bottle of bodywash- and order it online, and wait for the package to come, and hope it didn't get lost in transit....

Now you see why I cried at the supermarket? My old pals from St. Kitt's who have moved on- I'm sure you had the same experience?

After Thanksgiving last week and our grocery trip today, and knowing that in a month this will be my permanent life, I have to say- God BLESS the U. S. of A. We should all be so THANKFUL for what we have at our fingertips every day of our lives!

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T06:53:00.005-04:30

The consensus in our household this morning is that we are most thankful for our upcoming move in December. Do you know this city?

Here is a hint.

The kids (and us) are sooooooo excited to be moving back to the States- to "DisneyWorld!" The littlest one doesn't yet understand that we won't be actually living AT DisneyWorld, but that Daddy's work will be at DisneyWorld (still with Marriott Vacation Club). As Payton says, "It's gonna be like a whole different world."

Puerto Rico

2011-11-17T16:41:00.015-04:30

Boogie-boarding-buddies

2011-11-09T13:06:00.004-04:30

I am back to post a snippet from the last month. We were in Puerto Rico for a little vacation so I'll have to post those pictures next. I have wanted to go to Old San Juan and visit for longer than just our way through on an overnight flight. And now, I have some new insights about Puerto Rico, and have decided that for people wanting a Caribbean vacation without the big price tag (especially the @ $200. price tag for a passport for each family member!), that Puerto Rico is a great choice. Lots of culture, history, similar foods and traditions as the rest of the Caribbean, and clear blue beaches make the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico a perfect choice! Don't worry if you don't speak Spanish- you can learn enough words in a 15-minute session with a Spanish-English dictionary to get around in a car, and most people around San Juan speak some English. It's fairly cheap to fly from the States, and in my opinion is a great vacation spot with plenty of things to do.

So on to this blog post- we discovered the best boogie-boarding beaches that we've ever experienced right along the Isle Verde beach outside the Courtyard Marriott Hotel. The waves were consistent, and the beach was shallow- less than 2 feet- for at least 200 yards, so you can catch a good-sized wave and ride it all the way in. The two older kids, who had been fighting all day, had so much fun together on the waves that all was forgotten and afterward they were hugging and dancing around like it was the best day of their lives.

And last but not least- the little guy watched the older kids having so much fun that he had to have me rent him his own boogie-board. He insisted on carrying it out to the beach all by himself, and after one 40-foot ride on the waves, he was all done and ready to move on.

"It's Fall Somewhere"

2011-10-10T21:56:00.009-04:30

You wouldn't know it because we are still in the middle of summer heat, but school has started and we've begun some of the usual "Fall" activities. The kids were in a performance of "The Jungle Book" with the help of the Missoula Children's Theatre who came back again for the second year. Brennan played a part of Kaa (the python) and Payton was a monkey.

We participated in the 2nd Annual 5K race/2K family walk held at the Marriott Golf Course to help raise money for the Children's Home. Brennan ran his first 5K and said it was pretty easy. He wished our friend, Dave, could have run with him again this year.

And since you've never seen the pictures from the first day of school- here you go. The little guy began full-day pre-K which is a combined class with kindergarten. He loves going to school and everyone there loves him too, with his handsome little smile.

nine- ten- eleven

2011-09-14T10:42:00.006-04:30

Adrian celebrated the big 4-0 this last weekend. He told us during the birthday breakfast that he has been waiting for 30 years to be able to have his birthday on nine- ten- eleven. Sept. 10, 2011. We had lots of activities planned for the day, which luckily happened to fall on a Saturday, BUT, it also happened to fall on the day that projections for tropical storm/hurricane Maria was scheduled to go right over the top of us. The whole island was shut down, and on Friday afternoon after seeing all the boats brought in and the businesses closing in preparation, I reluctantly came to the realization that we would have to cancel all the surprises- breakfast and golf on Sat. morning, swimming later on, and a sunset catamaran cruise/dinner that night.

The funny thing is that the storm basically fell apart in the middle of the night, and although it was cloudy and dark on Saturday and everyone waited inside for it to hit us, we hardly had a drop of rain. So instead, we sat around all morning in our PJ's, then Adrian and I went into town and found a Taiwanese restaurant open for lunch (thank you to those hard-working Taiwanese people!) and our friends, Brandon and Tamsin, babysat our kids AND cleaned the church for us since it was our scheduled week. Now THAT's a birthday present right there!

In the evening, I prepared a traditional English meal (nostalgic for Adrian since he served his mission in England) of leg of lamb with gravy and mint sauce, yorkshire pudding, roasties, veggies, and trifle. I know that I bought a "40" candle 6 months ago in preparation of this day, but now it is lost, so we went with the "39" candle instead.

This is the homemade birthday card that I made and had about 100 people from the hotel/church sign. They all laughed and laughed and were impressed with what you can make someone look like with technology and photoshop. I know most of you except our fellow Kittitian's won't even be able to understand what this "language" is. I'll just say that if you have traveled much, even within the U.S., you will know that just because a country or group of people speak the same language, it doesn't mean you will understand their local dialects and phrases. I would actually say that about 50% of the time, unless I am trying to communicate with someone, I go about my business as if they are speaking another language, because I really can't understand what many locals are saying. In fact, sometimes tourists approach us at the hotel and ask what language the locals on this island are speaking. They are surprised when we tell them that it is English- or a version of it.

