Time to catch up!

While Grandma and Papa were here Nolan, Mommy, Daddy, and me had so much fun. Daddy has been too lazy to write about it so I figured I should tell everybody what we did.

First, papa helped daddy get his boat running.

They worked really hard. Nolan and I helped a little too.

The first thing we did once the boat was working was go through the bay...

to a restaurant called Tijuana Yacht Club.

We parked the boat right on the dock, ate a good dinner, and got some cool hats.

Nolan and me love grandma and papa. Grandma made Nolan sleepy though.

She also cleaned him in the sink!

Grandma and papa had their anniversary while they were here too. 38 years seems like a really long time!

We all went to Shrimpys to celebrate.

Grandma and papa went on a special boat ride too. Grandma was so excited!!

There was a big boat race here too. Daddy called it the Heineken Regatta. There was a big concert in front of our house on the last day of the race. Me and Grandma went down to the beach to see what was going on. I made her chase me.

I am so fast, she can't catch me!

We also went to family fun day,

which was pretty cool. I went on some rides and even rode a little pony.

We went to a special island called Pinel. We had to ride a ferry to get there!

Once we got there, grandma floated in the water. Nolan took a nap with daddy.

Chuck and Geneva came too.

They are awesome!

For Easter we had a Easter egg hunt.

We had a potluck too.

There was all kinds of food, but Nolan and I mostly ate watermelon.

The last day we took Grandma to the airport. We watched her big jet fly back home.

We were very sad that she was gone but we had a great time while she was here.

Grandma Left And It Really Blew!

First, I will appologize to all my faithful readers for letting you all down. I am sorry that I haven't written lately. There is a ton to catch up on which I will not try to do now. I will only say...what a couple months. Mom and Dad came and went and we all had an absolute blast. We did everything from watch Shaggy on the beach across from our house...

to ride scooters around the island...


...and between everything ate a little bit (or in some cases a lot) of everything!

We drove boats, we watched boats, and we even almost sank a boat (luckily it was only almost!) The boys loved having Grandma and Papa around and we were all very sad to see them go!

Now we are starting to get back to "normal" and I will try to keep everyone informed a little better. The last couple of days we have been recovering. We took Tangra to school and then got some breakfast. We played a little on the slides at the school and then watched some airplanes. After naps and picking Tangra back up from school we went to get some groceries and then Tangra and the boys went home while I went with a group of people to watch Drillbit Taylor (What a GREAT movie!!!)

Well, I think that is enough for now. The boys are getting restless so I need to go.

Talk to you all soon,

Matt

I Waited and Waited and They're Finally Here! By Noah Broge

Grandma and Papa came to my house on the Big Jet and Daddy took Mommy, Nolan, and I to the airport to pick them up. They told me they were a day late because of the pilots of their first flight not having enough sleep, but I was so excited that they were here that I didn't even notice. After we picked them up and dropped their stuff off in my room they took us to the Buckaneer Beach Bar for Cheeseburgers. It was YUMMY!


The next day we went for a walk on frontstreet in Phillipsburg. We showed Grandma/Papa all the little shops and took lots of pictures.


We went to the place where they make Guaveberry Rum...


...and I showed them where my house was on a big map!


I even got to chase some lizards...


...they were HUGE!


I had soo much fun!

The Next day we all went to McDonalds for breakfast and Nolan and I played on the slide.


After that we went home and Grandma and I went to the beach in search of shells for Madelynn. We found a lot but I decided to dump them in the water just before we came back up...Grandma was very upset!


That night Nolan and I stayed home with Grandma/papa and had popcorn while mommy and daddy went on a Date! They were so excited that they could hardly contain themselves. I guess Nolan and I can be a handful sometimes!



Well, Grandma is ready to go...she says we are burning daylight...so I'd better go!

See Ya,

Noah

For entertainment purposes only!

Over the last couple of days Noah has been gradually getting more and more little "bites" all over his body. We thought at first it was misquitos but when I layed in his bed with him I didn't get bit. Then being the Dr that she hopes to be Tangra bursted into action (after I told her I would take him to the clinic in the morning) and got on WebMD to diagnose the problem. (Side note: WebMD is the dumbest thing I have ever seen. All it does is give average people enough of what they consider information to be dangerous and waste money! Case in point our evening last night!) As I said Tangra got on WebMD to diagnose the problem and quickly determined that it must be either dust mites, scabies, or some foreign burrowing larva! One of which states can be easily diagnosed by rubbing a felt tipped pen on the surface of the skin and then washing it away which should leave a dark line where the ink has soaked into the tunnel that the little bug has burrowed under the skin. Well, needless to say that was determined not to be the problem once she had made Noah look like a long time customer of Miami Ink. The next possible cause instructed her to replace all the linens on the bed. Determined that this must be the problem she proceeded to gather up all the sheets and pillow cases on Noah's bed and stuff them in a trashbag for me to carry out to the dumpster. (Another side note: As I said I had already decided to take Noah to the clinic and fearing the WebMD diagnosis may not be completely accurate I neglected to take the trash out till after the appointment today...Thank God for rational thought!) After all the linens had been "thrown away," Noah had been drenched in OFF and dressed up like a character from the Mummy, and I was safely in bed with him to "take the bite before he did" Tangra was finally content to go to bed. Luckly for me because I think the next remedy she was supposed to try was smoking them out and I don't think we would have gotten our deposit back after that one! Anyway, sure enough I took him to the Dr and the Dr informed me that chicken pox have been going around right now and that that was surely what he had. He said that Nolan probably won't get it because he is so young but if he does it should be a very light case. Needless to say I believe there really is no substitute for Medical school and that WebMD should be labeled
"For Entertainment purposes only!"

