On Friday, Feb 20, Sherry and I were on our way to Boise to watch the Girls at the state basketball tournament. Greg called about the time we got to Pocatello and asked me if I would go to Argentina with him on Sunday. I told him what I had going on in the two weeks we would be gone and that I would call him back later after I had time to think. Sherry encouraged me to go and then later I visited with President Miyasaki about it and he told me not to worry about things that were going on in the Stake the next week and go. I called Greg back and told him I would meet him on Wednesday and to get my tickets. We got back home from Boise on Sunday afternoon and on Monday I was on my way to SLC to catch a flight on the next morning. Imagine, returning to Agrentina after 40 years!!!
Tuesday was a real day in the air, literally. I left SLC at 7:30 a.m. and flew to Chicago where I had a four hour layover. Then on to NYC where I had a nine hour layover and then off to B.A. I got in about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday afternoon. I got through customs in great shape and caught a bus that passed the temple and on to the center of town. I set out on foot to Caille Florida and to the Hostel that Greg had found there. We had a great couple of days there. Caille Florida is a walking street with vendors, music acts, beggars, and tons of shops and malls. That was our center of activity as it was right in the heart of Dixie. Greg didn't get back from Iguasu until some time Thursday so I spent the rest of the day catching a few winks and wandering the street seeing all the sights there close to the hostel but don't get me wrong, there was definitely plenty to see on Caille Florida. In the days to come we visited the Casa Rosada(Pink House), the military plaza and building, Recoleta Cemetery, took in a show with genuine tango dancers and a futbol game at BOCA Stadium. WOW!! Get this, we went to church on Sunday and they announced that Elder Scott was giving a fireside to the women of the stake at 5:30 that afternoon. We went to the stake center and caught him in the hall. He was as surprised to see us as we were to find out he was in town the same time we were.
Buenos Aires
While I was getting on the road, Greg was on his way to Iguazu Falls which is on the border of Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay. It is a big deal and I wanted to see it but there is no way we could make things workout with me coming later and all. I claim it as I have Gregs pictures.
Iguazu Falls
Friday, Feb 27, we caught the ferry over to Uruguay and then the bus to Montevideo. We spent a couple of days there before catching the bus and ferry back on Saturday night. We went to the beach there, spent time wandering the Flea Market, checking out the plazas and writing home on the internet.
Montevideo
In the evening of Monday, March 2 we caught the bus for a ride to Santa Fe. This was one of the towns I worked in 40 years ago. I spent six months there wandering the streets. I was really excited to visit but not really sure how we would find people I wanted to visit. I lost all my information from the mission in the flood in 1976 but we knew the Lord would provide and He did. Through tiny mircles we were able to find people and places we wanted to see. We were able to find Elder Kade Hollingsworth who was serving there, some of the leaders of the church I knew, my old pencion, the church I helped start and more.
Santa Fe
After about a 15 hour ride through the night we arrived in Salta, la Linda. Wednesday, March 5 at 12:30 p.m. We found our Hostel and got checked in and out on the town we went. We went up town checked out the main plaza, 9 de Julio. This was my favorite place on the mission. What a lot of memories I have of Salta! Salta!! Salta!!! In the days that followed we found my pencion, the church which burned down about 15 years ago and was rebuilt, the Hospital were we had fetch the husband of one of the members, he was dead, Plaza San Martin, Plaza General Guemez, my favorite plaza in Argentina. We took a ride on the gondola up the hill. It was a nice stay. I spent six and a half months in Salta on the mission. We found a place to eat that really rocks. It was an Argentine buffet with all the trimmings but beef, beef and more beef.
Salta
We rented a car in Salta and drove to Jujuy on the 6th of March. I spent two months in Jujuy in the early days of my mission. We went the back way which was to have been more picturesque and it was. The road was a little narrow but the scenary was off the map. We stopped in a La Caldera, a little town about 25 miles from Salta. They have a huge goucho festival there around March 15 and 60,000 people show up. They have a big Cristo there also. We stopped in Salta and they were having a teacher strike there in the center of town. Teachers must be the same everywhere. We headed up north to check out some geological sites; Salt flats and Purmamarca. Check the pictures. We didn't get back to Jujuy until about dark and we found the church and got some info about the people I knew there and headed back to Salta. Greg had a great day driving the race car up and down the switch-backs on the roads to the salt-flats. I have never seen switchbacks like the ones going up to the salt- flats. We climbed to 13,000 feet. We had peaks in the distance covered with snow. Check out the slides.
