Relatives

 

Fourth man from the left is my Grandpa on his mission to NZ.  Below is Sam.  Do you think he might be related?  Cute to see.

birthday

Jer was so kind. He helped set up the projector, left to take the kids to do baptisms for the dead while I helped with food.... then they came to eat, sing and dance.  The girls kept teasing Jer and I about our white people dancing but every single one of my friends tell me how much they admire what a good man Jeremy is.  I agree. I couldn't have asked for a better friend, husband, confidant, father, etc...

We celebrated Cristina's birthday before Veronica flew back to Ecuador. 

Me and the girls did karaoke and we ate Ecuadorian style hot dogs.

Me and Mayra almost 25 years later

 

Antelope Island

Saturday, I took Veronica and Cristina to Antelope Island.  They'd never seen bison or antelope before and Veronica really wanted to swim in the Great Salt Lake.  There were a lot of bugs after we got out of the water, but other than that... it was great.  We chatted, had dinner, relaxed, remembered and laughed.

We saw owls and lots of different kinds of birds.

 

Tour guide

 

After the temple open house, I took Veronica to BYU art museum to see the newest exhibit called Gilded Paradise.  It works so well with this year's study of the Old Testament.  I really want to take my kids to see it.  I was giddy.

Then we drove by the MTC and the new Rock Canyon temple site.  It's looking so great. Veronica was in the MTC here so she was very curious.

We swung up the canyon to Bridal Veil Falls but it was kind of chilly.

Then we invited all of my family to join us for dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  Veronica was curious about the blooming onion that she heard about.  We took home about half of our food even after sharing two plates with three people.

Arches

An Ecuadorian friend is here for a month and we owed her a trip to Arches from the last time she was here.  Ada had to stay for work, but the rest of us and Cristina's family all went down.  It was really nice weather and a very pleasant day.  Sam and Jer kept the little kids busy and happy.  I chatted with the adults and we ate all the skittles in the world.

Lia was terrified of going over to delicate arch.  But, after watching everyone else go over she took a deep breath and went all by herself.  She took 3-4 steps, paused and breathed.... then another 3-4 steps.

Sam, Seth, Jer, Evelyn, Mia, Frede, Chris, Cristina, Lia, Veronica

This is the first time that I've seen flowers down there. Usually we go in Aug-Oct. It was fun seeing these little purple and yellow flowers sprinkled in.

My favorite picture of Sam.

Lunch break at sand dune arch