Cuzco

Disclaimer: I am going to post tons of pictures. This is a family journal, and I want to remember this trip. It may be boring to the average reader.

Okay, so after a short rest, our tour guide Ophelia came and got us. First we went to a monastary built on incan ruins.

Our group learning, I love Joey's yawning face.

The whole group sitting on the wall of the monastary. Beautiful Cuzco behind us.

Next we set off for Saxsayhuaman..(sp?...pronounced Saxy woman....yes we told lots of jokes). The workmanship of the incan walls is incredible.

Joey loves to make fun of me for always wearing a hood. I have been known to even wear them inside my house if I am chilly. Also, you can see Justin holding one of the aforementioned "cane chairs".

We went to another sacred place...this rock was special because it is shaped like a puma...or was it a condor...or wait, a snake? (Gotta LOVE my dad's hat)

Okay, so this bridge doesn't look scary in the picture, but there was a very DEEP ravine below. Crisdee was screaming "take the picture!!!"

Next we went to a white statue of Christ that sits above the city. Then we went back to town and ate some food. (I had lomo salteado...Crisdee, remember the adobo?) We also ate some anticuchos (skewers of beef heart) on the street. Yummy. We walked back to the Puma and chitchatted in the lobby. I love sitting around with my parents and talking. It is the best.

Okay, I'm on a roll...DAY TWO in PERU

We woke up early and headed for the airport to fly to Cuzco. The airport was a zoo, and we kindof cut in line to get through security. We just acted clueless and got away with it. The night before my dad had issued a "challenge" to sell some canes that turn into chairs (there will be pictures later if you can't picture what I am talking about...in fact, I was cracking up looking at all my pictures from this trip, we have one in our hands almost constantly). One of my dad's friends make them, and supports his family selling them, so dad likes to help him out by being his main customer basically. He said he would pay for our meals if we could sell them. Anyway, it was funny.

Jared and Crisdee Mitchie met up with us at the airport. I have to pause to explain that Crisdee...formerly Luna, is my Peruvian sister...or I guess cousin technically. My dad and hers, Julio, were friends on my dad's mission to Peru when he was 19. Then Julio went back to Moses Lake and lived with my Grandma and Grandpa Earl. When my dad was a mission president in Peru, the Lunas were our family there. Now, the Lunas live in Moses Lake, and Crisdee married Jared, who I was friends with in High School. Bizarre. Anyway, when I think of my time in Peru, Crisdee was a big part of that. It was so awesome to get to travel around Peru with her.

When we got to Cuzco, something kinda funny happened. This guy with a baggage cart kept coming up to me and saying something. I thought he wanted me to pay him to carry our stuff, and I kept saying "no gracias"(like 3 or 4 times he approached me). Later to my embarassment, I realized that he had been saying "EARL"...he was there from the tour company to pick us up. In my defense...Peruvians cannot pronounce the word "earl" to save their lives.

We checked into "THE PUMA" hotel and rested for an hour before going to tour some sites.

My kids need me....more later.

Did You Give Up on Me?

Okay, I'm back and better than ever. The pictures are downloaded, and I am ready to tell you all about my amazing trip to Peru. We left on a Tuesday at 10:00am...I won't tell much about the travel, it was boring and long. We flew to Dallas...lay over, then Miami....lay over and then finally to Lima. We got there at 5:00 am Lima time. The airport seemed modern and clean and right away I realized I had come to a whole new Peru than the one I remember from my childhood. After customs we came out, and there was my dad. What a sight! I have missed my parents so much. His bishop Armando had graciously come to pick us up. He was fun to meet, he is 29 and works for the church. We looked at Lima sleepily on the way to my parents house, where we crashed until noon.

We were so happy to be there and to see my mom and Justin and Angelique, who came in the night before (they got home a 2 am...NOT a good night for my dad). The first thing we did was jump on a bus and head downtown.

My dad buying "agua, sin gas" out the bus window.

