In Remembrance...

In Memory of...

Grandpa Penrose

(1949-2007)

This blog is dedicated to Tom's dad, Dr. Keith Weber Penrose. He passed away suddenly on June 27th. Here are just a few little tidbits about him that I picked up...

First off - he was VERY stern. He was strict in every sense of the word. He was very dedicated...even dedicated to being strict! :) He had his rules and expected them to be followed. If the rules were not followed...the wrath of the Dad was incurred. (This is not so unfamiliar to the Grandpa Henderson.) His most famous form of torture...er...punishment was the infamous "Long Talk". Yes...a long talk. No, not just an hour lecture or so...we're talking about hours and hours and hours of lecturing, lecturing, and more lecturing. The kids all say that by the time you are only HALF way through a long talk, you wish he would just ground you! Haha!

Even though he was very strict and stern, he had a hilarious sense of humor. His favorite movie was Blazing Saddles. If any of you have seen this movie, you know what I'm talking about. Keith definately appreciated Mel Brooks' sense of humor. Once you got him laughing, it was hard to get him to stop. After a good line from the movie ("Somebody's gotta go back and get a shit load of dimes!") he would chuckle for quite some time afterwards.

Keith was also very fond of his cars: red mustangs...audis...etc. Although...it was a little bit scary driving with him at times...especially in the big, red suburban they used to have! Woo wee! One time we were driving out to Ephraim, and I was SURE we were going to fly off the road! Haha! We didn't...and we made it there just fine. :)

A major part of who Keith was was dedicated to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He had some rough years in his youth, largely due to some mean, aweful people in Idaho, but when he got back on the path, it was with full force and unwaivering faith. He was dedicated to the gospel with a steadfastness that would be hard to match. His testimony and understanding of the gospel helped create the man he was.

Goodness gracious! Was school important to that man, or what?! Every time Tom would talk to him, I would hear from this side of the line, "Yeah, I study all day...yeah...I should probably study some more...I know....work now, play later...." every time! You could almost time it word for word :) It all comes down for caring about his kids, though. Keith always wanted the absolute BEST for his kids - even if they didn't always appreciate it. He would have done ANYTHING for them. I think he wanted them to have an education so much so that they would never be in a bind. The more educated you are, the more opportunities you have - I think Keith knew that, so each of his kids is pressed to do very well in school. I know that Keith is so proud of Tom right now. Even if Tom doesn't feel like he is doing very well, or if his self confidence is slightly waining...I know his dad is so proud of him. He is proud of everything he has accomplished already, and everything he will accomplish. I also know his dad is super proud of the smokin' hot wife Tom has! haha! :)
Now, if you know Tom...you know that he has some crazy eating habits. Well, he gets it from his father! The kids all joked that if their mom was to pass first...they would have starved to death - or lived off Costco chicken and hotdogs with swiss cheese! Keith, I've decided, was just very particular about his food. He likes what he likes...and thats it! Tom is like that, too.... ;)

I hope someday that Ella will grow to understand how much her grandfather loved her. Keith said to me once, as Ella was fussing and crying, "Hand her to me...I have infinite patience." to which Cheri yelled, "yeah right!" Keith then clarified by saying, "Infinite patience for my GRANDDAUGHTER....Not my children!" It was very funny :) He doted on her like nothing else! I remember RIGHT after I had her (on a Wednesday), that Saturday he wanted to take us shopping at the mall and Babies R Us so he could buy her new clothes and toys! He would pick out little outfits and go "Oh! This is perfect for Baby Ella!" At the mall, there weren't very many toys and he kept walking around the stores going, "Where are all the toys?!?!" It was so cute :) He would sit and hold her for hours and just rock her to sleep. For as gruff a guy as he was...he softened up like melted butter around Ella. I absolutely know for a fact that he would have confessed to murder for her! Haha!

I wish I could have gotten to know Keith better. I wish Ella could have known her grandpa a little more. I know that the rest of our future kids are with him now, though, and I wouldn't be suprised if they come down spoiled rotten because of it! Lots of love and prayers...

Little Update...

