Gabe, Ali, Nelly & Jason!

Improvements in Yungilla!

2011-09-18T13:03:00.002-05:00

We started doing a few minor improvements in Yungilla last weekend, which basically just consisted of opening up an access road and leveling the area that we plan to use one day for fruit trees or a small vacation house or whatnot.

I left the house at 6:30 a.m. on Friday in order to meet the bulldozer operator at 8:00, but of course he didn't show up and I ended up waiting for him for five hours and he finally came around 1:00 p.m., so unfortunately we were only able to get 4 hours of bulldozer time in.

In this little video you can see how he opened up the access road. I just love they way these machines can known down anything in their path!

This is a photo taken before the road was opened, so now there is a driveway coming down from the highway to the area where this little adobe ranch house is.

This is Don Lucho, our hired hand. He is going to help us administer the irrigation water and help us with the planting when the rainy season comes.

Nelly and Don Lucho making some sort of plans...

We had the bulldozer operator flatten out a few dips and rises in the land to make it more usable in the future. It's nice to do this before we do any planting or building because it creates more flat, usable space, and it's one of those things that you can't do very easily down the road...

This is our little reservoir that holds irrigation water for the entire property. I don't know if you can see from this picture, but one of the banks caved in years ago and it's full of reeds so we have to drain it during the dry season and then have the bulldozer dig it out again.

And here is the latest Ali and Gabe video...

Yungilla

2011-08-24T16:06:00.000-05:00

So, the latest news from us is that we bought a little piece of land about an hour out of town from Cuenca in an area called Yungilla. Since the elevation is much lower, the weather is actually quite a bit warmer than it is in Cuenca, and it's a popular place for people from Cuenca to have vacation houses. The property that we bought is about 8.5 hectares or 20 acres, which is pretty big for us of course but we got it relatively cheap because it is so far out of Cuenca and because only about 1/3 is flat, another third is inclined but useful, and the other third is basically mountain and not so useful.

The property also has water rights from two different reservoirs, which is a good thing in the long term but a bad thing for us in the short term. The good news is that one really does need to have irrigation for all your cows and crops and whatnot, but the bad news is that we have to pay someone to take care of it because the water currently is fed to the property through a series of channels or irrigation ditches, which is a great system for cattle but it requires quite a bit of maintenance, and we learned the hard way that if one of those ditches gets clogged, the water can accumulate and cause a landslide. We are going to have a reservoir dug and a system of sprinklers installed as soon as we are able, which will distribute the irrigation water evenly around the property. We also plan to plant coffee and bananas just for fun!

Nice view, eh?

Lots of space for cows! The cows are not there anymore since they belong to the family that sold us the land (it was a cows-not-included contract).

Lots of space for raising livestock and youngins.

There is an ancient little house made of adobe, but aside from that there isn't anything there yet except for the cows and the trees.

Mooooo!

This little creek marks the border of our property at the lower end.

I took this photo standing in the creek bed looking up.

Jason and Gabe, on patrol!

Nelly posing in front of her new hacienda!

Hangin' around the house!

2011-08-24T15:03:00.000-05:00

Yeah! I've got Mommy's glasses!

This one is pretty self explanatory.....my poor son! He gets hand-me-down girly toys, he has to wear girly pajamas, and now Ali is using him as her make-up doll!

Just hanging out in the back yard!

Ali and I have an ongoing battle with the landscaping. Pretty much I plant 'em she stomps 'em! The more I tell her not to walk through the plants, the more she loves to do exactly that...

Picnic in Cajas

2011-08-24T14:48:00.000-05:00

These photos are from a picnic that we took a while ago in

Cajas National Park, which is just about 30 min up the road from us.

Wow, even Gabe is smiling in this one!

It was really wet that day so we had to carry Ali most of

the way, and of course Gabe always gets a free ride...

Gabe loves to sit in his perch and observe the world!

All ready for our picnic!

Watcha lookin' at?