We walked around and stoppe at a place for "pepito" which were like donuts, made out of sweet potato, with syrup on them. I love this picture of my mom and I....you can tell we are so happy to see each other...our faces are all lit up!

Next we went to an incan market to buy Peruvian "stuff" and thankfully, I had in my mind what I wanted to buy, because it felt a little abrupt buying souveniers on the first day. I got a nativity scene, inca cola shirts for the kids and sweaters. Then we hopped back on the bus and headed down to a gorgeous mall that was on the ocean...built into the side of a cliff. We ate an AMAZING meal here. I had steak and Joey had scallops. Here is a picture of the view at that mall.

Slurred Speech

I don't really have time to blog, as I am leaving on a long trip tomorrow to PERU! I am couch-bound for the time being though, because Carolina was put under this morning for dental work, and is slow to come out of it. The day started at 7:00am, which was good because CC couldn't eat or drink...which was really hard for her. The first thing she does every morning is have a bowl of cereal. At the dentist, the anesthesiologist gave her a shot in her bum while she was being distracted by a box of small toys (she picked a heart slinky). It was so weird to watch her get glazed over within 30 seconds. Her unnaturally large eyes looked even bigger as she looked around. She was instantly floppy...and then taken to the back for the IV sedation. The dental work went well. She had LOTS of cavities....(don't let your kids have milk bottles until they are 3!) She was so funny on the way home. They had instructed me to lay her down in the van buckled up...she was moaning and writhing around and trying to crawl around. At one point she rolled down the back window. I kept trying to calm her down and talk to her but she was out of it! The first thing she said when she finally did speak...(okay, imagine her voice like drunk girl from Saturday Night Live) "Mom do you know why I am so sad?....My bum hurts, they shot my bum." Later she said "I feel squiggly. Why does Max and Ruby look so weird?" Now she is more coherent, but is quite mad and demanding. I wish I knew how to help her. Only time will do the trick. Meanwhile, I'm leaving to Peru tomorrow and have SO MUCH to do! Oh well. That will have to wait. I sure love my little Jonesy.

Chapter 2.5

To start this post, I must mention that the cabin did not have a Christmas tree, and many of the kids were worried about Santa finding us there....where would he put the presents? Jared and Poppy pulled off the "2008 Christmas miracle", by borrowing a tree from a local pizza place. It was so awesome to see how relieved and excited the kids were. Later in the week they made the kind stranger a plate of gingerbread cookies and a thank you card. I'm sure it was a fun Christmas experience for her too!

Okay, so after we put the kids to bed, the adults stayed up and had our gift exchange. After feeling the spirit during a beautiful Christmas story from 'the dad', we got things rolling. Dave had Joey's name and gave him: wing shack gift certificates (which he used Monday and Tuesday of the next week Dave), the book "An American Lion" (about Andrew Jackson) and some trick golf balls. 'The Mom' had me...she got me a beautiful pair of dress pants and shirt...which fit like a dream, to her huge relief....and a purse with some fun makeup inside. The night progressed from there...with more gifts, some which I will not mention (keep it in the family right?). I'll just say that some of my brother in laws are pretty funny! (you know who you are Jared and Austin)

The next morning was so fun. Santa had come to find us in Bear Lake. Here are the kids running up the stairs.

I love the look on Alli's face, even the grown-ups were excited!

The cousin exchange was first. It went so well. I felt like all the cousins liked what my kids gave them (phew)....and my kids went nuts for what they got. Ty got a "game blanket"...BYU of course, and a poster signed by tons of BYU players...He has been sleeping with the blanket every night. (By the way Jared, I don't think Emily ever got her "you were right speech"..for those of you not there, he wasn't sure what an 8-yr old boy would think about getting a blanket for Christmas....but Ty, well, he is BYU-obsessed and LOVED IT!) Jack got a model airplane to put together and a hat light (thanks Chans...we did it right away!). Carolina got Fancy Nancy books and a tutu, dress up shoes and necklace (Allison, she is obsessed with these books...you were right on with this gift). Gracie got a Dora doll, baby bed and outfit from Abneys..(Linds she drags this doll around everywhere). THANKS COUSINS!!!

