So Happy Together

On Sunday, I FINALLY got to see Babies.  It is a great movie that I have been anxious to see since I saw the previews a few months back.  I was hard pressed to find someone who wanted to see it, but finally my friend Katie-the trooper-said she would go with me.  It was different than what I was expecting and really it was like watching a home movie played to music with a few sounds here and there.  I thought it would have been more documentary like with voice overs explaining what we were seeing or explaining traditions etc, but it was just video of 4 babies in 4 parts of the world.  Here is how I would rank my desire to raise a baby in these parts of the world:
1.  Namibia
2.  Japan
3.  San Francisco
4.  Mongolia
I had pretty strong impressions from my first choice and last choice locations and the reason for both is the same.  I CRAVE community.  In fact when I thing of Namibia I decided that this is the absolute best way to raise babies.  Of course it would take some getting used to-walking around topless, letting babies poop on your leg and cleaning it off with dried corn, licking your baby to clean them, but looking beyond the creature comforts what I thought was amazing and quite exciting was the fact that the mommy had another mommy there with her doing everything together.  They walked to the river together, they ground their rocks to make paint together, they made meals together, etc.  Each time they showed a scene, I had tears in my eyes thinking how great that would be. 

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the baby from Mongolia lived in a remote field with no other family around.  In fact the whole movie I only saw one other person besides the family and that was a doctor that came to weigh the baby on a house call.  The baby from Mongolia was PRECIOUS and would provide a lot of entertainment on his own but I could not take that as a only form of contact.

Thinking about this over the last few days I am starting to see how much my emotional well being is controlled by those around me.  When Annabelle was born, I had one friend who was a mommy.  My sweet friend Kim.  Landen was 7 months old when Annabelle was born and I had serious adjustment issues.  I will never forget being in my chair holding Annabelle shortly after she was born and Kim calling me to check on my and feeling like I was talking to the guru of motherhood.  It felt so nice to talk to someone who knew where I was.  She provided advice and a listening ear to a mommy who was losing it!  Fast forward 2 years and Maggie joined our family and I had LOTS of mommies to help share in the journey.  We had friends come over to eat dinner with us, babies for both girls to play with and mots of people for Mommy to talk to.  In fact, the day we came home from the hospital, 2 good friends  were at our house staying with Annabelle while she took a nap.  As it turned out, Kyle had to take Ryland home to nap because she was keeping Annabelle up and so Sherah and Talitha stayed at our house for several hours waiting for our sleeping beauties to wake up.  God orchestrated those few hours just for me!  I dont know that I would have been able to tell anyone that I needed people around me in those early days but it made such a difference.  During my maternity leave, I had play dates, outings and all kinds of fun with my family.  I was loving life and I can not say that about my early days with Annabelle. 

This past weekend, my very talented husband was working on a home repair project ALL DAY on Saturday.  To be honest I still dont know exactly what he was doing, but on a day I look forward to hanging with ALL my family, we were one man down.  My family was not complete without my fun husband and I started to get really sad.  Now, to be honest, the way that sadness showed up was being quite angry with him for taking so long, but honestly, I just wanted to go to the park or get some ice cream or WHATEVER else he wanted to do together as a family.  After a few days of contemplation, I realized that I need people much more than I every thought I did. 

Of course this can go to an extreme that is unhealthy-co dependence, but I really dont think I have an unhealthy need for this type of togetherness and I think it is quite biblical to share life with people around you.  Recognizing that I NEED anything from other people is honestly a little hard to admit, but after 35 years I finally am able to say it-and finally able to recognize it.

So for those who read this and are part of my "hit" of people time-THANK YOU.  You all make life easier to enjoy and stir my heart for the Lord!                 

Then and Now

One of the reasons I was most excited about going to Santiago was because that is where Italo and I went for our Honeymoon almost 5 years ago.  We spent about 2 weeks there in a wonderful hotel room in downtown Santiago.  It was a magical time for us getting to know each other on a new level and I LOVED learning about the city that Italo lived in for about 5 yrs.  Since I was not able to speak the language he took really good care of me and I LOVED sitting back and letting him make all the decisions about how we were going to get some place and him ordering for me etc. 

