Aloha!

As some of you may know, I've spent the last five weeks in Oahu. My dad was on sabbatical and was conducting a research project on the rate of weathering on the island. I took advantage of the tropical setting, sunshine, and beaches in the backyard and had a blast. The days consisted of getting up when we felt like it, going on a hike, going to the beach and eating delicious Hawaiian food...can't complain about that!

At a macadamia nut plantation. Are you laughing at my nuts?

We ate so much pineapple that we may have actually become pineapples!

This is the drug tree, they're not barbecuing hot dogs under there!

A samoan chief making fire. Heck yeah.

My very cute Grammie.

Yeah that's me jumping off that rock. This is at Waimea beach on the north shore. It was one of my favorite beaches.

Before we went snorkeling at shark's cove, we also caught sight of some natural land wildlife. This man was showering in his skivvies, and he was not discreet about his business. The best part was that there was a group of 9 year olds witnessing the whole thing. Their teacher looked dumbfounded, like she didn't know whether to lead the kids elsewhere or teach them a life lesson.

My sister Alyssa and my dad being mad scientists.

There are gorgeous flowers EVERYWHERE!!

"How can this be???"

The backyard of our house...

and just beyond the backyard!! The beach!!

Girl's camp

Since I have been living at home, I had the wonderful opportunity to go to girl's camp this summer with the young women. I was called to be the assistant camp cook, which was quite the task. Lucky for me, I was only the assistant--less responsibility and more goof-off time for me! It was quite an experience to be there as a leader, and it made me appreciate all the hard work that goes in to making activities like this successful. The best part of the whole thing was being there with my little sista Melly. She is so fun, and I just love her! Here are a few pictures...none of me, but that's okay.

Melers, Jord, and Mariah livin' it up on the lake.

Mels rockin' at the stake activity...I'm not quite sure what they were doing, but I think it had something to do with multi-tasking, preparing for motherhood or something (gag!)

My trip to Arg

Um..If you know me at all, you know how obsessed and attached I am to Argentina. I love the people, the sky, the food (except cold-scrambled egg with maple syrup flan), the smells (yeah! the smells!), the sights, riding in the buses, and even the dust. So when Amber started talking about going back, I knew I couldn't miss out. In May, we made the long (and whiny) flight to Buenos Aires. Although the trip had its drawbacks, it really was the trip of a life time. And it definitely left me with ganas to go back again! I don't have all the pictures yet, but here are a few. I will blog more about the trip soon!!

This is the Bonventre family (a.k.a. the Crude family) from La Falda. They have five kids but only two were there. TEAR! In the mission, my companion and I taught all 7 of them, but had more success with their son Roberto and his friend Gustavo. Even if Ambi calls the the Crude family, I still love them with my whole heart and soul and have never been treated more kindly and more like family. We only saw them for a few minutes, but they shared with us a yummy lunch with the most delicious bread EVER! I need to go back and spend much more time with them.

These are the Nunez girls from Tandil. We went past their house to visit but they weren't home. On our way back, we found them in the street walking home! We had just enough time to snap a photo and squeal and cry at the sight of each other. As you can see from how bundled up we were-it was FREEZING cold there, so we let them continue on their way, again only getting to spend minutes with them :(

This is the Vallejos baby (can't remember the baby's name...oops). The baby came as a surprise to them, as their next oldest is already a teenager, but a family could not be more happy to have this little one in their home. I wanted to take him home with me though!

This is Melisa Wajchman, my 1st mission president's daughter. Probably the highlight of the trip was getting to spend a few days with this incredible family. Words can't even describe the spirit that emanates from their beings. I wish I could live with them forever!