Ay dios mio!! No me gusto Canada ahora!!!!!
So we are starting the canadian edition to this blog for our friends back in DR and for those going back to spain in the summer. It is very hard to get back into the swing of things and it is even harder for us missing all of our new friends. But we will be back one day!! And we will keep you up to date on camping and 50ing and all sorts of Canadian stuff. And our preperations for mexico this year! But the reality of life in Canada is I have to get going to work. So hopfully we will hear from all of you soon!
adios hermanos y hermanas!!

Adios DR

SO we have been doing the invitation work for the last week and it has been so much fun. I even had my own presentation and i didn't even call anyone an old pig or nothing. It is so refreshing to go out and everyone wants what you have. Riding past a store last night and there was one posted to the wall.

It's not enough for them just to get the invitation, they want to know all about it and when and where and they just keep going. I wish we could be here for the memorial but oh well, such is life.

So here are a few more highlight of our last days.
Pica And Tao

Sara & me doing the invitation campaign
Congregation party for the elders and their wives

Stray horse that wonders around town

Well we are down to your last day and we are sad to say good bye but we have had such a good time here. The congregation has been so wonderful in welcoming us into their little (but growing) family. We will miss everyone so much. So bye for now and we hope to see all of you again soon.

All settled in

Well there's not much new around here. We are all settled into our new place with a naked 3 year old neighbor. He's pretty cute but definitely European. Sometimes all her wears is his Batman cape and nothing else. I'm just waiting for him to trip when he's running down the path. Owch!

We have been spending a lot of time at Ben And Nikeas since Garth and Tammy are here but all we do pretty much is lounge by the pool. I bet you all feel sorry for us right now don't you.

Saturday I (Amber) worked out in service with a couple sisters from the US and we hiked way up this road/driveway that ended going all the way up the mountain. It was such a nice view. You could see all 3 of the bays where we go swimming and all the mountains surrounding Las Terrenas. Unfortunately I didn't have the camera so you will have to take my word for it. Sorry. Levi headed off in another direction and came apon a group of little kids roasting a baby chick for lunch.

Today ended up being a beach day which was nice since we haven't been there a lot the last few weeks. We went to Bonita so the boys could go surfing again. The waves were perfect so I had to give it a go. Needles to say, it's the thought that counts. And no there is no pictures of me attempting to even stay on the board. But the boys did good.



We hiked up over the hill to a little hidden beach with no one around. It was pretty, but not good for swimming, too much rock and coral.

Noah gave the Bible reading last night so that was fun to watch. We just missed his first one last year and we will get to see Jags before we go. Can't believe we only have 3 weeks left. Time is flying.


So don't forget you can leave us messages at the bottom of every entry so we know people are even reading these. Well I'm tired from all the sun today ( I know you feel sorry for me again haha) so I'm gonna go have a nap.

Adios

Catching up

So it's been a few weeks since Levi last wrote in her so I thought I would give it a try. So we did make it out in service to El Limon and it was a lot of fun. I kinda felt like 5 year old though. I was partnered up with Laura who is a special pioneer and she had me reading the scripture for her presentation. It was like "ok my friend has something she would like to read to you." But I think I had it down not to bad the end of the day. It is so amazing that as soon as you pull out your bile to read a scripture, they run and get their bible to follow along. Laura and I walked down this little back alley and there were a dozon young guys and they all walked over as soon as Laura started talking to one of the and they all listen so politly.

So when we got home we promptly checked the video camara we set up in Ben & Nikeas house to see what the housekeeper was up to when we were not home. We know she was stealing from us but we had no proof. Within the first five minutes of the tap she went into Nikeas purse and stole money from Noah & Jags wallets, took a swig of pop from the bottle, ate their M&M's and filled a zip lock with spices. Then the tape ran out but we had all the proof we needed. Ben took the tape to the property manager because he didn't really belive us tha she was stealing. We asked him to hold off telling her until we were out because you just never know. We were both out the next week without her even knowing we were going. She showed up to work on thursday and both places were cleaned out.


