Finally after 3 long months of having no health insurance, as of March 1st, we have our MN Care, Blue Plus ins. back!!! yippee!!
We got the cards in the mail today. It's been very overwhelming not having health insurance right at the time we needed it most. Hannah was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes 3 days after we lost our insurance. Why did we loose it?? I hate to place blame on anyone ever, but Steve wouldn't do/get our 2007 taxes done, despite my many attempts to help him, motivate him, and just plain tell him that we'd loose our health ins. by the end of November if they were not submitted to the state for renewal of our insurance. How do you convince a stubborn husband?? You can't, as I found out.
We are on MN Care because Steve is self employed, and we've been on this insurance for about 5 years. It's always a hassle to renew every year, but the insurance we get is great, and worth the hassles, we'd never be able to afford any other type of insurance, and mostly everything is covered.
So when Hannah was in the hospital, things couldn't have gotton worse. We had about $10,000 in bills to cover now, plus the cost of taking care of a diabetic is one of the highest costs in regards to supplies. Talk about stress, much less having your child dignosed with a lifelong condition. We wouldn't have needed to have to worry about health insurance at that time, but because of a lesson learned, we did worry...ALOT. I cried about it, even before I knew about Hannah's condition, I just couldn't understand my husbands intentions about our family and the health ins. we NEEDED. This all happens at the worst time of year for us, when tensions and frustrations are at it's peak anyway becasue of lack of work for Steve, therefore lack of money. This added on top of all that, we had to dig deep for strength. I basicly handed it all over to God's hands, knowing I was doing all I could to stay strong and positive. It's the only thing that got me through. If I would have given in to my worries and anger, who knows where I would be.
I am so happy that Steve worked with me to remedy the situation, and am glad to say that things are looking better. We got Decembers bills covered through an emergency Medical Assitance program for Hannah only. At first we were denied coverage, but when they only looked at Decembers income instead of the entire 2007 income, we were able to be covered month by month. Also we found out MN Care will go back and cover January and February clinic visits and expenses but we have to pay a small addional premium, which we should be able to do here soon.
Have we learned our lesson??...After all of this, I hope so, but am still trying to get Steve motivated yet again to do 2008 taxes. He's had plenty of time lately, but still has choosen to put it aside for now. I have done my part in totaling up stuff and organizing all the paper work, now it's his turn. Pray that he gets this task done soon, we may be able to submit the 2008 taxes to MN Care to possibly lower our premium. Our premium has doubled now because 2007 was a year where our taxes told us we made a few extra bucks. Hard to believe, but the taxes in 2007 weren't too nice to us.
Anyway it's a huge relief to have this unnecessary burden off our shoulders, and now we can focus on Hannah's care, and the health care of the entire family.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Bailey in his 5th Grade Band Concert
The song is "Shoo Fly Rock". Bailey is in the last row right in front of the silver drum......impossible to see him.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Many of My Massive Memories of Mazatlan Mexico
As I sit here and think of my experience in Mexico, my mind is a whirlwind. It was a fun, eventful, dramatic, yet relaxing week. I had little to no access to phones, TV/news, internet, music/radio, and driving around..... which is a big part of my normal life. I felt a little disconnected to what I know as my life, but it was a good thing-- there was no hassles and worries to overcome, just one beautiful day after another to do whatever. I was in a foreign country and the biggest worry I had to overcome was not being able to communicate well to the mexican people in general everyday situations. I learned hola, and gracios very quickly, and caught on to some words I saw and heard, but as a whole I stuck close to the group, as to not have to communicate on my own. I think if I ever went back, I'd want to brush up on my spanish skills, which as of now I have none. Before we left for the airport, I had to run Hannah to the clinic in Dassel for a quick appointment for "burning while she pee's". It was a sudden occurance as the night before she complained of this. I decided to let it go until morning thinking it would go away, and it didn't. So at 8am I called and got her in at 8:30 before they actually saw any patients. We got out of there by a little after 9am, with a bladder infection diagnosed, something we learned she is now prone to, because of her diabetes. Most of the waiting there was waiting for her to pee so they could test it. We got home and got packed up to head to the airport right away. Had to be there by about noon for a 2pm flight with a stop to pick up Steve's parents, a stop at the pharmacy to get Hannah's meds, a stop to drop some luggage off at Jes and Jose's van, a stop at the bank and finally to the airport we go. We are getting excited and it's hard to relax after the caos of a morning.
The check in at the airport was a little time consuming and confusing at first, and we finally made it through security, we grabbed some sandwhiches at the airport deli, and quickly ate a late lunch. We were starved. It got us by, quite expensive but nonetheless, it was food. The flight was direct to Mazatlan, which was like 3 hours and 50 min. Hannah was quite nervous, but did well, Brynna was very scared and cried for a good 15 min right before take off, but then loved it once we were flying. Everyone else did exceptionally well for a long flight.
We arrived at the Mazatlan airport and were the last group to get through customs. Steve and I didnt' fill out the bottom of our forms and had to step aside to do it quick. Felt a little embarressed. Each family had to push a button and if it turned red your bags all had to be searched. Lucky for us all our lights turned green. The airport was kinda dead....we met out drivers that took us in 2 big vans to the house about a 35 min drive. I arrived in Mazatlan with a huge headache, but that was quickly cured with food and asprin.
