With only a couple of days left in Chile, we are trying to "aprovechar" the most we can. A plate of sliced bananas with dulce de leche is one way that I like to enjoy Chile.
Dave's office threw him a farewell luncheon. We have been so grateful to Carlos and Patricia for taking such good car of us while we have been in Chile. Also we are so grateful to Olga for all her help and support.
The luncheon was also on Emily's birthday, so they had a cake for her as well.
This is "the board". It is all the goals and projects that Dave had for himself during his sabbactical.
The sunset over the ocean on our last night in La Serena. It has been so great living so close to the ocean in such a beautiful country.
That night at the church, the Relief Society sisters had a farewell activity for me. Each sister said something nice about me. I was truly honored and humbled by what they said.
This beautiful cake was made by one of the sisters.
At the same time, the young women had a birthday celebration for Emily.
This is the inside of the cake called Mil Pajinas or a thousand pages. Each crispy layer is filled with dulce de leche. It must have taken so long to make.
More snacks for the get-together.
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| Alejandra Heinish, Jill, Bianka Heinish |
It was so hard to say goodbye knowing that we may not ever get to see these wonderful people again.
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| Alejandra, Emily, Bianka |
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| Emily and her Sunday School teacher |
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| Catalina and Emily |
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| Rosa Pino and Jill |
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| Sebastian, BJ and Victor Pino |
Our goodbyes had to be cut short because Evan had an accident with a piece of PVC pipe while we were having our farewell parties. He wasn't too happy at the time, but the swelling went down quickly and he has been healing well.
The next morning we were up bright and early and on the road at 5:30 am to catch our flight in Santiago later that morning. We had seen these signs along the freeway and finally got a picture of one. I like the one on the top left warning not to take horses and carriages on the freeway.
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| Getting taste of home...Duncan Donuts in the Buenos Aires airport. |
Emily, BJ and Andrew waiting it out in Buenos Aires. We had a 6 hour layover in route to the US.
Here we go...almost home!
Funny story...while Evan was waiting for our flight out of Buenos Aires, he started talking to the people around us. There was a flight near by headed for Johannesburg, South Africa. Evan would say to the people waiting, "Hi, I'm Evan. I like to collect coins. I was wondering if you might have any coins that you would like to trade with me." He was able to get quite the international collection of coins during our long layover in Buenos Aires.
Back in the US in Houston, Texas, BJ and Evan were pleased to find that the Cheetos and Doritoes tasted just how they remembered.
Our flight from Buenos Aires was late and we ended up missing our connection in Texas. We did one of those things like you see in the movies where we had to run with our bags to the terminal. But, alas, we did not make it. Luckily they were able to find a flight for us a few hours later to LA.
We had been traveling for over 30 hours, so needless to say we were thrilled to finally be home. Our ward members decorated our home and had a welcoming committee. They were great.
Emily was expecially thrilled to be on solid ground again.
It was like Christmas for the kids seeing all their toys again.
Emily got the special treat of having her room get an extreme make-over by her Grandma Terrie while she was away. It turned out beautiful!
Thanks to Bill and Terrie who took care of the house while we were away. They made improvements, painted the entire outside of the house and looked after our afairs for us while we were away. They were amazing!
Now there is just one thing left to do...play with legos!
For those of you who have been enjoying our adventures in Chile through emails, I am planning on discontinuing the automatic mailings now that our trip is through. If you would like to be kept on the mailings, please let me know and you can continue to see what is going on with the Havilands in Bakersfield and where ever else our next adventures may take us. Thanks for sharing our experiences with us!