Till Later,

Matt

Getting Back in the Swing!

Well, we have been back on the island for nearly two weeks now and we are finally getting back in the swing of things. Noah is really getting upset though because he has only been swimming once since we returned. We have just been taking care of business like crazy!

While we were gone we decided that the rental car we had was costing us too much money so we decided we would get rid of it and buy an "island car" instead. We searched around a while and finally found one that was in decent shape and our LOW price range at the same time (Amazing!) It is a V6 with 4 wheel drive which I am really excited about but we decided to sacrifice a litte right now and go with a Manual transmission (Tangra can't drive it yet but she doesn't really mind) and no AC (She's not as excited about that part!) However, the temp here is absolutely perfect and there is always a breeze so it really is nice. We will just have to figure something out closer to summer when it is not so nice. It even came with a cattle guard which may come in handy if the locals try to stop me in the golf course and take advantage of me!



I got a GREAT deal on it but I feel kind of bad because I think I took advantage of poor Muhammed. You see he came down on price because of a problem in the frontend. He explained it like this...

"...the last couple of times I drove the truck it acted a little funny. Whenever I turned it would make a clucking noise and it really wouldn't turn very sharp. It felt as though it was jumping a little."

He then continued on by saying he would "...gladly knock another $300 off the (already low) price." He also told me that I could take the car for a couple of days and drive it around to see if I really wanted it (which would allow me to experience the problem for myself and Tangra to examine the no AC thing.) I quickly agreed and we were off.

Here is where the advantage comes in! For all of you fimiliar with 4x4 vehicles you may already see it but for you who are not, I will explain. You see I've always been told that the easiest way to see if the 4x4 is working is to turn it on while you are on dry asphault and try to drive in a circle. If it works it will "not turn very sharp and jump/lurch a little." So after Muhammed was well out of eyeshot I took the truck out of 4x4 and it drove just fine! Needless to say the next day I called him and told him I would take it. I know it wasn't nice but it did save me $300!

Anyway, as you can see I am very excited about the new vehicle, but other things have happened too. For instance, we finally got Nolan a highchair that he loves! He likes to sit in it and eat Cheerios while he watchs cartoons on TV.



It has been so nice because it isn't nearly as messy that way and I don't have to constantly hold him.

Other than that we have been going to see Tangra for lunch and watching boats almost every day. Taking walks usually 2-3 times a day. And we go to the store or run errands every couple of days. My favorite part though is "chillin" at night time!



Till later,

Matt

Back Home Again in Indiana by Noah Broge

After mommy finished her tests, we went to the airport and got on a big jet so we could come home! Mommy said that Nolan and me were very good on the airplane.


When we first got home there was lots of snow on the ground so I had to help daddy shovel grandma and papa’s driveway. Me and daddy wore our matching coats and Grandma tied Wal-mart bags around my feet since I didn’t have any boots.


Grandma bought me, Nolan, and my cousin Madelynn matching pajamas so we could go see Santa Claus. It was so fun. Santa Claus scared me a little at first, but then he told me that I could have a dinosaur for Christmas and gave me a lollipop.



I got to play with all of my old toys and I even let Nolan ride my Mater. He was too little to ride on it when we left!


I got to hang out with all of my aunts and uncles. Mommy has lots of brothers and sisters so Nolan and I got lots of attention.






We also went to one of my favorite places to eat – BUCK CREEK PIZZA!! We went with mommy and daddy’s friends. They are my buddies too.


We went to the Sebald’s house and had so much fun. They made daddy a big steak. He ate it really fast.


Sarah Sebald was there too. She is so pretty, so I had to get my game on.



I hope long distance relationships work out...

On Christmas Eve we went to Grandma and Grandpa Riggle’s house. There were LOTS of people there! We had to take a couple of pictures just to fit everyone in.




Here I am with my Aunt Alexandra, my cousin Elijah and my cousin Roman. I know, it’s kinda confusing to me too.


On Christmas Eve everyone gets an early present and a flashlight that is just like the star that shone on the stable where Jesus was born. I got a Bob the Builder tractor and Nolan and Roman got trucks. They are little so me and Elijah helped them learn to ride.



Grandma and Grandpa Riggle got coupons to go out to eat. They were pretty excited.


I even got to meet my Great Grandma Marnie for the first time. Nolan liked her a lot.


I met my great Uncle George too. He plays in a banjo band. I guess he is a little nuts.


Christmas morning was so awesome. We got up very early and had so many presents. Mommy helped us open them.


After we opened our presents daddy and Uncle Zeke went outside and shot boom booms! I watched them from the window. It looked so fun!


Mommy said they had too much fun


All in all, we had a really good Christmas. Happy New Year everyone!