We are in Colombia!

We are in Colombia and are loving every minute of it! I don´t have too much time to write and probably won´t be able to write again...what should I say??
It is cold here! We expected for it to be chilly, but it is much colder. Luckily we brought winter clothes for Ana Maria and she has been warm but for Eduardo and I we didn´t bring much. We flew into Bogota yesterday and are leaving Bogota Monday to go to Santa Marta, the beach. It will be very hot there so we just have to deal with it for a couple more days.
Our time in Bogota is to spend time with Eduardo´s 98 year old grandmother, his father and all the uncles, aunts and cousins. His sister and nephew are coming with us to Santa Marta and that will be a fun vacacation we have been wanting to do for a long time. We will be there until August 1st and are flying to Arkansas August 2nd.
Ana Maria is such a travel trooper!! She takes her nap in a different place everyday, never knows what to expect to eat and still does excellent. We have found some fun new foods that she likes and we plan to bring a bunch back home.
Update on Lee...Please continue to pray for him. He was suppose to go Tuesday for this week of chemo but when we went to the hospital, his blood counts were too low and his mouth sores were too bad for him to be admitted for chemo. Instead we went back home and spent another fun two days with family before coming here. He is suppose to be eating a lot to get more strength and will hopefully be admitted Monday for chemo. Please pray for his mouth sores to get better quickly, his blood levels go back up and that he starts to eat more.
I have so many great pictures to post of everything when we get home...I can´t wait for you to see how good Lee looks and how much fun we are having! Thinking of you!!

Quick Summary :)

I know you must wonder where we have been or what we have been doing!! I haven't written or posted pictures since Friday and today is Monday! haha
I have just a few minutes and maybe I'll be able to write more or post pictures tomorrow while Ana Maria takes her nap at the hospital...we'll see.
Quick summary: Our weekend was jam packed! Saturday Eduardo and his brothers Mario and Jose hosted a big tennis exhibition at his brothers country club in Port St. Lucie. It was a lot of fun to watch! Eduardo's neices came from Miami (the three girls) so Ana Maria was so happy and entertained! We spent Saturday and Sunday night with them at Jose's house. It's always fun over there!
Sunday my mom, Sarah and I took all the girls to church with us. We dropped them off and went to see "My Sisters Keeper". You need to see it! That night my aunt and uncle had us all over for a celebration dinner. We were mostly celebrating Lee and his couple more weeks of chemo left.
Today was spent with my family all day getting ready to say goodbye. Sarah and I went to the beach again with Ana Maria this morning. Then got a special lunch for Lee :) We took our last trip to Walmart to get everything ready for Colombia.
Tomorrow Lee goes back to Hollywood to the hospital and we are going with him. Mom, Ana Maria and I are taking him in the morning and Eduardo is going to meet us there to spend the night with us. Wednesday we are going to Miami to spend the night with Mario, Eduardo's other brother and then leaving early Thursday morning for Colombia. We will be in Colombia until August 1st and then going back to Fayetteville August 2nd. Whooh!! I feel exhausted just writing all that!
More than anything, please continue to pray for Lee. He has had two rough days and this week won't make it any better since he will be back in the hospital. I am so happy to be able to be with him with Ana Maria and Eduardo. Pray that he gets more strength and that his mouth sores start to improve. I will have lots to update when we get back to Fayetteville. While we are in Colombia I won't be able to write at all probably. Thank you for your prayers!
Thinking of all of you!! :)

Jump, Bounce, Run!!

Yesterday afternoon mom wanted to find somewhere fun to take Shelby and Ana Maria so we found Kidz Adventure Zone. It was adventurous! It was a huge building filled with all the inflatables you could think of. There were ball pits, slides, obstacle courses, basketball areas, and play toys...all inflatables! Ana Maria and Shebly had fun, but I think mom, Sarah and I had just as much fun! We raced down slides, and competed in the obstacle courses almost sweating at the end! I hope to take my neices when they come here this weekend from Miami...surprise if you are reading this Laura Sofia and Daniela!!