Well, I thought I would just give a little update on our adventures here on the island...there have been a few. I don't have pictures of them, though, just pictures of Ella that have nothing to do with my adventures...so I will insert some random pictures of her just for fun :)

All ready for church! :)

First off - we are still TOTALLY loving our new place and all the looooovely amenities it offers: the pool, nice parking, great security, etc. We have found, though, that there is one thing this place has that our other place didn't (or we just weren't there long enough to find out!)...COCKROACHES! EW! I know!!!! We have had two so far. One was in our bedroom and I caught it under a cup and made Tom dispose of it. The other one was in the kitchen by the laundry room door and it was while Tom was at school! I pretty much freaked out, so I wrote Tom on "skype" and told him to come home and squish it. I know it was a pretty irrational thing to ask of him, seeing as he was in his Molecular Cell Biology class at the time...but it seemed like a good idea to me! Anyway, I got one of his big church shoes and squished it! But it was still alive! So I squished it again! I kept squishing it because it kept moving, then finally its legs popped off! EEEWWW!!! So I skyped Tom again and told him to come clean it up...He said no...so I had to scoop it up with a paper towel and throw it away. Eeeeeeewwww.....It was SOOO gross. It was ginormous, too! It was probably about three inches long. Blah! So that was our first adventure :)

Going for a walk....silly baby :)

Second adventure happened on Thursday. I went out to this restaurant: The Tijuana Yacht Club, for a going away party and birthday party for some of the girls in the Spouses Organization. Because it was Thursday, it is free Margarita night...except if you get it "virgin", which I didn't know at the time. So everyone is drinking a whole bunch of them, but I can only have one because I'm cheap and don't want to pay $4 a drink! I swear...stupid expensive "virgin" drinks. Oh well, that's not the adventure part, I'm just complaining. It was really fun, though, and it was nice hanging out with the girls. I got to leave Ella at home with Tom, too, which was nice! I didn't have to worry about Ella crying the whole time! Yay for girls nights out! Haha! Aaaaaanyway, I was giving Jenna a ride home (she lives in the same complex as me) and as we were getting into my car, this black guy comes around the back of my car and this is how the conversation went:

Like I said...random pictures :) but still so cute!

Black Guy: Hey! This is my car!

Me: Uh...no, this is my car.

Black Guy: NO! This is MY CAR!

Me: No...this is my car. I just opened the door with MY key.

Black Guy: No, no...this is....

Me: NO. This is NOT your car. This is MY car.

Black Guy: *laughing* Juuuust kidding! I just playing a joke on you.

Me: *confused*

Black Guy: A joke, you get it?? Joke?

Me: *still confused* Um...okay. Funny?

Black Guy: I just wanted to ask for a couple of bucks, see my car over there? *points across the street to a nice little Getz* I ran out of gas! I never beg for money, but I can't get a hold of anyone and I just need some money for gas.

Me: *not sure if I believe him or not* Um....you ran out of gas?

Black Guy: Yeah yeah...out of gas.

Me: *noticing he has a really nice cell phone in his hand and is actually dressed in nice clothes* Oh...okay...uh...here is two bucks.

Black Guy: Okay, thanks!! *walks away*

All ready for church again! She looks so cute on Sundays in her little dresses!

Okay - talk about scary!! Some random black guy comes up and starts telling me that my car is his?! WHAT?! What kind of sense of humor do these people have?!? Yeah...Jenna and I were pretty freaked out :)



Well, those are my two latest adventures. Hopefully I don't have too many adventures this week because my family is going to be here- YAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!! They come in tomorrow at 2:10....I am SO freaking excited! Woowoo!!!!! :)

Oh, here is a picture of me trying to feed Ella some dinner...apparently she didn't want it! Haha!

New Apartment!

Master Bedroom

Ellas Bedroom
My teeny tiny kitchen

Balcony where we eat sometimes

Here are some pictures of our new apartment! There is a main sitting area that I didn't get a good picture of, but oh well! It is two bedroom, two bath. It has two balconies: one where the main eating area is, and one off the master bedroom. There is a really nice pool and work out area. We also have satellite tv (WOOHOO!!), which we are a little excited about :) Just in time for Next Foodnetwork Star!

New Apartment!!

