Hila's Here

So, Hila & Dad got in on Sunday, 8/24/08, at around 9p.m. Desiree & I were over at Grandma & Grandpa's for their arrival; it was a very busy & exciting day! When they finally got to our Grandparent's house we had a busy first hour or so situating cars & the moving van & trailer hitch (which had Hila's car on it). Then we got down to the business of visiting for a bit all together, before Hila & I went downstairs to look at the pictures she had from Panama (it's sooo different down there!). I forgot my camera, so there are no pictures from that night; which is probably better because at first Hila & Dad were very grumpy.

Monday Mom was going to come and pick me & Desiree up to go over & spend time with Hila & Dad. So, Mom called to let me know that she was going to be at my house to pick me up in a little bit & that Hila & Dad were coming over to bring me some stuff that Dad wanted to bring to me from his house. I got a lot of GREAT stuff :). Well, Mom got to my house & they still hadn't shown up; it was around lunch time & Mom had called about 30-45 minutes before she showed up. So, Mom spent about 3 hours watching movies with me & Desiree (all Desiree's movies) before they got here at about 2:30 with a bunch of stuff (one item being a very nice glider...thank you Tarylyn); then Nick got home & everybody just stayed at my house & spent time together. It was a rather fun (even though we didn't really do anything very interesting) day. Dad played Barbies with Desiree, we got a good little video of that (which I was unable to post, I'm sorry). I also got some really cute pictures of Dad & Desiree together. Here's one of them.

We spent the majority of the day together watching the little movie clips & pictures Hila got in Panama. It was really fun, & I'm really glad Nick got see Panama (or parts of it) & some of it's rather large wildlife, even if it isn't the way I remember it.

Today was Dad's last day here, which is sad (but at least we got to visit with him for a few days), so we all got together as a family & went out for dinner. We went to eat at Shari's (a little diner chain up here, a little like The Waffle House but with more meal options). Ben, Michelle, Sean, Tony & Royce (Ben's wife & kids), Mom & Dad, Hila, Brad, Tarylyn, Sam, Saria, Benjamin, (Brad's wife & kids) & Tarylyn's Mom & stepDad, Grandma & Grandpa, & of course me, Nick & Desiree were all there; which made it loads of fun for our server, we're a pretty big group & very loud (that was the younger kids). Every time the server came back to our tables (yes, tables, we took up four total) people had moved to different seats & different tables, like we were playing musical chairs, poor lady; so when our food came our poor server was super confused about who got what food. Anyway, we had lots of fun and laughs & Hila & Dad gave us (Ben, Brad, me, Nick, Tarylyn, Michelle & the kids) our presents they got for us while they were in Panama. It was a good last night for Dad, I think...at least I hope he enjoyed it. I'm really gonna miss him. So, here are some pictures from our dinner.

There are all four tables, & keep in mind that people kept changing spots so nobody was actually sitting in these seats to start with.

Now on to the goodies we got. Nick, Ben, Brad, Mom & I all got a pair of flip flops from Panama. Tarylyn & Michelle got some really nice bags/purses ( I think they had Mola's on them, you'll see what a Mola looks like in a minute). Everybody got Huevitos, YUM (candy from Panama). Sean, Tony & Royce got shirts (I didn't get to see what they looked like). Nick got a Panama hat. Desiree & Saria got Mola dresses, I'm not sure what Sam & Benjamin got but I know Dad & Hila didn't leave them out. And finally, Brad, Ben & I all got Tagua Nuts (carved into little frogs), chinese plums, & platanitos (more YUM), & I got a Panama bracelet. Here are the pictures of the stuff Nick, Desiree & I got. The first two pictures are Nick wearing his Panama hat & Desiree wearing her Mola dress, second are my Panama bracelet & our frog Tagua Nut, third are the yummy Panama snacks (platanitos, the Huevitos in the middle & the Chinese Plums last), fourth is just a close up of the Huevitos so you can see the labeled name & the candy inside, and last but not leas are the authentic Panamanian flip flops we each got a pair of.

I had to put the bag in there so you could see that these are "the Original" sandals. :) Well, that's all I really have to blog about tonight. Oh, but some good news really quick, I got approved for medicaid. Yay!!! No paying for Doctor visits & labor & delivery. Hope you guys enjoyed.