*Just a side note...Eduardo has been home the last two weeks by himself while we have been having a blast in Florida. Finally he is coming this afternoon though and we are so excited! He'll be here a week and then we are flying together to Colombia for another 10 days for a vacation :)


She loved the toddler area with the ball pit

Sarah and Ana Maria sliding fast!

We even got my mom to go on all the slides and raced with us!

Of course for a while, all she wanted to play with was the red car :)

We look intense and we were...we were racing through the obstacle course!

We were so tired, we had to hang out on the couch after jumping and racing for 2 hours!

VIDEOS:

Beach Morning

This morning we woke up early (usual 6:45 time for Ana Maria) and was at the beach by 8:00. We are so lucky that the beach is only 15 minutes from our house so we were there in no time! Ana Maria loved it and we stayed over 2 hours! My brother in law told me that it was a perfect beach to take Ana Maria to because it has no waves early in the morning and it is very low tide. It is actually called Bathtub Beach for that reason...it was really like a bathtub. Luckily the whole time we were there it was low tide and so we were able to walk all the way to the coral reef and walk around out there. It was amazing!
I remember as kids going there all the time but as we got older we wanted to go to the beaches where all the surfers hung out. It had been a long time since I had been there but can't wait to take Eduardo there when he comes tomorrow and Ana Maria again Sunday hopefully.
Come visit and you can go too!!


That early in the morning there was hardly anyone there...

But it does become a very family beach with lots of kids!

The feeling of the sand on her feet :)

My sweet cousin Shelby came with us who is 10 years old!

Ana Maria and mama with her new floaties...they were awesome for the beach because they helped keep her balanced as she walked through the water and small waves.

She walked with us all the way out to the reef you see way in the background :)

Lee came with us too for a short time and took Shelby to the reef

This is Bathtub Beach!

I don't know if you can really see all the bait fish that were swimming around us, but there were a lot!

VIDEO:

Giddy Up Horsie!

These horse saddles were in the front lobby of the resort and she loved riding on them. Everytime she walked by the doors she wanted to ride and on the last day while we were checking out, she got her last ride with Sarah.
On our way home from the ranch, we stopped in Vero Beach to shop at the big outlet mall that they have there. We have been having non-stop fun!!

Bok Tower Gardens

The last day of vacation we went to Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales, Florida. We left the resort for the day and found things to do in the nearby city. We tried going first to Cypress Gardens but found nothing to do there, shopped at a mall and then went to Bok Tower Gardens. It was gorgous and a lot of fun for everyone! Ana Maria enjoyed her new stroller to ride in and Lee rented a golf cart/electric scooter to help him get around the gardens. The whole day was fun for us!


The pretty girls at the entrance to Cypress Gardens :)

Look at my baby sound asleep in the stroller...

She loved holding Uncle Lee's hand while riding in her new hot rod!

This electric cart was the hit of the day for everyone!

Ana Maria feeding the fish teddy grahams :)

Our only family picture from vacation

I love my sister!

This looks like a postcard. The tower was incredible and so beautiful to see

VIDEO: Feeding the fish!

1st Boat Ride!

Ana Maria enjoyed her 1st boat ride!! We rented a boat while we were at River Ranch and she was such a good girl. She loved it! She walked from the front to the back, to the drivers seat, and to the middle. It was hard for her to sit still she was so excited.

VIDEO:

Rodeo Fun!

Our mornings always started with Ana Maria waking up early with the chickens. For some reason she thought she needed to wake up early on vacation to be sure and not miss anything, I guess! Dad was always ready to take her outside and most of the time it meant a good golf cart ride.
The resort had a fabulous petting farm and pony ride. Ana Maria enjoyed everything as you can see in the pictures.
Saturday night we went to our first rodeo. It was pouring rain but the show still went on. The events were incredible to watch and a lot of fun to witness. Unfortunatly they weren't able to do all the competetions because of the pouring rain but it was still a good show. Ana Maria hated the bull riding and would cry everytime the man fell off the bull :( We just had to keep her calm!

