Let the fiestas begin

Dieciocho is HUGE here!  18th of September is the celebration of independence for Chile (like the 4th of July, only bigger).  It is an all out party.  It is a week of no school and 3 days off work.  They even have a law (though not enforced) that you must fly the flag for the 18th, and we did.  And the festivities start early.  So even though we weren't actually in Chile for the Dieciocho week, we got plenty of time to celebrate.  So let me start with September 8th were we celebrated at a Saturday school family event (and there were more days at the school too) and then went straight to the church celebration.  And lucky for us it was a extremely nice day, with sunshine and temps in the 70's (which is weird to think, because now I think temperature in Celsius).  So here are some pics of our first day of activities.

 At the school event

 

 There was a Rodeo.  This was a funny event trying to  complete some tasks with three people on at once.  It was entertaining.

 Dance offs, with the traditional dances of Chile.  All of the Chilenos learn these dances, starting in preschool (Easton included).  And everyone knows them...all my kids learned and will keep learning each year they are here.  You will see people as well at the church fiesta from the young ones to the more mature who learned in grade school and keep on doing it year after year.  I like this, it keeps the history alive and traditions going on through the years. 

 Mason climbing the very tall pole.  There were little flags on the top that the first few grabbed, after that it was strictly bragging rights.  Go Mason.  While I was taking these pictures Easton wandered off and gave me the scare of my life.  Mark had not returned from Australia yet so it was me, the kids, and a thousand people.  And a very panicked me, looking for a three year old wandering in a tightly packed crowd...for 4 minutes.  Luckily someone picked him up and brought him to the stage.  Oh, the misery.  So grateful to people who dropped everything to help me look for him.

On to the church for our next fiesta...there are a lot of pictures here, but these are the moments I want to cherish in Chile, where we laughed and loved with the people who have become our friends.  Mark had returned from Australia (a 16 hour flight over night), showered, and met us at this party.

 There was a lot of food and meat!

 There were flags and there was national anthem singing.

Friends who we love.

 

 

 

 Dancing.  This hermano here is the cutest man.  And he could dance.

A professional group was there to dance and then get everyone else dancing.

Look, they got the bishopric to dance.  Mark was such a good sport, since he had no idea and the others have been doing this for a long time.

 There were games...including, with your hands behind your back, shove your face into a plate of flour to find a piece of candy!  I won't include the pic of me looking less than thrilled with the flour up my nose.  Not pretty!

 



Got sports?

With the start of school came the start of afterschool activities.  And with it came ball games, at least for Mason.  In the elementary there are no games and only a few sports participate in any tournaments.  So for this season, Mason is the only one with games to cheer on.  It has been a slightly difficult season for Mason, as he is playing with some kids that have never played before.  It has made games a bit frustrating for him, however he has done very well.  He typically scores 25% of the points and is one of the few with defensive skills.  I have been very proud of him because despite the scores in the games, he has been mostly upbeat and continues to play his hardest.  There is a life lesson he is learning, sometimes no matter what the outcome you still have to strive for your own personal best. 

 

 He's got hops. (#8)

Skiing the Andes

So in the middle of August we made our way up the 55 switchbacks to ski the Andes Mountains.  It was the perfect ski day - sunny, little wind, and lots of fresh powder.  Drew and Mason hit ski school and Dallin went to snowboard school, while Mark and I got in a couple of hours on our own.  And it was rather successful for most.  But the problem with learning to snowboard with a skier is that it doesn't work AT ALL.  Once the lessons were over, it was pretty much pointless for poor Dallin.  So he pretty much sat at the top and watched us go down for close to 2 hours with Mason and Drew (we did offer to put him in more lessons, but he has decided that snowboarding is not for him).  Dallin was a good sport though and just played in the snow and waved to us each time we came up the ski lift.  Dallin has decided he will attempt skiing next year (and we will add a sixth to the pot with Easton doing lessons next winter). 
Mark took Drew up again the following weekend to get some more practice in.  They lucked out again with great weather and more new snow.  Unfortunately with basketball games and birthday parties the rest of us couldn't get up to ski again that day.  We planned on going up a couple more times, but spring came early with warm temperatures and there hasn't been any more snow at the resorts close by.  Oh well, until next year!

In the car as we start our drive to the ski resort.  Can you tell they were excited?

