giant anthills, fried fish, and stretchy cheese

YIKES! This picture gives me the shivers. Yes, that huge mound is an anthill. Nathan and Grandpa Boren took a hike in the woods behind the house and found 3 of these anthills. I'm glad I wasn't there.Nathan must have gotten the fishing gene. He kept Grandpa busy baiting hooks and casting while he reeled in fish after fish. I think he caught 15 within an hour or so. Then he got home and ATE three fish as fast as I could cook and debone them. I think he must be growing. He has been hungry ALL DAY for the past week. As soon as he finishes a meal, he starts asking when the next meal is.
Miss Clara, on the other hand, gets more food on her hands, on her face, on the floor, in her lap, and in her hair, than she gets in her stomach. Her dinner yesterday ended in dramatic fashion, as she hurled her bowl of food across the room in violent rage. (How dare you ask me to use my spoon, Mommy!) She was promptly dismissed from the table and did not get dessert.
When we grilled mozzarella sandwiches for lunch, we didn't realize that this particular kind of mozzarella is impossible to eat politely when melted. This is the stretchiest cheese I've ever seen. What fun!
The farm in Sandpoint is paradise. I imagine heaven to be a place like this. I can understand why David has a hard time being satisfied with other places we've considered living. He was spoiled growing up here. Every time we drive up here to visit, I feel like I'm coming home. I cried last summer when we left to go back to Utah. I love our home in Orem, but there is something about this place that is good for my soul.

Safari!

Here's the latest from David in Uganda. By the way, he didn't take this picture. I got it off the web. He can't send me pictures from the internet cafes because the computers are too slow. I can't wait to see the pictures he took.

This last weekend was fantastic! I went with a few other students up to Murchison Falls National Park in northwestern Uganda and it was amazing. Soon after entering the park we started seeing animals. There were several baboons on the road or on the side of the road. They would scurry into the forest when we got too close. There were several amazing birds, as well as a bunch of warthogs and cape buffalo. Cape buffalo are huge and really ugly (kind of like our first steer Hal, only bigger, uglier, and meaner). After lunch at the Red Chilli (yes with two l’s), we went down to the Nile River to catch a boat up to Murchison Falls . The boat ride was incredible. I had no idea that there were so many hippos in the world. There were hundreds of them (no joke!). They were all along the side of the river. They are enormous. We also saw a small herd of elephants right along the edge of the river. The are even more enormous. During our ride we also saw a lot of exotic birds (my favorite was the fishing eagle), several crocodiles (the largest one was probably 7 – 8 meters long), antelope of all kinds, and several herds of cape buffalo. It was thrilling.

We were dropped off about a mile and half below the falls and proceeded to hike along the river to the base of the falls and up to the top of the falls. I don’t think I have experienced such extreme humidity with about 90 degree temperatures before. I know that there are much hotter places, but wow was I sweating. I felt like I was in some Indiana Jones movie with all of the sounds and animals around. The waterfall is about 45 – 50 meters tall with the entire Nile River fitting through a gorge that is as narrow as 7 meters in some places. The river is more than a mile wide above and below the falls, so there was a lot of water rushing down that gorge. It was absolutely roaring. We went back to where we were staying that evening, had a swim in their bug-infested pool, took a shower, and slept in some small, but very comfortable cabins. At that point I didn’t care about the bugs. I needed a way to cool down.

In the morning we had breakfast, crossed the Nile on a barge and went on a little safari. We saw all sorts of amazing animals, including giraffes, elephants, baboons, antelope (of all kinds), cape buffalo, warthogs (Pumba was there!), and some beautiful birds. We really wanted to see some lions and had seen a few from a very far distance, but some of the other vehicles scared them away. Later in the day we came upon three lions right next to the road. They had just made a kill and were resting under a tree, about thirty feet away from us. They would leave the shade every five minutes to go have a snack and would come back with blood on their mouths. They were beautiful.

All in all it was an amazing trip, and it testified so strongly of the beauty of God’s creations.

pictures, finally

Have you ever had started working on a crazy ambitious idea that, once begun, has to be completed? Last year, when we started talking about getting bunk beds for the kids, I realized that we didn't have much twin-sized bedding. So I had this "great" idea that I would MAKE all the bedding for them. It took me two General Conferences, six 12-hour car trips, and countless movies to finish Nathan's afghan. Then I started on a quilt for him. Of course, I neglected my kids for hours at a time while I worked on all this. I finally finished it last week, with the help of my mom. Now, I'm using the time when David is in Africa to start a quilt for Clara. I can only pray that I finish it before the baby comes. I could just go buy a bed-in-a-bag at Walmart (which would be way cuter than anything I could sew) and call it good. But of course, Clara has seen me working on all this for Nathan, so she is excited for me to do it for her too. Then, #3 will expect it too, and so on. Anyway, once the kids recover from the traumatic experience of having me make blankets for them, they'd better sleep well in their new bunk beds.
We visited Wheeler Farm in Salt Lake last week. The kids had a blast playing on this crazy tree with deformed trunks and branches growing out in every direction.
Nathan found some baseball bats at my parents' house this week. He used them to form alphabet letters. He used a string for the letters with curved lines. He is always doing things in ways that I would never think of.

