Happy Birthday, Elder!

   Somehow I missed publishing the post about Earl and his birthday!  We were wondering what we should do to celebrate and decided to go to a nearby restaurant that we like.  A friend asked what our weekend plans were (The birthday was on Saturday, the day before the US Mothers' Day.)  We mentioned the restaurant and invited the couple to go with us.  Then we invited one more couple.  Soon we ended up with 10-12 people with some of them inviting others!  It was a fun evening.  Finished the dinner with homemade gelato that the restaurant features.  Earl had a good time and there was no stress!
\  The next day we were in Quisqueya.  Sister Miller, Primary President, had invited us to have dinner with them.  She didn't know about the birthday.  I had told her I would bring some dessert.  Just bought a small cake and some candles.  After a delicious dinner--sort of a pot roast with vegetables, we celebrated with the little cake.  I had brought Nutella (Dominican version) to spread on for frosting.  They REALLY liked that!  Here are a few shots of the event!

Brother Miller was not feeling well that day, so he was in the other room.  Left to right we have Yeime, the Millers' daughter, Sebastian, a nephew, Sister Nereyda Miller, Ashley, a niece and in front, the birthday guy.

Smiling Earl as taken by Ashley.

Gate Guard

  As we drive into our office parking area almost every day, we are greeted by this guard.  Sometimes he even salutes us and that is fun!  We don't know his name, but I did get him to let me take his picture one day.  Notice the necessary accessory in his right hand.  You look more authoritative with one of those.  Sometimes he refuses entrance to cars, but he has always let us in and even sometimes moved barricades so we could park when they were full.

Flamboyant!

  In the late spring--and still going--we see these flamboyant trees--that is really what they are called!  In Egypt we saw some hot pink ones, but the ones here are this orange-red.  They add even more color to this colorful country!  This particular one is just outside the park across from the temple.  We get to drive by it almost every day.

           

El dia de las madres!

   Here in the DR Mothers' Day is celebrated the last Sunday of the month.  This plan may be to give them plenty of time to advertise gifts for moms.  One lady in our branch got 2 mother's days because she got to talk to her missionary daughter (serving in Mexico) on May 11th and then to celebrate on the DR day.  I didn't really expect there would be much that day at church.  Earl had been asked to speak and I suggested mothers would be a good subject.  He gave a great talk (what I could understand of the Spanish), with stories of his mother and scripture stories.  Then we went to Relief Society and it was a whole new game!  Presents for everyone!  Of course, we have a small group, but the YW came in too  and they drew for their mothers who weren't there or for other sisters who are usually there, but not this time.  I took a picture of one and then they all wanted pictures!  So here are a few of them.  We drew numbers to pick a gift out of the right pile.  They  were small gifts, but wrapped well and all fun!

 

 

There were some artificial flowers there too, so we had to have a picture!  The lady with more flowers is Hilda, the Relief Society president.

Colonial Zone Saturday, Part 2

  Since the control of where pictures go is not up to me, but whoever controls blogspot, I became frustrated and decided to separate to a new post.  Our next adventure was a carriage ride.  The "powers that be" apparently like this picture and wanted it to be on top of the last post, but it didn't actually fit the story that way, so we'll see what they do with it this time.

We rolled along, seeing various sights.  I will try to include some and hope they allow me to put them in the order I choose.

The walking street in  the Zone--shops, restaurants, etc.

The gate at one end of the Conde, used to divide those who were "in" from those who were not.

Monument to the three Mirabel sisters, martyred in the effort to oust Trujillo, the dictator.

Ruins of a church/hospital built between 1503 and 1508, destroyed (by a hurricane, I think), rebuilt, again destroyed and left as a ruin.  Birds like the little holes in the wall for nests.  On the right on the wall is a dark oval which is a beehive!  You might want to click on this and enlarge it. It was supposed to be the first stone church/hospital (unclear when it was used as what) here.

                   

      We think this is called the Pantheon, memorial to some who have died and quite grand.  This soldier stands unmoving for two hours.  I couldn't do it for five minutes!  Discipline!
      We have previously toured the oldest cathedral in the Americas, also in the Colonial Zone and Diego Colon's (Columbus) large home.  They are on other posts.
       We finished our day with lunch at an outdoor cafe across the plaza from Diego's.  You can see his house in the back, as well as the sailing ship.

                   

   

                                         

Spanish Sailing Ship built in 1927

   A couple of weeks ago we had a Saturday to enjoy the colonial zone--which dates back to early 1500s during the first Spanish days here.  First, however, we toured a visiting Spanish sailing ship.  Parts of it were quite elegant--woodwork, etc.  One of the officers took us around and then we were able to see a few additional things.  Here are a few pictures:
   

     Scouts, check out these knots!  Important for sailors too!

Here we have an authentic Spanish omelet on an authentic Spanish ship!

It was breakfast for some of the crew and we peeked into the kitchen!

Next on the agenda--walking up and up and up the stairs to the colonial zone.

  Our friends, the Mortensons, were with us.  He was one of the first 10 missionaries into the Dominican Republic in 1978 and now they are back as a couple in the office.

