Happy New Year!  This is how we celebrated ringing in the new year...a few hours before the girls went to bed.  Sylvia loved the sparklers but would drop them before they burned out for fear of being burned.  We lit off some other louder fireworks and Vivian didn't like them much.  They were too loud and would say 'gaird' for scared or 'oud' for loud.  She held onto me while Benjamin was our pyrotechnician.  Every once in a while Sylvia would come running to me too.  It's been a great year.  2012 has a lot in store.

Here are a few more pictures from our ward Halloween party.  The girls just can't get enough candy.  

Here they are next to their friend Aaralyn dressed as a pink batgirl.

                                                      Vivian getting wrapped as a mummy

                                   She ended up winning the contest of the first to be wrapped.

Halloween...a little late

The girls had a great time dressing up for Halloween. Sylvia was Cinderella and Vivian was a ladybug. I, Nicky, was a cat. Sylvia saw me with the draw-on whiskers and wanted some too. We had a great time at a ward party where we all ate a lot of food and candy.

Back to the island life...meaning school for us

We've been back in Puerto Rico for more than two months now after spending two months in Buffalo. We had a great time with grandparents and cousins and a brother. Sylvia really learned a lot of English vocabulary and really prefers it over Spanish. She's getting back into the swing of the Spanish through since being back in school and making new friends with the neighbors who live downstairs. Vivian is saying a lot more words now too. Every other word is either Mama or Papa but she is immitating a lot too. She says 'dato' for 'gato', 'lagarto' (lizard), 'zapato' (shoe) and anything else with a similar sound. When we ask her 'que dice el gato?' (what does a cat say?) she says 'nao'. She is such a happy girl and loves her mama, papa, and Sylvia.

Benjamin was selected to intern with one of the local hospitals through the end of the school year in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. He had to practically beg for the application from the nursing school director who said that normally the director selects those who will receive an application. Luckily for Benjamin, he is persistent. The application was due about two days later and he pushed to get it done. He and one other student from our school were selected. He is required to work 100 hours a month and gets a modest stipend. He is also participating in a scholarship program through the hospital which will pay him a little more in exchange for one and a half month's of work after graduation for every month he works as an intern. Eight months as an intern would translate into twelve months as an employee after graduation. This means that more than likely we will be here another year. The reason the hospital has the intership program is to train the interns at a low cost so they will be prepared to work at that hospital. Benjamin would be guaranteed a position after graduation. We are hoping that he will be able to stay in the ICU when that happens.

I (Nicky) have been staying busy with my classes and taking care of the girls when I'm not in class so Benjamin can use as much time as he can to prepare for the NCLEX, the national nursing board exam. He's hoping to take it within the next couple of months. Sylvia loves the park and the library and we often go to one or the other after her school. Hopefully next trimester we will also get back into going swimming at her friend Aeralin's house since we will only have class three days a week.

We recently had some car trouble and the radiator on our Volvo leaked out all the fluid. The guy at the shop suspected that the engine was damaged. It would have cost us an arm and a leg to repair...but we decided to get a new (used) car instead. We're hoping this one will be more economical for us. The lesson learned is not to buy a car whose parts are expensive and only one guy or the dealership are the only ones on the island who can fix it. And then the fact that we're on an island where everything has to be shipped which costs extra and takes more time. We now have a Chrysler PT Cruiser. It's a little smaller but we can easily fit it into our carport and keep it cool during the day.

End of Buffalo Summer

Our summer in New York has come and gone and we're back in Puerto Rico ready to start up school again tomorrow. Benjamin arrived by surprise on July 8th. He had his internship interview that morning and flew in that evening. We knew he was coming...we just didn't know exactly when. We were all so excited to finally see him after over a month. Vivian was a little shy at first and didn't want him to hold her for about half a day. Sylvia was too groggy when she first woke up but warmed up fast once she was awake. All in all it was a great two months. Sylvia really beefed up on her English vocabulary. She said the words 'sword', 'fight', and 'superhero' at least a dozen times a day by the end of it. She enjoyed being with her cousins Ethan and Aidan even if they didn't like being with her so much. We coordinated a lot of rides such that all the kids could get to where they needed to go in a car seat and so that Shawna/Mom could driver her own car since the other one had a manual transmission and she doesn't know how to drive it. We went to the park a lot, swimming at the free community swimming pool (high taxes in NY but free swimming), parties at Ben's cousins, BPO concerts, the zoo, Niagara Falls, evening walks with the red wagon (lots of bickering there), Hill Cumorah Pageant, Church sites, Ethan's baseball games, movies, ate lots of ice-cream, played scrabble and marbles, ran down the slip-and-slide, and had Family Home Evening. It was nice not having to worry about school (although I should have been studying anyway). I originally went so early so I would have an opportunity to do some nursing job shadowing...but I didn't really follow up on that so I didn't do it. But I got some good parenting advice in the process. Sylvia was very excited to come back to PR. You would have thought it was Christmas morning the night we got home. She was so excited to rediscover her toys. With Aidan and Ethan it was always a struggle with the toys since she was always playing with 'their' toys. Vivian is talking more and now says 'wawa' for water. It's still mostly babbling but she understands most everything we say and shakes her head for 'no' and nods once for 'yes'. The girls love playing and laughing together. We have really been blessed with a great family on all generational levels.

Benjamin's Meanderings as a bacholer

I got a dog and gave it up because I was not smart enough to ask Nicky for permission to get him. Amd I spent father's day with my puertorrican family up the road. I got a new temporaty job and will be intrviewed for an internship with a hospital in puerto rico. I dont sleep well because my 3 girls are gone but I am happy to talk to them 3 times a day.

The girls in Buffalo

Sylvia, Vivian and I (Nicky) have spent the last three weeks in Buffalo...without Benjamin and it has been difficult for all of us. Probably more so for Benjamin since he's at home all alone and Nicky is surrounded by kids and adults alike. Since we've been here we've enjoyed playing at the park, playing baseball (to the best of our respective abilities), visiting more cousins, playing in Lake Ontario, visiting the science museum and the zoo, and having a field day with Grama Kay at her school. We still have plans to go to Niagara Falls, Palmyra and the surrounding area, New York City (which we'll do this coming Friday for a week), and maybe even Oneonta to visit Taylor, Suzi and family. Sylvia and Vivian's cousins, Ethan and Aidan have a lot of energy and sometimes Sylvia ends up getting hurt. But they're all learning how to get along. Sylvia loves being around them. Ethan is in school during the weekdays until this coming Friday which makes things a little more manageable between all the adults. Shawna will be teaching her last week of school this week and she is so excited to be retiring.

Sylvia is picking up a lot more English vocabulary being around her cousins. She now imitates Aidan's prayers which are always the same, where she blesses Jesus and her mom and dad and that's the end. I'm sure we'll have her retrained once we're back in PR.
Vivian still loves to be with her mama. Whenever she sees me she usually says 'baba' with the emphasis on the second 'ba'. I guess it's just a mixture of mama and papa. She is now getting in her premolars. I'm glad she'll soon be able to chew more crunchy food. She is as sweet as ever and loves to smile. She has been fully recovered from her accident for several weeks now but still has a red spot on her left flank where she got scraped the worst.

Benjamin has been taking a Pediatrics course during the month and even started working again temporarily at the clinic he worked at before as a receptionist. At least this time he's actually working as a nurse. He is also waiting to receive word for an interview for an internship for the second year of the program. We're really hoping that will come through...but when he'll actually come to Buffalo is in limbo because he's still waiting to know when he'll have the interview. We're assuming he will be called back for it.

And here's wishing all those fathers out there a very happy Father's Day.