Stephen and Shara

Texas Barbecue!

2012-02-04T09:31:00.000-08:00

Last weekend we went to a highly recommended barbecue restaurant called Hard Eight. When we walked up to the restaurant, smoke was billowing out from a big fire where tons of meat was being barbecued. Stephen was in heaven with all the ribs, sausage, steak, etc., etc., etc., that they had to offer. The bill was more than we would normally pay to go out to eat, but we were glad we gave this restaurant a try. We had to come home and shower because all of our clothing smelled like smoke from the fire!

We could choose any amount of any meat we wanted. Price was determined by weight.

Stephen with slices of lots of different kinds of meat.

Not a great picture, but this is where they were cooking up all the meat.

Mexican Food & Downtown Dallas!

2012-02-04T08:37:00.000-08:00

Our date nights each weekend involve exploring new restaurants and new places here in Dallas. A few weekends back we got Mexican food at a fun and festive restaurant just a couple blocks from where we live. After dinner we drove downtown to explore Dallas at night. We parked our car in a ritzy and expensive part of town and had fun walking around and seeing all the nice hotels and all the people eating dinner at super expensive restaurants. We also came upon a cute little cupcake restaurant and bought a delicious chocolate cupcake. While we were sitting there, the restaurant owner came over and gave us two more little cupcakes! It was a great date night.

Eating a Taco Salad at the Mexican restaurant, Guerro's

Dinner at the Mexican restaurant

Our yummy chocolate cupcake

Walking around downtown

Lots of the buildings downtown are lit up really cool, like the green one in the background

The Dallas Opera House - Dad Debeham, this is your place!

Dallas Museum of Nature and Science

2012-02-04T08:17:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago we spent a Saturday afternoon exploring the Dallas Museum of Nature and Science. We particularly liked the shark exhibit. We also saw two shows at the planetarium. Below are some pictures from the museum.

This is the real jaw of a prehistoric shark.

A life-size replica of a shark.

This is one way people can study and view sharks safely. I don't think I could ever do this.

The museum was near the fairgrounds. Apparently the fair is a really big thing here!

Cooking up a Storm!

2012-02-04T08:08:00.000-08:00

One of my hobbies these days is cooking! I like trying out new recipes as well as making some of our classic favorites. Most recently I have enjoyed cooking meals with lots of vegetables. It is amazing how much I like to cook considering I never cooked before we were married! Below are some of the meals I have cooked recently. Unfortunately, the camera just doesn't do the food justice!

Preparing one of my favorite meals, herbed pasta primevera. It's healthy and vegetarian.

Here's the finished product with parmesan cheese and almonds on top.

This is a taco salad idea we got from a friend here in Dallas. It has chicken, corn, black beans, and red onions in it.

Crockpot Chicken 'n Dumplings Soup.

Preparing Mom Blunck's amazing homemade spaghetti sauce.

Here's the finished product, complete with Sheri's breadsticks recipe.

This is a new vegetarian pasta I tried the other week. It has asparagus, zucchini, and yellow peppers in it, with a creamy Alfredo sauce.

Much to Stephen's dismay, I made vegetarian lasagna, complete with lots of spinach, broccoli, carrots, and lots of other good stuff. For me, it was great. For Stephen, it was one of those one-time-only meals.

Per Stephen's request, I made Thai Chicken in the crockpot. It was a super easy recipe and turned out great.

This is a homemade chicken pizza recipe I actually got off the back of the Bisquick box. Turned out great!

There's No Place Like Home!

2012-01-06T12:57:00.000-08:00

Below are some pictures of our new home in Coppell, Texas. We hope all of you will come see it for yourself sometime (in other words, we sure would love a visit from our family and friends)! We have a guest bedroom so you won't have to pay for a hotel. :)

We really like our apartment, the city of Coppell (which is a suburb of Dallas), our new ward, and all of the nice people we have met here!

This is our guest bathroom... I was excited to decorate it in black, white, and red.

This is a view of our apartment from the outside. The windows on the second floor of the center building belong to us.

We are excited about our pool and espcially the hot tub, which we have already made use of!

I guess this means we're offically Texans!

New Years Eve!

2012-01-06T12:39:00.000-08:00

We celebrated the New Year with our friends Josh and Kelly Price, and Katie and Mike Matthews. Josh Price and Katie Matthews are the siblings of Dusty Price, our brother-in-law. Josh and Kelly live in the Dallas area and were kind to invite us over for a New Years party. Katie and Mike were in town from Lubbock, a city about five hours away where Mike is in medical school.

The next day Stephen and I did our own toast to the New Year in our new apartment with some sparkling cider.

Katie and Mike

Josh and Kelly

Happy New Year!

Moving to Texas!

2012-01-06T12:29:00.000-08:00

We made the long drive to Texas once again after Christmas. Fortunately we were able to drive much faster because we weren't driving a moving truck and towing a car. We made the trip in three days. We stayed in hotels and ate at Chili's two nights in a row. :)

We were so excited to finally make it to our new apartment. One of the first things we did was a make a trip to Walmart to stock our kitchen. We had to start completely from scratch.... we had absolutely no food! We tried to guess what the final bill would be. Somehow Stephen managed to guess within 18 cents of the final price while I was 50 dollars off!

On Thursday evening and then again on Saturday some nice people in our new ward helped us move our belongings out of the storage unit and into our apartment. Our place was a disaster for a few days as we tried to sort through everything!

Dinner at Chili's

Our new place!

Grocery shopping at Walmart

What a disaster!

Christmas!

2012-01-06T12:11:00.000-08:00

It was wonderful to be together on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day! On Christmas Eve we ate a great dinner and then drove to Thanksgiving Point to see the Christmas lights. On Christmas morning Aria and Zade had a great time opening all their new toys. That day we had another great dinner and enjoyed the tradition Mom started of opening a new picture book each year.

Yay for a high-tech blender and a Costco gift card!

The Debenhams!

The in-laws! :)

The Debenham kids

Our Christmas Party!

2012-01-06T12:01:00.000-08:00

We had a fun Christmas party with the Willardson family. We ate a great dinner, played a fun game of white elephant, and acted out the nativity scene. What a fun Christmas tradition!

Christmas in Utah!

2012-01-06T11:54:00.000-08:00

Stephen and I drove to Utah for the Christmas holiday. We enjoyed about two fun-filled weeks with the Debenham family. Below are some pictures from our many fun activities before Christmas.

Tara and I had a fun afternoon shopping with Dad

We then enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Olive Garden

The kids particularly liked the breadsticks

I just love this picture of the kids while we were shopping at Costco

Shopping at Costco is always fun!

Tara and I took the kids to Jungle Gyms, a fun place for kids

The kids were really brave and enjoyed most of the rides

They especially liked the carousel

Visiting Santa Claus

2012-01-06T11:46:00.000-08:00

We went to an annual community event in Canby where kids get to visit Santa Claus, do lots of fun crafts and activities, and eat breakfast. We had a great time!

Eating a yummy breakfast

The boys wearing their new elf hats

Picking Out a Christmas Tree!

2012-01-06T11:44:00.000-08:00

We had fun searching out the perfect Christmas tree in the fog and the darkening sky. I wasn't sure what to look for having never picked out a real Christmas tree before. The tree we decided on looked great!

Cute little Rita in her Peru hat

Cutting down the tree

With our newly cut down Christmas tree in the background

A Whole New World

2011-12-03T23:15:00.000-08:00

A whole new world has been opened up to me since I met Stephen and his family. This world includes living out in the country, raising cows, and farming, to name just a few. More specifically and most recently this new world includes making homemade applesauce, juicing grapes, sewing baby blankets, making homemade flowers for girls' hair, and as of today, making table centerpieces out of real pine branches. Before just a few days ago, I didn't even know there was such thing as centerpieces made out of real pine branches. Janeece and I had a great time today making centerpieces at a beautiful garden center. We also enjoyed looking at and purchasing a few of the hundreds of poinsettias. I never new poinsettias could be any color but red! A big thanks goes out to Mom Blunck, Sheri, and Janeece for teaching me all these new skills!

New week I look forward to participating in the cutting down of a real Christmas tree for the first time. :)

Making the centerpiece at the garden center

Janeece and I with our finished centerpieces

My centerpiece on display at home

A lovely small poinsettia for our room... the picture just doesn't do it justice!

An Early Start on Christmas!

2011-12-03T22:58:00.000-08:00

On December 1st we got to participate in a fun family tradition with Janeece and Dusty's family. Every December 1st they eat a meal like the Savior Jesus Christ would have eaten, such as fish, prunes, and figs. They then read the story of Christ's birth together as a family. In addition, every member of the family gets to open one present. We enjoyed participating in their family tradition!

The family (from left to right) - Karl (5), Phillip (3), Dusty, Rita (1), and Janeece

Rita had fun taking the wrapping paper off her new baby doll bed (made by Dusty!)

Phillip and Karl were thrilled about their new camelbacks

Thanksgiving!

