Our Last Week With Erin Part 1 Galicia

I had taken the kids on a vacation to the Mediterranean Sea in late June.  It was a wonderful trip, but Mario couldn't go because of work.  The water was flat, so the kids weren't able to surf.  But we still had a great time playing in the sea and the pool.  Erin really wanted to try surfing again.  She and Eric had learned to surf when we lived in Hawaii when she was 5.  So, we knew that we couldn't go back to the Mediterranean Sea for surfing.  We'd have to find a beach near the Atlantic Ocean that had some waves.

It took me a long time to find a rental that we could afford and was still available in July, but I finally found one.  It wasn't the nicest apartment, but it was across the street from a beach and only a few miles from a great surfing beach, so we took it.  We packed up our Toyota van that had just arrived in Spain and took off for a wonderful trip on Saturday, July 11.

We headed for Galicia, Spain which is toward the northwest coast. We stayed in a place near the city of Pontevedra. It was a beautiful drive through Spain.  We stopped for lunch at Burger King.  We enjoyed some good old American fast food (comfort food) occasionally.  It helped with the culture shock.  It was entertaining to be in the restaurant because a bird had flown in and the employees were all trying to get the bird out.  After lunch, we headed out twisting and winding our large van through some very small Spanish streets.  I was sure glad Mario was driving.  I was also worried the whole time that we'd be stopped by the police because we didn't have Spanish license plates yet.  I'm sure the locals were confused by our very small, Nebraska, license plate.

We finally arrived at our apartment and then headed to the beach.  It wasn't a great swimming beach, but the kids were excited to climb on rocks and take some pictures of the beautiful scenery surrounding them.

The following day was Sunday, so we looked up the church schedule and tried to go to church.  The schedule was incorrect online, so we arrived the last few minutes of Sacrament meeting.  I didn't know why at first, but I got very sad that we missed the opportunity to take the Sacrament that week.  I had missed it a few times because I didn't take kids to church when I was alone with them at the other vacation.  We didn't have a car and I couldn't figure out transportation.  I also missed because we flew to Spain on a Sunday.  But for some reason, the thought that we missed the Sacrament on this Sunday brought me to tears.  When the small branch let out, some American missionaries came over to talk to us.  They asked us if they could prepare the sacrament for us and we could have our own special Sacrament with another visiting family that was late.  I can only assume that the Spirit whispered to those sweet Elders that day, that I needed the Sacrament.  They lovingly prepared the Sacrament for our family complete with a Sacrament song.  Little did I know that would be Erin's last Sacrament.  I guess that is why I felt so strongly that we needed it that day.  What a blessing it was to me.  While at church, I asked a young woman for some suggestions for ideas of what to do with the kids that week.  She told me about a park not far away that had some waterfalls over rocks that people enjoyed sliding down.  We decided to check it out and it was a hit with the whole family, so much so, that we went there twice that week.  Here are pictures from the first time: