Special Visitor!

What a thrill!! What a treat!!! We had the pleasure of having my sister Molly stay with us two whole weeks!! We took her around to the usual "hang-outs" in Bogota, but the highlight was a trip to Silvania, a cute little town south of the city.

My good friends the Arcos family have a country house there and they invited us to join them for two days during Molly's visit. We got to pick mandarin oranges, oranges, and coffee beans right from the tree! We wandered around the little town and even took a tour of a horse ranch. We weren't able to capture our entire experience on camera, but here are a few pictures of the tranquil and fresh environment this little haven provides.

 Jane, Molly, and Emily on the porch of the country house.

 Molly and Victor in downtown Silvania

Molly and Jane on the bamboo balcony of the country house.  What a view!

Thanks for coming to visit us, Molly!  We sure do miss you!

You know it's time...

... to clean when your toddler falls down and comes back up with dirt on her face.

So Jane wanted to go out on our balcony and we had some people visiting so, supervised, she made her way out only to take a tumble a few moments later.  My friend brought her over to me still crying.  I took one look at her and simply burst out laughing!  I mean, just look at that face!  The balcony was so dirty that a simple fall produced that much dirt on Jane's face.  It looks like she's been playing in a sandbox, minus the rest of "sandbox" mess.  Anyway, thankfully she had no scratches or bruises and it took just a few wet wipes to get her clean... but I just couldn't believe it! 

Is my lipstick on straight?

No, not exactly honey....

Colomiba - Medellin Oct 2010

Since living here in Colombia, we have been able to travel a little and see other parts besides Bogotá. Last October we all took a trip to Medellín. Historically one of the most dangerous cities in Colombia, Medellín has become a rather thriving and attractive city. Medellín also has this amazing metro-cable, much like a ground metro system but with cable cars, which transports commuters to and from neighborhoods high in the Andes Mountains. I've included some pictures of our trip below. Also, click on this link to see more! This picture shows the neighborhoods in the Andes. Notice no cars on the roads. I love how the houses are sweetly nestled into the trees.

I liked this picture demonstrating the ingenuity of Medellín residents putting a varitey of resources to good use fortifying their roofs. While the houses may look poor, I found myself wanting to live in such a close-knit, friendly looking place.


Medellín also has an Exporatorium, including a small aquarium. Here are Nils and Jane standing in front of a tank featuring fresh water fish and trees.

A picture of me and Jane at the last stop of the metro-cable. As you get off you see the vast forest of the Andes Mountains. So beautiful, but picture-wise it just looks like a bunch of green trees...

Medellín is a pleasant and bustling city, not quite as busy as Bogotá but with all the conveniences. There is still the constant threat of rain, but it's much warmer than the year-round Autunm-feel of Bogotá.

And I just have to include this one last picture. As we were coming back from our trip to the top of the metro-cable, I captured this. I thought it striking the contrast between the new, well-groomed street and the girl riding a donkey.

Never too Early - part 2

So last November I started "potty training" Jane. I hoped to make it easier to transition out of diapers as well as reduce the daily diaper count. Jane turns 18 months on the 25th and I've been trying to kick it up a notch to see if she can be fully potty trained before the next baby comes out. I got my inspiration from this woman...
My Great-Aunt Helen. Pictured with her is me, her son John, Jane, and John's daughter Josie. (Wow, that's a lot of J's.) Great-Aunt Helen is an amazing woman and managed to never have more than 1 child in diapers at a time. I'm not sure what methods she used or if she even remembers, but I've been inspired nonetheless.

I'm just not quite sure how to transition Jane out of diapers. Jane is fully "poo-poo" trained (don't worry, no pictures of that) and is really good about telling me when she needs to go. Pee-pee on the other hand, not so much. So I decided to try an idea I got from BabyCenter.com. Essentially you just have your kid run around with a naked bottom (they said for 3 days) and encourage the usage of the potty whenever they need to go. This is for toddlers going from zero to trained. The author of this idea warns about accidents and preparing yourself for the occasional clean-up. But from day one of giving it a try, Jane didn't have an accident - not once! She managed to tell us or go by herself when she needed to use the potty. The only problem is, once the diaper goes back on for nap time or bed time, she's not shy about using it for its designed purpose. We still go through fewer diapers, but what's the next step? Do I just brace myself and allow her to go diaperless? The other fear I have is whenever we go out. Will she be able to hold it if we're in the car and I can't pull over? I rationalize that we have until next February to really get her 100% potty trained, but she's so close! Even last night when we were at a restaurant, she signed "bathroom" and as I helped her balance on the grown-up toilet, she pushed my hands away and sat there all by herself!

As an aside... I captured these pictures of Jane reading a book while she was on the potty. It's just so hilarious! :)

WeddingS!

My brother Rory and my sister Ellen got married this summer, not to each other obviously, and Nils, Jane, and I were fortunate to be able to attend both of them. It does help that they were two weeks apart.

Rory's Wedding - May 28
Rory's wedding was super awesome. Why? Several things. Numero uno... I didn't have to do anything except show up. Well, I did have to interpret for the marriage ceremony, but that's not so bad. The timing was fairly nice and we were all done at a decent hour. I believe we even decided to go to a restaurant together afterward. Now whoever suggested Chuck-a-rama was out of their mind. Okay, actually I was one of those who suggested it, but it was fairly good. I just feel bad for John and Wendy (anyone else?) who discovered why people call it "Up-chuck-a-rama". Still, that place brings back memories of NOT trick-or-treating on Halloween and oddly enough a waiter dressed up like Elvis with drawn-in chest hair.

Also great about Rory's wedding was the amazing potluck food served during the family dinner and right before the reception. Rory married into a "good-cook" family. And speaking of the family he married into... Historically I've been rather proud of the size of our family, finding it quite the compliment that we had to stay in the hospital when visiting Molly's deaf school in Idaho because there wasn't any other place to put us. But the Andersons by far have us beat. Just take a look at the following photos. Note that we're a little more spread out and the others are all crammed together. Hard to catch all the little faces mixed in.

The happy couple and our family
(Wendy's family didn't make it into this photo. I'll have to see if I can find one with all of us. Also, Toby's family wasn't able to make it. They were greatly missed. Oh, and that guy on the end there by me is Tim - Rory's best friend.)

Both families

The O'Hara side circled. Again, it looks like the circle covers a pretty big area, but look at the person-per-square-inch in the rest of the photo.

Ellen's Wedding - June 11
Being a sister and all, there was a lot more to do for Ellen's wedding than for Rory's. Luckily Rory's came first so we all had time to make the flower wreaths for the girls and the flower arrangements and ordering the food and fixing the wedding dress and not worrying about wedding cake and whatever else you're supposed to do for a wedding. Ellen did a great job NOT being bridezilla and making quick and rational decisions about everything. The day was beautiful, the location sublime, and the food was awfully good! Here's a picture of the immediate family (unfortunately missing Toby).

I'll see if I can find some more photos to share.

Congratulations Rory and Katrina!!
Congratulations Ellen and Levi!!

I just had to add this cute picture of the Ellen and Jane :)
(at least while Jane still had her wreath on)

Jane feeds Ozzie

Gramma Jamma took this cute video of Jane during our visit in June.