Strep Throat

So the day after we went to Toledo, my throat starting hurt, but I thought it was nothing.  But then it kept getting worse and I just felt weak and tired and not very good.  I looked in my throat and it was full of white spots everywhere!

And that wasn't even the worse it looked.  It definitely got worse and spread to the other side.

We went to the doctor and when Paul said that I had an infection, the doctor said, "Well, we'll see."

Then when I opened my mouth and he saw all the spots and the red puffy sides he literally said, "Woah!"

He then wrote our a prescription for strep throat.  When Paul asked about doing any tests to confirm, the doctor said he didn't need to confirm it with a test.  He was positive.

So I have now been on antibiotic for almost a week and feeling great.

Yay for medicine! : D

(And for a husband who can communicate with foreign doctors and nurses!)

In Glenn's Hands...

These are the pictures we get when Glenn gets the camera.

Pretty good, eh?

A Day Trip to Toledo

Paul had Monday March 18th off--we didn't know why at first, but we knew that we wanted to use that time for sight-seeing.  Well when we went to Church we realized that Paul got the day off because it was Día del Padre--or Father's Day.  The official day was on Tuesday the 19th, but each city decides when to celebrate it.  Madrid decided to celebrate it on Monday.  Here in Spain the 19th of March is also Saint Joseph's Day. Paul said that it was fitting because Joseph was Jesus' earthly father.

Anyway, we were happy to have a day off to go touring.  We found a tour company that does half and full day trips from Madrid to surrounding cities.  We looked at their tour for Toledo and thought it sounded like a good deal.  So we went downstairs to our front desk and were able to book it from there!  We got Zach--the other guy who came here from the Austin office--to come with us.  Glenn was excited to see Zach and wanted to spend most of the time being with him.

Museo del Ferrocarril--Railway Museum

Last Saturday--the 16th of March--we headed out to the Museo del Ferrocarril.

Walking Tour: Historic Madrid

This past week in Spain has been rainy and windy and kind of chilly.  But Saturday the 10th the weather was better.  The sun actually came out and there were times when it felt kind of warm.  So we ventured out for our first real walking tour of Madrid.  

We got a copy of lonely planet's Spain book from Uncle Kim and Aunt Shannon--thank you much!!  So we looked in that book and found this recommended walking tour.  We first took the metro to the historic part of Madrid.  Glenn was really excited to take the 'underground train'!  

The beginning of our tour started at the Plaza de la Puerta del Sol, which means Gate of the Sun.  

This is the official center point of Spain!  

Bienvenido a España!

Tuesday March 5th, we loaded up our suitcases into our friend Rebecca's car and off we went to the Austin airport.  We had a short flight to Dallas and then a couple hour layover there.  Things went so well with our flights and with the airports.  I was very happy about that--no extra waiting or anything.  Even going through security was a breeze! 

I only took one picture during all of that--and it was in the Dallas airport.  There was an interesting looking statue thing and Glenn was playing around in it.

Fire Station Tour

The week before we left for Madrid, I got an email about playgroup--they were going to take a tour of the fire station!  I was so excited about that--and even more excited when I saw that it was the day before we left!  Perfect!  Glenn and I would be able to go!!

So Glenn and I stopped our packing and headed to south Austin for the tour.

Guests of the Week

Our last week at the hotel we were nominated as the Guests of the Week!

We got a nice little basket full of goodies and some vouchers to buy some more at their little store at the front of the hotel.  As we were checking out, we grabbed a couple more snacks for the airplane trip.

Dust Bunnies

Last week Glenn and I found some cute books at the library.  They were written by Jan Thomas and we instantly became fans of hers.  (We have since read other books by her, and we really like them all.)

These books were about Dust Bunnies. 

Austin Science and Nature Museum

On February 25, Glenn and I went to the Austin Nature and Science Center.  We had been invited to join a group going through our new friends, Christine and Lily-who we met at story time at the library.

This Past Week

This last week has been good.  Last Sunday we had some new friends come over to play games and have dessert.  They have an adorable, chubby little girl named Evelyn and she was very giggly that night.  She loved watching Glenn--it made her laugh and laugh!

