Back in Kansas...

Well, I've been back in Kansas for a week now. Last week was so crazy. I got to St. Louis at 5:30 last Sunday. Amanda was nice enough to drive to pick me up, we stopped and ate, picked up Jim and the kids (so exciting to see them!) and we drove to Minneapolis. We arrived around 2:30 Monday morning...long drive from St. Louis, in case you didn't know. Grandpa's funeral was Monday afternoon so Monday was a long day. Thank you all for your prayers, thoughts, cards, etc. during this time. We've made it through the tough stuff now it's time to move on. On Tuesday, my mom and I helped Grandma write thank you notes then it was back to Lenexa to mom & dad's apartment. I spent Wednesday at Ft. Leavenworth surprising our friends there. It was so much fun to see their faces when I walked in! Thursday and Friday I wrapped Christmas presents then we drove back to Minneapolis. Courtney's cousin Travis got married on Saturday so I got to see his family that day. It was a lovely ceremony and I was glad I could be there to represent the Marsh family. Yesterday it was church, breakfast, more driving, (back to Lenexa) and then helping mom with her Christmas shopping. My poor father was our driver and he sat in the Blazer while we shopped. It's been so nice driving my Blazer with cruise control!! I've experienced some of the things we've been missing in PR but I'm saving some for when my husband finally arrives on Wednesday. No pictures to show right now because 1) I haven't taken very many, and 2) I don't have the right computer to put them up on. I'll be sure to take some when we see friends on Friday and family next week to put them up for all to see. Have a very Feliz Navidad!

It looks as if some of you will get to see me earlier than expected! Courtney will still be coming in on December 20 but I, unfortunately, am coming home for Christmas 10 days early due to the death of my Grandfather. My Grandpa, Curtis Butler, passed away yesterday after a long battle with cancer. While we are terribly saddened by this, it is a relief because he is no longer suffering. He had been in the hospital for, I believe, a month or more. They performed surgery which is when they found out he had more cancer, after that he suffered a stroke, and from then on it was down hill. My Grandma and Aunt Kim spent tireless hours (every night) at his bedside and my parents did the same (every weekend) since he fell ill. I will not be able to blog for a while since I will be at home with my family so I will come back to it after Christmas (sooner if you're lucky!) to let you in on anything new. Courtney will be staying behind to get things squared away with the dogs, our home, and school before the long break. Thank you for your thoughts and prayers during this time. I hope everyone has a Happy Holiday and a great start to 2007!

Ponce, PR

We had another fun filled weekend. On Friday night we had a birthday party for Brent. All I can say is it was interesting! On Saturday morning we did laundry (of course!) and then went to Ponce with the Dills, Clate, & Mendez. Katie & Brent had been to the Ponce plaza before and said it was beautiful so we decided to go. First we went to the Parque de Bombas (museum for firetrucks, etc.). We didn't go through it but we looked at a firetruck sitting in front and the building was decorated for Christmas. We had a picture taken of the CB 5 and all I will say is that Clate is not easy to photograph. It seems like most of the time if we take a picture that involves him he's doing something in the picture. He's kind of like Miller...has to make a face or just not pay any attention. As you can see he was putting away his camera and things as we all posed and smiled.














From there we went shopping at some vendors and some small shops. Courtney and I did quite a bit of Christmas shopping. I'm actually really enjoying shopping for Christmas here because I know I'm getting people something they've never received before because of being in a "foreign" country. After that we were walking along and found a vendor doing caricatures. Katie and I decided it would be neat to have one done so we sat for 2! We each had to have one to take home! Here we are doing our "modeling".














I am loving how things are decorated here. All of the plazas are lit up. They each have beautiful statues and things as it is but now they're even better for the Holidays. Here's one of the many beautiful statues at the Ponce plaza. I tried to get some of the Christmas decoration also.




















I think some people may have a hard time believing how narrow the street in Puerto Rico are so I tried to show you. This is down one street near the Ponce plaza. It's a little dark but maybe if you enlarge it you can see better. Look at the buildings on both sides. Imagine driving down these streets with cars parked on both sides (because most are one-way), it's interesting!



















We then went to the Ponce boardwalk to listen to live music and see vendors. They have these fish that are HUGE! We bought a bag of sardines (oh yeah, slimey, frozen, nasty things!) and fed them. It was truly disgusting to listen to them fight over them. They were flopping on top of each other, jumping around, everything.

While we were feeding the massive fish (again, try enlarging it to see them...sorry...it was dark!) we saw an eel! It was really cool. We threw sardines close to it so it could eat and actually got it to come out so we could see how long it was. While looking at that one we saw 3 more!

As we were getting ready to leave we saw this display. Pig roasting is big here...everywhere...and they made a display of a pig roast. Mendez had to pose for the camera. On Sunday we went to Pozuelos to eat conch. Courtney and I got mofongo (mashed plantain...kind of like a pot pie) and a conch empanadilla to share. It was really quite good! Then we came home and watched football, got school stuff done, and then I went with the Dills to watch the lighting of our plaza here in Guayama. Courtney wasn't feeling too well so he stayed home...and he updated me on the Cowboys game...must say I'm pretty proud of my boys right now! I took video of the lighting. I'm going to be making DVDs of our videos from here. We'll be home in 2 weeks for you to see them!