Horseback Riding Lessons

Argentines love Polo! Today I took the kids to a Polo Club for their first horseback riding lesson. They loved the horses and just laughed and laughed with the instructors. Even little Peyton (apparently she's not so little anymore) will be able to take classes too. It really was a beautiful day...

Tagged

4 jobs I have had in my life:
Chocolate Fountain Business Owner
Environmental Consultant
Assistant Manager of a Tanning Salon (you do what works when you are in HS)
Student Aid in the Financial Aid Office in College

4 Movies I have watched more than once:
Anna and the King
Stepmom
The Incredibles
The Sound of Music

Most of the places I have lived (where do I begin...)
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Virginia
Wyoming(Cheyenne, Casper and Wheatland)
California (Diamond Bar, Walnut, Yorba Linda, Hacienda Heights)
Colorado (Arvada, Colorado Springs, Golden, Fort Collins..)
Oregon
Washington
New York (Buffalo, Syracuse, NYC)
New Jersey
Ohio

2 TV shows that I watch: (when you have to buy them on iTunes, you think twice about whether or not it is worth it.)

Grey's Anatomy
Lost

4 favorite pastime activities:
My new iMac
Lunch with Friends
Friday Night Dinners with Steve
Reading/writing blogs

4 places I have been:
Hershey Park, Pennsylvania
Antigua
Mazatlan, Mexico
San Juan, Puerto Rico

4 people who email me regularly:

My mom
Heather
Sylvia (sometimes more regularly that others! lol )
Elena

4 of my favorite foods:
Plain Chocolate Cake without frosting
Chips and Salsa/Guacamole
Cheddar Cheese (Sadly, we haven't had it in nearly 3 months!)
Cheese Danish

4 places I would like to visit (and plan to in the next 2 years):
Iguazu Falls, Argentina
Patagonia (Antarctica)
Uruguay (Colonia and Montivedeo)
Bahia Blanca, Argentina

4 favorite restaurants:
Taco Bell! (The $200 RT Flight to Santiago Chile really is tempting)
Kansas (Currently, our only hope for good American Food and they are open before 8pm - which means that we can actually take the kids)
Anything Tex Mex (not the Argentine or Virginian version)
Pei Wei

4 things I am looking forward to in the coming year:
Puerto Vallarta, Mexico with Steve's family
Seeing my family in Oregon (cross my fingers)
Becoming fluent in Spanish with the kids
Traveling

3 things I am not looking forward to in the coming year (can't come up with 4!):
Moving Again... in June
An 18 hour flight with children
Organizing all of our papers

Tag! You're it! - Sylvia, Alicia, Ie Li, Talai and Katie

He's 30!

Can you believe it? I am so proud of him and his accomplishments! As each year passed, we have tried to predict where we would be in our lives when each of us turned thirty. We would have never suspected that we would be in a foreign country with two children. I could not ask for a more loving, kind and dedicated husband or father. I can only pray that he is afforded another healthy, happy and fun-filled 50 years...

She's All Girl...

...when she is not battling with the boys.

Fruit Market

I bought a large sack of oranges for fresh juice from this stand for 7 pesos (US$2.25).

President Gordon B. Hinckley

"Do you want to be happy? Forget yourself and get lost in this great cause. Lend your efforts to helping people... stand higher, lift those with feeble knees, hold up the arms of those that hang down. Live the gospel of Jesus Christ." President Gordon B. Hinckley 1910-2008

As a convert to the church, President Hinckley is the only Prophet that I have known. He was one of the most wonderful men to have ever walked the earth and lived his life as a beacon for all to follow.

Mission Reunion

It has been more than 10 years since these men served together in the Colombia Barranquilla Mission for our church. This mission, like so many, had very few North Americans, which meant that Steve spent a lot of time with people he thought he would never see again due to life circumstance and borders. They told mission stories, laughed about times they shared, and drank malta (not to be confused with mate) and Postobon, a Colombian orange soda. It was a joy to meet their familes and spend the afternoon practicing my espanol.

EDITED: Steve's companion passed away about a year after this photo was taken.  He had Cancer that was diagnosed shortly after we met. He left behind a pregnant wife and small daughter.

