Happy Father's Day! Morgan got up and made muffins for Chris but they weren't done until it was time to walk out the door for church. So, we had muffins for lunch! It was nice to get a chance to talk to each of our dads today. We are all getting very excited to see them shortly!
At church, our friends were all very excited for us to go on our trips. One of our friends was saying how jealous they were that we got to go on vacation and they had to stay and work. Another friend asked Laina if she was going to miss him. After a brief pause, she replied, "No."
Everybody wanted to make sure that we were going to come back though!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Dave come into town today. After hearing that our water had been out all day and after working very late, he opted to stay at a hotel.
Other than finishing up some school stuff, packing, and cleaning, we didn't have a whole lot to do today.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
The kids have done amazingly awesome with their school work! They have been working extra hard trying to get ahead with their math because we didn't want to lug all of it with us to Alaska.
This evening I had an amazing experience. I can't even think of the words to fully describe it and how it made me feel. I went to teach my last piano class before vacation. After class, I was waiting around for everybody to start choir. Somebody finally came in the chapel and told us that we were meeting in another room. When I went in everybody started hugging me and saying, "Feliz cumpleanos." I was a little confused and not positive as to what was going on. In the room, they had a bunch of tables and chairs set up and they had everything ready for a party. Usually once a month we have an activity after choir to celebrate each month's birthdays. This party was supposed to be for May and June. They found out that I was going to be gone for my birthday so they included me (July birthday!!) as well. At that point I was feeling pretty special that they thought of me, even though I wasn't going to be there. I couldn't figure out why they kept telling me to get my kids though. The kids weren't too excited to come sit in choir until they got served some food!! After some announcements (some of which I actually understood!), and naming everybody who was having birthdays, we sang 'Happy Birthday'. It was the next thing that really threw me for a loop. Everybody started taking turns getting up and bringing a gift to me and hugging me again. I went from sitting innocently to having my entire area covered in gifts. None of the other birthday people were getting gifts. I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do....open them? wait? give a speech (yeah, right!)? I was so overwhelmed. Some of the ladies started motioning for me to open them so I began. I had no idea what to expect. I was so amazed by the love of these wonderful people. They range from young men/women to adults to grandparents and they were all there to show me that they cared. It was very heart warming for me. I asked Lily later why they did it and she said that everybody wanted to make sure that I knew that I was loved. I am going to have such a hard time leaving this ward when it is time to leave Guatemala! They have been so wonderful to me.
One of my piano students brought me pears from the tree at his house....another one brought me a cool, wool Guatemala bag. A sister in the choir brought jewelry for all of the girls, another dishtowels, etc. My special friend, Emiliana, helped us find traditional dresses for the girls a while back. She had a lady specially make a doll skirt to match. It was the cutest thing I have ever seen. Alysa and Laina agree and had to try it on their dolls before they would go to bed.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Am I having serious allergies? I have a horrific headache from lack of sleep and from using extra pillows to try to breath. What a great start to our trip!
Chris had a lot of work to finish up before we left so we didn't get out of Xela until about 3:30. The kids were able to relax a little and watch a movie while we waited.
The main road from Xela to Guatemala City has finally gotten fixed enough that it was a pretty decent road....for Guatemala! The tropical storm that hit a few weeks ago didn't want to let the road stay that way! Lots of parts of the road are still shut down because they were covered by landslides. Other parts are completely washed away. Even with that, the drive was pretty nice until we got sent on a forever long detour at Chimaltenango. There was a jerky driver behind us that kept trying to cut around everybody. He finally got around us and I told Chris that I was glad to get rid of him because he was making me nervous. It was probably about 15 minutes later that the traffic slowed down again and we finally found out why. The impatient little white car had tried to pass more traffic on a blind curve and ran head on into a school/chicken bus. I am so glad he wasn't around us when he did that!! Not to be a rude, but he kind of had it coming!!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
The big day....we're off to Alaska. The kids are happy, excited, and ready to go. Chris is happy, excited, and ready to go. I am happy, excited, but not ready to fly!! The "allergies" turned out to be a huge cold! The take off and flight were fine but the decent/landings were unbearable!! I have never had such serious pain in my ears on a flight! I couldn't hear anything out of my right ear for about 3 hours after the landing from the first flight. It didn't finally pop until the take off on the second flight. The flight attendant on the second flight told me to get some decongestant and that might help a little. I grabbed some overpriced medicine in Seattle (along with all of the fun candies that we haven't had in a while!!) and headed for our third flight. The third flight had 240 seats and 80 passengers so enough for everybody to have a full row. We had the entire back of the plane to ourselves! It was a great way to end our day of flying!
