Week 38 in PR

It’s been a week and a half since Keen broke his arms and he and Josh had to get them checked out to make sure the right progress is being made. Early Monday morning they headed to the “first come first serve” clinic in San Juan and ended up with a long day of waiting and X-rays and waiting some more before the doctor delivered the bad news that the left arm wasn’t in line correctly and would have to be reset. So back to the treatment room they went and Keen had to endure a painful reset without any anesthesia. Poor kid has been through a lot. But he ended up getting new casts on both arms and picked out red as his favorite choice. It was a king day for the two of them but we’re hopeful it does the trick. Next week another X-ray to check it out again…

We’ve loved having the Harris’s with us this week and our house has been lively since the minute they arrived! They bring such a fun energy with them and we’ve had the best time together. We took them to one of our favs, Charco Frio, and it quickly became one of their fav spots too! You can’t beat the cool fresh water and the natural water slides and cliff jumps. It just makes for a great day! 

Early the next day we said goodbye to them and they headed out to spend the rest of their vacation on the west side of the island. We’re so glad they came to stay and already have so many fun memories of this group of ladies!!

Meanwhile, Rease and Rhen have been studying hard with their online classes. Aside from their regular school, they’ve each had a few online classes and have really worked hard in their spare time. They can see the light at the end of the school tunnel but have each had a few big projects they’ve been working on the past week or two. These are just a couple of things Rease has done for biology. 

After the Harris’s left, we made a quick switch around with the sleeping arrangements to allow for Josh’s parents and Aunt Shirley to join us!! We have had so many great visitors as we’ve been here, but nothing is as good as welcoming parents here to our home! 

Week 37 in PR

Our last day with the Flints here we took them to Playa Azul then later up to old San Juan for pizza and gelato. We don’t get tired of this part of town and love being there in the late afternoon and evening. It’s just delightful to sit out in the warmth as the sun goes down and walk down the cobblestone streets. It’s just one of our fav parts to show everyone! 

Rhen and Liev also had a field trip this week and took the bus to a Roberto Clemente museum which they said was super cool. Then ended up at the mall for lunch and on to Old San Juan for site seeing. So fun!

This week we officially got our house listed on airbnb in preparation for the summer rental season. We hate to even talk about it, so we try not to. But we do know that our time here will eventually come to and end and we’re trying to prep the house for that. That’s all I even want to say about it for now :(

But here are some of the pics we’ve been working on for the listing. 

 


The elementary kids had their final day of tutoring this week and each grade had a small presentation for all the parents to show some of the things they’ve been working on. These extra hours after school each day have been so helpful and beneficial for the boys and we have loved it! There is going to be a summer camp for a few weeks in June that they are all excited to be a part of. But for now we’re sad to see these tutoring classes come to an end. 

Friday night we welcomed the Harris’s to La Brisa to spend the week with us! My Aunt Celia and her girls made the trek all the way to Puerto Rico to see us and we’re so excited to have them! They’re such a fun group and have lots of fun plans while they’re here. Can’t wait to do some of those things with them! The boys also worked on Saturday putting in some more plants in the empty spots around the yard. We have so many plants to plant still so it’s always a work in progress. 

And I snapped a quick pic of the basketball court I get to play at on Thursday nights. I’m in awe of the beautiful scenery around me wherever I’m at on this island and even something like a basketball court can have beautiful surroundings on a beautiful night. 

Saturday we took the girls up to La Perla for seaglassing and had the best morning on the beach! So much glass everywhere after the big storm that came through yesterday. We were lucky!My cousin Krystal brought her darling baby Finn with her and I’ve loved snuggling up with him while they’ve been here. It’s so fun to have a baby around! 

Our week was a bit more chill than last week and I’m certainly not complaining about it. We loved the down time and the fun time we’ve had with family here! 

Week 36 in PR and Keen’s broken arms

When I got back from Boston I got the full low down of the kids weekend with Carlos and Laura in Adjuntas along with all the fun pictures they took while there. Just like I knew they would, they had a blast and didn’t want to leave. It’s always so fun when mom and dad are gone and they get to do something different. 

Laura took them all to stay at her moms house in Adjuntas and not just our kids showed up. It turned out to be a bit of a family gathering for that weekend and lots of  “cousins” came to stay and the kids had friends to play with for a few days. It sounds like it was a big party! One day they went down to the lake and kayaked and paddle boarded for the day. It looked like a blast and the kids said it was so fun! 