Giving service

2011-07-18T08:00:00.006-04:30

I mentioned before the service project that we performed at the Cardin Children's Home. It was specifically for the youth and YSA, and also the mission presidency and their wives who flew in for the weekend from San Juan, and there were a few others thrown in, including Brennan. It is funny how a day of hard manual labor, given in the spirit of service with no payment or compensation (except the sack lunches we provided everyone), can be so rewarding and unify individuals. During the six hours we spent at the location, there were many people throughout the community of St. Kitt's who stopped by to take pictures and talk to us and marvel at the fact that there were so many people present, willingly giving up their day, and ESPECIALLY so many teenagers and young single adults. They were actually quite shocked at that. But I just thought, "Of course we're here willingly to serve, and not one of these youth has a hangover (today or any day)- it's the "Mormon Helping Hands!"

This is one of the little boys who lives at the home.

Ha ha- I think Ricky was really scared for a minute there. I'm sorry that his face is shaded because you should have seen it.

A fashion show for the Young Women.

Besides the mice, rats, cockroaches, lizards, and other creepy crawly creatures that we came across, was this HUGE centipede. They are very common here and give a painful bite, which can also make you very sick. We haven't had any personal experiences with these things, but we know plenty of people who have- including quite a few friends who have been woken up in the night while being bitten by one. These guys are REALLY fast and are hard to catch. But the crowd gathered to see this one that Bro. DeCosta was determined to kill so that it wouldn't harm the children.

This is part of the centipede after it was cut in half. It still moves around for a while even though it is dead. Disgusting.

Bro. Decosta wanted to "educate" us all on the parts of the centipede. Can you see the little black pincher's that it uses to bite and administer venom to it's victim? Again, we had to hold it down because it was crawling all over the place.

A rewarding day of service and fellowship.

What we've been up to- Brennan's edition

2011-07-17T09:30:00.008-04:30

We are in Colorado now and will spend the next month in the mountains, 5000 feet higher than we are used to- building a fort, hiking, riding 4-wheelers, fishing, playing at parks, eating lots of good (and $cheap$) food, and spending time with friends and family.

Last week was Brennan's annual week of sailing school. He LOVES it and was able to sail all by himself for most of the week this time. The kid's spend time snorkeling and learning new things about boating and oceanic ecosystems, and then spend a few hours each day practicing on 3 different boats- an ocean kayak, a mini-catamaran, and a mini-sailboat.

Brennan tagged along with me to a church service project for the youth, YSA, and ten visitors from the Puerto Rico Mission Presidency. We spent half a day clearing out an area at the Children's Home in St. Kitt's that they can use to plant a garden and grow their own produce.

Pictures of Brennan from the school catamaran trip.

Brennan would like to have the look of his island friend's, Justin and Mandella, but I told him he just doesn't have the hair to pull it off.

In June, Adrian, Brennan, and I set out on an adventure that would take us out all night for 3 nights straight, sleeping in the sand on the beach, walking a 2-mile stretch of beach in the dark when it was our turn to monitor, and getting rained on. We went out with a group of sea turtle researchers with the hopes of getting to witness a leatherback turtle come up to shore to lay her eggs. After two nights of no luck, a turtle came up on the third night, and we got to be a part of the process. The turtles spend about 1 1/2 hours digging a hole about 3 feet deep with their back flippers. Then she lays around 100 eggs, which Adrian was in "the back" with a mesh bag and caught all the eggs so they could be relocated to a safer area. Brennan and a friend who came along got to sort and count the eggs and move them to the new hole. Then the turtle (who doesn't know her eggs were even moved) covers the hole back up and "disguises" the area by moving in circles and throwing sand for about a 15 square foot area. The researchers tag and measure and take blood samples of the turtle before she crawls back out to sea. They are very large and the females can get up to 12oo lbs. It was amazing to witness was an experience that we won't forget.

Finally, Brennan won first place in the school science fair for his project on what material catches fire the quickest using only a magnifying glass to pinpoint heat from the sun. The dryer lint caught on fire the fastest- in only 11 seconds! So Brennan's conclusion was that if you are camping or putting together a 48-hour kit, include not only matches but a magnifying glass as well. Brennan had a great time catching things on fire out on the balcony and burning holes through bottles.

(No ants were harmed in the fulfilling of this science project).

What we've been up to- Payton's edition

2011-07-14T12:36:00.005-04:30

Here is Payton on the previously mentioned catamaran trip, and her good friend, Bella, who has been her school companion for the past 2 years. Unfortunately, she will be leaving in August to go back to the States, but her family will be in Fort Collins for her mom to finish her vet. schooling, so we should be able to see them when we make trips to Colorado.

This is Payton's class from the last school year, consisting of 1st and 2nd graders.

Payton is really going to miss her favorite teacher, Mrs. Em, from the famous town of Brenham, Texas- the home of the "Bluebell Factory." She has been with Payton's class for the past two years.

Payton's contribution to the Prep. School Science Fair.

Payton also celebrated her 7th birthday in May.

I happened to be in Miami, but Daddy took care of a birthday party with a few friends. They ate pizza and cake, projected a movie on a large screen, and played dress up. You wouldn't know he grew up in a household of boys.

What we've been up to- Damon's edition

2011-07-13T23:11:00.006-04:30

As always, we've had lots going on and I haven't shared any pictures, so here are a few highlights of the little guy. Damon celebrated his 4th birthday on Sunday. He is still very blond and is still a sweetheart. He was adamant that he would have blue frosting which he picked out months ago at the store.