So the same day as the video there was also a fire that got out of control behind our house and Levi, Nikea and Ben all had to go help them move all their things out of the house in case it burnt down. Thankfully it didn't but things were really smoky for a few days. The house was covered in ash.
Moving day was fun. Can't say as I've ever moved on a quad and a bike before but we got it done. Our new place is alot smaller and more Dominican but it's cute and will do for the month. There is still a pool but now we have to share it with a cute little boy who pees in it, so we still go to Ben & Keas cause they have a nice big pool at their new place.

Well Pica has made a new friend here. The manager has a puppy named Tao and they have become best friends. Pica is growing like a weed. I hope she wont get to big before we leave or she wont fit into the kennel. Well I guess we'll just have to see what happens.

santo domingo, pica, rincon

Ok it has been 2 weeks or so, so I thought that I would write again, even though i'm not too sure how many people are actually reading this blog, but oh well it gives m something to do at night. So alot has happened in the last few weeks, we had to go to Santo Domingo to get our passports stamped at immigration and so we spent the day touring around the old colonial streets and saw a bunch of museums and stuff about columbus, and his sons house that he built for him, it was really cool to see. Then we stayed the night and drove around the small towns on the outskirts of the city. It was cool to see other parts of the island other than las terreanas.
And well we found another puppy and it looks like this one is going to live so it looks like chopper is gtting a little sister after all. Her name is pica and she is a little crazy but really cute.
We also went to playa bonita and took the boys surfing. They did an amazing job!! They are gonna be pros i swear. By the end of the day they didn't need and help getting up speed and they were catching waves and standing up like they had been doing it for a long time. It was pretty cool and they want to go again so we are going on sunday. And then we went to a different beach about 2 hours away. It is supposedly one of the top rated beaches in the world and it was amazing! The water was like turquoise and crystal clear, and on the way we saw a pineapple farm. I never knew that they grew that way, pretty neat. So yeah we went snorkling at that beach and I even saw a purple and yellow spotted eel! Really Cool. There is more to tell about our CO visit but i will wait till after Saturday cause we are going to the next town over in the back of that big truck to preach and it will be pretty cool. But I need to go to bed now, so buenos noches!
the internet is slow right now so ill put the rest of the pics up tomorrow.

Storms, Service, puppys and parties.

Ok were to begin. Cuiquita, our little puppy was doing so good, she was full of energy, putting on weight and starting to act like a normal puppy. We woke up one day and saw that she was not up and about as usuall. In fact she slept all day and didn't eat or drink. So the next day we took her to the vet to see if there was anything that we could do for her. It was pretty expensive he said but either way if we decided to keep her or not he would treat her. She was poisoned, he said by rat pee. Kind of like the whole lysteriousus {however it is spelled} thing that happened at the maple leaf food plant. Anyway a day and a half later I went to check on her at the vet and she died that morning, she was too weak for the treatment to take. So that was a pretty sad day. And then to make a long story short we also got robbed that day. It really sucked cause well getting robbed sucks! I'm still a little bitter so maybe i'll tell you the story one day when we get back.
Oh yeah we had a few days in service that were pretty cool. The people here are so incredibly friendly. One day about 20 of us piled into the back of a brothers truck and did some territory just outside of town. It was awesome riding in the back of a truck on the way out in service. Then when we get to the territory we get out and pretty much everybody sees you coming so they get out the chairs and invite you in to talk, very very different from back home! You can pretty much stay at one call for as long as you want, but there are so many people that want to talk you have to be a little bit quick. Service here is definitely an experience going through the barrios that the tourists don't get to see and talking to people that really want to listen to you. I have been walking down the street with a bag of magazines and anyone that you ask if they want something to read they will take them. very cool.
Other than that the weather lately has been a bit nasty, there is a hurricane in Cuba right now and we are just catching the edge of it so lots of wind and rain. So other than that there was a going away party at ben n nikeas and our place and there was about 100 people that came. There were people from here haiti, california, spain, france, and japan. There were alot of new people to meet and it was cool trying to talk to so many people that didn't speak your language. But I can't think of anymore right now, hopfully I'll write something sooner next time so that I won't forget anything. So until next time chiao!