#betsyboodle turns one month old today!

Before I even get started with Betsy, I wanted to share some adorable family photos Kyle and Tina had taken shortly before her birth. I mean, seriously, how cute are these?!

Betsy followed in her brother's footsteps, arriving two weeks early. Kyle and Tina welcomed Elizabeth Ann Herschberger in the wee hours of Monday morning, November 9th. She weighed a whopping 8 lb. 8 oz. at birth and measured 20.25" long. A shorter delivery than Simon (thankfully!) left Betsy with the most perfect little round head -- no cone head! Our first photo was this one they posted on Facebook:

That was one of many taken by a photographer who came to the hospital in the middle of the night to document the labor and delivery. As Tina expressed on Facebook: "She captured a ton of awesome photos that I will treasure forever." Here are a few more I put together in a collage:

And now I want to share this essay Tina wrote many years ago regarding babies:

Please take time to enlarge the photo and read it. My baby has always loved babies!

Our first glimpse of Betsy was via Skype, of course, while they were still in the hospital:

The next day we skyped again once they were home:

Betsy was born while Jon, Nat and Adalyn were here so it was fun to experience that together.

When Betsy was about a week old, Tina had a photographer take some newborn shots but she hasn't gotten those back yet. Tina took a few pictures herself that day and I absolutely LOVE this one!

There's just something about those chubby little arms and cheeks that make you want to kiss her all over.

Tina traded a lifestyle shoot with another photographer friend and I want to share a few of those. I adore this all-piled-on-the-bed-reading shot:

This photo cracks me up:

Here's a precious shot of Tina with Betsy:

What's not to love about this daddy-and-daughter picture?

There were so many good photos I decided to do a little collage:

Kyle, Tina and the kids were planning a trip to Michigan so good friend and photographer Jen Buehrer could take some Christmas photos. Jen set up some crazy cool Christmas sets this year and Tina was über excited to go... And then they got about a foot of snow and had to cancel their trip :( Instead Tina used the tripod and they took a bunch of photos in their living room (one of the whole family is featured on their Christmas card!). Testing, testing...1, 2, 3...

It wasn't long after that Tina made this collage which I refer to as "The Many Faces of Betsy". She did that with Simon, too, and it's just so fun to see their expression change from second to second.

Simon wasn't too sure about Betsy to begin with, and still doesn't like it when she requires more of dad and mom's attention than he feels is warranted. But he is warming up to his role as big brother and even asked to hold her recently:

I had to laugh at someone's comment: "Seriously mom? You're letting him hold me??" Betsy really does have that expression on her face, I think :)

There were so many great photos and I had some serious DMD while determining which to include. TOO MUCH CUTENESS! I will end with a little collage of the weekly photos. So glad they're doing that with Betsy, just like they did with Simon!

As you can imagine, I can't wait to meet Betsy in person! We're scheduled to go on furlough next summer so until then I'll just have to content myself with photos, videos and Skype calls.

Weeks 48 and 49: Project 365, the 2015 Edition

Monday, November 23

While in Sta. Rosa on Friday Ivan met Brian, who bought a tricked out rig and plans to discover Argentina via a huge road trip. He came into our friend's tire shop looking for hydraulic fluid. He'd already been to several other shops between Belgrano and Sta. Rosa and was desperate by the time he got to Jorge's. He doesn't know much Spanish so he hadn't been able to communicate his needs at the other stores (all of which probably had what he needed). Anyway, Ivan was able to help him find some other things he needed as well, and took him back to his rig which was parked at a campground in Belgrano. Ivan extended an invitation to visit us if Brian came to Carlos Paz, and today he arrived!

We had fun showing him around our fair city, and he camped out in his rig overnight, leaving early the next morning so he could get to his next destination. We were pretty impressed with his set-up; it's like an RV but in a 4-wheel drive rig. It was late (and dark) by the time I saw inside, so I didn't get any photos, but he has all that he needs as he travels. And the cool thing is, he can be completely off grid since he has solar panels on the roof! This shot of the truck is from the website of the company that makes these customized trucks.

 What a grand adventure he's going to have over the coming weeks!

Saturday, November 28

This evening we were sitting on the couch, working on our computers and I realized I hadn't taken any photos since Monday so I set the camera on the little bookshelf next to the sofa and took this shot.

