Hyrum wishes he hadn't broken all of our electronics

so he could actually get toys for Christmas this year!

All he wants for Christmas

Thomas has become camera shy as of late, so it took a few tries to get him recorded.

I still think it is as cute as ever!

Dear Santa

We tried to type out their Santa Clause letters, but it was much better to watch it in person!

So we decided to video tape it for everyone to enjoy!!

We welcome any return letters if you so desire!! Enjoy the Joy of Christmas!

Christmas spirit

Nothing brings Christmas to life like young children!!

Thanksgiving, and so much to be Thankful for!!

It was a crisp, thanksgiving morning! It just Felt like Thanksgiving!!

Thomas found the parade on the internet, oh, so nice to see the parade! And our American Elders were so happy to come to a real Thanksgiving celebration, that showed up a half hour early for the event!

We had six guests, plus our family. It turns out, when you live n a land that does not celebrate, you can draw quite a crowd for the feast! And we loved every minute of it.

Thomas made most of the food while the kids were at school, we all know he is the real cook of the family. And I was a able to find yams, so we had yams with marshmellows,(this was a special request from our Mississippi Elder, he calls it yam cassarole.) I made a blue berry chesse cake because our elder from Utah asked for a blueberry pie.

I found no blue berries, so I used blue berry presserves for a cheese cake. The only other things I could not find were stuffing and cranberries, we survived with out it!!

It was a great holiday, and we hope to make it home for one of these holidays next year!!

I didn't get to e-mail you and say what I am thankful for on Thanksgiving day, so I will do it now! Come on, you all knew I was going to do this!!

I am thankful for quiet moments, when the kids are in bed. For a safe, sound home that protects us from the dangers of the world, a vehicle that runs and gets us everywhere we need to go (it seems to have a bubble of protection around it!) I am so grateful for the smell of, and the heat, coming off a running, working Dryer!! I am grateful for great garage sale deals and out door market places! I am grateful for a dish washer!! And a bath tube! There are so many things we enjoy, that we now understand to be True blessings!! I am grateful that Thomas was one of the twenty students that passed the genetics class, and not one of the one hundred and twenty that will have to redo the final or take the class again.I am grateful for kiddie tables at a thanksgiving feast! I am grateful for computer Spanish programs so I can learn my Spanish.

But most of all I grateful to be a part of, have a knowledge of, and a desire to live & share the true gospel of Christ. I am grateful for the missionaries who knocked on the Harpers door, and opened a way for the O'Kelly girls to enjoy the eternal blessings of our heavenly fathers plan. And I am grateful for mom who prayed, and had faith to be baptized! She may not know exactly how much that one faithful decision made a difference in some many lives!

We love you and pray you have a wonderful holiday!

Everyday is Saturday

It is incredible the attention that many people give to their yards here! It is like Saturday everyday! (Mom, can you see the bush shaped like a bird in that first picture?)

Between 9 10 am you can see all of us out side sweeping the leaves of the porch, some people even sweep the grass, so there are no loose leaves. I feel guilty If I don't sweep the porch everyday.

Now that rainy season is over we try to water the grass everyday to keep it green.. the kids are just loving it! Kirtlyn is so big, she loves to help.

Thomas just put my hat on and went to town... Gardener Tom! Of course you can see you

tries to "attack" the water with the hose, this is more than just watering the grass for him!!

He needed a brake after all of that hard work, of course!!

The butterfly was just hanging out in my flower bed (I know these would be better pictures if you touch them Jordyn, but I thought you would really appreciate them!)

One great day to be outside!

Hangin' at the beach in November

On Monday, we didn't have school and Tami, Jenn's friend who is staying with us, didn't have to work, so we went to Manzanillo where there is a beautiful beach. The weather and water were perfectly warm and on the way there we saw an active volcano. It was amazing, Mexican scenery the entire way!

Here is Thomas getting his first run at the water. It was in a small cove surrounded by huge hotels and amazing homes. We got there about 1:30 and stayed for a few hours.

Kirtlyn could not have been more excited for the day! Even in the car she would tell us to look around for any sand outside, to see if we were getting any closer to the beach. I think they could have played all day if we would have let them.

