Visit of Elder Nelson to the DR

It was our privilege to translate for Elder and sister Nelson this past Sunday on a stake conference and a devotional. The talks were amazing. At stake conference he had the children stand to sing I am a child of God and to always remember how special they all are. He commended the parents for bringing the children. She spoke on how would we act if we took the word saint seriously into our daily routines, like how would a mother, father, employee, employer, teacher, etc. act as a saint and told a story of a temple in Tonga to be dedicated, had the words Holiness to the Lord missing so they quickly got the words posted or the Temple could not be dedicated. In the evening, at the Institute, over 800 university students came. She gave a different talk because she felt guided by the spirit to tell them of her experience as a young woman turning away proposal after proposal to be married. she would take the question to the General Conference and each time, the answer would come to her but it is a personal revelation, she explained, it had nothing to do with the actual talks. He went over all the personal progress values and asked the young men to look at those values to be at the level of purity as the young women. Each value was explained with stories and good advice. when he got to knowledge for example, he said: The difference between not getting an education and getting an education is that you have the desire to help others and being able to serve others. He also told the parents to teach their children another language. Daniel translated for him in every meeting, and I translated for Wendy. I was nervous at first but got the hang of it, and the words just came out effortless as if someone else was saying those words for me. It is an experience I will never forget, because I told Daniel that I didn't want to do it since there were other interpreters there that had done it before many times and that I wanted to practice in a smaller setting instead. But he encouraged me to translate for her and I am glad I did. In those meetings there were hundreds that came.

First birthday and hair cut

Our newest member of our family turned ONE on February 17 2011. To celebrate his first birthday, Cristi took him to get real boys hair cut at a salon. He did well, didn't cry or move too much. He was a perfect little client.

Mom and sisters

Last year on February 15, 2010 my mother turned 70. My family loves to celebrate birthdays but right then, my husband had to go to Mexico for a meeting, and I went to Idaho for Nixon's birth. That is why I missed being with my mom on her birthday.
It is now one year later. My mom is 71 and still very active, considering that she is diabetic and almost blind. She loves to take care of Manu and is officially part of Maricela and Andres' household. She also loves to travel to El Salvador to visit family and to Mexico to visit Vanessa. She is a great example of a faithful member and a good missionary. In Miami they attend the Orlando temple regularly even though it is a hard trip for them but not for too long because soon they'll have their own temple closer.

My sweet Valentine

On February 14, 2011, I got up to find a singing card a box of chocolates and a pair of nice earrings from my sweetheart. I thought, how thoughtful of him but that was not all.

I went to the computer and there was another box with another pair of earrings with m&m's that said I love you but that was not enough. I go downstairs to find a huge bear and two dozen red roses for me waiting. It is again from my sweet husband.

I must say that I was the envy of all the women in the building. He is simply, wonderful. He makes me feel so special and does so many little and BIG things for me.

Yunque National Forest, Puerto Rico

For Daniel's birthday which happens to be a Holiday in the D. R. as it's Virgen Altagracia's day, we went to Puerto Rico. The trip was already schedule because Daniel had an appointment on January 20th to meet with an officer at the airport to get something call, global entry. It lets him get in and out of the US without having to do a line. On January 21st we drove to The Yunque rain forest. The scenery was breathtaking. It reminded me of Costa Rica and parts of El Salvador.

Skype

I love it when my family calls via skype. It is not perfect but it is so nice to see the person on the other side. It is one of those gadgets I am grateful for.

The guest room

So far last year we had my mother visiting us in May for mother's day. Valentina and Hernan visit us twice, John Behner also came a couple of times, Mandy came back for Christmas and Pablo and family for New Years. This year so far we had John and Rosa Behner stopped in the D. R. before they headed to do service in Haiti. They are coming back in two days to go back to El Salvador.

New Year's in New York

Mandy left on December 28th to go back to Utah, but due to bad weather, she had to remain in New York. As a matter of fact, this past winter has been very cold everywhere in the United States.

Mandy had to stay in New York and lucky for her, she was able to spend it with her two sisters. It happens that Cristi, Brooks and Nixon were also visiting Bianca and Joseph.They went out with hundreds of other people to wait for the New Years.

I had previously been there also to see them. It was my Christmas gift the girls had asked Daniel to give them. It was great because I was able to do my Christmas shopping.

Children in Haiti

Daniel's job as director of temporal affairs deals with helping members and assisting the needs so unique of the area. He approves many projects and finds ways helping the people in the Caribbean islands. Haiti is probably his biggest concern after the earthquake.

He is finding ways for children to attend school. One project is to help rebuild the existing schools in exchange for scholarships for the children. In December toys were purchased and distributed to the Primary children. What it is so amazing is that children as poor as they are, come to church dressed impeccable and with big smiles.

Trip to Punta Cana

We left on January 1 to Punta Cana. Charlotte wasn't feeling very well and threw up on the way. I had forgotten how hard it is to carry babies around. No wonder you have them when you are young. The place I rented was not exactly next door to the beach the way I was told. We had access to a nice pool there in the complex but to get to the beach was only by car.

Once we drove and got there was fine but not too convenient.

Daniel and I wouldn't have minded but it wasn't the ideal situation for our guests who didn't seemed to be too exited to be there. Needless to say, we left a day early. Charlotte threw up again. Poor baby, we were worried because we heard of people getting sick all the time. That was going to be the only day we had reserved to be at the beach all day. It was my birthday. I just wanted to relax at the beach all day. We even thought about getting an all day pass at the resort to eat there or go to the Hard Rock Cafe in Punta Cana.

We left in a hurry that morning so when we got home we called Dr. Killgore, something that we should have done from Punta Cana but instead we drove all the way back to Santo Domingo just to find out that it was the Dominican milk what was making her sick. The minute she would stop drinking it, she would be fine. She got well and my birthday turned out o.k. Daniel got ready and went to work, I returned many phone calls from my mom, sisters and children. We went to Antonio's to eat dinner and Valentina and Sydney made me a birthday cake. The Antivilo's came to say happy birthday and it all turned out just fine in the end. Velentina and Hernan left the next day and Pablo and family left on January 6th.

Time to swim

I love having a pool in our apartment complex because it is a nice attraction for those visiting. children don't mind getting in the cold water. Charlotte like was not afraid to get in the water.

I love going when it's super hot. In December there is this cold wind and people here in the DR wear jackets and hats as if they were freezing. It is the best time of the year to come because hurricanes are not a threat and it usually does not rain.

The official Christmas photo in 2010

For Christmas this year, we bought some UNICEF cards and sent a letter with this picture in it. The usual trade engraving cards had to be discontinued at least for this year.

Maybe next year when we make sure we get all the children together. I want to only do the trade engraving or some card similar to that if all the children are in the picture. Or at least do one of us and the grandchildren.

Our first Christmas in the DR was good. We had Mandy, Valentina and Hernan with us. Mandy left on December 28th and Sydney, Pablo and Charlotte came on December 29th to spend New Years with us. We had invited the Antivilos to dinner, but moved to their apartment because Charlotte couldn't sleep. Mary was so sweet to invite us to their home, we even danced all around the house forming a train and we also played games. (Not Daniel's favorite thing.) I had hats and noice makers for everyone.