Jujuy
We caught a bus from Salta to Mendoza. I worked in Mendoza for a month and a half at the end of the mission. We didn't have enough days to visit everything we wanted so we optted to go to Vina del Mar. Bishop Bergstrom said you can't visit Chile without going to Vina. We left at about 10:00 p.m. and got here in Mendoza aobut at about 16:00. Wow!! We then got the bus for Vina at 22:00 and got there at 6:00 a.m. What a bus ride!! We did have a one hour lay over in La Rioja. Time to sleep and read and do a few crosswords. We went through the border at about 12:30 a.m. and were there for about 45 minutes. Then we went down the other side of the mountain. Wow!! you can't believe the steep mountains. I couldn't get any pictures as it was at night. I got a picture of the net so you can see the trail. In Vina we did the plaza thing but they have this park that we visited that was really neat. We did the beach, dinner at a nice place on the street a couple of times, Brunet Castle, the summer Presidential Palace, the beach, Valpariso, and we visited with Elder Larry Corbridge.
Vina del Mar/Valpariso
Greg checked out his flight agenda and found out that he didn't leave Santiago at 7:45 a.m. but at 7:45 p.m. He checked out the internet and found that they had made a schedual change and that he didn't leave until after 11:00 p.m. We had a whole day in Santiago. We were going to catch the bus from Vina at 5:00 a.m. to be at the airport in time to take care of business but we went back to the Hostel and slept for a while. We road the bus into town and then the subway to the center of town. There we walked all over in the time we had. We say the Plaza de Armas which was surrounded with the usual government buildings, churches, hotels, and restaurants. The plaza is wonderful. We found a museum and went in and did the free tour and we found out that Prince Charles was at the Government building. We went for a visit. At the eastern end of downtown Santiago we find Cerro Santa Lucia which is a small hill(tall as most skyscrapers in town)that is adorned with wonderful facades, fountains and stairways and that even has a ‘castle’ on it.
Santiago
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
Winter 2008 (Continued)
The last blog got so long that I decided to make a new one but to carry on the things I had been working on in the last blog.
We got home from going to SLC to see Greg come in from Ft. Lewis late Tuesday night. We had Samantha's Blessing on Sunday morning. We got a call from Janele Thomas on Thursday night inviting us to come to their Sealing in the temple on Saturday at 2:00. I home taught the Thomas's for about 8 years when they lived in Sugar City. They have since moved to Archer area. We haven't lost contact with them as Danny has continues to work for the City of Sugar even after he retired a couple of years ago. We found out from Suzy that her mother has been the visiting teacher to Janele since they moved in out to Sunnydale. We went to the temple that afternoon to be with the Thomas's that afternoon and it was a wonderful occasion. I almost fell of my chair when I heard that they were going to the temple. That's another story. We headed for SLC right after we got out of the temple.
We had a wonderful day on Sunday as we went to church with Bryan and Romina. Bryan Blessed Samantha Yazeera Holman and gave her a wonderful blessing. We had a ton of family and friends in the circle. 
After church we went home to Bryan's and had a fiesta. We had a lot of family and friends there but we didn't get any pictures as we left our camera home. I had Romina send me a couple of pictures from the day. I took along a box of potatoes for Elder Scott. I called and he invited us up to his house. Sherry and I had a lovely hour with him. What a blessing in our lives.
The next week saw us on the road to SLC again. My sister Ruth's daughter, Jalene, has returned from a mission in Micronesia and she reported her mission on the 8th of March. It was a great meeting and Jalene has grown so much in the time she has been gone. We had a nice party over to the Runyans' house with all the friends and family.
Sherry has been a busy as usual. She has been taking care of her regular assignment in the ward as the Bear Leader but she is on the District staff as the Cub Master Co-chairmanperson. Since she has been involved they have increased their attendance to a room full of people. I got recruited to go one month and help. It was a lot of fun.
We took our yearly Tax Vacation in the waining days of February, really it was the 16-19.