As you recall from the previous post, Damon goes to summer camp at Ross Prep. School a few days a week. He is not used to such a vigorous schedule of fun and games, and he comes home pooped every time!

We stopped for a picture with a donkey on a little outing one day, but Damon didn't want to get too close.

The kids and I went on a catamaran trip on the last day of school. This was Damon's first catamaran that he might remember (his other cat. trip was in Aruba when he was about 16 months old). This is Brennan's friend, Caldrin, who loves to come to our house and help take care of Damon.

I wish this picture was in focus. Our good camera is not working right now so we've gone back to the ol' backup, and I quickly realized how much I've grown accustomed to the nice camera that Adrian bought me a few years back, insisting that "I will love it." As you can see, all the older kids love to play with Damon and he was the life of the party. The open bar (soda, juice, etc.) probably didn't help everyone's excitement levels.

This is another one of Brennan's friends, Mandella, teaching Damon how to "ride the waves." Brennan is a kind big brother to share all his friends with Damon.

Another one of Damon's pastimes- making "forts." He found out that the luggage I'm trying to pack in for our vacation in 3 days is a great pre-made hideout.

Damon is having more fun than Payton with the barbie dolls and swimming resort that she got for her birthday a while back. I do hope it has no bearing on how he will be in the future, but I must tell you about Damon's obsession with beautiful girls (although I have to say that I am his most favorite beautiful girl). He even brought me an ad from an airline magazine recently that had 2 women in short shirts sitting on Harley Davidson motorcycles, and he said he really likes those girls and their tummy's showing. Hmmmmm...

(Another) end of an era

2011-06-29T12:56:00.001-04:30

The little guy ventured out into the world today. He was invited to attend a few days a week of summer camp at Ross Prep. School with Brennan and Payton. He was so excited. He went to bed early, woke up early- excited and yelling and jumping on the bed, he got himself dressed, ate breakfast, and got his backpack on. I stayed with him for the beginning of orientation, and when that was over he just marched off with the rest of his camp-mates, without even a backward glance to see if I would be OK without him.

I remember when I sent Brennan to pre-school for a few hours a day. I was happy to have him go a few days a week and give me a break from traumatizing the new baby. Then it was Payton's turn. With her, too, I was fine to send her off for a break from traumatizing me and the new baby. And you know Payton, she thought she was ready for Jr. High School at that point anyway.

So now, all three will be at summer camp most days for the next few weeks until we leave for our Colorado (plus a few other stops) vacation. I've tried to tell Damon that he should go to camp only one day a week and spend the other days with me, but I have a feeling he will want to go everyday with the other kids. Yes, it is definitely an end of an era for this mother.

Do you have an opinion?

2011-05-31T07:14:00.007-04:30

My friend, Brigett, did some photography for our family and here are some of the pictures we got. I am really happy with how they turned out and I'm glad we have these depicting our time in St. Kitts.

We're having a large canvas print made and I think we're going to use one of the pictures below. Do you have an opinion on one you like better?

It's been a long time comin'

2011-05-16T22:33:00.002-04:30

The art of cooking

2011-04-23T08:53:00.005-04:30

I have been taking a cooking class once a week with my friend Horacio, who is a stay-at-home dad while his wife works here at the hotel. Horacio grew up in Argentina and then later made his way to Europe where he lived in various places such as France, Spain, and Ireland. His first profession in life was as a psychiatrist, but he later decided to attend one of the top culinary schools in Europe because he realized he loved cooking and, in his words, it is much more rewarding to see people happy from 3 hours spent cooking a meal than from 3 months of therapy.

I have really enjoyed the class with Horacio and, like everything, once you start learning about something you realize how much you don't know. I have learned how to fillet a whole fish, how to properly prepare a mushroom, to make Jamaican banana mash, and how to make homemade Indian curry's. I am learning the difference between "sauteing" and "sweating" the onions. I am learning the difference between arborio, jasmine, basmati, and sushi rice. I have learned new words such gnocchi, fumet, and chumichurri. I have learned how to properly garnish a plate of food and about presentation, which apparently tossing slices of pizza or napkins across the table is not proper. I have learned when is the correct time to label a food as "beautiful" and "fantastic" and "nice."

It has been interesting and humorous to cook together and work through our communication barriers, as Horacio speaks Spanish as a first language and we occasionally have misunderstandings, such as "mionize" (mayo), "common sense" (cumin seeds), and "cimumum" (cinnamon). He makes me laugh when he tries to use phrases such as "you grabbed the words from inside my mouth," and "time flies away."

We will have a few more classes and he has promised that we will make sushi, but Horacio recently got a phone call inviting him to interview for a position as head chef of a new, upscale restaurant in St. Kitts, and he got the job. He is thrilled to get to use his skills, and I have enjoyed learning a few techniques and recipes from him.

Here are a few of our dishes. Horacio's wife and Adrian came for lunch one day after we had prepared the meal. This was a lobster "twice-baked" (those are my words), salad with homemade dressings, homemade bread, and a pear thingy for dessert (apparently I still need to learn some more vocabulary.)

Since we're talking about food, here are some of the fun things we had for our family Valentines dinner a few months back. Spending precious time cutting out heart-shaped pepperoni is definitely a once-a-year thing, but the kids thought it was awesome.

