Speak Like a Pirate Day!!!

Guess what today is!!!  It's "get lots of candy for your parents to steal when you are asleep" day!  Wait, what?  That isn't what day it is.  Oh.  Well, Happy Halloween anyway.  No, these are not my children's costumes.  This is what they wore for National Speak Like a Pirate Day!  I didn't realize it was really that big of a deal, but I saw things floating around on YouTwitFace, so I thought I would look it up.

Seems like it was legit.  On Sept 19, if you went into Krispy Kreme and spoke like a pirate, you got a free donut!  Score!  But if you dressed like a pirate, you got a free dozen!  What?!?!  So I dressed up my children, and headed to our neighborhood Krispy Kreme.  Please note in both the above and below picture that all of my children have a bird on their shoulder, though they are not all parrots...  One is a toucan, two are ostriches, and one is a duck, 

I assumed that you got one dozen per family unit who dressed up.  I was incorrect, sir.  You get one dozen for EACH PERSON dressed up.  Therefore, we got 4 dozen donuts!  Only 3 are pictured because we decided to go down the street to daddy's work and share some.  I am all for free donuts, but you see...  the problem is I eat them.

Never you fear.  Not a single donut went to waste, me hearties!  And this is something I will, for sure, be participating in next year ;)

Cute Baby

We are done!  I think we have finally hit the end of our Chile trip.  Sorry it couldn't go on for months.  I know you are disappointed. :)  As a palate cleanser, her are some pictures of a cute little boy we got to watch for a few hours.  Check out Kelsey's grin.  She does it almost any time I ask her to smile now :)

He pretty much enthralled everyone.  

This little man is a pretty decent size.  I am glad Kelsey wanted to hold him, but...  I thought he might be too big for her ;)

He went down for a nap, but woke up not fully rested.  He picked a favorite and wouldn't get down.  For Kari, it was quite a big deal.  

I am just glad her arms didn't get too tired :)

When you have 4 already, what is one more? :)

(no, that is not an announcement)

Post Chile, The Earthquake

I know it sounds strange.  I know some of you won't understand the reasoning behind it.  But while we were down in Chile, we put in an order for an earthquake.  You see, they have semi regular earth shakes down there, and having never experienced it, what better place than with family?!?!  So, we flew down and waited.  And waited and waited.  And it never came.  I don't know if Mother Nature just didn't get the email, or if she was too busy and didn't get around to it...  Either way, my siblings and I did NOT get to experience an earthquake in the southern hemisphere, on a different continent. 

 Not.  Cool.

Wouldn't you know that shortly after we left, like 4 hours or less, my parents got to again enjoy the effects of tectonic plates shifting.  These pictures are not from that particular shake.  These are from another one, about 3 weeks later.  I now turn the time over to Grandpa, guest speaker.

Well, mom already sent you an email, shortly after you left, saying you had just missed your chance at an earth shake. Well, we had another tonight while we were in a Jumbo very much like the store we visited on the way home from the airport.

USGS reports M 6.4 onshore, about 65 miles from the store (80 miles from the house). It was interesting...

AOK here. I think the grocery store will show the effects (things from shelves) before other places. 

There were a few tears and worried looks among the folks, but 99% of the people just shrugged their shoulders and went back to their shopping, pushing things to the side of the aisle with their feet. 

Mom and I commented that in the USA the crowd makes more verbal noise—you know, a kind of collective "Oh!"—when the lights go off in a store (a thunderstorm for example) than they were making here while things were falling from the shelves. Mom deliberately walked back around the end of the aisle, so that we could see each other. We stood about 20 feet apart. Everyone paused for a minute, and then went back to shopping. Oh, and many exercised their cell phones and text messages.

While I still do have a desire to experience an earthquake, I don't have the desire to do it on a regular basis, or in an area in which I live.  So....  Take that Mother Nature :)

Chile, Day 7: Continued

When we were done, we went behind the temple to a small dormitory.  While there are 17 LDS temples in the state of Utah alone, there are only 22 temples in the whole continent of South America.  It is not uncommon for people to make a pilgrimage of 24+ hours on a bus to get there.  So there is a small dormitory where they may freshen up, or stay overnight if needs be.  We used the bathrooms there to change into our comfy, travelling clothes, then squished back into the car.  

