Our son, Aaron, in Buenos Aires

One of our grandchildren asked about how many pets their pen pal had here in Argentina, and our student responded, "Mucho". Below is an example of  one family's pets. Now you may understand why  the owners don't know how many they have or why the pets don't all have names.

Happy Birthday Juan!

Happy Birthday Pablo!

A big crane showed up to move the new generator.

Now the walls are going up around the new enormous generator. You have to know this is a big deal; having electricity will now be the norm rather than the exception during a rain storm.

Buenos Aires
We were needing to make a trip to Buenos Aires to see an American doctor so when Aaron announced that he had a business trip in BA, we decided to put the trips together.

We didn't actually have an appointment with the doctor until Thursday, but heavy rain was expected Tuesday night, so we left Tuesday after school.

While Aaron was in business meetings, we took lots and lots of walks. No alligators, no mud holes, and not as many mosquitoes was the big motivator to get outside.

On Thursday, we took a public bus (colectivo) to the doctor who was only about 5 miles away. We didn't want to take our big 4 wheel drive truck on the busy streets of BA, but it took an hour by bus with all the stops.

Friday, Aaron was through with his meetings so we walked over 15 thousand steps around BA.














Around noon on Friday, we saw numerous dog walkers with more than a few pets.


We had ice cream in a real mall. This was the first mall we've entered since we left the states.


The rubber tree you see below is around 200 years old. The branches are held up to give it strength.

It's rather large wouldn't you say.

Saturday morning we took a bike tour with Carlos (Co-owner of Biker Street) who we found on line. The day was perfect for an outdoor adventure.

The metal flower (mobile) you see below, opens and closes with daylight. It's made from old airplanes.

We walked around a rose garden.

A water fountain was part of the rose garden.

Saturday night we ate a a popular pizza shop, El Cuartito, recommended by the taxi driver. (We took a taxi to the start of the bike ride since we had a time commitment.)



Below is how you can clothe the naked lady in a picture. Other than the naked lady, the room was spectacular and the breakfast food was delicious. Thanks Aaron for the rewarding trip.


We drove back to the ranch on Sunday after attending church in BA. Good thing we waited to come home because there had been so much rain on Wednesday that the roads were still terrible on Sunday. We had to reroute the trip after calling Ruben, the assistant ranch manager, to see what route was open.

However, Monday was great and we were able to have school. Remember, Monday is a cooking day so we made banana muffins with chocolate chips.




Tuesday it rained part way through school so we had to take the kids home early. The roads were as slick as we've ever seen them before Gregg got home, but he made it without incident. There will probably be no more school for the rest of the week so we are excited to read more and practice the piano again. Oh, and of course, work on Spanish. Gregg is amazing with the language and Amy is not bad, getting better and better all the time.

Happy Easter Everyone!

Easter
There's truly no more important event and therefore no more important holiday than Easter don't you think? What a terrible plight we would all be in without the Savior and His atoning sacrifice.

See Prince of Peace and enjoy celebrating this one single event that has changed destiny for all of us.

No School
Easter in Argentina is almost nonexistent, but Good Friday is a two day celebration. With rain all weekend last week, and no school on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday waiting for the roads to dry, we didn't teach at all last week since Thursday and Friday were national holidays. The whole ranch seemed to shut down except for a skeleton crew, and some of Yuca's extended family visited. However, today, Easter Sunday, is a ghost town once again.

However, we made up for the lack of family and friends by inviting the Young Elders to our home for dinner. (Can't believe we forgot to take a picture.) We were too busy enjoying spaghetti, french bread, and cinnamon rolls together as well as each sharing our testimony of the restored gospel. What a great way to celebrate this wonderful day.

When we said, "rain", we really meant "flood". We had water dripping from the ceiling as you see below. Some of the containers were half full before the storm stopped.




Water backed all the way up to the house even though there is a 15 foot covered porch.





However, our sand bags kept the water away from the back door.


Don't have a lawn service?
Below is our new lawn service at work. When the yard men couldn't get to the ranch to mow the grass, the cows were let out to graze around our house. This is the first time we've seen them eating around our home. Originally, we thought it would be the norm, but apparently, the hombres do a more thorough trim job than the vacas.





Card game anyone?
Victoria brought her cousin, Sophia, over to borrow something from us and we kept the girls for several hours playing Uno. (We wondered why Spanish speakers don't call the game "One".) We taught the girls the Johnson family rules of Uno where players can match out of turn if they have an exact match, or pass along negative cards if they have their own draw, skip, or reverse card. The girls caught on quickly and liked the fast moving game. Perhaps, the parents didn't like the girls kidnapped for so long since the players didn't return with the borrowed item without their grandmother at their side.


Rain, Rain, Rain?...then READ, READ, READ
So, our latest project is reading good books. Our daughter-in-law gave us a tip for signing up for digital books at Deseret Book Store. For a hundred dollars we can download any book we want for the next year. We decided this was the week to start taking advantage of this deal. We've read or listened to 8-10 books between the two of us in the past week. (We are very happy to still have internet.) So all is well at El Quebracho.

