Sam's headed back south

We had a great time with Sam! He's so funny. I got him to his bus this morning along with his possessions. We had a false start this morning when we got up an hour earlier than we needed to, but that meant that we got to go back to bed for another hour. : )
We had a great time in NY. Everyone seems to be doing well. Bethany is going to be in France next semester and Nicole is thinking of moving to Cleveland for six months to try a dance company. Joanna is taking night classes in accounting. Uncle Lee got a ten-point buck while he was hunting. That seems to be about it for the big news. : )
Grandpa seems to be doing ok. He told me he had had a hernia operation earlier this year and thinks he has another hernia on the other side. So he was lamenting the fact that he hasn't been able to get stuff done around the farm!
The one of two funniest moments was when Uncle Mark made the observation that we really had 14 people eating at Grandpa's not 13 (the rest were at Aunt Joyce's house), since someone was eating for two. Aunt Jan then explained to Kim that Julie is expecting. Sam said, "Oh, I thought he was talking about Matt." I've never heard Uncle Mark laugh so much! Ironically, both Matt and Chris thought Uncle Mark was talking about Matt, too. : )
The second funny moment was while I was playing cards with Uncle Mark, Kim and Nick. The rest were watching Willow (has lots of little people, in case you haven't seen it). Uncle Mark seriously asked, "Is this the second big hit for the little people after The Wizard of Oz?" If I hadn't been sitting already, I would have fallen over I was laughing so hard.
And, of course, Chris and Nick were practically a stand up comedy act the rest of the night. They just feed off each other. Chris likes it when Nick's there because he feels he has someone that understands him. : )
I told Grandpa he throws good parties. : )
EDIT: I also found out Candace is working at Marshall's and is engaged to get married in July. She's engaged to the friend of her former fiancé. His name is Jay (or at least that's how he was introduced) and we met him on Friday.
SECOND EDIT: I started learning Russian. I'm meeting with Olga Lowe (she's Russian and went to Northland). Of course, I do have lots of help at home. :) Sam's hands look almost like new! They do look tons better than when he got here. We got him all the lotions the Dr. prescribed and recommended, and he's been good at using them. Now if we can just get him a new job on campus...

Clarks in Argentina

The choir is the one Mom sings in, although she wasn't able to sing with them that night.
Dad picked up an early birthday cake. It had a cool candle that went off like fireworks. Jared loved it! Carolina's little boys are Tobias (age 2) and Marcos (age 2.5 months)
CORRECTION: Dad bought the leather cowboy hat for Jason at the "regionales" store on San Juan. Jason is pretty thrilled with it. :)

Ana came to the asado at church on Saturday night with her family, for the estreno of the new kitchen.

This is Mariano's wife Romina with Juan Ignacio (age 2.5 months).



This is the crowd that came for the asado. In the back row, standing between Jason and me, are the plumber that did the work for the kitchen (Carlos) and his wife (Ana). They seemed delighted to be there, and it was an answer to prayer for the church, who were praying that some of the men who worked on the kitchen would come to church.