Sunday

somehow, between the difference of dates of mother's day in mexico and the u.s. and not having power OR gas, we forgot to celebrate mother's day. but i guess we could pretend our going to breakfast yesterday was because of the holiday. after a semi-breakdown from not having either gas or power (which meant nothing for breakfast other than cold cereal, and there was very little milk) i cried, "uncle!" and we went out to a great little cafe down the street. 


in the afternoon was a birthday party for our good friend seth. we swam and ate and caught up with friends, a lovely way to spend a warm and sunny afternoon. 


mother's day in mexico is always may 10th. so on thursday when eric came to pick is and me up from swim class, sitting on the front seat was a rose and 4 krispy kreme donuts, all for me! he knows me so well. and then he took me to some of my favorite stores to find a dress to help me beat the heat. it is very kind of him to help izzy celebrate the holiday. here are some photos from last year, my first year as a mother. a happy mother's day indeed.

Last Night

yesterday was our 2nd full day without power. long story short, our landlord changed our account so that we give her cash and she pays the power company- bad idea. on wednesday, our power was cut. by the time we figured this out, that it wasn't just a power outage, the offices had closed. and our landlord is out of town for who-knows-how long. so first thing on thursday morning eric went to the office, and found out that though we had been paying her every month, she hadn't paid the bill since december. december!! i mean, we are probably paying for this trip that she is on with our power money. so eric paid the amount in full, and they said that the power would be turned on the following day. frustrating, but okay. the business hours came and went, and by 3:30 the power had still not been turned on. i called the office and they said that we are on the list, but the list is long, and if it isn't on by 4, then they would get to it on monday. 6 days without power, and that is considering that they actually do get to it on monday. we are camping in our own apartment! my favorite part is that we keep forgetting to buy a lighter to light our stove, so 5 times a day, i light a paper towel outside from our water heater pilot light and carefully walk back into the kitchen, torch in hand, to light our stove. who knows when we'll see our land lord again. the whole thing is pretty ridiculous. and did i say long story short? i meant long story long.


here are a few picture from our night our last night. oh, and the bottom photo is our scrappy set-up to power the fridge. our neighbors downstairs are kind enough to let us run a big ol' extension chord from their apartment. 

A Cute Idea

my cousin recently posted the photos from the photo booth at his wedding reception. granted, i have been out of the country for some time, but this was the first time i had seen this done. i love the idea, and it captures some really neat images and memories, and is a great way to document the people who attended the reception. their particular booth had an all white floor and backdrop, a fantastic vintage couch, moustaches and other costume-y things to wear to make the photos as goofy as you want, and then a chalk board for you to have in the photo, so you can wish the bride and groom anything you want. such a darling idea. looking back, we should have taken 3-10 photos and let the newly-weds choose the best among them, but we only took one. it's a little off, not the most flattering of everyone, but that's how it goes with candid shots. this is my side of the family, minus my brother and his wife, and my sister's husband. it was such a cute idea for such a great reception!

Just a Few Things

at this moment i am out in the garden watching is and a neighbor-boy playing with a bucket of water and pool toys. some how a bucket of water trumps not one, but two actual pools. i guess it goes to show that i will never be able to predict what will entertain a toddler. 


eric has decided to buckle down and do 4 weeks of intensive studying and then take his 2nd board exam, and so he said that i may want to return to utah even earlier than planned. am i ready to leave that soon? i'm not sure.  there are many things that i miss about the u.s., like customer service being a priority. i was returning a small can of pumpkin (after being so thrilled to have finally found some after years of not being able to buy it) because i later checked the receipt and saw that it was almost $10. imported goods are so expensive. i thought that if i could go three years without it, i can go one more month. so the thueson frugalness kicked in and i returned it. but the woman working was so rude, i was trying to make small talk and didn't even get a smile. lack of customer service where ever i go gets old. but other than that i have had a great few days. i tried to sit down to a late breakfast with a couple girlfriends this morning, but is wasn't going to let me. we had already eaten, so he was ready to play, or nap, i couldn't tell. so it was cut short, but enjoyable, nonetheless.

Hot Hot Heat

oh, it is getting hot! first of may and we are living air-conditioning-less in the 90s. ouch. we find ways to beat the heat though- 8 fans running in our apartment at any given time, late night pool dips, and my personal favorite: near-loitering in the costco walk-in refrigerator. we hung out there for almost 10  minutes this weekend, pictured below. it was marvelous. this weekend was a holiday weekend here in mexico. it seems that every other weekend in the spring is a holiday. this particular weekend was children's day and labor day, so i had monday and tuesday off from work. usually i would love this, but that means no air-conditioned classes to teach, so i just risked getting kicked out of costco instead. on saturday, some friends and their kids had a picnic at parque metropolitano which was a lot of fun. is seemed less interested in the swings and kids and more interested in trash pick-up, it was starting to gross me out, all of the things he would bring for me to throw away.  yikes. 

           

A Morning to Remember

because our time here is wrapping up, i feel myself trying to soak everything in. i am almost looking at everything with the same rose-colored lenses i did when i first came. guadalajara is truly a beautiful city with beauty in everyday things. the flora is particularly beautiful, the tree pictured below reminds me of the trees that come in a legos kit, driveways are decorated with intricate tile-work at every other home. while we are looking forward to being back in the united states, here are photos from yesterday morning of things and moments that we will miss.

             

Night Owl

about once every two months, it takes is an hour or more to fall asleep. i love to listen to him jabber and shuffle around in his bed. i wonder what he is thinking about and how he entertains himself during these nights. last night was one of these nights. after about an hour of listening i couldn’t resist any longer, i opened the door and was greeted with a huge smile and a 'mommy!', so he was pulled from his crib and we cuddled up in bed. he loves to watch home videos so at about 10 o’clock last night, that’s what we were doing.  watching his face while he watches himself in the videos might be the sweetest thing I have ever seen- but I find I say that he is doing the sweetest thing I have ever seen about once a day so…

want to see what we were watching?

after about 45 minutes of videos, cuddling, kisses, songs and laughing, he was back in bed and asleep within 5 minutes. amazing.