All bundled up for the cold weather!

FINALLY - Some updated photos!!!

2011-04-21T17:08:00.000-05:00

Wow! I have been totally neglecting the ol' blog! I can't believe I haven't posted any photos of Gabe since he was born...and he is almost 7 months old! Well, what can I say, having two little munchkins following you around all the time will keep you busy!

Ali is on my heels as always, and as soon as I turn my back on her she sneaks into the office, climbs into my chair, and starts banging away on the keyboard.

Gabe is very restless these days because he is just at that point where he can turn over but he can't quite crawl yet. He will roll over on his side or on his stomach and get stuck and he gets very frustrated! The little guy is just sick of laying around in one place but he isn't quite mobile yet...

So, my intention with this post will be to get caught up by showing some highlights from the past few months. Here goes!!!

Here I am!

Ali is as silly as usual...

...of course she's cute, though!

If you can believe it, I actually ran a 15 K last Sunday! I have never been much of a runner, and working in front of the computer all the time creates some bad habits since I spend most of my time sitting on my bum, so this event was a good excuse to try to get into shape. It was lost of fun, they closed down a large portion of historical downtown Cuenca and it was nice to run through it without any cars or pollution for a change. And if you can believe it, I actually survived! (1:38)

... and Ali is learning how to make some funny faces!

Gabe is turning over now without any problems...

It's the Gabe show!

...and of course we can't forget about Ali!!!

We bought a small lot in the country, and you should be able to make out the division by the water meters (in front of the fancy house, not the fancy house). We recent sold another lost that we had about ten minutes outside of the city and so we have been looking around for something else to invest in.

Ali running around in the Campo

There is nothing there currently except a few pigs and plenty of mud!

Ali at home in our backyard.

ALI'S SECOND BIRTHDAY!!

Ali had lots of fun during her big 2-0, but this
time we didn't let her put her hands in the cake....

What could be in here?

Ahhh...candy. All right!

I don't know what's happening', but I like it!

Gabe wants to play too!

Sorry it took me so long to get some updated photos up! I'll try to be a bit better about that...

So long!

Gabe is here!

2010-09-26T11:53:00.000-05:00

So, here is the big news:Gabriel James Hall Quizhpi was born on September 24 at about 8:00 p.m. He weighed in at about 5 pounds 12 ounces and so far he is doing great!

Ali is super happy to have her very own live baby doll to play with!

Nelly getting the how-to's and the what not to do's from the pediatrician.

Jason with Dr. Gaybor, our OBGYN, who also delivered Ali.

And back home at last!

More to come...

August-September Ali photos!

2010-09-25T23:57:00.004-05:00

We finally finished our backyard last month, putting up a simple roof and some brick floors. The final stage was spreading topsoil over the garden and Ali was happy to help with that part!

Totally sacked out! Life is rough...

I got up for one second and Ali totally stole my seat!

March - July photos

2010-07-23T23:56:00.014-05:00

Ali's first trip to the Pool

Here's a video of us playing in the pool. Ali was totally nervous at first, but of course she got over it after a few minutes!

[note: I had to compress these video clips down pretty far in order to post them here, but if you care to see them at a decent resolution you can click on the slide show at the top and find them in the appropriate public albums.]

And here is another one:

Ali was very interested in a capoeira class next door and kept wandering in to take part!

Ali getting warmed up for capoeira class:

A picnic in July

Here is a video of Ali on the slides:

And here is a video of Ali at home:

And another picnic in June

And some photos of Ali around the house...

Ali's 1st Birthday!

2010-02-15T19:51:00.010-05:00

Aly had her big 1-0 last Wednesday, and of course we had to have a little party.

Thanks to everyone for thinking of us on that day - we got lots of calls and e-mails, but of course my usual e-mail address had gone down (my tech support guy was playing Fishville at the time...a total slacker!) and so I know that it was tough to find me!

