Our 15th Anniversary! (Part One)

For our 15th wedding anniversary Mark and I had a little adventure in Buenos Aires, Argentina!  We went with the intention of relaxing, eating well, and enjoying each other.  And that is exactly what we did.  We slept in late, we ate at our own pace, and did just what we wanted to.  Best of all we just got to reconnect.  Santiago has been wonderful for us, but also stressful, especially with the hours Mark works.  We left on a Wednesday night and returned on Saturday night very late.  So we really got a full 3 days in BA.  The first night we pulled up to our hotel and I thought, oh no, what have I done.  But the old saying "Don't judge a book by it's cover," is what this was.  From the outside it looked like I very non-descript town home (granted about 8 stories tall).  When we walked in, we realized it was the perfect place for us.  Very nice, modern rooms, extremely clean (that is a big thing here), and the concierge was amazing.  Not to mention the breakfast tickets that allowed us to choose from 5 different cafes in the shabby-chic neighborhood we were in.  Loved the whole experience. 

So Wednesday evening we made our way out into the neighborhood and found a parilla that was very popular in the area.  We took a couple of pictures because BA is known for it's food.  And while there we ate very well. 

 We watched as he prepared the meat, stoked the fire, and grilled the meat. 

Thursday we spent exploring the city.  First we walked through the beautiful botanical gardens.  Then got on a tourist bus.  We got on and off as we pleased and saw a bit of the history of the city.

A green house in the gardens. 

See the big McDonalds at the bottom.  It's every where, you simply can't escape the golden arches.

This is in the metropolitan cathedral.  This area is where many of the Argentine leaders of independence (from Spain) are laid.

I loved looking down the streets and it going on and on.  The pictures we took don't capture just how big this place was.  A city of 15 million is BIG and overwhelming at times.

Cub Scouts

Drew and Dallin are both active members of the Cub Scout pack here in Chile.  It is offered through the school's after school activities, but unlike all other activities is completely run by parent volunteers.  So I am the Wolf leader, with 8 second graders.  Each of the boys are good, active, and very happy to be involved in cub scouting.  We meet once a week for 90 minutes.  It has been rewarding and challenging.  But I love being with them and having that time with Drew.  We have accomplished a lot.

          In the last few weeks of the semester we went on two field trips.  The first to the bear leaders home to do the rain gutter regatta.  And the second one to the fire station.  We were very blessed in that there happened to be a young man who knew English on duty, it is so much easier that way than having to translate for 4 of the none fluent scouts.  Also to note, all fire rescuers in Chile are volunteers, everyone of them.  The can live in the fire station in dorm type areas (a lot of the younger volunteers do).  But other than that no pay and, not even food provided. Can you imagine?  These are dedicated men and women.  And the equipment?  Mostly donated trucks from European countries that retired their trucks after 4-5 years.   I was really impressed by the people we met.  And the tour was great!  The boys enjoyed it so much and learned a great deal.

 

Christmas Concert

A little Christmas concert out side in the evening.  What is not to love?  And a little solo as well.  Go Mason!  Mason was a bit apprehensive about the trumpet.  He had done precussion in Iowa and has played piano for 5 years.  He wanted one of those.  However there were no trumpet players and his instructor convinced him to give it a try.  And it has turned out to be good.  Mason is a talented musician and we are always so happy to see him developing those talents.  It was a fun night and lots of good Christmas music. 

Easton's first "thing"

So for years Easton has been dragged around to and from practices, concerts, games, and recitals. I can remember nursing him A LOT in the car when he was a little guy. In fact we were in basketball season when he was born, moved right to soccer and baseball. And then soccer again...all on top of piano and cub scouts. So this was his first "thing" that we all went to of his and it was amazing. The preschool Easton goes to is a Chilean, Spanish speaking school not far from our home. And it has been a wonderful experience, with wonderful teachers. It is also on the normal South American schedule so in December was the end of the school year performance. It was so well done and thought out. The teachers are miracle workers to get all those 3 year olds moving and dancing at all the correct times. Easton was a turtle and he was so excited about it. We made his costume (it was the only costume not made by a seamstress that helps out every year). Easton helped to paper mache his shell and paint it. And I might add I think it looked pretty good and more like a turtle than the others. :-) Easton danced and participated and knew where to go. We were proud parents. 

 A few days before they had a rehearsal.  And they face painted the kids according to what there character was.  You must know that Easton HATES face paint.  I was extremely surprised when I picked him up and low and behold facepaint and NO tears.  Easton informed me he allowed it because it was only one top and it wasn't really paint it was a tortuga (turtle in Spanish).  Of course now I understand. 

Their class did a little acting out of a pirate story.  A group of pirates come to an island and try to steal the treasure, but are taught a valuable lesson about being nice.  The kids would get up and dance and move to music.  A lot of the music was from the US and I couldn't help but laugh when the hulu girls danced to Single Ladies and Rehab...really?

The turtles were in the background making ocean waves with their hands!  Love!  Also see that little pirate on the left...not a happy pirate...and a teacher trying to convince him he was happy.

Christmas Trees and Shorts

We still think it is odd to be decorating for Christmas in our shorts.  But it is a tradition we look forward to no matter what the weather is.  We even drank hot chocolate later that night.  Luckily it cools down in the evenings...probably not quite enough for hot chocolate, but it is tradition.  So we drank hot chocolate with fresh whipped cream and marshmallows, all in our shorts and t-shirts.

 

The boys rotate who will put the star on each year and this was Easton's first time to have the opportunity.  He was very excited and his brothers were cheering him on.

So there is a story to this ornament.  When we lived in Davenport, Iowa we went to a church Christmas party where each child received an ornament like this after they had visited with Santa.  It is a blue ball ornament with his name printed on it all on top of an ice cream cone.  A real ice cream cone, that has lasted probably 7 years and three moves.  So just be aware that ice cream cones could give Twinkies a run for their money!

Webelo Campout

Dallin is part of the school Webelo den and they had a weekend campout at a campsite in the mountains not too far from here. Mark took both Dallin and Mason. The leaders invited any boy scouts to help out and allow them to get in some of their own requirements, so it worked out perfectly for us.

 

 

Twilight at the campsite

Mason sent me this in the morning...he thought it would wake me right up!

Working on and finishing the engineering pin.

The scouts took a 5 mile hike and the next time I was with the pack many parents commented to me how Dallin was always at the lead, having fun, and not complaining...the whole time.  Proud of that kid. 

Mark and Mason started about 20-25 minutes after everyone so that they could pack away their campsite (the campout was for two nights, but they stayed one night, only missing the night and breakfast on Sunday).  They were able to spend some quality time enjoying one another and lifting boulders with one hand!

 

Thanksgiving 2012

We hosted Thanksgiving this year in our home for a whole lot of gringos!  We had 54 people here to celebrate and give thanks.  On the holidays is the hardest time for most expats, so we all came together and had a truly US Thanksgiving...with all the traditional food.  There was so much food...I was all worried about where to put everyone, which turned out no problem at all, the hard part was finding a place for all the food. 
We celebrated with great friends.  We talked, ran after kiddies, watched football, played football and futbol, and had a fantastic time!  I was so grateful to have them all here in our home, it was a privilege and a blessing for our family to be able to give thanks together, despite being so far from the USA.

It was a perfect day.  In the mid seventies, sunny, and gorgeous. 

I cooked 3 turkeys and Mark carved them all!