We arrived safely (and with hearing in both ears!!) in Anchorage at about 11:30 p.m. just in time for a 1 1/2 hour drive to Wasilla. I think we'll have to sleep for a day or two to recover!
Friday, June 25, 2010
Chris's parents house is very nice and on a gorgeous lake. We didn't know what time to get up since it is always light out! We hung out around the house for a little while before heading back to Anchorage to meet Chris's brother Duncan and his family to see 'Toy Story 3'. It is so weird being back in the states. I certainly do not miss all the swearing. I can't believe how liberally people use certain words. I was telling Duncan's wife, Joy, that that is one advantage to not understanding Spanish!! I don't know if people are swearing!
Being back in Anchorage has been a little bit emotional for me. This is the first time that I have been back since my parents sold the house that I lived in since I was 2 years old! I don't have the courage to even drive past it yet.
Not only have my parents moved since our last visit, but Rich and Sharon have as well as Duncan and Joy. On our way back out to Wasilla, we stopped at Duncan and Joy's in Eagle River. What an amazing place. Alaska definitely has its fair share of great scenery. It was very nice to see how well the kids all got along. All the girls almost immediately disappeared when we walked in the door. The two lone boys were a little bit more reserved.
We all went out to get some pizza at The Pizza Man. It was great pizza which I have been desperately craving! Thanks Duncan and Joy!!
On the drive back, we saw a moose that had been hit. It is always a contest (at least for me!) to see who will see the first moose of each trip. This is the first time that the moose was laying dead on the side of the road. It is always sad to see!
Saturday, June 26, 2010
One of the things that I have been most looking forward to with being back in the states.....garage sales. Yes, it is definitely an illness but the thrill of the hunt is so fun! Sharon, Morgan, and I went out with the intention of going into Eagle River. We never did make it that far before we had our fill. Our "jack pot" of garage sales was very interesting. It was a single lady in her 50's that had died. I swear that we could have been best friends if we had known each other. She was an amazing quilter, crocheter, etc. She had tons of collectibles that Sharon liked as well as books for me and the kids. Her remaining brothers and their wives were there working to clear everything out. It was so fun to exchange stories and find out that they were from SLC and LDS. Alysa was ecstatic to get her own triple combination! Cole and Morgan got the first 5 books in the Harry Pottery series. We spent so much time there!
In the front yard there was a lilac tree. When I walked out the front door, the smell hit me with the memory of our backyard in Anchorage. From that point on, everything was bringing back memories from growing up. I am DREADING going past my old house but I know it's something I've got to do eventually.
After we decided that we'd had our fill of garage sales, we headed into Anchorage to have lunch with Teresa. Morgan loves going out to eat with Grandma. It makes her feel so grown up! It was nice to talk with Teresa and catch up on her children.
We went and picked up Sharons car, went to Costco, then stopped by Jessica and John's house. Her kids are growing up so fast. They change so much when you don't see them for two years!
To get back to Wasilla, I drove Rich's truck and Sharon and the kids drove the bug. It was fun driving a truck again....especially on good roads. There is such a different mind set here with vehicles. Everybody has a big truck and they are all hauling RV's, boats, or other toys.
While the girls were out, the boys worked on getting stuff ready to put a deck on the house. Then the kids discovered the little 4-wheeler. It took them a few trips to figure it out but Morgan and Cole had a blast riding up and down the driveways and around the house.
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