One thing that pops out in my head is the crazy mexican drivers. Holy Cow!! We took taxi's wherever we went or we walked. Even the taxi drivers were crazy, and with the kids not in car seats, much less belted in, I just hoped and prayed each time we didn't get in an accident. The streets are narrow, usually lined with parked cars. In the Gold Zone, cars were plenty, driving faster, weaving in an out of lanes, which in their reality there weren't even lanes. Sometimes we'd be driving in the middle of the road to avoid other cars, taxi's or even people. If a driver got anxious or antsy behind another car, they would just weave in and out, without using signals. Walking the streets also proved to be a challenge, people just cross streets when ever, and where ever they feel like it. It became quickly obvious that there is no such thing as jaywalking and crosswalks in Mexico, and stepping out in front of cars/taxi's the people seemed oblivious to possibly getting hit by a car...they just crossed streets with a glance as the traffic coninued on. We knew not to step on the roads until we were sure the way was clear. We even caved into the crossing when ever and where ever and went with the flow of the city, although nervous at first, we eventually fit in, maybe more cautiously though. :)
WE took a taxi truck to Sams Club the first day we were there and got enough food for most of the week. We made 2 trips to Walmart as well. The prices on things there always threw me off, $117 for my sunglasses I bought. Everything is written in dollars, but is paid for in pasos. So $117 sunglasses became reasonable as my mind slowly comprehended that is only about $8. Our Sam's Club total was about $5000pasos, which was about $400 or so. But seeing a total of $5000 throws your mind for a loop. We were able to convert our american money into pasos when we got there at a bank, or we were able to use our Debit/ATM cards to withdraw pasos. Kind neat. Visa and MC is common to use too. I withdrew $1000 pasos once (about $70). In the Gold Zone there were a gazillion money exchange places, but since we didn't go there often, we did our exchanges at the bank in old Mazatlan.
Taxi was our mode of transportation. There was 2 different kinds that we took, the back of a pick up truck, which had bench seats in the back with a canopy over the top. It held about 8-10 of us. The golf cart looking taxi's were more plentiful so more often we took them but needed 4 of them to hold all of us, as they only held 4 passengers. It was a challenge to track down 3-4 of them, but when one came by more usually followed. Those were more fun to ride in. We were able to see out of them better, felt safer inside a car type, than in a back of a truck, and the drivers were more socialable, kinda CRAZY at times. :) It was a fun experience. The golf carts were cheaper than the trucks, most times could get a truck for 100-140 pasos (one way), and the golf carts were less about 60-80 pasos (plus tips). All in all I think we are glad we didn't rent vans to drive ourselves around, we would have gotton lost or quite possibly driven over a few people.
We had beautiful weather. Mazatlan is called the "Pearl of the Pacific". Mazatlan is an ancient Nahuatl word for "land of the deer" and in fact the Mazatlan baseball team is called the "Venados," which is Spanish for deer.
I never knew the exact tempatures we were feeling, but it felt next to perfect, excect maybe the windier day on Sunday. The sun shown every day, with the brightest blue sky. The warm air felt like the therapy I needed after dealing with several months of MN winter. I didn't even mind the wind as it was a warm tropical wind that left me feeling refreshed. The days we spent on the beach were a dream come true. The sounds of the waves, the sights of the ocean and palm trees, the hot sun warming....oh and I can't forget the girls squeeling at every wave attempting to grab their feet. It was all part of the atmosphere. It was all good...until.....
Sunday afternoon, the windy day, when the waves were big. We were all enjoying the beach, when we realized things went from good to very bad in a matter of minutes.
Bradey (18 yr old nephew) was out past the point of where he probably should have been with his boogie board. We were closely watching the 2 younger boys, Bailey and Bryer, and kept them within check of the waves. The waves and under tow were strong and it left Bradey unable to get back into shore. He lost his boogie board, which wasn't attached to his wrist because the rope had broken off the day before. He let the younger boys use the 2 boogie boards with the wrist straps. So as we watched his board fly up to shore, and Bradey was still out in the waves, panic set in. Jen, whose son is now floating in the waves over his head, was determined to rescue her son. When she became frantic, is when I knew Bradey was in serious trouble. We pulled the younger boys up on shore as the girls continued to splash in the waves on the beach, pretty oblivious to the situation at hand. Within minutes Jose went to see what he could do to help Jen. Right after a lifeguard came from nowhere. We didn't even realize lifeguards were around...and Thank God he was there. As Jes and I watched from shore, becoming more and more anxious, we saw the lifeguard dive under the waves and through the current to get to Bradey before Jen and Jose were even close. Bradey was walking up to shore within minutes. His legs weak and cramped, and having swallowed lots of salt water...... he was ok. Now our attention turned towards Jen and Jose who were stuck in the waves headed for the rocky shore on the side of the beach. The life guard resuced them as well, and they had to assist Jen out of the water, as her legs gave way to complete exhaustion. Jen broke down crying and making sure Bradey was ok, and we all gave a HUGE sigh of relief, shed a few tears of thanksgiving, thanking God for saving them as we stood facing the fearce waves of the ocean that day. Needless to say that day at the beach was over. That afternoon we were undoubtly all shook up a bit, but went on with life as normal in Mazatlan.
Early Friday morning the "guys" (Steve sr, Steve, Bradey and Jose) went out deep sea fishing for 7-8 hours 6am until about 3pm when they got back home. They had a good time taking in the views of hundreds of dolphins, but never got a fish or even a bite. Us "girls" took the kids to the Aquarium that afternoon. Monday morning the boys ( Bailey and Bryer) got to go with Grandpa and Jose to do some off shore bottom fishing. I think they had alot of fun catching some seemingly big fish for 11 yr olds.
Bailey got motion sick, and wasn't feeling too well until maybe the dramamine kicked in more. Afterwards grandpa wasn't feeling too well either, rough day on the sea...but at least they caught some fish.
We had many many more good times and made many memories that we will charish forever, besides the fact that Steve drank too much on, Saturday-- Valentines Day-- and was sick all day Sunday, we had a blast a Senor Frogs. The music and the atmosphere was loud, and to the point of obnoxious for a restaurant.