2011-11-29T11:21:00.000-08:00

This year Stephen and I got to celebrate Thanksgiving in Oregon with the Blunck side of the family. Lots of extended family came over to enjoy dinner together. Dinner was fabulous and I was amazed at the pie selection... there were at least five or six types of pies to choose from! On Thanksgiving Day as I reflected on our many blessings I thought about how incredibly grateful I am for Stephen's health and the great recovery he is making. We are so blessed!

As part of my contribution to the food for dinner, Janeece had the great idea for me to make cute turkeys out of candy. The turkeys didn't turn out quite like the picture online, but I still thought they were pretty cute.

I made a total of 19 turkeys - one for every plate!

We were so grateful to have Mom with us for Thanksgiving!

Stephen's Surgery

2011-11-29T11:05:00.000-08:00

Stephen had his surgery on Tuesday, November 15th. I was so grateful to have Mom Blunck there with me during the long wait of about five hours. Stephen was is the hospital for six days. He is now very happy to be home and is making progress every day. We are so grateful for all the phone calls and cards from our family and friends!

Mom's Home!

2011-11-14T18:11:00.000-08:00

Mom Blunck flew into Oregon for two weeks for Stephen's surgery. We are very blessed to have her here! For those of you who don't know, she and Dad are serving a mission in Lima, Peru. They have been out for close to 18 months and are about halfway through their mission. Karl and Phillip were very excited to see Grandma! That evening Janeece and I made homemade Cafe Rio salads and they were delicious!

We love Grandma!

Mom with two of hher grandkids, Karl and Phillip

Reading stories to the grandkids

Our homemade Cafe Rio pork salads

Back in Oregon

2011-11-14T18:07:00.000-08:00

We are back in Oregon for the next five weeks for Stephen's surgery. The other day we went to OHSU for some of Stephen's medical appointments. Most of OHSU is built upon a hill in Portland, and the rest of it is built at the bottom of the hill. To get from one end of campus to the other there is a tram. We got to take the tram and we thought it was so fun. It was a beautiful view from the top part of campus, especially with the colorful trees and the low clouds.

This picture shows the lower part of OHSU as well as some other buildings

There's the tram!

Multnomah Falls

2011-11-14T17:52:00.000-08:00

We hiked to the top of Multnomah Falls in Portland the other day. It is so gorgeous here in Oregon right now! The trees are a lovely mixture of yellows, reds, oranges, and dark greens. I feel super lucky because I experienced the peak of fall in Ohio for two weeks, in Utah for one week, and now in Oregon. Below are some lovely pictures from our hike.

Stephen's Training in Cape Cod

2011-11-14T17:38:00.000-08:00

I recently returned from a ten day training in Cape Cod for my new job. I learned lots of great things and met people from all over the world. There were about 125 of us at this particular training. I was on a team with five other people from India, the UK, China, Italy, and California. Each day we attended training sessions and most evenings we participated in intense projects implementing what we had learned that day. We also did some fun things, including a Halloween party, a picture scavenger hunt, and other fun activities. We stayed in a beautiful resort and ate lots of delicious meals.

A lovely view of the coast

My team from around the world

The boardwalk that went from the resort to the beach

The resort we stayed at

My team after our final presentation

Here I am with other new employees from the Dallas office. We attended the Halloween party as characters from Peter Pan.

A Big Thanks to Mom and Dad!

2011-11-06T17:50:00.000-08:00

I'm sitting at the airport on my way from Salt Lake City to Portland. I just spent the last 10 days hanging out with my Mom and Dad (and a few times with my other wonderful family members). I did so many fun things with my Mom and Dad, including daily walks, delicious homemade breakfasts and dinners, multiple trips to Hobby Lobby, the musical My Fair Lady at Hale Centre Theatre, dinners at Cafe Rio and Sweet Tomatoes, the movie Footloose at the theatre, a trip to Park City, a few fun parties, and more. I'm so grateful to my wonderful parents for the great time we had together. I love you so much and I will miss you over the next five weeks! See you at Christmas time!!!

November Snow!

2011-11-06T17:45:00.000-08:00

I was thrilled to be in town for the snow storm that hit Salt Lake Valley on Friday night. I realized I won't be seeing much snow for a while and so I was unusually excited for it to snow. The next morning it was sunny and gorgeous!

The view from our front door Saturday morning

What a lovely day!

Mom's Birthday Party!

2011-11-06T17:42:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Mom's birthday party a few weeks early (at my request so I could be in town for it!). We ate dinner and played some fun games that Stephen and I learned when we were in Cajamarca, Peru. After the games we ate peppermint and mint brownie ice cream pies with oreo crusts (so amazing!). We then gave Mom birthday presents and of course ended up watching a few hilarious videos on You Tube. Mom, we love you so much and are so grateful for your incredible life! Thanks for letting us celebrate with you!

The punishment for losing the cat and mouse game... the same punishment they gave when we were in Peru. Everyone gets the opportunity to move one of your body parts and put you in a funny position. :)

We love you Mom and Dad!

Our happy family (minus Stephen, Tara, Dane, Aria, and Zade... wish you were here!)

Park City

2011-11-06T17:33:00.000-08:00

Mom, Dad, and I enjoyed a lovely afternoon in Park City on Halloween day. We ate lunch at Subway and then took a beautiful walk along a creek to picturesque main street. Much to our surprise, the street was blocked to traffic on both ends and hundreds of kids and adults were dressed in costumes and trick-or-treating at all the shops. It looked like so much fun and I made a mental note for someday in the distant future to bring our kids to this fun event. We picked up a few treats ourselves, including orange-colored cotton candy which was being given out by one of the shops. Unfortunately we left our camera at the car and so we didn't get any pictures of the beautiful walk or the trick-or-treaters. We did get one picture where we parked our car to begin our walk.

Halloween!

2011-11-06T17:28:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Halloween with a family party which included a delicious dinner and some pumpkin carving! In my pumpkin I carved "I (heart) U." I took a picture of the pumpkin on my phone and sent it to Stephen who was hard at work in Cape Cod. Shannon and Brandon carved "Shan (heart) Bran," and Ryan and Dani carved "LOL... ;" for all you texters out there. We had a fun time together! We sure love the annual Debenham Halloween party we have each year!

The pumpkin I carved for Stephen

Thanks Mom for planning a great Halloween party!

My wonderful sister Shannon and sister-in-law Dani

A proud display of our pumpkins... and of course we had to include Milo!

Shannon and Brandon had a tough time getting a picture of just the two of them... Ryan and I couldn't help but jump into every picture. :)

Spending Time in Dallas

2011-10-29T16:56:00.000-07:00

Following Stephen's two weeks of training at Bain and my two weeks in Ohio, we had about a week to spend together in Dallas. On Friday afternoon I interviewed with Dallas Independent School District and was offered a job (yay!!!!). I will be working at two elementary schools and one high school and I will start in January. On Friday evening Stephen and I celebrated our 1 1/2 year anniversary (a few weeks early because we will be apart on our actual anniversary). Stephen surprised me with a dinner date and a reservation at the Sheraton Hotel. We had a great time. On Saturday morning Stephen participated in the "Cereal Bowl" with his co-workers at Bain. It was the associate consultants versus the consultants in an intense game of flag football. The associate consultants won (thanks to Stephen who had multiple touchdowns!).

We spent Monday through Wednesday looking at different apartments, condos, townhouses, and even small homes. We found places we liked, but are yet to make a decision as to whether we want to rent or buy. We're set on the Coppell or Valley Ranch areas though.

We are so grateful to Kelli and Josh Price who let us stay with them for 3 weeks! They were wonderful hosts and were so kind to invite us to participate in their activities with family and friends. On Tuesday evening Stephen and Josh went to a man night and watched a movie with some of Josh's friends, and Kelli and I made a trip to Hobby Lobby. I'm so glad there's a Hobby Lobby in Dallas!

A view of Dallas on our annivesary date. There was a lovely sunset, put the picture didn't quite catch it.

On our anniversary date. I'm so lucky to be married to the most amazing man in the world!

The associate consultants with their trophy after their victorious game of flag football.

Kelli and me at Hobby Lobby. This shopping cart is full of everything we wanted to buy. But, alas, we stuck to the budgets determined by our husbands and put most of these items back.

A Week with Benjamin and Hunter!

2011-10-22T14:27:00.000-07:00

I had the opportunity to take care of Benjamin (age 4) and Hunter (age 1 1/2) for a week at their home in New Carlisle, Ohio while David and Sheri were in New Mexico. It was quite the experience to play the role of a mom for a week! I have a new admiration for mothers all over the world! In my opinion, being a mom is the toughest but most rewarding full-time (24/7!) job in the world. We did lots of fun things throughout the week. We also had a few unexpected events, including the car not starting and a flat tire. I am very grateful to people in David and Sheri's ward who came and helped in times of need! Below are pictures and descriptions of some of the fun things we did.