These side views really show my age, but hey, what can you expect from an old(er) woman? ;)

Sunday, November 29

We were all excited when Rodolfo walked in with HIS ENTIRE FAMILY. People, this was momentous! Thiago was born in July and this was his first Sunday in church. Although he'll have to remain on antibiotics for a full year, he's doing well enough that they finally felt comfortable taking him out. As soon as the service was over, all the women clustered around to see him, and he rewarded us with lots of smiles!

Wednesday, December 2

We had to make a trip to Sta. Rosa (a quick one, there and back) and we planned to eat at La Rueda, a very nice restaurant we've been to a couple of times over the years (most recently with our son and his family). Sadly they were closed, but fortunately the German restaurant across the road was open and we enjoyed a fabulous meal!

Naturally smoked pork chops, sauerkraut, and mashed potatoes. Yum! Too full to eat a whole dessert, we shared a flan. Sort of a pre-birthday lunch.

Thursday, December 3

Had to go downtown on errands and saw that this bakery/coffee shop had reopened (it's been closed for a really long time). They completely remodeled and took off the plaster, revealing the brick underneath on one wall and they hung old metal mesh racks that they used to use to make bread in brick ovens.

On another wall they painted large stalks of wheat.

Even though I couldn't eat anything, I did enjoy one of the best cappuccinos I've had in Argentina.

Friday, December 4

My birthday! For a whole month Ivan and I are the same age, and then he's older again :) He took me out to breakfast, something that's only recently become possible because Vitto's added some gluten free options to their menu.

Breakfast in Argentina means bread... or bread :) And what I got was bread, but of the gluten free variety. My meal included two biscuits, a pack of crackers, cream cheese, marmalade, freshly squeezed orange juice and café con leche. Ivan shared the fruit salad that came with his breakfast. I can't even express how happy I am that I can once again go out for breakfast!

Later in the day we worked on lunch together. Lunch is typically our big meal of the day. The original plan was to grill a chicken and some vegetables, but stormy weather quashed that idea. Instead we roasted the chicken, made mashed potatoes and Ivan whipped up some gorgeous (and delicious) salads.

Saturday, December 5

The barrio next to ours has a community building that has evolved from an open air facility when we first moved here, to a fully enclosed building. Recently a mural appeared on one end of the building. This is equivalent to a two-story building, so this mural is HUGE.

It takes some work to coordinate a Skype call with both kids simultaneously, due to the five hour time difference between us and our son in California. So thankful that Jon's always up for organizing the calls. It's so fun to see both our kids and all the grandkids on the screen at the same time!

Sunday, December 6

Dear friends were visiting Kyle and Tina so we ended up getting to Skype with them for a while. So fun! I thought I'd taken a screen shot, but apparently not. So I stole this one that Kyle took on that end.

Monday, December 7

Ivan found this tiny egg in the middle of the foundation for the house. How did it get there? It would have broken if it had fallen out of the tree (but it was too far from the tree for that to have happened, anyway). It's a mystery!

Adalyn Meets Papa and Nina

Even though I culled through the photos, I still ended up with way too many that I wanted to share from when Jon, Natalie and Adalyn came to visit us last month. (In fact, they arrived exactly one month ago today!) So I did what any right-minded person would do and created a few photo collages -- and by a few, I mean eight. Ummm, yeah, you read that right: eight.

Other grandmothers know that when you have so many photos of cute grandchildren... well, over-sharing is inevitable. It's an addiction. And being able to store photos on your phone?! Brilliant! Now I am never without new photos to press on unsuspecting friends. Or even complete strangers. Yes, I am that grandmother who has been known to show servers in restaurants the latest photos.

But back to their visit. It was, of course, an absolute joy to get to meet Adalyn in person. She is such an adorable, funny, curious little girl!

So prepare your eyeballs for some major cuteness...

It was no small feat to travel from San Francisco to Argentina with a toddler! I'm not sure who was more exhausted when they arrived: Adalyn or her parents :)

They adapted quickly to the afternoon siesta, and we just chilled the remainder of the day while they recovered from the trip. Next day we did a little mini-tour of Carlos Paz, which included our old stomping grounds by the lake.