Lastly, here are a few shots of the English food we made last month when our friend Brandon had a birthday. His wife, Tamsin, grew up in England, and Adrian and Brandon went to the same mission (10+ years apart) in Birmingham. Horacio taught me ahead of time how to make a few of the dishes I would need in order to make this dinner, and it was a success. The food was awesome and was very photogenic also! Pictured here are the yorkshire puddings, roasties, and lamb with mint sauce. So good! if I say so myself!

Birthday boy

2011-04-17T20:15:00.006-04:30

We had a full weekend of celebrations for Brennan's 9th birthday. We went to the movie "Rio" on Friday night and then had pool party on Saturday with about 10 boys. Our friend, Shane, came and we believe had as much fun with all the kids as they had with him. (He might even hire out as entertainment for YOUR birthday party!) The party included water guns for all, lots of rafts, hot dogs and everything that goes with them, and strawberry and mango smoothies.

Saturday night we were pampered by our friends, Brandon and Tamsin, who came over and cooked up a special meal for the kids as well as a special meal for adults. Brennan was a little taken back when he was presented with an entire squid that Brandon jokingly told him was the "special birthday meal." Instead, he used the squid for spring rolls and sushi. I didn't have to cook dinner for anyone, so it felt like my birthday!

Last but not least, me and the baby boy.

After our 1 hour of church today. Dave and Becky- you will be so envious to know that they were working on the water lines again- you know what that means!

If you know Brennan you will remember that he is quite picky and actually can't stand cake. So this year we went with the "birthday rice crispy treat."

The time goes by so fast, and we are proud of how Brennan is growing into a righteous young man. He loves sports, the outdoors, electronics, and art, and has many different talents, but the best thing about Brennan is how kind and sensitive he is toward others. He is friends with everyone in the world and tries to make everyone feel a part of things.

Money-maker

2011-04-10T00:19:00.005-04:30

Brennan decided to try his hand at business. On Friday night he built a lemonade stand out of an old box, and when he realized there would be a big "garage-sale" on Saturday for all the graduating Vet. students, he was determined to get out there and sell his lemonade. It was a great idea- it was hot and there was a lot of cash flow already going on. And it turns out people like buying things from children. In the end, he came away with $226. E.C. ($84.U.S.) and he paid Damon $5. for carrying the money bag and Payton $20. for walking around and telling people to come over. I wonder if the Branch President was laughing on Sunday when Damon paid his 10% tithing on his $5. E.C.- which came out to 18 cents in U.S. dollars. Now Payton is determined to sell cookies the next time and bring in some dough of her own. (FYI in case you are wondering- the lemonade sold for $2. E.C. which equals 75 cents U.S.)

An end of an era...

2011-04-04T10:58:00.002-04:30

I know- FINALLY!

A wedding

2011-04-03T10:14:00.006-04:30

I know some of you are waiting to see pictures of Jared and Vancelyn's wedding, and I finally got them together. Many are from my friend, Brigett, who did all the photography. Planning all the details for a wedding, especially on short notice and with a very limited budget, definitely proved to be a difficult task but everything came together in the end. Sis. Maynard made the wedding cake, the members were able to help out with preparing a lunch for 100 people, we were able to coordinate all the flowers for free by meeting up with the Ross Vet. School plant trimmers at 6 a.m. the day of the wedding. It was a memorable day in many ways.

These are the members of the branch who were there that day.

This is me and Nabila with Sydnee, one of our awesome young women.

The guy in the plaid is Donville, the only young man in the branch. He just turned 16 and was made a priest.

Caribbean Beauty Pageant

2011-03-19T08:24:00.007-04:30

One of the young women in the branch, Ishelka, was in a beauty pageant so I went to support her. Here I am with Nabila (YW 2nd counselor), Sis. Case (senior missionary), and Ernistine (Ishelka's mother.)

The entire night epitomized the Caribbean culture. It was supposed to start at 8:00 p.m., but didn't begin until 9:15 (which meant it lasted until 1:45 a.m.) The crowd was excited and loud and danced and cheered from beginning to end. There was food aplenty, from popcorn and drinks and chips, to fish and ribs and chicken/rice as you would expect here. There was alcohol of course, and many people milling around who had had too much of it. There were a few fights and some heated debates all around us, and as you know most Caribbean people do not have an "indoor voice." It was outside so as you would expect, there were dogs milling around, waiting for a morsel of food scraps. The bands that took up most of the time in between the pageantry events were loud (you should know what I mean when I say "loud," in that your chest pounds with each beat.)

One thing that is sad to me, but is common at events like this here, (Adrian has also witnessed it at all 3 of the Ms. Marriott pageants here that he has attended) is that when a contestant trips or forgets their words, the crowd laughs loudly and makes a huge scene out of it.

These drummers were a welcome change in volume and played while the girls paraded around.

This is Ishelka wearing her school uniform for her opening speech.

The women scream and jump around and cheer non-stop.

Here is the dog that shared the night with our little group.

One of the categories was to display a unique, hand-crafted outfit. They included many different elements, such as outfits being made completely from paper towels, fruits and vegetables, leaves from various trees, money, and fabrics from traditional carnival clothing.

This is Ishelka during the talent portion.

These are some of the evening gowns. Everything is colorful and quite different.

So proud of Ishelka. She received 2nd runner up and got the highest scores for her interview. Incidentally, throughout the pageant her motto was "Be strong and of a good courage; for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest" from Joshua, which was the youth mutual theme for 2010.

