Rexburg Trip

We went back up to Rexburg with Grandma Cindy and Matt this weekend to attend the open house for the new temple there. Here are a few things we learned along the way:

1.) If your car ever breaks down in Malad, ID; your best option and only hope for repair is Albert's Service Shop on Main St. Albert was very friendly and helpful.

2.) We've always liked our Hyundai Elantra, but the rental car we got when the van broke down was a brand new Sonata. I now want one for my birthday:
http://www.hyundaiusa.com/vehicle/sonata/sonata.aspx

3.) When daddy is in charge, he lets Rachel eat cookies for breakfast:


4.) The Rexburg Temple is one of the most beautiful that we have ever seen. It was wonderful to be in the celestial room with our whole little family together:

5.) We've come a long way baby! This is the apartment where it all started. We lived in #14 for four months just after we were married. It isn't possible to convey in a picture how small it actually was:

6.) Always wear your seatbelt!!! As we were leaving, an SUV just in front of us lost control on the ice, went off the road and rolled several times, landing upside-down. All were wearing their seatbelts and after we dug away enough snow for them to escape through the windows, they all walked away with only a few cuts and scrapes.

Home Again Home Again

***Just so you know, Tori has been speaking horrible english after a week of speaking Papiamento. You'll know what I'm talking about as you read her posts about her trip :-)

I'm home from my week to the ABC Islands. I have tons of pictures but couldn't fit them all on the blog. Here are just some highlights. There are a lot of post, so just keep reading until you come to an old post. I went on this trip with a friend who translates with me for the church. Her name is Ramonita. She was born in Aruba, grew up in Curacao, and worked a while in Bonaire before she moved to Utah with her daughter 18 years ago. She wanted to do her family history but had to go to the island to talk with very old Aunts, Uncles, and cousins because most of the records were kept orally. I went to help her write it all down. We also went to find new, fresh missionaries to help with translation. And, finally, we went to have a blast and that we did.

This was an amazing experience. It was so great to go and see the progress of the church and member there and to know that I was a small part in it. It was an Alma experience. I suggest all missionaries to go back someday to their own missions.

I was super blessed with this trip. I hope that I did what I was suppose to do. I think I did. I missed my family terribly, but I was thankful for the opportunity to help with family history and to see the people I helped to teach. The Gospel is a wonderful thing. The Lord truly has is eye on the isle of the sea.

Enjoy the trip through the blog.

The Church on the Islands

This is the font in Curacao. It is outside.
This is the chaple in Curacao. It is super old, but after a lot work, they have enough members to build a new one. I couldn't believe that they have 10 missionaries on the island. It was just me and my companions when I served. They also have cars and cell phones. The work is going great there. They now have three branches.

This is the St. Nicolaas chaple in Aruba.

This is the other chapel. Two branches attend here. They will soon add-on to the building and are finding a house for anther branch. I was so excited for all the progress on the island. I knew the members would build a stakes there.

This is the inside.

This is the building in Bonaire.

Aruba

Aruba is one of my favorite places on Earth. Although I had not been back for two years, I felt at home and knew where everything was. I could seriously live there.
Here is a sign on the beach.
This is part of the beach, but the whole beach basically looks the same.

I love the sea. It is so relaxing and wonderful!

Of course we went swimming. It was neat to be in such a large body of water. I didn't so much like the salt part, but it was still fun.

More Aruba

Ramonita is in the middle. I went on this trip to help her with her family history. To the left is her friend Teek. She is from Curacao but went to Aruba with us. On the right is Teek's friends. We are eating Subway right next to the Sea. I loved it!
Here is a piece of downtown. I am surprised I didn't take more pictures here.

This is the disco Natalie Halloway was last seen. It is closed now because tourist wouldn't go back. Sad. FYI-Aruba has different news there about her that no one here knows about. E-mail me if you want to know.

The beaches in Aruba are prettier than anywhere else. I love Aruba.

This is a typical house Aruba.

This is a view of the hotels from the airplane. Amazing!

Bonaire

Bonaire was really small. We only stayed one day and night. Here is the airport. Only a wall and small door separate the front from the back. Bonaire has a lot of flamingos. My batteries died when I tried to get a picture.
Here is a Toko. They sell a lot of little food items. They are all over all the islands. This is how most of the people buy their food.

This is just a little of the beach.

This is a Divi Divi tree. I love them. They too are on all the islands.

This was our airplane from Curacao to Bonaire. It was tiny and felt like a roller coaster.

Curacao

This is a "normal" house in Curacao. Really it is. The next picture is Punda or downtown. The bridge is moving to let a boat through. It is fun to walk across.

I love the flowers of the islands. They are magnificant.

It was like being in a dream.

Seriously, it was like a dream come true.

Here is a little inland.

Food of the ABC Islands

Let's just say I was not counting calories this week. I had ice cream everyday! This is a rice dish with beans and chicken and veggies.

This is the most tasty thing ever. It is a Holland dish with french fires smothered in a peanut butter sauce. It is fantastically unhealthy.

I ate alot of this is it fish, fried bananas, rice, and "salad".

This is actually a Chinese dish with potatoes, chicken and a spicy sauce.

Fire!?

On Friday night we came come at night and found that the smoke alarms were going off in our neighbor's condo. (They weren't home) It didn't look like the place was on fire, but we couldn't really see anything since it was night, the lights were off and the blinds closed, so we called the fire department on their business line to ask whether it was an emergency. They told us to call 911. Anyway, long story short: they said they would send some over to check it out. We were expecting one guy to come over in a car, but after an ambulance and fire truck arrived and woke all of the neighbors, the firemen scaled the balcony, broke in through their sliding door and discovered that their smoke alarms were just malfunctioning. False alarm! Oh well, better safe than sorry!

Utah State Capitol

We've all been sick this weekend, but we decided to go to the open house at the State Capitol anyway.
Rachel getting ready to go:
The Capitol has been closed for like four years, so we've never been since me moved to Utah. They put the whole building on giant shock absorbers so that it wouldn't collapse in an earthquake.

The dome:

They restored the inside of the building as well and had the whole thing open to the public yesterday. It was pretty cool. Rachel loved running around the place and touching things that she wasn't supposed to.