The Next Step!

The time has come for us to leave what I really think of as our "first home". Although this is not the first place we have lived or even where we brought home our first child, it is where we became a family. Three of my four kids have been brought home from the hospital here, Grandma would come and have dinner here on our nights to tend. We've had many birthday parties and family dinners here, we've learned out to take care of our own house and yard, and all the good, bad, and ugly that come from it. We have grown not only physically as a family, as in more people, but also emotionally and spiritually. There have been days filled with overwhelming happiness, tearful pleading, frustrated yelling, and hours of creating memories. 

As much as I'm looking forward to moving, and having more space, being closer to Dave's work as well as friends and family, I am feeling very nostalgic about leaving. We have had amazing opportunities given to us because of living here, that I'm not sure would have come a long if we lived somewhere else. The love and support we gotten form our ward over the last six years is more then I could have dreamed of, especially with Bailey. 

I will also have fond memories of this house the memories that have been made, but I am ready to move on to the next stage of our life and make new memories in a new location. Good-Bye Madsen Ln, Thanks for everything!

10 years= Costa Rica!!!!

In lue of our 10 year anniversary in knew we wanted to go on a trip and decided on Costa Rica! Our anniversary isn't until Nov., but this was the best time for us to get child care. 

Neither on of us had been to Costa Rica and we wanted to go somewhere remarkable, and it did not disappoint! We bought a vacation club last year and it has a resort in Costa Rica, it offered a few options on how to get from the airport to Quepos, which is about 2 1/2 hours away. We decided to rent a car...

If any of you watch the amazing race, think of what it looks like on t.v. when they are driving in India or other 3rd world countries, and that was us! We ended up getting lost in downtown San Jose for 2 hours, it was quite the introduction to the country. We finally pulled into a gas station and got directions back to the expressway. 

We finally found the expressway and decided to enjoy our scenery while driving to our destination.

After being in the car for 5 hours we made it to our resort. The condos were great, full kitchen, dining area, balcony, two bedrooms and two bathrooms. It was a great place to spend a week, just the two of us. 

The resort had an awesome pool, a restaurant, tons of coconut trees, and tennis courts  

All the restaurants in Costa Rica are outdoor, so you get visitors from time to time. 

We borrowed Dave's sisters underwater camera and it was great to have, we have to get one. 

Who doesn't love doing hand stands!

We were there during the rainy season so almost like clock work it would rain everyday around 1:30 pm. It wasn't cold or harsh so we just kept swimming. 

The resort orgainized different activities to do everyday, the first day we went zip-lining. 

Everyone else staying at the resort either has a time share or the same vacation club that we have. We met this great couple that is from Oklahoma celebrating their 30 year anniversary. 

Believe it or not those are the roots of the tree and they stretch through the canopy to try to find the light. 

The Zip-line was awesome! We did 10 different lines, two free repels, meaning just you and the rope, and a Tarzan swing. 

They also had a butterfly farm there

One of the flowers there that looked like a torch

I guess I messed up and these are in reverse order. 

Cool looking airport, getting ready to head back to the USA.

We were there over Dave's birthday and we celebrated at a really cool restaurant with an amazing view.

The restaurant was called "El Avion", it was built around a plane

Our last full day there we drove up the coast and found some secluded beaches

On our drive we saw the crocodile bridge, tons of crocs just hanging out next to the river

Our guide from our river rafting trip made this grass hopper out of a coconut tree leaf

 On the river rafting trip we ate lunch on the river and learned more about the history

They took us to this amazing waterfall

Dave under the water fall, it was really powerful

This is what most of the houses look like in the little towns around the country

 Yeah!!!

I was just sitting taking a picture and then...

bam, here comes the wave

Just like on survivior

The water was the perfect temperature 

The scenery was just breath taking, almost unreal

These are the same monkeys they use in a lot of movies, they also come right up to the beach and get into your bag if your not careful. 

Here's a sloth 

Howler monkey

All the these plants and insects were seen in the National park

It was such a great trip! Being able to spend so much one on one time together was a dream come true. We are so thankful for everyone that helped out with the kids.