Welcome, Welcome 2012

What a fantastic way to end a really intense year; spending it traveling with a dear part of my family. We went to Guadalajara, Mexico, Tela, Honduras for the fantastic Guitierrez de la Torre and Obando wedding; and all over Panama with my sister Missy, her children, Keegan, Payson, and Anna B., and my parents.

The year of 2011 was slightly difficult for us. Sienna spent a lot of time getting used to her daycare and fighting off nasty viruses and bacteria, and Tito and I traveling a lot with our jobs. We hope that this year brings a family with better defenses to combat life´s stressors.

Sienna will start, "the big school", La Salle, this year as she enters pre-school. I am not sure what she thinks of all this yet, but she seems excited because her parents are. She spends much of her time playing in the park with her friends and trying to figure out social and linguistic rules. I think the social ones are giving her more trouble.

For some reason, I always thought that life was a smooth little ride with only slight bumps along the way. Of course, life really is what you make it in spite of what you have been given. My lesson from 2011 is to be happy and to really live in the moment, even if others think this is a bad idea.

Grandma´s 90th Birthday

Iowa is gorgeous in the summertime. Or at least, Sienna and I arrived at the exact right time. The cornfields were high and yellow, and the hills were green with crops. It was hot, but not too hot, with hardly any humidity. I sat outside as much as I could.

Sienna and I returned for a short week to celebrate with the family my Grandma´s 90th birthday. I reunited with cousins I had not seen in years and Sienna spent her time exploring and getting a little too comfortable on the farm. Many times, I found her wandering around a little too far from the house.

My Grandma continually reminds me of who I am and who I would like to be. She is a wonderfully strong and loving woman who did what she had to do to, not only to make ends meet, but to have a good time in the process. Everyone had a story to tell at the party that celebrated her life and influence on all of us. It must be amazing to have such a strong influence on so many people.

This visit made me appreciate even more, my family and Iowa. It was a wonderful place to grow up and a great place to live. It really made me want to move back. Let´s see if I feel the same after a visit in December or January; I am easily fooled by nice weather.

Sienna gets Sick

One of the most obvious vestiges of my cultural heritage is that of always trying to find out the exact explanation for why things happen. Which normally is a good thing. When something bad happens we try and find out the reason(s) for which it happened to prevent it from happening in the future. However, over the past few years, I have found that it just makes me crazier if I search for a why and that in life many of the "whys" we search for simply don´t exist.

Sienna was in the hospital for three days last week with Bronchial Pnuemonia. My mental IPOD has been running over the last few months of her life like the old fashioned broken record. Sienna started school, I started traveling more with my new job, Tito travels with his new job, house is a dirty, dusty mess, etc.. This is me trying to find the why. It seems that Bronchial Pnuemonia is caused by a bacterial infection that usually starts with an upper respiratory infection. Due to the fact that Sienna has been a really healthy kid, I didn´t think it was urgent that she had a runny nose for two weeks. Alas, I was wrong on that one. We ended up in the emergency room with a very sick little girl.

I felt so bad seeing her have so many needles put in her arm. I kept on thinking, "she is only three". They had to put a port in her arm to put in the antibiotics and rehydration fluids for three days. Sienna now calls this a "sew." Let me explain. Sienna and I sing the sony from Mary Poppins, "doe, a deer, a female deer, ray, a drop of golden sun......sew, a needle pulling thread, la a note to follow so.....that will bring us back to doe." Anyone remember that one? I told Sienna that she couldnt move her arm for three days because she had a needle in it (needless to say, idiot mother finds out on the last day when they are taking it out that it is actually only a piece of plastic. Oh dear, where is Nurse Rus when I need her?). So, Sienna thought they were sewing her arm, hence, "the sew". Now, Sienna says, "I will drink all my medicine and water so I dont have to get another sew in my arm."

I dont have the heart to tell her that on Thursday we have to return for blood tests and X-rays which unfortunately one of which requieres a needle. Sienna is doing excellent now and she seems to be a million times better since I allowed her to play in the park for awhile yesterday. Her mental health was suffering from being tied to a machine and not allowed to go outside. At one point she said, "just let me out the door!". Okay, I let her out the door, mental health also needs to be attended to.

More Vacation Pictures

G and G Visit

Grandma Bonnie and Grandpa Don came to visit us in Panama last week. Every year I swear to myself that I am going to plan ahead and get reservations booked at a really cool resort or something but alas, this year proved to be no different. The last few years their visits always seem to coincide with Carnival which makes reservations at resorts impossible. So, once again, I took them on a little adventure to the Panamanian countryside (small towns, bumpy roads). We did spend two days at a nice resort on the Pacific coast and then drove another 5 hours to Santa Catalina. Those of you who are surfers probably know this place as it hosts international surfing competitions every year.

I didnt do too well on the reservations and we ended up in a clean little house sans air conditioning. It was nice but it reminded me of my Peace Corps house in a strange, not good way. The dogs that always came up to the house begging for food, the wooden beds with thin mattresses and the chain link fences that just ruin the views.

However, we were able to get a boat ride to our own private beach for a day, where Sienna found out how to ride the waves. It was absolutely beautiful and definately worth the 7 hour drive from Panama City and the hot, uncomfortable sleeping conditions.

We saw some incredible sunsets and Sienna thought and hoped that maybe this was her new life. The previous two weeks I had been traveling for work so when I returned home and Grandma and Grandpa showed up, I think she thought that maybe I was making up for it by letting her spend hours in the pool and playing at the beach. I hope she doesnt think this will happen next time. She ended up with her first sunburn which I am not too proud of. At the end of the week, she was swimming in a long sleeve T shirt and long pants.

We finished their visit by throwing a barbecue/birthday party for Grandma Bonnie (March 14) and Sienna (March 11). Sienna now goes around telling everyone that she is three and can turn on the light (sometimes with the baseball bat), reach the water facuet to wash her hands and can sit on the big potty by bouncing (balancing is really what she means to say but it is so cute to hear her say bouncing).

Sienna´s Pictures

During Grandma and Grandpa´s visit to Panama (and maybe because of the new camara purchase), Sienna began to take a keen interest in taking pictures. Here, I share a few of my favorite photos that she took.