We all had a good meal there, the servers were the entertainment, as they danced and sang up a storm. They had a balloon maker make our entire group balloon hats!! All 15 of us!! We all had a slightly different style, it was hilarious. Bailey and Bryer had the biggest hamburgers I have ever seen served to a child. Brynna, Audri, Bryer and even little Isaiah enjoyed dancing on the stage there. My kids were too chicken. At one point the server men put on wrestling masks, and grabbed women to dance with, Jen and I were 2 of them. It was crazy, but oh so fun to dance with the masked men. We then formed a train and headed all around the restaurant, finally going outside in the street and cars were honking at us, that is when I decided enough was enough, and Jen and I headed back inside only to find our girls in the train as well, we grabbed them out of line and went back to our table. CRAZY>
The evening got louder and that is when we all left and got back in our golf cart taxi's to head home. It was a crazy taxi ride home, the drivers were fun turned the music on and we all had a blast passing each other, waving , and jammin to the music enjoying the nighttime scenery and experience.
Over the course of the trip one highlight was "The Central Market" which was within walking distance from our house. The Market was a big place where many items were sold, mostly geared toward tourists. The object of this place was to barter a price. If you wanted something, always offer less, and they will most likely accept, if not walk away and then they will for sure accept. When dealing with pasos, we are talking getting t-shirts for a few bucks or hats for $5, princess dresses for $18, or even leather sandles for $15. Everything seemed like a bargin before the bargin. It was a fun place to be and shop, EXCEPT don't go by the food section-- especically the meat---OH the smell could kill you, if not kill you, make you extremely sick. I breathed through my mouth the whole time while getting out of that area. The vendors had meat just laying out all over the place-- any kind-- I didn't look too close, but even saw pig heads, and hunks of what looked to be cow rear ends with the tail still attached. It was the most disgusting thing ever to see all that meat and chicken just laying out in the open air. We think the meat must have been layed on top of coolers, but not sure and never stuck around long enough to care.
We all went to the market several times in small groups as we felt the need to shop and buy something. There were many cool shops around the area where we lived. So we did alot of walking around and checking out places. In most cases we never got lost, as all we had to do was find the Cathedral in the center of town, and then we knew how to get back home from there. The Cathedral was huge and beautiful....we even saw a bride and groom come out of there on Valentines Day.
We spent one afternoon walking along the boardwalk next to the ocean. There were many sights to see, including houses high on a hill, statues, wide ocean views, crabs on the rocks below, towers, cliff jumper man, and many many vendors trying incessiantly to get us to buy. "This look good on you, you want bracelet for the girl, how bout a dress for you, and on and on...pretty much bothersome and overwhelming with all the decisions. Mostly we would just say no thanks, but several times we did buy and were happy to get a good deal for something we thought we had to have, more so we were forced to look, and then thought, oh, that would be nice to have.:) Bailey even had to pay 10 pasos to use the restroom. Steve had to pay as well to use the bathroom at the market one day....and most restrooms in Mexico had people in them ready to wash your hands and give you paper towel or just waiting in there for tips. So there usually wasn't a chance to use the restroom for free.
We spent alot of time in the evenings relaxing out in our courtyard, just talking and relaxing after the kids went to bed. The night scence in the old downtown Mazatlan area where we were only a block from Plaza Marcado, which is where it is loud and busy late into the night. Bands playing, bars open- until 2-3-4am, even saw kids out until very late. We figured out pretty quick that Mexicans stay up late and sleep in the mornings , as nothing as far as most small businesses opened until 10am or later. There was never a quiet peaceful night. The Mazatlan Carnaval was set to start on Feb 19 the day after we left and last a whole week, if we thought our week was loud, we can only imagine what the next week would have been like. We had a Carnaval Parade come down our street one of the days we were there, and we thought someone was shooting. The kids were out in the courtyard and we brought them all in the house, as we kept hearing what sounded like gun shots. We were all a little concerned. Come to find out they were shooting bottle rockets or something similar, with all the Carnaval entourage in a parade. It only lasted 10 min or so, but it was our excitment for the time being.
We ate out at several restaurants, which was fun and an experience. Steve and I discovered we loved the grilled shrimp wrapped in bacon and cheese. YUM. The kids usually got breakfasts-(scrambled eggs/bacon or pancakes), hamburgers or chicken strips. We ate at Burger King twice once in the Gran Plaza (a mall) and once in the Gold Zone. Most of our meals were at the house, cleaning up all the food we bought. We left all of our leftovers for the maid, or Jen brought some things to the orphanage.
The flight home was fairly uneventful.....We left our house at 3:30pm to get to the airport in time, and we had just enough time after checking in to grab some food (QUICK), we had to order at a restaurant and they quickly made some burgers and such.
We then went through security and had all our carry on's manually searched...a little different routine than Minneapolis, and then had to send everything through the machine.
On the way home we travelled from Mazatlan to Cabo San Lucas, about a 40 min flight, which left Mazatlan about 6pm. We were told we could stay on the plan while the Cabo people got off, but then they had us get off as well, Mexican athourities told us we had to clear the plane for inspection. We got off, exited the plan via stairs ( no tunnel) right out onto the airstrip, and into the airport, the air was warm it felt good. We got right back on the plane within about 20 min and the flight home was with a less than full plane so we had more room to spread out. We arrived in Minneapolis at about 12:30am our time, and by the time we got in the van and headed home it was about 1:45am. It's freezing here...landing temp was 9 degrees. We finally went to bed at 3am. Kids missed school the next day as well, and we spent the weekend getting back into the "routine" of what we call normal life. I worked all weekend, and now have this week to settle back down.
It was a good time, many memories--I hope to see Mexico again. A big thank you to Steve and Nancy for allowing us to go on this trip. I truly hope and pray that Steve Sr is around for many years to come to create even more memories to last a lifetime.