  We drove to another mall in downtown Santiago for a last lunch before it was time to get on the plane.  We went to TGI Fridays, and hit the Chilean snag again where what we ordered wasn't available, so we had to make a few substitutions...  While we waited for our food, La suggested that we call the worker at Grandpa's farm (his nickname is Pancho) to check on the shuttle bus and luggage pick up (blessing #3).  When Grandpa called, he found out that the bus hadn't made it yet.  In fact, on further inspection, it was still about an hour away.  It was stuck in traffic in the mountain pass by the accident we had passed earlier.  6 HOURS earlier.  Traffic had stopped completely.  In what continued to be blessings (blessing #4), we had all brought our carry on into the car with us (which made us even more squished).  We all had our passports and purses and wallets.  

So, technically, we could still get home.  We might not have many clothes to wear (though that wouldn't be too big of a deal, because we packed winter clothes, and remember the trip was back in July/August). but we could still make our flight and get home.  Pancho heroically volunteered to load all the luggage in the back of his pick up and drive the long route (out to the coast and back) to the airport.  If he left at that very moment, it just might be possible he would make it.  We still had about 2.5 hours before our flight took off and it generally takes between 90 min and 2 hours to drive get to the airport via the coast.  We played with all kinds of "Plan B's" in our heads...  Changing flights, shipping luggage, only one person staying to escort the luggage, etc...  In the end, we finished our meal and headed to the airport.  To wait.

We checked in with the airline, and told them our story.  They said that the very last possible moment they could take our luggage was 45 min before the flight.  So, we waited.  And waited a little bit more.  And, because I had my camera with me, as well as my carry on, I took a shot of the Andes from the Santiago, Chile airport. 

Then, miracle of miracles (blessing #5), Pancho pulled up to the curb.  He threw our luggage out, and we high fived as we dashed back inside.  We checked our luggage with 8 minutes to spare.  Then, unfortunately, we grabbed quick hugs and headed to security and immigration.  Not the long, teary, drawn out good bye it could have been, but, maybe that was for the better (blessing #6).  

The flight home was uneventful.  I didn't take benadryl and I didn't try to sleep.  I watched movies, and looked at magazines, and dozed maybe 30 minutes.  We got off in ATL. and had to get our luggage and go through customs.  The line was long, but we survived.  And every piece of luggage made it back to the states.  This is where my siblings and I separated, hubby and I going home and La, DannyBoy, Piko and Jonaman heading back to SLC.  Hubby and I wearily gathered our things and headed to the shuttle pick up.  We had never been so grateful for thinking ahead as we were when we loaded onto the bus.  There was only one other person, so we each took a bench seat and spread out. I was asleep in seconds, and didn't wake up until we were about 5 minutes from home.  

We arrived home to wonderfully taken car of children, a house full of love, and a nap after lunch.

It was the trip of a life time.  It had been forever since we had been able to spend uninterrupted time together like that.  It was so fun to see things and cultures outside of our experience.  And, by some other miracle (blessing #752) Grandpa paid for almost all of it.  Plane tickets, meals, gas.  We only paid for a few banos and souvenirs.  I can't express how happy the trip made me, and I want you all to know that families are forever.  So you better be nice to them :) 

Thanks for sharing this trip with me.  Dramatic ending and all :)

Chile, Day 7: The Temple

It feels like it has taken most of the month to tell our travelling story, and if you are bored, so sorry.  We are coming to a close quickly.  I suppose this is like when someone makes you sit down and look through all their old vacation slides.  Yay! :)

On our last day in the country, we had everything packed up and by the door by about 10.  Grandpa had arranged for a shuttle bus to come and pick us up and take us to the airport (along with all our luggage) because to this point we had been taking 2 cars everywhere (for space reasons) and he didn't want Grandma to drive a car home from the airport by herself.  Upon thinking about our schedule though, we decided to have the bus come and pick up our luggage (having one of Grandpa's farm workers meet the driver), and have us be squished (and possibly on the less than legal side) into one car for the last day.  We couldn't bear to spend any of our last day apart ;)

We felt it was somewhat miraculous that we packed everything, showered, and were out the door on time (blessing #1).  We even had a few minutes left over for a special prayer for safe travels and for help with hubby's back.  Then 8 of us piled into a 7 seater and headed out the door.  About 20 minutes into our drive, we had to go through a mountain pass.  It is only two lanes, and quite curvy.  We had been through this pass almost every day that week on our many drives, but today, it slowed down and we knew there had been a problem.  It only took a few extra minutes to get through (blessing #2), but we soon saw the issue.  There had been an accident.  3 buses, one rear ended, two head on.  It didn't look good.  We later learned that almost everyone was fine, but one of the drivers died due to his injuries.  We knew the accident couldn't have been very old, as people were still getting out of buses, and traffic was still moving, though slowly.  We thanked our lucky stars and continued to our destination: the Santiago, Chile LDS Temple.