Hyrum was, at first, afraid to touch the sand, but soon thereafter, he was completely fearless. Jenn had to hold on to him so as to not let him get carried away. He would wait for the big waves and jump right into them.

Here is Hyrum having the time of his life. I promise that is a smile.

He had to be at least belly deep in the ocean the entire time. He kept pulling Jenn into the water as far as they could go.

Here is a family picture: Little Thomas is always too busy to

look at the camera, but it is the best family picture we have so

far.

We rented an umbrella to keep all our stuff cool, but the kids didn't want to stay under it for very long. They found a couple sea shells and had a ton of fun.

Here are Tami and Joe, he's another American that is down just to learn Spanish. They both came with us. Afterward, we went to eat at a typical Mexican restaurant. We got home about 9:45 pm, and had a great day.

Christmas in October

My brother Jeff's roomate served his mission here and came down to stay with us. We got a special surprise when

we found Grandma Anna sent little gifts for everyone!

It was was like Christmas in October, we set the toys out on the

night stand and the kids woke up and saw their new gifts! They loved it!

They played all day!

But no one was happier than Thomas and I who got carmal for

carmal apples, and Brown Sugar.... Wow! Brown sugar that actually

works for making the most important things, like Cookies!!

Ward Party

Everyone helped wash the car for the big trunk or treat party.

We were one of only five cars that decorated and passed out candy,

so we went straight through two large Costco size bags of candy.

Oh, but we came home with just as much from the kids!!

Kirtlyn won the "balance a

balloon a frizbee, while running as fast as

you can" game, and her friends Mario and Lugi won the custom contast
for their age group!

Another game they did was who could make the best mummy out of

TP, they did not win this one. I think the dog costume was a little hard

to wrap Toilet Paper around.

And Batman was the costume of choice this

year! Thomas, his Mexican/American

friend Sebastian, and about five other boys were Batman, none of them won the costume

contest!

It was a well organized, full of fun party!

Dad's Dinner

Tonight on my dad's birthday we had the missionaries over for dinner and feed them some of dad's favorite things. They are American missionaries, from Mississippi and Utah, and always excited to get a little American food here in Mexico.

Here we have Seven-up, Bratwurst, homemade chili (you can not

buy the beans in a can, so this really was cooking all night... and it was good!), and mom's

favorite salad with apples, walnuts, dried grapes (there are no crazins here.), and a blue cheese

dressing. Some of you may have had the salad at Bucca de Beppo before! It was a

delicious meal!

To top it off we had

some Chocolate cake and ice cream,

all in all it was a pretty great party and we even received The Echol's family halloween card just in time for dinner! Thank you the kids love their spider man and Cinderella drawings! So here is wishing dad a happy fifty-nineth birthday! We love him and still think of grandpa Knudsen all the time!!

Conference Comments

I know it has been over a week since Conference, but I was so proud of the kids, I wanted to show you what they did. We gave them each a poster board to draw and color anything they see, hear, or learn from the meeting. This is what they came up with!

The first poster is Thomas', a picture of the tree of life that he say when Sis. Dibs, President Monson's daughter was talking and they showed a picture of the tree of life!

Then you will see Kirtlyn's poster with her tree of life, a picture of the "big piano," or the Organ in the center, and in the bottom left and corner is the the entire family saying prayer together. It was so exciting to see what the kids got out of Conference, and to see them paying attention at least for a little while!

I felt so up lifted and encouraged by conference, and there was a new appreciation for the blessing we have to receive the meeting in Mexico. To realize that I am one of those individuals who would not have been able to see it if it had not been for the broadcasting system!! What a blessing! So many of the talks really touched, but the one that I recall most often since the meeting was President Uchtdorf's reminder that we should be listening for the Lord's voice as we search and ponder the scriptures, as we hear our children laugh, and in our everyday life!

I know the Lord loves us and that is why he has given us a prophet upon the earth today, and we are blessed to know and enjoy that blessing!

Adventures with Flat Shayci

La Fuente Minerva, this is the main glorietta (round-about) in Guadalajara. She is the custodian of the city, the custodian of Justice, Knowledge, and Strength

This is the

Tapatillan (People from Guadalajara are called Tapatillos) version of the Arc de Triom

phe. It says that Guadalajara was founded 14 Feb 1542 as the capitol of the kingdom of New Galicia (Spanish Province).