Argentine Scale--Are you a gordito?
While visiting the pharmacy (farmacia) we noticed this scale. Not many Argentines own their own scale so they offer the service at the pharmacy. Looks like it's a hit and the owners don't want people to confuse their health tool with a game.

The sign reads, "The scale is not for playing"



Spider the size of a small dinner plate (Don't worry, it's outside)




New Generator
Since last August when we first arrived in Argentina, we've been hearing about a new backup generator that was suppose to come any time. A month or so ago, we heard that it was on it's way, and a new flooring was poured in the old building to support the heavy contraption. However, when the generator showed up, it was way too big to fit in the existing building.

Oops. Someone forgot to measure.


 So a new building is going up to house the gigantic generator.


The cement in the foreground is the old flooring, and the new foundation is in the background.

Another full week of school

We are happy to report a successful week with our students. Rain didn't come until Friday evening so we had a full and rewarding week. We made a couple of changes to our usual school activities. One was to introduce the "I feel" to the  "I see" and " I hear" activity. We hid an object in sacks for the kids to identify without looking at it and then say what it is in English. We also let some kids act out an activity and had the other kids guess the action (again using only English in full sentences....well almost full sentences).

Fall Scenes
We couldn't help taking more pictures in the back fields between the kids' homes. The white gulls follow the animals around--so picturesque.




Check out the gull hitching a ride.





New Puppy!
Yuca's daughter, Victoria, got a new puppy to take the place of Romeo who died last summer. Victoria hadn't named her puppy when she left the ranch to start school in Federal, so we call the dog Victoria Two. However, Victoria Two doesn't seem to know her name. :)
(The dog's name is Pompita which means pompous.)



Finished Project
Christina is the cook and housekeeper that arrives from Feliciano whenever guests come to town or Yuca wants her help. She usually stays a few days when she does visit and occasionally has spare time so I helped her make an apron. She started it last December and finished it this week. She knows many of the basic sewing skills though she says she doesn't sew often. I mostly taught her to cut trim on the bias and reinforce pockets with small triangles on the top corners. She also needed reminding on how to thread the sewing machine.


Thought for the Week
It hasn't stopped raining since Friday evening so no traveling on the weekend. We're always sad to miss church. Here is an uplifting thought that Gregg came up with in his spare time.

In the Book of Mormon, Lehi and his family traveled and suffered many afflictions in the wilderness. (See 1 Nephi 17) "And yet so great were the blessings of the Lord that they began to bear the journeyings without murmuring" ( without showing ingratitude). If we keep the commandments of God, He will strengthen us and provide the means so that we "can accomplish the things that He has commanded". The Lord will give us just enough knowledge so that we can accomplish His will.
What direction are we traveling? Who's "will" are we trying to perform? What do we need to change? Can we follow the still small voice immediately, without delay? Can we stop procrastinating the day of our repentance? Can we stop complaining and speak only the positive? "And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in all things, and obey not his commandments." (D&C 59:21)

Elder Joseph B. Writhlin said gratitude "is a quality I have found in every happy person I know".  Do you know any happy person who is not grateful? Something amazing about being grateful is that it's in our control. We might not be able to get the lead role in the school play or sit at first chair in the orchestra or not be the prettiest or have the smoothest complexion, but we can control whether we have a grateful attitude. Great blessings are promised to those who are grateful.

We always talk about counting our blessings-let's do it!

• Write a list of 10 things you are thankful for.
• Write 10 living people you are grateful for.
• Write 10 people who have died you are grateful for.
• Write 10 physical abilities you are grateful for.
• Write 10 modern-day revelations you are grateful for.

You will discover that you are only scratching the surface of all the things God has given us. Why is it difficult to be grateful and happy?

Hurrah! A regular full week!

We had two new students join us so we again have ten students at El Quebracho.

Laudi age 6 lives at nearby Carraya Ranch.


Joaquin age 7 who also lives in Carraya.

Don't they have the sweetest faces? There personalities are just a sweet.

Another Miracle (Otro Milagro)
You may be tired of hearing our stories about receiving help from above, but once again, there is no other explanation. We were on our way home from Los Perales after having dropped off a gaucho on Monday morning when we felt a change in the engine, the air condition stopped working, and some engine lights came on. We looked at the temperature gauge and it was rising quickly.

So, we turned off the air conditioner and cracked the windows since it was already a hot morning. The temperature gauge dropped to normal immediately though the engine lights stayed on. Our vehicle mechanic, Walter, was located on our way home, but since we didn't have cell coverage, and the temperature registered normal, we continued. When we were about 5 miles from town, we got a signal and called Walter. He heard our plight and said to stop by and he would look it over. At that point in time, the temperature gauge still registered normal though Walter still worried about the safety of the truck.