You may notice that in some of these photos Ali has a bandage on her hand - we did have a little mishap. I ws baking lasagna and Ali was with me on the kitchen floor and before I knew she had crawled over and supported herself on the oven door, as she often does, and the outside of that oven door was hot enough to give her a nasty burn. Ali's first trip to the emergency room followed...

Anyway, back to the happy stuff. Check out that cake!

Nelly's sister Martha took care of the cake for us, and as you can see, it was a fancy one!

Dinner was barbecued chicken..super tasty! Ali does love her bones...

Blowin' out the single candle!

And the best part - face in the cake!

Opening up her gift...of course she played with the paper, not the toy inside.

Alright, let's speed things up a bit here...

And these next two are just from the archives...

Coming home from our trip over Christmas we spent a day in Guayaquil. We rented one of those little kiddie push cars to walk around the boardwalk and Ali loved it!

And of course she does love her bath time!

And here we have a few videos! This first one is of Ali opening up her presents during her birthday party.

And this is just some stock footage of Ali jumping around in her toy.

Christmas 2009!

2010-02-15T08:44:00.013-05:00

So I am FINALLY putting up a few pictures and videos from Christmas. It was so great to see everyone! It was a very special time for all of us, especially for Ali, because she was finally able to spend some time with her cousins.

Ali with a big ol' smile on her face!

Kim and Adil hanging out with the Ali monster!

Kim and her niece!

Grandma Bev and two of her grandchildren!

All bundled up to see the lights!

Zoe hanging out with Ali!

Jason and Nelly with full stockings!

Christmas morning hike, a little running down the mountain!

New Years in Seattle with Dad, Michelle, Zoe, and Dana!

Grandma Bev playing with the little monkey!

Union Square in SF the night (or a few nights?) before Christmas!

And of course the classic family shot in front of the Christmas tree...

Nelly and Ali soaking up the view of Union Square from a dozen floors up!

Fathers and babies in the long line for a picture with Santa..

This is a video of Ali and I jumping on the trampoline.

This is a video of Ali during our hike on Christmas morning.

This is a video of Ali playing on Christmas morning

More Alison photos! Almost 9 months!

2009-11-03T22:08:00.006-05:00

Ali hangin' out with her new best friend...

Now for a few videos!

Ali is standing up by herself for the first time!

This is a short clip that I took when Ali and I had our week alone together when Nelly was in Miami. I set up her hanging jumpy chair in the kitchen and she would just hang out with me while I was cooking.

Ali is standing up in her crib again, but this time she is a bit more confident.

This is just Ali hanging out in the kitchen.

2009-09-02T21:58:00.003-05:00

A pair of sexy bellies, if I do say so myself!

Future Grizzly!

All smiles.

And just playin' on the bed!

It seems like Ali has just been growing like crazy this month. Both Nelly and I have commented to each other that we notice all sorts of little milestones...she sits up by herself in her stroller, she is just starting to crawl, and she can give herself her own bottle!

2009-08-16T11:14:00.002-05:00

These photos are from Ali's baptism party on July 18 and Mom and Ben's visit...which I am just now getting around to posting...wow, what a slacker! We are so happy that Mom and Ben were able to make the trip all the way down here to visit us, and we had a great time with them here!

Mom holding Ali in her fancy new dress...doesn't she look great?

Both "Mama Nelly" and Ali..all dressed up to party!

Cheers!

On the left is Nelly's sister Nancy and on the right is Martha.

Lots of dancing that night!

Spending the day in downtown Cuenca.

Out to lunch at our favorite Colombian restaurant.

We went out to Ingapirca on one of the days that Mom and Ben were here...a very cool site and a great place to spend the day!

6 months with Ali!

2009-08-16T10:39:00.007-05:00

Ali's finger still her best friend...

She's all ready! We have the habit of sitting Ali up in her stroller wherever we are in the house and she just watches us...very attentively!

Rolling around on the bed! Ali can totally turn around by herself now, but she does get stuck every now and need some help.