We went to West Yellowstone this year. Trendwest has a new condo there and it is really nice. We had a wonderful time and we got our taxes ready to take to the accountant too. We got up early and drove home in the early hours on Thursday so Sherry could go to school.
No rest for the world travelers. We headed for Boise to the Girls' State basketball tournament on Friday the 20. Sherry is really getting used to this being free thing. Some day she will have to go back to school for real.
We had a really nice time there. We stayed the first night at the Shillo Inn and met some really nice people from Rascal Flats, a Nashville group. They were the truck drivers and they were in town for a concert in a couple of days. They travel with 16 trucks and 19 buses. Wow! The Sugar girls didn't disappoint anyone. They had Snake River in the Semis and beat them 54-30. Snake gave them a good game early on but in the second half it was all the Digger Girls. We went to visit the Thompsons and had dinner with them. It was a lot of fun. We visited them about the Nashville group we met and about the people in Blake and Chantelle's ward. Randy got a CD from a Nashville group they heard in Provo at a fireside. They were a group of Nashville Mormons that got together and did this CD. While we were talking Blake called to say that they had been to a concert with Dan and Brooke who were there visiting for the week. They were on their way to Cold Stone's to get ice cream with the group. It was the same group that Randy heard in Provo and he is so high on them that he got me a copy of the CD so we could listen to it on the way home. We went back to the motel for the night but we made arrangements to spend Saturday night with them. The Sugar Girls didn't let anyone down in the Championship game.
We had Wendell in the Championship and even though they were a good team, we beat them 63-40 with the soph's playing the last three or four minutes of the game. These are really good kids and great athletes. It has been fun watching them over the past couple of years. They have won seven state team titles so far with half a year to go and the state track season just starting. After celebrating with the kids for a while we went back to the Thompsons and ate and watched a movie. The next day we got up early, went to church and headed for home. Nice weekend.
We got home from going to SLC to see Greg come in from Ft. Lewis late Tuesday night. We had Samantha's Blessing on Sunday morning. We got a call from Janele Thomas on Thursday night inviting us to come to their Sealing in the temple on Saturday at 2:00. I home taught the Thomas's for about 8 years when they lived in Sugar City. They have since moved to Archer area. We haven't lost contact with them as Danny has continues to work for the City of Sugar even after he retired a couple of years ago. We found out from Suzy that her mother has been the visiting teacher to Janele since they moved in out to Sunnydale. We went to the temple that afternoon to be with the Thomas's that afternoon and it was a wonderful occasion. I almost fell of my chair when I heard that they were going to the temple. That's another story. We headed for SLC right after we got out of the temple.
We had a wonderful day on Sunday as we went to church with Bryan and Romina. Bryan Blessed Samantha Yazeera Holman and gave her a wonderful blessing. We had a ton of family and friends in the circle. 
After church we went home to Bryan's and had a fiesta. We had a lot of family and friends there but we didn't get any pictures as we left our camera home. I had Romina send me a couple of pictures from the day. I took along a box of potatoes for Elder Scott. I called and he invited us up to his house. Sherry and I had a lovely hour with him. What a blessing in our lives.
The next week saw us on the road to SLC again. My sister Ruth's daughter, Jalene, has returned from a mission in Micronesia and she reported her mission on the 8th of March. It was a great meeting and Jalene has grown so much in the time she has been gone. We had a nice party over to the Runyans' house with all the friends and family.
Sherry has been a busy as usual. She has been taking care of her regular assignment in the ward as the Bear Leader but she is on the District staff as the Cub Master Co-chairmanperson. Since she has been involved they have increased their attendance to a room full of people. I got recruited to go one month and help. It was a lot of fun.
We took our yearly Tax Vacation in the waining days of February, really it was the 16-19.
We went to West Yellowstone this year. Trendwest has a new condo there and it is really nice. We had a wonderful time and we got our taxes ready to take to the accountant too. We got up early and drove home in the early hours on Thursday so Sherry could go to school.
No rest for the world travelers. We headed for Boise to the Girls' State basketball tournament on Friday the 20. Sherry is really getting used to this being free thing. Some day she will have to go back to school for real.