Her parents were amazed that I was getting it on film because whenever they try, she stops.  So I'm glad I got these videos of her cute girl laughing!

Let's Go Fly a Kite

On Friday Paul came home with a surprise for Glenn and for me.  My surprise was from Ferrovial--they gave us a membership to Rosetta Stone so we could learn Spanish!  Sweet!  Rosetta Stone is expensive and it's really great of them to provide this for us.

Glenn's surprise was from a co-worker.  He is also a new employee and will be going to Spain about the same time that we go--we still don't have a definite date yet, but they told us to look at flights to find a good price and when we would want to go, so that's what we are doing.

Anyway, Zach--this new co-worker--came to work with a small gift for Glenn.  It was a kite!

Black Eye

Glenn got his first black eye on Wednesday February 13th.  We were on our way downstairs to eat dinner that the hotel provides for us (Tuesday-Thursday because we don't have ovens in our room).  We decided to have a race down.  Paul went down one staircase while Glenn and I went down another.  When he got to the third level--we are on the fourth--Glenn was so excited and was going too quickly and he turned right into the hand rail.  It instantly bruised and we had to go back upstairs to get his little penguin ice pack.  We then went back down to dinner, and while I was holding Glenn, he fell asleep on my lap.  So I didn't get any pictures that night, but I took some the next day.

Fun

Here's another post about some fun we've been having lately...and of course some silliness that goes along with that fun.  

(Half) Birthday Present

After the post office tour and playing at the park, we headed home.  We stopped at our post office to get the mail.  We received a package from Grandpa Dennis and Grandma Robyn for Glenn.  Turns out it was a birthday present, but because of the house fire they had, they hadn't been able to send it until now.  It was good timing because Glenn's half-birthday was just two days later.  So it was perfect!  It almost made me realize that Glenn is now closer to being 4 than 3.  He sure is growing up!  We love him so much!!

Post Office Tour

Last Wednesday--February 6th--Glenn and I went with a Church/local playgroup on a tour of a post office. I was really looking forward to it because I've always wanted to see what the back looks like.

We didn't know the other people in the tour because we just got on the sign-up emails, but that didn't matter.  We were included right away--and I even was asked to take pictures along the tour.

Sorry for the blurriness of this first picture, but this is where we started...

We first gathered in the open area where we've all been before to buy stamps, send mail, etc.  We had a post master talk to the kids about what goes on at a post office.  To be honest I think most of the kids were too young to really understand or care, but the older kids thought it was cool--and the moms too. 

"Gravity"

Glenn made up this song the other night--hope you enjoy it!

Our First Trip to see Downtown Austin

Yesterday, February 2, we did a little sight-seeing in downtown Austin.  

We saw the Capitol Building and the Visitor's Center there.

Magic Trick

Last Sunday we had a couple from our new ward come over for dinner.  She made a salad and she made the most delicious fish!  Seriously!  I'm not a fish person and it was so good!

We had a good time getting to know them better and spending the evening with them.

Just before they left, Ryan showed Glenn this magic trick.

Start of Life Here in Austin

We have now been here for 2 and a half weeks.  During that time we have done a lot dealing with getting things from the move worked out. Not by choice, we picked the coldest day here in Austin to unload our truck to put out stuff into storage.  Seriously, it was cold.  Not as bad as Utah--and we didn't have snow--but it was still cold.  Plus it took us 6 hours because it was just the two of us.  We started around 10am and finished around 4pm.  We rented a Home Depot truck so we could unload the trailer--which had been deposited some distance from our storage unit so as to not block other units.  So we would load the truck, then drive to our unit and unload it.  It took some figuring once we got the stuff there.  What did we want accessible and what needed to be on the bottom, etc.  We did pretty well at doing that--but we still think of things that we might need for Spain that is behind a lot of stuff.  Oh well, looks like we'll just have to rearrange things when that time comes.  

Isn't it amazing that our stuff fit into a 10x15 space?!