TRIP TO CHILE

Chile might not be high on everyone's vacation spot list, especially with the recent earthquake and all the aftershocks, but it is so beautiful there! The whole family went to visit my parents over Christmas break and had an awesome family reunion. Here are some pictures from our adventures. Ok fine - a lot of pictures.

There is no way to describe how terrifying this bridge is, how high up you are, or how wide the gaps are between those wooden, wobbly boards.Or how scary it is when you're taking a picture in the middle of the railroad track that you thought had long been abandoned and a train comes through. This might be my fake scared face, but believe me. I was shaking.

This is the view from our hotel balcony in Villaricca.

Volcan Villaricca
We decided it would be a good idea to hike this active volcano. Why not right?

Here we are getting cocky. Thinking it doesn't look as hard as we thought it would.

Here we are realizing we were wrong. So so wrong.

Collin and Kate decided to play a trick on Eric and never say how tired they were no matter how bad it got so E would think he was the only one hurting. So when Eric would say he was exhausted, they would say "Really? I'm not feeling it. I think it's been easy so far."

Kate (loudly): FEEEEEELING good.
Under her breath: I want to kill myself.

This game did not last long. Kate couldn't fake any kind of joy after 15 minutes.

Easily the hardest thing I've ever done.

But check out those views!!! And we're only half way up.

At this point, I was convinced this was Everest. The wind was blowing SO HARD that even with my crampons and ice pick, I would have to fight with everything in me to stay upright. Too bad I thought they were kidding when they showed us how to use the ice pick to keep from dying if you slipped. I had some close calls.

Yes that steam is from the volcano. Are we hardcore or what. Speaking of hardcore, Mama Swenson was the only Mom in our group to complete the hike. Others tried but they didn't last long. We were proud.

Papa, baby sister, lil brudder, big brother, Mama, me, Brian
Lindsay had to stay back because of the nugget (due in August)

Best part of the hike, on the way down, they put you in an ice chute and you get to luge down the entire volcano on your butt.
4 1/2 hours up.
30 minutes down.

How cute is this kid???!!!!
My nephew Sean, 2 yrs old, was the star of the show most of the trip.

He did NOT want to have his picture taken.

He wanted to DANCE!!!Chile has all kinds of gorgeous waterfalls. Waterfall #1 in the POURING rain. Please tell me you can see that my dad is wearing an H&M shopping bag as a hat.

ZIPLINE!!! Sexy harnesses right?

Waterfall #2

Waterfall #3 - this one we actually got to hike down and go under the falls. So sweet.

Does this look like we're in Lost or what? Where's Jack? Sawyer? Smoke Monster? I looked like freaking Rousseau after this thing. Haggard.I'm a little teapot, short and stout... Sean was being threatened by horseflies the size of my fist.
And a mangy, homeless, hairless, diseased dog that wouldn't leave him alone.
This is our "protect the wawa" (aka baby) stance while Sean played in the sand, completely unaware. Gotta have a stick.Family shot! (if you'll notice, Sean's still holding a stick.)

CONCEPCION, CHILE

As many of you know, my parents are in Concepcion serving as mission president and they just suffered a massive 8.8 earthquake with over 200 aftershocks. Thank you all for your concern, love and prayers for my family, the missionaries and the people of Chile.

They are finally back up and running with everything except water and my mom posted this note to her facebook page with some more details. Just wanted to get this out for anyone who hasn't seen it yet:

Day 8, Saturday March 6, 2010...

With the earthquake a week ago Concepcion lost telephone service, electricity, running water, gas, and food in stores (from looting). There was also a curfew from 6pm to 12 noon so they could clean up/fix up the city. They've made great progress. Last night (Day 7) we happily got electricity but no internet. Now internet has arrived and with it our first chance to communicate. But still no running water, which means more buckets carried up and down lots of stairs. But all is well.

I would really rather not be here when the earth rolls up like a scroll. Honestly, how can we ever be prideful when we live on a big ball that can shake its guts out at any moment? So began our Saturday morning around 3:30 am Feb 27. The mission home is a large lovely condominium on the top-6th floor. There is no way to explain how an 8.8 earthquake sounds and feels. It lasted about 3 minutes...the belly of the earth groaning as everything's shaking and dumping and shattering. We made it down the stairs and outside just as the main quake was finishing. The building held like a fortress. I've never been in an earthquake and had seen the devastation in Haiti, so I figured since the building didn't come crashing down maybe this wasn't that big a deal. So I turned to Joe and said, Do you think this will make the news in other countries? Cause I really don't want parents to worry.

So imagine how we felt when we saw the destruction you've all seen on tv...so worried for our 156 missionaries and their families. We had an emergency plan that thank sweet heaven worked perfectly, with missionaries meeting at designated chapels. We gratefully and humbly acknowledge the Lord's hand in protecting them so completely. Not one of them has so much as a scratch. All the homes are fine. There was a tsunami and we have many coastal towns in the mission, but water never entered their doors.

One night I sat on my bed, the weight of the worry overwhelming me...what the families and friends must be going through...but then I remembered all those 100s of people were praying for us and these missionaries, and I want you to know we felt those prayers so powerfully every moment of this crisis. And they were answered.

The north and coastal areas were mainly affected. Further south lost power for a day then went on as usual. So hopefully we're stronger for all of this. Lots to do to get ready for a temple.

We love you. Thanks for praying for us. President & Hermana/ Jolene & Joe

PINK, SQUISHY TOILET SEAT

When our sweet, sweet landlord offered to replace our old toilet seat with a new one over the Christmas break, we had no idea what a treat we were in for. Apparently the old porcelain white seat we had was just too out of style for his taste.

We came home to this beauty.

This gem is not only pink, but it’s squishy foam covered in plastic. And slightly smaller than the toilet with a very small hole… I’ve never had to worry about aim before, but with a target that narrow, you start to wonder.

(Have I said too much?)

After a few days of shaking our heads and uttering… “Seriously? Pink? Squishy?” and debating whether the landlord is colorblind or genuinely thinks this is a good look, Brian broke down and purchased a new one. Back to white – so boring.

5k

Ok, so it’s no Ironman, or half marathon or even a 10k, but I completed the 5k Christmas Run this weekend in the pouring rain. Let me preface my results by saying that other than a miracle mile I ran at age 12 at 6:36, my miles have been sitting around 9:00 ever since.

Thanks to my Garmin watch and a recent conversion to early rising, I have been improving my time almost every time I go out. My goal was to average 8:15 minute miles, which would give me a total time of 25:35.

I am very happy to report that I came in at 24:16, averaging 7:52/mile.

This put me 7/92 for my age category, 37/463 females, and 141/787 overall.

Big happy face over here.

Krista and I were literally side by side the entire race - with the exact same strides as we came into the finish.

Here I am desperately trying to look tough & ready for the race. Where are the muscles that I am flexing? Oh right, I have none.Stretch it out.
Of course the second we took off our sweatshirts and put away the umbrellas to line up, the rain came on full force.
Here I am jumping to see Brian over the crowd at the start.
Coming into the finish line.
I think this is what death looks like.
Low five?
What a gross day!
What a cute supporter/photographer! Rain and all!

THANKSGIVING

Things I'm grateful for:

brian
every swenson & babcock
great friends
good health
the gospel
Jesus Christ

A simple list but each are huge blessings.

Spent our Thanksgiving holiday in Denver with the Babcocks and had 4 of the 5 brothers (missed you Mark, Jenny, & Liz!).

Here are some of our pictures of our nieces and nephew that we are SO SO glad just moved from San Antonio to Colorado Springs. We're always happy to have family closer.