Over the weekend we visited a few friends. Marcela and her daughter Stefi had us over for lunch on Saturay and Adalyn was enthralled by the two-week old puppies. On Sunday she went with us to see Magdalena, Nestor and Eugenia. She charmed everyone she met, and quickly made friends.

Jon and Nat allowed us to keep her while they got away for one night to Cordoba. I'd gathered the few toys we have on hand for when we have kids visit, and they entertained her for a while...

...but quite honestly, she had way more fun with the siphons!

Eventually she grew tired, and curled up on the chair in the kitchen with her bottle and a book while I got supper ready.

I'd worried about whether she'd take to us, since we were, in effect, complete strangers, just those faces she'd seen on the computer screen occasionally. But I needn't have. Within hours she was reaching out her arms for Papa to pick her up. In fact, she took quite a shine to Papa! We think it's because Jon and his dad look so much alike. Who knows?

But she would often climb on Papa's lap for a bit. Never for long, though, because she is a busy girl! 

Monday, November 9th, we picked Jon and Nat up in Cordoba and headed to Sta. Rosa where we spent the rest of the week.

I was pretty bummed that it rained and stormed a lot while they were here, severely limiting our ability to get out and about, but they actually loved it! I guess after living in drought-stricken California for the last few years, they were ready for some rain. One night when a storm rolled in, they went out and stood on the front porch just to watch it. And none of us minded a little mud on our walks around the neighborhood.

The river proved fascinating for Adalyn too. One day we spied a teeny tiny frog and stopped to watch it. As the week wore on, it warmed up and Adalyn was able to splash about in the water for a bit.

I have a ton of photos of Adalyn eating. She likes her food! She's not really a picky eater, although she'll choose meat over vegetables any day, and the funny girl likes lemons! She'll suck on a slice, making faces the whole time :) I had to include one melt-down photo. These were taken at the same meal.

Staying with the tradition to take family photos by the "Familia Hoyt" sign, we did that on Friday. Or tried to... Adalyn was pretty much over the photo session five minutes after we started. Did I mention she is a busy girl?! You can tell we were barely holding on as she tried to get away :)