We were able to participate in one session, where we had to wear ear phones, because obviously the session was conducted in Spanish.  It was lovely to feel the peace and reverence while inside.

And a lovely end to the trip!

Chile, Day 6: Mandatory Family Fun Day

Originally we thought we would devote day 6 to skiing (because hubby is an enthusiastic skier).  But when it came down to it, he was really the only one that wanted to go.  The rest of us were out of shape, or tired, or just not that into it.  We looked for a way for hubby to go by himself, but in the end decided against that too.  He didn't want to spend that much time away from the family, and with his back being the way it is, we weren't sure it was such a good idea anyway.  When we decided to not go skiing, the day opened up, and we had a family pow wow to come up with a way to fill it.  While we had done a lot of sight seeing and eating out and lots of tourist-y things, we hadn't done much of what we do best: hang out in our jammies and just enjoy each other's company.  So, day 6 became "Mandatory Family Fun" day!  We slept in a little bit, and then ate a nice leisurely breakfast.  We tried one of the new fruits we got on our first day at the grocery store: a chirrimoya.  From what we read/saw online, it could have been pretty good.  We don't think ours was ripe enough, so it was a bit bitter. :p

Then we spent the majority of the day playing a card game that hubby introduced to me, and I in turn introduced to the family, called Liverpool Rummy.  It is one of my favorite games.  With 8 of us, we had to use something crazy like 4 or 5 decks of cards (I can't remember).  And the game consists of 7 different hands, in which you look for different things.  In short, it took the majority of the day.  We started after breakfast, and stopped for potty breaks and lunch.  Thankfully, I won ;) and it was time to basically start dinner.  Grandma and Piko headed into the kitchen, and the rest of us got out of helping by working on a puzzle. ;) We asked Jonaman to set the table, and were so entertained by the result, we had to take a picture.  And yes, those are bacon wrapped hotdogs...  EVERYTHING is better wrapped in bacon!

After dinner we worked on the puzzle some more.  And, really, we didn't get anywhere close to finishing it.  Also, for the record, I reconfirmed to myself that I am just not really a puzzle person at heart.  I get bored too quickly when the pieces are all too small and look the same.

But it was nice to have some relaxing time, and to just breathe the same air as each other again.  We did a bit of laundry and packed slowly during the day as well.  

I am still not 100% sure that hubby wouldn't have preferred to go skiing, but he stuck it out with us, and at least had an enjoyable time.  I mean, what is family for, if not to hang out in your jammies, unshowered, and tell flatulence jokes and play card games?

Anniversary + Chile, Day 5: My favorite pictures

A day late and a dollar short.  *Sigh* I woke up yesterday morning, looked at my phone and almost jumped at the date.  It was 10/22.  It was the 9th anniversary of Kari's burn!  If you are interested, you can read more about it here and here.  So, we talked about it a few times during the day, about how grateful we were for prayers and for friends and helpers.  We are coming round a bend, in that Kari will hit puberty probably sooner than we want, and we will have to keep an eye on the grafts and make sure they stretch and allow movement.  But for now, we just keep on with keeping on.  Just keep swimming.  :)  Yesterday we "celebrated" with our traditional hamburgers and fries.  Even though it was yesterday, feel free to celebrate with us.  And while you eat your homemade burger or Wendy's fries, think of all the things and people you have to be grateful for.  It almost segues into the post perfectly, in that I love the pictures of all the nature and cool things we saw down there.  So, sorry to interrupt the travelogue.  We now return you to our trip in Chile.  

Day 5 was a day of walking around and taking pictures.  And I took pictures.  Like, a ton of them!  And, with my cool camera, I loved the clarity and focus and shots I was able to get.  Here are a few of my favorites.  So, if photography ain't your thing, feel free to come back tomorrow :)

The beach and waves at San Antonio.

