I am sorry to be indecisive about this Private or Not to be Private. Again, I am getting strange chinese characters on my comments I have translated them and they are gibberish, but I don't like the idea of strange people looking at my family so... I am sorry (for those of you who might care).

It's official we will be flying home to Portland Oregon July 11, 2010

I Love my girls

It's amazing how each child is born with traits that are different from one another.

Keanna is sensitive and concerned for others needs. We will need to make sure we don't place to much on her because she carry's her load high.

Ayla is our little joker who isn't as serious and likes things to take things on a lighter note. She is a bit shy to be the class clown, but she certainly can steal the show at home.

Lyndi is our snuggle bug. She gives a better hug then anyone I know. She puts both arms around my neck and gives a nice long hug. Way beyond her years in the hugging department.

Nerja, the LAST Spain post

We visited Nerja, really just another Spanish Fishing Town. I loved this town because it felt like Spain. We ventured out of the touristy places and found the most satisfying places.

Lyndi was very tired and hung to my legs during lunch.
Notice the hanging flower pots and the blue tile work in the background, VERY Spanish!

I LOVE the doors in Spain. Someday, I will model one of my own doors after my many memories. This was one of the many local doors that was the entry into a home.

It doesn't get any better then these adorable locals stading in there doorway. They were talking in the doorway as we walked by and happily let me snap a picture. We walked down a street and you could look into their homes. I resisted taking pictures, now that's just rude.

Nerja is famous for what is called "The balcony of Europe." These last pictures are of us enjoying the windy, but beautiful views.

This area was certainly the most touristy of areas. I think most come here look around and go to the next destination. They really missed out!

Keanna posing like King Alfonso XII. After a terrible earthquake which killed many locals he came here and helped build this area up again.

My tanned bleached blonde beauty

blue skies, clear water gorgeous mountains and beaches.

Throughout our visits we saw many of these old cannons. My guess was they were used to fight off the Pirates from the South.

This was the perfect place to end our vacation

I really do LOVE Spain

The Balcony of Europe host many "performers." I have seen quite a few in my day, but this individual was the most memorable. He sang "Losing my Religion" by REM. He was a little flat, very nasally and had the Spanish lisp. I wish we would have brought our video camera. Justin gives a good impression, next time you see him ask him to give it to you.

priceless moments

This made my heart melt.

Lap Pool

Have you ever been to the pool and have seen THAT person walk in swim cap, googles and speedo. They jump in and you debate if you ought to save the poor drowning person and then realize they are trying to swim. Well I was THAT swimmer today (all except the speedo).

I told my sister in law that I would do a triathlon in August. Last time I really swam was my sophomore year in college, when I was engaged. I took a beginner swim class. Let's just say I have a LOT of work to do.

Above the lap pool there is a balacony that leads up to the "adult section" of the pool. A group of about 5 people were standing there, and although it may sound a little egocentric, I was sure they were laughing. However, I do plan on having a date with the lap pool, very soon.

When Your stuck in Spain

When Your Stuck In Spain You

Learn to cut
and devein shrimp

even if it's a little gross. You

drink freshly squeezed Orange Juice,

Eat too many Nutella Sandwiches,

learn to Flamenco Dance,

snooze in the lounge chair,

and learn to do laundry like the locals.

3 days at the beach

The Beach is a perfect place to

snuggle with Dad
soak your feet

and to sunbathe.


We were blesseed with 3 days of sunshine so we could

find more sea shells

and then a few more,

squish our toes in the warm sand and

pile sand on your sister.

The best part of an afternoon at the beach is

the nap you take afterwards.

I REALLY miss my dishwasher

It's been over a week since we had a fire in our dishwasher. I don't know how I ever survived without this wonderful machine.

Saturday and Sunday

Saturday and Sunday it rained and rained. On Saturday we found a local mall with some children toys and we were able to reserve a ticket out of Malaga for the following Friday. We sure hoped the weather would clear up.

Happy Mother's Day

I had the most wonderful Mother's Day thanks to these 3 beautiful girls and one special Husband.

Keanna brought me breakfast in bed (toast and water) and then Justin made me a 2nd breakfast waffles.

