Early Christmas and Scholarship

I found flights for $34 from Omaha to Orlando.  The deal was too good to pass up and so the boys and are flying down tomorrow.  Mario has to work next week plus Eric and Erin have to take finals. So they will drive down next weekend.  We decided to open some of the gifts last night since we won't have room in the SUV to bring them down and back.

The biggest Christmas gift came yesterday afternoon when the Peter Kiewit Institute called Eric and told him that he had been selected as a Walter Scott Scholar.  He already had full tuition for any university in Nebraska.  But the Walter Scott scholarship will pay for EVERYTHING else like books, dorm, food, and all fees.  That is huge!  Mario and I are so happy for Eric.  All of his hard work and extra curricular activities have paid off in a big way.

So no presents compare to that, but we did get a few small things opened last night.

Flying Monkey toy that was regifted from our White Elephant party

Clothes

A mini Simon game

Toolbox and tools

Happy 11th Birthday Boys

I tried to convince the boys that this day should be a celebration about me since I carried two 7 lb twins to 38 weeks. They didn't agree.

We celebrated with scones for Zach for breakfast and Honey Bunches of Oats (the blue box) for Nate. Lunch was Jimmy John's. Dinner was Aunt Annie's mac and cheese and turkey potpie with ice cream cake made by Mario.

Nate got a 3DS xl, games, and some footed pjs. Zach got games,
lighted Kindle cover, footed pjs and full ownership of the 3DS he once shared with Nate.

Cross Country

Halloween

I pay the kids to reuse or find Halloween costumes around the house. This year, the agreed upon amount after some negotiations was $7. Is that horrible? Mario and I aren't fans of Halloween. We could totally do without the holiday. Nate and Zach each made $17 this year because Mario gave them an additional $10 for all their candy. They were happy and immediately took their money to Walmart to buy each other a birthday gift. So the moment we finished one holiday, they were on to the next. I guess they forgot about Thanksgiving which to me is one of the best holidays.

They went trick or treating with Alex Foulger and Keanu Moore. The were upset because everyone loved Keanu's Andy costume and gave him extra candy. It really was cute. Nate made a super great nerd and really tried to play the part. He's a ham! I think Zach wasn't thrilled to repeat a costume from a couple years ago but he sure liked the money he earned for wearing it.

Goodby Sophie

We had decided that we didn't want to take Sophie to Spain with us. Even the vet discouraged us. Mario contacted a search and rescue group that trains dogs, but Sophie didn't meet the criteria. He had a coworker that was interested in her but his wife wasn't really wanting another dog. The lady that came to look at her for search and rescue told us she could help find her a home so we were happy and relieved that she'd be well taken care of by new owners.

Unfortunately, Sophie has gotten quite aggressive this past month. She has always (even from first week) been a good watch dog and probably a little too aggressive. We got her at about 14 months old. She had never been socialized with other dogs or people. So we began to take her to the dog park to socialize. She kept getting sick at the dog park so the vet told us to stop taking her there, because the lake was filthy. For the past year, Mario and I have just walked and ran her through the hills where she hasn't been socialized. These past few months, Sophie has gone through so many injuries starting with that horrible corn cob. The most recent being the stitches that took at least a month to heal. She had to spend 24/7 in her small kennel because any movement would cause fluid buildup and her huge cut wouldn't heal.

In hindsight, we realize now that the time in her kennel made her even more aggressive and territorial. She started getting even more aggressive with people and dogs walking by the fence on the side of our yard. Mario thinks that she tried to bite a dog as it walked by. During this past month since getting out of that kennel, she seemed to be doing much better with us and listening. So we had high hopes for her. But unfortunately, on Thursday, when a sweet older lady from church stopped by, Sophie bit her hand. I was holding her by the collar so she wouldn't run out the door. Deb put out her hand for Sophie to sniff it and Sophie bit her. I was shocked and obviously very upset. Deb brushed it off like it was no big deal.

Mario and I knew it was time to say goodbye. We just don't know how to train her properly. Mario and I are probably the biggest worriers you'll ever meet. So of course, we immediately worried that we could get sued if she bites again. So even if we took her to classes and taught her, we didn't feel we could ever really trust her again. After a little research, we decided the best way to protect ourselves was to turn her over to the Humane Society. They would try to rehabilitate her and adopt her out. It was heartbreaking to take her there. Nate and Zach decided to go with us even though it was probably one of the hardest things they have ever done (they weren't with me when I put Buzz down). We found out that they will have to quarantine Sophie because of the bite. Because she had her shots, they said we could quarantine her at our house but we were already there so I didn't want to go back 8 days later. That would be even harder. Plus I would worry everyday about her biting a friend or anyone that came over to our house. Mario really wanted to bring her back home.

