Saturday, April 30, 2011

It´s Been an Amazing Year!

This weekend Coco and I are celebrating our first year anniversary. I can´t even hardly believe it has been a whole year. But it´s been the best year of my life. I love you so much Coco!

We´re off to celebrate. We´re going to a resort somewhere in the jungle. We´ll post pics here as soon as we get the chance. Thank you to all our loved ones who have supported us in our marriage. We love you!

And thanks to my Grandma who sent this anniversary card all the way to Peru!

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Manatee Release

Coco was lucky enough to have a really special flight assignment yesterday. He was given orders to transport marine biologists and journalists and a few others to a Natural Reserve here in the Amazon. The reason he was transporting the people was so that they could release some rehabilitated manatees into a lake on the reserve. The day before, the Air Force transported the manatees in huge boxes to the reserve. Coco said the reserve was so beautiful and peaceful. The lake there was quite large and supposedly filled with freshwater dolphins. The following pictures were taken by Coco and his co-pilot.





Before the release of the manatees, there was a ceremony with all the scientists and some of the locals.





When the manatees were actually released they were first put into a seperate pool to acclimate to the lake´s water. Once they were well adjusted they would be released into the lake where they could live happily ever after among the dolphins and fish. The manatees are in danger here in this area because they have been a target of hunters here for several years. Now there is a big campaign led by a few of the local universities and others to change that. And this particular manatee release occured on Earth Day! What a coincidence!



 Later a rainstorm rolled in. Luckily it didn´t last too long and Coco was home in time for lunch.







Thursday, April 21, 2011

Sunset over the Air Base


I wish you could come here just to experience the sunsets over the Amazon. I have to say that the sunsets here are by far some of the most amazing I´ve ever seen. The sunsets here seem to set all around you in every direction. And the sky is often times filled with the most unusual clouds because of the off and on sudden rainstorms. And the pinks and reds are usually so bright. Well I will let the pictures do the rest of the talking. Coco and I took the following pictures very close to our home at the Air Base where the planes are docked. Some pictures were taken from the top of the flight control tower and some were taken from the plane dock.








Saturday, April 16, 2011

Coco´s Cat Mansion and an Update on the Little Rascals....


I feel it´s about time I update you on our children, Garlic and Pepper. It´s been awhile since you´ve seen their faces on here. They remind me of awkward teenagers right now...they kind of look like cats but are still acting like kittens. We love them and they make us smile and laugh so much, but they drive us a little crazy sometimes. For instance, they love to run around chasing each other and hopping on and off the bed every morning around 6:30am. And it´s like clockwork, they never let us sleep. They always drink from our water glasses if we leave them unattended. They love to leave their little paw prints all over our shower. They love to unroll the toilet paper, shred it, and leave pieces all over. But we know they both love to be with us, they follow us wherever we go, and we totally enjoy their company.






The each have their own little personalities. Mr. Garlic is an odd little fellow. We usually catch him most often doing something he shouldn´t be doing, and he breaks the rules right in front of us, like jumping up on the counters when we´re cooking. And he has a suspicious swagger to his strut. If I find a mess in the house I usually blame him first. Poor Garlic. But he´s still a little sweetheart. When we walk in the front door of the house he always comes to our feet, lays on his back, and begs to have his belly scratched.


Pepper is more calm and collected and we´re pretty sure he´s in charge of Garlic. Usually Garlic follows him around and looses when they have a kitty boxing match. Pepper looks like a panther and reminds me of one with his hunting skills. Pepper is also the cuddle bug of the two. He always lays at the foot of our bed and purrs and begs to be pet. And when Coco isn´t home, he takes over Coco´s spot next to me. He´s just as mischievious as Garlic, we just don´t catch him in the act as often.





Okay well now that you´ve seen the little critters, let me tell you about the master piece project my handy husband created. I can already tell he´s going to be the type of dad that spoils his kids because of the way he insists on spoiling these cats. Everytime we´re in the store he always buys a special treat for them and he has bought numerous toys, some of which they´ve never played with. He even bought them a special something on International Cat Day. Well the most ridiculous act of love and special treatment has been the construction of a fabulous cat house. He spent hours in the sweltering amazon heat with no power tools creating a four story multifuncitional cat mansion for our little children.





Please allow me to walk you through the fabulous features and ammenities to this litttle cat house. The first floor which is conveniently open on two sides has a built in scratching post to provide fleeting moments of entertainment.


The second floor can be entered through a beautiful arched doorway where inside one will find a luxurious mat for snoozing. The second floor is also a great quiet place to shut yourself off from the noises and brightness of the outside world as it is closed in on all sides.



Through the roof of the second floor one can conveniently pass through another carved hole onto the third floor. This floor is equipped a with its own ball to be tossed around in any direction desired. This also usually provides a few fleeting moments of entertainment.


Now onto the roof top or the fourth floor. Again, it can be conveniently entered from the floor below, and provides the best view of the house. Again a scratching post is featured here and most find it a fun place to jump up to or jump down from.



There isn´t a floor on this fabulous cat house that can´t be utilized. But this is a one of a kind build but Captain Coco may be willing to construct one for you and your family if you name the right price.


Sunday, April 10, 2011

Another Lunch Outside the City

There hasn´t been a whole lot to blog about lately, especially because neither one of us have had much free time. I am now teaching full time at the English institute and the Preschool, and when I´m not teaching, I´m lesson planning. And when I´m not lesson planning, I´m gathering materials. And when I´m not gathering materials, I´m at a teacher´s meeting. Well, you get the idea. But don´t be confused, I´m not complaining, I love the work that I´m doing. And Coco has been busy getting ready for the elections here. The military forces have to patrol all election areas and he has been on duty for a few days with the elections. Voting here in Peru is obligatory, if you don´t vote, you have to pay a fine. Needless to say the election areas are extremely busy.

So I´m here at the house lesson planning and thought I would blog about a day a few weeks ago when we both had enough free time to venture out for another lunch outside the city. Again I don´t know the name of the location and this time we didn´t come up with a nickname for it. But It was a beautiful spot with a swimming pool, a lake, beaches, and little private porches for your group to hang out and relax.

We headed out with our friends in the van we borrowed from the Colonel. Here´s some of the scenery we saw along the way.






And here´s some pictures from the location.












This place even has its very own Mer-man.




If you come to visit.......eh heh, eh, heh (Mom) we´ll make sure to bring you here. Peru is waiting for you....