We went on a beautiful hike at Charleston Falls

We spent a lot of time building things out of blocks. Usually we built airplanes, buildings, or garages for the toy cars and airplanes.

We enjoyed David and Sheri's applesauce!

We attended the amazing Air Force Museum. There were airplanes from all different time periods and they were very impressive.

At the museum

The boys particularly liked the airplanes they could climb into

We ate lunch that day outside at the Memorial Park

We did a fun corn maze! We found all five scarecrows in the corn maze and received a free pumpkin for doing so.

The boys loved looking at the pumpkins

The boys went on a fun little train ride around the pumpkin patch

Meal time was always an adventure

Benjamin loved drawing pictures on Paint

Benjamin and Hunter are great little dancers and we had a fun dance party!

We went to the park quite a few times

Benjamin was very proud that he crossed the monkey bars all by himself!

We ate lunch at McDonald's one day. Benjamin was super excited about the Halloween bucket he got with his Happy Meal.

Some firemen came to Benjamin's preschool and taught his class about fire safety. Benjamin was excited about his fireman hat.

Hunter was excited about it too!

We used every block and made the highest building we could create. Afterwards Benjamin had fun destroying it.

What a fun week! We also had many other fun experiences that I didn't take pictures of. We attended Church, played in the backyard, made paper airplanes, colored in coloring books, went on a walk, enjoyed lemon cookies (Benjamin's request), read stories, and played with lots of toys. I grew to love Benjamin and Hunter so much during that week and it was tough to say goodbye! Those boys sure missed their mom and dad and I'm so glad they're all back together again!

A Week With David and Sheri!

2011-10-22T14:07:00.001-07:00

Before taking care of the boys for a week, I got to spend a week with David and Sheri. It was so great to spend time with them. They taught me how to make homemade applesauce and it was delicious! I also saw canning done for the first time. We went to a fun place where we took a hay ride, picked out pumpkins, met some firemen, and played games with the kids. During the week we had lots of time to chat and get to know each other better. I was amazed at how beautiful Ohio is! The trees were all at their fall peak when I arrived - gorgeous yellows, reds, and oranges - and the weather was warm and sunny.

With Benjamin (age 4) at the pumpkin patch place

Hunter (age 1 1/2) was really excited about the Hunter-size pumpkins

Benjamin is excited to carve the pumpkin he chose!

David, Sheri, Benjamin, and Hunter

Bain & Company!

2011-10-15T18:12:00.000-07:00

Stephen started working at Bain this past Monday! He was very excited to start as it has been about a year since he received his job offer. Stephen has two weeks of training in Dallas. He really enjoyed the training this week. He is learning some new skill sets and reviewing a lot of material. After his two weeks in Dallas they will fly him to Cape Cod where he will receive training for another week and a half. I'm so proud of him for his dedication and hard work!

A Change of Plans... and what we've been up to since then!

2011-10-10T10:26:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, we have had a big change of plans! For the past year we have been planning to move to Texas in August or September of this year. Our plans changed in August when we learned Stephen needs to have a surgery done. Instead of heading off to Texas, we drove to Oregon! There we met with a fabulous doctor and scheduled Stephen's surgery for mid-November. We enjoyed a little over a week with Dusty, Janeece, and their three cute kids. We then flew back to Utah in time to enjoy General Conference and the Debenham family's annual General Conference brunch. On Monday after conference we packed up all our belongings to move everything to Texas. We decided to move our belongings to Texas because we needed to go there anyways for Stephen to complete a few weeks of training at Bain and Company (his new job). We began our 25-hour drive on Monday afternoon and drove until midnight. We spent the night in a hotel in the little city of Cortez, Colorado. On Tuesday we drove all day and finally arrived in Lubbock, Texas around midnight. We spent the night at the home of Katie and Mike Price. It was great to see them! On Wednesday we made it to Dallas and we unloaded all of our belongings into a storage unit. We are staying with Josh and Kelly Price and are so grateful to them for letting us stay with them while we are here in Dallas!

This crazy time in our lives has caused us to rely very much on our family and friends and to realize just how important family and friends are. We just want everyone to know how grateful we are for your love and support! A big thanks goes to Dusty, Janeece, and their family for letting us stay with them during Stephen's surgery and recovery. A big thanks goes to Mom and Dad Blunck for walking us through this process and encouraging us along the way. A big thanks goes to Mom and Dad Debenham for all of their help with our move and for always providing us with a warm home, great food, and lots of support. Another big thanks goes to all of our family members on both sides for all of their support and encouragement. A special thanks goes out to the Price families for housing us in Canby, Lubbock, and Dallas! We'd also like to thank all of our friends for your support and prayers! We couldn't do it without all of you!

Below are some pictures of what we have been up to.

We attended Karl's first soccer game when we were in Canby. Go Karl!

We had fun playing with our nephews and niece in Canby.

We enjoyed a fabulous brunch with the Debenham family in Utah on General Conference weekend.

Thank you Shannon, Brandon, Dad, and Mom for helping us move! It was a lot of work!

We rented a Budget truck and towed our car behind it.

We stayed in a hotel in Cortez, Colorado across the street from the Denny's we ate at with Mom and Dad back in April when we visited Mesa Verde National Park.

We'd like to thank Bryan and the two missionaries who helped us unpack in Dallas at our storage unit. You were a big help!

Shara's Trip to Arizona!

2011-09-18T14:04:00.000-07:00

I recently returned from an 8-day trip to Tucson, Arizona to visit my sister Tara and her family. Tara and her husband Dane have two darling children named Aria (age 3 1/2) and Zade (age 1 1/2). It was great to spend time with Tara and her family! Below are pictures and descriptions of some of the fun things we did.

We attended the ward campout. We ate hamburgers and hotdogs, applesauce pies, and of course s'mores! There was a big lightning storm that evening so we set up our tent under a pavilion just to be safe. I enjoyed meeting the really nice members in Tara's ward.

This is Zade. He is the sweetest and cutest little boy. He was sick much of the time I was there, but was feeling much better near the end of my stay. The main three sentences he says all day long are "I want Mommy," "I want Daddy," and "I want baba" (his sippy cup).

We went on a short hike after the campout

Aria and I had lots of fun together. Here we are painting the beads that Tara and Aria had made earlier in the week out of clay.

Tara and I had lots of fun making designer cookies and chocolate covered pretzels for the bake sale at Aria's preschool. We used a plastic mold to create darling flower shapes on the cookies.

We attended the zoo in Tucson. The big scare of the day was when we saw a tarantula that was not caged but was wild.

Here we are enjoying the animals at the zoo.

We went for a bike ride and got caught in one of Arizona's monsoon rain storms! It was fun! Even though the kids were in a covered caboose attached to Tara's bike, they still got pretty wet too!

Tara introduced me to thrift stores and I ended up buying seven cute skirts at one of the stores! Aria found a Minnie Mouse Halloween costume which she is super excited about! That night when she was trying to fall asleep she told me, "I just can't stop thinking about my costume!"

We went to a fun place that has blow up slides and obstacle courses. Aria didn't stop for the entire time we were there! I was impressed by her bravery! It was lots of fun!

You can see how much fun Aria had at this place!

One afternoon we enjoyed frozen yogurt at a nearby place. Aria's favorite part was the unlimited amount of sprinkles she could put in her frozen yogurt.

I got to be there for Aria's first ballet class! Aria was so excited to put on her new blue dance outfit.

We went to Sabino Canyon and took the tram through the canyon. It was lovely! We ended up getting caught in another big rain storm here! We took shelter at the bathrooms!

A lovely view in Sabino Canyon.

We were planning to play in the river, but that's when the rains came!

I love my little niece!

Shara's Trip to St. George

2011-09-18T13:46:00.000-07:00

I recently took a short two-day trip to St. George with my Mom and Dad. Our purpose in going to St. George was to see Grease and The Little Mermaid at the stunning outdoor Tuachan theatre. The plays were fabulous! Our favorite was The Little Mermaid. We also took a nice walk in Snow Canyon and enjoyed eating out at yummy restuarants.

Enjoying the beauty of Snow Canyon

The Little Mermaid at the Tuachan theatre

Sitting out in front of the Tuachan theatre

The German Festival!

2011-09-05T22:33:00.000-07:00

We attended the German Festival up in Little Cottonwood Canyon with Shannon and Brandon, and Mom and Dad Debenham. We took a short hike, enjoyed the beautiful mountains, listened to German music, danced some Polka, were entertained by a man with a yo-yo, and enjoyed delicious German food. We had a great time!

The family at the top of our hike

There were beautiful wildflowers!

We enjoyed wienerschnitzel and potato pancakes!

Stephen's Half Marathon!!

2011-09-05T22:02:00.000-07:00

Stephen successfully completed his first half marathon on Saturday, September 3rd! I am so proud of him! The first few miles were a steep uphill climb and the rest of the race was a gradual descent down Emigration Canyon into Salt Lake City, Utah. Stephen was among some of the first runners to cross the finish line. Way to go Stephen!

Before the race

Just a few moments after the race began

Tired and happy to have crossed the finish line!