This trip was different because we spend all of our time with our family and we had the small matter of 2 small kids to accompany us!  It was nice to spend time in Mom and Dad's house and the girls LOVED sleeping in the same room.  I am thinking we might just move them into a room together soon since they liked it so much---and we will get a guest room/play room out of the deal :)  We did not really do much on this trip that we did on our honeymoon but the final day we were there, we did visit the Santa Lucia castle in downtown.  When I told Annabelle we were going to a castle, she first said-YAY SAND.  Then I told her it was not a sand castle but a REAL castle and then she said-"I want to see the Princess!".  It took a while to get there that day and so we heard about the Princess and the Castle quite a bit that day!!

Once we got everything loaded up in the car for our departure that evening, we dropped the bags off at the church so we would have more room in the car as we drove around the city.  We then started the long journey of going around the castle.  It is quite beautiful and it brought back a lot of good memories of our time there while we were on our honeymoon!

Almost 5 years ago, I stood on these stairs looking at my husband and dreaming of the life we would share together.  I sat in front of this fountain with a wonderful man I was privileged  to call my husband and wondering what life would be like in 5 years

Now 5 years later, I sit on those stairs looking at my husband loving the life we have and sat in front of that same fountain with my girls wondering what the next 5 years will look like for our family.  The one thing that is FOR SURE is that I love my husband more today than I did 5 years ago and love the family that God has created in the 5 years he has allowed us to be together. 

Thank you Jesus for all of your blessings!

Silly Pili

Italo's mom has a friend here in Chile named Pili.  She became a Christian shortly after his parents arrived in Chile and has been a dear friend to Mom and Dad and also to Italo when they moved to Chile.  At the time of their relocation Italo was about 15 or 16 yrs old and really bonded with Pili.  On my first visit to Chile, she was SO sweet to me and said that she had prayed for me for years.  Of course she did not know who she was praying for but she was faithful to pray for a wife for her friend Italo.  I felt so priveledged when she told me that and really felt that quite often during our honeymoon as we meet different people during out stay.  I am sure it is a little wierd to Pili that we came back to Chile with 2 more people in our family than the first time we came here but she is still so sweet and gives great hugs when you see her. 

At the birthday party for Dad on Saturday, Pili came to the party and when Italo introduced Annabelle to Pili he did so by saying her name was Silly Pili (Pilly).  The name stuck and Annabelle has asked about several times since they first met.  On Sunday I got the priveledge of meeting her granddaughter who is about 5 1/2 months old and is a true doll.  She is very cuddly and sooooo cute.  Her name is Emilia (pronced Amelia) and it is has been very fun to talk to her Mommy about raising babies in Chile.  Natalia got married and within a year was pregnant with their first child.  She said all she ever wanted was to be a Mommy and wants 5 kids by the time all is said and done.  She and her family live with her parents, Silly Pili REALLY spoils her little granddaughter. 

 

Her room is truly made for a Princess.  The little crib is decked out in beautiful blankets and a canopy.  She let us borrow the bed for Maggie to sleep in and Nati was very suprised Maggie would go to sleep anywhere we put her.  Maggie is always a very easy baby to put to sleep but because she was not feeling well, she was even easier.  So Nati asked me how I got her to sleep and I told her that I contiioned Maggie from a young age that once the door closed for a nap or for bedtime, it did not open again until it was time to get up.  Natalie was very eager to learn more but Silly Pili wanted nothing to do with such TORTURE!  It was really funny. 

The property that Pili and her family lives on is gorgeous and we were able to get lots of fun pictures of Annabelle.  

    

When we arrived, we were invited to go outside to eat some appetizers and everyone was beyond amazed that I would take my girls out in the fall/winter weather with bare legs.  Everyone was very concerned and finally brought me some tights and a coat for Maggie.  I think they all felt much better once she was decked out right for the weather.  I was glad too because it was a lot colder than I thought it would be and did not know we would be outside.  However, I had a lot of worried moms to take care of the girls!