New Beginnings

2011-03-14T22:08:00.004-04:30

We had our annual New Beginnings program a few weeks ago. The theme was "A New Heart" and we all took part in a skit that was centered around the theme. There were 3 of us leaders as surgeons, another leader as the head nurse, seven of the young women as nurses, and one girl was the patient who was in need of "surgery", with the young women values in her heart being repaired or replaced after being damaged by sin.

We had a fun night and the girls thought it was grand to be able to play dress-up. The funniest thing of all was seeing the young women who were dressed in nurse uniforms and scrubs come out for the play in their fancy shoes. Also, these nurse outfits are actual uniforms that the nurses wear here in the hospital. It reminds me of something you would see in the movies from the 1950's. I think I'm going to try one on and take a picture of myself before I have to return the uniforms this week.

Credit to Bear Grylls

2011-03-06T20:06:00.004-04:30

Do you know this guy? Brennan loves watching him on the T.V. show "Man vs. Wild." Here is Brennan's latest experiment that he HAD to try out after gleaning the idea from Bear. I think someone would be pre-determined to be in a Discovery Channel show like this if their name is "Bear."

Baptism

2011-03-02T13:42:00.008-04:30

We had 2 individuals get baptized a few weeks ago. One was a local girl, the fiance of one of the young adult men in the branch, who, by the way, we are also putting on a wedding for this Saturday. The other was an American, a friend of one of the medical school students in the branch. The last time we had an adult-convert baptism was about a year and a half ago. We found out the night before that there was no water at the church, which usually wouldn't be too much of a problem because we would just pull water in from a street faucet, but the entire neighborhood was out of water. (I know it sounds odd, but if you've lived here, you know that sometimes there is no water and sometimes there is no electricity, and you hope that they don't both go out at the same time!)

So, to get on with the story, the baptism was at the beach behind our house. It was a nice experience and it was great to have instant entertainment for all the kids, and we didn't even notice their shrieking and laughter because of the sound of the crashing waves. The downer for the day was that most of the local members were not able to make it in time for the baptism. (Only a few didn't make it because of their own tardiness.) Many of the members coming with our friend, Jason, were forced to pull over on the way to the baptism because smoke began coming in through the air conditioning vents, and when they all piled out of the car, there was nothing to do but watch as Jason's car mysteriously went up in flames. The fire department actually did arrive, and it was in amazingly record time. But by that time the engine and front tires and dashboard had already burned up/melted.

Thank goodness for the 10 American visitors who were on vacation and helped out with the attendance. I would probably say that 25% of our branch is made up of Americans who are here for veterinary or medical school, and us with Marriott. Those numbers are definitely not represented in this picture.

So long white jeep, you lived a good life.

Bill

2011-02-26T14:42:00.002-04:30

Last week Adrian had the unique experience of meeting and escorting Mr. Bill Marriott, the chairman and CEO of Marriott International, through the Vacation Club Property here in St. Kitts. Here is Adrian and his management team with Mr. Marriott.

Something new

2011-02-18T21:04:00.004-04:30

We see some very interesting things from our back patio, including monkeys, kite-surfers, horses, weddings, pelicans, and we even had a front-row seat for hurricane Earl last September. But this last week we had something new to see- a few times a day there have been skydivers floating by our window and onto the Marriott beach about 50 yards away. It's been fun to watch, and the kids have something new to get excited about. When they hear an airplane overhead or see the flag out in the sand, they come screaming because they know the skydivers will be coming soon.

The "Graceful Savage"

2011-02-12T16:32:00.005-04:30

Over the holiday we happened to spot the elusive and infamous "Voo-Doo Man" over in our neighborhood. It was unusual to see him out and about and away from his "home." Since he was not at home, my friend Angela and I decided to go by and take pictures because we really do want a picture of where he lives.

We're not sure which name he actually refers to himself as- "Voo-Doo Man" as it says on one sign, or "The Graceful Savage" as another reads. I really don't know if he's as scary as he looks either, but the rumors and stories are out there, and most people say they are scared to take his picture because he will cast a spell on you. Hmmmmm. This is one interesting character though, and when it comes to fitness, he is one bad dude. Can you see the concrete molds made out of 5-gallon buckets that he uses for weightlifting on the side of the road ?

Look close

2011-01-31T07:54:00.002-04:30

This picture makes me laugh. Check out the "extra" topping that was cooked into the pizza. I'll do our hotel a favor and NOT tell you where the pizza came from.

Reminds me of the time we went to one of those big Texas steakhouses and there was hair in my salad, so they gave us a free meal for our next visit. Then on the second visit, there was a ladybug in my salad. We never went back.

"Las Lap"

2011-01-09T21:13:00.009-04:30

I know there are lots and lots of pictures, but I couldn't stop looking at the pics of all the interesting/colorful/creative/unique/strange/(and many skimpy) costumes from "Las Lap," meaning the last lap of the 2-week-long Carnival celebration in St. Kitts. The annual Carnival event is the biggest party of the year for Caribbean islands, and each island's is different. Here in St. Kitts, Carnival officially begins a week before Christmas and doesn't end till after the new year.

My friend, Angela, and I took the kids to see the final parade and saw a lot of interesting sights to say the least! We had fun though and got some great pictures so that we can remember and share with others the traditions and folklore of St. Kitts through their Carnival celebrations.

