One Whole Year

Today marks ONE YEAR since we arrived in Dominica- and what a year it has been! Ben and I were reflecting today on how crazy our journey to Dominica was- the most frustrating and chaotic travel of our lives. And that was just the beginning! Our life here has been crazy, frustrating, wonderful, stressful, beautiful and amazing. Here is our little Chase right after arriving in Dominica- has he changed or what!

In the last year we have:

spent a lot of time at the beach

Had some wonderful visitors

 Seen amazing sights

 enjoyed 100 beautiful sunsets

 made wonderful friends

learned to make everything from scratch (bread, tortillas, etc.)

and walked over 1000 miles with this kid in the stroller.

What an amazing year it has been for our little family!

Here we are yesterday, celebrating a whole year of

experience on the beach.

With a whole year behind us,

and only four months left on the island,

I'm glad we did this.

It's been a hard and wonderful year and I know our lives will never be the same,

this island has changed us for the better.

Peek-a-boo

I love this 15 month-old-stage that Chase is in now. He is so fun! I love that he can play games and is starting to understand his world better. This picture is of Chase playing hide and seek/ultra peek-a-boo- he loves to hide in this little broom cupboard and pop out giggling. He loves to read stories and will sit on my lap for 20 minutes straight enjoying story time (although sometimes he's picky about which books we read and will shove away every book until I find one he likes). Yesterday we played with a colander for a solid ten minutes, putting it on my head (and laughing hysterically about it) and then putting it on his head (and laughing hysterically some more). If I could bottle up this cuteness and sell it somehow I'd make a fortune. Yesterday marked two years since we found out he was on his way to joining our family- one of the happiest days of my life. He has made us so happy!

Morning Walks

I love my time going on early morning walks with Chase. Dominica is usually nice and cool before 7am when we are out (Chase thinks 5:00 am is a good time to wake up- I can't convince him otherwise). Chase loves being out in the stroller. I took the 5 point harness off his stroller, so now it's just a basic seatbelt and he can sit forward- which he always does. I think he thinks he's driving. I love listening to Chase babble away while I exercise and enjoy the amazing views I get here- the beautiful ocean that is so still and blue and glassy that early in the morning, the misty rainforest, and vibrant tropical flowers. This will definitely be something I'll miss when we leave the island in August.

One of my favorite parts is when we pull back in to our apartment complex. I tell Chase, "We're home!" and he repeats "home" in his breathy, high little voice and then immediately starts talking about "da da". As soon as we come in the door Chase races to the bedroom to wake up his dad. As soon as Ben pulls Chase up on the bed next to him, Chase gives Ben a quick hug and then immediately reaches for the books and hands them to Ben to read to him. It's the sweetest thing- I love our little morning routine!

Gratitude

I almost hesitate in posting this, because it's a little personal, but right now I have so much on my mind and in my heart. I wanted to share our experience over the last few months, in case it helps someone else, and so that we can remember all that the Lord has done for us.

School here in Dominica has been extremely stressful. Ross University does not operate like other medical schools, they over-accept students knowing that they will fail a good portion of them before they complete their degree. If you fail one block (three blocks make up a semester) you can repeat the whole semester, if you fail two blocks- you are done. The second time you fail- you are done. The tests are hard- extremely hard. The final is worth 50% of your grade. Basically, there is a lot on the line. There is little mercy. We are constantly stressed. Ben studies hard- 16 hours a day 6 days a week. I help him study when I can, which is most nights after Chase goes to bed. Ben is focused and dedicated, and at times it has seemed that it wouldn't be enough.

This semester started off like every other semester, hard and busy. The semester was going fairly well (and extremely well at some points) until his block three exam, which takes place one week before the final. The exam did not go well. Everyone Ben talked to in his semester got one of their worst grades ever, if not their very worst grade. It was less than comforting to go into the final with that news.

My ever strong husband put his head down and went to work. He studied harder and longer than he ever had before, determined that he would pass the final. He stayed up really late, got up early, and worked all day long. Through all this he still took little breaks to eat dinner every night with me and give Chase a little quality time. Other than those few breaks, he was all business. My stomach was in knots all week. I was so nervous.

The night before the final, Ben asked our friend Broc to come over and give him a Priesthood blessing. He needed some comfort and help to calm his nerves. From the point Broc started the blessing we both immediately felt calm. I knew everything would work out- whether that meant a passing grade or not- I knew that everything was in the Lord's hands. He knew how hard Ben had worked and how much we wanted this. He would take care of us.

Even knowing this, I still hoped that Ben would pass. I hoped we were on the same page. It's easy for me to have faith that the Lord can answer our prayers. It's hard for me to have faith that if our plan A doesn't work out that the Lord has something else in store, some other plan for us. This week tested that faith- the hard kind. After the blessing I felt that comfort I'd been praying so hard for- the comfort that either way everything would be okay.

Today, after a week of waiting, we received Ben's grades. I'm so happy and grateful to report that Ben passed third semester! What a blessing! Soon after receiving the news, we got down on our knees and thanked Heavenly Father for helping us get this far. We know he's been there every step of the way on this journey. We've been tested and tried down here like we never have before, but we know that He's never left our side. After doing everything we (mostly Ben) could possibly do, all the studying and hard work, all our fasting and prayers, and the fasting and prayers of loved ones, the Lord made up the difference and helped Ben to pass. Tonight we are so so grateful.

Easter Part II

Is this not the cutest thing you've ever seen?

Here are most of the kids in our branch at their

little Easter party a few weeks ago. 

Chase tried to destroy the ears.

He was not thrilled with being a bunny.

Break and Beach time!