Boating!

2011-09-05T21:03:00.000-07:00

We went boating at Lake Echo with Ryan, Dani, Shannon, and Mom and Dad Debenham. It was a blast! We went wakeboarding, slaloming, and learned how to wake surf! We are grateful to Dani's family who let us borrow their boat for the day!

Stephen on the wakeboard

Shannon after slaloming

Ryan slaloming

Shara on the wakeboard

Stephen learning to wake surf

Dani slaloming

Hike in Little Cottonwood Canyon

2011-09-03T20:40:00.000-07:00

We went on a beautiful hike at the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon with Mom and Dad Debenham. It was a beautiful afternoon. The wildflowers were in full bloom and covered the hillside! At one point during our hike it rained even though the sun was shining and it was lovely! Below are some pictures of us on the hike, as well as some pictures I took of the wildflowers.

Shara's 25th Birthday!

2011-09-03T20:21:00.000-07:00

I turned 25 years old on August 20th! I am getting old! Mom and Dad Debenham made delicious German Pancakes and muffins for Stephen and me for breakfast! That afternoon Stephen and I went on a beautiful hike along the river in Little Cottonwood Canyon. In the evening Mom and Dad took us out to Zupa's (one of my favorite restaurants!) for dinner. We topped the evening off with the movie Kung Fu Panda #2. A few days later we celebrated both Stephen's and my birthday with the Debenham family. We enjoyed ice cream pies (thank you Janeece for teaching me about ice cream pies!) and just had a great time together. A big thank you to my wonderful family (both the Debenhams and the Bluncks) for the phone calls and cards. We love you all!

Breakfast in the morning

Dipping our feet in the river on our hike

Celebrating both of our birthdays with two ice cream cakes

Celebrating with Shannon with Brandon

Celebrating with Mom and Dad Debenham

Trip to Oregon!

2011-09-03T20:01:00.000-07:00

After our family reunion, Stephen and I drove back to Oregon with Janeece, Dusty, Karl, Phillip, and Rita. The drive actually went by really fast because we had so much fun entertaining our cute nephews and niece (and because I had a copy of my new book obsession, The Hunger Games). On the way back to Janeece and Dusty's home in Oregon, we stopped and visited Grandma and Grandpa Hawman, Aunt Susan, Aunt Linda, and Aunt Judy, and their families. It was great to visit the extended family on Stephen's side. Back in Oregon we enjoyed a scrumptious dinner at the Price home (Dusty's family), had fun at the Clackamas County Fair, and just enjoyed being with family. Stephen and I also enjoyed a wonderful evening at the home of Grandma and Grandpa Blunck. We loved hearing stories from their past and learning about all the genealogy Grandma Blunck is doing. Stephen also had a great time hiking Silver Creek Falls with Dusty and Janeece and their family, as well as with some of Dusty's family. A big thank you to everyone on Mom's side of the family, the Price families, and the Blunck family for all of their love!

At the Clackamas County Fair with our cute nephews Phillip and Karl

Exploring Pioneer Village at the Clackamas County Fair

We had a great time with Grandma and Grandpa Blunck!

Stephen with his grandparents

The lovely Silver Creek Falls hike with Janeece, Dusty, and their family

Janeece and Stephen

What a great hike!

Blunck Family Reunion!!!

2011-09-03T19:49:00.000-07:00

We had a wonderful Blunck family reunion in Sandy, Utah at the beginning of August. David and Sheri (and their kids Benjamin and Hunter) flew out from Ohio, and Janeece and Dusty (and their kids Karl, Phillip, and Rita) drove out from Oregon. We stayed in a house at the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon. We did some fun activities, such as hiking to Timpanogos Cave and swimming at Cottonwood Heights. We also had a great time talking and just spending time with each other and with the nephews and niece. We love our wonderful family! Below are pictures from our hike to Timpanogos Cave (we still need to get the rest of the pictures from Sheri and Janeece).

The whole clan at the base of the hike to Timpanogos Cave

David and Sheri and their family

Janeece and Dusty and their family

Benjamin, Phillip, and Karl

Stephen and me on the hike

Back in the USA

2011-08-14T14:38:00.000-07:00

Well, our amazing adventure in Peru ended on August 4th when we flew back to the USA. Our three months in Peru were the most incredible experience ever. No words or even pictures can describe what we felt and learned during our two months in the mountains of Cajamarca, week in Cusco, couple weeks in Lima, and couple weeks visiting the exotic jungle cities of Peru. We met so many wonderful people who touched our lives forever! The best part was that we got to see and experience everything together. A huge thank you goes out to Mom and Dad Blunck for the incredible service they are doing in Peru and for the time we got to spend with them. We look forward to seeing and visiting with all of you back in the USA!

Iquitos, Nauta, & San Reyes!!!

2011-08-05T16:56:00.000-07:00

We recently returned from a fabulous trip to Iquitos, Nauta, and San Reyes. Our first day in Iquitos we did apartment checks with mom. We also did some shopping and bought some neat jungle souvenirs. On our second day we drove to Nauta where we attended a baptism and a talent show put on by the branch. On Saturday we climbed aboard a boat and drove to the headwaters of the Amazon River, where two rivers join together to form the Amazon. There we saw beautiful pink and gray river dolphins! We then drove upriver to a small jungle village called San Reyes, where we visited members of the church and had a wonderful time playing with all the kids. That evening we visited members of the branch back in Nauta. On Sunday we attended church with the Nauta branch and were able to give out beautiful modest skirts to all the women in attendance. These skirts were donated by members of my mom's ward and my Aunt Marjorie's ward back in Utah. The women were so grateful for the lovely skirts!

Stephen in front of a beautiful LDS church in Iquitos.

Walking the streets of Iquitos on apartment checks.

A family we visited had a cute little monkey!

They also had a parrot!

Here we are at the baptism in Nauta.

Stephen got an awesome 7-foot blowgun. The gun came from a native tribe two hours outside Iquitos. Stephen is thrilled about his new toy!

This man makes these beautiful baskets by hand.

Beautiful bloodwood bowls and vases. These lovely items are unique to Iquitos.

The talent show in Nauta. One of the talents was a primary song sang by the primary children.

A fruit and meat market in Nauta.

Fish, anyone?

The missionaries ready to board the boat to go find members in San Reyes!

Boarding the boat with Mom and Dad Blunck.

These kids, along with many other people, ran down to our boat when we arrived to sell us goods and food.

We gave pictures of Christ to these darling children in San Reyes. We also had lots of fun playing with all the kids.

Playing volleyball with the kids.

The kids gave us a tour of their village. You can see what their homes look like on the left side.

Another picture of their homes. The homes are up on stilts because the river floods.

Mom showing the kids pictures of Christ, prophets, and other pictures found in the Gospel Principles manual.

A lovely picture of the river from the boat on our way back to Nauta.

A village on the side of the river.

At a restaurant that evening in Nauta, a parrot made its way into the restaurant and climbed up Dad Blunck's chair. It was hungry!

Later on we visited a family in the branch who have a cute pet monkey.

It sure loved Mom!

We visited the second counselor in the branch presidency and his family in their home. The violin on the table is the work of his own hands.

This member of the branch is a talented artist. He painted this lovely depiction of the tree of life and the iron rod.

The Nauta branch on Sunday. Missionaries arrived in this jungle village only last October. There are many members now and the people are so excited about the Gospel! The senior missionary couple in this branch is amazing.

Beautiful women in beautiful skirts donated from members of the Relief Society in Utah. Thank you to all who donated!

The Young Women in the branch wearing their new skirts.

All of the sisters in their new skirts!

Members and investigators in Nauta.

Before heading back to Lima, we visited an area of Iquitos called Belen. The houses are all built way up on stilts because the area floods every year. The people take boats and build bridges to get out to their homes. It is a very poor part of town.

This area is not currently flooded. When the area is not flooded, people use ladders to get up to their homes.

Stephen's Birthday

2011-08-05T16:27:00.000-07:00

Stephen turned 26 on July 27th. We took him and Martha (the wonderful lady who helps cook and clean in the mission home) out to lunch at Chili's. Martha's birthday was the day before. That evening we celebrated Stephen's birthday with brownies and ice cream. Feliz cumpleanos Stephen!

Pucallpa!!!

2011-07-27T18:27:00.000-07:00

We recently returned from a fun few days in the jungle city of Pucallpa. Pucallpa is quite a big city and contains an entire LDS stake. There are many members of the church there! On Monday we did apartment checks with mom. That evening we did Family Home Evening with the missionaries. On Tuesday we visited a really great zoo with all kinds of jungle animals. That afternoon we visited a lake and a native village about a 40-minute dusty drive outside Pucallpa. We had a great time!

Mom and Dad riding in a mototaxi.

Dad sharing the Gospel with a mototaxi driver.

Apartment checks with Mom.

A statue in Pucallpa.

A man with a load of bananas; a common site here in Peru.

Riding in a mototaxi.