They also spent a lot of time at the house playing games, doing a few chores and hanging out with everyone that was there. I know they ended up at a delicious rolled ice cream place that I was totally jealous of. 

We’re so grateful for Laura and Carlos for taking these kids on for five days in a row! That’s a big task to take on and I know we will never be able to show how much it means to us to have them a part of our life. 

I got home from Boston and the next day Josh returned home from his business travels and we were finally all back under the same roof again. It’s always good to be back home and regroup before getting back into the routine. One thing we had all missed was given to us the first night home. These amazing sunsets are something I’ll never forget no matter where in the world we’re at. 

The first morning we were back together and off to school, Keen had a handball game.  We got everyone dropped off to respective schools and then back home for a couple quick jobs before we took off again for the game.  Josh almost wanted to finish trimming the yard before we left, but in the end decided that it could wait and we should get to the school to see Keen.  And it's a good thing we did! Just minutes after we walked in the gym and got settled in to watch him play (and less than 30 seconds after the game actually started), Keen was running backward to get back on defense and tripped.  While going down, he put both arms down to catch himself and then wasn't able to get back up.  As we watched from the stands it didn't look like anything major had happened.  It was just a small fall and we figured he would be back up right away.  Soon enough though we realized it wasn't just a normal fall.  The coach called us over and one look at Keen's face, without even needing to look at his crooked arm, told us that he had a broken arm.  He had fallen just in the right way that his left arm right above the wrist had snapped and been left in a rather wonky position.  Poor Keen didn't quite know what to do.  He barely even cried but his face was completely white and he was sweating pretty heavily.  He was in shock for the first little while of the whole incident.  The team gathered around and one of the mom's helped brace his arm on some cardboard and strung it up with a wrap to help him hold it.  We jumped into the car to take him to the hospital to see what was next for this boy and his arm.  I was so impressed with the way he handled it and just felt so bad knowing that, though he wasn't crying much, I could tell he was hurting.  Once we got in the car it seemed to hurt more as the minutes went by up until we got to the hospital.  He also started to complain that his right arm was hurting too although not nearly as bad.  We got to the emergency room, checked in and luckily didn't have to wait too long for the nurse to get the x-rays and have the doc look at them.  He ended up x-raying both arms just in case.  As we waited for the doctor, they gave him some pain meds and he started to feel a lot better which was a big blessing.  The doctor showed us the x-rays and, like we figured, the left arm had both bones broken all the way through and would need to be set back into place before being casted.  The surprise news was that the right arm was also broken with a buccal fracture near the wrist! Wow I was shocked!  Two broken arms with one fall on the floor.  Keen was less than thrilled to hear that he would need not just one cast but two and that it would most certainly dampen his swimming plans for the next couple of months.  But aside from that, he was just ready to be out of pain.  

I wish I could say we were in and out of there quickly but it turned into a really long process and a long day for us all - especially Keen who had been through a lot already. After getting word that both arms were broken they told us that the left arm was in need of being reset so that the bones would be back in line with each other. They put him out under general anesthesia and worked hard to get it back in place. After a couple tries they ended up sending us (by ambulance) to a pediatric hospital to see a pediatric orthopedic for some extra help. More X-rays, more waiting and more doctors awaited us at the new hospital and once again he was put under to try and get the arm reset. I think they chose the strongest man in the whole hospital to get it done and after lots and lots of tries (luckily keen was asleep and unaware of what was happening) he finally got it into place. That was a happy day as we were hoping to be able to avoid surgery for this boy. More waiting (and sleeping at this point since it was past midnight!) they casted both arms (with old plaster casts! What?!) and we were finally sent on our way home. Gosh what a day. But amidst it all Keen was such a trooper and had a great attitude. We got home and slept like the dead! 

The rest of the week passed in a blur but with lots going on. Desh and Beck were in a choir at school and had a performance singing the Puerto Rican national anthem.  I wish I could attach the video cause it was so dang cute! These pics will have to do. 

Rease made a shirt for earth day for her health class. 

And Beck took third place in a spelling bee (in Spanish) and was so proud to show off his ribbon! 