We had a really nice time there. We stayed the first night at the Shillo Inn and met some really nice people from Rascal Flats, a Nashville group. They were the truck drivers and they were in town for a concert in a couple of days. They travel with 16 trucks and 19 buses. Wow! The Sugar girls didn't disappoint anyone. They had Snake River in the Semis and beat them 54-30. Snake gave them a good game early on but in the second half it was all the Digger Girls. We went to visit the Thompsons and had dinner with them. It was a lot of fun. We visited them about the Nashville group we met and about the people in Blake and Chantelle's ward. Randy got a CD from a Nashville group they heard in Provo at a fireside. They were a group of Nashville Mormons that got together and did this CD. While we were talking Blake called to say that they had been to a concert with Dan and Brooke who were there visiting for the week. They were on their way to Cold Stone's to get ice cream with the group. It was the same group that Randy heard in Provo and he is so high on them that he got me a copy of the CD so we could listen to it on the way home. We went back to the motel for the night but we made arrangements to spend Saturday night with them. The Sugar Girls didn't let anyone down in the Championship game.
We had Wendell in the Championship and even though they were a good team, we beat them 63-40 with the soph's playing the last three or four minutes of the game. These are really good kids and great athletes. It has been fun watching them over the past couple of years. They have won seven state team titles so far with half a year to go and the state track season just starting. After celebrating with the kids for a while we went back to the Thompsons and ate and watched a movie. The next day we got up early, went to church and headed for home. Nice weekend.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Winter 2008
I had better bring everyone up to date as the last post was November 2008. We are still alive and doing well. We are going through the winter, everyone in the family is doing their thing. We have had Thanksgiving, the Christmas program, a new granddaughter and all those other tings that come with the end of one year and the beginning of another. Let me fill you in.
Since the last time I wrote we had a big day when Daniel blessed the baby, Addyson Lou Stoddard. November 9th was a big day for all the Stoddards and the Holmans as we blessed the Baby in Hibbard and had a big dinner to celebrate the occation in Sugar City at the School.
Around our house the first of December means CHRISTMAS PROGRAM. This year's program was another big success and without a doubt it is the biggest show in town. In years past years we have had one night to pack everyone into the High School gym for the big show. This year the school opted to do it two nights. We had the Kindergarten and the Second Grade the first night and the First and the Third Grades the second. The show was not any less a success it was just easier to find a seat for the parents, friends and grandparents that come every year. Sherry and Sandra really go all out every year.
Before we really got to far into December Romina gave birth to our 20th grandchild, Samantha Holman.
She arrived December 10, 2008 and Sherry and I made the trip to SLC to get acquainted that weekend.
Way Cute and the other kids are adjusting really well to having a new sister. Jade is no longer the baby and Sofia is a BIG GIRL now.
Christmas is coming, CHRISTMAS IS COMMING.
Sherry devoted her time getting feet pillows for each of the grandchildren.
She got help from some of the kids. They really had a fun time helping Grandma.
Everyone had tons of fun. All the grandkids picked out their own material and they ended up with 22 pillows when all was said and done.
Christmas did come and did all the kids. We had a wonderful time with parties for Trevon at Leo's in I.F., Tyree at home, Addy's frist swimming trip to Green Canyon, and of course Christmas Day. Check out the photos.
Greg spent the most of 2009 in Afghanistan. He came home about a month early to help train the next group to go out. They do the training at Fort Lewis in Washington State near Tacoma. We left town on Friday after school and drove through the night and got to Seattle on Saturday morning January 18. We checked into a hotel and got a little rest as Greg had to work all weekend long. We headed over to the temple to catch Scott Renda and Patti. We got there just as they were coming out the door. We went back in and had lunch together and visited for a couple of hours. Sherry and I did a session and headed for Tacoma to meet up with Greg. We went out to dinner before we had to take Greg back to the base. We checked out his room and we headed back to Seattle for the night as we had made arrangements to stay in the hotel for another night. The next day we went to church there by the temple and had a wonderful time. Plenty of people from Idaho and around our area living there including some I had known at Ricks. We went back to Tacoma and wasted some time there at the base waiting for Greg. We went to a nice army museum they have there and then made it back to the entry of the base to catch Greg. We went out to dinner and Greg made arrangements to get us into the Hotel there on the Base. We all spent the night there and I took Greg to work the next day. They are out in the sticks where they have a moc Afghanistan village and a COP where they train. He said it was almost like there COP in Afghanistan where he spent the last four months. Your mother and I spent the rest of the day visiting different sites there on the base and then we went out to the COP to pick up Greg and we visited for a couple of hours and then left dodge for home. Another night's drive home. Here are some pictures of the trip.
