Arenal Volcano, Alligator bridge, and Missionary Moment

Adam can't stop saying, "DUUUUDE!!!"

Here's why:

Here he is taking the extended shot pictures:
Also today, we drove over a bridge that had some carnivores lurking beneath.
On our drive to the volcano, we drove right through one of the country villages that Adam lived in for four months as a missionary.

We drove slowly through town as he was looking for the house he used to live in. Suddenly, he stopped. "That's them."

We parked, got out of the car, and walked up to a family that was sitting outside. The woman came and opened the door and hugged Adam immedietely. 15 years ago, she had housed him and fed him three meals a day as he served and taught the people the gospel in that area. Their family still houses missionaries today. Adam left a little note for the missionaries...Odile found a picture in an album of Adam! She insisted that we take it with us.Here is the family now. The triplets were adopted 10 years ago, and the dad has now been reactivated to church.

The boys also walked us down a couple blocks to the chapel, whose congregation has greatly increased in the last 15 years. They were so friendly and welcoming to me, and the Andrews as well. Hugs and kisses all around! What wonderful people. I thanked Odile from the bottom of my heart for taking care of my husband so well. What a good woman. What a blessing that we got to meet them today!

Vacation Quote

"I'm glad I had a nap because now I feel ready to eat and relax."

--Lisa Andrews in Costa Rica

We're just monkeying around here...

Yep, I know it looks like the cover of National Geographic, but Adam did take this picture! This white-faced monkey was totally working the camera in Manuel Antonio, a national park we visited.

The beach at Manuel Antonio was The Perfect Beach. We're glad we found it! After those guys left, we had the place to ourselves!
This morning, we played a little zippidy-doo-dah.It was TERRIFYING. Not really! This is my Yoga Pose while zipping through the jungle.Fun times.
What can I say - Costa Rica is an amazing place!

And I have to say that it is blowing my mind that I am right now at this very moment in a bungalow on stilts a stone's throw away from HUGE crashing waves in Playa Hermosa, listening to the frogs croaking and waves crashing - miles from any sort of civilization, and yet, I am blogging.

Amo a Internet.

Adventures in Costa Rica

We woke up this morning to an earthquake!

Did I mention that our bungalow is up on stilts, and it sways even when we walk up the stairs, yes, even as I type.

Mangoes, coconuts, and papayas were shaken from the treetops, and the monkeys chased after them howling into the jungle!

Later, we visited the Arenal Volcano, which decided to explode lava chunks into the air above us.

Adam, who had just recently rented a surfboard, whipped out his board and surfed down the lava flow, pulling each of us to safety to the nearby river.

Ward looked ahead and saw the river was crocodile-infested, and grabbed a jungle vine to swing us all safely across it.

Many a native Costa Rican commented to Lisa and me on our ride down, "Your tan looks perfect, baby!"

The local newspaper took a picture and named us "Ticos of the Day!"



April Fool's! We don't visit the volcano until tomorrow! Today, we just visited a private uninhabited island, soaking up the sun. Quite uneventful, really. But we handled it fine. :)

Centro America

Hello from Jaco, Costa Rica! We are here for the week with our friends, Lisa and Ward, enjoying the most beautiful country on this Earth. Adam served his mission here 15 years ago, and we're back to enjoy some of the adventures of the jungle.

Day 1: River Rafting on the Pacuare River. It was outrageously awesome.



Please enjoy this little montage of one of our most exciting moments on the river:

A river run down Paquara River through the Costa Rican jungle. Class III - IV rapids. We loved every second of it.

I almost forgot!

...we also got a replacement pet.

Her name is Lettuce. Lizzie is so happy. And so far, I only had to spend one afternoon catching her. :)

Repentant Blogger Signing In

I've been busy! Sorry it's been so long! You know when you think back on your day and you realize that what felt like last month was actually something that happened yesterday morning? That's been me every day this month.

All I know is what my camera tells me:

Let's see, yes, it looks like we finally won the battle of Stewarts vs. Arizona "soil" and got our flower gardens planted. I've never missed Connecticut so much as I did on the day I was planting. Did you know I pulled out all kinds of strange things from deep within our dirt? I honestly thought about photographing and cataloging it all to share with you, but I was too dirty to hold the camera. Not to menion I was just plain mad. I mean, I literally extracted thousands of rocks from the dirt. You try to dig a little hole and all you can hear is "clink clink clink from the shovel hitting rocks!!" It was maddening. But I prevailed. And I must say, our flowers look pretty great.


St. Patty's Day came and went. This year, instead of just throwing on a green tee and calling it good, we actually celebrated the holiday - Irish Princess Style. Do you like my "shamrocks" and "Gold"? Aha! I'm so very clevah! (clever enough to find this stuff online, that is)



Also this month, I tried and failed to defend a photo speeding ticket. They are NOT messing around. Just hand over all your money, there's just no point. Give it. All. Now. Thank you.

We went to Matt's farewell address, going away party, and all went to the temple together as a family. All up in Salt Lake City. We drove 12 hours on Friday, then did it back again on Sunday. We even got stuck in blizzard-related traffic on Sunday night and were forced to park in Page, AZ for 2 hours. But every minute we travelled was worth it to be there! So proud of my little bro.

Adam spent an unhealthy number of hours creating and editing a fantabulous video for the Teacher's Quorum. It was absolutely hilarious, and when I have a chance, we'll get that bad boy up on YouTube. All I can say is, "Do you like Waffles? Yeah, I like Waffles!"

Humm.. Well,, yes, okay, it's true. The rumors you've heard are correct. I did in fact get trapped in my kitchen without my pants on when Eli answered the door and invited a well-respected male into our home. just a little bit awkward. No pictures for that one except the scar in my mind.

Adam had Honeywell Basketball games and Eli had his first Little League game. Ivy started Dance lessons. Adam and I got shots to prepare for our upcoming travels. :)
Oh! And Adam's brother James and Jenny got ENGAGED!!! We are so happy for them!!! Yeah! Jenny's in the fam!

Well, that's about all the catch-up time I have now! I will be starting fresh tomorrow, ladies and gents!

Matt & Lizzie

Spring Break Creations

Before: After:
It's now the Polka-Dot-Playhouse! Thanks for the green paint, Whitney! This was leftover from your bedroom! :)
And Ivy was feeling creative today too. I had given her some play dough to play with while I was teaching, and I turned around, and look what treats I found behind me:
Ice Cream, anyone?

Why Lizzie wants to stay in Utah...

Lizzie and Grandma Vickie, who are Birthday Twins, spent their birthdays together this year!

Happy Birthday to both of you! :)

My Little Girl is growing up!!

Lizzie turned nine today. I can't believe it.

We had a birthday dinner for her on Sunday:

And yesterday, she took her very first unaccompanied flight to spend a week in Utah with her grandmas! The airline people were so impressed that she handled it so well. I told them, yep, she's pretty independant.

I was thinking to myself as she walked down the rampway - 9 years ago she was born, now she's flying on a plane alone, and in just 9 more years she'll be going off to college!!!!!! It was a scary thought.

We sure love our Lizzie! Happy Birthday!