Semana Santa--Holy Week

   Here in the Dominican Republic, this coming week is called Semana Santa--or Holy Week.  I'm glad that they recognize that it should be honored.  Friday is a day off work and NOTHING is open, we hear.  Even Thursday we have part of the day off.  These are government offices that close.  Most people go out of town--to visit family or friends--or to play.  We also hear that members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints FLOCK to the temple and it will be soooo busy!  We may go over to help for part of the time.  They just need some people for mundane tasks.  I think it is great that these people choose to come then.
    Unfortunately, we are seeing the ads for Semana Santa sales--yes, everything from flipflops and shorts and t-shirts to appliances!  Very holy!
     It would be nice to think of this week as special and to treat it that way.  After all, next Sunday we honor the greatest event that ever happened on this earth!

Especialista!

   See this pretty face?

See this big smile?  You would never guess she had a sadistic bone in her body, would you?  Ah, but she is an "especialista--endodontista!"  That means she specializes in root canals!  Yes, and when I asked her what made her choose that field, she told me it was delicate, precise work and she could help people not to have pain.  Now, the problem is that I didn't have any pain until she got that needle into her hand and stuck it into my mouth!  Granted, most of the rest of the time I didn't feel much, but that shot was not great, even with the ibuprofen I took ahead of time!  She even teaches other people how to have this fun!  She is expecting a baby, so I hope the idea of helping people will be stronger than the natural tendencies of a dentist.  

Okay, the dentist that brought her to his office and who is my main dentist seems really kind and calm and quiet.  He even told me to "Smile" as he left the room when she was about to go to work.   He makes all the arrangements for this exciting stuff and it all is much less costly than it would be at home in Kansas.  It's just that I really hate shots!

Update:  Just the day after I wrote this post, she had her baby!  It must have been so uncomfortable to be leaning over working on me just three days before that.  I hear she is doing well and so is the baby and I really do appreciate what she and our other dentist have done for me.

Artistic Wall

   Across the street from where we live there is a gray brick wall, but it is certainly not your average gray brick wall.  This wall was creatively decorated with recycled items, presumably by the students that attend the school behind the wall.  Such items are flipflops, pieces of hula hoops, bottle caps, bottoms of two liter bottles and other unusual decor.  So, in case you are needing ideas for decorating, here are a few pictures.

    

There is a quote on the wall in Spanish, of course, but translated it means, "Who said the people cannot return?"  I'm not sure where this quote came from or to what it refers exactly, but in a country that has several revolutions, it could be indicating something about those.

Anyway, here are a few closer shots of individual parts~~~

Then here is part of the quote.  I didn't realize only part of it was there.  Can you figure out what the various components are?  Forgot to mention plastic chairs!  Click to make bigger.

45!

  Who would have thought on that lovely April day 45 years ago at the Salt Lake Temple that we would spend our 45th wedding anniversary in the Dominican Republic, having luscious lasagna with a French twist along with some French pastry at a French bakery in Santo Domingo?  Surely we never would have guessed it!
   We planned to go out for dinner, but the lunch made us decide to wait a day or two.  So we went for our usual Wednesday (35% off produce) grocery day and bought some special treats.  Giant strawberries, olives for Earl, chocolate milk, pineapple, mango, pears and, of course, chocolate kisses.  There is also a box of fresa-chinola juice--also known as strawberry-passion fruit!

Number 16!

     There is a new McIntyre in Jackson Hole, WY and he is pretty cute with blue eyes like his other siblings.  He joined the family on Wednesday and everyone is very happy to have him.  8 lbs, 9 oz of boy will keep Mom even busier.  Fortunately, his other grandma is there to help and rock.  They chose to name him after one of the Teton mountains that means Young Warrior, just in case he needs extra confidence as the youngest of four.  Looks pretty peaceful in this shot with big brother.  We now count 16 grands!

Perspective

    Six weeks ago on a Sunday morning we woke up and discovered we had been robbed while we were sleeping.  It was traumatic and I haven't been doing much blogging since.  Caught on the surveillance camera, the guy entered the sliding glass door we thought was locked.  It is on a balcony overlooking the street.  He took all the electronics he could find (but not my friend's sewing machine--too heavy, I guess, and difficult to carry, and he probably can't sew).  The creepy part was that he was in our bedroom when he picked up my Kindle.  We never heard anything!  It was probably a blessing that we slept through it all.  We now have better protection on our door and window.  The Church security people and the one in charge of housing saw to it that the owner installed automatic "shutters" that roll down to cover the glass.
     As scary and awful as this event was, I have been aware this month of some even greater tragedies.  Even though it isn't fun or convenient, computers can be replaced without toooo much difficulty.  The family of a friend had a house burn completely--one that had been home to a large family and had many memories.  Nobody was hurt, fortunately.  Another friend has a handsome son who was in an accident and is now paralyzed.  He is a young married man and they expect twins shortly.  What a different life they are looking at than they were just a few months ago!  We visited an orphanage where there had been a fire and the kids lost what little they had--again, no loss of life.  We brought some things to them and their smiles were such rewards!  Last week the brakes on our car went out as Earl was out on an errand.  That could really have been terrible, but again we were blessed.  We were able to get rides with friends to places we needed to go and Earl used some skill he had practiced many years ago and drove the car to the area office with the emergency brake.  Even more of an adventure here in Santo Domingo!  The car is being repaired and all is well.  Some dental work I was going to need came sooner than expected when a big filling fell out.  I should never bite into soft cookies!  Fortunately, we had found a great dentist here (when a crown came off of my tooth).  He is bringing "especialistas" into his office to do two root canals and some oral surgery, then he will do crowns.  We have done the first part of that and so far, so good.  It will all cost MUCH less than in Kansas!  So glad we found him!
       I would show the picture of the gross fruit that the robber left on our table, but you don't want to see that.  Just know that we are now fine and life goes right along and we are clicking away on these birth records.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

