A funeral in Utah

Our trip to Bariloche wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. In fact it was overcast the whole time we were there. No we mean metaphorically. During our trip Kiersten was receiving constant updates about her grandmother. She'd fallen the week before and was in the hospital with pneumonia. Late Saturday night she passed away with her children around her. So after returning home late Sunday night, Scott booked her a ticket home for the funeral.

Super early Wednesday morning, Kiersten and Finley found themselves back at the airport. They traveled all day and arrived in Utah at midnight and very sick with the flu. They spent all day Thursday in bed and that evening went to Urgent Care to get the flu diagnosis and some medicine. Friday they felt better and were able to attend the viewing while also self quarantining themselves.

Here we go again.

Getting some sleep on the plane.

Grandma's scriptures. She was surely an elect woman.

Saturday was the funeral and it was a beautiful tribute to an amazing woman. Kiersten found comfort in being with family.

All the girls cousins and Aunts with Grandpa.

14 of 15 grandchildren. A sad occasion for a family reunion. Grandma would have loved to see us all together.

The pallbearers, all grandsons.

Grandma served in the Marine Corp during WW2 and received military honors.

Kiersten's cousin had a baby who became fond of Finley.

Spending some quality time with Uncle Scott.

During this time Mackenzie and Scott were at home holding down the fort. Daddy took Mackenzie to school in the mornings, Nanima picked her up then Daddy was able to come home early to let Nanima go to classes. They had a good week of bonding.

Mackenzie enjoying the rain on a walk home from school.

Kiersten and Finley were feeling much better and made the journey back without incident. They arrived very early this morning (4 am) and Scott and Mackenzie surprised them at the airport. It's nice to be reunited after such a trip.

We rounded off the trip with a few activities. Lunch with friends....

Lunch at Chipotle with Uncle Brenton...

Crawling around the Wilk at BYU...

And taking selfies with mom.

Feeling good in the bathroom in Houston.

Second flight with a tired girl.

She took a little tumble off the seat of the plane
during the last 30 minutes of flight.

The Finley Report:

• She turned 10 months old! She's crawling everywhere very fast and chopping on anything she can get her hands on. More teething. She makes many happy noises and is constantly parroting the sounds she hears. Her favorite person is Mackenzie who always makes her laugh or stop crying with a song. She is the happiest, sweetest baby and we love her to bits!
  
  
  
  

We hope this coming week we can rest up and feel better and have a more normal week after two weeks of unrest.

Fraggle Rock and Topa Topa

Hello! What a fun adventure we had this week. We finally went on our trip to Bariloche, Argentina and did some skiing and snowboarding.

We left very early Thursday morning. Nanima met us at the airport and with her help traveling with our two girls was so much easier. We landed at the little airport in Bariloche after a short layover in Buenos Aires in the afternoon. We got a rental car and drove to our quaint airbnb. If you've been following the blog you know our previous experiences with Airbnbs in South America. This one was the best so far. Plenty of room, CLEAN! and heated floors. It was terrific. After getting our things in we went to town to get dinner; Pizza. We all went to bed early.

Up super early for our flight.

Checking in.

We made it to Buenos Aires!

Getting ready to load up.

On the plane to Bariloche

We stayed in the end apartment closest to K.

After a rough night's sleep for our little family (Nanima was on the top floor and claims she didn't hear the kids) we woke up later than expected. Bariloche is set in a valley surrounded by mountains and the day was cloudy but the sun still didn't rise until close to 9am. We left the girls to go up the mountain to do our skiing. We found a rental place (which only took cash and delayed our end of day) then hit the slopes. The base was low on snow so we rode up to the back mountain and was there all day. The runs were mostly advanced and through the trees which made Kiersten nervous since she hasn't snowboarded in over 4 years but by the end of the day her confidence was back and her skill returned.

Riding up to the top.

Let's go!

One of the stunning vistas from the mountain.

Due to the lack of snow at the base we weren't able to ski down and had to ride the lift down much to Scott's consternation. We returned the gear and went home. Everyone was fine and had had a nice day. We went to dinner at Rock Chicken! which was the only place we could find a decent parking spot.

We found a chocolate shop!

Saturday we took a drive around the lake district. Not only does Bariloche have mountains it is surrounded by lakes and is very beautiful. It lightly rained all day but that didn't diminish the beautiful views we saw. We ate lunch at an idilic country golf club cabin and were the only patrons adding to it's charm and exclusive feel.

At Serena Bahia (Serene Bay).

We made a friend!

So many pretty views on our drive!

That night after putting the girls to bed, Scott and Kiersten went on a date to El Mexicano, the Mexican restaurant in town and had a lovely time despite parking 5 blocks away and up a hill.