Even now, Mario is wanting to go get her. I've never seen him so sad. He was sad about Buzz but we weren't really given a choice with Buzz. So this was extra hard when we had a choice with Sophie. The kids are all begging to have her back. But I keep refusing. I love her too but she was getting to be out of control. And we are moving. We just can't keep her.

The kids (and Mario) don't want me to vacuum because they like to see her dog hair. Her cage is still up and she has her things laying around. I don't know how long to leave those things laying around.

Eric came down yesterday morning and commented on how quiet the house is now. It made me break down in tears. We are all sad, but I think this is for the best. Now I have to go vacuum up all the popcorn that dropped on the ground last night. We aren't accustomed to having to vac and sweep up food. That's going to be a big adjustment. But I won't have to sweep up dog hair anymore.

More Quilts

I think I forgot to post a picture of the baby quilt I made for my brother, Charlie and his wife, Mel.  It was one of the hardest quilts I made so far because it has a million small triangles.  Thank goodness it wasn't a large quilt or I would have given up.  It is called the Kissing Fish quilt.

This next quilt Mario saw hanging in the quilt shop and insisted I make it.  He loved it because it is full of optical illusions.  I went ahead and bought the pattern and the special ruler.  I have yet to buy the fabric. I guess that will be a quilt on my to do list after I finish the Sunday Ride and a quilt for Eric (whenever he figures out the college he's going to because I want to make it in his college colors.)  So many quilts and so little time.

Sunday Ride Quilt

I was 4 months behind on my block of the month quilt. I didn't quilt the entire summer so I could spend time with the kids. I think Mario was getting nervous that I wasn't ever going to get back to my appliqué quilt. But this week I finally made time and completed 2 blocks in just 2 days. I had to improvise because one of my trees was floating in the sky. No one noticed except me but it drove me crazy so I added a third bird in front of the tree so it wouldn't be so obvious. My appliqué is not perfect but I LOVE doing it. I'm so glad Ann from the quilt shop showed confidence in my abilities and told me I could do it. I have my very first official quilt class tomorrow at the quilt shop. We are making Christmas placemats or table runners. I haven't decided which one I will make yet.

My First Adult Student

I'm so proud of Ian! He worked hard several times a week with me for many months and now he is a college grad!



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Mario's Work Schedule

Mario is working in an office that has to be manned everyday, all day and night. So he has to work some crazy 8 hour shifts. Sometimes he works 5 am to 1, 1-9 pm, or 9 pm to 5 am.

Although he has to work crazy hours including weekends, the perk is that they have so many people to take shifts, he only has to work 8 of those shifts for the entire month of November. He does have 4 office days that month that he has to go in a anywhere from an hour to a few hours depending on how much office work he has to do.

So it's great because we get to spend lots of time together, just the two of us. The other day, we watched a movie in the late morning and ordered a pizza to be delivered when we got hungry in the middle of the movie. It was like we were in college again.

The only downside to this is I am getting nothing done. No quilting, no cleaning. Nothing! I'll enjoy this schedule while it lasts.

Homecoming

These pictures are proof that I shouldn't have a camera in my hand.  I am a horrible photographer! Eric attended Homecoming with Caitlin (of course!) and three of his buddies.  The only one on Homecoming court (one in green shirt) is the only one without a date.  A couple girls apparently turned him down.  He's such a nice guy too (and the high school cross country star.)

Ethan, Allison, Eric, Caitlin, ?,?, and Nick

Erin went to the "Mormon Alternate Activity" first and then went to Homecoming for an hour.  A real photographer that just moved into the branch offered to take pictures but these are from my camera for now.  We bought Erin's prom dress on clearance for $15 at JCPenney.  We cut it down to make it Homecoming length.  Unfortunately the shrug was from the designer store in town so that cost $55 (glad her dress was cheap!) Hopefully she can wear it all again in Spain.  She looked absolutely beautiful (and I'm not just saying that as her mother, other, unbiased sources thought so too!  They couldn't stop commenting.)

