Last two weeks in pictures

Prepare yourself for many pictures. We left for the states two weeks ago yesterday and I am just now blogging about it. First we went to my mom's house in Texas and spent 5 days with her. We had so much fun with her and Molly. We shopped a lot and ate a lot. My mom is a really great cook. There is nothing greater than getting up in the morning and drinking coffee with your mom. To top it off she cooked breakfast for us every morning. We had homemade biscuits, baked chocolate pies (a recipe from my great grandma), and french toast made from homemade bread. Did I mention that she made homemade cheesecake that was to die for? Shannon just informed me that I couldn't forget her homemade cornbread. Oh my goodness, it was good. We ate and ate and ate and loved every minute of it.

Megan eating at Chick-fil-a in Texas for her first meal in the states.

My precious dog Molly. Oh how I miss her already.

On Wednesday December 23rd we flew to Orlando. We got there around 8:30 and by the time we got our rental car and found our resort it was 11:00. So, we slept in the next morning and went to McDonalds for breakfast. Ethan loves the sausage mcgriddles. He loves sausage period. That is the one thing that we can't get here. After a quick run to Starbucks we headed to an outlet mall. We shopped for a couple of hours and then went to Chick-fil-A for lunch. After lunch we went to met Shannon's family at the airport.

Shannon's grandparents with the kids.

The pool at our resort.

Christmas Day - We slept in and Shannon's grandma made us a big breakfast. We then decided to take the kids swimming. We ate a late afternoon Christmas meal which consisted of roast, mashed potatoes, corn, and homemade rolls. That is the meal that we requested and it was delicious.

The kids swimming.

The next day we got up and got ready and took the kids to downtown Disney. Macen, Shonda's youngest daughter, loved Disney. What little girl wouldn't?

Meg and Madison with their new Mickey hats.

The kids with Mickey.

Me with Mickey.

Meg and Madison eating before they left for the airport.

Ethan and his great grandpa Bull.

Shannon's family flew out on Sunday. After they left we went and checked in our motel where the LAC retreat was. The retreat started on Monday December 28 and went through Jan 1.

We had a great time at the retreat.

On Thursday before we left we went back to Downtown Disney.

Me and kids at the Rainforest Cafe.

We got up at 2:40 Jan 1 because we had to be at the airport by 4:30. The airport was crazy. We were lucky that we didn't miss our flight. The kids slept all the way to Houston. We finally arrived back in Costa Rica at 2:00.

I received this great Espresso machine for Christmas. After an early dinner on Saturday Shannon and I decided to make espressos. I had hazelnut and Shannon had vanilla. They were so good. I think this little machine is going to make me so happy.

Perfecto!!

Since we have been home we have been having a little problem with gnats. They were driving me crazy! So, I decided to go online and find out what I could do. I came up with this gnat trap.

All I needed was a coke bottle, sugar, and apple cider vinegar.

Here is the finished product.

Here is the trap after an hour or two. If you look closely you can see the gnats in the bottle.

I guess that about sums up our last two weeks. We still have a week off before we start back to school. We are glad because we need to to rest from all of our travels. We are glad to be back home in Costa Rica. We really like it here. The only thing that could make it better is our dog. I was so proud of the kids. They were both ready to come back to CR too. They were actually excited about it. Well, we will see how excited they are when they start back to school. lol!