So here are some pictures from that morning:

Tyson, Avery, Emily...the aforementioned BYU stuff. The blanket is waterproof on one side so you can sit on it to watch games...it rolls up and has a handle and everything. The other side is byu-blue and white. It is adorable.

Gracie baby with her Dora doll:

Carolina got this dog in a purse from my grandma Jones. It was a REAL HIT!! Thanks AHA.

Jack with his presents from grandma AHA...I just love his face. He really loves presents and gives a great reaction when opening them.

Tyson with a BYU jersey from Joey and I:

The kids got a WII from Santa. Ty had been begging and pleading for a year for this...and had informed me that he knew Santa could get them, because 2 kids in his class got them last year from him. Here he is holding it up in triumph! He was so excited.

Jack loves legos with all his 6-year old soul!

The girls got a Rose Petal Cottage..(a playhouse)....so fun, but a bit anticlimatic since I wouldn't let them set it up until we got back to Lindon. They have been playing in it for HOURS every day since. I'll have to take a picture.

It was a great morning...I got a sonicare toothbrush, which I have been dreaming about for years and Joey got an i-home for his precious i-phone. Good people, good times. I'll write more later. My attention span has been maxed out!

Chapter 2

Okay, Grace is down, Jack and Carolina are watching a show...maybe I can blog now!

The next family to arrive was the Chans and Broekmans. Joey and Jared went to Vegas for the BYU game, but those of us that were here had a fun time watching in my living room....well, until we lost. Cougars, you're hurting me!!


The Abneys joined us and we were a full and happy throng. Nine o'clock church came pretty early the next day, and the super religious of us made it to the service. (haha) Here is a picture of all we could round up on our way out the door:


Joey and Jared got back and we had a fun night chatting with everyone. The Chans and Broekmans showed us alot of moves from their P90X workouts...the rest of us (slackers) got to laugh at all their funny push-ups. I seriously wish I had a picture to go with this paragraph. Aaron Chan (who is a chiropractor) had to give quite a few adjustments after this.


Monday was the day that we planned and executed all the food for our trip. There was a crazy snowstorm (I know I keep saying crazy, but the weather has been...) so we had to go really slow on our way to costco. The boys watched the kids...I'm not sure they really knew what they were getting into, because it took us all day. They took the kids sledding in my neighborhood and even fed them lunch. Thanks guys! I am proud to say that the food turned out awesome. We girls did good!! Besides the shortage of sour cream (can there ever be enough with Jared Palenske in the mix?) we came out just right with everything.


I wanted to include this picture of my front hall so that you can understand the magnitude of how much snow gear it takes to get all those kids out the door sledding. Thank goodness the front of my house is basically unfurnished, as it could function as a "staging area" for all the snow stuff.

Tuesday we headed out. We stopped by the airport on the way to Bear Lake to pick up Gramy and Poppy...our family was finally complete! I was so happy that we made it to the cabin without incident, as the roads were bad in places. The cabin met and exceeded our expectations. It was truly fantastic. I think I will copy Alli now and paste some of my mother-in-law's post into mine. She explained the cabin well:

"Our family just spent the most wonderful holiday season in Bear Lake, at Garden City, Utah. We found this amazing place online at VRBO and booked it last summer. It was everything we had hoped for. Nine thousand square feet of FUN! There were bedrooms and bathrooms for each family, a state-of-the-art kitchen with double dishwashers, ovens, microwaves, washers and dryers, etc. as well as the highlight for everyone...a 1,500 square foot, two story playroom, equipped with half court basketball court, putting green, in-ground trampoline and great playhouse and swings. The kids loved it so much, and the Dad's had some pretty good b-ball games as well. We did so many fun activities together and just mostly enjoyed coming around the corner to see one of our kids or grandkids with smiley faces! Here are some pictures of our week together at Bear Lake. Thanks to everyone for making the effort to be there. SO many great memories were made. There were 26 of us there--12 adults and 14 kids. Our oldest grandchild is 8, so there were LOTS of little people. They got along so well. There were two fun spiral slides built into the walls...one originating in the kitchen going to the next floor down, and then one from there to the bottom. There was even a miniature rock-climbing wall! Something for everyone." (Thanks to Gramy for the great explanation...the rest of the words will be mine)

The front entry hall. This cabin was very beautiful.