Africa!

Here's an update from David. He left Spain and arrived in Uganda last week:

June 4: We made it to Uganda at about 8:00 p.m. and then drove to where we are staying. While not 1^st world, there is a flush toilet and a shower. They wouldn’t pass cleanliness and safety standards in the US , but I’ve definitely seen worse. For breakfast this morning we had mango, pineapple, and a rice dish with spinach and beans. The people are very nice here… very poor, but very nice. There is a lot of garbage everywhere and a lot of smells are around that I have either never smelled, or not smelled since South America .

Today we went around to schools and met with headteachers to set up a time when we could interview them, some of their teachers, and their students. They seem so honored that people from an American University would be interested in coming to their school. The students have big smiles and big dreams. Many of them asked about getting to a college in the US . We are so blessed with the opportunities we have

June 9: Things are great here in Africa. We've been interviewing teachers and principals at several schools here and wow is it eye-opening. One of the principals we interviewed yesterday said that some of the teachers hired witch doctors to put curses and hexes on him. He was a little nervous about it. He also mentioned having teachers and students act as spies to get him information about what the other teachers and students were saying about him. Very interesting. There are also a lot of other very interesting and prevalent issues between male teachers/administrators and female students. Despite the craziness, there are also a lot of amazing and moral people here. We met with a headteacher (principal) today that I would love to clone and send back to the states. His story of struggle while sticking to principles is amazing.

I've been learning a little Lugandan. The people really love it when I start a conversation in Lugandan. Ugandans are extremely friendly and easy-going. Last weekend I got to go on a river rafting trip down the Nile River. It was amazing! The river is huge and there were some enormous rapids. Our raft flipped several times. There were several beautiful birds and monkeys along the river. Dad, I saw a few big fish rise. Apparently there are some gigantic fish in the Nile.

Church on Sunday was so refreshing. The testimonies and lessons were very heartfelt and simple. The unadulterated gospel is so powerful. These people have made incredible sacrifices to become members of the church and remain active. There are also a lot of cultural barriers that many of them have had to overcome. After church we went over to the source of the Nile River (about an hour drive) and took a little boat ride around the mouth of the Nile and a little bit of Lake Victoria. It is kind of surreal to be at a place I've heard of my entire life, but only seen on maps. That is where Ghandi had his ashes spread when he was cremated.

As far as the food goes, I've been eating a ton of pineapple and mango. For the main dish I usually get potatoes, or rice and avocado. Sometimes they give us beans and a tortilla type thing called a chapati. That is my personal favorite. I sleep under a mosquito net and take cold showers (which feels really good because it's usually pretty hot and humid).

A Week At Grandma's

We've spent the past week in Taylorsville, playing with Grandma and Grandpa Manwill, and Grandma's dogs, and Grandma's toys, and everything else here the kids could get their hands on. It's been really fun! Sorry, no pictures for this post. David has our digital camera in Africa, and Grandma couldn't find her camera for a few days.
David has been gone for a week now. He spent a few days in Barcelona, Spain, with Estanislao Boren and his wife, Maria Clara. Estanislao is a cousin of his Grandpa Boren's that David's family has recently discovered and made contact with. David was hoping to learn more about his family history while in Spain. He is now in Uganda, working on research with some professors and graduate students from BYU. He will be interviewing principals, teachers, and students about school trust.
I'm going to start posting highlights from David's emails, since he's having some interesting adventures. Here are his first two emails:

I´m at Estanislao´s and Maria Clara´s house right now (10:20 p.m. Sunday night). Saturday afternoon we went all over Barcelona seeing different churches, buildings, parks, etc. Maria Clara and Estanislao speak Catalan to each other most of the time and Spanish to me. Their Spanish is definitely different from what I´m used to and it´s hard to understand everything. I have learned a few quirky words that they use a lot. Overall we communicate just fine, but there have been a few times that I was not sure what was said.

Barcelona is a beautiful city. In the evening we went home and went through some family history. I am learning some good stuff, but this one trip isn´t going to do it. Estanislao and Maria Clara live right in the middle of downtown, so there´s a lot going on right outside their apartment. We walked around town last night seeing all sorts of neat things and had dinner at a little restaurant close to their house. The food was very different, but very good. It reminds me a lot of my Grandma Boren´s food: spicy, oily, and very tasty. I would gain a lot of weight if I were here for an extended amount of time.

