At the Supermarket last week

So last week, once we finally got in the blissfully empty checkout line, I started to take things off the stroller to put on the belt and the lady who got in line behind me put her three items down first. Her daughter, who looked about my age, quickly pointed out the failure of order and her mom quickly apologized and that was that. The punch line came 5 minutes later, while I was getting out the bags I'd brought and trying to fill them and pay while keeping my third and fourth eyes on my two little ones.
The daughter: *She's already got two kids, I think.* ('whispered' to her mother over the noise of cash registers)
Just in time to confirm their theory Charles begins to wander further from our line, while Miriam stands patiently guarding the stroller in front of me.
Me(sharply): Charlie, come back here.
And he begins to wander back with a smile at me...
Daughter: *You see?*

Of course you can't type the tone in here, but it was something like surprised bewilderment. Not really negative or condescending, more, "how is she pregnant again already?!"

I laughed a little to myself, and made a mental note to share or record the story somehow, and this accomplishes both. Thanks to all the great moms I know and the inspiring blogs I've been reading I didn't feel the least bit slighted, but rather happy that my afternoon had gone so well, even with all the stores we'd been to and that it was almost dinnertime.
I know that the best time to enjoy living with my little cuties is right now, and I plan to enjoy it as much as possible.

Review and Renew

Hello one and all.

I know I haven't posted anything in forever. I've mainly used Facebook as a means of communicating with family and friends abroad, and until I recently read some of my friends' blogs I hardly registered the existence of this one.

So, since I've been organizing photos recently it seemed like a good time to post an update.

I found a friends' facebk status update an interesting way to do this, we'll see how it turns out for me. Here are some photos to keep you entertained...

2011 top 10 Memories, in chronological order:

1. Friendship Festival (Festival de la Amistad) activity at church.

2. Charles started walking, stopped nursing and turned 1 year old in March.

3. Visiting Raquel Freire and family in Lille, France, and also a day in Paris via TGV.

4. BYU Students living with us for April & May and Chinese students in September

5. Miriam's 3rd birthday in July, celebrated in Hontoba, Guadalajara, Spain, also where we spent the majority of the month of August.

6. Finding out we'll be a family of five in 2012!

7. Miriam starting school, adapting, getting up early every weekday.

8. Rome for our 5th Anniversary: Colliseum, Roman Forum, Gelato, Gnocchi on Thursday, Pantheon, Via Appia Antica, and lots of public transit!

9. 26th Birthday and iPad

10. Freire Family Reunion in El Hito, Cuenca, Spain and holidays all together in Alcalá.

Stay tuned for future posts and recent updates. Hopefully my new tablet will help me keep in touch.