Beach and rocks at San Antonio.

Waves off the coast of Valparaiso.

The coast of Valparaiso.  I love the grass focused in the foreground, and the water, out of focus in the background :)

Coast of Valparaiso.

The sun going down by San Antonio.

And these!  These are some of my favorite favs :)

Sun Set off Vina del Mar.

So many people, so many clouds, so much coast line!

So pretty...  Minus the power lines :p

Sun set off Vina del Mar.

I think I might have to print one or two off to add to my wall :)

Chile, Day 5: Driving

After lunch we took a driving tour around some more parts of Chile.

We drove into down town Valparaiso (pronounced Val-pah-rah-ee-soh).  Look at all those houses smooshed together!

We saw a few fun things.  Like this street worker, fixing a light, just standing on a ladder.  No stopping traffic, no flashing lights, or safety precautions....

And a juggler, who went out in the street to juggle between lights!

We noticed that there is graffiti everywhere!  

And little shrines everywhere too.  To saints of all kinds of things.

Grandpa wanted to be sure to take us to what he called the "Filing Cabinet Cemetery."

It is common for people down there to be cremated, but also to be buried like this.  More people, less space.  There are so many of them in there!!!

DannyBoy, pondering the meaning of life and death ;)

More houses, smooshed together!

After the cemetery, we headed down to Vina Del Mar and drove right through all the houses.  They were so close together, and the streets were so scary to drive on!

We also saw the famous flower clock, but it was too dark by the time we got there to take a picture, so I pilfered this from the internet.

To end the evening, we heading into Melipella.  To eat Chinese food.  This is Grandpa's favorite place to eat.

And, whether he is there so often, or whether they just keep an eye on all the crazy gringos, they know him, and the owner comes to talk to him whenever he comes in :)

Because, what trip to Chile would be complete without eating Chinese food!?!?!

Chile, Day 5: Da Port

We left the beach and got back into the car to drive to the port of San Antonio.  Grandpa had told us about the sea lions and pelicans, and we feared this would be our only view of them.  Scattered among the rocks by the fish market building.

We didn't see quite as many big ships here as we did at the beach, but there were lots of smaller ones.  And we could see the cranes working in the distance.

We strolled down the port a bit and right on the other side of the fish market building we were rewarded with a pod of sea lions.

Some of us were braver than others.

But were rewarded with some great close up shots.

They just kept putting their heads back and soaking in the sun.

There were pelicans all over the place too.  Including this one that walked right up to us...  The other people on the beach may not have been quite as observant as we were ;)

He's kinda an ugly looking thing....

This is the fish market.  Grandma and Grandpa have been here before when the fish are all laid out for buying.  We couldn't seem to get a straight answer as to why they weren't on this day.  But, even without fish, it smelled.  Like, stank!  It was such a strong smell there was a little girl walking by with her mom who was gagging :)  You don't have to speak the language to know what that means ;)  Also, my BIL DannyBoy has no sense of smell.  Wasn't born with one for some strange reason...  Any way, he thinks he had a "nasal experience" here because he did think he may have smelled something!  Its a modern miracle!!!

There was one group of men selling what we thing was tuna.

And we are guessing some squid?

Then, we decided to eat lunch at the mall off the port (which is the blue-ish building to the left of the picture).  There may have been some boardwalk dancing along the way.

Inside the mall we ran into a set of missionaries, so that was fun :)  We went to the food court to eat, and ran into some "typical" (as Grandpa and Grandma told us) Chilean food issues.  We went to another empanada place and placed our orders, and they ran out of food.  And it wasn't "Sorry, we'll get some more and bring it right out."  It was "Sorry.  Its gone.  Pick something else."  They ran out of drinks, and we were just out of luck.  Grandpa says that happens a lot.  The people down there are either used to it, or don't know to expect otherwise.  They just have food, or they don't.  That's it.  Jonaman picked a salad from the food court KFC, and said it was pretty boring.  No spice, nothing exciting.  This, according the 'rents, is also fairly common.  I think, I was expecting "South American food=spicy", but maybe that is more Mexican stuff.  Then, because it is another country, we had to try the donuts.  You know, just to see if they taste different! ;)