General Happenings...

Josh and Nate have been practicing new trick in the pool.



Check out the gorgeous impatiens!



When Gary moved into his apartment he found all kinds of left-overs that he was able to get rid of. We benefited greatly from it. We got a hair blower, two curling irons, some dishes, puzzles, and a cart to take to the grocery store and back! Love the cart. I can go a few blocks down the street and visit my favorite fruit stand. I can get a cantaloupe that is so ripe and delicious for about 1 dollar. A watermelon for $1.25.




One other event - Jennie spoke in Sacrament meeting last Sunday and survived. I spoke this Sunday and I survived too! Barely!

a funny thing happened on the way to Young Women's

Our church house...

Jennie’s adventures on the way to Young Women’s and back. This definitely wouldn’t happen in the Provo 160th ward. It started on the bus when a man dressed as a clown started talking to all the girls and doing a comedy act. I’m not sure what he said but apparently it was funny. We successfully snuck (is that a word?) a picture of him. I knew Jennie was hoping he wouldn’t talk to her but – no such luck!

We got off the bus to buy something at Home Center. She found the perfect trampoline. She wants one – complete with the safety net!


At Young Women’s we made prayer rocks. They turned out cute.


On our way back to the bus it was dark but the street was well lit. I knew we were safe but Jennie was still feeling a little nervous. There was an old, thin man in front of us and just as we went past him he turned to someone coming the other way and started ‘talking’ really loudly. It sounded like he didn’t have a tounge or maybe he was deaf. Basically right next to Jennie is started yelling ‘da du da dad ada da’. Or something like that. Jennie jumped a mile into the air. We laughed so hard I about died. Jennies adrenaline was pumping!

Then when we got off our bus there was the street performer with the big doll. She hadn’t seen that before and it was really funny. We left and as we crossed to street we looked back and we saw fire flying! There was a girl with flaming poi balls doing a show.

It was a funny night. Just think how boring it would have been if she had just gone to the church house and back in Alpine or at the Brighton 8th ward!

Visits with Expats

We went to the Wrides apartment Saturday night and had ice cream and cookies. Those Costco chocolate chips are getting put to great use! I’ve got my chocolate chip oatmeal cookie recipe so it works down here. The brown sugar here is in larger granules than normal sugar and it doesn’t pack. I just measure it like white sugar but when you cook it is leaves little tiny crunchy spots in the cookies and it actually tastes really good.
They have friends named the Averell’s that live in the building next to them. They are here with start-up Chile as well. He is an attorney who has been working in NY and is here working on a tax resolution company. It is very interesting to see what other people are doing here.


The Wrides didn’t want to let Jennie go home



Lots of little gringo kids.




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Street Performers

One of my favorite things about Chile is the interesting things you see on the street. When cars stop at intersections, any number of things may start happening. There may be vendors running around between the cars selling flowers, fruit, bandaides, or news paper. Other times someone runs out and starts trying to wash your windshield. Frequently someone runs in front of the cars and starts performing. Then they walk around to see who in the cars will tip them. We have seen some pretty lame cheerleading stunts, some amazing juggling, dancing, and many other 'talents'. This guy is my favorite. He provided me enough laughter that I actually gave him my spare change. This isn't the best video of him but it gives you the idea.

Random Events

Random things that have happened this week:


We have been learning why we got such a great price on our apartment rental...a few days after we moved in, construction began on the lot next to us. First they demolished what was left of the basements of the old houses on the lot. This week they began hauling dirt in a serious way. This is what it looks like from our terrace. It adds some daytime noise but provides lots of entertainment for Josh.

Josh has been finishing his unit on Incan Indians. This is his mask he created.

Picnic lunch with the Elders. We have 2 sets of Elders in our ward. They are great guys. I like talking to them and making lunch for them because it makes me think of Stephen. Someone is making him food everyday too!

We had a birthday party for Young Womens this week. There are 3 birthdays this month. We swam and had Papa Johns pizza and it was amazing! It tasted exactly the same. We met at Sister Mangum's house. She is the YW President and is Amy and Shannon's old violin teacher!

Gary Davis our business associate in NuSkin arrive with my new contact! I was sooooooooo excited to take off my glasses and get my contacts back on.

Girls Camp

Jennie and I went to girls camp this week. We left on Tuesday morning and came home Thursday night. We had a great time and made a lot of new friends. The first day was pretty hard on us but after that our brains kicked in and we felt a lot better. It was a stake camp and there were about 40 girls there. They followed the camp manual and passed off their certifications. They had skits, a tree of life activity, testimony meeting, crafts, secret sisters and all those good things. A counselor in the Bishopric was there the entire time. His name is Brother Sorensen. He is a ER doctor with the Air Force on an exchange with Chile's Air Force. It was really nice to have him there. Our young women's president is from the US but she is pregnant and has morning sickness so she didn't come for much of camp. We had 4 girls in our ward who were English speaking and 5 that are Chilean. The other leader with me was named Teresa. She is actually from Peru. She is really a fun nice lady and is easy for me to communicate with. People in our ward are use to talking to gringos. Peruvians also speak much more clearly and slowly than Chileans- yeah! The stake young women's president is from Argentina. She had a strong Argentinian accent and I had to get use to her talking. For example the word for 'Ward' is Barrio. Normally it would be said with a little roll of your r's. She pronounces it 'Barshio'. I learned a lot and gained some interesting insights. Too much to write in a blog. All in all - a great time.

Bag it!

Everything is sold in bags here. There are getting to be more things in containers but most people prefer the bags because it costs less money. Here is a picture of a few things that come in bags. Yogurt, manjar, jam, mayonnaise, and tomato sauce are just a few examples. I'm so glad to have my little clips now!