The Big Trip
Our ‘Summer’ vacation began on February 4th. Jeff and I met Jared at the airport in Santiago to pick up a box he brought us. It was very exciting. Filled with things we wanted and some presents for Josh’s birthday. He then continued on the Concepcion. Jeff picked up a 12 passenger van and we drove home in it. It was so great to be driving in a car. The car received the name the ‘Papa Plata’ which means ‘Silver Potato’. That should tell you what it looked like!
The next morning we all packed up and headed out about noon. We drove to Concepcion and arrived about 6 pm. Everyone was excited to meet Jennie, Nathan, and Josh for the first time. They all got to know everyone quickly and were off playing with the cousins.
The next morning we went to church. Carlos, Angelica’s husband blessed Makarena’s baby. Her name is Martina Florencia. It was very nice. I went to primary with Josh and Jeff went to Young Men’s with Nate. Jennie was on her own and Sarah went to the Young single adult class. After church we had a nice dinner . I made a watermelon baby carriage salad (thanks to Kate’s ideas) and we made chocolate chip and no-bake cookies. Momita made delicious baked chicken, potato salad, rice with vegis, and green been salad. All vegetables are eaten cold and considered a salad. The green beans were delicious. They were sliced French cut, cooked, chilled and had lemon juice on them. Sounds weird but it tasted really good. They thought it was very strange that I mixed all the fruit together and that it was supposed to be a salad not a dessert.
Sunday night we drove around Concepcion so the kids could see the buildings that fell down during the earth quake. They have finished studying them now and plan to start demolishing them this week. We also stopped at the beach and went for a walk. Josh and Nate had fun collecting sea shells.
Monday morning we headed out to Caburgua. It is next to a more well known town called Pucon. It was at the base of a large smoking volcano named Villarica. There are 2 large lakes and lots of rivers and streams around.
Jared and Kote had found a cabin that slept 12. It was perfect for all of us.
We did a little fishing, swimming and canoeing in the lake, site seeing etc. Jared and Kote and the college girls went dancing one night in Pucon. It was beautiful and really fun. When we drove back the car Jared was driving had a leak in the coolant system so we had to stop and get it repaired. Luckily we were right by the lake so we just had a picnic and played some more. We got home a little late so we had to cut out plans to visit a few people but it wasn’t a big problem.
The next morning(the 10th) we got up and drove back to Santiago. On the way back we stopped in a little town call Chillan. They had been hit hard with the earth quake. They have a fun artisan market and vega (fruit/vegis). We bought a few things for Kote’s birthday and some fruit. The high light of the shopping trip was a man running past us with a dead pig on his back. Nearly scared Sarah to death when he bumped into her. It looked like it weighed a ton! The poor kid carrying it!
We cleaned up and did laundry on the 11th. In Concepcion that day there was another earthquake of 6.8. Nothing bad happened but it was enough to shake everyone up and knock a few things off the shelves. I was having a nap and didn’t feel it but Josh came running in and told me about it. He said that he heard a rumble and then the apartment moved. That was the same report I got from other friends around town too.
Saturday the 12th was Josh’s 9th birthday! I can’t believe it has been that long. It doesn’t seem that long ago that I was in the hospital watching the 2002 winter Olympics! He chose to have boxed macaroni and cheese for his birthday dinner. Jared had brought us some. Yum (not). I made him his favorite chocolate cake with pudding and whipping cream. It turned out great. Whipping cream tastes much better than cool whip. For his birthday he got a pair of headphones, a movie and some games. Chess, Checkers and pick-up sticks. He and Nate need more things to do around here. They have been having fun with them. That night Jared and Kote got here. Corey Wride (a friend) took us to the airport to pick them up. Jared had the flu. He has been sick the entire time they have been here. He is feeling a little better today so Kote, Jared, Sarah and Jennie have gone out sight seeing for a little bit. They leave to go home tonight. Then we all have to get back to work and school! It was a fun week and a really nice diversion.
Monday Jared and Kote left to return to the United States. They had a nice trip. It was unfortunate that Jared was so sick while they were with us in Santiago but we still enjoyed their company. This week I did some work for Movie Mouth, Corey Wride’s company. I’m working on some pictures and content for his website and doing some testing of the software. Wednesday night we had a nice meeting here at our apartment. We did some training and helped some of our people. Work has been very slow this month with everyone on vacation before school begins again. It is starting to settle down and we should have some good meetings this week. Thursday was Young Women’s. Jennie and Lindsey Sorensen(a YW) taught the girls how to make friendship bracelets using embroidery floss. They had a fun time. Lindsey Mangum, the YW president has had her mother-in-law visiting with her for the last couple of weeks. Her mother-in-law is Shannon’s next door neighbor! She brought us down some of our mail and Shannon put in a few treats and some activity books. The kids (all ages) have had fun this week doing crossword puzzles and other games. Saturday we ventured out on a little site seeing expedition. First I went and got my hair cut. 
A few ladies in the ward recommended a woman to me who speaks English. Her name is Veronica. She did a great job but – wow- she isn’t shy with the scissors! She lived in the US for several years. Her family moved there when she was 16. She later married a man who was in the Air Force so she lived several places in the US. They divorced and she moved back to Chile 15 years ago. 
After the hair CUT, we visited some Lapiz Lasuli shops. Sarah has friends who she wants to take a nice ring home to. Then we went to San Cristobal. It is a big hill in the middle of Santiago. At the top there is a Catholic Church and a large white statue of the Virgin Mary. It is quite a sight from the top. It was a bit smoggy that day but still impressive. To get to the top you ride a Funicular. I have no idea if the name means anything but it is 3 open boxcars and it pulls to the top of the hill by a big cable. Another 3 box cars is the counter-weight and they always pass each other in the middle as they carry people up and down the hill. We had an empanada and mote con huesillo at a little food court at the top. 
Mote con Huesillo is a traditional drink here that is popular during the summertime. It is made by cooking whole dried peaches until they are soft. Then the water, now peach juice, is chilled. They fill a glass about 1/3 full with cooked barley, then they put in one or two of the now plump and juicy peaches and then they fill the rest of the glass with the peach juice. It sounds weird but it is actually very tasty. It reminds me of having cold bottled peaches and the barley reminds me of eating milk and rice only peach juice and rice. Similar in texture. 
I took this picture to show how much progress the kids have made. This is Nate buying a cup of kettle corn - all by himself! 
Early morning seminary started this week for Jennie. She is excited to go because it is in English. It is nice to study the gospel in your native language. It is a bit of a trip to get there. First Jeff, Jennie and I walk for about 15 minutes to get to the Mission Home. A driver then picks up the mission president’s daughter, Sarah May, and Jennie. Then Jeff and I walk home. Class is held from 6:15 to 7:15 Monday through Thursday. As soon as it ends, Sister Sorensen leaves to take her kids to school and she takes Jennie with her and drops her off at a bus stop. Then Jennie rides the bus home. She gets back about 8:30, just in time for breakfast. It is a good outing for her and a great way to start the day. As much as we hate it, Jeff and I have to admit that it has been good for us to get up that early and get a brisk walk in. Josh has waited for a long time to have a birthday in Chile because the tradition here is for the birthday boy to take a big bite of cake by putting their face right in it! He did it.
