What have we been doing?

Since our last post, we've been quite busy with a variety of things. I'd like to think that's why we haven't posted, we've been so busy, but reality is that we suck at it, and we've only just got internet at our house. Thanks to Bob we didn't have to wait 4 months this time. So, on with it then.
After our trip to Las Terranes, we house sat for another Missionary family while they were on vacation. We stayed there for 5 weeks and was it ever a nice break. Their house was about 20 minutes out of town, completely surrounded by yard and trees and no neighbours in sight although they were just down the lane. They had satellite TV, so we got more than our fill of basketball and home decorating shows. I'm blown away at all the new reality shows out there, although some are quite entertaining. My favourite was "Platinum Weddings". I know that people spend an extravagant amount of money on their weddings, but really, do you need custom made drinks for your guests? One mother spent $40,o00 alone just on her wedding jewelery. Anyway, from there we "moved" into our "new" house. By "moved" I mean dumped our stuff and spent the night at Bob and Carrie's and by "new" I mean old but freshly painted. The next day we left for another road trip with Bob and Carrie and boys to Barahona for a week. We thought we'd go south for a change. Just a side note; don't travel in the DR during the hottest month of the year. Hazel did great and we made frequent icecream stops. We had a destination but other than that nothing else was planned. Because of this one of our favourite memories of the trip was having to spend the first night at "Hotel Glamours/Glamurs". Let's just say that we had to clarify that we wanted the hotel for the entire night. I will say that the sheets were clean and they had a/c. That's all we wanted after traveling in sweltering heat all day. The next day we made it to Barahona and stayed at a very nice, nearly deserted hotel. Carrie and I spent most of our days with Hazel in the pool and the boys were busy exploring nearby beaches. We made one very long day trip out to Lago Enriquillo which is supposedly the last natural place on the island for crocodiles. We drove 3 hours to get there only to find a 20 foot path that led to nowhere, but filled with iguanas, huge iguanas. We finally negotiated for a boat ride out to this desert island that was also filled with iguanas. The boys saw one small crocodile so it wasn't a total waste. But, I'm getting used to going on excursions with absolutely no expectations of what we might find, regardless of what we've been told. That's the Dominican!
Once back home I've finally been able to focus on the coming baby. We quickly got to painting and putting up shelves. Terry dug a fire pit in our large yard that we've been enjoying quite a bit. The house is totally fenced in so I can open the doors and let Hazel wonder in and out as she pleases. We have a small pool that we've been spending most of our hot afternoons in. It's not fun being 8 months pregnant in 40 degree weather. We've really been enjoying the quietness and peacefulness of our new house.
On top of new house and getting ready for a new baby, Terry has had the added responsibility of assuming the role of Principal at our school. We had a new principal hired in May but that fell through and ever since then Terry has had to take over. One, because he has the most experience right now at the school (scary), and two, he actually has the right degrees (for our school at least). He's been doing a great job but is a little overwhelmed. We started the fall semester last week short-staffed which means that Terry has had to teach 4 classes (a full load) plus do his Principal duties. Any prayer directed our way would be appreciated. At this point, there are no new applicants so that means that Terry will probably be principal indefinitely (no, this does not affect how long we stay here). We did manage a 2 day trip to the beach just before this all started and it was a much needed break for us. I'll post some random photos for you now.

This is Hotel Glamours, just in case you were thinking about stealing the sheets.... One of many random beaches along the coast. What a gorgeous place! Hazel trying not to let the salt water sting her eyes on the way out to the desert island. Feeding the large iguanas. Mangoes, mangoes, mangoes. Too bad they weren't an easy snack for in the car.

Trying to take a family photo.
Hazel most common road-trip position.

This is hanging out in our backyard trying to get some pregnant shots.
There happens to be an unbelievable amount of pregnant women around our town. Within the months of August and September I can think of 6 women, including myself, who will be having babies. This is a picture of my friend Rachel, who happens to have the same due date, same clinic and same doctor as me. We're already fighting over who gets the "expensive" room at the clinic. It has air conditioning, a TV and a futon for our husbands. Next to Rachel is April who is due exactly a month after us. Unfortunately, she's already moved back to Canada and will miss out on the Dominican birthing experience.