WOO HOO!!!

I just got the following email:

*** DO NOT RESPOND TO THIS E-MAIL ***
The last processing action taken on your case
Receipt Number: WAC**********
Application Type: I130 , IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN
Current Status: Approval notice sent.
On August 20, 2009, we mailed you a notice that we have approved this I130 IMMIGRANT PETITION FOR RELATIVE, FIANCE(E), OR ORPHAN. Please follow any instructions on the notice. If you move before you receive the notice, call customer service.
If you have questions or concerns about your application or the case status results listed above, or if you have not received a decision from USCIS within the current processing time listed*, please contact USCIS Customer Service at (800) 375-5283.
*Current processing times can be found on the USCIS website at http://www.uscis.gov/ under Case Status and Processing Dates.*** Please do not respond to this e-mail message.
Sincerely,
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

**************************
and we got it in under 3 months, for my spouse or orphan...

Don't cry for me Argentina....

Weekend of Festivities

Last weekend we celebrated all weekend long.

Mario initially told me "I don't want to have a party, let's just go spend the weekend with Paco and Alicia." ok. About Wednesday it evolved to "how about we invite a few friends over for cake on Friday night. Just cake, nothing else." sure, I can make a cake. Thursday sometime he comments "maybe we should have cake and one other dessert, just so there's enough." no problem. Friday morning he calls me "I was thinking you could make make that crab dip I really like and serve it with crackers, just to have something savory. but nothing else." ingredients for crab dip acquired. Friday night when he gets home from work "I'm worried people will be hungry, so I bought a bunch of soda and chips and how about I order some pizzas?" It's your birthday, whatever you want baby!!

So Friday night we had a very casual, but with lots of food, gathering with our friends. We started playing a modified version of Taboo, and were quickly screaming and having a riot. It's amazing that Gabe never woke up!!

The women's team, which technically won.

The men's team, which claimed victory due to a technicality.

Then Saturday, as previously planned, we headed to Santa Fe where Paco prepared a MOST DELICIOUS asado for us. Mario discovered the real secret to preparing the meat has everything to do with the right tools...starter cubes for the fire, "asado" salt for the meat, a state-of-the-art barbeque that sucks up all the smoke without leaving the room cold, and some cool utensil thing for serving the meat straight off the grill and onto the plates - one-handed.

I made cake to take with us but made Mario take a picture with it before we left b/c I didn't think it would survive the trip. Can anyone tell me how to get cream cheese frosting how to set up stiff enough to decorate with??

Gabe is sampling the "cream"

We all played croquet on the lawn, and Gabe loved having lots of space to run around and Pilar's playhouse.

and Pilar got Mario to dress up like a magician and pull a bunny out of a hat (which she previously drew and stuffed into the hat for him. I appreciate her sense of preparedness!)

Gabe really enjoyed all of Pilar's toys, especially dressing up as a "'posa" (mariposa = butterfly).

Then Sunday was Dia del Niño, or Kid's Day. So after church Pilar and Gabe got special presents. Gabe got a kids golf set (now I get my kitchen spatulas back) which he loved for the whole 48 hours he had it before he took it to the glass doors on the entertainment center and smashed one. Now he gets to look at the clubs on a high shelf in his room and contemplate his actions for a few days.

And Tia Alicia also surprised him with LOTS of Play-Doh!!! He is thrilled, I'll try to remember to be thankful that you can't break things with Play-Doh.

We all had so much fun we think we might go back this weekend!

I Love To See the Temple

A week ago Friday we had the priveledge of going to the temple to witness Pilar being sealed to Paco and Alicia. For those not of my faith, when we are married in the temple we are married not just for time, but for all eternity. Children born into such a marriage are consequently sealed for all eternity to their parents. Pilar is the beautiful love child of Paco and Alicia that was biologically born to another mother and adopted by Paco and Alicia. Thus there is a small ceremony to seal Pilar to her parents for all eternity. It was lovely, and not just the part where we left Gabe at home and spent the day with adults!
I made Pilar a sweet little all white dress to wear in the temple using the fantastic flowers Cecelia taught me how to make, but I'm a dork and didn't get a single picture. It was a COLD day so Pilar was already changed into more winter approriate clothing by the time we got outside.



It was a lovely day, made all the better by the fact that when I got home the babysitter had Gabe fed, changed into pijamas, the house clean, and had even DONE LAUNDRY!!!

Azcuy's = Great Friends

Argentine's only kind of celebrate Valentine's Day, and they definitely don't make Valentine's to distribute to all their school friends. The don't celebrate St. Patrick's Day (lack of Irish immigrants??) barely Halloween (unless you are in my close circle and then it is obligatory) or really even their own Independence Day. However, July 20th is "Friends Day" in Argentina and they ALL celebrate friends day. For a society that doesn't generally plan much in advance, if you don't make a reservation a month in advance you won't get into a restaurant.

It was very fitting that our wonderful friends the Azcuy's were visiting us on July 20th! Since they moved back to Cordoba we have missed them tremendously. They stopped through on the way to Buenos Aires and on the way back where they had to update their kids passports in the embassy, and in our approximately 36 hours together:

Mario and Adan confirmed they are soul brothers.




















Cecilia and I talked and laughed and she taught me how to make the coolest fabric flowers and empañadas arabe, which are easy and delicious.















Their two oldest kids Augustina and Tomas were wonderful and played brilliantly with Gabe.