Sunday morning was slow and relaxing. Our flight was in the afternoon so we slept in and packed up. We ate lunch at Rapa Nui, a chocolate store which had a cafe and ice rink inside! Almost everything on the menu had chocolate in it for example the hamburger bun had cocoa nibs on the outside. The flights were uneventful and we got home very late.

Fun play area inside the store.

Oh good, Mackenzie can fit on the plane!

Fun trips always come to an end.

Long layover in BA but they had a terrific play area for kids.

It was a terrific trip and we are so glad we were able to go. You might be wondering about the title of the blog. Well at the BA airport on the way to Bariloche a high school field trip followed us to Bariloche and we swear followed us everywhere. To the town, to the mountain and even around the lakes! They were called 'Travel Rock' and we suspect a musical group of some kind but we don't really know. The first time we saw their gear though we thought it said 'Fraggle Rock' and called them that the remainder of the trip.

The Mackenzie Update:

• Mackenzie learned a valuable lesson this trip: we don't eat other people's chocolate. Friday night we went to a chocolate shop and bought some things to bring home to friends. Makenzie was very fond of a little heart box and we got it. Nanima also bought a little box for her parents. In the morning, Mackenzie found Nanima's box of chocolates up in her room and ate the whole thing! We made her give her little heart box to Nanima. 

That was our week!

In this edition you'll find: letters, crawling, gluten-free, and work

It's a highlights reel kind of week.

This week we:

• Played at the park. Sometimes with friends sometimes just us.

  

  This is the little park across the street from out house.

  
  

  

  Joined by Piggie. Reunited after a few months absence. Thanks Grandma!

• Kiersten is working! Training a client in the mornings and teaching a saxophone/piano student in the evenings. (Same kid, two instruments, two different nights.) So fun to earn money for things she loves doing... and helping people. That too. And being her own boss.

  

  Helping Mommy carry her heavy gym bag.

  

  Prepping for the lesson.

• Finley is crawling up a storm. Everywhere. Trying to crawl over things and so proud of herself.

  

  Under the table at dinner...

  

  ... in the hallway with a spoon...

  
  

  

  ... and at church in a dress.
• Scott and Kiersten had a wonderful lunch date on Friday. Went to our favorite little cafe, Cafe de Aca.

  

  Huevos rotos. Best thing on the menu IMO.

• Because Kiersten is teaching saxophone this encouraged Scott to pull out his horn for the first time since we moved.

  

  Not sure who enjoyed it more.

• Mackenzie now recognizes the letter "M" and identifies it all over the place. "'M' para Mackenzie!" ('M' for Mackenzie!)

  

  Found at the park.

  
  

  

  Practicing her letters with Daddy.
• The weather has been all over the place.  It's hot, it's cold, it's windy, it's cloudy.

  

  Some hang time on Friday.

• Friday night pizza night!!

  

  This is the best meal. Mackenzie can get in on the action. (Yes that's an ice cream scooper.)

  
  

  

  Mommy's pizza. Gluten and dairy-free because I can. And still yummy.

• We added some more Paraguayan home goods to our collection this week. Weaved placemats!

  

  So cute! I'm in love!

• Finley experienced sand for the first time. She's a fan. Didn't eat any this go around.
  
• Scott gave a talk in church on Sunday! It was about the Temple and in Spanish and very good.
• Packages from Grandma Hammond came! Cue Princess dresses.
  
• At the beginning of each month Mackenzie's school has an art showcase where they display all the art from the previous month. It's really adorable.

  

  Piggie has been her constant for two days.

  
  

  

  We love this little school!

• At bedtime this week, Mackenzie told Daddy her version of the three little pigs. It had all the major plot points; dog instead of wolf, house made of sand, chinny-chin-chin, puff and puff, etc.
• Kiersten is learning that gluten (in foods) affects her negatively so she's on a quest to find and make gluten-free foods. She made a batch of gluten-free cookies which came out flat but tasted fine. A woman in our ward owns a gluten-free bakery and has offered to teach K how to bake. We visited the store and tried out some treats today.

  

  Alfajores are a traditional Paraguayan dessert. And they were...

  

  ... Delicious! And she said she'd teach Kiersten how to make them! Dream come true!

• Finley is teething again? Just show up little pearly whites!
• Finley doesn't mind "flying" anymore. She used to get stiff and shake when we tossed her up and now she doesn't mind it.
• AND!! Finley has said, "mama"! We are counting it as her first word. She has since moved on to "dada/tata" and other babblings. AND! she can kind-of, sort-of wave! So cute!!

  

  Practicing her waving skills with Nanima.

And that's a wrap!

We leave for Bariloche in 2 days! So excited to see and play in snow!