Vance Continued

For all you Vance lovers out there, here are some more pictures of America's favorite baby (or maybe just my favorite  baby!). Andrew keeps telling me to stop taking pictures of Vance because our camera battery won't hold a charge for long and he wants some pictures of the area. Hey, I can't help it if the kid's cute!

He can't quite crawl yet, but at least he's got push-up position down.

I think it's so cute when he plays with his feet!

So sweet!
Just chillin' in his suit case.
Isn't he the cutest !?!

Our Apartment

We arrived in Bilbao at around 11 P.M. and the woman who rented us the apartment came to pick us up and drive us the hour to San Sebastian. We had packed sheets and towels because we had no idea what this place would look like. And since it was Semana Santa or Holy Week, we were told everything would be closed. We arrived around midnight, very sleepy. To our surprise not only was the apartment furnished but our beds were made, we had new towels and some food too. It was great to just be able to go to bed! 

Let me show you around a bit:

This is where Vance sleeps. He can't sit up by himself yet so he's OK in here for awhile.

This is where we hang our clothes. It's 8 stories up and it was a little tough for me to get over the fear I had of being so high. But it's normal now. And it's very energy efficient. The only set back is we run out of space quickly and when things take days to dry you get behind in laundry quickly!

The Plaza where we live is enclosed so we don't have to worry about rain. (you're looking at the ceiling)

This is our living room area. Very cute. The doors on the side lead out to a porch.

   Holy cow we're high up there!

Here's the view to the left

Our bed which was made for us, yay!

Our kitchen area. Very nice. We have a dishwasher and everything.

And our bathroom.

Vance Romance

Vance has been wonderful since we've been here. Of course he still has his fussy times now and then but they seem to be happening less frequently. I think he likes being with us :) . And he really enjoys going for walks. 

Here are some recent pictures. In this one he's playing with Andrew.

He loves watching Finding Nemo

We're working on crawling. He's pretty strong!

And here's his favorite activity!

What a ham!

The Suitcase

Well, Spain's been great. One hitch though. We were under the impression we were coming to warm weather. Not so much! It was freezing when we got here! AND my suit case was lost between London and Madrid. But let me tell you, this was a blessing in disguise. Not the cold, the suit case being lost. You see, from Boston to Madrid we were allowed 2 suitcases, 70lbs each. However, the flight from Madrid to Bilbao allowed only one per person, 44lbs. Figure that one out. We packed lightly, one suitcase each, but they were heavier then 44 lbs. And we were told we were allowed a stroller, but they made us check it upon arrival which meant we really had more than just our 2 checked "bags". So much for conserving space and packing lightly! Not to mention that on that Madrid to Bilbao flight it's 6 Euro for every 2 lbs. over your luggage is (expensive!). 

We were praying about this last flight, seeing as how we're out a lot of money because of this trip and we didn't want to have to fork over more. We figured we'd show them our tickets from Boston and tell them we're international travelers and hope they'd waive the fee. Well, we got to Madrid and I had no luggage, and Vance had no stroller. They never made the connecting flight. So on the last flight I was able to check my carry on and we were UNDER the weight requirements (yay!). We got the stroller delivered to our apartment the next day. 

My suit case was a little tougher, we got it about a week later. I think it went to Africa. But it came just in time for the warm weather. So we're here with all our stuff and we didn't owe any $ on that last flight! The Lord certainly answered our prayers. It just goes to show you it's not always in the way you'd expect!

Stampin' Up!

So I couldn't come to Spain with out some basic essentials like, you know, stamps, stamp n' write markers, snail adhesive, etc. Let me tell you, I am so glad I brought this stuff! I've already made about 5 thank-you's. I know, don't you just feel so badly for me having to spend my time doing something I love?:) It's great here though, all these nice people to make thank-you's for. We are blessed!

Spain!

We're in Spain! Yay! It's amazing here. Vance has been such a good boy too. He's adjusted to the time change and he loves walking around the city. Right now Andrew's not working yet so we've just been familiarizing ourselves with the area. It's pretty here, like the Newport RI of Spain. 

The church is really close by. We ran into the missionaries our third day out here too. They're all Americans and are enjoying their missions. When we ran into them it was at the supermarket and it was nice to be able to talk to other English speakers. And at Church there's a woman who's originally from England so she translates for me. All in all it's been one great experience after another!