My Boys Are SO Big!

I just wanted to take a minute to show everyone some pictures we took before church the other day. The boys are getting so big. I can't believe how fast they've grown up! I am so blessed to be able to spend my time with them! I love them more than words can say! Enjoy!


Matt

One Long Walk!

For all of you who still are unsure exactly where we are, I thought I would draw you a map! :-)


(Click to enlarge image)

Yesterday was a fun day. After I got up Tangra called and said she had run out of gas at the school. (Good to know some things don't change no matter where you are!) So Chuck helped me out and brought her home. Chuck and I ran to the gas station and then to the school so I could get the car. While I was gone Tangra decided to take a nap with the boys, but not before locking the little flipper lock like they have in hotel rooms. So when I got home and unlocked the door I realized that I couldn't get into the house. She wouldn't wake up and I didn't feel like trying to climb in the balcony (because quite frankly I don't think I could if I would have!) so I went out on the beach to find a nice spot to work on the tan. I ended up finding a really nice spot. There is little rock cluster that sticks out into the bay and I climbed out on the end of it.



It was really comfortable which was good because I was out there about an hour and a half!

After Tangra and the boys got up and I got into the house, Chuck came over and we decided to take the boys for a small walk. However, we managed to underestimate distance and ended up taking them on a rather LONG walk. We walked all the way around Simpson Bay, around the airport, and back home.


(Click to enlarge image)

I think it took us nearly three hours but we had a really good time. The kids sat in their stroller and we pulled/pushed them all over. They were great, they had plenty to keep them entertained. There was one spot on the beach where we stopped to watch the planes that the only thing seperating us from the active runway was an old chain link fence. It was very cool.

When we got home we were all exhausted! We made some dinner and watched a movie before going to bed.

It was a good time had by all,

Later,

Matt

Holy Cow It's Been A While!

Man, time sure flies when your sitting around baskin in the sun of the Caribbean. I can't beleive that I haven't written in so long. Sorry to everyone who is a faithful reader! (Ok, so maybe my blog isn't that important but you never know, better safe than sorry!)

So, what have we been up to? Well, Tangra has continued to study her little fanny off for her last exam of the semester. She feels pretty good but of course she is a little stressed given that it is on Monday. I think she can actually bomb it though and still pass so that helps take some of the pressure off. The boys and I have been doing a considerable amount of Yacht watching! There was a pretty big Yacht show this week so we tried to see as much of that as we could. However, that didn't go too well because as the security guard reminded us we are "OBVIOUSLY not yacht owners or brokers!" Why he had to be like that about it I don't know! I mean really, did he have to say it was "Obvious!"? I'm sure there are a lot of yacht brokers and owners that walk around in khaki shorts and John Deere shirts with a dirty boy and a baby strapped to their chest! How did he know?!

He did try to give me an out though. As he was showing us the door he said "...unless you happen to sell something...if you do then you can pay to register and peddle your goods all you want. Do you sell anything?" Seeing an opportunity for greatness I quickly searched the depths of my psychy searching for an answer. However, before giving it a completely thorough examination my mouth blirted the first thing I could think of..."Mary Kay!" (Who thinks of Mary Kay at a Yacht convention?!) To which I followed closely with "CRAP...I'm sorry that's all I could think of...we'll leave!" Thus ending the events for that day. We did get lucky though and the guard at the local marine told me that because I had kids he would let me walk through the marine and look at the boats. It was really cool but we weren't allowed to take pictures so I can't really show you.

Other than yacht watching it has been kind of typical. We walk a lot, we swim a lot, we nap a lot, and we hang out a lot. Most every day goes like this.

We wake up around 7 and drink coffee on the porch till Tangra leaves at about 8. We then have breakfast and get dressed for the day. At around 9:15 we head towards the bridge so that we can watch the boats come in at 9:30 when it goes up. After that we come back home and get ready to go see Tangra for lunch. We go see her for about an hour then it is home for naps. After a couple hour nap we get up and get ready to go to the pool. We go to the pool for about 2 hours and then come home and get ready for dinner. After dinner we either go across the street to listen to the musicians or we watch some tv. At about 8:30 we get in the car to go pick up Tangra at the school. When we get back the kids go to bed and Tangra and I discuss the day before going to bed around 10:30 or 11. It really is a great little routine. We aren't rushed or forced to do anything but we don't just sit around all day either.

Well, I have a couple of things I need to get done so I'd better go for now. Sorry again for the delay and I will try harder in the future.

