salkantay, peru

Brooke and Raegan lay a stone walkway in the village of Salkantay, Peru. (Elevation 15,000 ft.)

Brooke told me how adorable the children are in Peru. And look how right she is! These two little girls just melt my heart. She said that she wants to bring ALL of them all home with her. I reminded her that she will have 2 empty suitcases when she travels home (they had donations inside), so she should be able to fit at least a few kids in them to bring back with her ;)

peru.....week one

Brooke and Raegan are in Peru for 2 weeks doing humanitarian work with Eagle Condor. Their experiences this past week in Trujillo have been both amazing and humbling. Their group built a home from scratch for a woman named Ida. She has 7 children (no father involved). She lived in a one room house (if you can call it at house) with one bed for all 8 of them. Her son is currently serving a mission in South America which is a HUGE sacrifice. He would be the only one to be like a father, to work and bring in money. So with him not there, the situation for Ida and her children is deprivable.

Ida's old house in a heap.

The work has begun. Plumbing is set (Ida has never had indoor plumbing, not even a working toilet), a new floor is poured, and the framing goes up.

Amazing to see these kids frame this home, most of which have never had ANY experience with this.

Brooke and Raegan painting the outside of Ida's new home.

Finished!

From their group leader, Adam:

"The best part of the day... we cleaned up the project, packed up the tools and gathered in Ida’s new kitchen. As the tears began to fall, she thanked each and everyone of us and told us that the Lord blesses those that serve. She said she knows this because the reason she has this new house is because her son is serving a mission and the Lord is protecting her family while his is gone. As we said our good-byes, she hugged everyone of us and now we are all a little better off."

Ida Pretell with her children.

Raegan and her group paint the front of a shop belonging to the Asmat family. They painted it a lovely "mango" color and installed a new awning above the entrance.

The job is now complete. Standing in front of the store with the owners, the Asmats.

Brooke eating a tiny Peruvian banana. This cracks me up because Brooke hates bananas! Oh well, when in Rome..... er, I mean Peru.....

Peruvian women selling at the local market.

charity never faileth (except at the airport)

This morning I took Brooke and Raegan to the airport for their two week humanitarian trip to Peru. I pulled up to the curbside drop-off and we unloaded their luggage. I soon realized that they had 5 big bags to pull, but only 4 hands with which to pull them into the airport. Two of the bags were filled to capacity with pots and pans, yards of fabric, soccer balls, baby dolls - things to donate to these people who have so little.

I stood there for a minute, knowing darn well that you are NOT supposed to leave your car unattended. I didn't know what else to do, so I quickly grabbed Adam out of his car seat and with the other hand grabbed a bag and ran for the door into the terminal. I got the girls and the bags inside, said my good-byes, and quickly dashed back out to my van....only to find a TICKET on my windshield! I was gone for one minute at most. How ridiculous. As I ran to the car, the "Airport Parking Nazi", er, I mean the officer who wrote the ticket yelled over to me....

him: Mam, is this your car?

me: Yes

him: You can't leave your car unattended.

me: My two daughters needed help carrying in their bags. I was gone for one minute.

him: That doesn't matter - you can't leave your car unattended. And in another 30 seconds I was going to have your car towed away.

me: Are you kidding?! Would you rather that I had left my 4-year-old child in it so that it wouldn't be "unattended"? Would that have been better?

(Adam hanging off of my hip with his crusty nose and fuzzy footed pj's still on.)

him: No mam, that would be unsafe.

me: Exactly.

He starts to walk away. I follow him and try to explain my situation more clearly....

him: I'm sorry. You left it unattended. There is nothing I can do!

me: My daughters are flying to Peru this morning to help build schools for children, to paint orphanages, to pour concrete for homes for people who have none. Won't you just help me with this?

him: (still walking away) Those things don't matter. What matters is you left your vehicle unattended.

Well, to me and the people in Peru "those things" matter more than he understands. Thanks for your help, officer #L21.

palmyra, new york

Brooke was one of over 1300 applicants for the 2008 Hill Cumorah Pageant. Only 603 were chosen and she was one of them! What an amazing experience for her. She spent 2 1/2 weeks there in Palmyra, New York (I spent four incredible days there with her).

Brooke - the "Nephite Battle Banner Carrier". Many people kept commenting on her hair, saying how beautiful it was. Funny that it was a wig and no one could tell! She also earned a lot of nick-names from fellow cast members due to her lovely hat, "Hershey Kiss, Cone Head, Dunce, Shark Fin, etc, etc."

Brooke and her new friend McCall (er, I should say "Lamanite Warrior Dancer", and who is really a blonde). The cast members would go out into the audience 2 hours before the show each night and share scriptures from the Book of Mormon and answer questions. Their first several days at the Hill, they were trained by the missionaries on how to best teach the gospel to the people coming to see the pageant.

Armed with her banner and ready for the night's performance.

Giving an autograph to a cute little boy!

Here I am standing on top of the Hill Cumorah looking down. The red close to the bottom is the top of the stage and all 9000 green chairs are at the bottom facing the stage.

