Getting Ready for the New School Year

When the ranch plumber (who is also the landscaper, handyman, electrician, and anything else Yuca needs) got around to repairing our kitchen sink drain, he decided that the real problem stemmed from the septic field. After he cleaned out the swamp in the yard, our seven large toads had to find a new home. At least, we don't see them popping their heads out of the watery hole anymore.

The pipes underneath the kitchen all need to be replaced due to decomposition, but of course, replacing them is out of the question. So to keep things draining better, we now dump most of the kitchen sink water into the laundry room sink which drains to a separate septic system.

Problem solved once again. What's next?


Many of the terneros (calves) were taken from our ranch at El Quebracho, to the large feeding fields in Los Perales (the other church owned ranch).

It's amazing to watch the movement of hundreds of young cows and the orderly manner of transportation. These trucks are being weighed before moving the calves off.

On our way to Los Perales, we passed these trucks about twenty minutes away from our destination; they were stopped waiting for the road to be repaired enough for safe passage. We had been teaching an hour or so when they pulled up, and we realized that they were "our" cows. These are the ternernos we had honked at while traveling between student's homes! They kind of looked familiar. :)


Vanesa finished a little dress for her infant niece, and made an apron for an older niece all in one afternoon.


The apron is reversible.


We stopped for a picture of the fields having been thrashed and bailed. What a peaceful part of our world.


Side note: A little piece of Nauvoo was left in Gregg's pants pocket. Yep, these are pieces of sisal last collected at the Family Living Center while making rope. Rather than a suit, Gregg wore some slacks traveling to Buenos Aires and then attended the temple. Obviously, he hasn't worn them much the past year. It made us laugh to think of the distance we and our clothes have come the past few years.


New School:
Another chapter in our lives will start tomorrow as school is back in session. We have created a new schedule for the kids and have been told that the new school has been properly transferred to the Argentine government so our days will include an extra trip to pick up the kids a couple miles away. It was handy for the kids to be able to walk to our house from the school, but it will be better for the kids to be in their new school.

Piano lesson update:
Our two new students are practicing and making great improvement. We are excited for them and are motivated to keep them on task.

Today the young missionaries in our branch asked if we would be willing to teach piano to non-members in Feliciano. "How many?" we asked. "Oh, probably 10-15." was the reply. What? How is that going to happen? Well, long story short, we are going to have a group lesson on Saturdays after we teach our young ladies. We'll primarily teach the basics. We found a YouTube in Spanish teaching basic piano. So, we'll start with that and some general instructions with a few handouts like flash cards for learning notes. Oh, what are we in for now?

More bad roads
On our way to Feliciano on Thursday for a piano lesson, we came to a bridge that had been washed out so we had to back track and take the longer route. Fortunately, we had left early hoping to do a little grocery shopping so we arrived right on time. So sad for us however, because a dam had washed out leaving the impassable road and we're told it will be a long time before it is repaired. So we're back to leaving an hour before church and piano lessons rather than just 30 minutes. When we start feeling sorry for ourselves, we remember the stories we told in Nauvoo and conclude that we really don't have it so bad. :)

It rained how much?
Speaking of water and rain, we learned that while we were enjoying Antarctica, El Quebracho had 230 millimeters of rain which calculates to about 9 inches. This is in one month! We noticed on our return to the ranch that there were signs of water around our house. Remember the sand bags we piled up in the back of our house? Well, there were signs of water between the sets of sandbags but nothing inside the house. Once again, what a blessing. Finding creepy, crawly things in your house is simply not a good welcome back sign.

Humor:
Argentine's are pretty open with their feelings. We could say that sometimes they go overboard by American standards. So on the ranch, we are now referred to as the "Gorditos" meaning little fat people. Ok, Ok, it's true that over eating on a cruise for a whole month has caused our clothes to fit a little tighter but "Gorditos"? Looks like we'll be on a diet with extra exercise for a while. :)