Later,

Matt

Lobster Hunting (The Sequel)

Well, we gave lobster hunting another try the other night and did pretty well. We caught 3 that were keepers and three that we had to throw back.


Well, I should be fair and say that Justin caught 3 keepers and two that he had to throw back, and I caught one I had to throw back! I decided to take a picture with this one though and pretend that it was the one I caught so that I had a picture of my first time catching a lobster.


Chuck was not successful this time because he had a head cold that would not allow him to go under the water for any amount of time, but he did manage to pose for the nastiest picture ever.


That is correct everyone, he has a lobster in his mouth. However, what you can't see is that this is a lobster that has been boiled and had it's tail removed so he actually has the nasty gut oozing part in his mouth! Like I said NASTY!

This time it was much easier to relax and enjoy the event. I wasn't as worried about sharks and the dark! I still need to get comfortable grabbing the little buggers though. Eventhough I managed to catch one little guy, I missed about 5 other big guys. It could have been quite a feast but instead it amounted to enough lobster for Tangra to have one good dinner. We also caught a big crab but it was a female with babies so we put her back in the water so she could plant her eggs!


All in all it was a good time and I would definately suggest it to anyone wishing for a real caribbean thrill!

Matt

Tangra Broge...SGA SECRETARY 2008

It's official...Tangra is the new AUC Student Government Secretary for the 2008 academic school year.

She is very excited about this new honor. It is a great opportunity for her and it will also look very good on a resume! :-)

Congratulations Tangra ... We are all so proud of you.

Love,

Matt

My Little Man Is 2!!!!!!!

It's official folks... Noah Wade Broge is 2! I can't believe it has been 2 years already. Time sure flies when your having fun! This year his birthday fell on Thanksgiving so we celebrated both events together. It was very nice. Our family got together with the Brox family and the Cluff family and had a nice dinner around the POOL! (Yes it was a little weird eating Thanksgiving by the pool but it sure beats SNOW!) Everyone brought some food and there was quite a spread...


I think we all had difficulty knowing how much food we would need. It was all wonderful though. Tangra was so hungry by the time we ate that she couldn't even wait for them to cut up the turkey. She just went nuts, tore a leg off, and dug in.


(It was just a little gross!)

Hillary baked an awesome pirate ship cake for Noah that he loved!


It was pure genious! She used little tube-shaped cookies and candles for the canons and fruit roll-ups for the sails. It was very cool. Nolan decided it was the best cake he'd ever had!


It was a very nice Thanksgiving although in some ways it felt more like the 4th of July!

Later,

Matt

One more to go!

Tangra had her 4th exam yesterday so that means that she only has one more before she completes her first semester of Med-school! I can't believe we have been here that long already. Time has flown by! In three short weeks we will be headed back to the good-ole USA for the Holiday season. Although we love the island and our experiences we are definitely excited to get back and visit everyone!

I should tell you that contrary to what you may think, I am turing into quite the Betty Homemaker! I do the dishes nearly everyday, I pick up toys constantly, and I cook at least two meals everyday. Sunday night before her test Tangra wanted a Carb-filled dinner to help get her brain ready so I made her spaghetti. I think that Noah enjoyed it more than anyone else though!


So lets catch everyone up. As you saw in the previous entry we have had a string of colds circulating through the house. I think we are finally getting close to having that over with. Tangra has been studying nearly every waking hour although one of the perks of being in the Caribbean is there are a lot of great places to study ...


... Tangra is seated at the top left of the pool so don't feel too bad for her!

The boys and I are gearing up for the first week of December. That week there is a huge Super Yacht convention here on the island. It is rumored to be the largest gathering of Super Yachts in the world! Some of the boats have started to arrive so everyday we take a walk down to the bridge and sit at the yacht club and watch the boats come in. Here is a picture of the boys and I returning the other day.


Last night we all went to the Broxes' house and while the women watched the kids play in the pool, Justin and I went snorkeling for shells. Justin gathered a lot of sand dollars that Hillary is going to use to make necklaces and I was able to get my very first Conch shell. However, when you get them in the wild they don't look like they do in a store. When you get them home you have to soak them in bleach water. Here is mine soaking.


I'm pretty proud of it! It really was a good time.

Well, the boys are getting restless so I need to go.

Talk to you later,

Matt

Oh what a night!

