Enjoying a fall-like day . . .

Taking pic's of the squirm worm.



Shucking super yummy Iowa Sweet Corn.



This Iowa girl turned Madrileña has found her true roots.



Poppin' bubbles.



Makin' bubbles



Makin' a fool of herself while poppin' bubbles . . .



Julie explaining to Jesse how it was just an accident . . .
(Don't worry . . . Jesse wasn't really mad. :) )



Link Up



The family that bounces together, stays together.



Sometimes Jesse is dumbfounded by his 2 girls.



Hangin' on for dear life. It was just that kind of a weekend.

Enjoying a Saturday . . .

Who better to draw with than Grandpa the art teacher?



Renae loves to draw.



And ride her bike! (With arm floaties of course)



Daddy's turn to steer . . .



What a cheeser.



Mommy's turn to steer.



Sammy's turn for a diaper change.



Sammy sat looking the window for about 20 minutes. He loved watching Grandpa mow. Such a boy.

A Weekend Away!

Jesse's life starts getting totally crazy this week as he starts his second job, and orientation for classes is this week as well. Since he wasn't scheduled to work last Thursday-Sunday, we decided it was a perfect last opportunity to get away. We headed to the Grandparents house for a time of relaxation, food and of course, the hot weather. If you read my Mother-in-law's blog and my blog, please visit her blog first because I did a few posts for her this week and you need to see these pictures there first. It's her first update since February! You'll notice a common theme in these pictures . . . no Penni! I downloaded pictures from her camera onto her computer and I realized there were none of the photographer. Oops. Maybe when I can get in the habit of taking our camcorder with us, I'll actually start taking pictures of my own!


Sammy enjoys the splash pad.


Renae loves it too . . . anything with water she loves!


Can you see Sammy's signature look?


Renae and Grandpa run through a fountain.


Turns out Sammy wasn't as fond of the water as we thought.


Daddy to the rescue . . .


"Here Grandpa. You collect the water like this."





More pictures to come . . .

Our Last Visitors . . .

We head home in less than 2 months so unless someone is coming for a surprise visit . . .

. . . Julie . . .

. . . and Scott were our last visitors!

We had a great time showing them the sights and the people of our 2nd home. I'm not sure anyone slept all that great considering our apartment is really small and Sammy still wakes up at night . . . but thankfully they have 2 cute little girls so they know what it's like. :)

Jesse was the official baby man as he carried Sammy in the Baby Bjorn all over the place.

Renae shows Scott and Julie the Plaza Mayor.

And Jesse shows Julie how to enjoy churros!

I stand corrected. Renae shows Julie how to eat churros.

Back at home Renae is her usual goofy self.

Thanksgiving day was a hit!

Julie and I were busy in the kitchen and I was so glad she was there to help. My first hand at hosting Thanksgiving dinner was last year when my Mom was here to help. My second time, I had my sister in law. How lucky can I get?

Jesse stole the "man" apron so Julie had to settle for Renae's . . .

The guests . . .

My American friend Tep, and my Spanish friend Bea is holding Sammy the sudo-Spaniard.

As you can see Jose LOVED the food! I was so happy he did.

Bea . . . best Spanish friend and faithful blog reader.

Renae . . . I love this little girl.

Friday we headed to Segovia, our favorite little Spanish town. Before we left, I jokingly said, "Good thing the weather isn't like last year when we took Mom and Dad. It was cold and wet last year!" I spoke too soon . . . it turned out to be a cold and rainy day. Oh well.

The Masson family waiting while Scott and Julie climbed the tallest tower, in the darkest castle . . .

My big brother and his sweet wife.

Oh my . . .

The 2 Julies!

And we can't forget about this little guy . . .

Sammy was a real trooper. I think he nursed in a coffee shop, on a park bench, in a van on the side of the road, at the Gallego tapas place, and even in the Plaza Mayor. Whew!

Guess Who Arrived . . . almost 2 weeks ago?

Ok . . . soI didn't really lie when I posted this picture last time. Eric DID arrive . . . just not yesteday as it seemed. And this picture was taken on Tuesday morning when Jesse dropped him off at the airport to return to the US. Eric arrived on July 4th and spent a little over a week with us. His Mom wasn't expecting him home for another 2 weeks, and she thought he'd be arriving here yesterday. However my cousins and uncles knew that Eric was secretly arriving early to surprise her on her birthday-yesterday!

So . . . I couldn't post about any of our adventures (which actually weren't that many because of the baskeball camp we were helping out with) because then Aunt Becky would know Eric was already here. Add to that the fact that my camera died and I didn't recharge it until Thursday . . . and then I was cautious about taking pictures with Eric around, I literally have 3 pictures of him from his time here. Three. Oops . . . While he was here we did have Kurdish food (it was really yummy), we did go out for tapas, we did visit El Escorial (see pictures below) and we did enjoy the company.


The view from a palace in El Escorial

Phillip II built this palace/monastry and today it houses many of the dead Spanish monarchs. In one of the fancy tombs there were a few blank caskets-these are all ready for the current Spanish King and Queen when they die . . .



Part of the palace . . .

Jesse and Eric at a bullfight!

The team of volunteers from the states were given free tickets to a bullfight and Jesse and Eric went along. This was Jesse's 2nd bullfight, and Eric's first. He loved it so much he went the next week too. Both times I was pursuaded to come. Both times I said "Eww, no thank you."

Aunt Becky, I hope you enjoyed the surprise and I hope my post aided in throwing you off. :) Eric was worried you would ruin your own surprise by being snoopy so I had to help where I could. Happy Birthday too!!