Mundo Jurasico

We took the kids to the robotic dinosaur exhibit. They were so life-like that Abe would not go near them.

My Little Picasso

Peyton LOVES to color, and not just on paper! This scene was repeated a few days later with a new, more permanent medium - nail polish.

As for Abe, he just wanted to be the center of all the laughs!

Things are really looking up...

Our car arrived tonight on our doorstep - still in the shipping container - in one piece! WhooHooo!

Primary Delegates

What good is a blog if you can't get up on a soap box once in awhile...

Here is the requested link for the number of pledged delegates for each candidate. Romney was leading the pack before the Michigan primary as most of the states so far divide their delegates according to percentage of vote. Yesterday, the media was calling McCain the clear front-runner. According the the media, Romney would have to win Michigan to stay in the race. I find that this is interesting since he has been in the lead since New Hampshire. Now Mitt has strengthened his position. Until now, he hadn't won an eastern state outright, but they still contributed votes to his candidacy. If Wyoming hadn't broken the rules by moving their primary date before Feb 5, it would have meant just a few votes less than winning New Hampshire. Romney might even receive more votes from Wyoming than MCCain scores in NH. I think that Romney is the only GOP candidate that the Democrats (media) fear that they cannot beat in the general election.



Click Here for Republican Primary Scorecard

Today...

I wish that I were a registered voter in Michigan.

My Cats

McDonalds in Argentina is...Supersized. I am not referring to the portion sizes, as you would never find one that offered free refills on anything. I am talking about the novelty of the restaurant. The majority of American Fast Food Chains offer Play Places and daily activities for the kids. At this particular McDonalds they have a calendar posted with the scheduled activites. By accident, we stopped in when it was time for face painting. The kids sat patiently waiting for their turns. They turned into two cute cuddly kittens. This lasted only moments before they transformed into big cats - Lions.

New Years Day in Recoleta

Recoleta Cemetery

These are tombs at the Recoleta Cemetery. If you ask me, it is a bit morbid. Each tomb is decorated differently. Some have been maintained and have fresh flowers, others have not. Some coffins have protection from outside, like glass on the doors, other do not. Here are a few of my favorite photos. It wasn't easy taking them because the kids wanted to run through the isles and look into every window. We were trying to keep them reverent!



To me, this is typical Argentina. On the left there is a beautiful tomb made of granite and well-maintained on the inside. To the right, a run down forgotten tomb. 100 years ago, Argentina was the 7th largest economy in the world. This country has so much unrealized potential that has been wasted away.


Domingo Faustino Sarmiento



This statue is a little strange...


Eva "Evita" Peron

Banyan Tree in Recoleta

On New Years Day, we finally made it downtown to check out some of the sites. We spent most of our time here in Recoleta. We dined in this cafe at one of the tables pictured above under the Banyan tree branches, overlooking the Recoleta Cemetery. The beam on the left side of the cafe is another support for the branch that exits the photo to the left. According to Wilkepedia, "In Hindu religion... it represents eternal life because of its seemingly ever-expanding branches." They would have broken years ago, but they built support beams for the branches to rest on. It is a sight to see!

New Years Eve Festivities

Steve and I had an incredible New Years Eve experience on the 37th floor roof downtown. I think that we may have been on the tallest building in the area. We watched as hundreds of fireworks expoded in the sky beneath us. Even though BsAs has nearly twice the population of NYC, the skyline is not built as high, leaving a vastly large city as far as the eye could see. Like Christmas Eve, all of the Argentines get together set of firewroks, surprising in these tree lined neighborhoods, the ones that are far too large to be legal in the States. As we stood looking down on city, with nearly a 360 degree view, we were atonished at just how many people there are in this city. Steve proclaimed that this was one of the top 10 things that he has seen in his life. I agree. There is no way to describe the enormity of the city and the amount of fireworks that were visible. And to follow Spanish tradition, we ate 12 grapes at midnight for good luck. Thanks Jay!

Happy New Year!

This is the last post for 2007 and I can't believe what an eventful year it has been! Actually, it might have been a little too eventful on occasion and my children have really felt the constant change. One would surmise that this would teach flexibility, but somehow it seems that they regularly remind us that they have been through as much as we have. In the interest of time, I will not recap the entire year, but I could fill pages (and should have as they occured).

