Buenos Aires

We decided years ago when the Mendoza temple was announced we would go down to the temple dedication.  The temple took 1 1/2 years longer then the original plan but this is Adams mission and he has never been back to visit.  We made plans with a couple of his companions and we all met up to go to the temple open house.  So two days after Ila started school we took off for two weeks! 

We started the trip with 4 days in Buenos Aires.  There was a lot to do and see.

It was really fun going to church again in Spanish.  Everyone is so welcoming. 

This is Chris O’Neil, Adam, and Tomas Rey. 

We got tickets to a River Soccer game.  These fans are so intense they wont even allow fans from the opposing team come to the game.  We had to take our passports and we went through 4 different check points which included a full pat down before we entered the stadium.  There are 80,000 fans at this game. 

If we look tired it’s just because we are.  From the moment we landed from our 15 hour flight we were running to see everything we could.  By the way, it’s winter here and we were freezing!!!! I dont think they believe in heat.  The buildings had heat but not enough to get warm.  Even in our hotel room we turned up the heat full blast and it never got hot.  Adam went to sleep with a beenie on.  



We attended a really fun dinner/ tango show.  I guess Tengo was created here.  

Back to School

We went with the Adams to the Park City Outlets to do some school shopping.  Quentin found this little outfit, his hero is Buzz Lightyear.  I decided it was a good time to spoil this kid and get him an early birthday present.  He was so excited that he wanted to wear his new outfit even though it was super hot.  

Ila is back at American Heritage this year.  I don’t know if she will stay at this school through graduation but I hope she does.  She has grown both academically and spiritually at this school.  She is in 9th grade this year! I can’t believe she is a high school student.  

Her first field trip was to the State capital building.  Her school really emphasizes country pride and good citizenship.  

Saying goodbye

The girls and I flew back down to Texas.  It was hard saying good bye to them.  Hopefully we can get them up here again soon.  It was such a great experience having them stay with us.  

Originally Adam and I thought it would be fun to go on a trip together while Ila was at FSY.  Plans changed so we ended up going with some friends of ours to Alaska a couple weeks later.  Even though it was summer it was still COLD!  We rented an RV and drove around to different places so we could do lots in a short trip.  

We went fishing a couple of times. 

We did a rafting trip.  The most impressive part of the rafting was all the bald eagles we saw along the way.

We did several hikes. 

I learned that I will never go to Alaska in the winter. 

Cousin time Continues

Even though we were done at the cabin we still got to hang out with the girls for another week.  Unfortunately when we made plans for FSY we didnt realize all this would be happening so David, Pearl and Ila headed to BYU Provo for FSY.

Life is not as fun without Ila around.  LOL.  Ila LOVED FSY.  She and Pearl had a great experience.

Landon came home from his mission so they had his home coming.  We were able to meet up with The Whitieras (Avrams MTC comps parents) and fill each other in on our son’s experiences in Australia. 

We had a sleep over with Amy, Addy, Mika, and Lisa.  We taught these girls about Night games and they spent several hours in the hot tub while watching movies.  


Crystal jumped in and took the girls to Vernal for 2 days.  They celebrated Pioneer Day and did some cliff jumping.  

Uniting family

Dad and Mom have tried to set a yearly tradition/ family reunion.  We have been doing it for about 4 years now but we have yet had everyone come and participate in the family reunion.  We have tried changing the dates and location but nothing has helped make it possible for everyone to make it.  This year after learning we would not be able to get everyone together we decided to do something different.  We all pitched in some money so that I could fly down to Texas and pick up Lisa, Mika and Addy.  We also convinced David to send Max up to spend a week with us.  So besides Avram and CC we were able to get all of the nephews and nieces together for the family reunion.   We also had Trinas step kids and kids there for the fun.  

Grandma started things off with a princess party.  The girls did this several years ago with grandma and most of them remembered and loved this experience.  Ila was probably the most excited about the activity, even though she was the oldest “princess.”

The plan for the family reunion this year was to head up to Island Park Idaho, and stay at our cabin.   There is a bunk room in the cabin where all the girls stayed.  There aren’t many boys so they all slept in the loft. 

Ok, so here we go on a week of fun:

Max and David got to try out driving a tractor.  This is another site adam is working on so we have our tractors on site.  Max said it was just like playing a video game.  

We spent time at a rope course.  This was a great experience.  Many people were challenged to push themselves to do hard things, others flew around on the course like they were monkeys.  

We had to spend a day at Yellowstone.  Several of the kids had never been to Yellowstone so they had to see OLD FAITHFUL! 

We spent a day on the Lake.  We rented a boat and took turns tubing and water skiing.  Those waiting for boat time hung out at the dock, swam and ate food.

 

One evening we went to a rodeo.  This was another first for several of the kids.  

We also spent time on the snake river.  We floated a section of it a couple of times because the kids enjoyed it so much.

There was lots of good food! 

Overall I think it was the highlight of the summer for many of the kids.  Everyone got a long and new friendships were formed.