Would you believe that the transmission in our van went out the day after keens accident? Well believe it. We rolled with it and borrowed our friend Hector’s car for the day until we could figure something else out. Good news? Our van has 58,700 miles and the power train warranty on it covers the transmission up to 60,000 miles! Just in the Nick of time for that to happen. The cost will be totally covered by the dealership but will take 3-4 weeks to get done. 

Our friends the Flints arrived somewhere in the midst of all the commotion with Keen and the van and we enjoyed every second we could with them! We swam, went seaglassing, took them to our favorite restaurant for dinner, and loved having them at church with us. It’s so fun to have them back in our home for a short spell! We have missed them! 

Week 35 and the Boston Marathon

This week started out with a bang as we got to go to the school a few times for different things for the kids. Desh had a project making a habitat and life cycle of a butterfly. He was so cute putting this together and presenting it to his class! 

Keen joined the handball team at school and this week they had their first game. They didn’t have ti travel far, but ended up at Lievs school for their fame against the older kids up the road. Keen LOVES playing and had such a fun game! He’s the tallest on the team and though not always coordinated, did pretty dang good with those king limbs of his and scored two goals for his team. They ended up losing but put up a good fight against the bigger and older team they were facing. Looking forward to watching more games this spring! 

With Chad Britt and the boys here we knew we had to take them to Charco Frio one day and show them one of our fav spots! It is always super fun and we knew they would love it. It turned out to be a super hit and we loved the fresh water and warm sun one of the afternoons this week. We jumped and swam and slid down the slides over and over and didn’t want to leave! It’s certainly always a crowd favorite and I’m so glad we made it. 

Other notable things from the week include:A lost tooth in this crowded mouth of Beck’s. I’m not sure how he wiggled that one out because it was tucked so far behind the front tooth but he somehow managed it and got rewarded for his efforts! 

Liev with some amazing bedhead

Max and the other boys loving in Tilly

Fun friends of Rhen’s 

And saying goodbye to the Losee’s! We loved every second of having them here with us! 

The next couple days passed in a blur as Josh headed out of town for work and I packed up for a quick trip to Boston. We left the kids in care of our darling, amazing friends Carlos and Laura while we were both going out of town and knew we didn’t have a thing to worry about while we were gone. 

This trip to Boston has been on the calendar for months with a date to run the marathon circled in red! I won’t say it’s been easy to train for this particular marathon, but I can say that I did get all my runs in (slow or fast, I did at least run them all!) The warm and humid weather of Puerto Rico combined with a schedule that required some super early morning runs, made for some slower trainings for me but I was just so happy to be able to run this marathon again that anything was fine with me! What a privilege just to be included in this group of runners. 

I got to Boston and wanted to do all the things that Boston was offering for those of us coming to town. I walked the streets downtown, lined with signs and a “welcome to Boston” vibe wherever I went. Runners everywhere and beautiful weather on top of it. I spent hours at the expo just browsing and buying a couple things, but mostly just taking it all in. I found my name on the huge poster that listed all 32,000 runners. And I just loved every minute I was there. 

Of course, Boston also has some of the best of the sports world and I took advantage of the fact that the Celtics were playing their first playoff game that same weekend. I snagged a single ticket, bought a cheap shirt and went to the game just as the doors opened to watch the pregame and then every second until the very last! There’s nothing like playoff basketball no matter what team it is! 

The next night the Boston Bruins (hockey) played their first playoff game in the same place and I went back downtown to be a part of the crowd. I didn’t go to the game but watched it from a sports bar just next door to the arena, filled with bruins fans cheering them on as loudly as if they were inside the arena themselves! Seriously such fun events to be a part of! 

Marathon day arrived and it unfortunately had rain forecasted for the day :( It had been such a beautiful weekend that to have race day full of rainclouds was a bummer. But what do you do?  

I was part of the 3rd wave of runners so my race didn’t start until 10:50 am. It made for a nice night of sleep since I didn’t have to wake up super early to get to the starting line. I rode the T to Boylston street to drop off my bag, then board the bus. It was a pretty soggy morning and long bus ride to the starting line, but full of anticipation for the race we were all about to run. One of the guys I rode the train into town with said the Boston is like the “dessert race” because it’s one you can just enjoy knowing that you already had to work so hard to get here. I totally agree with that and will remember that forever. 