I have found a renewed ability to spend time alone. For the most part, I prefer company, but occasionally I find myself longing to be home and by myself in the evening with quiet. Who would have thought that I would ever feel this way? Spending time with myself, it actually is quite nice.

The flood and living in a hotel for 9 weeks. Need I say more?

The cruise... without children! (Thanks Janet)

Staging and selling our first home. There are a few things that I might have done differently if we have planned to live in it for the rest of our lives, but I loved how it turned out when all of the renovations were complete.

The Bid for posts and our move.

Again, I write this as we sit in a temprary house in Buenos Aires, once again waiting for renovations to be complete on our permanent house. Today, Steve received the keys to the other house so that we can go in an check up on the progress, measure rooms for a few pieces of furniture that we would like to have made, and paint. If we are going to live in this house for two years, we will learn from our last experience and get everything done now so that can actually enjoy it.

I am grateful for the wonderful family and friends that we have. I am thankful for the constant support of those same people. I am grateful for our health and the opportunity that we have embraced to show our children the world. I am grateful for an incredible husband who loves his family and his country. I am regularly humbled by the example of my children. I hope that 2008 brings joy, happiness, increased faith and much growth.

Happy fun-filled New Year and may you accomplish each of your yearly goals!

90+ degrees in December?

Here are a few cute pictures from yesterday. They love to swim, especially with Steve. They spend hours knocking Steve into the pool. Now if we could only get Abe to swim without the vest...

One More Hour...

As if the current time zone difference hasn't been inconvenient, we begin Daylight Savings Time tonight and spring ahead one hour. For more information go read this. Officially, we will be 6 hours ahead of Oregon and 3 hours ahead of DC until March.

Our Summer Christmas

Four Christmas parties, three visits from Santa, two castles - one pink and one grey, one Extra Special Tickle Me Elmo, one highly-anticipated green dinosaur, and no extended family. We had a wonderful summer weekend playing in the pool, spending time with friends and opening gifts. The other Americans warned us that this would not feel like a traditional Christmas. i.e. Notice the bathing suits while sitting on Santa's lap. :)

For Argentines, Christmas is celebrated on the Eve with a huge family feast around 11pm followed by the opening of gifts at midnight and a night full of fireworks. This would be a wonderful tradition if we did not maintain our North American one. 2am fireworks make waking up bright and early with toddlers a little more difficult, but it was surely memorable. We are already looking forward to next year!

Merry Christmas

Topping the Tree

It is family tradition that the kids place the star on the tree with the help of the tallest member in our house, Steve, of course.

What this picture does not tell is the tale of the journey to this moment. Once we found this tree the day after Thanksgiving (Argentines don't put up trees until Dec. 8) we wrapped the individual branches with 7 strands of lights. Within 90 minutes of pluggin them in, every bulb had burned out and was completely black due to the 220v of electricity that surged through the lights made for 110v. And as with everything else in this country that requires electricity, we found overpriced lights for AR$30 per strand. Reluctantly, we purchased 4 strands. What we did not know if that that they are the old technology - if one goes out, the whole strand does too! As you can guess, we are now down to 3 strands on the tree, even though we checked them to see if they worked before we left the store.

The kids and I decorated the tree one afternoon while Steve was at work and Abe anxiously awaited Steve's arrival so that he could put the star on top of the tree! I love all of the small Christmas traditions.

Our First Trip Downtown

As most of you already know, we live in a suburb just north of Buenos Aires near the International School which also affords us the benefit of a large home and a yard. Although this is definetly the best choice for us, we are missing out on the beauty, culture and nightlife that the downtown of Buenos Aires has to offer. Of course, most of you are thinking that I have children and no need to fret about the nightlife anyway. In theory, this is right, however there is not a single non-North American restaurant in this town that opens before 8pm... and if we go when the doors open, we are either the only people in the entire place or we share it with another couple over 65. They say that the only people who eat dinner before 9pm are North Americans and old people. As a resident of the city, I can attest that this is true.