On Wednesday night we got our first taste of the St Martin Medical system and lets just say it is not an experience I ever want to have again. It all started about 11:30pm when Noah woke up and was having difficulty breathing. It has happened before and we knew that he really needed a breathing treatment. However, after some searching we realized that when we packed to come down here we neglected to pack his inhaler. So we quickly decided to take him to the emergency room. We loaded everyone in the car and headed to the hospital on the Dutch side of the island. After three phone calls and 4 U-turns we finally managed to find the unlit enterance to the emergency room. They gave Noah a shot of steroids and a breathing treatment and sent us home. About half way home we realized that he was actually getting worse instead of better and that he needed further treatment. Tangra had heard that the Drs were better on the French side of the island than they were on the Dutch side so we decided to try there.

On the way there I dialed 911 to get directions to the hospital only to hear "I'm sorry but it is hard to explain . . . can't you stop and ask a security guard somewhere?" Furious, I decided to ask the next person I saw, and of course it would have to be 7 drunk french guys who all pointed in different directions. The next person I came to said there was not a hospital but if I went back one block and turned I could follow that road to one. (Is it just me or does that sound confusing to anyone else?) So I went back to the next block and turned. The road was similar to an apartment complex driveway, but we did see a sign that said hospital and pointed in that general direction. However, after driving another 150-200 yds the road turned to dirt and looked like a construction enterance to a new subdivision. As I was turning the car around my headlights shined on a dark sign that was back off the road about 20' that said Hospital and had arrows pointing one direction for visitors and another of emergencies. We quickly followed the sign and arrived at the emergency room.

The Dr gave Noah another dose of steroids (this time orally) and then started him on another breathing treatment (this time they used adrenoline which treats inflamation of the throat instead of asthma and he quickly started breathing better.) After giving him about 3 doses they announced that he would need to spend the night in the hospital so that they could give him further treatments every 2 hrs until morning. However, given that we were paying out of pocket and this was not the first time this had happened we decided to take him home instead and come back if we needed too.

The next morning he was sounding much better but I wanted to be sure that it didn't come back so I took him to the Mullet Bay clinic. What a visit. The Dr and Nurses were all very nice (unlike everyone from the night before.) The Dr discussed everything with me and explained what each hospital had done, and then said he didn't seem to need anymore breathing treatments. He wrote me a prescription for two medications and they have really worked wonders. As I was getting ready to leave he handed me his card and said "Next time give me a call. I am on call 24-7 and I can meet you at the clinic anytime." Oh the other thing was that it cost me nearly $500 for the emergency visits and it only cost me $25 for the clinic visit. So lets see... I can get rude treatment, shady service, and pay hundreds for it or I can get friendly treatment, real service, and pay a minimum for it. I can definately say that, "I WILL NEVER GO ANYWHERE ELSE!!!!"

After all that the boys and I got home around 9am and quickly fell asleep until around 1:30pm. Now Noah is doing much better and we are all almost caught back up.

Till Later,

Matt

I totally redeem myself!

Well, just when I think that I couldn't possibly do anything dumber, I go and totally redeem myself! When you start your weekend off jumping in an ocean full of sharks, at 1 am, while breathing through a tube, it really doesn't seem like it can get much dumber, but of course where there's a will there's a way! You see for some reason, I decided that even though I haven't run more than 100 yds since freshman PE, it would be a good idea to join in the adventure of running a relay around the island. Yes, I know, it does sound pretty stupid but it is amazing what peer pressure will do to you. At one point it even sounded fun!

Anyway, we had a team of 10 that split up the 25 mile course. The legs ranged from 1.4 to 2.9 miles and included hills, valleys, and everything in between. My leg was only about 1.8 miles which sounded better than most, but it turns out that 3/4 of it was straight up! Anytime you are reading the leg description and it ends with "at the top of Mt William", you know it is going to be a long day! Lets just say that although I made it to the end, it was not the prettiest sight. In fact, speaking of unpretty sights, this would probably be a good time to talk about the team uniforms. I suppose the best place to start is by saying 8 of the 10 members of our team were women and that they decided we should all have matching shirts.

Their oversight however, was that when they selected a style for the shirt they neglected to take into account the potential for varying body styles, shapes, and sizes, and quickly settled on THE AMERICAN WIFE BEATER! It didn't take long for Chuck and I to realize their flaw and refuse to use the shirts. (We didn't think it would be fair to use such intimidation tactics!) However, as the race wore on and we approached my leg it became apparent to me that we may in fact need to use them! So in good team spirit I stretched that little shirt to it's max and jumped on the line. . . however from the results of the race I think it must have been too little too late. We finished the race 43 out of 45 followed closely by two "Junior"(8-14 yr old) groups. Aside from the running and the near heart attack the event was very enjoyable and we were very excited that we didn't come in last.


