June 2009

We had a great month of June complete with Trevor's 10th birthday, Mikelle's 12th birthday, Motorcycle trip for the older boys, Basketball camps, fishing, snake hunting etc.

Mikelle got a fish tank for her birthday. We added a few fish. One sadly died. Some have had babies but we had to remove them from the big tank because the fish are cannibals!

For Mikelle's birthday we went on a bike ride along the Provo River trail where we went all the way from our house to Utah Lake and back home. It was so enjoyable. I had Jeff pick the 2 younger kids up at Utah Lake fearing they wouldn't make it all of the way, but I wished I had just let them stay. They loved it wanted to go further.

Mikelle's birthday cake and new fish tank.

Trevor and his cousin James flexing after undergoing exfoliating mud treatment. (Mud slide at Grandma's house.)

Trevor and James and their snakes from our garden (or maybe from the Wilson's orchard).
I've got one photo of Trevor with 5 snakes!!! I have to pretend I'm not scared of them when he pushes them in my face, or he'll torment me endlessly. I love boys and their excitement for life and nature.

Kathy and Leslie (Bear cubs leaders) with some of the Bears fishing at Vivian. Jeff did all of the work, I just showed up. Thanks Jeff.

Trevor's 10th birthday was happy for him as he got 2 airsoft guns. I was surprised to find him out front facing our huge window shooting towards the window. I went out to discover he had placed his homemade target directly below the window and was hoping to aim low or something. I wonder if 10 year olds are old enough for airsoft and BB guns when I see stunts like this. Unfortunately his gun broke that very first day and we had to return it. (Who know's for what?) Trevor loves to ride the little motorcycle in our back yard since we haven't gotten out camping to an open field too much, but he spent a lot of the summer trying to get the motorcycle to start. Thanks to Brother Wilson for his help.

Trevor's Medeival Castle Cake

Timothy graduated out of his crib in early June and this was his first night in a "big boy bed."

Celebrating Dad and Mom Shields "would be 60th anniversary" with a tasty flank dinner at our home.

Family bikeride to Jeff's work. Funny story: Jeff refused to participate saying it was going to be "too hard," so he drove that day. Once he realized how we fared, he decided to give it a try and now he loves biking to work.

Jeff, Spencer, and Rickey went on the annual motorcycling trip with Kathy's brothers this year. Spencer was thrust right in as he went 100+ miles on the first day of quite difficult terrain. Jeff and Rickey came a little late so missed out on that one. Finally a photo of 9 of the 9 brothers and in-laws on the motorcycle trip. Dad would be proud, or a nervous wreck worrying for their safety.

Jeff, Lynn, Zach, Greg, Eric, Alan, Doug, Jeff, and Scott. (in order too!)

Preparing for a big ride.

Showing evidence of manlihood after the trip, (you can't see Jeff's scabs, if he has any.)

Fishing at Vivian

Jeff's back to fishing and the kids love it.

The whole gang

Sarah's catch and reporting.

Aaron's catch.

Trevor's little fish.

Trevor's catch

Timothy's not scared of the fish, like Kathy is. She requires 5 times of hand-washing before letting the kids touch anything.

Budding Artists

Saturdays are always busy with cleaning, working, weeding, etc but this Saturday we added painting, gardening, and bike repairing. What a joyous day it was. Honestly, it was fun to witness, as long as I didn't look too closely at the floor or the messes everywhere.
Check out this darling concentration

Trevor

Aaron

My favorite Art Gallery--OUR KITCHEN!


My favorite repair shop--OUR KITCHEN!


All Tired Out!

Trevor's Duchesne County Report

Jeff loves Gardening, but I had to get involved this year, since he was gone. Let's hope it grows.

Spencer and Kalysha before Senior Ball

Argentina

I enjoyed my first visit to Argentina! It was a lot of work to make arrangements for the kids, but well worth it. We so appreciate all those who helped out while I was gone. Thank-you. We had a busier trip that I anticipated, but it was a spiritual and amazing experience. We loved the students from the Living Legends group and were amazed with their talent and expertise, as were the Argentine people. Here's some photos and video clips of their dances and costumes and the country. This is the Buenos Aires Temple, you can see the Argentine flag peaking from behind.


Osvaldo and Maria Celeste Berreneche's daughters, Maria Luz, Maria Marta, and Maria Clara. Jeff and Osvaldo went to graduate school at the University of Arizona in the mid 1990s. He returned to Argentina where he now teaches history at the Universidad Nacional de La Plata.