The big tents at the runners village were filled with waiting (and nervous) runners but also provided shelter from the rain so we all sat there as long as we could before our waves were called. Before I knew it, wave 3 was up and it was my turn to walk to the starting line. As much as it had rained all morning, by the time we got to the starting line, the rain had pretty much stopped. I took off my light poncho and tucked it into my sweatshirt just in case I needed it later. And then we were off! 

I love the Boston marathon for so many reasons, but this day I appreciated it so much for just being able to be there. It is such an amazing city with lots of life and energy and so many wonderful people filling the streets for this Patriots Day celebration. You can’t go anywhere on the course without having people lined up cheering the runners on, supporting us with funny signs, handing out water and Gatorade, giving high fives, shouting words of encouragement, free kisses from the women at Wellesley College, and lines and lines of porta potties just when we might need one. It’s truly just incredible to be a part of. I took my time and enjoyed all the little things including the rain that came at mile 13 and stuck around for 5 miles or so, the blisters that I could feel starting on my second toes, heartbreak hill (why oh why do you have to be at mile 20?!), the pain in my hamstrings that came around  mile 23, the photographers along the route, and then the Citgo sign that we can all finally see when we get to mile 25 and know there’s just one more nile to go. Right on Hereford and then left on Boylston. 

I was so so glad to be done. And so glad that I made it. And also, so glad that I got to do it. What a day it was. 

Week 34 in PR

We started this week with awards coming out of kids ears! Desh, Beck and Keen came home with first place medals and certificates for winning the math week challenge! They were all so excited that they won, but I’m not super surprised about this. They are all really good at math, but more importantly they LOVE math! They are constantly playing their favorite math game, Prodigy Math and improving their skills while also engaging in a mild competition between brothers :) Anyway, so proud of them for their first place finishes! Keen was also selected as the Student of the Month and was honored for that at school this week as well.

And last but certainly not least, Rhen got an award for her proficiency in the Spanish language! Seriously what an accomplishment. What a week for the Beutlers!

Other things:

Beck and his best friend Sophia showed me their very long and elaborate handshake they’ve been working on for weeks. They are soooo cute!

I’m officially short and being outgrown by almost all my children including my boys who are getting so close to looking me in the eyes. 

Desh had an outdoor picnic at school 

Rease and Rhen continue to work hard at the gym, even if they sometimes have bad attitudes about getting up so early…

Midnight swims

Family room sleepovers when the power went out…

And so many other things but those are the few I snapped pictures of :)


This week was also Easter week and we started our traditional teachings on Sunday with Palm Sunday. This year I had each person take a day to be in charge of, leading the discussion and carrying out the activity that they wanted. It worked out great and the kids did amazing taking charge! More Easter week pics to come but wanted to add these from the kids during teaching Tuesday and sharing their favorite parable of Christ. 


Josh and a few of the boys took a long walk along the road today meeting neighbors and checking out new things. They came up a favorite flower of Josh’s down the road from us that had been infested by colorful caterpillars. They look amazing with heir bright colors but turned out to be stripping the plants of all their leaves and poisonous to boot. The boys loved watching them but in the end decided they were not good creatures to find on your own plants and flowers. They also did some yard work together and moved a big pile of sand that was leftover from a cement project Pepo had been working on. It’s so good for those boys to work and work hard!

We welcomed Chad, Britt and family on Thursday evening and met them at the temple for baptisms just after they flew in! It was so amazing to be there with all those teenagers together doing something so cool together! It was Lievs first time and he said he was a little nervous, but mostly that he would have to do it say something in Spanish. When I assured him that he wouldn’t have to say anything at all he was more excited and calm about it. We LOVED being there with all our kids and mostly taking Liev for his first visit. What a special day in a beautiful place!

We started out their trip with a bang and took them to Culebra the very next day! We always love taking people to this most favorite beach of ours and showing them all the reasons we love it. It turned out to be a busy day at the beach because it was a holiday weekend (Santa Semana) but it didn’t keep us from having our own space to set up our hammocks in the trees and set our chairs out by the water. It was a gorgeous day with just a bit of cloud cover that helped keep us from feeling scorched all day long! The kids had the best time together and played in the water, hung out in the hammocks, played spikeball and sunbathed. All things that make for a great beach day!