June 4, 2008

New Apartment! Well, we moved into our new place last weekend. We were previously living in Pointe Pirouette, but now we are living in Aqua Marina. It is super fancy and very nice. Our other apartment was okay, but there were a few big things that we didn’t like: totally scary at night, stinky yucky bathroom, neighbors that beat each other up, dogs everywhere. Our new place doesn’t have ANY of those things! YAY! J It is more of a resort area so things are very nice, clean, new, and American! Our new place also has two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The second bedroom is for Ella – which has been oh-so marvelous!! There are two balconies and a washer/dryer. There is even a really nice pool and hot tub! The security guard is VERY good and won’t let anyone in unless they are expected. We are very excited to be living here. We feel so much safer – wow.

Also, the second bedroom for Ella is fantastic. The first night she woke up around midnight and cried for an hour or so, then fell asleep for the rest of the night. Ever since then, she has been sleeping from 8:00p.m. to 5-6a.m.! It has been SOOOOO nice not waking up every hour! YAY for babies having their own rooms! Woohoo! She is also sleeping in a pack ‘n play, so she has a little more room to roll around. She also really likes the pool and likes to splash the water. Our bathrooms have bathtubs in them, and she certainly does like taking a bath! She slips and slides on the bottom of the tub and just giggles at me. She is so sweet!

The only downside about the apartment is the kitchen…or lack thereof. The fridge is bigger, and the oven has two racks, but the stove is electric and there isn’t ANY counter space or food storage space. All the food is in the second bedroom closet! Haha! It is a little difficult to do any major food preparation, but we are making do. It is a small price to pay for such a nice place! I think the kitchen was designed to be a “vacationers” kitchen…they didn’t really expect you to cook in it.

So yeah, just a little update about our new place J We had some friends over for a BBQ after we moved in and it was really nice. We also had the missionaries over for pizza last night and that was fun. We all sat out on the balcony and the table and chairs are big enough for everyone! Yay!

Other than that, not much is really going on. Tom has block exams on Monday, so he is pretty much residing at the school for the next week or so, which means Ella and I have a lot of time alone. Oh! Another great thing about our apartment: we have satellite TV!!! Why is that so wonderful, you ask?? There are over 80 channels! This includes: Food Network, the Fine Living Channel, the Women’s Channel, a variety of movie channels (but don’t watch them too late at night!), VH1 and MTV! Woohoo! Tom likes it because there are FOUR ESPN channels…yes, four of them, not like he has time to watch them right now, but sometimes on Sunday evenings he does

Anyway, that’s about all for now! I'll try and post some pictures up later this week!

Silly daughter...

Here is a video of Ella crawling down our hallway :) How cute is that!?

Anyway, I just thought I would give a quick bio update on Ella. Let's start from the top.

She has a little hair. It is sort of a blondish brown, but in the sunlight it looks bright red. So do her eyebrows. Her hair looks like feathers and I want to cut it so at least it is even, but Tom likes it. It is real long on the top of her head, but short around the front, back, and sides. Tom likes how you can comb it forward and it makes a little spike down the front of her forehead :)

Her eyes are hazel. They look really green sometimes, and really gray other times. They look brown and blue, too. I thought babies eyes were supposed to be determined by now, but apparently not.

She has two teeth coming in. Her bottom front ones. They are just through the skin and definately hurt when she chews on you! She has a bad habit of grabbing your shoulder and trying to take a big bite! She also pinches with her little fingers. I don't think she means to, but man does it hurt! She also likes to pull hair, ear rings, necklaces, etc.

She crawls all over the place right now. She hates sitting still and does NOT like her carseat, unless she is tired - then she always falls asleep! She pulls herself up on things to standing position and likes to walk along the couch and coffee table. She can even pull herself up on the chairs and pushes it along so she can walk! She will be walking before we know it!

She doesn't like to be hot. She is MUCH happier when it is cool. She absolutely HATES when the sun is in her eyes. I try to make sure her carseat cover is blocking the sun, but sometimes it is difficult and she whines and fusses till it is gone. She is like her dad in both those senses.

Favorites: her favorite food is anything sweet. She likes cheerios and dry cereal that we feed her during church. She also likes rice crispy treats and knows that dad will give them to her more readily than Mom. She also LOVES otter pops, but doesn't quite understand the concept of "no more" and gets quite upset when you take the empty wrapper from her. She loves bananas now and applesauce. She also likes the "lasagna in meat sauce" from Gerbers. Sometimes when she is in a good mood she likes the "chicken noodle dinners" but not if she is sleepy. She also really likes peaches and pears.