And I want to end with one of my absolute favorite photos. Taken down by the river, this photo will forever bring back memories of this very special time together!

~~~~~~~~

P.S. I was "Nana" until this week. Simon, for reasons we may never understand, decided I am "Nina". Tina thinks maybe because he calls a banana "nana", so of course it would be silly to call your grandmother a banana! Whatever, I am more than happy to henceforth be called Nina!

Weeks 44, 45, 46 and 47: Project 365, the 2015 Edition

October 22 - November 22

It's embarrassing that I'm posting a whole month's worth of photos in one shot. In my defense, we have been a little busy. But I also admit I haven't made P365 a priority this past month either.

It was obviously ridiculous to try and winnow it down to one photo a day during the time Jon, Nat and Adalyn were here, but I finally decided I'll just do a whole separate post about their visit and then it was a little easier to choose representative photos for each day.

I also plan to do a separate post on the arrival of grandchild #3! Elizabeth Ann, henceforth to be known to one and all as Betsy, was born November 9th! You might want to prepare yourself to be barraged by photos of my adorable grandchildren in the coming week :)

Thursday, October 22

Ivan made gluten free bread for the first time and it was yummy! We'd already cut into it and buttered a couple of slices before remembering to grab the camera.

Saturday, October 24

While looking for a place Jon and family could stay the few days they'd be spending in Carlos Paz, we ended up across from this hotel that was getting a new roof. There was a line of men on the roof, one on scaffolding half-way up, and several on the ground, forming a human chain for getting the freshly mixed concrete up to the roof and quickly spread. It's quite fascinating to watch the rhythm they establish as they swing buckets full of heavy, wet cement from one to the next.

Sunday, October 25

Election day in Argentina! It ended up with a tie so a run-off was scheduled for November 22. When I went to google something that day, this popped up, showing the ballot box in the colors of the Argentine flag:

Monday, October 26

Ivan finished putting the drywall up on the ceiling of our hallway. Here you can see the last little bit he had to cover. Completely forgot to take before pictures, so this is all we have of that project.

So glad to have that done! He got it taped and mudded and would have had it painted by now, too, but he fell victim to food poisoning which put him out of commission for a few days. Not fun!

Friday, October 30

There's a large seibo tree down the street from our physiotherapist. It was in bloom and absolutely gorgeous! The bright red blossoms are the national flower for Argentina (and Uruguay). Notice the carpet of petals that have already fallen to the ground.

Saturday, October 31

We make monthly shopping treks to Tadicor in Cordoba. We like it much better than Walmart (although we still have to go to Walmart to get a few things that Tadicor doesn't carry).

Thursday, November 5

Jon, Natalie and Adalyn arrive!!!

It was so fun to finally meet our funny, curious and adorable granddaughter in person!

Friday, November 6

A tour of our fair city of course took us to Lago San Roque where Jon snapped this photo of us with Adalyn:

Saturday, November 7

Our friend (and my Spanish teacher) Marcela invited us over for lunch. Adalyn was entranced by the nine puppies that were only two weeks old!

Sunday, November 8

While her dad and mom spent the day and night in Cordoba, we thoroughly enjoyed having Adalyn all to ourselves :) She is such a little ham!

In the evening we visited Magdalena. I'd made a Shutterfly photobook using pictures from the past seven years, since Ivan first met Julio (who passed away earlier this year), and Jon brought the book down for us (since I do not trust the postal system here at all). Magdalena was thrilled with the book, and charmed by little Miss A.

Monday, November 9

Welcome to the world, Elizabeth Ann!

Betsy weighed 8 lb. 8 oz. at birth and measured 20.25" long. She's a beauty, just like her mama!

Tuesday, November 10

After traveling down to Sta. Rosa on Monday, we set out to enjoy some peaceful time in the country. A storm had swept through the night before, so roads were muddy and there were a lot of limbs and leaves down from the heavy winds. But we enjoyed our walk through the neighborhood anyway.

Wednesday, November 11

Nat put the cutest outfit on Adalyn and we got a few photos before she whipped the bow out of her hair. Girl's not a fan of hair doodads!

Thursday, November 12

We went out for lunch and after she was done, Adalyn got hold of the lemon from her dad's plate. She makes the funniest faces, but she actually really likes them and kept sucking and making faces for quite a while. Funny kid!

For supper that night, Ivan and Jon got busy in the kitchen. We ate well!

Friday, November 13

Had to get some family photos by the "Familia Hoyt" sign. Little Miss A was tired of the photo session by this point and it was all we could do to hold onto her :)

I absolutely love this photo of Jon, Nat and Adalyn taken down by the river!

So many great memories from their visit! We are so happy they made the long trek down. It wasn't easy, traveling so far with a toddler, and we are beyond grateful for such a gift.

Saturday, November 14

No photos! I took a bunch but something happened to the memory card in the camera and I can't get them off. Jon's going to look into what we can do to try and salvage the photos so maybe I'll have a photo later on.

It was a sad day, as we had to take them to the airport and say goodbye :(

Friday, November 20

Back out to Sta. Rosa, so I could do my annual washing of the cushion covers, and re-organize the kitchen cupboards again, as we prepare for the summer season. So many people use the house and everyone has their own idea of where things should go. When we were out there with Jon and Nat, I found the three parts of the salad spinner in three different places!

You might remember I made the cushion covers using some nice indoor/outdoor fabric so they spot clean pretty easily. But once a year they do require laundering, and I'm always so surprised and pleased with how clean they turn out. You can see them hanging on the line in this photo I snapped through the kitchen window.

Although the main reason for the picture is to show how a severe hail storm shredded many of the leaves and decimated most of the clusters of grapes that were just starting to form. Afraid we won't have enough to make grape jelly this year.

Saturday, November 21

Ivan was busy finishing the sermon for Sunday, his binder, papers and Bible spread out over the sofa, so I got all comfy on the bed and used headphones to watch an episode of "Escape to the Country" on youtube. It's sort of a British House Hunters, and I cannot get enough of those quintessential English cottages, converted barns and Georgian houses. I'm quite addicted to the show!

Sunday, November 22

Guess what?! Google has the same picture they had October 25 -- only this time it's for the presidential election run-off. No news yet on who's ahead; we'll just have to wait and see who wins!