Colombia

The vacation hotspot.  No really, Colombia was so hot!  There were customers for all those hat sellers.

The only thing I knew about Colombia two years ago was their reputation for drugs.  When we moved to Peru I was surprised at the pride the Colombians have for their country because were they not aware of their reputation?  Their stories about their beautiful country and the amazing food was convincing so we had to see for ourselves.

So our four days in Cartagena, Colombia. 

Our first stop was lunch.  Emily and Lonny have already widely discussed that juice will be one of the things they miss when we leave South America. You just can not imagine the flavors available at any ordinary restaurant.  Emily is hooked on strawberry and trying to replicate it's production.  Lonny will try about anything.

Our last meal in Colombia Emily had pineapple juice and Lonny had limeade with mint. They were so lovely we had to take a picture.

And from Wikipedia; Castillo San Felipe de Barajas is a fortress in the city of Cartagena, Colombia. The castle is located on the Hill of San Lázaro dominating approaches to the city by land or sea. It was built by the Spanish beginning in the year 1536.

In other words, really old.

When I first saw the climb to the top of the fortress I thought, No.  We had left our house on Wednesday night at 9 to go to the airport.  After a night of flying and sitting around the Bogota airport during the night we arrived in Cartagena Thursday at 9 a.m.  We left our suitcases at the hotel until we could check in at 3.  So being completely refreshed:( we climbed a mountain in the very hot sun with all the senior citizens fresh off an ocean cruise.

The climb actually was not that bad and from the top you could see in every direction all of Cartagena.

Emily wants to know how many pictures we need with her and a cannon.  I don't know if you can have too many.

There were tunnels all through the fort and open to explore.  I don't mind but Emily and Lonny have both been known to have claustrophobia when underground and I don't want to be left with them.  My phobia is them and their phobias.

Fortunately we always found our way out.

Emily was wearing a BYU shirt so some of the cruise people told us they were on a Book of Mormon cruise.

Our hotel was in old town which is a historic part of the city where you guessed it, everything is old,

and surrounded by a massive wall.

Emily posted this photo on Facebook and was told that the 80's movie Romancing the Stone takes place in Cartagena.  Now I need to watch it again.

There were so many beautiful buildings.  We took a horse drawn carriage around old town in the evening.

Many of the buildings were beautifully restored, others needed some work.

The streets were so narrow and only one lane and one way.  The taxi's were all the same and very small.

Yellow is their favorite color, or else there was a sale on yellow paint.

Our hotel was across from a park,

with a courtyard inside where we ate breakfast.

Our room had two floors,

a balcony,

and two beds for Emily.  One where she could hit her head and the other where she imagined falling over the railing.

Brace Face

no more.  I was more than a little concerned that it worked out for Emily to get braces in Peru.  My kids take forever to get their 12 year molars.  Like 14 years.  Emily was in the 8th grade before the dentist said she was ready for braces.  By then we knew we were moving to WA so we decided to wait.  When we moved to WA we knew we would be leaving again.  Besides, what an awesome idea to get orthodontics in a foreign country!  We loved the orthodontist here though.  Emily never had to miss school for an appointment in 18 months.  (Maybe she did not like that.) His office ran efficiently, never did she have to wait to be seen.  The office was five minutes from our house, one time she walked there.  The orthodontist went to school in Miami and spoke perfect English so my concerns were lessened immediately.  Looking back I am not sure why I was ever worried.

This was Emily on Tuesday night.

And here she is after.

The day ended with her best friend leaving Peru permanently, which had nothing to do with her not having braces, but it was an emotional day:(

It will be really sad to not have Dallas and Nicole in Seminary each day.  There are also three people not shown on the side of this picture probably looking forward to sitting farther away from me and to finally be in the early morning photos.

We're going to miss this.

He is done.

He is graduated.  I remember when I graduated from college it was the greatest feeling in the world to  be done with reading textbooks, writing papers, attending classes, taking tests and studying and stress of school.  I can still feel the bliss of that day 29 years later.

Eric has a couple of weeks before he starts back to school so he must not be done.  He is working on some projects in Peru right now with a BYU class.

Personally I think he is standing too close to the edge here.

Then he will begin his program for a joint master's degree in mechanical engineering/MBA.

We are proud of his last six years. 

Or maybe his last 16.

Eric graduated from high school when he was still 16 years old in 2008.  

Now six years later he is a returned missionary 

 and has his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering.  Eric does not have a degree in ironing or an I care if this graduation robe is ironed attitude.

Thursday afternoon was graduation at the Marriott Center.  I walked in after it had started and sat in the top row so I could sit back against the wall.  It had been a long day starting with my sister's funeral.  I was surprised at how empty the Marriott Center was.  I have been to graduation 6 times since 2005 and the last time I remember it being so empty was 2005.

We were rewarded with President Utchdorf as a surprise speaker.

Friday morning was the convocation at the Smith Fieldhouse.

Eric is in the front row of graduates, fourth to the left of the center aisle.

This was his cousin Devin's view.

  

 This was my view. 

Eric has spent all four of his BYU years with one of his siblings in town.  His freshmen year it was Justin.  His sophomore year it was Geoff and Justin.  His junior year it was Geoff and this past year it was Jenny.  Either we can't leave him alone or we can't live without him. 

And should Jenny leave, Emily will be there in a year.