The fact that we live in a suburb is to point out the fact that there is not a lot of reason for us to go downtown quite yet. The city is NOT handicap accessible which means that pushing two children in a double stroller on cobblestone sidewalks keep us more sedintary than I would like. However, we did try to go downtown once on the second Monday after we arrived.

I decided that the best way to get there with the kids was to take the same route Steve does everyday to work. We had planned on going to the Zoo which is located across the street from the Embassy. We would spend a couple of hours there in the morning, meet Steve for lunch and then go to the Embassy to sign a few papers and check out the Commissary.


I walked 15 blocks to the train station, and then rode the train for 35 minutes. Now when Steve gets off the train in his suit, he spends the 7 pesos (roughly a little more than $2) for a taxi to the Embassy. However, we didn't have much else to do for the day and so I thought that the 25 blocks would make a nice walk for the kids and a chance to see more of downtown. What I did not realize at the time was that there were absolutely NO ramps on the curb of the street and there is the worst smell I have ever experienced in my life on this route. I can only speculate that this smell is from the hundreds of dogs that walk this stretch everyday like those that you see in the picture above with their dog-walkers. The interesting trek was not such a big deal. Simply a Latin American wake-up call.

Now to put this into context, we had promised Abe the zoo on the Friday before (he was and still is rather bored around the house without his toys) but rain had cancelled our trip. He has been looking forward to this outing for almost a week. When we finally arrive at the entrance to the zoo, there are no signs, no posted hours, no indication that it would ever be open, but the chains across the gate made it clear that the zoo was definetly closed. And as it turns out, a lot of things are closed on Mondays (we made the same mistake again today in Chinatown). Abe was bawling and completely upset. I studied the map and found a Japonese Botanical Garden on the next block. I figured that this was a good way to kill some time until we caught up with Steve around noon.

The botanical garden was nice and the kids had a good time running around and checking out the various statues made of recycled metals. It really was interesting and we could have spent more time in the park. Until Peyton took a swim...


Above is the scene, moments after I had cleaned her up. As you might be able to tell, from first glance it looks like solid grass to walk on. To Peyton's dimay, the water is deeper than the cement edge and when she fell in, the water line came to just below her eyes. The man in the picture quickly helped me pull her out and I managed to get her stripped down and her diaper changed fairly quickly. This incident would not have been a big deal. Normally, I would have turned around and gone home right then, but Steve had scheduled a time for me to sign papers at the Embassy in the afternoon. I relentlessly tried to phone Steve, but he was slammed on the Visa line until 2pm without a chance to call. I walked the main street looking for new clothes for Peyton, trying them on my half-naked child in the store because sizes run differently. I should mention that no one I came in contact with spoke English. I really looked like a crazy tourist. We finally met Steve at the Embassy to learn that my appointment had been cancelled. So there it is. My first experience downtown. You win some and you lose some.

Disney World for 9 days

We spent an eventful 9 days at Disney World the week before we moved to Buenos Aires to celebrate Abe's 4th and Peyton's 2nd birthdays. We were joined by Steve's parents, his older brother Shane and his family, and his younger sister and her husband. We had 13 people together for our combined Pirate and Princess Fiesta.

In true Barlow form, a vacation was needed from this vacation and there was hardly a moment to breathe. For the first 6 nights, we stayed the Animal Kingdom Lodge where our balcony overlooked the Savannah where the kids awoke every morning to see the giraffes who preferred our end of the hotel this time of day. The last 3 nights, we moved to Saratoga Springs. We loved the pools!

Here was the itinerary:

11/4: Arrive in the evening after a very emotional day of goodbyes.

11/5: Animal Kingdom. Dinner at Boma.

11/6: MGM. Lunch with Leo and June from the Little Einsteins.

11/7: Epcot. Lunch at the Coral Reef.

11/8: Magic Kingdom. Dinner at Chef Mickey's.

11/9: Pool at the Animal Kingdom in the morning, Epcot in the afternoon. Dinner at Chef's de France

11/10: Magic Kingdom. Change Hotels.

11/11: Lunch at Hardrock Cafe. MGM.

11/12: Peyton's bday at Animal Kingom. Swimming and family party at Saratoga Springs.