God Bless.
The check in at the airport was a little time consuming and confusing at first, and we finally made it through security, we grabbed some sandwhiches at the airport deli, and quickly ate a late lunch. We were starved. It got us by, quite expensive but nonetheless, it was food. The flight was direct to Mazatlan, which was like 3 hours and 50 min. Hannah was quite nervous, but did well, Brynna was very scared and cried for a good 15 min right before take off, but then loved it once we were flying. Everyone else did exceptionally well for a long flight.
We arrived at the Mazatlan airport and were the last group to get through customs. Steve and I didnt' fill out the bottom of our forms and had to step aside to do it quick. Felt a little embarressed. Each family had to push a button and if it turned red your bags all had to be searched. Lucky for us all our lights turned green. The airport was kinda dead....we met out drivers that took us in 2 big vans to the house about a 35 min drive. I arrived in Mazatlan with a huge headache, but that was quickly cured with food and asprin.
One thing that pops out in my head is the crazy mexican drivers. Holy Cow!! We took taxi's wherever we went or we walked. Even the taxi drivers were crazy, and with the kids not in car seats, much less belted in, I just hoped and prayed each time we didn't get in an accident. The streets are narrow, usually lined with parked cars. In the Gold Zone, cars were plenty, driving faster, weaving in an out of lanes, which in their reality there weren't even lanes. Sometimes we'd be driving in the middle of the road to avoid other cars, taxi's or even people. If a driver got anxious or antsy behind another car, they would just weave in and out, without using signals. Walking the streets also proved to be a challenge, people just cross streets when ever, and where ever they feel like it. It became quickly obvious that there is no such thing as jaywalking and crosswalks in Mexico, and stepping out in front of cars/taxi's the people seemed oblivious to possibly getting hit by a car...they just crossed streets with a glance as the traffic coninued on. We knew not to step on the roads until we were sure the way was clear. We even caved into the crossing when ever and where ever and went with the flow of the city, although nervous at first, we eventually fit in, maybe more cautiously though. :)
WE took a taxi truck to Sams Club the first day we were there and got enough food for most of the week. We made 2 trips to Walmart as well. The prices on things there always threw me off, $117 for my sunglasses I bought. Everything is written in dollars, but is paid for in pasos. So $117 sunglasses became reasonable as my mind slowly comprehended that is only about $8. Our Sam's Club total was about $5000pasos, which was about $400 or so. But seeing a total of $5000 throws your mind for a loop. We were able to convert our american money into pasos when we got there at a bank, or we were able to use our Debit/ATM cards to withdraw pasos. Kind neat. Visa and MC is common to use too. I withdrew $1000 pasos once (about $70). In the Gold Zone there were a gazillion money exchange places, but since we didn't go there often, we did our exchanges at the bank in old Mazatlan.
Taxi was our mode of transportation. There was 2 different kinds that we took, the back of a pick up truck, which had bench seats in the back with a canopy over the top. It held about 8-10 of us. The golf cart looking taxi's were more plentiful so more often we took them but needed 4 of them to hold all of us, as they only held 4 passengers. It was a challenge to track down 3-4 of them, but when one came by more usually followed. Those were more fun to ride in. We were able to see out of them better, felt safer inside a car type, than in a back of a truck, and the drivers were more socialable, kinda CRAZY at times. :) It was a fun experience. The golf carts were cheaper than the trucks, most times could get a truck for 100-140 pasos (one way), and the golf carts were less about 60-80 pasos (plus tips). All in all I think we are glad we didn't rent vans to drive ourselves around, we would have gotton lost or quite possibly driven over a few people.
We had beautiful weather. Mazatlan is called the "Pearl of the Pacific". Mazatlan is an ancient Nahuatl word for "land of the deer" and in fact the Mazatlan baseball team is called the "Venados," which is Spanish for deer.
I never knew the exact tempatures we were feeling, but it felt next to perfect, excect maybe the windier day on Sunday. The sun shown every day, with the brightest blue sky. The warm air felt like the therapy I needed after dealing with several months of MN winter. I didn't even mind the wind as it was a warm tropical wind that left me feeling refreshed. The days we spent on the beach were a dream come true. The sounds of the waves, the sights of the ocean and palm trees, the hot sun warming....oh and I can't forget the girls squeeling at every wave attempting to grab their feet. It was all part of the atmosphere. It was all good...until.....
Sunday afternoon, the windy day, when the waves were big. We were all enjoying the beach, when we realized things went from good to very bad in a matter of minutes.
Bradey (18 yr old nephew) was out past the point of where he probably should have been with his boogie board. We were closely watching the 2 younger boys, Bailey and Bryer, and kept them within check of the waves. The waves and under tow were strong and it left Bradey unable to get back into shore. He lost his boogie board, which wasn't attached to his wrist because the rope had broken off the day before. He let the younger boys use the 2 boogie boards with the wrist straps. So as we watched his board fly up to shore, and Bradey was still out in the waves, panic set in. Jen, whose son is now floating in the waves over his head, was determined to rescue her son. When she became frantic, is when I knew Bradey was in serious trouble. We pulled the younger boys up on shore as the girls continued to splash in the waves on the beach, pretty oblivious to the situation at hand. Within minutes Jose went to see what he could do to help Jen. Right after a lifeguard came from nowhere. We didn't even realize lifeguards were around...and Thank God he was there. As Jes and I watched from shore, becoming more and more anxious, we saw the lifeguard dive under the waves and through the current to get to Bradey before Jen and Jose were even close. Bradey was walking up to shore within minutes. His legs weak and cramped, and having swallowed lots of salt water...... he was ok. Now our attention turned towards Jen and Jose who were stuck in the waves headed for the rocky shore on the side of the beach. The life guard resuced them as well, and they had to assist Jen out of the water, as her legs gave way to complete exhaustion. Jen broke down crying and making sure Bradey was ok, and we all gave a HUGE sigh of relief, shed a few tears of thanksgiving, thanking God for saving them as we stood facing the fearce waves of the ocean that day. Needless to say that day at the beach was over. That afternoon we were undoubtly all shook up a bit, but went on with life as normal in Mazatlan.