After Maggie woke up from her nap we tried to get some family photos and I did not put the warm wardrobe back on and Nati and Pili were cringing the whole time.  Finally Nati brought me the coat and put it on Maggie saying she just HAD to wear it!  It made me laugh but I really thought it was super sweet of her to care for my little girl like that.  The family photos did not turn out very well but the new picture at the top is from the attempts.  As Italo said, at least we were all in the Picture ;)

That evening Nati and her family came over with a lot of other folks from the church and "watched" a soccer game and ate some Completos (Hot Dogs).  No one but Italo and I actually watched the game but they all enjoyed their food, friends and good conversation.  Nati actually speaks VERY good english and I really enjoyed chatting with her about kids.  She really liked all the modern ways of doing things with kids including keeping them on a schedule and NOT feeding them Coca Cola in their bottles but those around her thought she was peculiar.  It is quite remarakable how different even the smallest things are in regard to babies and it was very nice for me to take a step back and see what other people thing is normal. 

 Besides the conversation with Nati, I also really enjoyed my first taste of a Chilean Hot Dog-Completo.  It was different and ingredients I would have never thought belonged together but it was quite good.  The Completo is made with a large roll and a hot dog complete with Avocado, Tomatoes and Mayonaise.  YUMMY

Cesitar!

As I have said, we came to Chile primarily to celebrate Dad's 60th Birthday.  However as an added benefit we got the priveledge of celebrating a 5 year old's birthday as well!  Cesar Alfonso Bergen was born on May 4th 2005 in Santiago de Chile.  I have only had the opportunity to see him a few times since that day.  The first time was a few days before my wedding day.  He was a VERY cute little ring bearer.

He was only a few months old at the time and of course I was super busy getting married so I did not get to see him very much.  But he was super cute and I was so glad that I got to meet him!  The next time we saw him he was about 18 months old and we made a trip to MN to visit Bruno and Heather and Mom and Dad fro Mom's birthday in September of 2006.  He was a very compact ball of energy.  Super cute but he was more interested in his cousins than with boring old Aunt Amy.  The next time I saw him was September 2008 when he and his Mama came through Dallas on their way home from Maui.  We only saw him for an afternoon and he did not talk to me very much since he was primarily speaking Spanish.  He and Annabelle seemed to have a great time playing together!

I was very excited to see him and his sister during this trip and since Alessandra has been in the hospital since we arrived we have gotten to spend lots of time with Cesar because his parents have needed help with him.  That was has been quite the joy!  For the most part, Annabelle and Cesar have played very well together.  When he first came into the house, he had a HUGE smile on his face and was very happy to give me a big hug!  Annabelle was very glad to have a cousin to play with and they were SOOOO cute together!  As time as gone on, they have started to get in little fights here and there but nothing too major.  Cesar is a very sweet hearted boy who likes to play with a venegance.  He seems to be comfortable in any situation you put him in and has even proven to be a good translator for me with some of the kids in the area. 

On Tuesday we were excited to celebrate his birthday amidst the emotions of his sister being in the hospital.  However, the night before his mommy went home from the hospital sick while Mom went to be with Alessandra.  The next morning, the birthday boy woke up feeling sick and sleep a good part of the day. 

However that evening, we were able to go over to their house and have a little party with him.  Annabelle was very glad to have another person to sing Happy Birthday to and of course she knew cake was coming!  We went to the mall to buy him a birthday present and even though Annabelle was very excited about this venture she feel asleep as soon as her head hit the stroller!

 

But when we got back into the car she was happy to be going to the party.  When we arrived, the big boys started playing with the Wii and did not give the birthday boy much of a turn. 

However once he opened his birthday presents he had lots to keep him occupied.  Annabelle took over the new soccer game we gave him but he was a trooper to share his brand new toy.  So Sweet!

We had a delicious cake for his birthday but everyone was feeling a little sick and Annabelle, Italo and I were the only ones to indulge in the cake.  O well! Annabelle would have been very confused if she had gone to a party and not gotten cake!  It was a good dinner for us ;)

That evening Maggie had started to have a fever again and was not feeling up to par but she did enjoy getting a walk in at the mall

And a bounce in her cousin's bouncer

All of that activity tuckered her out pretty quickly and she was REALLY ready to go to bed by the time we finally got home.  She was asleep as soon as I laid her down and before I even got a chance to get out of the room ;)

Constitucion

on February 27th at 3:34 am local time a devastating magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck Chile, one of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded.  In fact it was the 5th strongest in the world recorded to date.