After the race we watch some of the award presentations and then went to Hanna's pool to relax.

Later Sunday, Tangra and I took the boys to the bar and grill across the street to listen to the live band and eat some dinner. It was very nice to spend a little time with the family again before Tangra got back to studying.

Till Later,

Matt

We're Alive!!!!!!!

Amazing...that is really all you can say about lobster hunting! Now, I will be the first to say, "it is not for everyone," but it was amazing! Anytime you are climbing into the water with snorkel gear and a flashlight when you really should be climbing into bed it's not for everyone!



We ended up having four people go Ben, Me, Chuck, and Justin. It started out looking like it was going to be very prosperous when Ben caught one on the way out to our spot. However, it would prove to be the only one caught for nearly an hour.
So we all decided that maybe the elements weren't quite right and we should call it a night. But before we called it we decided to make a loop the other direction through the bay. Fortunately, it turned out that there were a few more over there so Justin ended up catching two more. So all said we ended up with three lobsters but one was a female with eggs so we threw her back. Leaving us with two that we boiled, cleaned, and Chuck and I took home to our wives.

Well, that is how the overall trip went but lets discuss my time! As you can read above, I did not catch anything. In fact, I just barely TOUCHED anything. I can only explain it as gradual progress. Basically, it went like this...for the first half hour my body and mind were coping with the fact that I was floating in the ocean, breathing through a tube, holding a flashlight, while thousands of unknown creatures moved around me!

After spending another half hour determining that in order to catch a lobster, I had to know what one looked like and look for it, I started concentrating on that as well. Once I had mastered that process I realized that no matter how far I stretched my arm out, I could not reach the little booger and breath through my tube at the same time! Another 15 minutes passed while I observed the art of free diving and my body said "alright,you own this!" So I search a little while and sure enough there he was! I took a deep breath, dove down right above him, opened my hand, and my mind said, "extend hand, open palm, grab tail, and swim back to surface." However, somehow in translation my body heard, "open hand, slightly extend arm, there is no way you're touching that thing, ah just do it, NO WAY, ah just do it, NO WAY, hey where did it go, oops he's gone, I can't breath, SWIM STUPID, there is water in my mouth, I STILL CAN'T BREATH, OH NO, OH NO, blow out, inhale, pretend you know what you are doing!" After gathering myself, I realized that although I thought it may have looked somewhat normal and I'm sure no one saw me, that Justin had quietly observed the whole event and was laughing from a distance! Needless to say it took me a couple of more attempts to convince myself that it was ok to touch them and a couple more after that to actually make it happen. Lobsters really move a lot like cockroaches! They will sit there pretty still till they feel you touch them and then they bolt, and no matter how prepared I was for it, it scared me every time. I touched two or three but couldn't grab them. I think that next time it will be a lot easier though, because as we were waiting for the water to boil we spent some time holding them and getting comfortable with the fact that they really are quite defenceless.

When we originally planned our excursion we had decided to have a lobster party on Friday night to enjoy the lobster we caught and spend time with friends. However, we weren't sure that two lobsters would feed 11 people, so everyone came over to our house and had steak instead. We grilled out, ate watermelon and leftover halloween candy, and chatted till nearly 1:30 in the morning.

It was a lot of fun and the kids played so much that all of them fell asleep on Noah's bed watching cartoons.

Today, Tangra has a couple of study sessions to go to and then she will be studying on campus till late. I will probably take the boys swimming and maybe go walk through the marina to look at the big boats. I hope you all are well and we can't wait to see you over christmas break.

Later,

Matt

Just in case!

Well, tonight is the night. In about a half hour Chuck and I are headed out to go Lobster Diving. Basically, we are going to leave the house at 11pm, go to Justin Brox' house, get in our snorkling gear, and jump in the ocean with a bunch of hungry sharks. So I figured if I was going to do something that stupid I should say goodbye just in case. So...Goodbye!

Anyway, I haven't written since Halloween so I better catch everyone up. After the festivities I got a 24hr flu which quickly spread to Tangra. We were down a couple of days but luckly we were able to stagger sleeping and taking care of the kids so that nothing go abandoned. Over the weekend we went to the beach a couple of times and cried as we watched the Colts get beat. This week we have been doing a lot of housekeeping and I have been trying to finish up some projects that I started a few weeks ago. Hopefully I will get them all done soon but you never know.