Ben took his final last Wednesday and grades haven't come out yet, so while we are waiting we are spending as much quality time together as possible! We've been to the beach a few times, watched some movies, made a few new desserts together (thank you pinterest!) and played at the park. Chase is LOVING having Ben around! Now Chase cries every time Ben even leaves the room or takes the trash out- I think he's a little attached!

Here are a few of the pictures I snapped on the beach this morning. We sure live in a beautiful place! Chase loves the beach now and Ben and I are so glad we are finally able to enjoy it! This orange bucket could make Chase happy for hours.

The Smoothie Saga

There is a smoothie shop at the shacks right outside campus (local food). They are delicious and so refreshing on a hot day! On our way home from the pool today it was just burning hot, so I stopped to get one for me and one to drop off for Ben. Chase, even from the stroller, definitely knows that it is the smoothie shop and he knows that he LOVES the stuff that comes in those white styrofoam cups. As soon as we pull away he starts screaming that he isn't getting any! So I pull over the stroller and give him a sip or two, but as soon as I try to get moving again he screams some more. Today I kind of gave up and just let him hold the cup, but the lid wasn't completely secure, so he ended up with strawberry banana smoothie all over himself and the stroller. Once we got home I stripped the smoothie covered outfit off him and let him go to town on my smoothie. He was in heaven.

And this is the response when the smoothie was "all done" and I threw away the cup.

Oh the drama!

I guess I should probably just get him his own smoothie from now on.

Easter 2012

We kicked off the Easter celebrating yesterday with an Easter party with the other kiddos in the branch. Two ladies in the branch put together a darling party complete with games, eggs dying, lunch and an Easter egg hunt. Chase mostly went nuts having so many other kids around, threw his own lunch on the floor and then tried to eat other kids lunch, went inside and outside more times than I could count, and made an absolute mess trying to eat Ranch with his fingers. After all that came the egg hunt and Chase was all over it! I showed him one egg and instructed him to throw it in our make-shift basket (grocery bag) and after that he excitedly pointed to eggs, picked them up and enthusiastically threw them in the bag. He had a ball! Much to his surprise, there was yummy candy inside the eggs, which he was equally excited about. He came home happy and completely exhausted, and for the first time in his entire 15 month long life, took a 3 hour nap!

This morning I re-hid the eggs for him to find- sans candy, because I couldn't find any one year old appropriate candy at IGA yesterday. Luckily he doesn't really know that they are supposed to have candy in them! He showed Ben how he knows exactly how to hunt eggs! Here are a few of the action shots Ben took of him hunting eggs, pointing to them and having me follow him around so he could throw the eggs in the bag. I think Chase loves Easter! We dressed him up in this cute outfit from his Grammy and headed to church.

We have had a wonderful Easter holiday! I love Easter, it is such a wonderful time to remember our Savior and the hope that his resurrection gives us. We had a wonderful church meeting today, complete with some wonderful talks about the Savior and his life and sacrifice for us, even while wrestling our wiggly one year old there was still such a sweet spirit there. It makes me a little sad that we aren't in the states with family and where I could have had an actual basket for Chase, but being here helps us focus on the real reason for the holiday- our Savior Jesus Christ. {Side note: Chase says Jesus now and it's the sweetest thing! He points to his picture all the time and says "Jesus!"}

Our little family outside of our lovely green church-

Chase really was happy,

he was just really focused on the construction that was going on across the street.

Chase's Favorite Things

The older Chase gets the more opinionated he is! Lately he makes it very clear which books he wants to read, which food he's willing to eat and who he wants to put him to bed at night. Here are some of his recent favorite things:

1. Swimming- which I am loving! It has gotten HOT HOT HOT in Dominica, so we are spending a lot of time at the beach and pool. Last week my friend and I took our little boys down to the beach and had the most wonderful morning- the little ones played in the sand and we got to chat with the most beautiful scenery in the world all around us! I think this summer will be a lot more fun than our last summer here was since Chase is loving the beach and pool so much!

He's in an awkward in between sizes with swimming suits- his 12 month suit is too small, and as you can see from these pictures, the 18 month size suit is a tad big. However, this means I have less skin to sunscreen, so we're using it anyway!

2. Binkies- this is really more of an obsession. I am not looking forward to weaning him from these things in the next few months! Here he is with one fastened to his shirt, one in his mouth, and two in his hands. He mostly stayed like this all morning. This kid LOVES his binky!

3. Sunglasses- Chase loves his shades! These were a birthday gift from his little friends down here and he thinks they are the coolest! He can't keep them on for longer than 3 seconds, but loves to take them on and off over and over again. It's darling!

General Conference

General Conference here is one of those things that makes me miss our old life in Utah so much! In my family, General Conference is practically a holiday. Our good friends, the Bradens from Boise, always come down and spend the weekend with us. We eat delicious food, mostly prepared by my wonderful mom (but sometimes I help:), enjoy hilarious and wonderful company, and spend the weekend being uplifted by the inspiring words of the apostles and prophet. I don't know what could be better! Spending it far away has left me with a twinge of homesickness! Shots of Temple Square blooming in tulips made me want to jump on a plane immediately!

However, the spiritual feast that we experience at General Conference is the same wherever you watch it! So here we are, watching conference on my laptop, one of those families they talk about- around the world that are able to see conference due to the miracle of technology. We loved hearing conference, and Ben and I were both especially touched by Pres. Uchtdorf's talk on being kind and true disciples of Christ, as well as the wise words of Elder Holland cautioning against comparing, envy and judging others. It is amazing to hear answers to prayers and direction in our lives through their words.

Chase and I during a musical number of Saturday morning session-

notice the laptop in the background-

thank goodness our internet held out as long as it did!

And here is Chase-

obviously delighted to be experiencing conference!