  Ah, the Luck o' the Irish to ye!  As a fun song from "The Happiest Millionaire" declares, "I'll always be Irish, for that's how I began...."  Three of my ancestral lines go right to Ireland and then we have some English and Scottish, so there is plenty of the Irish, both northern and southern.  Earl thought his McIntyre line was so Scottish, but research has indicated that there was some of that, but plenty of the Irish as well!  So, "May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be always at your back,...and may God always hold you in the palm of His hand."
   Either I had not known or I had forgotten that the shamrock, so connected with Irish folklore, was used in the 400s A.D. by St. Patrick to teach, using the three leaves, about the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Good object lesson!

Angels

Lately I have noticed an increase in angels--around me, in news, at work.  The above angel is Moroni atop the new Gilbert Arizona temple soon to be dedicated.  One quite like him sits atop our Santo Domingo temple and we can see him through the trees, especially when lit at night.  We don't worship him, but we honor him as the one who brought the gold plates to Joseph Smith that  became the Book of Mormon.  So that is one angel. 

 We have a young missionary serving here whose name is Elder Angel and he speaks both Spanish and English, so he is sometimes like an angel for helping me.

In the last couple of weeks at work I have noticed that witnesses on documents (testigos) have often been named "Angel" and I thought our work was being helped by angels.

The last two weeks we have started working an evening shift at the temple. There have been "angels" there to guide me as I started learning.  I have been nervous, but they have helped.  I have wondered if it has been because we were doing this that in the last two weeks we have also captured the most images in a week--more than 10,000 each week--that we have our whole time here.  Surely didn't think we would ever get that many, but there they were!!  Maybe some other angels were helping us!

One more example--our little grandson doesn't enjoy the nursery at Church.  He cries.  His mom is the Primary President and has to be there and not in the nursery with him.  When his dad has to work at the hospital during that time, she has had to take him with her and have a counselor hold him (often screaming in the hall) while she did her part.  Then one Sunday an angel appeared in the form of a wonderful, gentle, compassionate friend and offered to take him to the nursery and stay with him.  She has always been the one we said woke up in the morning wondering how she could help someone that day.  She appeared with the same offer the next Sunday and as I read about it from our daughter-in-law, tears flowed.  A tender mercy had been granted by our Heavenly Father to help the Primary President fulfill her responsibility and the child to be blessed with love.

Do you see that whale?

  Of course it seems like all we do is fun and games, but we have done over 113,000 images since we have been here.  So we took two days off this week and went on a whale-watching excursion.  We went up to the peninsula the day before and stayed with other missionary friends at a cute little "funky" bed and breakfast.  Walked on the beach, went into the gorgeous water, had dinner by the sea (seafood, of course), and were amazed by the full moon over the water.  The whale day started with rain, but we decided that whales don't care, so we went to the boat.  Do you see the whale in this picture?  No?  Well, neither did we!  They told us they saw a spout, but we never saw anything, so they gave us a ticket for a return trip.  The water was spectacular though.  The above island may be the one where the pirate, Barrister, left some buried treasure--not yet found!  Did you know some humpback whales swim 7000 miles from the North Atlantic every year to winter in the Dominican Republic?  Even though it is beautiful, I'm glad we didn't have to swim that far!

Yes, the water really was that color!

Our funky little b and b--not fancy, but fine!

Couldn't quite capture the beauty, but had to share!

Playground on the beach at Los Terrenes--color!

Roots of a palm tree on the beach!

Earl's big fish dinner!

My clam spaghetti--who knew they would still be in their shells?  Not hard to remove, though.

Sorry, I couldn't control how they put these pictures and they wouldn't let me move them.  So they are what they are!

Three Kings' Day

  Another holiday they celebrate in the Caribbean is Three Kings' Day in honor of the Wise Men who arrived to bring gifts to Baby Jesus.  The office was closed that day too.  One of the missionaries, who is from Puerto Rico, explained a bit about this tradition.  Families decorate boxes--like shoeboxes--and put them under the beds with a glass of water for the camel and some grass for the camel.  In the morning, children find little gifts in the boxes, small games and treats.  Here is a box she decorated and filled to show.

That night we went for the last night of lights at the park.  It was completely a carnival atmosphere with stilt walkers, face painting, balloons, etc. and a huge crowd jammed in together walking around.