What Mike's been up to

While we've been gone Mike has been traveling like crazy. First he got to see his mission companion John Burnett who happened to be in Bogota for work! Then he went to a remote area of Colombia to help make sure it was safe for a US military medical exercise. He had to go 3 hours up river in a speed boat to get to this little town cooed Candelia de la mar. The "town" was completely built on stilts because of water. There is practically no electricity and the living conditionals are very poor. Every day the people throw their trash into the water below and just wait for the tides to take them back out. It's so crazy to see how varied Colombia is. You have this sprawling, international metropolis like Bogota, then you have a tiny place like Candelia de la Mar. It seems like a different country! Luckily Mike didn't have to stay overnight but it was certainly not your average day at the office!

Spending time in Nevada City and Lake Tahoe

Nevada City in the summer is idillic! We loved being home. Lots of time spent outdoors, eating yummy food and teaching Eva all about canned whipped cream! The kids loved it all. We also loved seeing Nonna Great and Aunt Carol. We went to Tahoe with Grandma and stayed at Harrah's Casino. Jay loved playing the games downstairs. The kids also had a good time in the heated pool! One day we went miniature golfing. Jay gets better every year :) On our way home we stopped by this amazing burger restaurant. Yum, yum, yum! Then we stopped by the lake to dip our toes in. Eva wasn't too sure about the sand... or the water actually. Jay was brave and got almost all the way in! Even though it was July the water was still really cold. On the way back to the car we taught the kids to smell the Jeffery Pines, or as we like to call them, "Vanilla Trees." I think Dina really liked it too! Then we had to head back to Colombia. I can't believe it will be another year until we go back. I love the USA!