Since we have been in Argentina, Abe has not stop talking about everything that we did, all of the things he hopes to do next time and go over the maps with ride descriptions again and again. He LOVED this trip. I think about the most talked about rides are Riding with Grandpa in the Haunted House and a ghost sitting on his lap, the Tower of Terror and how he liked it the first time, but after the second time he doesn't know if he NEEDS to go on it again until he is a little bigger, riding Splash Mountain and Big Thunder Railroad nearly a dozen times, battling Cpt. Sling with help from Cpt. Jack Sparrow in his pirate costume, Mickey battling the Dragon during the Fantamic! show and surprisingly, Mount Everest at Animal Kingdom which he was not tall enough for. He describes it from the commercial he saw, asks Steve for minute by minute details right before he asks if we can go to Disney World when he is big enough to ride it. Abe runs a slideshow of the Disney pictures at least once a day. It was really a magical week for a four year old and much needed family time.

The Internet

After 40 days of drought, I now feel like a liberated woman with internet! 3 weeks of back-and-forths with internet companies, first one and then another, we are finally up and running! It is a great day for the Barlows! We have added all of our pictures from 10 days at Disney World and our first trip into the city of Buenos Aires on Flickr. I will post many stories and pictures over the next couple of days as well. THe internet connection also means that we have our home phone working again! You can call us locally at our phone number from the States. I look forward to hearing from you and posting regularly.

A Thanksgiving Update

We have officially lived in Argentina for a week! We still can´t believe that we are here! I have really created a little island for myself. I have yet to go into the city because, well, it is just more difficult to do a lot here with two kids in tow. There is limited handicap accessibility, which means that it takes more effort to get the three of us with a double stroller in and out of just about anywhere. I walk to the downtown area of our suburb just about everyday to check email and get out of the house.

We dad Thanksgiving dinner with a small group of other expat families. The time with other Americans was needed! I speak very limited Spanish and thre are very few people whom I have come in contact with (retail stores and security guards) who speak English. We have only seen two Argentine children out during the day in the entire week (excluding Saturday) that we have been here and both have "attacked" Abe. Once in a restaurant where a little boy came to our table and tried to start kissing Abe and crawling on his lap. When we asked him to get down a few times in both english and spanish, he did not listen. The waiter finally came over and pulled the kid off of Abe and took him to his parents who were apparently on the other side of the restaurant eating and hadn´t really noticed that he was gone. The second time a small child, about 2, walked up to Abe and started poking him all over on his arm and face. He was just being a kid, but needless to say, the interaction with other children from Virginia and other parts of the States was really a huge relief for Abe. They had a house full of toys and the other boys his age. He didn´t want to leave. I think that it was nice for him to see tha tthings will be different for him here when he has his own toys and starts school and makesnew friends. I think that our move has been the most difficult for him. He has known most of his friends in Virginia since birth and this is a big transition. I know that in a couple of months he will have worked through the transition.

They are just beginning work on our new kithen in our permanent house this week, so we will be in temporary housing through the holidays. We have had the opportunity to walk through this permanent house and we are very pleased. We think that it will be great for our family and will work with our own things. Honestly, I don´t really mind not having most of our belongings, but I am really looking forward to getting them because I realize what a comfort it is for our children to know that they will still be able to play with there favorite toys and sleep in their own beds.


We have setup our computer at home, but will not have internet for another week, so until then, communication is limited and difficult. When we get internet, our phone number from the States will once again work. If you call it now, I can listen to the voice messages through my email.

Despite the previous complaints, we really are grateful to be here. This is a wonderful city and we look forward to having many more wonderful experiences here. I look forward to catching up with everyone very soon!

Bienvenido a Buenos Aires

I just want to let everyone know that we have arrived to Buenos Aires safely. We will not have internet access for sometime, but I found an internet cafe a long walk from our house. I will try to update you periodically until we have our own internet access. We have hundreds of pictures from Disney World and Buenos Aires that I will post to flickr.com.

We love and miss you all! Who knew that so few people would speak english? Here is to hoping that I don´t have a lot of trouble expanding on my limited knowledge of the language!

A Pirate Halloween

Here are a few pics of the kids from tonight. I will update this entry later. I am only posting these now because the movers take my computer away in the morning and I will have limited access to the internet until around Thanksgiving when we receive our shipment in Argentina.