Now I am at the bottom looking at the hill. The cast members set up all 9000 chairs, AND took them down after the last performance!

Smith family farm

The Smith log home - where the family lived when Joseph experienced the First Vision and visits from the Angel Moroni.

The Smith family frame home that Joseph's oldest brother Alvin built (partially, before he died). They lived here for 4 1/2 years before they lost the house and had to move back to the tiny log house - all 13 of them!

This is so amazing to me - I couldn't stop staring at it! This is Oliver Cowdery's actual hand writing of when he was transcribing the Book of Mormon (this page is from 1 Nephi 3). This is at the E.B. Grandin Print Shop, where the first 5000 copies of the Book of Mormon were printed.

Peter Whitmer farm house, where the church was organized.

The Sacred Grove

american idol concert(s)

Okay, if you are NOT an American Idol fan, then STOP right now! You will be bored to tears if you continue.

If you ARE a fan, then read on because these pictures are.....molten hot baby!

Last week, me and my two girls, Raegan and Haylie (Brooke was in Palmyra, New York) went to two, yes TWO, American Idol concerts. Those 48 hours were about the funnest 48 hours I've ever had! (Well, you know what I mean, they were just really, really fun!). So yes, I've posted about a million pictures from both nights, which happens to be only a fraction of the pictures I took.

The first night we went with a big group of our friends - the BEST girls' night out ever (one boy, but he didn't seem to care)! There were 12 of us. After the concert we went behind the arena and got to meet the American Idols as they came out one by one. The next day we went back to the arena in the morning because we heard that the Idols would be coming out again at noon (they showed up closer to 3:00 p.m.) Soooo worth the wait - we were front and center - the BOMB! Then that night my two girls and I went to the concert with my sister-in-law Judy and her two girls. And of course again after the show we went out back again for more photos and autographs (in bed at 2 a.m. both nights - I'm still recovering, apparently I'm not as young as I used to be.....yawn).

I have to say that each one of the idols was SO VERY NICE to us. I was completely impressed with all of them (perhaps it's because fame hasn't gone to their heads yet??).

Check it out.....

Chikezie

And....Chikezie signing my poster.

This is Lynette. Lynette is a little in love with Jason Castro. This was Lynette's reaction when Jason Castro came walking towards us. Lynette needs to get a grip. Lynette's reaction is just a little much for someone of Lynette's age.

Jason does have great teeth!

However.... ...the hair. Oh, the hair!! Lynette, did you SEE IT? I mean did you REALLY see it? If you didn't, then just click on the above photo for a close-up. Just be prepared if you do. Ewww.

It's a good thing Jason was so friendly with us. For that, I can somewhat forgive him for the icky dreads.

The moment we've all been waiting for (for 3 hours in the extreme heat, dehydrated and exhausted) - Here comes Archie!!

Signing Raegan's shirt (while her heart is melting).

Haylie's turn for his autograph.

I LOVE these pictures of my niece Jessie! She was a little.....

.....overwhelmed by it all.

My future son-in-law

Several fans gave him presents. I wonder what was in them. Hmmm, perhaps a toaster, crock pot, or even a blender. You know, something for his future wedding to my daughter. Like a pre-pre-wedding gift.

David's dad - Jeff Archuleta. He was SO nice! He hung out with us after the "stars" all went back in and just chatted with us. He told us lots of inside scoop on his son ;) My girls asked for his autograph which he thought was really funny. He gave it to them though!

When Brooke White came out, the crowd went wild (almost as wild as when Archie came out!). She was trying to quiet everyone down so that she could tell us that she was on "vocal rest" so she wouldn't be able to talk a lot (see how she's pointing to her throat?). However she ended up talking to us A LOT!

Brooke signing Raegan's shirt.

Haylie gets Brooke's autograph.

I love that Brooke White came out with NO make-up on - what a woman!

Haylie, Raegan, me, and Chad with Michael Johns.

And.....Michael signing Raegan's shirt.

Here comes Kristy Lee!

Kristy Lee Cook and Haylie.

Crazy cousins Raegan and Morgan screaming their heads off.

Ramielle and Haylie.

Carly - she was sooo nice! And I might add that her gorgeous skin should be the envy of all women (I'm not talking about the tattoo, although it was quite interesting to see close up!).

David Cook - cookin' at the concert.

After Monday night's concert.

Girls? Are we a just a little too obsessed with David Archuletta?? Ha! Can't wait to see my 41-year-old sister-in-law Julie wearing her shirt!!

Girl's Night Out (plus one boy - sorry Chad, you're a good sport!)

Haylie, Syesha, and Raegan.

Awww. Isn't he cute?!

David A. does his magic.

David C. wasn't too bad either ;)

Screaming Archie fanatics!

David Cook signing my poster!

David Cook was the NICEST guy! I was so impressed with him.

They do make a pretty cute couple, if I do say so myself (tee hee!).

(And John, I really was just kidding when I said that I am going to hang my A.I. poster over our bed. Really, I was. Although it would look really, really good there.)

happy 4th birthday adam!

Born July 7th (07/07) Our lucky 7's!