Happenings...iphone updates

Last Tuesday my hubby's tummy was upset...

To the point where he needed to stay very near a toilet... (TMI?)

Needless to say, an hour commute wasn't really doable for him so he worked from home...

Ella was VERY helpful!

Last week was also book club night...

I had chosen the book Waiting to Be Heard - by Amanda Knox...

I decorated Italian - not Christmasy as I was accused of-

We all decided she (Amanda) was innocent...

I have discovered that Chucks has bread bowls and they go delightfully with my homemade soups...

My favorite meal this fall!

Teddy is loving Fall - she has such a happy face! We had a huge scare with her last night...our neighbors have 3 huge dogs and they all came at her while Jeff and I were out walking her...It was so scary as we tried to fight those stupid dogs off as they were lunging at her...makes me so mad! She doesn't have a mean bone in her body!

Thankfully she is OK and we had a very heated but ultimately calm discussion with our neighbor and hopefully this will not happen again...

It is getting cold! Love it! I love the clear blue skies that have come along with the cold! I am starting to hope for snow... 

Cold mornings make me want to write and drink Chai...

My boy is home for a WEEK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He arrived safely late Friday night for Thanksgiving break!

He has not been home for more than 3 nights since mid June!

I love going to bed each night knowing we are all under the same roof!

Tomorrow he has surgery to remove a growth on his neck...not supposed to be a big deal but he will be intabated and its his first surgery so we are nervous and prayers would be appreciated!

Meanwhile, Ty is learning to drive...

He's doing a great job...

But it is always stressful for the parent...

It's that feeling of no control...

He's sick today :( Poor snotty guy!

Sunday I spent a perfectly gorgeous fall day inside in a windowless room all day!

And I loved every minuet of it!  Those who know me know that normally that would be something I would grouch about.  I was so inspired by the two women who led out in the seminar, both NG photographers, their pictures and stories were unbelievable...

Where can I turn in a resume?

In other very exciting news I had the opportunity to shoot a families pictures for their Christmas cards.  A real honest to goodness paying job! And they turned out great and the family LOVED them! I wish I could show you but they don't want them posted...

I was a nervous wreck and was so relieved to see the outcome of the pictures :)

Just maybe I can make this photography thing work out...

I have another job today - a Senior portrait session with a very handsome young man I have known his entire life...should be fun!

Enjoy your families and the sunshine!

Frychik

One more post on Belize - Random

Sorry if you're getting tired of Belize...

One more post and I will stop :)

Since we arrived after dark I was anxious to wake up and see the crystal blue Caribbean sea and sky...Instead I saw pouring down rain. If you look closely you can see the drops falling off our thatched roof...

I love the pattern of the thatched roofs! I'm thinking of redoing our roof this way...

There were coconuts everywhere! The trees were loaded with them and they are heavy! If one of these babies fell on you it would hurt!

Many of the homes we say were up on stilts like this one and their clothes lines were under the homes - which works well during the rainy season...however with the high humidity I wonder how long it takes for their clothes to dry...

Bananas taste so much better when you can eat one that was ripe when picked.  On our flight from Placencia to Belize City I sat next to Gary a banana buyer for England.  He spends 6 months a year traveling to Central and South America to inspect the bananas they are buying.  He said it takes about 2 weeks from the time a banana is picked (green) until it is in the stores for sale...

The water was soooo warm! Have I mentioned that?

I am looking down because a stupid bird had just tried to poop on me! It could not have come any closer without nailing me in the face! I'm looking down at the ground to see what just went splat between my feet...Gross birds!

Ahhh...

I think I may make a bunch of these signs and sell them to any and all mothers of sons...

Our room was very nice :)

One day when the waves were bigger Jeff and I sat on the lower dock...the waves would slap us in the butt and get us wet.  So we called that part of the dock the "butt slapper" We know how to have fun!

Ouch! 

25 years (Dec 18) and going strong :)

I miss waking up to a new animal creation at breakfast every morning!

But I am loving our clear cold days! And I'm trying to adjust to thinking about Thanksgiving (next week!) And Christmas...

And I am thankful for an awesome trip with my hubby :)

The end...

Frychik

Monkey River

While we were in Belize we spent a morning exploring Monkey River - Which I keep wanting to call Monkey Town which makes the song Funky Town play over and over again in my head...

Just thought I would share...

Anyway...

To get to Monkey River you have to go by boat.

There are no roads, or cars in Monkey River which is kinda cool I think...

