Living Life...

Living Life...

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

December – Mirko and Natalia’s Visit – The first three days..!

The first couple days were super busy.  What a joy it is for me to be able to share this part of my life with such a good friend.  My first trip to Argentina was 10 years ago… I never would have imagined all that has taken place since then. 

It was so exciting to pick up Natalia and Mirko from the airport on Sunday.   Of course, after coming to my parent’s house to drop things off the first thing Mirko wanted to do was go to a store.  He loves to shop… especially for food.  Natalia and I of course spent the whole time just visiting.  Monday we went to a lot of different stores.  Not only did they want to experience everything they had some last minute Christmas shopping they wanted to do. 

It seems like all we were doing was shopping and eating so Natalia, Mirko and I went on a five mile walk on Monday afternoon before dinner.  Thankfully the weather cooperated and did not rain.  They also got to get a small experience of Christmas lights as we walked and they saw one of the houses decked out with lights.  During this time Shane was able to get caught up on his homework so he could enjoy the rest of the vacation with us. 

On Christmas Eve, we decided to take them to Snoqualmie Falls since it was so beautiful outside.  Natalia knows it as “My waterfall” since it is where I would often go to study my Bible…. especially when I needed to get away and pray about a big decision.  I was excited to be able to share the waterfall with Natalia but quickly disappointed when we arrived and it was cloudy right where the waterfall was… and nowhere else.  Of course, we didn't let that get us down; instead I took them out to another important place in my life, Lake Retreat.  We got lucky and Topher and Hilary were still there so Natalia got to visit with him for a little bit.

Fog at My Waterfall... we could hear it there somewhere.  

Visiting Lake Retreat with Topher & Hilary

Enjoying the beauty of the lake... 

Family picture at Lake Retreat... 


That evening they got to experience their first reunion at my church.  Natalia especially enjoyed the candlelight portion of the service.  Once again we were lucky and ran into Emily at church with her family.  So, once again Natalia had the opportunity to catch up with Emily and meet her family. 

Candle Night Service...

Natalia, Emily & Hudson

After the service we took Natalia and Mirko through one of the neighborhoods in Maple Valley so they could see a lot of houses with Christmas lights.  What an experience it was for them as they had only seen it before in the movies.  By the time we got back to my parents we were all starving and grateful that my Mom had prepared Korean food for dinner.  After dinner I had to stay awake late and make desert and wrapping presents.  We all went to bed exhausted after a couple of busy days.  


Natalia enjoying the Christmas lights... 

The guys enjoying youtube videos... 

Making Pecan Squares... 

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