Fried alligator!

Monkey pets for sale. I wanted one!

Fish for sale!

A cute boy asleep in a mototaxi.

Lunch with the assistants to the president.

A cute boy and his baby sister who followed us around as we shopped at a market.

The awesome zoo we went to.

Huge ant hills at the zoo.

Beautiful lake at the zoo.

Stephen loves swinging on the vines here in Peru!

Alligator skin at a museum at the zoo.

Lovely view at the zoo. This lake had alligators in it!

A beautiful lily in a lily pond.

A lovely lily pond we happened upon.

Lunch with the zone leaders and assistants.

A lake which has piranha and pink dolphins! Unfortunately we didn't see any.

Stephen found a little boat tipped over a few feet off shore. After retrieving the boat, he climbed in. It didn't last very long before it tipped over!

These cute kids live in the native village we visited. The sang a song for us for 50 centimos.

Stephen and the missionaries played a pick-up game of volleyball with the local native Peruvians.

Group photo after the game.

A wooden snake at our hotel. Fortunately snakes don't come in that size!

A Fun Week in Lima with Mom and Dad

2011-07-27T16:48:00.000-07:00

Last week was a great week in Lima. On Monday we put on "Family Home Evening with the Bluncks" for all the missionaries in the Lima North mission that are in Lima (the other half are in the jungle). We each gave a short talk and afterwards we played Jeapordy with the missionaries. They absolutely loved it and we had a great time as well!

We also visited some neat places in Lima. We went to Gamarra, a crazy gigantic place with clothes at great low prices. We also visited a factory where people make beautiful silver jewelry by hand. On another day we visited a place where people make beautiful pottery by hand. In addition, we did some shopping at the local Inca Market and purchased some fun black-and-white pottery and a lovely painting. We also enjoyed the final movie of Harry Potter in 3D!

Mom and me at FHE with the missionaries.

The missionaries playing Jeapordy.

A picture of all the missionaries serving in Lima in the Lima North Mission with Mom and Dad Blunck.

Shopping for beautiful paintings.

This is the factory where they make beautiful silver jewelry by hand.

Here I am looking at the jewelry in the display room.

Harry Potter in 3D!

Stephen with the owner of the pottery factory.

Beautiful pottery at the pottery place.

Tarapoto!!

2011-07-20T16:51:00.000-07:00

We recently returned from a fun four days in the jungle city of Tarapoto. We had a great time visiting the missionaries there and seeing some of the sights. On our first day we did apartment checks with mom. On day two, we attended a zone conference. On day three we went to the town of Llamas, where we visited a museum, a castle, and a native village. Mom and I also went out with the sister missionaries that evening! It was really neat to visit some of the people and families they are teaching. On day four we visited a rustic hotel on the riverbank and went on an exciting hike through the jungle. See pics!

Arriving at the airport in Tarapoto

The shuttle that picked us up at the airport and took us to our hotel.

Stephen relaxing in a hammock

Taking a mototaxi! Mototaxis and motorcycles are the primary form of transportation in the jungle.

Visiting the sister missionaries

A lovely view of Llamas, a town near Tarapoto

This castle is in Llamas and is in the process of being built by a man from Germany.

This is top floor of the suite in the castle.

Kids from a native village near Llamas

These men are making an adobe house. Adobe homes are very common in the jungle, as well as throughout Peru.

We became friends with a bunch of school kids who were on a field trip. They thought it was pretty exciting to meet a group of Americans! They sure thought it was awesome when Stephen jumped over some of the kids!

Here we are with some of the cute kids. Many of the girls gave us braclets when we left.

This is the bungalow we stayed in.

Swimming at the pool to escape the heat!

A lovely view of the jungle

Here we are at a rustic hotel on the riverbank way out in the jungle.

This big river feeds into the Amazon.

We went on an awesome hike through the jungle to this lovely waterfall.

Stephen had fun swinging on vines :)

It was a fabulous trip!!!

Our Amazing Trip to Cusco!

2011-07-12T11:29:00.000-07:00

We just returned from a fabulous ten days in Cusco! We did tours of the city of Cusco, the Sacred Valley of the Incas, the valley south of Cusco, Machu Picchu, and went on a fun bike ride through the Sacred Valley! We visited many amazing Incan ruins, checked out the museums, watched the festivities that took place with the 100-year celebration of the discovery of Machu Picchu, ate at a lot of delicious restaurants, did some shopping, made some new friends, and visited our amazing sister Lynette who is serving in the Cusco mission. Below are pics!

We watched many amazing parades with gorgeous costumes. Festivities are going on throughout all of July to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the discovery of Machu Picchu.

Here we are with some women in beautiful traditional clothing.

The amazing structure of Sacsayhuaman.

Another view of Sacsayhuaman.

Here is a lovely view of the Sacred Valley of the Incas.

Pisac; an Incan site in the Sacred Valley of the Incas.

Ollantaytambo; an unfinished Incan temple in the Sacred Valley of the Incas.

Pikillacta; a pre-Incan and Incan site in the valley south of Cusco.

Tipon; a beautiful Incan site in the valley south of Cusco.

We went on a day long bike ride through the countryside of Cusco. It was lovely!

We rode our bikes to the Incan site of Moray.

We finished our excursion by riding down into the lovely city of Urubamba where Lynette is serving her mission.

Only the first 400 people to arrive at Machu Picchu each morning can hike Waynu Picchu, the mountain that rises above Machu Picchu. In order to secure our spot, we were in line at 2:30 in the morning. Amazingly enough, hundreds of people were there before us! We were very excited to be within the first 400!

Machu Picchu!!! Machu Picchu is absolutely amazing! We started the morning off by hiking Waynu Picchu (the mountain you see in the background). Afterwards we went on a tour of the amazing Incan city.

View of the city of Machu Picchu from our hike up Waynu Picchu.

Another view from Waynu Picchu.

View of the mountains that surround Machu Picchu.

Hermana Blunck and Hermana San Francisco visited Machu Picchu with us!

Having lunch with Hermana Blunck and Hermana San Francisco.

What a great trip!

Apartment Checks with Mom

2011-07-12T11:13:00.000-07:00

Last week I got to do apartment checks with Mom. Every three months Mom visits all the apartments of the missionaries to check for cleanliness and safety. She also checks up on each Latin American missionary to see how their English is coming.

Mom working with a sister missionary on her English

New Shoes

2011-06-26T18:41:00.000-07:00

There is a darling family of seven children that come to El Bichito for food and activities each day. The two youngest children of the family, ages 2 and 3, have terrible shoes. We decided to buy new shoes for these cute little girls. On Friday afternoon we accompanied three of the older kids, Israel, Lazaro, and Eva, back to their home to give the shoes to the two little girls. It was wonderful to meet the mother of the home (the father is not in the picture). She was very courteous and grateful and we could see she works extremely hard to care for these seven children. When we pulled the old shoes off the feet of the little girls, their feet were muddy and wet. Some of the kids in the family helped wash off the feet of the little girls. We then dried off their feet, gave them cute little socks, and put the new shoes on their feet. The little girls were so excited! We were relieved to find that the shoes were a perfect fit. We also had markers and colored pencils for the other children in the family. When we walked away we felt so awful that we didn't do more! It was an incredibly humbling experience. The pictures below show the family (minus the oldest child). You can see the new shoes on the feet of the two little girls.

Edwin's Birthday Party

2011-06-26T18:26:00.000-07:00

Little Edwin turned 6 years old on Thursday. His tia (orphanage mother) threw him a fun party and invited us to attend. Edwin was dressed in his best clothing and the tia cooked up lots of treats, including caramel popcorn, two cakes, and jello. The kids that live in Edwin's home and some of the other kids in the orphanage were invited to the party. The kids had lots of fun dancing around and playing games. We also had a wonderful time!

Singing happy birthday to Edwin

It is tradition here for the birthday child to bite into the cake after everyone sings him the birthday song

Pictures from the Orphanage

2011-06-26T18:21:00.000-07:00

Below are a few pictures from our last week at the orphanage.

Little David - we are so in love with him!

Rose Marie

Magalena, Hilmner, Ricardo, and Cindy

Another picture of David

Stephen with darling Edwin on his lap

Pictures from El Bichito

2011-06-26T18:09:00.000-07:00

Below are a few pictures from our last week at El Bichito.

View from the roof of El Bichito

Another view from the roof

Darling kids!

Coloring pictures with the kids

Field Trip with El Bichito

2011-06-26T17:52:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday we took the kids at El Bichito (the after-school program) on a field trip to a military base in Banos Del Inca (a bordering city to Cajamarca). We were very impressed with the tour the kids were given! They got to see lots of the equipment the military uses (such as vehicles, guns, etc.), saw many of the men in action (doing workouts, drills, etc.), and were even given refreshments. The kids had a wonderful time!