Early Friday morning the "guys" (Steve sr, Steve, Bradey and Jose) went out deep sea fishing for 7-8 hours 6am until about 3pm when they got back home. They had a good time taking in the views of hundreds of dolphins, but never got a fish or even a bite. Us "girls" took the kids to the Aquarium that afternoon. Monday morning the boys ( Bailey and Bryer) got to go with Grandpa and Jose to do some off shore bottom fishing. I think they had alot of fun catching some seemingly big fish for 11 yr olds.
Bailey got motion sick, and wasn't feeling too well until maybe the dramamine kicked in more. Afterwards grandpa wasn't feeling too well either, rough day on the sea...but at least they caught some fish.
We had many many more good times and made many memories that we will charish forever, besides the fact that Steve drank too much on, Saturday-- Valentines Day-- and was sick all day Sunday, we had a blast a Senor Frogs. The music and the atmosphere was loud, and to the point of obnoxious for a restaurant.
We all had a good meal there, the servers were the entertainment, as they danced and sang up a storm. They had a balloon maker make our entire group balloon hats!! All 15 of us!! We all had a slightly different style, it was hilarious. Bailey and Bryer had the biggest hamburgers I have ever seen served to a child. Brynna, Audri, Bryer and even little Isaiah enjoyed dancing on the stage there. My kids were too chicken. At one point the server men put on wrestling masks, and grabbed women to dance with, Jen and I were 2 of them. It was crazy, but oh so fun to dance with the masked men. We then formed a train and headed all around the restaurant, finally going outside in the street and cars were honking at us, that is when I decided enough was enough, and Jen and I headed back inside only to find our girls in the train as well, we grabbed them out of line and went back to our table. CRAZY>
The evening got louder and that is when we all left and got back in our golf cart taxi's to head home. It was a crazy taxi ride home, the drivers were fun turned the music on and we all had a blast passing each other, waving , and jammin to the music enjoying the nighttime scenery and experience.
Over the course of the trip one highlight was "The Central Market" which was within walking distance from our house. The Market was a big place where many items were sold, mostly geared toward tourists. The object of this place was to barter a price. If you wanted something, always offer less, and they will most likely accept, if not walk away and then they will for sure accept. When dealing with pasos, we are talking getting t-shirts for a few bucks or hats for $5, princess dresses for $18, or even leather sandles for $15. Everything seemed like a bargin before the bargin. It was a fun place to be and shop, EXCEPT don't go by the food section-- especically the meat---OH the smell could kill you, if not kill you, make you extremely sick. I breathed through my mouth the whole time while getting out of that area. The vendors had meat just laying out all over the place-- any kind-- I didn't look too close, but even saw pig heads, and hunks of what looked to be cow rear ends with the tail still attached. It was the most disgusting thing ever to see all that meat and chicken just laying out in the open air. We think the meat must have been layed on top of coolers, but not sure and never stuck around long enough to care.
We all went to the market several times in small groups as we felt the need to shop and buy something. There were many cool shops around the area where we lived. So we did alot of walking around and checking out places. In most cases we never got lost, as all we had to do was find the Cathedral in the center of town, and then we knew how to get back home from there. The Cathedral was huge and beautiful....we even saw a bride and groom come out of there on Valentines Day.
We spent one afternoon walking along the boardwalk next to the ocean. There were many sights to see, including houses high on a hill, statues, wide ocean views, crabs on the rocks below, towers, cliff jumper man, and many many vendors trying incessiantly to get us to buy. "This look good on you, you want bracelet for the girl, how bout a dress for you, and on and on...pretty much bothersome and overwhelming with all the decisions. Mostly we would just say no thanks, but several times we did buy and were happy to get a good deal for something we thought we had to have, more so we were forced to look, and then thought, oh, that would be nice to have.:) Bailey even had to pay 10 pasos to use the restroom. Steve had to pay as well to use the bathroom at the market one day....and most restrooms in Mexico had people in them ready to wash your hands and give you paper towel or just waiting in there for tips. So there usually wasn't a chance to use the restroom for free.
We spent alot of time in the evenings relaxing out in our courtyard, just talking and relaxing after the kids went to bed. The night scence in the old downtown Mazatlan area where we were only a block from Plaza Marcado, which is where it is loud and busy late into the night. Bands playing, bars open- until 2-3-4am, even saw kids out until very late. We figured out pretty quick that Mexicans stay up late and sleep in the mornings , as nothing as far as most small businesses opened until 10am or later. There was never a quiet peaceful night. The Mazatlan Carnaval was set to start on Feb 19 the day after we left and last a whole week, if we thought our week was loud, we can only imagine what the next week would have been like. We had a Carnaval Parade come down our street one of the days we were there, and we thought someone was shooting. The kids were out in the courtyard and we brought them all in the house, as we kept hearing what sounded like gun shots. We were all a little concerned. Come to find out they were shooting bottle rockets or something similar, with all the Carnaval entourage in a parade. It only lasted 10 min or so, but it was our excitment for the time being.
We ate out at several restaurants, which was fun and an experience. Steve and I discovered we loved the grilled shrimp wrapped in bacon and cheese. YUM. The kids usually got breakfasts-(scrambled eggs/bacon or pancakes), hamburgers or chicken strips. We ate at Burger King twice once in the Gran Plaza (a mall) and once in the Gold Zone. Most of our meals were at the house, cleaning up all the food we bought. We left all of our leftovers for the maid, or Jen brought some things to the orphanage.
