Here is my last email as the Academic Technology Director to the staff at CMS:

From: Mark Picketts
Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2009 4:56 PM
To: All Users
Subject: the secret is out....

I can’t hide it anymore.

The real reason for the academic technology successes over the past couple years has been revealed:

We have loved our time in the DR and will miss you more than you could imagine. Our CMS family are always welcomed wherever we are.

Follow us at: http://karliandmark.blogspot.com/ and please stay in touch

con amor,

Karli, Oliver, Ella y mark

---

Mayra has been a part of our family for the past three years and she will be missed by all of us, the only thing keeping us going is the thought of a reunion with her in Canada or San Francisco soon. Some Mayra moments:

It finally happened: Karli wrote her second blog post!!

Well truth be told we both had to give speeches of adios on Friday to the wonderful people that have been the core of our Dominican family for the past five years. Karli proved why she is a writing teacher and i ... well i was sobbing mess (partly because i had to follow this speech):

When Jack hired Mark and I at the Boston fair 5 years ago, we weren’t really even sure we were a couple at the time. We obviously convinced Jack that we were worth hiring as teachers and I guess we must have seemed stable enough at the time to take a chance on our fledgling relationship but we were literally defining our relationship in the elevator on the way to our interview. We thought, well what the heck, lets just go and see what happens and in the mean time we can learn to kite surf, take in the beaches and even learn how to dance merengue. I am forever grateful to God, the Universe, and Jack who hired us both that snowy weekend in Boston, which gave our little relationship experiment a chance to grow.

So we moved here together- but separate, a couple kind of – boyfriend and girlfriend but not ready to live together. But when Mark got here he really hated his apartment and it was just so below his standard, which was really saying something at the time and he came over to my apartment one weekend and just kind of never left. And a couple of months later we got engaged on Pico Duarte, we got married in Las Terrenas and then had our first Dominican baby here in the city. Originally we were only going to stay 2 years but after giving birth to Oliver we realized we were part of something really wonderful here where everyone has this wonderful love and respect for children. There is not one of you out there that doesn’t ask about our kids every ingle time we see you and you really do mean it. I can’t imagine after your true and genuine happiness for our happiness, having kids anywhere else.

So we became part of the greater CMS family. Now when I say CMS family I don’t mean that in a “one big happy family” way. No, this is a real family. Supportive, caring, even a little dysfunctional at times but always there for you. This family has its nurturing mothers who care for us along the way and its funny, spirited aunties who keep us laughing and having fun. And certainly there is more than one crazy uncle in the group who you just can’t wait to see what they are going to do next. And just like in any family there are many ups and downs but what makes family so great – is that they are there through all of it.

I want to thank this CMS family for supporting both Mark and I in our many ups and downs- through different houses and jobs, marriage and kids. It is harder than I thought it would be to leave this island because I realized I am leaving my first “home” I created with my new nuclear family and extended family. I am finding I have so much more of an emotional attachment to things and memories and places here than I thought. But I have to remember that the things are just things, the memories I take with me where ever I go and the places…well one day I’ll be back with my husband and my 2 Dominican children so that they can see what a great family we came from.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Truth: she doesn't even know i am posting this.
her first post here

(like every post here, i have so much to put up here and am hopelessly behind...but i will try and get it up here soon, but life is kinda hectic these days)

We are well into the season of lasts here in the Dominican...
We remain busy enjoying the last days of the la vida buena in the DR. Last week was Aba's final visit to Santo Domingo and as with all of her previous visits it was nothing short of incredible:



We are really looking forward to being so much closer to you next year Aba.

Lots of posts this month already and even more running around in my head. Here is a little show about our Spring Break. We were joined in Cabarete by Jeff, Deb, April, and Eric and had a wonderful, relaxing, and hilarious week.
It was our last time in Cabarete this year, and although i know that i will be back at Nanny Estates. It's the first time in years that i have left not sure when exactly i would be back. It is one of the most incredible places on the planet, and the people there are even more incredible!

Well, enjoy:


Ipo, i am not ignoring your comment. I am working on something to fill you in re: next year. It's a work in progress, but for now:

Way down here you need a reason to move
Feel a fool running your stateside games
Lose your load, leave your mind behind, baby james
Oh, Mexico
It sounds so simple I just got to go
~ J. Taylor

Its amazing how fast five years can go by when you throw a wedding and a couple of kids in there...but pass it has

From 5 year

OK, i feel horrible that the other post with pictures was really only up for a day, i hope that people will look at that and also the movie from yesterday.

but here are some more pictures of Miss Ella on her first Birthday:

From Ella turns One

From Ella turns One

Here is some old guy, when he wasn't so old:

From Ella turns One

Here a future Homecoming Queen smiles for the camera:

From Ella turns One

wow, two posts in a day. Of course the footage in this post IS from January...



more pics and some video from the princess' first will be coming very very soon

We continue on here; living in the sun
We laugh, we dance, we sing - we have fun
It's almost over, are time in the DR virtually done...
and in the blink of an eye...look who turned one!