If you're interested, the following is a great history of Carnival that I got from this website-

The history of Carnival celebrations began hundreds of years ago in Italy where Catholics held wild costume festivals right before Lent. Since they were not supposed to eat meat during Lent, the festival got the name, "Carnevale", which means "to put away meat." The famous Carnival celebrations eventually spread to other Catholic countries, including France, Spain and Portugal. As Catholic Europeans set up colonies and entered the slave trade, Carnival took root in the New World as well.

Today, Carnival celebrations are found throughout the islands. They have been transformed, however, from those original Italian costume festivals to something distinctly Caribbean that differs from island to island. The Caribbean Carnival is a blending together of many European cultures, as well as African dance and music. Important to the celebration of the Caribbean Carnival is the African traditions of parading in costumes and masks and moving in circles through villages in order to bring good fortune, heal problems and calm angry spirits. Carnival is an important way for the people of the Caribbean to express their rich African cultural traditions by creating elaborate masks and costumes. It takes months and a lot of energy and creativity to come up with a concept and develop costumes for the dancers to depict a common theme.

I've learned since the last post that these stilt walkers are called "moko jumbies." From Wikipedia- moko, in the traditional sense, is a god. He watches over his village, and due to his towering height, he is able to foresee danger and evil.

Food was being prepared everywhere for the street party after the parade that would last until the wee hours of the morning.

Check out the kid's faces in this picture. I am the only one who looks happy to be here! Maybe they are just shocked by everything they see or with the loud, loud, loud music.

See, this driver is smart with his earplugs.

This was really and truly part of a float going down the street, with 2 port-a-potties on the back.

I guess during Carnival the phrase "Don't Drink & Drive" doesn't apply. (Actually, I don't think it is against the law at all here to drink and drive.)

Ring in the new year

2011-01-01T12:24:00.013-04:30

December 31, 2010- these guys were setting up the fireworks for the Marriott New Year's Eve party, right behind our house. We knew it would be loud, and the kid's were going to be scared.

But we left them with Shane and Angela, the trusty babysitters, while we went to the party. There was great food and lots of entertainment, but the highlight is always the stilt-walkers who wear parts of the traditional Kittitian carnival costumes.

The fireworks alerted everyone, whether they were asleep or awake, that a new year has begin. As predicted, they were loud and close to our house, actually going off above the house. As predicted, Damon was scared, and wouldn't go outside on the balcony to watch. What we didn't know would happen was that Damon would lock Brennan and the babysitters outside!

What better way to begin 2011 than with a walk on the beach.

A banana tree

2010-12-29T19:23:00.003-04:30

Have you seen the transformation of a banana flower into fruit? I think it is quite amazing.

Christmas

2010-12-27T17:18:00.004-04:30

Watching for Santa Clause on Christmas Eve.

Excitement on Christmas morning. We are stuck in a predicament where the kids still believe in Santa, but they are asking for more expensive presents from him.

This is how we caught Damon during the period of time between opening presents and eating breakfast. He was told he couldn't eat candy and Oreo's for breakfast, but that didn't stop this little guy.

We later found his hiding spot.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas (somewhere)

2010-12-13T23:31:00.003-04:30

We heard some of you had a little snow this last weekend....

while we spent some time underneath the mango tree in nursery.

Life in pictures

2010-12-05T14:30:00.014-04:30

Thought I'd share some of the pictures from the last few weeks. First of all, I took a little trip to the States (all by myself- the first time) right before Halloween. Wish I had a picture to share from visiting Lexy and all the fun things I did with my sister in 3 days, and also the documentation of the craziness of travelling back to St. Kitts with my friend, Becky, and her 2-yr.-old and 5-week-old baby. Although that had potential to be a disaster, 90% of the 2-day trip went surprisingly well.

Here I am with my twin sister, Kim, during one of our many outings.

Not sure what exactly is going on in this picture, but it may have something to do with Kim holding that plate of greasy bacon. (Did you know that she is vegetarian?)

We had our church Young Women in Excellence program- the first one ever for the branch. It went well and we had a very enjoyable evening. The theme was based around plants and flowers, so we all wore a different colored flower in our hair.

We have had lots of meetings and training lately with our mission presidency and other area leaders. This is the newly completed branch presidency, with 2 counselors AND a separate executive secretary and branch clerk.

Here I am with my Young Women counselor's. These are beautiful, talented, and righteous women that I am privileged to work with.

We had our Sacrament Meeting Primary Program a few weeks ago. The children did a great job, even as they were asked to sing "solo" parts throughout. I know we don't normally have pictures of this program (I got them from someone else) but they do things a little differently here, like talking on the cell phone, taking pictures, eating sub. sandwiches, etc. during Sac. meeting. Keeps things interesting.

Next is Thanksgiving. We had an awesome night with great company, and we were able to take advantage of the great weather (70's), breeze, and bug-free evening and eat outside on the balcony. Everyone has school and work that day, so we have dinner in the evening, hence why it is dark outside and we couldn't see the ocean, but we could hear the waves crashing which made a perfect backdrop.

In this picture, my "friend" who arrived first snapped a photo of me frantically finishing up dinner while still in my shower cap.

Here are most of the women, slaving away in my little kitchen to finish up odds and ends.

Brennan was happy- the Prince's brought the Wii as a special treat for the kids.

Payton had a baby to carry around and take care of.

