Please meet up with me over here 

http://familychrysalis.blogspot.com/  

from now on.

Okay, I'm obviously having problems with posting pictures here!  Not sure why so I think I'm going to abandon this site since the whole point of doing this is to document, remember and share where we are living and what we are doing around here.  After I move and get settled, I'll share the new link. 

So until further notice, here is another "box."  :-(

Walking the downtown streets of Rota.

Moving in day.  This is our front yard and carport.

Yardwork!

Shopping at the weekly outdoor market.  FRESH is what it's all about so it can get pretty gross and smelly but it makes for good meals.

Christmas cheer in our new home.

We toured this entire fortress and spent about six hours inside.  It was amazing to be inside a real life castle!

"Granada is an old, beautiful city featering the Alhambra, an extensive Moorish fortress and palace.  La Alhambra perches on a hilltop and offers views of the city below and the mountains above." 

If you'd like to read more about this, pick up the book, Tales of the Alhambra by Washington Irving.  He lived in this fortress for a short time and his writings about it have made it a world famous "must see".  During our tour we used an audio guide with exerpts from this book.  It made it very interesting! 

I even got my 1st kiss INSIDE a castle while we were there!  Ahh, how romantic...

Finally, we are hooked up with modern technology at home!  It only took us four months due to a little procrastination and a lot of cultural infamiliarity!   We were hooked up yesterday so last night I spent the evening purusing some of my favorite websites and blogs that I haven't keeped up with since our move.  Amy and Katie, you both have wonderful blogs.  It was so nice to get family updates and pictures.  So, now I realize that this blog really needs photos.  Now that I can do this at home, I'll start attaching pics with my posts.  However, Travis is a little hesitant to move the internet on our main home computer until we get a handle on pop-ups and such.  We don't want to be bombarded with trash emails and sites.  I'll try to get a picture or two on here soon though.

It has been a very rainy and windy weekend.  The wind storms around here are horrible!  It blows for days at a time and they are so fierce that you have hold on to doors as you open them and watch out for palm fronds that get blown off the palm trees, etc.  It's horrible to go out in and honestly, it affects my mood and makes me feel very grumpy.  So, we stayed indoors and had a wonderful weekened at home with fires in the fireplace, a couple movies, a few board games,  American Idol episodes, homemade chocolate chip cookies and several naps on the couch.  The kids may have been a little bored at times but Travis and I have been loving it!      

I am so happy to report that Ethan is now (dare I say) "a reader!"  He has struggled for quite a while with the basic phonics needed for beginning reading.   In the last couple of months, he has finally figured it out and our reading sessions are going sooo much better!  Whew, this is a milestone we are happy to be crossing over.  His goal since Jan 1st has been to read for 15 minutes each day.  Sometimes, that 15 minutes actually takes 1/2 hour because I won't count the looking at picutres or wiggling around or other distractions.  He has a timer that we use and while he's actually reading, the time ticks away.  But lately, he's been reading past the required time!  Oh, joy!  I love hearing him read to me (finally).