Today (Sunday) we went to a Catholic mass in a beautiful cathedral just a block away from their house. After breakfast (melon, bananas, milk, bread) we went around town again. We saw some beautiful cathedrals and other amazing buildings. It really is a beautiful city with amazing architecture. In the afternoon we went up to a beautiful hotel up on the hill and they bought me lunch (It was pretty uppity). The view was incredible from up there. This evening we spent here at the house going over family history and then eating some more. I´m going to explode. Tomorrow we´ll head up to Laguarres. We probably won´t get too much information because tomorrow is a holiday and everything will be closed (impeccable timing). It will be fun anyway.

(Second email. I don't know why it's gray. It copied from the email that way. FYI: Laguarres is the village in Spain that the Borens come from. It is near the Spanish/French border, next to the Pyrennes.)

Yesterday we drove up to Laguarres and wow was it beautiful! It was a lot different than I had expected. I thought it would be dry, flat, grassland. Rather, it was a small little town tucked in a beautiful mountain valley. I knew from the maps that is was small, but it was even smaller than I had anticipated. The Spanish countryside is remarkably beautiful. I now know where my dad gets his yearning to be in the mountains. It´s in his blood. Don Mariano grew up in a quaint mountain valley. I got to see the homes where a lot of the relatives lived, and I saw the home where Mariano and all of his brothers and sisters were born and raised (casa Betis is what everyone in town calls it). It´s really interesting how all of the houses are two or three stories and share at least one wall with another house. The houses are all connected. There´s all this room (it´s out in the country) and the houses are smack dab next to each other. It was beautiful. The church is very close, but is not longer in use. Back in the mid 1800´s there were more than 500 people in Laguarres, but now there are fewer than 100. A lot of the young people have left because there really aren´t any job opportunities in Laguarres unless you are a farmer. Several of the houses are abandoned, or are vacation homes. The drive through the countryside was remarkable. I was surprised at the number of churches. Every small little village has an enormous church. They are everywhere.

I was not able to make any progress further back than Gregorio because it was a holiday and everything in Capella (the town with all the records) was closed. Estanislao said that he would have to make a trip up there to see what he could find. I´ll see if I can convince him to do it fairly soon. I have learned some great things and there are some names we can submit for temple work when I get back. We´re going to go see some more things around Barcelona today and then I´m off to Paris, Amsterdam, and Uganda.

Blackmail pictures

We're spending the week with my parents in Taylorsville while David is in Spain and Africa. I was going through some old pictures and couldn't resist sharing them. The first picture is of my family as we were going to a ward "Tacky Party." I'm the one in the middle. I'd like to say that we usually looked much better than this, but I'm afraid we probably looked tacky all the time. I still do. I believe the second picture was taken at BYU shortly after my dad returned from his mission in the mid '70s. My dad is the second from the left. I sometimes wonder which of my pictures my children will laugh at someday. David thinks my poofy bangs in Junior High were pretty funny, but I'm not ready to laugh about that era of my past yet.

David was craving the high country all week. We hiked and I waddled (verrrrrryyyyyyy slowwwwwwlllllllyyyyyyy) up to the first waterfall on the Timpanogos trail. Nathan ran back and forth, looking for squirrels and tent caterpillars to point out to us. Clara rode in the baby backpack and sang all the way up. She slept all the way back.
The kids graduated from their toddler beds into bunkbeds. They were BIG helpers while David assembled the bunkbeds. Nathan was handy with his toolbox. (It's funny how David's toolbox gets increasingly empty as Nathan's gets increasingly full.) He allowed David to borrow many of his tools to complete the job, and even helped tighten bolts with a socket wrench. He was in little boy heaven.
We finally said goodbye to "Little Red," the 1993 Toyota Tercel that has been David's set of wheels for the past nine years. It has served us valiantly, running on 3 cylinders for the past three years. David had to open the driver's side door from the passenger side. The trunk often refused to close. It did not have air conditioning or power steering. The car left huge oil spots on our driveway and shrouded the street in smoke every morning when David left for work. It would not go over 45 miles per hour. During the final weeks of its life, it could barely go over 20 mph. We figured it would cost more than the car was worth to get it fixed, and then who knows what would break next. Still, it was a little sad to say goodbye. Its replacement is a 2005 Ford Focus (which incidentally does not have A/C either, but we got it for cheap so we can't complain.)
I was in charge of a ward Primary activity last week. I am not a "big group activity" kind of person, so this was a stretch for me. Interesting how there's a ward activities committee and a Relief Society enrichment committee, but the Primary is supposed to have 4 activities each year put on by: the Primary presidency. Luckily I have an awesome presidency that helped immensely with the whole thing. This picture is of some of the little kids playing games at the activity. Clara, who is 2 1/2 and still in Nursery, slipped in to this room and joined Nathan as he played "Simon Says," "Pin the Tail on the Donkey," and danced "The Hokey Pokey."
Nathan discovered the joy of power tools. He taught himself how to use David's screw gun (now Nathan's screw gun), and found himself some screws and some boards that really needed screwing together. He had the time of his life. When the battery died, he got out the charger and recharged the thing. He reminds me a lot of my brother, Dan, who developed an early love of tools and tinkering.