In Dallas, TX we were awoken about 7:00am local time from a call from Italo's Dad that they and the rest of the family in Chile were ok.  We were a bit surpised to hear the news because we had not heard nay news reports of the earthquakes but were VERY relived that we heard from Dad before we heard any news reports. 

To drive around Santiago de Chile, you would have to look pretty hard to see any damage of the earthquake.  The city was build to withstand this type of disaster and it did a great job coming through for its people. 

This is one of many gorgeous glass building totally unaffected by the earthquake in Santiago.  There are some cracks in walls and buidling but nothing that you would imagine from such a strong earthquake. 

However-the people of Constitucion de Chile did not have the same fate.  About 20 minutes after the earthquake the beach resort property of Constitucion suffered a Tsunami that caused remarkable damage to their city.  20 minutes later, another Tsunamu hit and 20 minutes later yet ANOTHER one hit-the strongest of the three.  Because Chile has the opposite seasons as the States, February 27th was one of the last weekends priors to the end of summer and the beginning of school.  This particular weekend they were also planning a big celebration with fireworks etc to end summer so the resorts were even more crowded than normal.  There were 100's of people that has camped out on a little island in the river to get a good seat for the firework show and party and all but 7 were carried off into the Pacific ocean as a result of the 3 Tsunamis that they suffered.  Yesterday, we took a trip to see this devastion that the Earthquake and Tsunami has left behind in this city.    

 

This is the island and the water reached as high as the trees.  Here you can see where the sea water and sun has burned the trees after the water resided.  The 7 people who surived on this island said they did so by climbing up to the trees and holding on.  

Within the city, you still see the marks of the Earthquake all around even more than a month later.  

 

This once popular vacation resort in know quite the opposite.  The restaurant row of the city was TOTALLY destroyed and there are piles of rubish piled on top of each in the area where the restaurants once were.  People have been looting anything valuable from this area since the quake and are still seen doing that on the day we visted to see if there is anything they may want or need. 

   You can tell by walking around that the city was once quite beauitful and in fact there is still evidence of God's beauty all around by looking at the beautiful waves breaking agaisnt the rocks.  However, you only have to turn your bag and see the damage that the water caused. 

Now instead of beautiful homes and resorts that overlook this beautiful water, the habitants of this city rest in this houses at night:

Dad has become known as the Apostle of the Tsunami because he has such a heart for the people in the city.  The pastor of the church there is in association with him and they have put on a soccer camp for the kids there and the pastor is following up with each fmaily who came to the camp.  When we were there yesterday he was talking to the familes and asking them what they needed most.  He is brining done about 25 men later this month to help and he continues to follow up with each person he can.  It was really cool to see him at his job in that way!  For now, as I go to sleep in my comfy bed I will remember all the kids I saw yesterday and pray for them as they sleep in their shelters. 

One of the remarkable things about the city is that among the rubble and destruction you do not have to look very far to see a proud Chilean flag blowing in the wind. 

It is great for them to have such pride in their country and determination to rebuild what they have lost.  I am so glad that I was able to make the trip-long as it was (about 15 hrs in all) and hear from the people who live there and minister there what it is really like. 

As hard as it was to see all the destruction, it would not be a typical Frigoli day if there were not laughs and giggles along the way.  We also had 2 amazing meals! 

This was Chicken with Sausage, Muscels and Clams

This was type of pot roast with Eggs and French fried taters.  They had a DELICIOUS Tomotae and Cilantro sauce to go over the meat and it was great!  We also stopped for some chocolate on the way and Italo was VERY excited to find some chocolate eggs with candy in them from when he was little.  Italo ate one and shared the other one with Annabelle this morning.  Both girls enjoyed the little eggs/toy that came inside of the chocolate and they were good toys for them. 

The Boys even got the priveleidge of watching transporter on the TV while we were eatting dinner.  It is funny how boys can socialize with each other.  Just being together makes them feel like they have spent time together instead of actually talking while we ate :)

Silly Boys!