Ok, sorry this is so short and chopped up but I have to go to the big hunt. I will write soon and let you know how it went.

Till later,

Matt

Happy Halloween

...from all of us to all of you!



Tonight the AUC Spouses Club hosted a Halloween party for all of the families complete with pinatas, games,...



pie eating competitions,...



and a trunk-o-treat! We decided to decorate the trunk like "Survivor St. Martin." We had palm branches, trees from our house, and jungle sounds on the laptop. I even managed for find gummy geckos for treats!



Noah tried his hand at the Pinata,however for some strange reason, when I see this picture, it makes me think that when he grows up he may not be much of a ball player!)




Anyway, on to costumes... For the boys this year, I decided that purchasing real costumes would not work because they were far to expensive and more importantly VERY HOT! One lady tried to sell me a pink wool sleeper that was supposed to be a whoopie cushion for Nolan for $89. Needless to say I decided to try my creative side. After roping Chuck into the process we came up with making Noah a Jack-in-the-Box,...



...and making Nolan a dice!



However, due to some design flaws and the fact that the poor kid doesn't sit up very straight yet, he spent most of the time sporting his little pumpkin shirt!



We all had a really great time. It was so nice to have some time with the family and also to have plenty of kids for Noah to play with. He ran around for the entire 2 and a half hours chasing his buddy Issac! Unfortunately it didn't make him very tired because as he was running he also was eating a ton of candy. I think he is finally recovering from his sugar high though. Nolan even had some buddies to hang with!



Well I hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween.

See you soon,

Matt

PS. If you would like to see more Halloween pictures please check them out in my Photo Album.

A Little Wet...But Who's Complaining!

Well, the last few days haven't been too eventful. The weather has been a little wet so we have spent a lot of time inside. However, we did make it out the other morning to the pool.


I was getting the boys ready to go when I got an email from some of the other spouses saying they were all going to go to the pool and asking if we would like to come along. So we met them and had a really good time. Noah had a wonderful time playing with the other kids...


and everyone had to hold Nolan...



so I got a pretty relaxing break.

Last night Chuck cooked dinner and everyone came over here to eat and watch Grey's Anatomy. The meal was great and we had a really good time. After dinner the boys all watched Happy Feet on TV while the girls did some more studying.

Today the boys have been playing around here while I worked on the computer and did some laundry and then tonight we are going to go to dinner with Chuck and Geneva after we pick up Tangra at the school. I hope everyone is having a great week and we love you and miss you all.

Later,

Matt

Pinel Island...or is it heaven...I forget!

On Saturday we attended the Spouses Club Beach Day at Pinel Island. All I can really say is ... WOW!!! The boys and I picked Chuck up at 10am and caught the ferry to Pinel Island at around 10:30. It was absolutely beautiful. The beach part of Pinel is nestled in a bay so you have very few waves and the water averages around 2-3 feet for the first 100-150 yards, which is perfect for Noah in his swimmer. He could just swim to his hearts content.



Nolan took some time out of his busy schedule to enjoy a little coconut...



...and what beach excursion would be complete without a nice nap!


Man, I have to say after looking at that picture, my 6 month old son has a life most retirees would die for!

Anyway, after we had all enjoyed the sunshine and sand we headed off for higher ground. Nothing like a little exploration with friends to make a day complete. Like I said before, Pinel Island is Gorgeous! OK, I know you don't believe me and quite frankly I want to make you jealous so here are a few pictures to prove it! If you would like to see more pictures please visit the Photo Album in the section titled "The Places They Will Go."




Love ya all,

Matt

Friday night on the town!

Well, this weekend was another fun one! On Friday afternoon the boys and I went to a birthday party at McDonalds. One of the med-school student's children had a birthday and we were invited. The boys even dressed up a little.


After the party we picked up Tangra at home and went to meet Chuck and Geneva for dinner. We went to a restaurant that looks similar to a 50's and 60's diner called Cheri's. It has pretty good food and there is a show while you eat. The show is put on by three guys who dress up in costumes, sing, dance, and act out little skits. Noah was excited because everyone gets a free "clapper" when they sit down that they use throughout the show.

Oh ... and Baby got a mask! :-)


Lou Lou really stole the show though!

After the show we went out in the street and watched the short show put on by the casino every night at 9:30. Then it was time to head home to bed so we could get plenty of sleep for our big day at the Beach on Saturday!

Later,

Matt