~The rest of the pics from Kara and Bethany's stay with us!~

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PRAYERS, KARA AND BETHANY ARRIVED HOME SAFELY!!!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I didn't get to post pics as often as I wanted to while Kara and Bethany were here, for I was the:
MOTHER OF 8,
LAUNDRY TRUCK,
CHEF,
MAID,
HOME SCHOOL TEACHER, ETC. ;-)

So...Here is one more post of the FUN things we got to do with Kara and Bethany during the whole month of June!    
WARNING THERE IS AN OVERLOAD OF PICS ON THIS POST!  :-)
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

THANK YOU, STEVE AND LUANN, FOR THE GIFT TO MAKE THESE FUN TIMES POSSIBLE WITH YOUR GIRLS !

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 

~Each day Phillip, Kimberly, Kara, and Bethany would take a little box of snacks or lunch with them as they went across town for Kara and Bethany to study Spanish and Kimberly to study Manderin.~

 ~The kids wearing "Red Twizzler Mustaches" while helping make the little candy graduation caps for Elijah and Mary's graduation! (Thanks to Bethany, Even Baby Abigail has a mustache! :-)~

 ~Their first Friday night here (June 5th) we took them out for Empanadas and ice cream!~

 ~Our empanadas~

 ~Sarah and Bethany~

 ~Noah, Kara, and Kimberly!~

 ~Crazy kids!~

 ~On Tuesday, June 9th, the girls had a BREAK from classes.
So we went to the park at the river and then Enjoyed some coffee at the same local ice cream shop.
Since it's colder here, the ice cream shop has added coffee. ~

 ~The next Friday (June 12th) Bethany wanted pizza, so we did that for supper. ~

 ~Then we WALKED lots of blocks to Via Flaminia which is a special ice cream shop that U. Charlie and A. Yoli have taken us to. ~

 ~Making decisions!~

 ~YUMMY!~

 ~Sweet Baby Abigail and her hat covering up her one eye.~

  ~Kimberly and Kara weren't with us this Friday evening, for they went to Florida Street for coffee and to do their homework.
While they were there, they decided to get a Cartoon picture drawn of them.
Kara is on your left and Kimberly is on your right! :-) ~

  ~On Saturday, June 13th, we took the girls to Tigre, Argentina.~

 ~That is when Sarah and Bethany got a Cartoon drawing of themselves.~

 ~Of course the guy exaggerated everything, especially Sarah's cheeks and Bethany's nose!~

~Kimberly (MiMi) and her baby sister Abigail.~

  ~It was a very chilly day and so we ducked into Bonafide Coffee Shop to get something hot to drink to keep ourselves from FREEZING!~

 ~Then we grabbed some Crepes for our lunch before we took our boat ride.~

 ~We took a one hour tour in this fun boat.  We were GLAD that it was all enclosed...for it was too chilly to have the windows open.~

 ~This is what Kara and Kimberly did in the boat.  Kara took pics, while Kimberly braided Kara's hair. :-) ~

 ~Sarah, Bethany, and Mary in the boat~

 ~The boat wasn't very full, so Elijah and Noah sat in the back.~

 ~On Sunday, June 14th, Kara and Kimberly wore long black skirts which were similar.~

 ~Then these crazy girls decided to put tiny braids in their hair.~

 ~Some bread sticks I made as part of our supper one night to go along with Spaghetti Chicken.~

 ~Kimberly and Kara ...with their braids.~

 ~Kara had Homework where she had to ask an Argentine person some questions.
So, we went back to our local ice cream shop so Kara could do her homework. :-) ~

  ~Kara and Bethany talking to their parents on the phone.  They were pretty faithful to call home! :-)

 ~One day Kara passed out chocolates to all of us.  Mary accidentally left hers on the couch and GUESS WHO FOUND IT?!!!~

 ~Elijah and Mary set up chairs to have an Orchestra in the house.  Mary is playing her recorder-flute and Elijah his guitar.~

 ~One night for supper I made these brownies!
I had found a new recipe for brownies, and it was BEYOND DELISH!!
I hope to post it someday too!~

 ~The next Friday, June 19th, we took the girls back to the same restaurant so that Kara could enjoy the pizza.
Here's Kara with her Coca Cola and Kimberly with her sparkling water (agua). ~

 ~All of us together!~

 ~And then to a fun but cheap ice cream shop on the way home.~

~We got Kara hooked on the Argentine Tea called Mate.~

 ~A fun white choc., raspberry, blueberry cake I made for supper one night... since it was just a few days before the 4th of July!~

 ~A fresh salad I served one night as part of our supper.~

 ~Bethany holding Abigail and doing homework.~

 ~Kara and Kimberly in their matching hoodies and tennis shoes.~

 ~Kara giving a PEP TALK to Abigail right before she left for school one day.
Kara was telling Abigail how LONG of a nap that she needed to take to help ME OUT that day!!
(The baby NEVER SLEEPS!) ~

 ~Sarah went with the girls and Phillip this day.
Each day Kimberly and Kara went and had classes at the Language University and Bethany had a 3 hour class with her Teacher in Starbucks.
Phillip stayed in another part of Starbucks until everyone was done with classes then all 4 of them would:
WALK LOTS of blocks,
THEN they caught A BUS, THEN A TRAIN OR
A SUBWAY, THEN A BUS for the nearly 2 hours to get back home!~

 ~Some No-Bake cookies that I made for dessert one night.~

 ~Kimberly and baby Abigail...with her hair in a pony tail for the first time.  :-) ~

 ~Noah went with Phillip and the girls this day.  ~

 ~The last English class night, June 24th, we moved our class to the Chinese restuarant so that Kara and Bethany could try their food.
Here is U. Charlie showing the girls how to use chopsticks.~

 ~The kids table.~

 ~Us at our table.
Of course we were drinking Hot Tea, WITHOUT SUGAR!
But, Bethany couldn't do that very well.
So, Kimberly snuck over and asked our friend Clara if she had any SUGAR for Bethany to put in her tea.
Kimberly knew she would need to SNEAK so U. Charlie wouldn't find out and TEASE Bethany.  ;) LOL!
Later U. Charlie DID find out and of course he teased Bethany! ~

 ~One night Kara and Kimberly had gone to a local store for Kara wanted to buy some gifts to take home to the U.S.A.
When they came back to our house, they brought this lovely delicious cake... AND....