Damon was entertained- he had Mia here and the couch to jump on.

And his girlfriend's.

Here's Adrian preparing the turkey and our friend, Dave, slicing his "honey-baked ham." You may also know Dave as "Davey Baby" or "Fun-date Dave." (Not that I would know!)

The atmosphere over the ocean was awesome, except for a little wind. Good times!

Lastly, I celebrated a birthday last week. The night before we went to the kid's Christmas program at school and then to one of the new restaurants on the island. The day of, I got to spend a relaxing morning with my little "companion" (Damon), and I even drank a glass of whole milk with him for breakfast! It was yummy. Did you know that I love drinking whole milk, and especially Half & Half, but that may be more of an every 5-yr. birthday treat.

For lunch, I had a relaxing few hours with friends (while the children stayed home with a babysitter) overlooking the golf course. Nabila- we missed you while you were at your first day at your new job, and Shav- we missed you all the way across the world in England! Thanks for the great time, Girl's! And the tres-leches cake that was to die for. An A+ on that for sure! :)

That night, we had homemade "Cafe Rio" for dinner at the Filhart's home. We got another sitter and went to a movie, and afterward Becky made sopapilla's for dessert. We had such a great time, and are really going to miss the Filhart's when they head back to the States for the last time in 17 days. St. Kitts (and the gym) just won't be the same without them!

Big boy adventures

2010-11-13T15:38:00.005-04:30

Adrian and five of his buddies left early this morning for their first "deep sea fishing excursion." They caught 3 fish that they dragged over to our house afterward to cut up and freeze, so you know me- been busy since then disinfecting the kitchen. They caught 1 wahoo and 2 mahi mahi and estimate that they brought home about 60 lbs. of beheaded and deboned fish that we are going to split 6 ways. So now the search begins for the perfect fish recipe!

Here is Brennan and Payton's school as viewed from a "deep sea fishing vessel."

October 31st

2010-11-04T00:03:00.004-04:30

You wouldn't know it because they don't celebrate the holiday here, but we actually had quite a few little Halloween events to attend. And, we scored on candy- we got more here than any other Halloween I can remember in recent years. Thanks in part to those Ross Veterinary students who have a love for animals and also an affinity for children. I think they must plan for and bring candy with them from the States, because the "norm" here is not what we are accustomed to seeing in the States at every grocery store and corner gas station. Here in St. Kitts, there is not a lot of candy available for purchase, and what they have is expensive (about $1.75 US for a candy bar), and the worst part is, what chocolate they have is oftentimes opened up to reveal a white powder- from being too old, previously melted, etc. So a good piece of candy is a rare commodity!

Hope your Halloween was fun and delicious and powdery-chocolate-free!

Damon

2010-10-03T09:45:00.005-04:30

Here's our sweet little Damon. He turned 3 in July when we were on vacation in the States (which we will hopefully post some pictures of soon.) He's staying home with me again this year and not attending any pre-school. He's cute and fun and I like him with me all day as my little "companion." Also, the Prep. School he would go to with Brennan and Payton is 8 am-3pm (sometimes later) and that's a lot for a little guy. And, he's still in diapers. I know, that needs to change soon, especially since some mornings he will actually change his own wet diaper, but for now he just isn't interested in the "big boy potty."

He's a silly little guy though with funny things to say. He thinks there are rocks inside his body where he can feel his bones. He loves to take care of his baby doll and carry her around and show her everything. He will ask her questions- "was that fun, Baby?" after they twirl around. He loves "hot like-it milk" (hot Ovaltine.) He wants to feed me his food all day and when I accidentally used the word "diet" in front of him he was adamant that "you will DIE if you diet." I never thought of that before, but in actuality, it FEELS like there is some truth to that statement when you are eating different food than the rest of the family and baking chocolate birthday cakes for people (ahem- Dave).

The other day I had a very interesting conversation with the little guy. I showed him this picture and we talked about it for about 20 minutes, which is a long conversation for a 3-year-old.

It began when he said "now I got all clean." And I asked him if he remembered this day, and he said "yes, it was really really dark in your tummy." He said "Mommy got an owie (c-section) and then I came out like this" (and he jumped in the air.) I said "what were you doing in Mommy's tummy?" and he said "nothing." I said "were you playing? were you sleeping?" and he said "I was just sitting there." I said "did you have a bottle of milk?" and he said "no." I said "did you wear your diaper?" and he said "no I was just naked." I asked him if he could hear us talking and he said "I heard you and Payton but Payton was littler." I asked him if he could see anything when he was in my tummy, and he said "yes, but it was really really dark." He told me how there was yucky stuff all over him, and showed me how it was on his arms and legs and head and face. Then he said again, "but now I'm all clean" as he pointed to the picture.

I've thought a lot about our conversation and what his little words/impressions/remembrances mean. Because of our LDS faith, most of you know what we believe and what he might remember from his previous "place." But I am curious, what do you make of this story?

The theatre

2010-09-30T21:22:00.010-04:30

Brennan and Payton were in their first "real" play last night. Have you heard of Missoula Children's Theatre? It's a group from Missoula, Montana who travel to all 50 U.S. states and 20 countries every year to work with children from one school for a week and then put on 2 performances of the play they have been working on. Somebody must have pulled some strings because they came for the first time to the Caribbean to work with our children at RUSVM Preparatory School. It was a great experience for the children and they all did a wonderful job. It was so interesting to see some of the quiet kids at the school play a huge role and take it on, singing and dancing, just like a professional (in my non-professional opinion.) Of course Brennan was the best "country folk" and Payton was the best "barnyard critter" in the performance of "Beauty Lou & the Country Beast." :)

Here's what Brennan will look like in 15 years (or less? really?) with a mustache.