Erin, Chastity, Savana, Ben, and Hyrum

She must not have seen the camera

Or else she would have hid like this!

My Last Day in Spain

Wednesday was my last full day in Madrid.  Mario had to go to his tutoring session, so I went back to the Temple.  I think I will enjoy my time there because of all the English speakers that work there. What a blessing to have a Temple in Madrid.  I am really excited about our opportunity to move there. Nothing is a for sure thing with the military until we are on the plane, but if we do get the opportunity to live there, I am sure we will love it.  I started my Rosetta Stone today.  I get marked down on my pronunciations.   I don't think I'll ever learn to roll my r's.  But if I could just understand it, I'll be happy.

Here are some random pictures from our wonderful week:

We rented a paddle boat at the park and pretended we were in Italy.

Giant statues everywhere

The Spanish Air Force Headquarters where Mario will work.
He's excited about his giant office and it has windows overlooking park.
It will be so much better than working underground.

The International section at the grocery store.  Not cheap!!

All the Prius taxi cabs lined up at airport

We saw them in person at the mall

The characters from the above book.  I didn't want them to see me taking a
 picture so I went far away.  It was very odd especially since
it was in the middle of an expensive department store.

Nice walkway between large multilane street.  Unfortunately
people don't like to pick up their pet droppings.

Huge, confusing roundabouts, everywhere!

Underground Metro

My Itinerary

Hmmm!  Nebraska???  We didn't try it.

Staircase where Mario was tutored

That is a driveway to parking garage thru Mario's tutoring building.
It is very narrow.  I didn't believe a car could fit until I saw the cars parked on the other side.

Freaky motorized stuffed animals at the mall

Another Nebraska restaurant.  Why so popular here?

The grocery cart??

Segovia

Monday was the day I got a metro pass and went all over the city while Mario was in class and then with him when he was done.  We were both exhausted by the end of the day.

Mario took Tuesday off from his tutoring so we could do a day trip.  We opted for a city about an hour away.  Again, we were brave and pulled the little rental car out from the parking garage of the hotel.  Mario and I were filled with major anxiety every time we got in that car.  Our car insurance doesn't cover rental cars in Europe.  We paid for the insurance there but it still had a huge deductible. The parking garage had a tiny amount of space to drive and it had several poles that we had to weave in and out of.  It only had room for one car to go at a time, so there were lights directing us when to proceed and when to stop.  We saw a lot of cars with dents in their doors, so I'm assuming they were from those tiny parking garages.

Anyway, we had borrowed a GPS and we were on our way to Segovia.  It was a great drive but a little intimidating because we didn't understand all the highway signs.  I remember at one point Mario thinking one sign was trying to tell us that traffic was going to be coming head on.  I think in reality the sign was trying to tell us to shut off our headlights.  Big difference.  I was desperately searching my little Spanish book that I bought at the airport for clues to what all the signs meant.

After paying outrageous amounts for tolls, we finally made it to Segovia.  It was well worth it.  It was a beautiful city with an amazing aqueduct, cathedral and castle.  Mario and I paid to take a tour of the castle.  We enjoyed walking around the city for a few hours before heading back to Madrid.

the dungeon

overlooking Segovia from the castle tower

the castle

On the way back from Segovia, we stopped at a small outlet mall.  It had a couple of familiar stores, North Face and Nike.  It was so small and still expensive, so we didn't purchase anything.  After the outlet mall, we took a quick nap and then took the metro to the Temple that evening.  I tried to talk Mario into driving the car to the Temple, but he had enough of driving for one day.  I think it took about 45 minutes to go by metro.  It was so nice to be in the Temple.  I was so glad to hear some of the Temple workers speaking English.  I had to wear the headset since I was the only one in the session that didn't speak Spanish.  I thought maybe I didn't need the headset since I go so often, I probably have it memorized.  Oh my goodness, was I wrong.  I really needed that headset.  Mario did well in Spanish and he said he understood everything.  He's awesome.  Maybe one day I can do it without the headset.

Tuesday was probably my favorite day.  It was so relaxing (other than the driving).  It was so nice to spend time with just Mario.  We had so much fun together.  Mario said he has never heard me as laugh as much as I laughed on this trip.  We really did have a great time and it made us both realize that we'll be just fine when the kids all leave us.  We have much to do and see even when it is just the two of us.  We both feel so lucky (blessed) to have each other.