Surreal and sublime; now it really feels like we really never left.

cowering puppy

Keeping the dust down

Cotton candy anyone???

Peruvian smokers

Elder Johnson's Fair Photos

We had a great conference in Urubamba last week and hit the  ground running Monday morning. It was actually nice to get back to work and we made some good progress. Rich stood in a long line to pay the electric bill and did some other running around in the morning. Monday evening we returned to Urubamba for the district meeting with the two sets of missionaries assigned there. We never get tired of the drive because the mountains are so spectacular, especially in the early evening. We were pretty exhausted by the time we got home.

Rich had a meeting with Señor Farfan Tuesday morning about the fair that the archives participated in. We were in the states for the whole thing and missed it, but it was a huge success. In the end there was a list of 1,152 referrals for the missionaries from people who wanted to know more about Family History and Family Search. We did all of the pre-fair work before we went home. It was quite the project to get organized and set up. We left it in the most capable hands of the Johnsons and some great young missionaries. We are thankful that it had such a great outcome. The missionaries came a way with very high quality referrals since the missionaries were so busy, that they had the contacts write down their own contact info. They are all seriously interested people, at least in family history work.

We had a productive work day on Wednesday and enjoyed lunch with the Johnson’s. On Thursday Rich worked in the morning while Julie did some necessary things at home and we left at 1:30pm for a multi-zone meeting with Elder Juan Uceda, the area president. 

It is always fun to see missionaries that are serving in other areas and we had an incredible meeting with Elder Uceda. He has been on a mission tour all week with the Harbertson’s and   he has been having five hour training meetings in the different zones in the mission. His energy is unbelievable. We were worn out after the one, five-hour-long meeting we attended. The Lord is certainly watching over him. The marvelous thing is that he is a Peruvian who really gets what it is all about and has done so much in the church. It is impossible for Peruvians to dismiss him as, coming from the other culture.

We were starving afterwards and went up the street a bit from the church to eat at one of our favorite meat places, The Abrasador. We had a good chuckle feeling a bit guilty eating our delicious steak, because Elder Uceda is a complete and devoted vegan. 

There have been lots of flags, pins, red and white streamers and other paraphernalia on sale in preparation for Fiestas Patrias, Peru’s version of the 4th of July. Most government offices closed on Friday afternoon and will take Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday off for the celebrations. We thought the holiday was Wednesday and Thursday, but it’s Tuesday and Wednesday with Monday being the bridge, because government work here is so exhausting.  (said with some sarcasm)

We had a relaxing Saturday and Sunday and we will try to get some work in over the holiday. 

There and back again-Just like we never left...

What we did!

Oh happy day

Good morning Edgewood!

Our grandsons ready for church

Olivia's baptism

New Mexico skies never disappoint

Johanna and Peter

Bubble fun

Redneck hot tub

A little Lord of the Flies activity...

Crawdad patrol

Bryce's mighty whitey tighties

Maria's Sam Houston Digs

Maya tortured by "shame on the couch"

Julie with Sofi

Ceci and Sofi

Back in the saddle in Urubamba

What a whirlwind three weeks we have had. After the Trujillo temple dedication we flew to Houston and spent some time with Maria and Isaac, enjoying some of the food we have missed and adjusting to driving in the USA again! A bit scary at first, sorry Maria! 

We drove to Austin via Fort Worth for a meeting with our tax guy and had lunch with our dear friends Lee and Linda Petersen. In Austin, we spent three nights with William and Lacey and their children. We had so much fun playing and visiting with our grandkids, eating delicious BBQ and being spoiled. We brought the boys a type of horn made from real sheep and cow horns and it is nearly impossible to get a sound out of them. Naturally Ben and Bryce were able to make them work the first time they tried! We obviously don’t have the talent needed for such a thing. We loved hearing the kids play the piano, they are doing so well and enjoyed every minute with them.