Gathered together on the steps of El Bichito

Waiting outside the entrance before the tour

The kids with some of the military men

Pictures of the Orphanage

2011-06-26T17:47:00.001-07:00

This week I snapped a few pictures of the orphanage. The first picture shows the houses the children live in, with about 10 children to each home. The second picture shows a swingset with the new library in the background. The third picture is of the concrete soccer field where Stephen and the older boys played frequently. The fourth picture is of me with the llama they have at the orphanage.

Cajamarca

2011-06-26T17:42:00.001-07:00

Cajamarca is a beautiful city surrounded by green mountains. As it was our last week in this wonderful city, we took some pictures as we were out and about. Below are a few pics from the Plaza de Armas and from the marketplace. See that meat hanging out in the open air? Yep, we were fed lots of that. Luckily for us we are still alive!

Harold's 17th Birthday

2011-06-26T17:39:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday we celebrated Harold's 17th birthday. Harold is the oldest son of Sandro and Patti. He speaks a little English and we have really enjoyed talking with him and getting to know him. He is a wonderful brother to his younger siblings. At Harold's party we sang to him and ate delicious banana cake.

Wonderful People

2011-06-26T17:35:00.000-07:00

This past week was our last week in Cajamarca. Below are pictures of us with the Bishop of our ward and with Sandro and Patti's extended family on our last Sunday in the city. All of these people were so kind and loving. They really reached out to us and made us feel like part of their family. We will miss them very much!

The Fair

2011-06-21T16:44:00.001-07:00

There is currently a fair going on in Cajamarca and last Saturday we attended it. There were lots of rides, games, food, and items for sale (just like fairs in the US!). We walked around and bought some Cotton Candy. It was fun. :)

John's Baptism

2011-06-21T16:40:00.000-07:00

John was one of the first kids I met on my first day at the orphanage. He is 12 years old and had only been at the orphanage for two weeks. I have no idea what his story is... where he came from, why he's at the orphanage, etc. We always really liked John though and thought he was very tender-hearted. Anyways, last week we discovered that John has been visiting with the missionaries for a while! Last Saturday he was baptized and we attended his baptism. We are very excited for him!

Chinese Food - Peruvian Style

2011-06-18T08:40:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday the family we are living with taught us how to make Chinese fried rice, Peruvian style. It was delicious! We had a fun evening cooking and chatting with the family and some of their extended family members as well.

Top picture from left to right:
Patti (the mother of the home), Molly (her daughter), Patti's brother, Stephen, Patti's mother

Fun at the Orphanage

2011-06-18T08:35:00.000-07:00

Below are a few pictures from this week at the orphanage.

1. Helping Edwin and Jaquelyn with their English homework.
2. This is Emily. She is from California and has been volunteering at the orphanage for many years. She started her own non-profit company to help out the orphanage. She is amazing!
3. Stephen teaching the teenage boys how to throw an American football.

Fun at El Bichito

2011-06-18T08:27:00.000-07:00

Below are some fun pictures from this week at El Bichito (the after-school program).

24th Anniversary of the Orphanage

2011-06-18T08:19:00.000-07:00

On Monday the orphanage we volunteer at celebrated its 24th Anniversary. The kids didn't go to school and they had lots of fun events throughout the day. They also had the inauguration of the library. The inauguration ceremony included drama skits and dance performances put on by the kids. Later in the afternoon some professional singers came and performed and all the kids danced around while they sang. It was a very fun day for all the kids (and for us)!

1. Kids dancing at the library inauguration
2. Everyone watching the performances
3. Playing with one of my favorite little girls, Jaquelyn

Ward Family Home Evening

2011-06-18T08:16:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday we attended a ward Family Home Evening. We had a lesson on the importance of families, played some really fun games, and had treats. We had a great time!

A Fun Afternoon

2011-06-11T20:53:00.000-07:00

After our Cumbemayo tour (see post below), we met up with the other volunteers here in Cajamarca for lunch. We ate at a yummy Chinese restaurant. Afterwards, Stephen and I visited the catacombs beneath the Church of San Francisco near the Plaza de Armas. We also visited the museum at the Church. After that we did some shopping! We bought a lovely painting on a plate from the artist himself. We also purchased an alpaca scarf and a headband for me. On the way home we stopped at a spot we pass everyday on our way to volunteer. There is an old man who sits at this spot everyday and makes baskets by hand. The baskets must take him at least a day, maybe two, for each one. We don't know what we will use the basket for, but we have wanted to buy one from this man for quite a while. We couldn't believe the baskets only cost 10 soles, or the equivalent of about $3.50.

1-2. Having lunch with the other volunteers
3. The catacombs beneath the Church of San Francisco
4. Alpaca scarf and headband!
5. The lovely plate we purchased from the artist himself
6. We walked into the Church of San Francisco and found them setting up for a wedding. The flowers were gorgeous!
7. The basket we bought from the old man

Cumbemayo

2011-06-11T17:22:00.001-07:00

Today we took an awesome tour to Cumbemayo. We had a very knowledgeable tour guide that spoke English very well. The drive was about 50 minutes, mostly along a winding dirt road up a mountain next to the city of Cajamarca. Cumbemayo is what Stephen and I named the Bryce Canyon of Peru. It is volcanic rock that was once completely covered in ice. Over the years the ice melted away and the rains came and formed Cumbemayo. The large vertical rocks remaining are the hardest of the volcanic rock. Two of these rocks look like two statues of humans (see pics below). The native Peruvian people (3,000 years ago) believed these rocks were carved by God, and therefore believed the area of Cumbemayo was sacred. There is water in this area, and the people believed this water was sacred. So they carved an amazing aqueduct system to bring the sacred water to the valley of Cajamarca for religious purposes. Today you can still see pictures carved in the rock along the aqueducts from the native Peruvian people. It was an awesome tour!

1. Cumbemayo in the background
2. This lady is dressed in the traditional clothing that many women here in Cajamarca wear
3. Three women sitting together at the Cumbemayo site
4. Stephen at Cumbemayo
5-6. The two statues in the background are the statues believed by the native Peruvians to be carved by God
7. Ancient carvings on the rock
8. The amazing aqueduct system
9-10. We climbed through a narrow and dark cave that was formed naturally by water!

The Orphanage

2011-06-11T17:10:00.000-07:00

We have loved volunteering at the orphanage here in Cajamarca. This week Stephen was put to work on a construction project. A non-profit organization from the United States raised money to build a fun center for the kids. Stephen helped out with the construction this week and so did many of the kids! The boys at the orphanage thought it was fun and exciting to participate in the construction of the new building.

The orphanage is also about to open up a library. For the past few weeks I have been helping to cover donated books in plastic to protect them. The inauguration for the library will take place this upcoming Monday.

In addition to the various projects we have been working on, we have also enjoyed playing with the kids. The teenage boys love playing soccer and basketball with Stephen. The younger kids love playing tag and playing on the playground.

A Medical Emergency

2011-06-11T17:01:00.001-07:00

On Wednesday afternoon of this week I got a bug bite on my wrist. On Thursday morning it was very swollen and throughout the day a thin red line made it's way up my arm along one of my veins. By the evening the line was to my elbow. I was somewhat concerned about it so I emailed my sister Shannon who is a nurse and sent her a picture. Shannon was very concerned about the bite and said I should take an antibiotic. Luckily here in Peru you can get just about any medicine you want without a prescription, so on Thursday night we bought Ampicilina (very similar to Penicillin) to fight the infection. On Friday Shannon showed the picture to ER doctors at Primary Children's Medical Center and they said I should be admitted to an emergency room right away! Turns out a swollen bug bite with a red line moving towards your body is a medical emergency and can result in a serious infection! Luckily by that point the swelling had already gone way down and the line was almost nonexistent. I feel very blessed that nothing serious happened! I'm sorry to all our family members who were stressed by the situation!

The CFA

2011-06-11T16:56:00.000-07:00

Stephen has been studying hard for the CFA for the last six months. He took the test in Lima on June 4th. After Stephen's test we celebrated by going to Chili's and then going home for cake and ice cream. Congratulations Stephen for completing your exam!

Weekend in Lima

2011-06-07T09:20:00.000-07:00

We spent the weekend in Lima with Mom and Dad Blunck because Stephen took the CFA (a finance test). He was relieved to have it over with, but unfortunately we won't know his score for 2 months! It has been amazing to spend the weekend here in Lima. Mom and Dad Blunck's house is full of good company, warm showers, good food, warmth, and all-around comfort. Now it's back to another month in Cajamarca!

Family Home Evening

2011-05-31T20:15:00.000-07:00

On Sunday the Bishop of our ward invited us to FHE which was held on Monday night. The Bishop picked us up at the house we are staying at and walked with us. Turns out a few families were invited and we all congregated at the home of one of the members. Everyone was late and FHE officially started over an hour after it was supposed to begin. :) There was a great lesson (we're sure it was great, though honestly we didn't understand much of it), and everyone shared their testimonies. Afterwards we played some fabulous games! It's amazing what fun games people play here without the use of any material items (no board games, cards, or anything!). We had such a fun time and afterwards we were served some tasty treats (candy, crackers, bread, and Fanta). It's so amazing how the Church is the same everywhere you go, even right down to FHE. The evening concluded 3 hours after it began! We sure have enjoyed participating in the ward here in Cajamarca. We are very grateful to the awesome Bishop (who is only 33 years old) for inviting us over for such a fun night.