One last photo of our journey is Italo and Bruno posing under the sign for the restaurant we ate at. Translation-the Dirty Old Ladies!  Great to lower expectations of the food before you go in :)

3 days of Parties

The senior version of Italo Frigoli had a birthday on April 30th.  This is the reason for our travels to Chile in fact.  Well here in Chile they party for days.  We had a family party for Dad on his actual birthday, a friends party on Saturday and a church party on Sunday.  Lots of people to celebrate with and for Dad.  Which to be honest-he deserves many more days of celebrations because he is very awesome!  But it was quite the last few days.  Yesterday I blogged about the family party but on Saturday we got up and tried to figure out where to find for an Asado (a BBQ) for the party.  Well-Mom was trying to find food while the biys were STILL trying to figure out to hang the famous LED Light on the pole outside. 

The boys were trying to figure out to SAFELY hang this light and the neighbors heard of BOTH of our dilemias and solved both.  They brought over meat for the Asado AND the husband and the wife climbed up the ladder and hung the light we had been discussing for 2 days right up!  My camera ran out of batteries at the wrong time to capture the big moment but I did capture what Italo was doing while the neighbors were hanging the light. 

She is a good snuggler-but not much a light hanging helper!!

While Mom was still trying to figure out how to get more food for the Asado we got a call from

Sandra that Cesitar was going to be allowed to visit Alessandra in the hospital for a few minutes.  So Mom and I rushed up to the hospital to let the siblings visit about the time folks were suppossed to be arriving for the party.  On the way, Mom got a call that her friend had found a store to get meat and fixins and everyone was taking care of things back at the house.  What a great way for everyone to come together for Dad's party!!!  We had a GREAT time seeing Alessandra and Cesitar took some nice photos of the patient!

Well I took that one ;)

His Self Portrait

And Auntie and Alessandra

After our visit to the precious, we made our way back to the party and everything was in full swing.  We had a DELICIOUS feast of meat, chicken, Tomatoe and Cilantro sauce and lots of good veggies. 

It was a Great feast and all of Dad's friends were a riot!  They are all so silly and like to tease him and everyone else.  I can see where Italo gets his silliness for sure now!  Maggie slept through most of the party but Annabelle eating her feat while watching Nick Jr!  It is funny that my in-laws have DirectTv and you can flip between Spanish and English on the Tv very easily so we can watch all of Annabelle's favorite shows even while we are here.  It has been quite the treat for ALL of us! 

When Maggie woke up the girls had a very nice time playing with some of the other girls but they were VERY frustrated at me and Annabelle for not talking to them.  One girl in particular around 8 yrs old thought we were SO RUDE for not answering her questions or talking to her.  I felt so bad but what can I do.  I guess we did not make a good impression on her ;)  I did have a nice time playing with my girls while everyone else was playing and even got a few good pictures of them playing with MY new toy!

Italo took most of these photos but they are such a treasure to me-both the pictures and the GIRLS!!

We are so glad we get to be with Dad on his birthday and see how his friends love on him.  So happy for all that the Lord has provided for them in Santiago De Chile!

The next day was Sunday and so that means CHURCH!  Annabelle was quite excited to go to church but was a little disappointed that her friend Avery was not there.  I kept telling her that Avery was a LONG way away but she things going to church means seeing her so she was really hoping that was true ;)  She had a great time once we got there.  Both of the girls where with us during the praise and worship and it was really fun to see them BOTH clap and dance to the beautiful songs they played. 

Annabelle ended up falling asleep in this position with her Daddy while Uncle Bruno preached and Mommy and Maggie were at the back of the church walking back and forth.  After the sermon, I brought Maggie back to the front and sat with Annabelle while Italo held Maggie-and SHE fell alseep as well ;)  He was quite my hero that day for putting both girls to sleep especially when we knew it was going to a really hard day for naps.  After the invitation was over they had a really nice presentation for Dad of cake and a nice photo collage of family photos.  Then Annabelle sang him Happy Birthday in a VERY quiet voice.  Good thing there was a microphone!  After the service we had a little luncheon--except none of the family actually got to eat anything except for Annabelle who got some corn on the cob

However not getting food gave us a good excuse to go to the Hospital to met Sandra and the rest of the family-minus Alessandra for lunch at the mall.  The mall was CRAZY busy but we managed to finally eat some yummy Italian food and enjoy the company of the family.  After the lunch we attempted some family photos but did not come up with too many!

O well!