Our life lately

Of course, our life lately revolves around two things: medical school and our little boy. Ben's still working hard, studying long hours and stays extremely busy with school. Chase, of course, is still adorable.

We just recently got some missionaries on our island! We haven't had Elders here the whole time we've been here, but we recently got a few companionships that are assigned to Dominica for a few months. They just got in last weekend. We signed up to have them over for dinner on Tuesday. We loved having the company of these sweet Elders. And small world moment, Elder Christiansen- on the right- is from none other than Kaysville, Ut! He went to Davis High and played football with my little brother Nate. Crazy!
Chase is pulling himself up on everything now. He usually looks so happy with himself. Now I need to baby proof another level of our home!
Chase loves this little rope. It's supposed to hold the curtains back, but we rarely use it and Chase thinks that it is a great toy!
Chase and I have been hanging out at the pool a little more lately. I think I've got Chase liking the idea of swimming these days. I put these darling little flip flops on him the other day and I had to take a picture. Is there anything in the world cuter than baby feet?
Chase usually rides in his stroller with his feet propped up like this. I get lots of comments on how cute it is, he just looks so comfortable! And he was confused by these shoes, it's the first time he's worn shoes and he just kept trying to take them off. It was darling while it lasted:)
Chase is getting better at feeding himself, although this picture is proof that giving him chunks of avocado usually just results in a huge mess. He does really well with puffs, little pieces of bread or tortilla, scrambled eggs and green beans though.
And lastly, I bought him this darling outfit last Spring. I loved it and I've been so excited to put him in it. It finally almost fits, so he wore it to church last Sunday. He looked so cute we tried to get a picture. He wasn't feeling like being photographed. These were the best we got. I'll try again another day!

Sadie and "BABY CHASE!!!!!!!"

Chase has a cute little friend here. Her name is Sadie and she lives next door. She has been completely attached to Chase since the day we moved in. Sadie was just barely learning to talk then and one of the few things she'd say was "Baby Chase". Whenever she'd see me with Chase she'd yell it out in the most excited little voice- "Baby CHASE!!!" Whenever she'd see me without Chase attached, it would be a question "Baby Chase?", to which I would usually respond, "Baby Chase is sleeping." Now when Sadie sees me without Chase she says immediately "baby Chase is sleepin' " Chase's face lights up now when he sees Sadie. He knows she likes him and that she's FUN! Sadie's mom, Michelle, snapped these pictures of them playing the other day. Chase is starting to interact with other kids now, which is so so fun to watch.

I've noticed that now almost everyone in our branch calls him Baby Chase. It's partly due to the fact that there is a 7 year old girl, Chaise, in our branch. Mostly, I think it's because they hear Sadie yelling it out all the time. Hooray for Baby Chase!

Days 9 & 10...

Day 9: What has made living on the island easier?

I actually did a whole post about this last summer. To recap: Without a doubt, good friends. There have been a few wonderful ladies in our branch here that have helped me keep my sanity! Technology has made it much easier, with skype and email. I still eat a lot of ice cream, although I've been trying to cut back:)

Day 10: What will you miss when you leave?

Almost every night I take dinner up to Ben on campus. We sit on a picnic table that overlooks the ocean and watch the sunset while we eat. It's always breathtaking and I love it.

Day 8: Does your spouse like it here?

I need to finish this challenge up! The weekend was busy and got me off track!

I asked Ben what he thinks of living here. Here is how the conversation went down.

Ben: "What do you think?"

Courtney: "I think you miss beef a lot and on Sundays when we stay home all afternoon you get really hot and miss airconditioning a lot* but mostly you are an adventurous person and you enjoy living here."

Ben: "Yep- that's pretty much it."

Ben and I have had a couple of conversations lately about how he misses eating beef. He even asked if I thought possibly my mom could make flank steak for our first meal when we get back. I said I thought she probably would. He went on to describe his ideal meal that my mom could make for him- flank steak with chili sauce, homemade rolls, grilled pineapple and "that really good salad". Got all that Mom? (That really good salad is the one with romaine lettuce, broccoli and ramen noodles)

*Campus is air conditioned, so the heat here doesn't affect Ben all that much

It's not even Halloween yet. . .

. . . and I'm already thinking about Christmas. I do this every year, I really love fall and I really love winter, especially Christmas time. And since the birth of Chase last January I feel like Ben and I are real grown-ups now and that means doing our own Christmas card. I love getting Christmas cards. I think it is so fun to get such fun mail during the month of December. And when you live in a 3rd world country, which I do, you have to plan these things out early. So if you would like to receive a Christmas card from us, leave me your address:) If you don't want to leave it in a comment, you can email it to me court.hugo@gmail.com

Thanks!

Day 7: What is the best meal you've had on the island

This one is hard for me. Cooking here has been hard for me. It's hard to make yummy, nutritious meals with the limited resources here. A lot of my standby recipes I made a lot when we lived in the states don't work here, so I've had to find a bunch of new ones that do work. Ben found this recipe for me to try and we've really liked it, so this is probably the best meal we've had here.

COCONUT CURRY CHICKEN

INGREDIENTS:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil 1 white onion, chopped 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - chopped 1 large potate, cubed

2 1/2 tablespoons yellow curry powder 1 teaspoon garlic salt 1 (14 ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk 1 Tbsp Lime juice 2 Tbsp brown sugar 1/3 cup chicken stock salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and cook until tender. Mix in the chicken, and cook 10 minutes, or until juices run clear.
2.	Mix the potato, curry powder and garlic salt into the skillet. Pour in the coconut milk, lime juice, brown sugar and chicken stock. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes. Serve over rice. **I add carrots and broccoli to this recipe with the chicken and we really like it that way

Day 6: Tell about an "only in Dominica" moment. . .

I've had so many of these, here are just a few:

• I went to get a new lighter to use to light our oven with. I went to James Store, this crazy store right by campus that is just packed full of the most random things, most of it just really looks like junk. I asked for help to find a lighter because it is nearly impossible to find anything in there without help. The store worker took me back and found the lighters and proceeded to try at least 12 lighters before he found one that worked to give to me to buy. What did he do with the 11 reject lighters that didn't actually work? Put them right back in the shelf, for some poor, unsuspecting customer to buy.
• When we are out in even the tiniest amount of rain (you know the kind that is falling so softly that you hardly notice it) locals will always stop me to tell me to cover up my baby. Even sometimes when I have the rain cover over the stroller they will stop to tell me to keep my baby dry. I want to say, "You do know he gets wet when I bathe him right?" I don't know why they are so concerned about babies getting wet, but they are. I just don't think that if Chase little legs get wet from a little light rain in 80 degree weather is not going to hurt him. He doesn't seem to mind.
• Locals always think Chase is a girl. I really don't know how they mistake my handsome little man as a girl, but I get told that I have a beautiful daughter a lot. And I think every outfit he owns is blue. It's still a mystery to me. Doesn't he just look like a little boy?