I received many handmade cards and 2 beautiful hand crafted necklaces, which I wore to church.




I didn't make a single meal all day and was able to take a nice long nap.


Justin wanted to give me a gift with my input and I am soo excited to get it completed. We will collect 8 or so pictures of our European Adventures take them to our favorite framer and have a beautiful collage for our bedroom.

I also had time to contimplate the blessing of having a loving mother and mother in law. I am truly blessed!

Thank you darling Children and Thoughtful Husband for a great day!

Time to fly home or was it?

We came home from Sevilla put the kids to bed, cleaned and packed until 11 pm. A few hours after we went to bed Lyndi woke up with a fever. I brought Lyndi to bed with me and kicked Justin to the couch. 6:30 we all woke up, ate and drove to the airport. As we were dropping off our car the gentleman helping us mentioned that many flights were cancelled due to the volcanic ash and suggested we checked on ours before returning our car. Justin ran up to check the boards and the boards said our flight was still on schedule to go. We happily returned the car and waited in line to check our bags. We quickly noticed that others were not checking their bags and their faces looked dissapointed as they left the counter. The lady confirmend our suspicions that the flight was cancelled and gave us a piece of paper with a phone number.

The girls and I settled into some chairs and Justin was off to find a phone to see what information he could retrieve from the phone #. 45 minutes later Justin returned with no news. The phone number suggested to go to the internet and the internet sight was having difficulties. We began researching our options:

Train: The train workers in France where on strike, this would not work

Rental Car: It would cost 2000 Euros (at least) to rent a car not to mention gas and 30 hours in the car

Stay Longer and hope to catch a flight out: This was our last option and after several hours of researching our other options decided this was the best answer. We called the couple who rented us the apartment and they graciously gave it to us for free, we rented another car and went back to our lovely apartment.

This was the boards showing all the cancelations
Lyndi expressing exactly how we all felt

Sevilla

I think Rick Steves sums up Sevilla perfectly

"Sevilla dosen't have ambience, it is ambience."

This is the perfect city to just wander around and enjoy the rich Old World Charm and smell the vibrant Orange Blossoms. Definetely, one of my favorite cities.

I love how children can find a way to "play" where ever they are.

Lyndi enjoying a little lunch

The girls spent a lot of time playing on these iron chains. Great entertainment.

This picture is taking in the Patio Banderas these yellow and white buildings once housed the Kings body guards.

There were so many things I love about Sevilla the blooming arches

the vibrant smell of orange blossoms wherever you walked

the wrought iron railing and strong wood doors.

We were able to find a park and the girls had a fun time playing.

Just as I was taking pictures of Lyndi Ayla expressed that she had to go potty. If the children need to go #1, then we simply find a grassy corner and help them to not get urine on their clothes. However, Ayla needed to do more then go #1. We quickly picked up the kids and started to back track in search of a proper toilet. On our journey back I saw so many beautiful things, but I didn't take any pictures. We ended up back at the Cathedral and Giralda Bell Tower and paid our fee's to enter and use the toilet. I nearly fell over in disbelief as Ayla sat over the toilet and let out a few toots and her "business" was done. Sometimes it's really tricky to tell. However, we decided to tour the Cathedral.

This cathedral was special because it held Columbus' tomb. He was first buried in Spain, then the Dominican Republic, Cuba and then around 1900 back to Spain. Sevillian's are very proud to have Columbus in there city recently they even had his DNA tested to prove that these are the actual remains of Christopher himself.

After looking through the cathedral we were all walking outside to a court of Orange Tree's. Once we arrived outside we noticed that Ayla was missing. Justin stayed in the court and went back inside to look for her. It was the worst feeling I searched for about 15 minutes and I could not find her anywhere (this is the longest I have lost a child). After searching the entire cathedral I returned to find Ayla with Justin in the court of the Orange Tree's. 5 minutes earliar a man had brought Ayla to him. I was so grateful to have Ayla safe with me and we decided ice cream was the only reasonable thing to do.

After ice cream we decided it was time to drive home. We had a big day of travel ahead of us and a lot of packing. I left wanting more of Sevilla and feeling sad we couldn't spend more time. It was an incredible city and this is one of those places I could certainly go back to.