Her favorite toy changes quite a bit. She has this little music station thingie that she really likes. It makes different instrument sounds when you push and pull different buttons. She also likes her little rattle doll and squishy doll. She likes her swing, too, but only for a few minutes. Then she cries to get out...but then quickly tries to climb back in. Silly girl :)

She loves music. I try practicing the piano while she is taking her nap, but it always wakes her up and makes her all excited. Then I can't get her back to sleep. So I've stopped trying to practice then. She likes the music to Chicago and Bette Midler. She does NOT like heavy rock or the guitar solos that accompany them. She also DOES NOT like Broadway music that is sung poorly on cruises where the girl hits the high notes WAY off! :) (true story! She woke up and cried every time the girl hit the note wrong! haha!) She loves when you sing to her and it often calms her down better than anything else.

She does not like bedtime and is still not sleeping through the night. She has been better the past two nights, though - maybe we are turning over a new leaf?? We are excited to put her in her own room in our new apartment (we move tomorrow! woohoo!) so we can just let her cry herself back to sleep. She is in a bad habit because I pick her up every time she fusses in the night. I don't want her waking up Tom so he is tired for classes the next day. But all this is about to change...she is in for a rude awakening :) hehe

She also doesn't like her diaper changed. She doesn't like messy diapers, though, either. It is kind of a Catch-22. She cries if they're poopie...she cries while you're changing them. Silly girl.

She likes the pool and is finally getting used to the beach. She likes to eat the sand, though, so we have to watch her. She has a little floatie that she really likes, too. We have also been VERY careful and she hasn't gotten sunburned ONCE! Yaaay! (knock on wood!)

Anyway, that should be good for now. Sorry I don't have any new pictures. I'll try to upload some more vidoes and stuff :)

Pro's about living in the Caribbean...

Well, after complaining for a little bit to one of my friends, I decided to write a couple of the good things about living here. Hopefully this will help me feel better? :)

1. The beach. You definately can't beat the color of the water or the clarity of it. The sands are gorgeous white. The water a striking turqouise. The sky a vibrant blue. Definately one of a kind.

2. Bubble Tea. Probably the best slushees you will ever eat in your entire life. They come in a variety of flavors: honeydew melon, mango, passion fruit, coconut, etc. Mmm...and for only $2.50 for a large - you can't beat that! It is cheaper than Jamba Juice by almost half!!

3. Cheap ribs. You can get "all you can eat" ribs at several different restaurants for only $12.95! They really do mean "all you can eat", too! They'll even give you some to take home! They are super yummy. Our favorite place, so far, has been Mark's place. Mmmm...rack after rack of glorious ribs.

4. Sunsets. The sunsets are just beautiful here. Because of the tradewinds, we have clouds in the sky pretty much every day - big, white, fluffy ones. When the sun sets over the water, the whole sky lights on fire with pinks, oranges, yellows. It is pretty amazing.

5. Kid-friendly. As much as we can't stand the locals here, they do have an amazing fascination with white babies. They looooooooove them. I could leave Ella in the middle of the store, and someone would grab her and search for me...then lecture me about watching my child! They always help me at the store when she is fussing or anything. It is nice that with everything else you have to worry about here - you don't have to worry about anything happening to your baby.

6. No tax. No taxes on food or anything else...but there is an "exit" tax, which is super lame.

7. Low season. Now that the tourists are gone, for the most part, and the lagoon is practically empty - the bridge only goes up three times a day for a few minutes each! So much better than high season where it goes up 5-8 times a day, sometimes for an hour each!!

8. Gas assistants. Yep. One dollar tip and they fill your gas for you. It's a beautiful thing, let me tell you!

9. The weather. Sometimes it gets old being hot all the time, but when you are at the beach or the pool...it is just lovely. Really warm with a nice, cool breeze (except in the dead of summer...which is coming up)

10. The Spouses Organization. I dont know what I would do without all my girls to play with! I love spending time with each of them and finding out all about them! Everyone is so nice and friendly and helpful. Two thumbs WAAAAAAAAAY up for the S.O.!!

Picture Updates!

Here are some pictures of our latest adventures :)

Gee, Dad...those flames look pretty big :) Hehehe...the burgers turned out just fine.

Sleeping after a long day at the pool....

Sometimes eating cheerio's is a tiring activity

Looking hot and sassy for my birthday dinner! :)

Ella is learning how to share