A Whirlwind December

Jacob got student of the month!  He is here with his teacher - Mrs. Yee.

We had an advent calendar that consisted of doing something each day for 25 days.  On this day we built a fort and ate dinner in it.  Claire really was more excited than she seems.

Jacob played "Away in a Manger" for his first piano recital.  He played very well.

We got a fun Disney dance game from Grandma and Grandpa Jones.

Olivia is cute.

Just cute.

Jacob had a Christmas program for school.

Jacob got A LOT of good slips for being good at school.  He also loves math.  He is counting his good slips here.  Jacob used some of his good slips to buy us Christmas presents at the school good slip store.  He got Olivia a Santa Claus ornament, Claire a small silver bucket (they didn't have pink or purple), me a "Phineas and Ferb" magnet, and Jonathan a used book about Eastern Africa.  He honestly put a lot of thought into each gift.  He honestly is a cute kid.  

Another gift from Grandma and Grandpa Jones.  We love the "Olivia" books.

This was Claire's favorite gift from Grandma and Grandpa Jones.  

More cuteness.

Our gingerbread house about 3 days after we made it.  Notice something is missing? Like most of the candy!

We stayed in Vancouver, WA with family before we flew out of Portland.  Jacob and Claire loved hanging out with their cousins.

First exciting moment of our adventure to Chile.  Moving sidewalks!!!

Kids on the plane!  The first of many long flights!  The kids ended up flying on 5 airplanes and spent over 30 hours flying!

Finally in Chile with family!

Just had to include my action shot of Caleb.

The kids LOVED hanging out with their aunts and uncles!

Vina del Mar.  We spent 2 night in this lovely city.

Dinner in Vina.  It was an interesting dinner.  Even with 6 1/2 Spanish speakers (I am the half) that have lived in a variety of cultures, we had a few things on the menu that we didn't understand.  I had some rice that somehow had become pink.  Natasha had the most interesting dinner.  She had a salad that consisted of A LOT of lettuce with some baked potatoes and raw fish on top.

Olivia got to experience a pool for the first time.  Yes, we all had to wear swim caps at the hotel swimming pool.  Somehow Olivia got out of wearing a swim cap.  

We met a man that had made instruments out of a variety of natural materials.  

One last picture of Vina del Mar.

Claire loves to imagine.  I believe she is Merida from the movie "Brave."  

La Feria 

At La Feria.  Theft in Chile is quite a big problem.  We are all smiling with a little concern that our photographer might run away with my camera.

This is where we picnicked at San Jose de Maipo.  

The man that runs this picnicking area/campground wanted to charge us $40 US dollars to picnic here.    David ended up paying $20.  This is the bathroom.  Turned out that if you wanted to jump on the trampoline, you had to pay extra.  Still, it was a nice shady spot to eat lunch.  Shady, as in, trees (not the people :) ).

The kids had fun riding the metro to Santa Lucia.

This is the first of our pictures at Radal Siete Tazas National Park in the Andes mountain range.  Just showing off some photography skills here....and the beautiful fuchsia.

Siete Tazas!!!! So beautiful!

Jonathan is jumping into the water.

Jonathan is playin' it safe with sun protection after getting burned earlier in the week.

Uncle Ben helped Claire scale a steep hill. 

We had to hike in a little to get to this swimming area.  The water was FREEZING, but it was so beautiful here and we had a great time.  

In case you are wondering - Jonathan's parents are living in Santiago, Chile for a 3 year mission.  

This past month has been full of wonderful experiences that we will never forget.  It is also shown that we have wonderful parents who spoil us as well as our children.

Wow to 2012.  New baby. Scary birth.  Moving.  Medical School.  First kid in elementary school.  Chile.