Pina coladas and pinchos at the tienda before we showered up at the end of the day. It was really just a great day overall! 

The boys made a night out of it and ended up stringing up the rest of their hammocks and bug nets and staying overnight on the beach. Britt and I took the girls and headed home on the last ferry of the night. We left the boys to have a father/sons night out together. And also we were worried it was going to rain and didn’t want to get stuck being wet in the middle of the night :) We wussed out a little bit. 

Josh said it ended up being the perfect night on the beach and I’m so glad because mainland Puerto Rico got completely dumped on! I was worried they were going through a miserable night in the rain but it turned out not to be so. Late night spikeball and an early morning red sunrise made the trip a success. We are so blessed to live somewhere so beautiful as this!

Sunday came and we celebrated Easter together with a great day at church remembering our Savior. What a blessing it is to know Him and remember His life. 

We spent the rest of the day playing games and counting even more blessings of having our family here with us for this week! Rhen and Britt worked on charm bracelets together and we searched for Easter baskets amidst the maze of string that fills up our house every Easter morning. You may think the kids have outgrown the string/Easter basket hunt but believe it or not, they always look forward to it! 

We ended our evening at the concha playing frisbee, basketball and hanging with the neighbors. We love when we get the chance to run out all of our built up energy on a Sunday afternoon! 

And here are the results of our Easter Week! A tradition we always look forward to as we recall and learn of Jesus Christ. It’s such a hands on way for our kids to recognize the blessings we’ve all been given and show gratitude for the life of our Savior.  We love this week of remembering. 

Week 33 in PR

This week passed in a flash and just like that we’re into a new one! So many things that were fun and great and lots of things that were pretty routine too. We’ve fallen into a great routine with school and fitting visitors into the routine is part of the fun!! Rhen and Lily had such a fun time catching up on months of being apart from each other and stayed up late every night chatting into the night! We spent some time writing letters to old friends, making homemade empanadillas, funny sock day at school, growing out of school pants (all the boys!), and Desh had an activity day at school.  

Beach day is always a fav and we loved showing Lily our favorite spot and teaching her how to boogie board. There were good waves this week and they had fun catching all the waves they could! 

Liev worked hard on a science project that was due this week. He had to take pictures of every step and then make a presentation with all his work. He presented it the next day in class and said he got 100% on it! So proud of him and his hard work!

We took a day away from school and went shopping at the Plaza las Américas mall in San Juan. Laura met us for lunch after she got done with her school and then spent the rest of the afternoon with us. It was a fun break from everything and always fun to spend it with just the girls! 

Josh, Rhen and Lily packed their bags and took the ferry to Culebra one day this week and spent the day and the night in the beach. It’s such a fun experience to be out there all day and then sleep over with the waves crashing beside you and a full moon above. They had a blast and said it was the perfect day and night with no rain and little wind. I’m so glad Lily got to do that while she was here and they all made it through with just mild sunburns :)

Rease was part of a really special ceremony this week - the Cuadro de Honor (Honor Roll). She has done exceptional in school this year despite the language gap and I’m so so proud of this girl! Making the Honor Roll is a big deal here. They have a full on ceremony similar to a graduation and honor each of the students that have worked so hard in school this year. I was so thrilled to see Rease part of this group and couldn’t be more happy to support her. She has come so far this year and has really embraced her role in school this year. We walked around the school and she showed me all her classrooms and places she hangs out during the day. It was so fun to be a part of her world. So proud of this girl! 

The end of the week brought more of the same with random projects (having our gate remade with perforated metal), final days with Lily, painting the back wall (we pulled out the sprayer and finally got this wall done), and playing in the pool in the hot afternoon sun. Lots of good happening around here. 

We had the special treat of watching general conference this weekend and it was just what we all needed. We hunkered down at home for 48 hours and enjoyed listening to our prophets and leaders teach us all the good things. Saturday morning we continued our tradition of making scones before the first session and invited some of our branch members to join us. Carlos and Laura, David, Hector and the missionaries were with us for the day and we listened together and were fed physically and spiritually! It was a great day. 

Sunday afternoon we watched conference at Carlos and Laura’s house then had dinner and time for bike riding before we wrapped up the weekend. Such a fun week with lots going on, but ending on a high note listening to conference and being with loved ones!