I wasn't all that long before Greg and his group of 20 something that did the training at Fort Lewis arrived in SLC. We got home from the last trip on Tuesday one week and headed for SLC on Tuesday, January 27, the next week. We had Todd and Suzi and Bryan and his family all there waiting as they got off the plane.
A Hero's welcome for our hero and his chums who had put their lives on the line for a year in Afghanistan. Greg was the hit of the media as he had a ton of little kids dressed in their army duds waiting for him as he got off the plane. We had footage on three or four channels.
Since the last time I wrote we had a big day when Daniel blessed the baby, Addyson Lou Stoddard. November 9th was a big day for all the Stoddards and the Holmans as we blessed the Baby in Hibbard and had a big dinner to celebrate the occation in Sugar City at the School.
Around our house the first of December means CHRISTMAS PROGRAM. This year's program was another big success and without a doubt it is the biggest show in town. In years past years we have had one night to pack everyone into the High School gym for the big show. This year the school opted to do it two nights. We had the Kindergarten and the Second Grade the first night and the First and the Third Grades the second. The show was not any less a success it was just easier to find a seat for the parents, friends and grandparents that come every year. Sherry and Sandra really go all out every year.
Before we really got to far into December Romina gave birth to our 20th grandchild, Samantha Holman.
She arrived December 10, 2008 and Sherry and I made the trip to SLC to get acquainted that weekend.
Way Cute and the other kids are adjusting really well to having a new sister. Jade is no longer the baby and Sofia is a BIG GIRL now.
Christmas is coming, CHRISTMAS IS COMMING.
Sherry devoted her time getting feet pillows for each of the grandchildren.
She got help from some of the kids. They really had a fun time helping Grandma.
Everyone had tons of fun. All the grandkids picked out their own material and they ended up with 22 pillows when all was said and done.
Christmas did come and did all the kids. We had a wonderful time with parties for Trevon at Leo's in I.F., Tyree at home, Addy's frist swimming trip to Green Canyon, and of course Christmas Day. Check out the photos.
Greg spent the most of 2009 in Afghanistan. He came home about a month early to help train the next group to go out. They do the training at Fort Lewis in Washington State near Tacoma. We left town on Friday after school and drove through the night and got to Seattle on Saturday morning January 18. We checked into a hotel and got a little rest as Greg had to work all weekend long. We headed over to the temple to catch Scott Renda and Patti. We got there just as they were coming out the door. We went back in and had lunch together and visited for a couple of hours. Sherry and I did a session and headed for Tacoma to meet up with Greg. We went out to dinner before we had to take Greg back to the base. We checked out his room and we headed back to Seattle for the night as we had made arrangements to stay in the hotel for another night. The next day we went to church there by the temple and had a wonderful time. Plenty of people from Idaho and around our area living there including some I had known at Ricks. We went back to Tacoma and wasted some time there at the base waiting for Greg. We went to a nice army museum they have there and then made it back to the entry of the base to catch Greg. We went out to dinner and Greg made arrangements to get us into the Hotel there on the Base. We all spent the night there and I took Greg to work the next day. They are out in the sticks where they have a moc Afghanistan village and a COP where they train. He said it was almost like there COP in Afghanistan where he spent the last four months. Your mother and I spent the rest of the day visiting different sites there on the base and then we went out to the COP to pick up Greg and we visited for a couple of hours and then left dodge for home. Another night's drive home. Here are some pictures of the trip.
I wasn't all that long before Greg and his group of 20 something that did the training at Fort Lewis arrived in SLC. We got home from the last trip on Tuesday one week and headed for SLC on Tuesday, January 27, the next week. We had Todd and Suzi and Bryan and his family all there waiting as they got off the plane.
A Hero's welcome for our hero and his chums who had put their lives on the line for a year in Afghanistan. Greg was the hit of the media as he had a ton of little kids dressed in their army duds waiting for him as he got off the plane. We had footage on three or four channels.
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