Pura Vida for the Hanni's!

Elders Jessop and Sangster, Valerie, Walter Briggs and some of our family getting ready for a service project at our good friend, Ana's, house.

Jason's family was so touched to hear about our good friends who have struggled because they don't have running water, that they paid to have running water installed into their home. It was an emotional roller coaster as some neighbors were upset (and we think maybe jealous) and broke the main water line. However, it was eventually resolved. WHAT A RELIEF! Pictured: Elder Sangster digging a trench, while Austin, brock and Austin take a break. Elder Sangster is an AWESOME example to my boys.

I am SO attached to this little boy and I would bring him home to keep forever if his mom would let me. Little three-year-old Iam and I are best buddies. Here he slept at our house for three days while his mother, my friend Ana, was really ill. We all adore him and saying goodbye to him and his family will be TOUGH!

Grace with two of our Finnish friends at our 'goodbye Finnish' friends dinner... at obviously, a Mexican restaurant.

This is a pic of one of my FAVORITE things we've done here... riding down a river full of little waterfalls. Relaxing moments, yet little adrenaline rushes all along the way... SO fun!

My family came to visit and we had a great week! This is on a swing outside one of our favorite restaurants here, Father Rooster's. (not pictured... Paul and Charlie.)

Here is a submarine going through the Panama Canal. They said that submarines rarely coming through the canal, so this was a special treat. It felt like a parade as the crews of the different ships would come out and wave... many probably not seeing others many weeks and months at sea.

After 14 hours of driving... we made it to the Panama Canal! It was worth every minute.

The Panama Canal...

At the end of our Panama Canal tour with a really animated employee there that was hilarious.

We stopped in Manuel Antonio on the way home from Panama and went to a little animal refuge. Some white-faced monkeys really wanted to play... here he is loving on Britton!

The trip was so worthwhile and we are so glad we did it. The kids were SO excited to see fancy robes in their rooms. I was laughing my butt off!

Wade and Cindy Roberts came to visit, and what an AMAZING and inspiring couple they are! They are such great examples to my kids in all the service they offer to the people of Cambodia. We hope to keep in touch with them. Wade is a mentor and swim coach to Austin back in Utah.

New swimsuit covers... and being total dorks with Andrea Ouzounian. LOVE IT!

This is Andrea and I in a hotel in Arenal being wierd...

At my FAVORITE restaurant in Costa Rica, 'Macademia,' on the road to Arenal with the Ouzounian's

This is my back on one of the many boating trips we went on. We went to go see some monkeys off the shore and we counted over 100 terrible insect bites. The worst part was that the bites on the back of my feet rubbed against the snorkel gear and got REALLY infected... I'll spare you the pictures!

Three of us gals (me, Ana, and Rebecca.. not pictured) took the 4-hour trip to San Jose to shop for fans, clothes, and other odds-and-ends with the money raised from my friends back in Utah (and a few other places.) It was a really special trip... but completely crazy. Navigating the streets of San Jose was not my forte!

This is one of our MANY car problems... this is a REALLLLLLLLY stuck van. It took 4.5 hours and a tractor. Even a Hummer tow truck refused to help us, because they didn't want to get stuck!

Here is our friend, Silvia, happily trying to dig it out!

The Montgomery's (US and Chris) came to visit and we had a WONDERFUL time!

This is Grace in the pool in the back yard with our friend, Kristen. Her mother, Lhylla is a wonderful friend to all of us. Kristen LOVES to swim and for some reason, only likes us girls and always shoos away the boys! :)

Here is a picture of the some of the much-needed fans we bought for a poor school from donations we received from friends at home.

Britton's birthday when his brother's pushed his face into his cake. Never a dull moment, that's for sure!

I was a handi-capable person for a few days here. Here I am driving the cart around the grocery store and Jason thought it would be really funny to take my picture! My foot swelled up GINORMOUS and I had three bad bites on my foot. We're pretty sure they were snake bites, as our friend said that there were small snakes biting in her grass when we digging out our car and I had such a bad reaction... not sure, though. I've had SO many bad reactions to bites from many crazy insects. This was SO painful... glad that's over!!!

Jason and I celebrated our 18th anniversary with an AMAZING private dinner on the beach near the Four Seasons Resort. We had a friend who was the head chef there and he pulled out all the stops for us! Our private server stood 10 yards behind our table to help us with anything we needed. It was one of the most remarkable meals... and SO romantic!

We had a great time when the Christensen family came to visit!

We organized a big group to go paint the school we have been helping. It was a great day and we all slept well that night!

I love how our family pictures turned out!


Here is one of the beautiful results of our family pictures taken on the beach near our home.


We have gotten REALLY attached to the missionaries here. This is Elder Jessop from Logan. Him and Elder Sangster from Montana are so special to us and such a good example to our boys!

Jason's family sent LOTS of clothes to clothe our good 'Tico' friends. This is my friend, Ana, with her daughter, Valeria, jumping up on her mother with excitement after seeing her new clothes.

Ana SO excited about new tennis shoes Jason's family sent.


The Aleman's are staying with us for the last month of our trip, and we took them to Tamarindo to surf... we had SUCH a fun day!

Brock and Austin had my shave their heads (along with a lot of family back home in Utah) in support of their cousin, Kayla Hanni, who has lost her hair from undergoing chemotherapy. Kayla was diagnosed with cancer last month and we all love her so much.


Brock's friends from his class threw him a 'going away' surprise party as the end of June was the last day of the 1st semester. All of the students in his class are girls, and a few of Austin's classmates came, too. These girls were DARLING and really made it special for him. He was really sad to say goodbye.

We were so excited to have our first visitors come, all Lowder's: My Uncle Jeff, Aunt Nancy, Cousin Chris, his wife Brenda, and their young daughter, Arden.

Brock, Arden, and Gracie at "Monkey Breakfast"

Uncle Jeff and Brock grill steaks for Jeff's 64th birthday party!


YUMMY dinner of steak and shrimp... Happy B-day, Jeff!

Grace, Nancy, and Austin swimming in the ocean off the boat on our 4-hour boat excursion.

Jeff, Chris, Austin, and Britton finding little critters hiding on the shore of Turtle Egg Beach


Nancy, Chris, Jeff, our boat guide, Victor, and Austin at Playa Hermosa Beach

Swimming with Jeff and Nancy in the pool... our favorite past time!

A week later, my aunt and uncle, Jodi and Reed Hamblin came to visit! Here Jodi is admiring Gracie's shells at Casique Beach.

Jodi admires Gracie's shells

A howler monkey and her baby in the mango trees at Casique Beach

Brock jumping from the boat.

And Britton...

And Gracie...

Brock made a beautiful coral discovery!

A crab hides in a crevice in the ocean cave on Turtle Egg Beach.

"Whoa... the water went way high inside the cave, Jodi... come see!"

Britton and Jodi bonding

Jodi, Reed, and the family on the boat... SO fun!

We found bottleneck DOLPHINS!

Love this pic of Gracie!

We found a sea turtle!

The ziplines were GREAT! Reed loved it!

A picture of all of us, minus Grace, as we worried she was too young and small. What an AMAZING day at Guachepelin, at the Rincon de la Vieja Volcano!