Meet Akihiro!!

We set out the other day with a big surprise for our kids. No one knew what we were doing. It was TOP SECRET. We had been looking on a few local websites recently and found just what we wanted, or so we hoped. So we headed out and found that we needed to add this baby to our family!


Meet Akihiro! His name means "great brightness" in Japanese. He is a sweet white husky with bright blue eyes. He is almost eight weeks old since he was born on January 9. Our kids are just loving him right now!


Have you ever seen such pretty blue eyes? His parents both had bright blue eyes so hopefully his will stay this bright and beautiful! His current favorite activity is sleeping. He sleeps pretty much all day long, although I'm sure that will change soon. He likes to sleep pretty much anywhere!


He even seems to get along with our Akita so far. Or she ignores him. The cats, since he is about their size, aren't too fond of him right now, but I'm sure he will help them figure out who is boss as he grows.


He is a fuzzy little snowball full of cuddles at the moment and we all just love him! So happy to give him a loving home to grow up in. He will get to spend most of his life indoors (which is not common for dogs in Panama). I'm sure he will be appearing regularly on my posts!

Beautiful Pictures - Baru, Sunsets, Rainbows

Baru with the moon

Baru with the moon and clouds

I love rainbow pictures! This one shows up pretty regularly in the same spot right across the street. It's beautiful!



On a different day


A beautiful sunset!

And another...

Orange Kitty

Daddy Turned 40!

We recently walked across the border into Costa Rica. Ben had to attend a funeral in the States and it was way cheaper to fly out of Costa Rica than Panama City. He was gone for 8 days, and of those, he traveled for 6. It was a difficult time for him, but I'm glad he was able to go. This is the welcome sign on the CR side - quite sad!! 

Our "5 blonde kid" parade, as usual, got a lot of stares and "cinco hijos, todos son suyos?" (5 kids, they're all yours?) Yes they are mine, I do not walk around with other peoples' children - especially not when they look just like me. This, sadly, is the only other Costa Rica picture we could find.


I am hopeful that we can soon do some vacationing in Costa Rica as I have fond memories of places there on our honeymoon. Just not this border town.  .
We did pretty well while he was away, surprisingly, but we were very glad to have him back. He even brought us all treats from the US.



While he was gone, Ben turned 40! We were so sad to miss it, but we wanted to have a little party when he returned. The kids and I blew up some balloons and showered them down on him as he came through today.




As you can see, everyone was super excited to have him back home. Even the dog has been super happy.


All the kids picked out a few items at the local Todo a Dollar that they thought he would like and wrapped them up. He was pretty happy to open some olives, mushrooms, clips, cookies, peanuts, a drink and a Texas and California trivet. It was a fun little party that we had! 

Boys And Girls Club Summer Camp

The kids have been attending the Boys and Girls Club in Caizan for two
weeks. We go twice a week because it is a really windy, 25 minute ride
down the mountain. The scenery is beautiful though. Right now it is considered "summer" in Panama, so the kids are out of school and the club is doing a summer camp.

_{Playing a fun balloon trivia game.}

The camp involves doing a short Bible study, English class and then a
competition outside. I helped the kids out for the first few days by
translating in their classes since everything is done in Spanish.
Thankfully the teachers and helpers know a little English, so this
really helps, but I want my kids to learn Spanish.

_{My kids definitely stand out, but the Panamanian kids are slowly beginning to try to talk to them!}

In the English class, they go over body parts, colors, numbers, days of
the week, months, directions, etc. A lot of basic vocabulary. I am
hoping that my kids will pick up on some of the Spanish meanings for
these as they hear both languages. So far, they are doing okay!

_{A fun water game they played on a warm afternoon!}

Their favorite part is the competition that happens right before we
leave. There is usually some type of obstacle course that some of the
kids do that leads to a big event at the end. They have done a
tug-of-war a few times and the kids always end up screaming and having a
great time.

_{Tug-of-War is serious business!}

One part of the competition that is a new thing to me was this game
pictured below. The kids had to tie a string around their waist. Then on
the end of the string was a nail. They had to squat down and get the
nail directly into the mouth of a Coke bottle without using their hands.
It was a pretty good game to watch and looked like fun to do as well!

_{A fun competition game of getting the nail in the Coke bottle!}

We have only spent four days with these kids at the summer camp and they
are already opening up to us. Now, it is just time for us to learn
their names!

Gualaca Canyon and Other Early January Happenings

We recently went with our friends to jump in to Gualaca Canyon here in Panama. It was a beautiful place with crystal clear water. The kids (and adults) had a great time! This is the first view we had of it. So beautiful!!





Some were only willing to jump in while holding another person's hand. They would even occasionally turn around and wave after they landed. They said there were little fish in the water who would bite on them as they swam down the way.




Completely beautiful!
It was a great day with friends and we had so much fun getting to play, and it was beautiful there! Next time, I am going to be the first one to jump in so I do not miss out!!

Daddy jumps in!
D jumps in!

Above are 2 videos of people jumping in. :)

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This cutie was hanging around and looking sweet.

We are getting the kitchen mostly finished. We just moved the fridge up yesterday and we have some Fiestaware up on the shelves! It looks really nice. I'm happy with the way it is turning out! 

This kid loves his smoot movies.