Payton must have done something to the boy next to her. This poor little guy was crying pretty much the entire show. So much for fostering self-confidence through theatre.

5K run fundraiser

2010-09-23T11:56:00.003-04:30

The kids want to help raise money for the orphanage here in St. Kitts. The money is needed to fix up their home that was built in 1950 and also to organize activities and birthday celebrations for the children. Adrian is on the committee that is organizing the fundraiser, so of course, we will be there running on Saturday afternoon in some very humid weather. Dave Filhart is the only person here that we were able to rope into running with us, but if you are interested in donating money for the cause, send a message with your email address and we'll give you the address in the States where you can send a check. Don't forget to check out Brennan and Payton's video!

The difference between men and boys is the price of their toys.

2010-09-15T08:38:00.000-04:30

We survived "Earl."

2010-08-30T19:56:00.004-04:30

More of what we did in Mexico

2010-06-24T09:54:00.017-04:30

Celebrated a 6th BIRTHDAY!

Spent time with GRANDMA & GRANDPA!

Went to a Spanish-speaking TESTIMONY MEETING! (We don't speak Spanish.)

Went to a drive-thru AFRICAN SAFARI!

Rode the TURIBUS, Mexico City's tourist bus. This website sums up the experience well when they say "Turibus is a panoramic passenger double deck bus that travels through some of Mexico City’s most beautiful areas. This bus offers a fun experience to oversee, from the comfort of your seat, the great city’s racket. The passengers of these peculiar red buses seem confused by the car drivers that zoom by without noticing the landscape, only worried about getting to their destination as fast as possible. Tourists take pictures from their comfortable seats, as if the great city’s daily life were a mere theater play." Exactly!

Visited another ZOO!

Discovered a TRAMPOLINE at our hotel in the historical town of Puebla!

PAINTED a masterpiece in the square in La Libertad!

Visited Cuexcomate, the world's smallest VOLCANO, and went down inside the crater. "Climbing down a spiral staircase into claustrophobic darkness is hardly an everyday experience for a tourist, or indeed for a vulcanologist" is how this website describes it!

Again- Mexico

2010-06-24T09:53:00.009-04:30

COLORS everywhere!

The pyramids were amazing! The history behind them is so interesting (and disturbing) and it is amazing to see these huge structures built over 1500 years ago. One of the pyramids that we visited has the largest base size of any in the world, which is 40 acres! Most of that pyramid is not uncovered and so we could just see small parts of the corners showing where it is actually underground. Adrian's parents talked about their visit to these exact pyramids, some 35 years ago, when Adrian was a child and they lived in Mexico for 4 years. She has often told us how the people in Mexico loved Adrian's blond hair and would kiss him and stroke his hair. It was so fun to be there with our (almost) 3-year old son who has the same blond hair, and it is true. The people loved him too. They wanted to hold him and kiss him and stroke his hair that they say feels like silk.

The CATHEDRALS were quite spectacular.

More about Mexico

2010-06-15T08:28:00.016-04:30

The ARCHITECTURE! So beautiful. Some of it may have been crossing the line into ornate, but I really loved all of the architectural elements. I wonder where I can build a house in the States and use some of these ideas and it won't stand out like a sore thumb.

The TEMPLE! We had a special afternoon bringing the kids to the visitor's center, and then made a trip back another day for a session with Adrian's parents.

The STREET VENDORS! Literally anything and everything is sold on the side of (or in) the road.

Mexico

2010-06-13T20:25:00.015-04:30

Wow, time flies, and I haven't shared any pictures of our trip to Mexico from a month ago. We had a really great experience visiting Adrian's parents while on their mission in Mexico City. We were able to catch up with them and see where they live and all the people they work with and all the experiences they are having while they serve. We were able to pick up a little Spanish. We saw many amazing places that are hundreds and some over a thousand years old. We were introduced to "real" Spanish food which we ate way too much of. We met many kind and humble people who are not afraid of hard work, and who have an amazing commitment to family. It has taken me awhile to sort through A LOT of pictures, thanks to the age of digital photography. Here is our attempt to share some that will give you a taste of our experiences and perspectives of Mexico.

The PEOPLE! Very kind and humble, loyal and hardworking.

The FOOD! Can't drink the water and have to be a careful with some of the food from the street-vendors, but we enjoyed a lot of delicious sandwiches, tortillas, tacos, soups, pastries, candy, fruit, and Spanish drinks.

The TRAFFIC!! Ahhh, the traffic. It's not like I've travelled a lot, but it was unlike anything I've ever seen. Pretty much anything goes. Taxis driving on the pedestrian crosswalk, police officers (and everyone else) running red lights, buses and taxis driving around everyone to get to the front of the line, round-abouts that who knows what direction the traffic is going, small or non-existent road signs. The cars, the taxis, the street-vendors, some of them in the middle of the street. Hours in the car, missing exits, getting lost, studying the map and the GPS and the map again. What an adventure! Please don't visit Mexico City if you are prone to road rage!

We've only begun so check in again tomorrow for more about Mexico City.