Taking My Job With Me

2011-05-31T19:59:00.001-07:00

This week I noticed a girl at the orphanage who has a very bad lisp. I debated whether or not I should attempt to help this girl correct her lisp since my Spanish is so poor. I wondered if I would be able to help her at all. Today I mentioned to Emily (the permanent volunteer that helped us get into the orphanage) that I do speech therapy in the United States. She was thrilled and asked if I could help another child as well. She said there aren't any speech therapists in Peru! I told her there was no way I could treat kids with language problems (seeing as how I have a language problem as well in Spanish), but that I could probably help kids with articulation problems (i.e., pronunciation problems, such as a lisp). I will only be at the orphanage another month, so I don't have much time, but I will be working with this one girl every day, and probably more children as well, so hopefully I can help a little bit! The goal for this weekend is to figure out how I'm going to teach correct pronunciation of 's' in Spanish!

BUGS

2011-05-31T19:51:00.000-07:00

I decided the bugs to be most feared are not the ones you find in your house. Rather, they are the ones you can't find in your house, but you know they're there. Such is the case for us. We suspect fleas, but it's hard to tell. As for now, we're treating the situation as if it is fleas. We feel super grateful that it is cold here, otherwise wearing long pants, a hoodie, gloves, and a hat to bed (to protect ourselves!) would not be fun. Fortunately for Stephen, he hasn't received one bite. As for me, I've had about 60. At least both of us aren't suffering!

Otuzco Tour

2011-05-28T19:10:00.000-07:00

Today we took a tour to Otuzco. The tour was 3 hours long and cost only $9 per person. Otuzco was used as a cemetary from about 1000 BC to about 1000 AD. It has a long history! When the Incas arrived, they stole all the silver and gold from the tombs, and when the Spanish arrived, they stole pretty much everything else. Some pottery items remain and are now in a museum in Cajamarca. Next we visited the Suspension Bridge. It is a very wobbly bridge that crosses a river. Not super exciting, but kind of fun. I then took a short ride on a horse, which was really fun. Next we drove through a part of Cajamarca we had not seen yet. The roads were not paved and it was a very poor, but very scenic area. We took a short hike to a beautiful hydrangea garden. They also took us to a tourist shop where everyone in the group except us bought tons of souvenirs (and all the group members were Peruvian!). We thought it was pretty funny that we were the only people who didn't buy souvenirs. Next we visited a farm where milk, cheese, and other related items are produced. The guide explained to us how the items were made. All in all, a super great tour for a great price! See pics below.

1. The cemetary of Otuzco
2. Stephen on the Suspension Bridge
3. Shara riding a horse
4. The lovely hydrangea garden
5. Beautiful surroundings out in the country

The Orphanage

2011-05-26T15:11:00.000-07:00

We found we had lots of extra time when volunteering only at El Bichito. The kids arrive around 1 PM and usually leave around 3 PM every day. We decided to see what other opportunities for service we could find in the city. After many phone calls and emails, we were granted permission to volunteer at an orphanage nearby. The orphanage has about sixty kids. There are six little houses with a house-mom (an employee who lives there 24 hours a day, six days a week) and about ten kids to each house. Though the orphanage is run down and requires much assistance from the government and non-profit organizations, the kids are able to have their physical needs met. However, we found that after the kids return from school, they don't really have anything to do and they don't have much supervision. Many kids sit around and watch TV. Many small children wander around unsupervised. A lot of bullying goes on between the children. Some children are at the orphanage because they don't have anyone to take care of them. Others are there to be protected from abusive family situations. We just started volunteering at the orphanage a few days ago, but we have loved playing with the kids in the afternoon for a few hours. The kids are so darling and I just want to adopt them all!

The orphanage is in the process of opening up a library there with the assistance of a non-profit organization and an awesome volunteer from California named Emily. In order to get the library ready for the children, all the books that have been donated need to be covered with plastic to protect them. I have spent my mornings this week helping to cover the books. In a couple weeks when the library is ready, there is going to be a little celebration at the orphanage with a drama presentation by some of the kids and some snacks. We are excited!

Volunteering at El Bichito

2011-05-26T15:03:00.000-07:00

We sure love volunteering at El Bichito. The kids there are so darling. We have learned a lot about many of these kids over the past few weeks. After the kids eat lunch, many of them go home. However, there are about fifteen or twenty kids that usually stay for a couple hours to do homework and play games. Fifteen of these kids belong to one of two families. One of the families has six kids ranging in age from four to fourteen years old. The parents of the family work on a farm about two hours away and are unable to come home very often to visit their kids. So, the fourteen-year-old washes all the clothes, cooks food, and takes care of the kids. We visited the home of this very poor family last week. It is so sad that these kids go home to an empty home every day with no one to take care of them. The other family has seven kids in it ranging from two to about sixteen years old. The oldest child had to drop out of school many years ago to care for her younger siblings. I am not sure about the situation of the parents, but I know they work a lot. The two-year-old and three-year-old girls of this family are so adorable! Many of the kids that come to El Bichito bring a tupperware. They eat half of their meal and then put the rest in their tupperware to save for later. I'm not sure if they have much to eat at their home. Thank goodness for this program that provides these kids with food each day. Below are pics of us with the kids.

1. The two little girls (ages 2 and 3) mentioned above. Today Stephen fixed the shoe of the little girl on the right with duct tape because she wears the same broken rubber boots every day. When he pulled her shoes off, he found her feet were covered in mud inside her boots.
2-3. These kids belong to one of the two families mentioned above.
4-5. Playing English Bingo with the kids. They love it!
6. Two of the other volunteers playing games and helping kids with homework.

El Mercado (The Market)

2011-05-26T14:38:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we went shopping at the mercado. There is a mercado just around the corner from where we live and it is humongous! We have bought lots of fruit there over the past few weeks, but we hadn't really explored the vastness of the mercado before Saturday. The mercado really goes on forever. There you can find everything you can think of... food, clothes, shoes, blankets, toilet paper... pretty much anything you could ever need and for really cheap prices! We found a Lacoste shirt for Stephen with a $110 price tag on it. When we asked the saleslady how much it cost, she told us $8.00. For some strange reason, Stephen still didn't buy it even though I tried hard to convince him. I guess he thinks he'll find an even cheaper price somewhere else! We also visited another lovely church and once again visited the Plaza de Armas, or the central square of Cajamarca.

1-5. The mercado (notice the picture with the lady dressed in traditional Peruvian clothing and hat... lots of people dress that way here)
6-10. The Plaza de Armas and a lovely church

The Differences Between Men and Women

2011-05-19T19:33:00.000-07:00

Shara says, "I feel achy."
Stephen says (without looking up from his book), "Take a Tylenol."
Shara wants Stephen to say, "Oh you do? I'm sorry you feel achy. Why do you feel achy? Come here and let me cuddle you until you feel better."

One year of marriage and Stephen is still learning... :)

El Bichito

2011-05-17T16:33:00.001-07:00

The center we volunteer at is called El Bichito, or The Little Bug. The kids that come for food and activities live in a small community called Puylcana. The kids arrive around 1 PM for lunch. After lunch we do fun activities with the kids. Today Stephen and I drew pictures with a darling group of girls.

Touring Cajamarca

2011-05-14T19:36:00.000-07:00

Today was a super fun day. We started out by taking showers as Los Banos Del Inca. As mentioned in a previous post, this place is a natural hot springs where you can swim, bathe, and take showers. Since we don't get heated water at the home where we live, we are very grateful for the warm showers at Los Banos Del Inca. This afternoon we visited Santa Polonia. This place marks the spot where the last Incan King fell to the Spaniards. It is at the top of a hill and is a pretty good climb up a bunch of stairs (especially at 9,000 ft above sea level). The pathway up was lovely with lots of beautiful flowers. The view of Cajamarca from the top was awesome! There was also a beautiful white and blue church near the top of the hill, which we went inside. On the way down (we took a different route down) we discovered tons of little tourist shops. We were super excited because as of then we had not found any tourist shops in Cajamarca. We purchased a cute purse for me for about $3.50 and a money pouch for Stephen for about $1.00. Everything is so cheap here! We also eyed a few items that we plan to buy later.

Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, we happened upon two girls who are volunteering with us. They are actually both originally from Peru. We went out to eat for a late lunch/early dinner with them. Afterwards, Stephen and I visited a nearby market as well as a few more of the beautiful churches near the central square of Cajamarca. We also bought some delicious crumpet-like treats and a caramel-milk sauce to dip the crumpets in. The Peruvian girls introduced us to this tasty treat and we love it. As we made our way back home, we went in and out of different stores and just enjoyed this lovely city! To be completely honest, we had a little bit of culture shock when we first got here, but the city has quickly grown on us and we sure love this place! It was a fun day of touring and site-seeing!