The flight home was fairly uneventful.....We left our house at 3:30pm to get to the airport in time, and we had just enough time after checking in to grab some food (QUICK), we had to order at a restaurant and they quickly made some burgers and such.
We then went through security and had all our carry on's manually searched...a little different routine than Minneapolis, and then had to send everything through the machine.
On the way home we travelled from Mazatlan to Cabo San Lucas, about a 40 min flight, which left Mazatlan about 6pm. We were told we could stay on the plan while the Cabo people got off, but then they had us get off as well, Mexican athourities told us we had to clear the plane for inspection. We got off, exited the plan via stairs ( no tunnel) right out onto the airstrip, and into the airport, the air was warm it felt good. We got right back on the plane within about 20 min and the flight home was with a less than full plane so we had more room to spread out. We arrived in Minneapolis at about 12:30am our time, and by the time we got in the van and headed home it was about 1:45am. It's freezing here...landing temp was 9 degrees. We finally went to bed at 3am. Kids missed school the next day as well, and we spent the weekend getting back into the "routine" of what we call normal life. I worked all weekend, and now have this week to settle back down.
It was a good time, many memories--I hope to see Mexico again. A big thank you to Steve and Nancy for allowing us to go on this trip. I truly hope and pray that Steve Sr is around for many years to come to create even more memories to last a lifetime.
God Bless.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Bailey's team wins 3rd place in Alexandria while he was in Mexico
I thought this was a cool article on the LDC hockey website....they never write recaps of games/tournaments, so it felt like this was written for Bailey to hear what happened....he was asking since the weekend, how he wondered how his team did, while we were in Mexico. So it was nice to come home and read what happened.
Litchfield Squirt A's take 3rd Place in Alexandria
02/15/09
By DP (Coach Pederson)
Congratulations to the Squirt A's for taking 3rd place in the Alexandria tournament. They started out with a close contest against a good goalie for Sauk Rapids taking a 1 -0 lead into the 3rd period and holding on for the 3 -1 win. We outshot them with an incredile 47 shots with 20 coming in the 3rd period. We then took on a tough Alexandria team finding ourselves down 5 - 0 before grabbing our first goal late in the first period. We outshot Alexandria 13 - 7 in the 2nd period but just couldn't find the back of the net (everyone doing their 4,000 shots???). We were slightly outshot 8 -6 in the 3rd with neither team scoring in the 2nd or 3rd period. This game was decided in the first, losing 5 -1. We then faced River Lakes for our 5th meeting this year. Up until this game we were 3 -1 -1 with all games being decided by 2 goals or less. LDC took the early lead winning the 1st period 2 -1. River Lakes played real strong tying the game in the 2nd period. 2 - 2 after two. LDC opened the scoring in the 3rd grabbing a 5 -2 lead with 10 minutes left. The clock just didn't seem to run down fast enough. River Lakes came storming back to within 1. Dylan Lemke make a Domonick Hasek save and then Cal "Ripken" Bakeberg ensured the LDC victory with his first break away goal and LDC never looked back winning this game 6 -4. The coaches are very proud of this team and the way they really came together this weekend. We got scoring from 6 different players with assists from 6 different players. Notable performances: Carson Deal with 4 goals (1 goal the first game, 1 the 2nd and 2 in the 3rd); Josh Prahl with the player maker award (Play maker award is for a player that gets 3 assists in a game). Josh also added a wrap around goal to make it a 4 point game for the rookie. We played all 3 games without one of our top players, Bailey Emery.
WAY TO GO LDC!
Litchfield Squirt A's take 3rd Place in Alexandria
02/15/09
By DP (Coach Pederson)
Congratulations to the Squirt A's for taking 3rd place in the Alexandria tournament. They started out with a close contest against a good goalie for Sauk Rapids taking a 1 -0 lead into the 3rd period and holding on for the 3 -1 win. We outshot them with an incredile 47 shots with 20 coming in the 3rd period. We then took on a tough Alexandria team finding ourselves down 5 - 0 before grabbing our first goal late in the first period. We outshot Alexandria 13 - 7 in the 2nd period but just couldn't find the back of the net (everyone doing their 4,000 shots???). We were slightly outshot 8 -6 in the 3rd with neither team scoring in the 2nd or 3rd period. This game was decided in the first, losing 5 -1. We then faced River Lakes for our 5th meeting this year. Up until this game we were 3 -1 -1 with all games being decided by 2 goals or less. LDC took the early lead winning the 1st period 2 -1. River Lakes played real strong tying the game in the 2nd period. 2 - 2 after two. LDC opened the scoring in the 3rd grabbing a 5 -2 lead with 10 minutes left. The clock just didn't seem to run down fast enough. River Lakes came storming back to within 1. Dylan Lemke make a Domonick Hasek save and then Cal "Ripken" Bakeberg ensured the LDC victory with his first break away goal and LDC never looked back winning this game 6 -4. The coaches are very proud of this team and the way they really came together this weekend. We got scoring from 6 different players with assists from 6 different players. Notable performances: Carson Deal with 4 goals (1 goal the first game, 1 the 2nd and 2 in the 3rd); Josh Prahl with the player maker award (Play maker award is for a player that gets 3 assists in a game). Josh also added a wrap around goal to make it a 4 point game for the rookie. We played all 3 games without one of our top players, Bailey Emery.
WAY TO GO LDC!
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Health and Happiness
Have you ever thought about the connection between happiness and good health? Most of us would probably agree that there is a connection, but many of us don't take the time to build a foundation of good health. Good health can be the launching pad for great things. Think about when you are filling under the weather. It is hard to stay on track and consistent with your goals when your body isn't up to the challenge. It is extremely important to make sure your body stays in great condition if you want to build happiness within your life.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
SMART boards?
