Empanadas & more WMADHFTTU

Tonight we went to Florencias for some authentic Empanadas and let me tell you, they did not disappoint. They were amazing, I could eat them every day. I just got Pollo y Queso... YUM! And please ignore my hair, it is P-day in the mission and therefore it was thrown in a bun.




I love taking pictures with the town in the back








YUM!


And now for some more "WMADHFTTU" (See first post)
The MALL! Anto has a great mall! They have their own version of Crate & Barrel and I am obsessed! We are going back without the boys so we can really shop. It also has an Ikea feel to it and they have the cutest baby bedding, play mats, toys.... love it.


#2: The escalators! They are so cool. They are flat and the carts and strollers grip to the escalators so they sit in one place. They are amazing! I wish they had these in the states. They completely eliminate the need for a slow elevator. Amazing!





So far we are loving Anto!!

Antofagasta Day 3

Today we went to the futbol courts with all the missionaries in the Anto zones. Lucas LOVED running around with all missionaries. The Sister missionaries loved playing with Lucas. All in all it was a successful day in the mission field.

I am blogging from my iPad and so my pictures aren't clear unless you click on them... Sorry.










Where's Lucas?








Can I get some help please?











When Lucas wakes up from his nap we are headed to the mall... I'm excited to see what a chilean mall consists of.

Location:Futbol!!

Antofagasta Day 2

Today we drove to Calama for a Stake Conference. Calama is about 2 hours East from Anto and is in the mountains-therefore it is cold! And the church doesn't have heating so it was freezing! The elders in the Calama zone were telling my mom how cold they have been and it isn't even Winter yet. Anyway, the stake conference was great. I love going to church in a different country and seeing that the church is going strong in a tiny town in the middle of Northern Chile.

Elder Corbridge of the Seventy was the Presiding Authority. We got to meet him after the meeting.



Lucas LOVED playing in the foyer with all the other kids. The cute family behind us kept giving Lucas cookies and by the end of the meeting he was blowing kisses to them (Grandma Tracy taught Lucas last night how to blow besos).



Lucas the "future missionary" with all the missionaries in Calama.



Elder Martin in the green tie in the back just arrived in Chile on Tuesday from the MTC. I think he is in a little culture shock, but is loving serving. The elder the fourth one in from the right is a magician. We requested a magic trick and I am still in shock. I pulled a card out of his stack and looked at it. Then I put it under my foot.... And then Andy pulled a card and looked at it. Andy put it back in the card stack. Elder Stone asked me to pick the card from underneath my foot and it was Andys card! It was crazy. He is going to do a magic show at Christmas and I am considering coming down for it he is that good.

The missionaries acting silly


It was a great day in the mission field and I am in awe of all the Elders and their dedication to bringing the world His truth.

Tomorrow we are playing futbol with the Elders.... Wish us luck!

Antofagasta Day 1

We made it! The flight down here really wasn't that bad. Lucas was a travel champ and slept 90% of the time. When we walked through customs I saw my mom through a window and we started waving. We then had to get all our baggage, go through security, and re-check our bags before we could see each other. So after the longest 20 minutes we found each other and then hugged for awhile. Lucas was excited to see them and we then drove around Santiago for an hour or so before we had to bead back to the airport for our last flight.

*click on the pictures and they will be clearer*

I'm not going to promise I'll blog everyday, but here is Day 1 in Antofagasta!

We headed to the mission office to see where mom and dad "work" everyday.

Lucas loved the chairs






I love the "girl" sign on the bathroom







This picture is one of many to come entitled "what mom and dad have failed to tell us" or "WMADHFTYU".... #1. Dad's view. Look at that view! This is from his Office Window. How pretty is that!!








Lucas and Grandpa in his office






We went to a local favorite for lunch, Don Pollo. It was good!!







Check out that high chair!






















Lucas is napping, but tonight we are headed to the Chilean Circus... Wish us luck!

Easter Weekend

We have had such a fun Easter Weekend. It started out with a BBQ at our house with the Hinckley and Wood Families. Lucas was in 7th Heaven with other kids to play with.

On Saturday we went to Mesquite to spend the day with Minna and Bompa. Sadly, I didn't take any pictures.

Saturday night our good friends the Murray's threw an Easter Party. Lucas loved playing with so many new toys.

All the Mama's and Babies

Sierra did a great job with all the details of the party. Each child had their own personalized bucket for the egg hunt. This was Lucas' first egg hunt so I wasn't sure how he would do.

But I think it is safe to say, he loved it!

A HUGE thank you to the Murrays for such a fun night!

