Happy Sunday

I think I'm actually starting to get a tan. That's right. You read that correctly. I--the native Seattle-ite, born and raised with nearly transparent skin--am starting to look almost tan. I can hardly believe it. But don't get the wrong idea, two weeks of being back in cloudy Seattle and I'll look like a Pacific Northwesterner again. Carlos continues to reap the benefits of his olive complexion. He hardly works on his tan anymore, but he's looking nice and toasty tan. :)

Let's see, last Sunday was Carlos' birthday! It was a unique birthday. As it turned out, it was stake conference, but this stake covers a large geographical area and the conference was held an hour away in another province. We couldn't figure how to make it there by 9am, so we spent Sunday at the apartment.

Carlos was like a little kid on Christmas morning--he couldn't sleep in! So we were up and at 'em hours before the other guys. To start off the birthday festivities, I made Carlos some delicious Mickey Mouse pancakes (a tradition his mother started years ago). He got his first birthday present after breakfast--a compilation of birthday wishes from his friends and family. It was a nice start to the day.

We relaxed in the apartment for most of the day. He watched some basketball, we played a little beach volleyball, and we ate delicious homemade tacos (made with irresistible coconut, lime, cilantro rice)! His last present was a pair of Nike shoes. A woman from Haiti sold gently used shoes from a shop/hut in the parking lot of the bus terminal in town. Carlos found a pair that he liked, so I snuck back a few days later and bought them for him as a present. He was very surprised (which is a feat in and of itself because apparently I can't keep a secret and he's very good and figuring out surprises)! To cap off his birthday, I had made a strawberry cheesecake for him, since he doesn't really like birthday cake. All-in-all, I think he had a really nice birthday!

In other news, I caught a frog! It had hopped into the corner of the open-air theater the other night, so I caught him (I asked Carlos for reassurance that the frog wasn't poisonous and wouldn't hurt me before I just picked it up)!

Fast-forward to today!

Maria (the little girl from the first Sunday we went to church) came and sat on my lap through Sacrament meeting. I showed her all my laminated pictures in my scriptures, the pictures in my hymnal, and Carlos even let her watch him play Angry Birds for the few minutes before the meeting started. She pet his beard and his hair (when he wasn't looking) and twirled my pony tail in her little fingers. Two other girls walked passed me during the meeting and stroked my hair as well, saying, "Que lindo!" ("How pretty!")

The real highlight, other than little girls petting my hair, was that Carlos and I sang in Sacrament Meeting (right in front of the stake presidency)! Having been previously asked by a member of the branch presidency, we also shared our testimonies after we sang. Haven't shared my testimony in Spanish in over 2 years! It was a wonderful privilege and even more special to be able to translate Carlos' testimony. We received lots of compliments after the meeting. The former branch president (a sweet grandpa in the ward) shook our hands before leaving and asked if we would really be leaving in a month. He was sad to hear me confirm that fact, stating that he'd become accustomed to getting excited to see us every Sunday.

Our favorite juice!!! They have the best juices here!!!!

This is what I do each night--watch these guys and videotape them!