PARAGUAYAN SKY

Just thought I would post some pictures of Skylar. These are random and not in any particular order. Paraguay is just getting over their summer and it has been really hot and humid.

He looks a little heated. Skylar LOVES the little kids. This was taken about 4 months ago when he was still in a suburb of Asuncion. His companion there was Elder Villegas from Chile. They got along great!

A couple of months ago he got transferred to the other side of the country on the borders of Brazil and Argentina. It's a place called Presidente Franco. It is very tropical there. This is a pic of his district. Skylar had the only hispanic companion in the district. Elder Yanez from Mexico. Skylar really liked him. They had a great time working together. He said that Elder Y. was very funny. They had a lot of good times together. (His comp that he has now is from Argentina and his name is Elder Beremendi) This looks like a great group of men. They like to get together on P-day and play monopoly.
Skylar LOVES to cheat....and apparently does well at it.

This is a pic of some nice falls in his area. An investigater took a group in his district to see them.

Here he is looking off his balcony. In the distance you can see Ciudad Del Este. The big city that he's close to. He loves to go into the city. There are some fun shops there.

He says people come across the border to get the good deals.

Elder Yanez with a family. (I wish I knew their names) They were making homemade tortillas and salsa. (Which isn't all too common) Skylar loved it. It was a nice change.......he says the Paraguayan food is pretty bland.

I've got some more recent pictures but I'm not sure which file they're in. He is having some great experiences. We talked with him on Mother's day and he sounds good. (No accent yet:-)What a great Mother's Day gift!

DOUBLE DATE

Last night Rick and I went on a double date with Gary and his cute friend Jessi Christensen. Some teens may not like hangin' with their parents on a Saturday night but they really didn't mind. We started out with dinner. Funny story....we were trying to decide where to eat and we gave Gary 3 choices to present to Jessi. Virg's, Dimitri's, and Jamo's. Easy enough, huh? Well after we picked her up and were on our way Gary started to present the choices. The first thing he said was, "We could go to Virgin's." He stopped and realized what he said and we all just cracked up! Jessi giggled and said, "Do you mean Virg's?" I know it's a different day and age but had that word come up on a date when I was a teen....I would have been so embarrassed.

Anyway, we enjoyed dinner at Virg's.

We had planned to go bowling after dinner but we changed the plan and decided to go back to the house (since we now have carpet and our TV room is almost put back together) and play some pool. Here's Gary trying to teach Jessi a tune on the guitar. Isn't she cute? He is too.

We played a round of nine ball which doesn't usually take too long but being out of practice (I never have been that good anyway) it took a little longer. JESSI WON!

A fun night for us all!

Almost There

We are nearly finished with our remodel. YEA! For the last 2 weekends we have been working our tails off. Last week was painting (I thought my arm would fall off by the Saturday night) and this week was cleaning everything (and I mean EVERYTHING) because we're under I don't know how many layers of sheet rock and paint dust. A few weeks ago I just stopped dusting completely because 2 hours after I did.... my work had been undone. I am happy to say that I no longer have that gritty feeling anymore because.....

We now have carpet!

Yesterday, Rick and I did more painting and were able to bring in our funiture out of the garage (and where ever else it's been crammed) and start setting up house. It feels good to almost have it back together. There are still plenty of things to hang and clean and set up but we're getting there.

One sad part of this whole deal is our kitchen cabinets. Five days before they were to be installed the company we were going with (who I will not mention) decided that they were to busy to do them. They kept putting us off, and with some investigating , Rick found out that they hadn't even started them. Did I mention we have been working with them since FEBRUARY? In fact, the estimater was in our home 2 weeks before this and said and I quote, "Yes, we will be ready to install in 2 weeks." This was going to be a trade deal with Rick's company (which we have been doing for years with lots of different companies) but at the last minute they pulled out. Frankly, I think it's terrible business because really they should have let us know loooong before now. Anyhow, it has knocked us back another 4 weeks to be able to have the kitchen finished. I must admit I had a good cry this week and both Rick and I feel a lot of stress... but all is well. We got a few bids the day after we found out and feel really good about this new company. We just have to wait a little extra time is all:-)

In the meantime we are putting everything back together and it feels great to have our little piece of heaven back! (almost)

Pictures will be posted soon....or you are all welcome to come on over and see it in person. It's lots better in real life!

Nothin' could be finer than to be in Caroliner.......

Last week Rick and I had the opportunity to go with my parents to the East Coast. We flew into Jacksonville then rented a car and drove to Amelia Island to stay for the night. The historic town was called Fernandino and was very nice. We had to take off our shoes and stick our toes in "the great Atlantic" because...how often do you get to do that? The weather was very warm and humid. Nice for the skin. I love the beach. I could have cuddled up with a book and stayed on the beach all day....but we had things to do. Right next to our hotel was Fort Clinch State Park. Inside was the longest pier on the Eastern seaboard. While my parents declined we (of course) walked to the end.

We got to see some dolphins on our jaunt.

Rick with the local wildlife.

Dad and Mom and the fort.

Our next stop was Savannah, GA. We got there at lunchtime so we stopped at The Pirate House restaurant. It is a very old building (cir. 1700's) where the Pirates used to wine. Legend has it that civilians were shanghied here. One such man went into the place for a drink and woke up the next morning on a ship to India. It took him 2 years to get home. In this picture is the remains of an old tunnel that was found in fixing up the place. Kinda Creepy! Oh yeah, they say this place is haunted too. Weird!

Savannah was in bloom and very beautiful. There were even a few magnolias left on the trees.

Next was the Tybee Island Lighthouse.

We climed all 185 steps which afforded us a very nice view.

On Thursday we got into Charleston, SC. The air was so fragrant with the 'Carolina Jasmine' in bloom. We took a horse and buggy ride (we did that in Savannah too) to see the sights and learn about the area. Historic Charleston is an amazing place. One of the funnest things we did was just drive around and look at the pretty homes and gardens.

The historic homes are incredibly beautiful.

We stopped to take a look out at Fort Sumpter (where the Civil War began). You can't see it in this picture but it's out in Charleston's Bay.

Overall it was a great trip. We sure enjoyed being with my parents. I hope we didn't run them too ragged. I know it's getting harder for them to get around as they get older but we sure make some great memories when we're with them. We'll have those FOREVER! I think maybe they're actually thinking about going to Hawaii on our next outing. That totally came from them.....so with a little planning we'll see what we can do.

Kaitlyn and Alyssia turn 18

Saturday we celebrated the twins' 18th birthday! Kaitlyn has been planning this for a couple of weeks. I'm so thankful to those who took time out to be with the girls on their special day. Even though our house is in a shambles right now....no carpet and rooms half finished and plenty of dust we made it work. Luckily our little kitchenette is up and running down in our TV room so I was able to prepare a mexican meal for all to enjoy. Here are a few of us mingling. The girls requested ice cream cakes. They turned out yummy!

Kait, Aly, and Mariah with baby Jaime hiding in the back.

We played boys against girls in the candy kiss game and the boys so won. WE can't catch a break on this game. Ever.

It's really not easy.

Happy Birthday girls!

Just a quick note. Alyssia was just accepted into the cosmetology program through her school. She will start classes in June.

She is hoping to get her high school diploma within a year and a half.

Kaitlyn has been accepted into the JobCorps. She will be working on her high school diploma and within 3 weeks will decide on a trade that she would like to work in and start classes. She is at the Clearfield Campus and we are very hopeful that she will set her mind to succeeding.