Out on the town! We were out with Ben and Mom in downtown Cuenca and I had Ali in her Bjorn.

These next photos are from a picnic that we took with mom. I think mom must have been the photographer that day because she is not in any of the photos!

Look at that hat...Ali is all set for the sun!

...and we ended our picnic with a little "cuchi", or roast pork.

Ali has discovered her toes! This is a 2 or 3 minute video of Ali rolling around on the bed playing with her toes.

Real food...with mixed reactions! We have started Ali on "solid" food, and so far she loves grapes, pears, bananas, and sweet potatoes, and has some mixed feelings about apples and her cereal.

Ali sings! Wow, the noises that this girl makes! She has discovered her voice and now she just loves to talk!

4 months of Aly!

2009-06-08T21:55:00.009-05:00

Aly will be 4 months old on the tenth, and it has been a while since we have put up some new photos!

Aly is just big enough to fit in her Bjorn and she is at that age where she just loves to stare and observe....when we walk around downtown Cuenca all you can see of her is a pair of eyes peeking out of the Bjorn!

All bundled up to go out! We took her out with us to Yolanda's son Juanito's first communion party, and this stylish getup kept her toasty warm well into the night!

Yes, I shaved my head last month. Do we look about the same?

Check out those pants!

Aly grabs her ears when she wants to sleep.

Getting ready to head out for a walk!

Sportin' a new dress!

Posin' for a photo...

Sitting up like this is a new thing this month.

Hanging out in her towel after bath time...

and then gettin' a manicure!

Here is a video that Nelly took on April 2... without my knowledge, of course!

Here is another one from the archives...I had to include it!

May 19, 2009:

2009-04-02T20:08:00.005-05:00

Time for some new Alison photos!

Ali will be two months old on the tenth and she is getting bigger all of the time!

Nelly and Ali getting some sun on our roof...

...right out of the bath...

...and sportin' some cool new cloths from grandma!

Dad and Michelle's visiting Alison March 8-13

2009-03-16T16:10:00.007-05:00

Dad and Michelle made that long trip down to come visit us in Cuenca!

It was loads of fun to have them here and they came bearing all sorts of fun gifts and did so much cooking and babysitting that we were very sad to see them go! The best part is that now we do not have to buy Alison any clothes or toys for the next two years or so!

Lots of cool toys and clothes! Aren't baby toys fun?

This thing was a little complicated to put together...Dad took the green thing on top apart looking for where to put the batteries...it turns out they go in the giraffe.......who would have thought?!

Is there such a thing as 'overstimulation'? Nahhhh!

Alison and her dad...

... and Alison and her Granddad!

Alison and Michelle...

Alison and Dad...

Holding Alison some more...

and holding Alison some more!

Lunch at Café Eucalyptus

And around Cuenca...

Brunch with all the leftovers on the last day of the visit...

...and here we are just before time to same goodbye!

We had a great visit and we can't wait to come see everyone sometime this year!

So long for now! - Jason, Nelly, and Alison

Alison's first bath!

2009-02-20T14:56:00.004-05:00

Nelly's sister Nancy was nice enough to come over to help us give Alison her first bath. As soon as she got used to the water she loved it!

Alison is home!

2009-02-19T22:35:00.006-05:00

On Tuesday, February 12, we were finally able to bring Alison home with us. We were relieved to finally be out of the hospital and a bit of the stress and worry seemed to leave us as soon as we got home, although we did not sleep very much for the first few nights!

Alison is here!

2009-02-19T22:12:00.004-05:00

Alison arrived on February 10, 2009, at 2:30 am. We made our every effort to do deliver the natural way, but in the end the doctor recommended that she come to us via cesarean due to a weakening heartbeat, by which time Nelly was already dilated 9cm. In the end it proved to be the right decision because the cord had been wrapped around her neck, which we had not seen.

Both mom and baby were safe as soon as the operation came to an end. What a relief!