We then drove to Midland, Texas and spent three nights with Megan and Charles. About 10 minutes before we arrived Megan called and told us not to panic when we saw the police cars in front of their apartment. It was a Sunday afternoon and they were reading on their bed waiting for us to arrive. Megan heard a noise and thought we had just walked into their apartment. She was totally surprised by a stranger in the house trying to steal their computers. She ran to the door to try and stop the intruder and in the mean time Charles had his gun and took a shot at the guy. The intruder made it out the door, his shorts fell down, he tripped and dropped their computers but was able to escape. Charles missed hitting him by a fraction of an inch when he shot, and we still can’t figure out how, but we were all relieved because had he shot him it would have really messed up our visit! As the policeman was leaving he told Megan and Charles to “feel free to defend your home and yourselves in the same manner.” Gotta love Texas!

We had great fun in Midland in spite of the “adventure” and took Megan with us on our drive to Edgewood. It was so fun to be home again, it almost felt like we had never left. We had a few nights with Glenn and Jenae and their children and little Isaac loved showing Papa Rich his rock collection and he to was able to make his horn work. He also played his violin for us and Olivia played the piano. Walter seemed to be omnipresent with his winning smile and tender affection for us.They were wonderful! 

We had such fun holding our two new granddaughters and getting to know them better and visiting with each grand child in person.

All of the kids and their families travelled to be with us in Edgewood for our family picture that we took on third of July. Thank you Cassie Stewart for the wonderful pictures! We spent the fourth at home in Edgewood together eating and playing along with Rich’s sister Anne and her husband Lynn, our niece Johanna and her two adorable children, dear friends, and Jenae’s parents and her sister Angela. It was a complete mad house but so much fun! The kids had so much fun with the sparklers and fireworks. It was the first time in years that we could have fireworks in our yard because there had been enough rain.

Sunday morning the whole mob went to church and Glenn and Jenae’s baby Norah was blessed and later in the day their daughter Olivia was baptized. It was great to our dear friends in the Edgewood ward and get caught up a bit. It was a special day to have all of our children and grandchildren with us. We are so blessed.

Maria, Isaac, Anne, Lynn, Jenae’s family and Johanna and kids left Monday morning to return home. And as if we hadn’t travelled enough, we planned to drive to Utah with Megan, Leah, Isaac, Olivia and William’s family. We drove to Provo and visited with Rich’s brother Steve  his wife Nan and our nephew Will and had a fun evening with them. 

The next morning we drove to Strawberry Reservoir where Steve had rented a boat. Steve’s son Will was there with his wife and kids and our other nephew’s wife Ashley and two of her children were there along with our mob. Olivia and Isaac had so much fun fishing although we didn’t catch a thing. They loved the boat ride and had a blast catching crawdads with Steve and Nan’s grandkids. It was an awesome day and we loved it. Megan and Leah took Olivia and Isaac swimming every night in the hotel so we completely exhausted all of them! What fun.

We left Leah in Salt Lake where she lives and works and drove back to Edgewood the next day. We spent a few more days in Edgewood and then headed back to Conroe, Texas where Maria lives. 

We were able to spend a few more relaxing days with Maria and Isaac and Maya who used to be our dog but is most certainly a Texas dog now and Greta the other pooch in the house. Maya remembered us and followed Julie everywhere, sleeping next to her bed at night and not daring to get on the couch if Julie was anywhere near. It was hilarious! To say these dogs are spoiled would be an understatement! Maria and Isaac are wonderful dog parents.  We had a great time with them and too soon it was time to head back to Peru.

While we were on our way to the airport Jenae sent a message that someone drove up our driveway, got out of the car and was looking in our living room window when she walked out and  looked right at him through the window. He hurriedly jumped back in his car and she was able to take a picture of his car and called the police. Apparently this guy had robbed some homes in the area and the police were looking for him. So last Friday our daughter Megan and our daughter-in-law Jenae were both looking at pictures in line-ups, one in Texas and the other in New Mexico. What are the odds?

We jumped right back into our work here in Peru after recovering this past Friday. Rich was finally set apart as first counselor in the mission presidency after months as the only counselor… On Saturday Rich left early with the Harbertson’s and Brother Reatequi (the new second counselor in the mission presidency) to attend district conference in Urubamba. Julie arrived later in the afternoon and we are back into the swing of things again. 

We loved being with family and friends in the states and appreciate all the efforts to be with us and share this time together. We are so amazed at the incredible blessings that are ours.