Celebrating my birthday in Vegas

Since I wanted to see what the Cirque du soleil was all about and once we almost made it to the show but got there 5 minutes late, I made sure this time would happen. I booked a flight with hotel for 2 nights the 3 and 4 of January 2013. We stayed at the Mirage. I remember it being a nice hotel but I can tell it has seen its better days. It's fine but not a 5 star. I got many calls from our children and grandchildren. Cristi and family were in Thailand many hours difference. I also received over 100 greetings from facebook friends. It is amazing how many people you don't even know take the time to congratulate you on your birthday. In Vegas, what do you do if you are a Mormon? walk, shop and eat! That's what we did and it was great! Daniel bought me a Pandora braselet, when I pointed to it, he didn't even know they existed. We went to the Cheese Factory to use a gift certificate we got from Brooks and Cristi. I doubt I'll ever be back to Vegas for anything since New York, Boise, Buenos Aires, San Salvador, Montevideo, Miami, Omaha, and Dallas await us.

Going from One extreme to the other!

Our Christmas 2012 was spent in Utah. We left the beautiful sunny wheather to freezing temperatures. The only warmth was the fact we were with family and saw the amazing Chirstmas lights at Temple Square. We also did a lot of errands that were a must. Doctor appointments and getting our driver license renewed. Christmas and New years with some of the children and grandchildren was all so worth it.

Christmas 2012 in Thailand!

I love to look at this picture of Cristi, Brooks and Nixon. They went with the rest of the Dame gang to Thailand on December 2012 to January 2013. It must have been wonderful. Nixon got to ride and play with real elephants. I was glad they took him. At one point they were considering leaving him with me because no other child was going on this trip. Cristi and Brooks are expecting their second child in June.

Thanksgiving 2012 at Cavarete

Our camera got stolen so this is as close as I can get the idea of the place where we stayed in Cabarete for Thanksgiving. It was great! many of the American families came also. It almost seemed like a ward party. It was during the Thanksgiving break which was so perfect because it is not a holiday here. I have learned to go somewhere else for a holiday unless you own your private vacation home. We had told all of the kids to come over but  Pablo was moving, Hernan, Rachael and Mandy are busy in school, Cristi said Brooks couldn't get off work and neither could Ale and Lexi and besides going to the beach is not their ideal vacation because they live right on the beach. Andres is saving to go to Uruguay, Ani has a visa issue, Bianca's work don't allow her to take more days around Holidays and Gabriel and Danae are going to Europe in December so that only left Valentina. She came so we rented a nice three bedroom condo, (we did this wishing others would show up) the place was nice close to the beach and the pool to ourselves. If I had known that only Vale was coming, we could have gone to the all inclusive Hotel for the same price. For thanksgiving we actually went out to eat a turkey dinner at Casa Colonial, a nice boutique hotel. What was fun about this trip was to see people enjoying the waves. Some even got to go horse back riding. Many I think would have like that. Daniel went out with a board and even I did it a couple of times. It was fun  the only problem is that Daniel got a nasty ear infection that lasted for several days.

October Conference 2012

The October conference 2012 is one I will never forget. First of all, Daniel was invited to attend a special meeting with the General Authorities. He was kind of nervous so he woke up early that Friday, as usual got there an hour early. In that special meeting some new items were discussed about some changes but the real surprise came when President Monson annouced the age change for boys to be 18 and for girls to be 19. I was there and felt so excited!! HOW WONDERFUL more girls will go on missions. Also the next day on Sunday a miracle happend. Mandy needed an extra ticket for one of Becca's friends so I gave her mine so they could get in. Daniel went in and I went looking for a spare ticket. I saw a woman counting some tickets she had on her  hand and asked if she had an extra one and she said, Yes! HOW AMAZING I was there inside even before Daniel got there. I was worried because it was almost time to start and he wasn't in then all of the sudden I see him but my reserved seats were taken so we had to sit somewhere else. This is when I discovered something about Daniel, he feels he needs to be inside that building no matter what. He thinks is his duty and part of his work. But I am just as happy watching it on TV because so many people want to go in and there is only so much space. I felt a little upset he didn't stay out with me and he felt upset I gave away my ticket. This was a tense moment for me because I thought he would be happy to see that I managed to get inside but he was still very upset I gave my ticket away because that meant he would have to go inside alone. Nevertheless we survived all that anxiety. That afternoon I went out to meet Mandy and her friends at temple square where I gave the missionaries some names of people. What I think I should do is ask those people before I send the missionaries so they don't have to feel rejected.  The rest of the week there was just as usual, doctors appointments and eating out with the kids.

Sister time!

There is nothing more special than spending time with sisters. My girls got to spend time together in New York. I was very blessed to be able to visit New York in order to celebrate Cristi's 30th birthday. We went out to see the play Newsies and had so much fun shopping and eating out.

Later that year in September I got the chance to visit El Salvador. I didn't get to go to the beach but I did spend time with my sister Liz for her birthday.

Cluster meeting in Buenos Aires 2012

The DTA cluster meeting in Buenos Aires was so much fun. We stayed in a Hotel right on 9 de Julio, the widest street in the world. The strret is named after Argentina's Independence on July 9 1816. The 9 de Julio street has so many busy lanes coming and going that it takes several stop lights to go accross it. Our hotel was near two very famous streets full of vendors. No cars allowed, only pedestrians.  We saw Gabriel and Danae and went out to eat at many places including a Brazilian Rodisio, palacio de papa frita a French fried palace and milanesa and steak type restaurant. We went on a nice boat ride call El Tigre to a Tango show and on a tour to Teatro Colon. The traffic is as to be expected, busy!!