Mis hijas hermosas

Sometimes I just want to freeze time and keep it locked up forever. That is how I am feeling right now about these three beautiful young women. They are all at different stages of life and I just absolutely love each of them for what they bring to my life right now.
Mariah: gets me out of bed 6 days a week and takes on the role of my personal trainer. I have to admit that sometimes I want to scream at her, but then I love her way too much....so I don't. She is the best math tutor around, adores her siblings like none other, is a great example to me in so many ways...I can't even name them all. She and I can spend hours talking about anything. I love those hours. I don't know how my daughter turned into my best friend, but she did.
Lora: is just intriguing to me right now. She goes back and forth between wanting to grow up yet scared to death to not be a little girl anymore. She seriously hugs me at least 50 times a day and holds on like it might be the last one she will get in before she is "accidentally grows up". Her taste buds mimic her personality: Tobasco sauce and Reeses PB cups. Depends on her mood. She can make me laugh like none other and can also bring out the not so good side of me but I love her for it.
Emma: is the baby and gets away with more than anyone else in the family which doesn't always set well with the Tobasco sauce side of Lora. Emma is 100% girl and can keep herself entertained better than anyone I have ever known. All she needs is her purse with all the glamorous goodies inside, a good pair of heels that make a clicking noise on the tile floor, and some good music in the background and she can keep herself happy for hours. She has adopted one of my dresses to play in and tries to convince me each week that it really does fit her and she should be able to wear it to church. She is pretty independent and doesn't ask me to do much for her anymore, except once in awhile I am given the honor of her asking for my opinion of her choice of clothing for the day. I have given up the battle of trying to convince her that certain colors and patterns don't match......I just go with it now and we are both happier.
These are my girls. I hope I deserve them. I am so blessed that we get to "grow up"together.

Swingin' on the vines

This week we had the Pedersen family from AZ come and visit us. We took them on this great hike early one morning and we stopped along the way to swing on these vines. Looks like Gary is enjoying himself huh?

Emma got some real momentum going....

Lora was just waiting for Tarzan to come along

Later that day we went to the beach and this baby Sperm Whale had washed up on the beach, injured. The rescue team had been working on him all day trying to get him able to go back in the water. It was sad, but so fun to see. The wildlife here never ceases to amaze us. This was a really fun day and so fun to see some faces from home. Thanks for coming to see us Pedersen family!!

We live in a Zoo

Isn't this the cutest little face? These monkeys were just hanging out on the beach with us in a place called Manuel Antonio

This is Abe's hand here giving him a pretzel



Abe has this affect on PEOPLE after awhile...guess it is no different with monkeys!

This is a photo Lane snapped just as this monkey was leaping over to the next tree

I love this one! Totally reminds me of that old tv show...Planet of the Apes. He looks like a little man here huh?
Snuggled up for a family photo

We also saw sloths, toucans, deer, colorful crabs, poisonous spiders and so many beautiful flowers. It was really an amazing day.

A Trip to Panama

Our 90 day passport renewal was due so this time we decided to head south to Panama and explore something new. We took 4 days to do it so that we could have time to experience things along the way and break up the long 12 hour drive. It was Mariah's first time doing a border crossing and I have to say that she got through it better than I thought she would. It is never a real fun experience.....just long lines, chaos and dirt. we are getting the hang of it better now though so it went pretty smooth.
We stopped off for a hike in the Manuel Antonio Parque Nacional, joined some onlookers on the bridge to look at some huge crocodiles, fed some monkeys just hanging out in the trees by the beach and shopped in the duty free zone between Panama & CR. We took about 300 pictures on the trip so as soon as I go through them all, I will post a few.
We saw so much amazing wildlife. It felt like the zoo keeper had given us his key for the week!