This evening on our way into the home where we are staying, we saw Sandro (the father of the home). He was on his way to go clean the church. We asked if he needed help and he said he could use our help if we had time. The church is only two blocks from Sandro's home. Instead of carpets (like churches in the USA), the floors are all tile. We swept all the floors and then mopped them. It seems it is our eternal calling to clean churches! We are very happy to do so though. :)

1. We bought the llama blanket pictured here a few days ago. For the last week we have been attempting to share a mummy bag (and it hasn't really worked). We bought this cute llama blanket for about $7.00. It is very thick and warm.
2-3. On our way up to Santa Polonia.
4. At the top of Santa Polonia.
5. The lovely white and blue church.
6. My new purse!
7. Shopping at the market.
8. Gorgeous church near the central square.
9. The yummy treats mentioned above.

Usted necesita comprar mas jabon!

2011-05-14T19:21:00.000-07:00

This morning I did all of our laundry by hand and then hung the laundry up to dry. It was a lot of work. I have a newfound appreciation for washing machines and dryers (as our clothing is still all wet). I asked Molly (age 7) if she wanted to help me with all the washing. She was thrilled to help. I quickly realized my mistake when she dumped half of my large bottle of laundry soap into a small bin of water. By the time the clothes were all done, the entire bottle of laundry soap (which I had just purchased) was empty. Molly told me, "Usted necesita comprar mas jabon!" Or in other words, "You need to buy more soap!" I did my best to get all the soap out, but I'm pretty sure the clothes are all still full of soap. When we were washing the clothes, I asked Molly if she had ever helped her mom wash clothing. She said she had never helped before. No wonder! Nonetheless it was fun and funny to do laundry with Molly and I'll probably have her help me in the future... which means I will be going through a lot of soap. :) Below is a picture of the empty bottle of soap we went through today.

Exercising in Cajamarca

2011-05-11T18:55:00.000-07:00

Stephen brought an exercise band and push-up grips to Peru to exercise with while he is here. Well the other day Kent and Molly (the two little kids in the home where we are staying) came and knocked on our bedroom door. When we opened the door, they promptly let themselves in. They are the cutest kids ever. When they saw the exercise equipment, Stephen showed them how to use it. It was hilarious to watch their attempts. Below are pics. :)

1-3. Trying out the exercise equipment
4-5. Taking funny pictures on our bed

Molly's Birthday Party

2011-05-11T18:43:00.000-07:00

Today we attended Molly's birthday party. She turned 7 years old today. Molly is one of the kids in the home where we are staying. The party was so much fun. It began around 4:30 PM and was still going strong when I left at 8:30 PM. I have never been to such a long party in my life! The party was full of extended family members, tons of treats and desserts, presents, and A LOT of dancing. It basically was a 4+ hour dance party. We absolutely loved dancing and playing with all the kids. Below are some pictures from the party. We are so grateful for the opportunity to stay with this wonderful family!

1. Patty (the mother of the home where we live) with her daughter Molly after Molly took a bite of the cake (I guess that is tradition here).
2. Everyone gathered around and singing "Happy Birthday" to Molly.
3. Stephen with one of Molly's adorable cousins.

Cajamarca!

2011-05-08T14:23:00.000-07:00

Below is a detailed description of what we've been up to! It's pretty long so you can pick and choose what you read. :)

On Thursday afternoon we caught a bus from Lima to Cajamarca. It was a sixteen hour drive. The bus line was called Cruz Del Sur and it was very nice. We sat on top floor at the very front and got a great view as we drove out of the city of Lima. We had a funny experience that evening when they passed around Bingo cards. I was excited to play Bingo and thought it was a good opportunity to practice my numbers in Spanish. Well, what we didn’t realize is that while in the United States you get Bingo when you get five numbers in a row, in Peru, you don’t get Bingo until you get every number on the entire card. When Stephen and I got five in a row, we excitedly called out Bingo! The man on the microphone invited me to come to the back of the bus (I was at the front so it was a long walk to the back) to turn in my card. When he looked at the card, he explained to me that five in a row was not Bingo. I was pretty embarrassed as I made the walk back up to our seats.

After a pretty sleepless night on the bus, I awoke to the sun peering through the window shades. I opened the shades just a little bit (as most people were still asleep) and discovered we were driving through an absolutely gorgeous landscape. We drove along a small windy road through beautiful green mountains. Occasionally we drove through a small village (most only consisting of a few houses).

We arrived in Cajamarca around 8 AM. We were picked up by Liz (another intern who has been in Cajamarca since December) and Sandro. Sandro and his family are a Peruvian family and are members of the Church. We drove to Sandro’s home where we would be staying. We ducked through a doorway about four feet tall and made our way up concrete steps. Sandro and his family live on the 3rd floor of this concrete building on a busy street in Cajamarca (actually every street is busy). Sandro took us to our room on the 1st floor. Unlike the rest of the building which has all concrete floors, this room had gray tile. There were two wooden beds in the room, one a full size and the other a twin size. The room also had two chairs. There was a window, in which one of the panes was broken and had been covered with plastic. Sandro then showed us the bathroom across the hall which was made completely of concrete. He told us the shower had only cold water. Sandro took us upstairs where we met his wife Patty. The 3rd floor has a few rooms and is open to the outside air. In other words, to get from one room to the next, you go outside. Clothing lines hung across outside of the rooms.

It’s interesting because my first thought when seeing such conditions was, wow, people here have it so hard. I can’t believe people live like this their whole lives (and I know there are lots of people in the world in worse conditions). But then, after spending time with Sandro’s adorable family that evening, I realized that these people love where and how they live. They don’t know any different, and they are very happy here with their families and their lifestyle. Sandro’s family is so wonderful. They have a six-year-old daughter named Molly (and her birthday is this upcoming week), an eight-year-old son named Kent, and a seventeen-year-old son named Harold.

On Friday afternoon we caught a ride on a micro. Micros are small buses. There are also many combes here. Combes are super crowded and super dirty vans that serve as the main form of public transportation here. Not very many people have cars. The combes and micros are super cheap. They cost about 30 cents to ride. We took a micro with Liz up to Puylcalpa, a small town outside Cajamarca where we will be volunteering. Liz showed us the building known as El Bichito (meaning little big). This is where Liz and the other interns coming next week live. Liz showed us where we will be making the food for the kids and where we will be helping the kids with their homework and doing activities each day. She also showed us the school where we will be teaching English and computer classes. We are excited to get started on Monday!

On Saturday Stephen and I went to the mercado (or market) with Patty. The market is humongous and you can buy all kinds of things there. There are tons of different kinds of fruit. That afternoon we went and saw some pretty waterfalls with Liz. The countryside outside the city is very green and beautiful. We then went to El Banos del Inca, or the bathrooms of the Incas. These are natural hot water springs in a town called Banos, which is between Cajamarca and Puylcalpa. We took warm showers there for about eighty cents each. We haven’t mustered the courage to take cold showers yet.

On our way back from the showers to Cajamarca, we got really lost! It was dark and somehow we missed our stop. Luckily we had our address. In our broken Spanish we asked a man on the combe if we had passed the street we live on. He gestured that it was down a street and told us we should get off there. We got off the combe and had no idea where we were. We had been told we shouldn’t be out at night because it is dangerous. We walked quickly in the direction the man had gestured. We still had no idea where we were and so I suggested we flag down a taxi. We flagged down two different taxis, but neither driver knew the street where we lived. We kept walking and asked people as we went. Luckily we found a few people who were able to help us. Eventually we found our house and I was so incredibly relieved!

That night we watched Yogi Bear with the three children of the family. It was in Spanish, so we didn’t understand much of it. Little Molly sat right between Stephen and me and partway through the movie put her head on my shoulder. It melted my heart!

Today we went to church here in Cajamarca. I didn’t understand any of it, but I really enjoyed meeting the members. They were very friendly and loving. My Spanish is so terrible, but I was able to speak and understand a few basic words. It is Mother’s Day, and so the primary children came into Relief Society at the end of the hour and sang to us. They gave each of us a card. In addition, the Relief Society gave each of us a card and a cute pair of earrings. Cute little Molly sat by me during sacrament meeting and walked beside me on the way home from church. This afternoon Patty's extended family came over for lunch. We got to meet her brothers and sisters and their children. Their family is so nice and so gracious! They welcomed us and told us we are part of the family. Despite our lack of Spanish, Stephen was still able to make everyone laugh and have a great time. He sure has a talent for that! More to come soon!

Pictures:
1. Taking the bus from Lima to Cajamarca
2. View of homes on the hills in Lima (from the bus)
3. View of the fruit markets (from the bus)
4. Puylcalpa (where we'll be volunteering starting on Monday)
5. Our bedroom
6. Our hallway
7. Our bathroom
8. Staying warm at night
9 & 10. Walking along the rode to the waterfalls
11. The bathrooms of the Incas