Bishop Stevenson's visit

On Tuesday July 30th we had a great visit with Bishop Stevenson at Daniel' office when he came to Santo Domingo. That was his first time there and loved to meet the members and a little more of where we lived and the office. He came to our apartment the day before and saw how we had things designating for Utah or the Philippines.

The meeting was held at 8:30 a.m. during the normal weekly devotional to extend Daniel his released as the DTA and extend the call to Guillermo Antivilo. In that meeting Daniel and I were able to speak. According to Daniel I took a little too much time but I honesty understood we could each take 20 minutes not 20 minutes between the two of us. I was hoping to leave my mark and my testimony which is the most important thing I posses.

As the office said goodbye to us, we were given many gifts, including a bust of Joseph Smith made by our Bishop Rotellini and a letter and plaque and jewelry for me and a shirt and hat for Daniel.  We were truly humbled by all the demonstrations of love and affection of so many people Daniel worked with for over five and a half years. It was time for us now to say goodbye and that was hard. The choir sang beautifully and the spirit in that meeting was very strong. A day in my life I will always remember.

The Last Supper

This was to be the last time we would sit together as expats members of our ward in Santo Domingo. Those faces are some of the dearest people and so faithful to the teachings of Christ and for that reason this table is so special to me. Four of us would no longer reside in the DR The Kimballs, Rappleyes, Taylors and us.

These were some special friends! I will always remember Cindi Lee who called her mom every day. Nancy and Kent Rappleye, both come from pioneer heritage and would not be alive if it wasn't for polygamy back in the day. Tami Taylor always so caring and even had time to make me a book as busy as she was. The Villasenor family,The Kimballs, and Elder and sister Cornish who have children with special needs and are so patient and so loving. and Elder and sister Marinez who I also admired so much. Nuria is the one who came to help me with the move in spite of the fact that she suffers  from fibro- mialgia to name a few.

Some others where not there because they had already gone home. I have so many wonderful memories of dear Dominican people too.  Those are friends I will always treasure. This was an assignment I will keep dear to my heart!

Saying goodbye

We finally said goodbye to El Salvador. It was my place of birth and one I will keep in my heart forever. I will always be grateful for having been born there. I lived there from birth until I was 18 so my home away from El Salvador up to now has been Utah. It is the other place I feel welcome, where   I can be with family. I came to realize that home is where your family is and for now, home is the Dominican Republic but that is about to change but I can't say where.

El salvador is not the ideal place to live anymore on the news, they report is the highest violent country in the world but I hope when the Savior comes, this place will once again be heavenly. For now, after all my immediate family including my sisters and mother have moved away, I have no reason why I need to come back other than to a wedding or funeral.

This lake is for sure my all time favorite. It feels so peaceful and it is hands down the most beautiful lake because hardly anybody uses it unless you own a lake house at lago Cuatepeque.

Decameron

My mom bought a time share at Decameron so we are forced to at least use  the place anytime we are in El Salvador. We have never been fond of Decameron but for tourists it's probably the only all inclusive Hotel so it's not so bad. We are used to the Dominican Republic that has over 100 Hotels chains and that is why we know there are better Hotels but not in El Salvador. This is it for an all inclusive.

 Ironically the only Decameron in the DR is closed and it looks like it's abandoned and in ruins.  We would pass by it and wished it was open to used up some of my mom's points. Instead, we spend thousands staying at other Hotels.

This was a good get away. I even got a massage there listening to the ocean waves that was amazing. I do recommend it for big families because you don't have to worry about food or what to do. On June 9th was also Crisit's birthday but they had to go back to Idaho. The only ones who came were Mari, my mom and Manu. Bianca and Joseph, Vane and Mateo and Daniel and me.

Piñata time and the beach house!

This took place on Monday. We thought we would get up, check out of our hotel and be on our way. That was the plan but Daniel had a bad fever and his ear was hurting so bad. He woke up with puss coming out of his ear so it was time to do something.

We called around to find a doctor ASAP but the sooner he could see someone was 2:00 p.m. so we decided to wait for that and then continued with our plans. In the meantime a very closed friend of Daniel serving as the mission President wanted to stop by the Hotel to say hello, so we invited him to lunch right there. The hotel we stayed also has a well known Italian Restaurant. However our heart was with the kids and grandkids.

We never made it to the piñata party which had been postponed twice. This was the last time to do it. When we came out of the doctor, knowing now that Daniel had an ear infection and the last thing he should be doing is going to the beach. It was already 4:00 p.m. and Daniel had volunteered to make dinner that night so we went ahead to fix dinner. One of those days, when no matter what you do, someone will get their feelings hurt.  Lesson learn. Sometimes we can't have it both ways. I was torned between going with my family or staying with Daniel. Either choice was wrong. You can't always please everybody. But the good thing is that the kids had a wonderful time and my mom was able to go. For this visit we never set foot on that beach house which is the point why we have it.

Family Reunion

 This historic photo was taken inside liz's living room in San Salvador on Sunday June 6th 2015 for the "Flores Family Reunion."

A minute before we were going to take this photo, Nixon got stung by a bee and the poor kid was hurting, for a moment it almost seemed like we were not going to be able to take this shot but eventually he got feeling better so we all got together again and went for it.

Only one shot! This is not a professional photo by any means but it is the only memory we have of all of us being together. Bottom Row from left to right: Alex, Manu, Mandy, Liz, Veronica, Gloria, Maricela, Vanessa, Cristi, Nixon, and Paola. Standing in the back from left to right: Eric, Spencer, Bianca, Joseph, Andres, Alejandro, Mateo, Daniel, Beckett and Brooks = 21 total and two on the way. Bianca and Cristi are both "with child" sweet!!

Party Time

If you live in El Salvador, this is the party of the year!!

People die to be invited to this grand event of the American School of El Salvador. This is a bilingual school for the elite in El Salvador. 

This is the culmination of your time as a student there and a tradition every year. That party goes all night to early hours in the morning. Over 1,300 people attended this event!

 The Behners Liz, Eric, Alex, Andres and Paola were able to invite 30 people. From my little family we had: Cristi and Brooks, Bianca and Joseph, Mandy and Spencer and Daniel and me. From the Flores side, My mom, my sister Maricela, Vanessa and Alejandro were also present including aunt Estella. From the Behners side: Rosy and John Behner, and his sister and Wendy and Eddy were there. 

The theme for Paola's table was an animal theme like safari since they were moving to Tanzania. 

Paola's graduation

The graduation ceremony, like the usual, super long but we didn't care because we were so excited for Paola.  Later we went to Club Campestre to celebrate. All our family and closed friends were there.