Jennifer and the kids are standing in front of the aqueduct. It just has plants and flowers growing out of it now, but it once carried water through the city. It is right by my school and goes right over one of the major roads.

Here are

Thomas and the kids standing on the corner of the Minerva Glorietta. There was a Burger King on one of the other corners that we went to eat lunch at.

Here is Thomas sitting on a fence on the side of the road. You can see in

the distance how green everything is here. It is still rainy season and it just rains like crazy. You can also see some of the big houses here. In the picture you can only see the top two or three stories, they really are huge and beautiful.

Here is a real "Mexican Cowboy"or caballero.

He was riding through a huge forest park

area near our friends the Curtis' house.

Tami & Dani, our sweet sisters!

I had to

Blog this, these two girls

have been so

sweet to our little family, and for no other reason than they like to be with us. Dani is wearing black in the middle shot. She is Always helping out! She has taken us to see other members of the ward, she has driven us around to the elementary schools, and she will take us to the out door market places just because she knows we don't know the area very well. On top of that she baby sits for all of the young couples here... we have to schedule in advance or she will be babysitting all ready!

Tami is the in the white, she has just stopped by to visit the kids and stayed for hours talking, she made some bread one night and thought she would bring some to us, both of these girls will attend primary with the kids or Relief Society with me just to help translate the lesson, and in these pictures she is giving Kirtlyn a Tinkerbell neckless because Kirtlyn was sad last time Tami was over to visit us! Truly, these girls are a one of a kind!

Thomas will tell you, they are over visiting us every time he comes home, they just brighten our lives and I am grateful for such wonderful spirits here in our new home!

Peter Piper

Yes, they have one of those here! We did have to ask them to open the doors for us because even though they

were open the previous week during lunch time, When we arrived this time they had changed their hours and wouldn't open until 1:00pm instead of 11:00. This is the kind of thing we run into

some times here. It is funny really!

We have a chance to do lunch with each of the other wives, every Wednesday. This one is a week ago, before school started for all of the kids.

Thomas is playing ball with a nice boy named Coasta(sp?)

(sp?). Kirtlyn is playing with that boys sister, Hale(sp?). She really is a sweet girl and Kirtlyn just loves her!

And there is a great shot of all the boys playing together. I do not remember the name of the boy in the red shirt, but the Puerto Rican boys are Joshua, Hyrum, and Brandon (oldest to youngest). They are our good friends that live just done the street!

First Day of School

The first day of school! We got their bags filled with some cool stuff for lunch or snacktime. Then I drove them to school,

where I should drop them of at the

curb and leave. I of course could not do that so I held up

traffic while I walked my nervous children

inside!

Being the first day, all of the teachers were

busily assisting children, and we felt a little

unnoticed as we walked in. But we found

Thomas'

class, and

both of the

"English" teachers were

in there

and made him feel comfortable right away. Than we

found Kirtlyn's class and she was a little bit nervous.

In this school they will do an hour of Spanish and an

hour of English. Thomas starts his day in his English

class. Kirtlyn started her day in her Spanish class, and

the spanish teachers don't really speak any English. This

was a little nerve racking, but she does know two of the boys

very well so I sat her next to them with a puzzle, and one of the

teachers came over to sit with her as I ran out the door to

move my car that had already been blocking traffic for Minutes

at this point.

I also had my Bilingual friend call the school to make sure

everyone is ok. So I can be sure all is well!

I do know that the kids will be fine, and I am

grateful that they are now able to go to a private Bilingual

school, rather than an all Spanish speaking public school, but

it is hard to leave a child on the first day...

Thomas gave each of the kids a blessing that promised they would

learn their Spanish. That Kirtlyn would be a good example to the

other kids and they would want to be like her. That little Thomas would

be able to be kind to all of those around him and learn to communicate

and be heard, and that he would play well with the other kids. Thomas even

gave Hyrum a blessing because he climbed up on the chair after the kids

were done. So Hyrum was blessed to be able to learn Spanish and accomplish

all he needs to do in his day...very sweet!

How blessed we are to have the priesthood and promised blessings from the Lord.

Even now I feel sure all will be well! Thank you all of your help, for prayers, and keeping us close in your thoughts! We love you!