Golf Cart Rides:

Petting Farm:

Ana Maria petting a baby horse.

She loved chasing the goats :)

Dad took her on the pony ride so we could snap all the pictures!

She hung on and smiled the whole time :)

Lee didn't touch the animals but they sure liked him!

Watching the chickens chirp...

Mom loves spending time with Ana Maria!

Rodeo:

We were driving around in the golf cart before the rodeo and found some workers herding the bulls together. It was really fun to watch for us "city girls"!

Enjoying the night at the rodeo :)

VIDEOS:

Ana Maria was so happy to see all the animals she couldn't look at one for too long!

Enjoying her pony ride with granddaddy!

The opening show of the rodeo was so much fun to watch.

I wanted to share this video with you because the women's barrell racing was my favorite part to watch. It was fast!

We went to River Ranch!

These are pictures from our first day at River Ranch Resort near Lake Wales, Florida. It's pretty much in the middle of nowhere but a beautiful Westgate resort is there and we visited for a family vacation for 4 days. It was super fun for all of us and especially Ana Maria. We did so many activities while we were there, it's so hard for me to even remember all that we did. The pictures will tell mostly what we did and show how much fun we all had.
The best thing about family vacations for us is that we seem to laugh the whole time we are there. My dad starts with a comment or joke and then we start and don't stop, haha! I know my sister will laugh just reading that I wrote that!
I'll have to break up the vacation into a couple different posts because there are so many pictures I want to share. I hope you enjoy looking that them!


On our way to the pool...she loved it so much and now knows what the word "swimming pool" means!

Mom and Ana Maria enjoying eachothers company on the back porch of the room.

The weather was great for us to hang outside most of the time!

Ana Maria in her first saloon bar. The resort was a rodeo theme so everything was "country"!

She wasn't too sure of all the loud music and country line dancing. Mom, Sarah and I took line dancing lessons that night also!

VIDEOS:

She loved doing the chicken dance :)

Watching all the line dancers that knew what they were doing was fun...the band was good too!

Happy 21st Birthday LEE!!

Happy 21st Birthday LEE!!
Today is Lee's birthday and we have had fun! Although he is still in the hospital, we have made it extra special for him and so has the hospital. We spent the morning together in the family center playing around waiting and knowing they were going to do something special for Lee at around noon. The nurses and child life staff told us they were planning something and wanted us to be there, but wouldn't tell us details. Lee knew nothing and everything was a surprise for him!
We walked into the teen room not knowing what everyone had planned and were we shocked! Lee's doctors and nurses had asked the Hooter's girls to come for his birthday as a surprise and had pizza, chicken wings, cake, balloons and gifts all for him!! It was so special and such a surprise for Lee. He walked in and had tears in his eyes he was so shocked! Four Hooters girls came from the Hard Rock Casino for Lee and it was fun. We took tons of pictures with them, even his doctors got in a couple of them...Ana Maria too!
His doctor have him a big glass for cold milk tonight....beer when this is all finished and a shot glss for coffee tonight and tequila later! It was so cute and you could tell how happy everyone was for Lee and how excited Lee was. The Hooters girls stayed the whole time and talked to Lee and us about everything. They were very friendly and social.
Now it's all cleaned up and the party has moved back to Lee's room. I took Ana Maria to the hotel for a nap and this is where I am typing from. Lee is suppose to be able to leave this afternoon so we are just waiting on the green flag to go. We have a 2 hour drive home and then we'll party again with my dad for another birthday celebration.
We are leaving tomorow afternoon for vacation with my family so I don't know if I'll get to update again while I'm gone. We are going to a River Ranch Resort until Tuesday which should be a lot of fun. I'll keep you updated and post pictures when I can! :)