And they accompanied us to a gathering of other Rosario friends to celebrate Friend's Day.

We promised them a trip to Cordoba to visit as soon as it isn't so freaking cold there!

We love you Azcuy's!

What's in a name...

It all started before Gabe was born...Mario mentioned to his then counselor in the bishopric that if it was a girl we would name her X. His counselor responded "oh, we love that name too. If our next child is a girl we talked about using it". Fastforward 2.5 years later, this counselor's wife and I are pregnant AT THE SAME TIME. Her due date is two weeks before me. I'm kind of freaking out, because we both want the same name but I DON'T want to be the copycat - two weeks apart...same ward... I end up getting my ultrasound before her and I find out we ARE havinga girl. I don't know what to do. I don't like to tell everyone the name before the birth because when the baby's not born yet everyone feels they can offer their real opinion, even if it's negative, and I feel I have until the birth certificate is signed to change my mind. But should I tell everyone early so I don't look like a copier and maybe intimidate her into choosing another name? Why am I the only person concerned about this?? Oh yeah, in Argentina only approved names are allowed so everyone has the same name anyway! No one cares about originality!

Then...she gets her ultrasound and it's a....BOY! Thus, coming this October to Rosario will only be one.............Lucia.

Middle name still to be decided.

And while we are shut-ins, I have been taking all Gabe's old onesies and making them girly. It's great fun. I also crocheted her little maryjane's with interchangeable flowers in different colors. My sewing machine is currently in repair, but when I get it back there will certainly be more to come!

I've also been trying to keep Gabe entertained with clandestine outings to the little train at the park and visits from his cousin Pilar - equally as bored as he is! Don't worry, when we go out we use alcohol hand cleaner liberally!

and p.s. if anyone happens to be getting rid of baby girl clothes, we are accepting EVERYTHING!

sorry for the lameness of the photos, blogger and I were having a fight tonight.

Health Emergency/House Arrest

Swine flu has arrived to Argentina in a big way. The government has declared a health emergency and all schools and institutes have been closed down for a month. Church - including Sunday meetings and all activities - has been cancelled for two weeks. People are encouraged not to go to public places like malls, movie theaters, children's play areas, etc. Some cities have even closed all businesses. Pregnant women who work with the public have been told not to go to work, and they will lose no benefits.

Under direct mandate from my husband, I am only allowed out of the house with a face mask on and hand sanitizer at the ready.
Problem is, I CAN'T BREATH with this stupid thing on. I have breathing problems anyway - I don't breath through my nose because I don't feel like I'm getting enough air. I can't put bed covers over my head because I feel like I'm suffocating. Withing 60 seconds of having this thing on I'm asphyxiating.

Second problem is, I feel like the panic is a bit excessive, so I don't really need to wear the face mask to go to the grocery store. Mario sends me text messages when I'm out to remind me to wear it. I will not reveal publicly my responses nor whether they can be considered 100% truth...

But this is the breakdown, according to my understanding. Swine flu is not in and of itself more serious than any common flu. However, it does tend to set on very quickly and have respitory side effects. Because it is a new strand of the virus, it is spreading very quickly because no one is immune to it. But a normal, healthy person should be able to recover just as they do from any flu. Argentine complications: Argentine's, by natural selection, are generally more resistant to the flu. They are NOT more resistant to swine flu. A very large percentage of Argentine's live in less than ideal situations - no adequate heating in their homes, no proper diet/health, sharing of germs when drinking mate, and while no one else admits this I would say not as sanitary. Not because they are dirty, or don't care, but my personal belief is washing dishes by hand does NOT clean them as well as a dishwasher, and I know no one in Argentina who has a dishwasher. Add to that that I have witnessed regularly here that people kind of rinse dishes in cold water more than washing them in soap and hot water, probably for a variety of reasons that have to do with heating the water being expensive historically, and even today in poorer or more rural areas where there is not a city gas line but gas has to be purchased in tanks.

Anyway, when someone here gets the flu, it can very easily turn into pnuemonia. Especially swine flu, that is already associated with respitory side effects. And if you live in a draftly cold house without proper alimentation, sanitation, etc, pnuemonia is even more serious. And when you're a third world country that doesn't produce any of it's own antibiotics, so it all has to be imported and you suddenly have an exponentially higher need for antibiotics, you worry a lot. And if you're the citizen of a 3rd world country you tend to feel like most of life just happens to you, out of your control, so you really start to panic about things like the flu.

And if you're a north American, who has a nice toasty warm house and lots of good food and sanitizes the house and dishes regularly, you think none of this applies to you so you shouldn't have to wear a face mask or stay in doors and face the much more real threats of asphyxiation or craziness due to boredom. And everyone around you will think you are an insane risk taker and should be institutionalized...or at least sent back to your own country.

Sad, Sweet Goodbye

Last Thursday night, the 25th of June, Mario's father, Deolindo Antonio Resek, passed away. He was 85 years old and had lived an exemplary life. Deo was very intelligent, learned, humble, generous, loving, and many other traits. But most importantly, he was one of those rare people who can really say that he didn't just try, but did his best to follow the example of Jesus Christ every day of his life. I am grateful for the relatively brief time that I knew him, and am even more incredibly grateful to have the blessing of being married to someone who was raised by his example and teachings.

I know that the highest honors and glories of heaven are reserved for men like him. We will miss him.