So four of us plus our guide set off by boat to explore Monkey River and see the Howler Monkeys that live there...

It took about 40 min by boat some of it wandering through mangroves, how our driver knew where to turn when is a mystery to me! He said it took him months to learn his way through the maze!

It was raining the day we visited, but it wasn't cold...I don't think it is ever cold in Belize...

Monkey River is not a fancy place by any stretch of the imagination...

They do have ceiling fans! 

After ordering our lunch to be eaten after our visit to the jungle to see the monkeys just up river, we hopped back in to the boat and began seeing some pretty cool things

Crocodile! We saw several.  This one was so close to the boat I could have reached over and given it a pat...I'm sure he would have loved that!

These are birds nests, which I thought were super cool and I've decided our birds here in North America are just lazy! They need to step up in their building abilities!

Can you imagine seeing one of these babies if you were in the river for a swim? Yikes!

These two iguanas were about 30 ft up a tree...

I did not know iguanas were tree climbers...

They seemed a bit snobbish to me with their noses in the air...

We then parked our boat and hopped out for a walk through the jungle...

It being my first time to a jungle I completely forgot that just perhaps bug spray would be something to bring along...I will never make that mistake again!

Things grow really big in the jungle...

This is a claw from a "blue crab" they live in the jungle in huge holes in the ground...

In addition to forgetting bug spray I also did not know that mosquitoes are attracted to dark colors...So I did everything wrong...And while NA mosquitoes generally leave me alone...I am a HUGE hit with the CA mosquitoes!

My guide got a bit nervous when I went over to check these guys out...

"Those are poisonous!" He exclaimed...

I took his word for it...

We felt very small in the huge bamboo forest...

Sadly after walking around for 25 min and then standing around waiting for our guide who disappeared into the jungle for about 25 min we didn't see a single monkey :( I was very sad and frustrated that I was going to leave Monkey River without a single monkey sighting :(

Nothing like manicured toes in jungle mud...

We then headed back to "town" to eat our lunch. After we finished our guide told us he had found one monkey in a tree behind some houses near by...I was thrilled! 

We went trooping through peoples yards and there he was...one lone Howler Monkey...

And he looked right at me!

He even howled for us... 

While I was disappointed to not see a family of them I was relieved to see one and to be able to get some good shots of him...

I spoke with someone about their trip to Monkey River the day after we went and she told us how they saw lots and lots of monkeys and even a baby!

Whatever...

I saw one and that was better than none!

Frychik

A Week Ago...

Last Tuesday Jeff and I had signed up for a snorkeling trip...

We boarded our boat at 9 and set out for a remote caye...

For a short time we were escorted by dolphins!

I love, love, loved this moment! The dolphins were playing all around the bow of the boat...

It was perfect! We were all excited by the dolphin escort.  Other people on the boat had been going out all week and they said it was the first time they had seen dolphins.

We were supposed to go on Monday but I got sick Sunday night so we cancelled...

It was gorgeous all day Monday and I was so afraid we had missed the perfect snorkeling day...

We were blessed with a perfect snorkeling day on Tuesday!

It was just exactly how I pictured it would be...

The water and sky were amazing shades of blue and the water was so warm I could have swam in it all day without a single goose bump!

After practicing in the pool the day before we were ready to snorkel!

Barracuda! We saw a large school of these guys - but they were just babies...

Manta Ray....

We were very glad we invested in a small waterproof camera...

We snorkeled all morning then the boat picked us up and we went to the Caye for a picnic lunch and some relaxing time before our next snorkeling session

You can rent those little yellow cabanas and stay out on the caye if you want.

The caye was gorgeous and I enjoyed walking around with my camera...

I call this picture "a room with a view"

This Eagle Ray swam right by the dock I was standing on...

This Conch shells were everywhere! I'm sure the local people are amused that people pay for these shells!

I don't remember what this guy was called...he's fancy!

We then headed out for our second tour of the reef...

We absolutely loved it!

We had an awesome guide that would point things out to us and then tell us their names...many I promptly forgot...

And as great as it was to have a camera it was a little stressful to try and get a picture while you are bobbing up and down in the water and the fish are darting about...

It was so relaxing to just lay out on the water face down as your body moved with the water and you could see all of the sea life swaying with you...

I loved just floating and watching what swam by...

Then the boat picked us up and we headed back to our resort.

It was absolutely perfect!

I am so thankful for that amazing day and the entire trip!

Frychik