We pulled into the shop a bit later and turned off the engine. It was no more than five minutes when Walter turned the engine on to check it out. The temperature gauge jumped to the highest point and while looking under the hood, Walter saw the water in the radiator was boiling. He was baffled and not happy. We suspect that he thought that Americans simply can't read temperature gauges.

Long story short, the fan belt had broken and with the temperature so warm that morning, we should not have been able to drive 15 miles without overheating the engine. Walter changed the belt which you see below and wants us to bring the truck back for a 3 hour fix. We'll see what other damage was done, but the fact remains, we made it back to the ranch without bothering Yuca or any of the workers at El Quebracho.



Below is a landmark on the way to Los Perales that we call, "the bridge to nowhere". As you see, it sits undisturbed on the side of the road. We often wonder what is behind the story of a bridge in the middle of nowhere leading to nowhere.


Los Perales
Remember the blouse that Vanesa finished on her own last week? Well, there was extra fabric that she wanted to use for another shirt, but she didn't quite have enough for both the front and back. I showed her how to make a seam in the front and she had some left over trim to complete the design. Vanesa was on cloud nine and so was I observing her sense of accomplishment.



English Classes at El Quebracho
We had a great week with the English classes. We actually had school every day and the kids are still well-behaved and seem to be enjoying our planned activities. Monday, we were 30 minutes late for class with the engine problem, but we carried on as if nothing had happened. The kids observing that their ride was no where in sight, walked the mile or so from the new school to our house. They arrived about the same time we did.

Funny thing: One morning when picking up the kids we greeted Tiago with "Good Morning" rather than the usual, "How are you?" He replied, "I am fine, thank you" said monotone and very rapidly though every syllable was expressed. One of the moments we don't want to forget as everyone laughed and the day became bright and cheery.

The regular teachers are still on vacation though. Did I mention that the first and last month of school each year, the regular teachers take off for an extended period of time? This time two teachers both left for a month. Yuca is the only one that seems upset. You see there is a custom here that if someone uses the word, "Permiso", they pretty much have "permission" to do whatsoever follows the magic word. The mom's are ok with the kids having a substitute for a month because the teacher asked, "Permiso?". I'm sure we have some strange customs as well. What can you think of that compares? Hmmm.... I can't think of any at the moment.

Home repair
We have been trying to get the air conditioner fixed in the learning center since last December. When Yuca wasn't able to get anyone to come out by springtime, we hoped that the weather would change and we wouldn't need air conditioning. However, the Learning Center is simply too hot to use for very long. So, we made another request and this time it worked. Listen to the ordeal we all had to go through. The assistant manager, Ruben, lined up a company (consisting of one man and a helper) to come on Friday evening. We were asked to take the cook and cleaner, Cristina, home to Feliciano and she would show us where the "gas" company was located that would add Freon to the air conditioner. We were to pick up the men and all their equipment and bring them to the ranch, pay them in cash when the job was complete, and take them back home to Feliciano. Remember Feliciano is 30 minutes away. Well, it worked, and the learning center is much more comfortable. Now we know where the owner of the company lives, and we can pick him up without Cristina's help if needed.

We also got the WiFi working again. We've had so much trouble with the internet since the office renovation started. After weeks and weeks, Yuca finally got a representative from the internet service out here but it took threatening to use another company. The joke is of course there is no competition. Anyway, we finally got a break in the weather and they came out. They weren't allowed to leave until we had them verify that all our computers were on line. We have 11 devices counting our iphones and magic jack. The technician had to turn the satellite a bit, and all 11 were connected... but only for a couple of days. Without explanation, nothing worked just several hours before computer time with the kids. The kids would have been sooooo disappointed, but with a prayer and some work, we were able to get the kids computers working since they were connected by hard wire. We had internet but no wifi. We were afraid that it would be weeks and weeks before we got help again, but Ruben got someone committed (after he was pestered by Gregg) to come out on Saturday morning. He set up another desktop switch connecting our routers, and voila, we're functioning again. We are dead in the water without internet even if it is turtle slow.

When Yuca came to check on us, we showed him what we had done to the main outside door to keep it functioning; he said in English, "I love you guys living here." We're not exactly sure what he was implying, but he was happy so we are happy.

Nandu
We were on our way home from Feliciano when we saw a Nandu running the road ahead of us. We had to go fast to catch up with him, but at the point we reached him, the road didn't have a good place for him to run away. So, we followed him for a mile or so.


Amazing, he kept a good 30 mile/hour clip even when we backed off his tail and let him run on his own. We know because we watched the speedometer. (Proof that Americans can read gauges)


When he reached a clearing, he took off at the same 30 miles per hour pace.


More beautiful sunsets

Along with beautiful sunsets, we listened to General Conference this weekend which is a biannual event. We were so uplifted and motivated to do and be better. Here is a link if you'd like to check it out https://www.lds.org/general-conference?General Conference April 2017