An amazing kitchen to be able to comfortably hold all SEVEN woman cooking and cleaning at once, not to mention a few guys too!

A fun little playhouse, the girls kept saying "no boys allowed".

I wish I had pictures of the indoor playground area...maybe one of the sistas do? Anyway, we had an amazing time. I am now going to post some more pictures (the part of blogs I like the best) of our Christmas Eve program. Natalie was in charge and it was ADORABLE!!

Brady Broekman, kind shepherd:

Davis Broekman, Innkeeper Extraordinare....(he put together his own costume, he has his father's flair for fashion!)

Jack was Angel Gabriel, he had a speaking part which he delivered quite well!

Avery Palenske....horse, need I say more? Unfortunately I don't have a great picture of her sister Addison who was an "angel chicken"...or cousin Holland, the Elephant.

Gracie, my angel baby....she had a speaking part "hark!" (which she pronounced "heart!!!" and delivered upon command all week)

This is baby Jane Abney (can you believe those eyelashes?). She was our sweet baby Jesus. I must mention here that this baby is such an affable young thing. I didn't hear her cry the whole trip. She is a true sweety.

Tanner Chan, wiseman, Ashton, Shepherd...with their dad, the donkey (as you'll later see).

Kate Abney, a wisewoman for the ages....

Tyson Emig, a wiseguy!

My sweet Mary...(sweet being a word I don't use often when referring to this daughter of mine, I should say..my SPUNKY Mary) She felt very special....thanks Nat!

Dallin Chan, being cool enough to step in as Joseph next to my CC (I'm not sure he was thrilled, but was extremely gracious...what a gentleman!)

The aforementioned "donkey" with his beautiful cargo Carolina Jones Emig. (Grace is perplexed. You may have noticed she is in the corner of almost every photo I took that night...she really got around!)

The whole group....gotta love these kids! My plan is to keep making them do this until they are off on missions. hee.

I had to include this picture, because I bought my girls gold and cream outfits for Christmas Eve. CUTE!

After the Nativity, we had our cousin talent show. (Ty and Jack sang the chipmunks christmas song, Carolina Baa Baa Black sheep, Grace did her "trick" she puts her hand on the ground and puts one foot in the air.) Then they opened their "gramy jammys", and the boys got stuffed animals, the girls, princesses. Then it was off to bed!

Poppy with his two girl babies!

This is getting long.....To be continued!

Okay, Get Ready...

There will be LOTS of pictures on the next few posts. I want to document Christmas, which may be boring for others, but this is a journal for me, so here we go. This year for Christmas we got together with the EMIG side of the family. Everyone came from far and wide to meet up in Bear Lake at a cabin we rented. I was a little nervous, I must admit, because there were 14 kids under the age of 8 in attendance. I was scared it would be too crazy and stressful. Instead it was awesome and amazing. It was such a joy to see all these little cousins running around together, playing so hard. We all made it home without any car troubles...(there were crazy snowstorms) and without any trips to the ER....also, no throwing up, so that in itself was a miracle!

Before we went to the cabin, family arrived in stages, to my house to hang out. It was so fun and I was proud of my home for being able the withstand all the visitors. First, Emily and Jared came all the way from ALASKA! Oh, how I have missed these people. It almost hurts me to think about it. Avery and Addison became instant bffs with my Carolina and Grace. CC and Addie, got into quite a few sticky situations...as partners in crime: One of them being getting into Aunt Natalie's make-up. (notice one of these girls looks slightly more repentant than the other!)

Okay, so the kids are freaking out!!! Looks like I'll have to pick this up tomorrow.