Carrasco

On Saturday, the 29th of October we took a day trip to Carrasco. Carrasco lies on the outskirts of Montevideo. It is one of the nicer areas in the country. Spence never served in this area, but he spent time here as it is where the temple, the mission home, and the mission offices are located. We didn't do any temple work because we had the kids and no babysitter, but we enjoyed seeing it and talking about it with the kids. Spencer was on his mission here when the temple was finished and dedicated.

After we saw the temple, we walked to the mission home to take some pictures and ended up talking to the current mission president, President Da Silva, and his wife. The mission home is the only place we've seen carpet since we've been here. President Da Silva and Spencer talked about the mission now and the president took us in his office to show us the board of missionaries and where everyone was currently serving. Davis and Blair thought it was cool to see that and were impressed with the number of missionaries that are serving in Uruguay. Davis is sure when he's a missionary he'll be in Uruguay too. Before we left, Sister Da Silva gave the kids each a bag of treats that made the trip totally worth it to them.

After the mission home, we walked past the temple again and ended up talking to the temple president and his wife for quite a while. They are from Pleasant Grove, UT and they've been on missions for a while now. They were mission presidents, MTC presidents in Argentina, and now temple presidents in Uruguay. As we spoke to these people, we found out that the temple president and Spencer's mission president were companions when they served their missions in Uruguay as young men.

After lunch at McDonalds, yes, McDonalds- it's nice to have something familiar once in a while and it's a rarity here- we went to find the new location of the mission offices. Davis was thrilled when Spence said we were going to take a taxi there. Earlier in the day we were talking about how much missionaries walk and he replied, "Well, I'm not a missionary right now, I'm just a little boy and I'm TIRED." The kids have been troopers because we've walked a ton since we've been here and I think Davis is counting down the days until we have a car again.

We just took a few pictures at the mission office and then we hung out until our bus ride back to Piriapolis. We're all pretty tired after some of the day trips, but it's so much fun seeing and learning more from Spence's mission and it's really fun to see how excited he gets about it.

Spence served his mission from October 2000 until December 2002

Outside the mission home- Spence wasn't thrilled to take a picture by himself, but Davis and Blair were too interested in the birds they were chasing to pose with him.

Our two little walkers- Every time we see a car Davis mentions that we should have gotten one and Blair reminds him that it's good exercise to walk.

Just a cool tree we saw

Our family in the mission home with the Da Silvas

Taking a break and enjoying the treats from Sister Da Silva

Outside the mission offices

Blair was pretty tired out on the bus ride back home.

This is how Davis felt about her sleeping on him while he was trying to play his Leap Pad.

Heaven

Right now, Uruguay feels like Heaven. I'm sitting in a little ice cream shop right on the beach with my family having a treat and watching the most beautiful suset across the ocean. I could stay here forever. I love the slower pace here and I can't imagine anything better than being with the three people I love most all day every day. This is the life.

Baby #3

Spence felt our little baby boy move for the first time today. It was so fun. We get more excited every day. We don't, however, have any idea what we'll name the little guy.

Home Sweet Home

We found a place to stay for the next few weeks. It's really nice compared to other places we checked out and just two blocks from the beach. It has three bedrooms, two nice bathrooms, a kitchen and a family room area. We are super happy to be unpacked and not digging everything out of suitcases and then re-packing to move to the next place. The house we're staying in has a nice backyard too- it's Davis' favorite part. One of my favorite parts- the washer. I am thrilled that I don't have to go to the laundry mat all the time. I did, however, need Spence's assistance when I hung up the clothes the first time. They kept falling down, but Spence taught me to fold them over the line before clipping them- much better.

Spence and Blair putting on the "4 thread count" sheets. We had to get our own sheets and towels for this house and I about died when we were buying them. The sheets are like paper and they cost $20-$30. When the lady was showing us the towels, she showed us some pretty good ones like we have at home and said they were $30 each. No thanks, I can use the crappy ones for a month. We bought some pretty awesome ones for $7 even though they repel water instead of absorb it. At least they dry out fast after.

One of the bathrooms. Spence thinks the bidet is one of the coolest things ever- I'm not sure if he's tried it out.

A pretty nice little kitchen compared to others I've checked out.

According to Davis, this is his house he built out of bricks so no one could blow it down. He's out there all the time.

Clothes line in our backyard

This is the main living area- just another table, no couches

Our bedroom- Don't worry, Spence got rid of the creepy bedspread.

The office. This is the only room in the house where the internet works. There is actually no internet in this house, but Spence paid the guy at the hostels across the street to use it. We use it in this room or on the porch of the hostels. It's not the best, but it works okay.

More living room

Blair's side of the kid's room

Davis' side of the room- They've actually done pretty well sharing a room again. Luckily Blair can sleep through anything.

Eating bizcochos this morning. Spence went to the bakery while Blair and I showered. Spence has been talking about eating these pasteries for breakfast every day in Uruguay since the first time we talked about coming. Everyone loved them. Davis and Blair were thrilled to eat pasteries when it wasn't even "Saturday donut day".