SMART boards showing up in classrooms.
SMART Boards (a trade name for interactive whiteboards) are now
part of educational delivery at Dassel Elementary.
SMART Boards are installed in all grade levels as well as in the music
room and media center.
The touch-sensitive whiteboard connects to a computer and digital projector, displaying the computer image. Students can control computer applications when they write, type, and manipulate objects directly on the SMART Board.
Recent studies and surveys on the use of SMART Boards in education have been very positive.
SMART Board interactive whiteboards provide a dynamic, interactive learning environment.
Students are more involved, attentive, and motivated when lessons were offered using SMART Boards as opposed to other teaching methods.
Because a standard SMART Board screen is approximately four by five feet, whole classes may view and interact with computer applications.
SMART Board lessons based on curriculum standards are available online for teachers to download and use in the classroom. Educators can further integrate video, animation, graphics, text and audio with their lessons and presentations.
Anything on the screen can be saved as a “snapshot” making it easy to review at a later date.
SMART Boards can also be used to display a number of sources, including educational websites, DVDs, and VHS tapes.
SMART Boards provide all the familiar educational features of traditional classroom blackboards or whiteboards. However, they add so much more as an exciting, electronic tool for enhancing the curriculum. Students entering Ms. Halvorson’s 3rd
grade classroom and seeing their SMART Board for the first time were unanimous in their declarations of approval: “Sweet!!”
For further information and research on SMART
Boards see:
SMARTER Kids Foundation
http://smarterkids.org/research/paper6.asp
Kent ITC
http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/ict/IWB/index.htm
Third grade teacher, Ms. Halvorson, watches Emma
Huikko select hot or cold lunch by dragging her
name to the appropriate column. Her classroom
also uses the SMART Board for math, reading, and
science lessons.
Luke Karlgaard’s first grade classroom was
introduced to their SMART Board on January 5,
2009. First grader, Rylee Johnson, tries his skill at
a memory game.
**taken from the Dassel Elem. February newsletter**
SMART Boards (a trade name for interactive whiteboards) are now
part of educational delivery at Dassel Elementary.
SMART Boards are installed in all grade levels as well as in the music
room and media center.
The touch-sensitive whiteboard connects to a computer and digital projector, displaying the computer image. Students can control computer applications when they write, type, and manipulate objects directly on the SMART Board.
Recent studies and surveys on the use of SMART Boards in education have been very positive.
SMART Board interactive whiteboards provide a dynamic, interactive learning environment.
Students are more involved, attentive, and motivated when lessons were offered using SMART Boards as opposed to other teaching methods.
Because a standard SMART Board screen is approximately four by five feet, whole classes may view and interact with computer applications.
SMART Board lessons based on curriculum standards are available online for teachers to download and use in the classroom. Educators can further integrate video, animation, graphics, text and audio with their lessons and presentations.
Anything on the screen can be saved as a “snapshot” making it easy to review at a later date.
SMART Boards can also be used to display a number of sources, including educational websites, DVDs, and VHS tapes.
SMART Boards provide all the familiar educational features of traditional classroom blackboards or whiteboards. However, they add so much more as an exciting, electronic tool for enhancing the curriculum. Students entering Ms. Halvorson’s 3rd
grade classroom and seeing their SMART Board for the first time were unanimous in their declarations of approval: “Sweet!!”
For further information and research on SMART
Boards see:
SMARTER Kids Foundation
http://smarterkids.org/research/paper6.asp
Kent ITC
http://www.kented.org.uk/ngfl/ict/IWB/index.htm
Third grade teacher, Ms. Halvorson, watches Emma
Huikko select hot or cold lunch by dragging her
name to the appropriate column. Her classroom
also uses the SMART Board for math, reading, and
science lessons.
Luke Karlgaard’s first grade classroom was
introduced to their SMART Board on January 5,
2009. First grader, Rylee Johnson, tries his skill at
a memory game.
**taken from the Dassel Elem. February newsletter**
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
"Save the Boobies"
AUGUST 7-9,2009
It's official!! My mom has registered to walk 60 miles in 3 days, for the Susan G Koman Race for a Cure for breast cancer. She will be walking in Chicago,
August 7-9, 2009. My aunt Brenda, lives near Chicago, in Fox Lake IL, and has done the walk several times before with her sister, Barb, and Barb's daughter, Shannon, and Barb's daughter-in law, Kim. They asked my mom and me to do the walk this next time and we both agreed that it would be an awesome experience, and fully expected to do it.
I've had second thoughts recently that I am not ready, both physically and mentally. You have to raise over $2000 to be able to walk. All money raised will be donated to breast cancer, wether you walk or not.... but just the thought of fundraising right now, doesn't sound appealing to me. I will support my mom's efforts though.
I am not in the best physical shape, and know I can do better. Walking 20 miles a day scares me a little, although with some effort and determination, I know I could do it. I decided to back away from this, for this time, and plan on doing it next year, granted that that "team" does it again and I'm ready. They talked about travelling for a change to either Minneapolis or Boston. Minneapolis would be convienient.
I wish my mom luck with her training and preparations, and hope that those that read this will consider giving to fight breast cancer.
To Donate: go to www.The3Day.org
Click on donate, and search for my mom's personal webpage.
Linda Radtke- Chicago, IL- Team name: "Save the Boobies"
You can also call- 1-800-996-3DAY
I can also give/send you a donation form to fill out to mail in or you can print one out off the web site.
Thanks for your support!!
Monday, February 2, 2009
Grand Rapids weekend
We had a good time in Grand Rapids over last weekend for Bailey's hockey tournament. We left Friday morning just before 11am arriving in Grand Rapids right around 3pm...so it was about a 4 hr trip with one stop for lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings in St Cloud. ( kids were happy to miss school).