 ~These flowers as a Thank you to Me for letting them come and stay with us!
HOW SWEET!~

 ~Their last Thursday night here, June 25th, I cheated and served sandwiches for supper. :-) ~

 ~Friday, June 26th, was Kara and Bethany's last day of classes.
So, all of us went to class with them this day.
Before we ran out the door we had a quick breakfast of Hot tea, croissant rolls and some fresh cheese and a sweet something that is made out of sweet potatoes and choc., called "Patata!"
Here in Argentina they put a slice of the Patata and the cheese together and eat it that way. ~

 ~Like I said above, Friday was Kara and Bethany's last day of classes.
 While the girls were in their last classes, Phillip took Noah, Elijah, and Mary to McDonalds across the street from Starbucks. 
I kept baby Abigail in Starbucks and had some ME TIME and wrote in my journal.  :-)
Later, Kara came by with Udi a classmate of Kara's so I snapped this pic of Udi, Kara, Abigail, and Sarah in Starbucks.~

 ~Bethany and the lady who taught her were in another part of that Starbucks having Bethany's last class.~

 ~Then after class was done, we went to Florida Street where Kara and Bethany both got drawings done of themselves.
Here's Kara getting her picture drawn...with Bethany photobooming. (right above the artist's head. :-)~

 ~The artist was pretty good, and did a good job for only taking 20 or 30 mins. of time to do it.~

 ~And here is Bethany getting her picture drawn.~

 ~Bethany bought a couple coffee Frappes for our family to share.  Phillip was giving Abigail some bites and she was ADDICTED!  :-) ~

 ~Abigail is looking LONGINGLY at the Frappe and thinking, "Hey, When do I get my next bite?"

 ~The artist, Bethany and her pic.
We thought both pics looked like the girls...but an older version of them.~

 ~Kara ran to McD's and bought some food for some poor children.  Here she is giving it to them.~

 ~Kara and Bethany and their drawings of them.~

 ~On Saturday, Kara wanted to go to China Town to do some shopping.  Kara wanted us all to wear our Argentine jerseys.
Kimberly had to be LOYAL and wear her Colombian jersey as well! :-) ~

 ~It was a rainy and chilly day at China Town.~

 ~We had a good day at the Chinese Church on Sunday, June 28th.
Here are the girls (with their friend Paula) ready to drink some hot tea to warm them up.  ~

 ~And someone got up the NERVE to ask U. Charlie for some SUGAR so that Bethany and Kara could ENJOY their Hot tea!  ;-) ~

 ~Sunday dinner at the Chinese Church was DELISH!!!  They served SHRIMP!!!
Having spent nearly 4 years in Ponchatoula, LA when I was a girl...Shrimp is One of my Favorites! :-) ~

 ~The girls' last Sunday night Bible Study with Fernando, Mariela, and Jeremiah, and our family.~

 ~Kara and Elijah both got cow foot Mate gourds.~

 ~On Monday, June 29th, Kimberly had ONE MORE Mandarin CLASS, so she and Phillip had to go across town and were gone for hours!  :-(
So, the rest of us went to Cafe Martinez.  This is where I took Luann (Kara and Bethany's Mother) her last day with us. ~

 ~Bethany's sandwich.  I think that her Mother ordered the EXACT same sandwich. :-) ~

 ~We were quite the crew!~

 ~The kids loved the French doors coming out of the restroom.  They took turns coming out and posing for the camera.  Here's Kara!~

 ~And here's Kara and Abigail. ~

 ~Kara had spotted a fun hot and cold cup that was JUST LIKE HER CAMERA LENS!
So, Kimberly snuck back to the store and bought it as a gift for Kara.
Her REAL lens is on your RIGHT and the cup is on the LEFT! :-) ~

 ~One last Supper together the night before they left.~

 ~Kimberly ordered a PORTION of fries and was shocked as to how BIG a PORTION was!  Of course there was NO WAY she could eat all of them, so we brought some home. :-) ~

 ~To the right you can see Us walking home after the last supper.
It's fall here and I loved this pretty tree full of colorful leaves. ~

 ~On Tuesday, June 30th, the girls were getting ready to leave!
Noah and Elijah had been BEGGING Kara to play soccer with them, but she had been so busy with school, homework, and then packing that she hadn't been able to.
SO....with just 3 or so hours BEFORE THEY WERE TO LEAVE FOR THE AIRPORT...
We took a quick walk to the park beside the river .... (17 blocks away!!) AND...

 ~They played a QUICK game of soccer! ~

 ~One of Kimberly and Kara's last chats together.~

 Phillip, Kimberly, and Sarah rode with Uncle Leo to take Kara and Bethany to the airport.
After they left,  our house sounded like the HOUSE OF MOURNING!
Elijah and Mary and even NOAH wept for about 20 mins. :-(
We had a great month together with Kara and Bethany and have Fun memories that will last a life time!  :-)
~Heather~