Andy and I have never done Easter Baskets so this year we were excited to make one for Lucas. When he woke up this morning he knew something was up when both of us when in to get him out of his crib.

The Easter Bunny brought Lucas his own set of Hot Wheels. He instantly lined his cars up.

Then it was on to the Egg Hunt...



Can you tell Lucas had chocolate for breakfast?

Last, but not least, here is our attempt at a family picture. Lucas had just woken up and was NOT happy. But alas, here we are Easter 2011:

I always love Easter Sunday. Today I had to teach all the Young Women in our ward so I was a little nervous all day long. I am happy to say it is over and now it is time to pack and go to CHILE!!!

Emergency Preparedness

Am I prepared if an emergency strikes? Big, fat NO! This keeps me up at night. I am so far behind in 72 hour kits, food storage, the whole bit. I don't know where to begin. Water? Food? First Aid?

For months I have been telling myself that I was going to get prepared. I have high hopes of getting there at some point and yet I have done nothing. Then Tuesday happened.

Lucas and I ate breakfast and then we decided to go in the backyard to play for a little bit. I was in my robe, Lucas in his PJ's. I was reading through my YW lesson and Lucas was playing basketball. After about 15 minutes we decided to go back inside and the door was locked. I started to panic and then I thought I could just go to a neighbors and ask to call Andy. We walked over to the side gate and Andy had put a lock on the gate prior to our vacation to ward off intruders. And as luck would have it I didn't know the gatecode. So there Lucas and I sat, stuck in the backyard.

I went to the shed, got some sheers of sorts and tried to cut off the lock. No luck.

Then I took my bobby pin out of my hair and tried to MacGyver the door and unlock it. No luck.

I threw a chair on the side of the gate so I could jump over, flag down a neighbor, and jump back over. I couldn't even get over the gate. No luck.

At this point 1 1/2 hours have passed and I am now beginning to really panic. What are we going to do? Andy doesn't get home till 5:00! I have NO diapers, sippies, food, NOTHING! So I said a little prayer that Andy would come home. Now Lucas has pooped and it is not your normal poop, it is a full on explosion. So I took off his clothes and his diaper wiped him with the socks I had on (don't worry... the socks were thrown out) and literally hosed him down. Lucas actually loved the hosed and we played in the water for about an hour. (Andy said the lawn was a swamp the next day... oops!) We would have played in the hose the rest of the time, but I started to notice Lucas was getting sun burned.

So I wrapped him in my robe and tried to find shade.... but of course it is now 11:00 and shade is no where to be found. So what do we do? We sit in the playhouse.

Now I have stopped praying for Andy to come, but rather pray that he listens to the promptings he is getting so he will come home.

It is about 12:00, 4 1/2 hours since we first went outside and I hear the garage door. I start screaming for Andy and when he walks through the door I'm sure we were quite the sight. Me in my underwear, Lucas naked in my robe... Andy said about 11:00 he had a feeling he needed to come home.... he called the house and my cell phone a few times and when I didn't answer he decided to come check on us. Phew!

I tell you all this because I got a first hand look at what it is like to be in an emergency type situation and NOT be prepared. Let me just say, I never ever want to be in a situation like that ever again. Not having diapers, wipes, food, water... it is a helpless feeling. I physically couldn't take care of Lucas and it scared me.

I am now ready to take the time, energy, commitment, and necessary budget to get our family prepared!

Zane's BIG day!

After Disneyland we headed down South for Zane's baby blessing. Lucas love love loves my mom's house. He gets excited as soon as we pull in. I think it is a combination of a few things.

1. Hot wheels. My little brother has an awesome hot wheels collection. Mainly because every time my mom went to Target she bought him a hot wheels to keep him entertained. The result? Hundreds of hot wheels. I guess us Bruce Girls like Target :-)

2. Walter. Lucas LOVES my mom's dog, Walter. Walter is an 80lb+ dog who is so sweet with the kids. He lets them crawl, pull, ride and he just takes it. Lucas loves his tail.

3. Ottomans. My mom has 6 ottomans in the center of the family room and all the grandkids like to make forts, throw toys in the center, and play in them.

4. Freedom. I guess when I go to my parents I become a little more relaxed and just hang out with the family. This results in Lucas running like a wild child, doing whatever he wants. I am pretty sure Sunday afternoon he even ran around in just his diaper, gasp.

At any rate, Lucas ran around for a good 2 days straight. Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Ashy and Zane

Sissies In the left side of this picture you can see the ottomans

Cute Larsen Family

Lucas and Great Grandpa Steve. Lucas loves Grandpa Steve. Probably because Grandpa throws him in the air, tickles and teases.

Stay tuned for my Emergency Preparedness post... It will be a doozy.