Look at that beautiful powder.

Getting ready.

 

This is the only picture of Mark I got...sorry about the gloved thumb.

This pic is from when Mark and Drew went up together the next week.  Fun dad and Drew time.

Aladdin

Each year the stake (an area combining several congregations) youth leaders organize a cultural event for the teenagers of our church. And it is a BIG deal. Last year each congregation was assigned a country. From there they had to get costumes, music, and choreograph a dance that showed the traditions of the country. This year was a musical theme. Each ward had to choose a musical, do an expert from it involving music, singing, choreography, and scenery. Wow was it a lot of time and preparation for everyone. But it was such a fun opportunity to get to know the kids and see the fruits of their labors. It was great to be a leader for this, and especially good because I was also the mom of one of the kids.

Love these two beautiful young women

These two brothers just got here in June and jumped in head first.  Aladdin (on the right) memorized a song in SPANISH and sang in a duet with Jasmine.  Wow!

 

Accepting the award for best cinematography.

 

Assumption Day

What is Assumption Day you ask?  I had no idea, so I googled it:

"Assumption Day commemorates the belief that when Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, died, her body was not subjected to the usual process of physical decay but was “assumed” into heaven and reunited there with her soul. This holiday, which has been celebrated since the fourth century CE, is a Christianization of an earlier harvest festival and, in many parts of Europe, is known as the Feast of Our Lady of the Harvest."

It is celebrated here on August 15th.  The kids had school off and Mark sort of had it off, too bad we get the Chilean holidays, but those in the US still feel the need to schedule meetings on days Mark has off.  I am pretty sure if Mark scheduled a meeting on the 4th of July, which we don't get off, there would be upheaval in the ranks.  I'm just saying. 

So we had to get our celebrating in before 1pm so we set out on a little trip that is a quintessential Santiago tourist site.  We went to Cerro San Cristobal.  A hill on which you can hike, bike, ride the funicular, see gardens, and get the best views of Santiago.

We rode the funicular (a little train type thing that goes straight up the hill) and took in all the views, saw the giant statue of Mary, and a beautiful little church.  Then we hiked a bit to the Japanese gardens, which was fun, though we have to return in the summer for sure. 

 This is a picture of what will be the tallest building in Chile once it is complete.  It has been interesting watching in go up and start to take shape.

Home Again Home Again

Hello you just returned from traveling nearly 24 hours with no sleep and jet lag and you have no heat in the middle of winter.  Oh and it will be three nights before you get it back.  Yeah!  Thank goodness for our wood burning stove in Mark and I's room.  And a lot of room to drag in all the mattresses. 

Ham Fam Reunion

Mark's family loaded up and headed up to the mountains of Oregon for a three day reunion.  It was wonderful.  We stayed at a cabin (really a huge house) and for three days were technology free (most of our cell phones didn't even get reception), great weather, and family full days.  We all played, hiked, had a campfire, ate (a lot), and caught up on our busy lives.  It was really a good chance for the cousins - all 18 of them to bond and enjoy one another.  I feel blessed to love to be with my in-laws.  I am in love with this place that we went.  We have gone there once before and always good memories are made. There were water balloon launchers, throwing rocks in the pond, frog collecting, geo-caching, hikes, baseball, s'mores, and lots of laughter.  We had almost everyone with us(missed those two who had to do that work thing), which is amazing as big as the family now is. 

Watching the water balloon after they launched it.

Fun with cousins

Mark and his younger sister

These three are all the same age and really enjoyed being together.

 

 

 All 18 grandkids together.  I love this picture.  Thinking of them all together makes me happy.

 Searching for one of the geo-caching treasures.

 I had to post this (though Dallin may not appreciate it).  Dallin 's underwear were poking out and his cousin took advantage of the opportunity.

 We spent one afternoon at a beautiful lake nearby.  The water was very cold, but most of the cousins braved the cold.

The cousins spend about 20 or 30 minutes "hearding" all these ducks.  It made for some funny moments.

 My nephew thought it might be funny to put a dead fish in his mom's face.  Not sure she thought it was quite as funny, but laugh we all did.

Our view.  It was beautiful.  Our whole trip from Colorado to Oregon provided some beautiful scenery.  God's creations are awe inspiring.  Until next year...