In La Plata with Hugo and Maria Darias (front left), who Jeff stayed with for many months during his dissertation research, along with their daughter, Isabel, and her husband Daniel.

One of the many dinners provided by local stakes for us on tour. This one is in La Plata.

Kathy's favorite cathedral in La Plata.

The Buenos Aires Temple (you can see the Argentine flag peaking out from behind).

Jeff was right in predicting all these years that I would love the food. I did!!

At the Plaza de Mayo in Buenos Aires, where so many things happened in Argentine history (city founding, fort, formation of first independent government, the Perons, Mothers of the Disappeared, etc.).


One day I was sitting in a theater in Buenos Aires watching the students set up, and I heard this most beautiful sound echoing from some distant place. I followed the sound to a basement stair well and captured some of the beauty. This is a song they sing while doing a Hawaiian dance.


Paraguayan Dance

Tahitian Dance

Argentine Dance

Bolivian Dance


New Zealand Dance


Hawaiian Dance

This is the Maori song they sang as a thank-you to many of the people who hosted us so generously. This was at the Museo de Arte Hispanamericano in Buenos Aires on the last day of the tour.

Aztec Dance. Look at the costumes and imagine the set-up and clean-up that goes in to the production. They had to ship a boat full of costumes over in advance.

Tongan Joseph Smith Laka-Laka Dance (notice first vision and baptism choreography)

Mexican Dance


Native American Dance


A Hawaiian number performed as a thank you for a dinner in Buenos Aires.

The students are dancers at heart, and here they are doing their version of the Bollywood dance at the Republic of Children that Evita built for children's education and enjoyment.

I loved the opportunity to finally travel to Argentina. I was grateful to get to meet so many wonderful people that Jeff has been telling me about for years. But I certainly was happy to be reunited with my kids and it looked like they had grown up a lot.

Timothy and Sarah have fallen in love with the movie Mulan and here's their favorite songs to sing.

Jeff with Living Legends in Argentina

Hello to all. This is Jeff writing from Resistencia, Argentina. I have been touring with the BYU dance group, Living Legends, for the last week. It is a group made up of Latinos, Native Americans, and Polynesians who do dances from thoses cultures. I actually went to Paraguay two days early to see the Iguazu Falls, which were magnificent. The group arrived on Wednesday of last week. We started in Asuncion, Paraguay, where we were received by the first lady of the country (we were performing for her charity). We did five shows in Asuncion (including double shows Friday and Saturday). Then on Monday we traveled to Resistencia, Argentina. We arrived very late to our destination because the whole bus was checked twice for any symptoms of flu by doctors at the border and at a nearby hospital. Argentina is very worried about preventing swine flu from entering the country. We finally arrived just in time to eat a big asado (Argentine bbq) last night. Today we met with some native Qom Indians (also known as Toba) and went to a school in the Toba neighborhood. We just finished performing in Resistencia, province of Chaco, in northern Argentina.

It has all been an inspiring experience. The group is wonderful. They connect so well with the people. I can't tell me how many people have come up to me after a performance with the brightest of countenances to express their grattitude for the performances. "Now I can die in peace," said one woman in Asuncion. A T.V. personality from Resistencia, acting as MC, was also very touched by the performance, as were many other community dignitaries.

Tomorrow we are headed to Santa Fe, then on to Cordoba, and Buenos Aires.

The asado that awaited us in Resistencia, Argentina.

Waiting to get checked for the flu in Formosa, Argentina, near the border with Paraguay.

The doctors who checked us at customs at the Paraguayan border.

With Liz Belliard and Stephanie Marquez in their Aztec outfits.

Living Legends finale in Asuncion stake center.

With the first lady of Paraguay (sister of president Lugo, who is a Catholic priest and unmarried,so his sister became first lady).

Me at Iguacu Falls on the Brazilian side. I went to Paraguay two days early so I could see the falls (these were the ones seen in the movie "The Mission.")

The heart of Iguacu falls (actually called "The Devil's Throat). The water was quite low, but it was still spectacular.

The famed dorado of the Parana river, one of the fiercest game fish in fresh water. I only wish I caught this beauty, but it was for sale at a roadside stand so I took a photo of what could have been.

A view of the Parana river from my hotel in Cuidad del Este, Paraguay, where I stayed while going to the falls.