The team stayed at the AmericInn , which was especally nice for us, as I get a 50% discount there and we got a jacuzzi suite. We went to the grocery store and got a few things for the weekend and had a light supper before his game that night.
Bailey's first game was then Friday night at 7pm. They played a Superior, WI team, and lost a good game 4-6. Bailey came through and scored all 4 goals. He was the star of the game. His first hat trick, plus one, at the squirt level. It was quite exciting thinking they might pull together as a team and possibly win. It wasn't meant to be though.
Saturday was a long slow day, which was kinda relaxing. Wasn't rush-rush. The boys game on Sat wasn't till 5:45pm, so we had all day to do whatever. We slept in, had a nice breakfast at the hotel, did some swimming, went to Subway for lunch, some went to a movie, some of the boys went with Steve and Doug to go outdoor skating for about an hour--(it was a beautiful warm day), some went bowling.....my parents and Hannah and I just took advantage of everyone being out and about and used the pool and hot tub. We had another light supper of microwave dinners or sandwiches for supper and then went to his next game againest Champlin Park. They were a pretty fast team and we only got one goal to their 6. Another tough loss. So then we knew our Sunday game was gonna be at 8AM!!
That didn't detur some of the parents though, while most of the kids and I were in bed by 9:30-10pm, some of the parents stayed up until 3am talking and drinking. Steve was one of those parents---he came up to bed after 3am, and then got up at
6am!!!! hummmm..... I felt anti social afterwards, but glad I got the extra sleep when we had to get up in morning. Steve enjoys being more social than I do, and I think he enjoyed himself, although the lack of sleep, driving 4 hrs home, and then having to get up and work today after the weekend, might be taking a toll on him soon.
At the arena at 8am on a Sunday morning for hockey seems a bit not right, but we made it, and the boys had more energy than I thought they would. I still was yawning, even after sleeping all night. The team had the toughest game yet vs Edina. They were a very physical team which got our boys all ryled up. The were steaming with frustration by the end of the 2nd period. Luckily the Zamboni came out to clean the ice and gave the coaches time to calm down our team. We weren't able to score at all, and lost 0-6. Lots of penalities not called. Just a fast team that had more control over the puck...they boys tried hard, but just couldn't handle the Hornets of Edina.
Steve and Bailey stayed at the rink to watch more games, and we went back to pack up the room and check out. Steve and Bailey ended up stayed to watch the championship game at 1:30 and Hannah and I went back to Dassel with my parents. We ate lunch first in Grand Rapids at A&W, and then headed home, making it back about 4:30pm just in time for the Super Bowl. Bailey and Steve didn't care much to watch it, but were home by 7pm to catch the end.
Took some pictures this weekend, and my camera did me well. I got some good shots I think. Here's just a sample of some hockey pictures.
Bailey #24-- he has the puck
Bailey as center in a face off
cool action shot
one of Bailey's goals!!!
The team stayed at the AmericInn , which was especally nice for us, as I get a 50% discount there and we got a jacuzzi suite. We went to the grocery store and got a few things for the weekend and had a light supper before his game that night.
Bailey's first game was then Friday night at 7pm. They played a Superior, WI team, and lost a good game 4-6. Bailey came through and scored all 4 goals. He was the star of the game. His first hat trick, plus one, at the squirt level. It was quite exciting thinking they might pull together as a team and possibly win. It wasn't meant to be though.
Saturday was a long slow day, which was kinda relaxing. Wasn't rush-rush. The boys game on Sat wasn't till 5:45pm, so we had all day to do whatever. We slept in, had a nice breakfast at the hotel, did some swimming, went to Subway for lunch, some went to a movie, some of the boys went with Steve and Doug to go outdoor skating for about an hour--(it was a beautiful warm day), some went bowling.....my parents and Hannah and I just took advantage of everyone being out and about and used the pool and hot tub. We had another light supper of microwave dinners or sandwiches for supper and then went to his next game againest Champlin Park. They were a pretty fast team and we only got one goal to their 6. Another tough loss. So then we knew our Sunday game was gonna be at 8AM!!
That didn't detur some of the parents though, while most of the kids and I were in bed by 9:30-10pm, some of the parents stayed up until 3am talking and drinking. Steve was one of those parents---he came up to bed after 3am, and then got up at
6am!!!! hummmm..... I felt anti social afterwards, but glad I got the extra sleep when we had to get up in morning. Steve enjoys being more social than I do, and I think he enjoyed himself, although the lack of sleep, driving 4 hrs home, and then having to get up and work today after the weekend, might be taking a toll on him soon.
At the arena at 8am on a Sunday morning for hockey seems a bit not right, but we made it, and the boys had more energy than I thought they would. I still was yawning, even after sleeping all night. The team had the toughest game yet vs Edina. They were a very physical team which got our boys all ryled up. The were steaming with frustration by the end of the 2nd period. Luckily the Zamboni came out to clean the ice and gave the coaches time to calm down our team. We weren't able to score at all, and lost 0-6. Lots of penalities not called. Just a fast team that had more control over the puck...they boys tried hard, but just couldn't handle the Hornets of Edina.
Steve and Bailey stayed at the rink to watch more games, and we went back to pack up the room and check out. Steve and Bailey ended up stayed to watch the championship game at 1:30 and Hannah and I went back to Dassel with my parents. We ate lunch first in Grand Rapids at A&W, and then headed home, making it back about 4:30pm just in time for the Super Bowl. Bailey and Steve didn't care much to watch it, but were home by 7pm to catch the end.
Took some pictures this weekend, and my camera did me well. I got some good shots I think. Here's just a sample of some hockey pictures.
Bailey #24-- he has the puck
Bailey as center in a face off
cool action shot
one of Bailey's goals!!!
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