Easter 2014 Weekend

The boys had Thursday and Friday off the weekend of Easter.  It was a great 4 day weekend.  We sure missed Mark though!  We started the weekend off by going to SelvaViva (JungleAlive) with the Berryhill's and Whitt's.  After we had lunch, ice cream at Freddos (an Argentinean place) and then spent a couple of hours at the park.

 Go Luke!

 I love Drew's face in this one!  He is looking at this chameleon below!

Saturday started with looking for Easter Baskets!

Then on to an egg hunt and brunch at the Whitt's with many great friends.  The kids had a brilliant time.  Mason took pictures and Dallin helped Easton keep count of his eggs.  Mason and Dallin were such good sports, they helped a lot and I appreciated it.  It is getting more and more difficult with the age gap to keep everyone occupied all the time.  

 Good friends have made this whole ex-pat experience so sweet!

 Waiting can be so hard.

Sweet Samantha.

After brunch we headed to one of our favorite picnic spots - Santuario de la Naturaleza, for an Easter BBQ with two other families - the Johnson family and Ordaz family.  It was a beautiful fall day and perfect for a BBQ.  We sat by the stream while the kids played in the water, at the play set, and went exploring.  The teenagers ate, explored, and talked, while the youngers enjoyed playing all over the place.  It was great for all the kids.  The older kids were happy to have their friends there.  

Mouths full!

Sunday we went to church and then enjoyed a wonderful dinner at the Whitt home with the Berryhill family, Tracy and Melissa McQueen, and two missionaries.  

After dinner there was still more to come.  We made our way to the temple grounds for a farewell of all the missionaries leaving the East mission this week.  We went to see two very special missionaries.  Elder Schade, who knows the Doug Hamilton family and was in our ward for a long time.  Drew and he bonded at the traveling visitor's center at our ward building in November.  And the second was Elder Spencer Hunt.  Spencer babysat our boys before we left Des Moines and then ended up serving in our mission!  How amazing is that.  We have kept tabs on him, had dinner with him, and sent special care packages to him all through his mission, so it was fun to go to the farewell and see it all come full circle.  His family has since moved from the Des Moines area, so we won't see him when we return to Des Moines.  

 Elder Schade

Elder Hunt

Fall events

At the end of March the boys had spirit week.  I happen to take pictures one morning of them.  And also a picture of the reason it takes so much effort to get out of the door on our early school mornings.

We had a hippie and a hobo.  The hippie was covered by his sweatshirt.

 So easy to get ready with this kid around.

 Mason at Java Jazz.  A fun evening on the outside patio with music and snacks (of course coffee, hence the java, but we had hot chocolate).

 Drew participated in Arts in Action again this year on April 1st.  

 As did many of our friends.  Sarah and Allie are playing here.

 Mason watched with friends, as did Dallin, but I never found him in the crowd.

 Friends in 3A.  Gabriel above and Lucas below.

And for me…my final Bunco night in Santiago Chile.  So much fun with these beautiful women.  We have evolved over the years as people have come and gone, but no matter it has been so much fun spending a night a month in great conversation, food, and lots of laughs!