Celebrities for a Day

This morning we went to the park for a while and Davis and Blair were the center of attention. There were a bunch of 11 and 12 year olds there who thought our kids were the bees knees. They loved watching our kids play and listening to them speak English. They talked to Spence a ton and asked all about our family and practiced their English on him. It turns out their English is just as bad as my Spanish. I told them I was from the USA, my name, and that I didn't understand anything else they were saying to me. They thought it was absolute craziness that the kids and I only spoke English.
The kids here followed Davis and Blair wherever they went and tried to help them on the playground equipment despite Davis telling them he could do it himself. The kids loved having their picture taken too and liked to see it on my camera afterward. Davis was thrilled when he had a whole herd of kids who were happy to race him around the park. Our kids had a great time and the kids here did too.

10 Years Ago Today...

Spence was celebrating "Hump Day" here in Uruguay. We're so excited to be back and see where he served.

"We're at Uruguay!"

We took a ferry from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Montevideo, Uruguay. We were pretty tired when we finally got to Montevideo, but we found a place to stay pretty quickly, had some dinner and went to bed. Blair was sick in the night, but I think traveling and no sleep had just taken a toll on her little body. She was fine when we woke up Tuesday morning.

Tuesday, we left Montevideo and took a bus to Piriapolis. We're planning to find somewhere to stay longer term here. Right now, we are just in a hotel, but today we're planning to go look at monthly rentals. We're all feeling good and happy with a shower and a couple nights of sleep under our belts.

Spence and the kids headed to board the ferry
This was how Davis spent the ferry ride. It turns out if you're awake from midnight until noon the next day, you're pretty tired. The ferry was nice because it had so much space. We weren't cramped in like the airplane; Davis had the whole row to himself to stretch out. Spence and I also took turns naping on another row.
Blair liked the ferry, but I think it was becuase she had the iPad to herself with Davis sleeping.
Blair crashed the second we made it to the hostel in Montevideo. Too bad we had to wake her up to go get some dinner. Later that night, we remembered how nice it is to have the conveniences of home when kids are sick. Blair threw up in the night all over her bed and blanket and we had to rinse her hair out in the bathroom sink before putting all resources together to make somewhat of a bed for the rest of the night. We also used her Halloween bucket from her McDonald's Happy Meal to catch more throw up later in the night. We still have a gross blanket and pair of PJs in a grocery bag in the suitcase- we need to find a laundry mat today.

Davis loved all the bunk beds in the hostel.

We all enjoyed some food that felt to us like it should have been breakfast, but it turns out it was 12:30pm in Uruguay. The kids and I had somethign familiar and Spence went with something from his mission days. I don't think they'll have any McDonalds where we'll be staying for the remainder of the month.

The kids had a blast chasing the Pigeons in the plaza outside of the mall where we had lunch.

Waiting for the bus from Montevideo to Piriapolis. Davis and Blair got some random toys in the bus terminal they thought were pretty fun.

The LeapPads from Grandma and Grandpa Davis have been lifesavers throughout our traveling. The kids played them on the whole two hour bus ride.

Davis having a blast when we stopped for a break on our walk from the bus terminal in Piriapolis to a hotel for the night. At the bus terminal, the people told Spence it was just a short walk so we wouldn't need a taxi, but I'm not sure they knew we had a bunch of luggage and two three year olds to take along. We had to stop twice on the way. Luckily, we found a hotel pretty fast once we made it to the la rambla.

We found a great hotel on the beach with two bedrooms and a bathroom and Blair thought it was "fancy". I guess she was comparing it to the hostel we stayed in the night before with a bunch of bunk beds and a bathroom we shared with other people.

Hamburguesa Completa. That says it all. I picked the best when it came to dinner in Piriapolis.

This beach is just steps from our hotel. When we walked over and saw it Davis happily exclaimed, "Dad, we're at Uruguay!" He has been telling everyone we were going to Uruguay to got to the beach, so I guess the day and a half we've been here didn't feel like it to Davis. He was waiting to see the beach.

Planes, Trains & Automobiles

We left for the airport yesterday morning at 11 and we got to Argentina this morning at 9 Argentine time. The kids did pretty good on the plane and were happy the whole time, but they didn't sleep much. I think the kids and I are running on just a few hours of sleep max and Spence maybe about one hour. We're all looking awesome as were still wearing the clothes we had on yesterday, but we're waiting for the ferry and we'll be in Uruguay tonight at around 6:30 Uruguay time (it's 4 hours later here than home). After we find a hotel for the night, I'm sure none of us will have trouble sleeping.

Getting ready for the first flight
The kids were great following right behind Spence. Blair even followed when Spence started weaving back and forth.

Two pretty happy kids waiting for the ferry in Buenos Aires after some long miserable flights.

This picture of Spence shows perfectly how we were all feeling after the flight and all the travel.