Lone Star State

Flat Emma just sent us an email from her latest adventure!  After Flat Emma visited DC and Virginia, she got mailed to new friends in Texas. Flat Emma had a great time exploring San Antonio, a place Regular Emma got to visit last summer!  

The family she is visiting with this month also got to take her on two more adventures, so look for those posts coming up!

Here is the Texas part of the email we received today: 

Dear Emma,

Flat Emma wanted us to drop you a few lines to tell you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

She has been very busy the past two months, and has a lot to tell you. We have attached some pictures of her adventures.

Right now, she is in San Antonio, Texas. She celebrated Christmas Eve with a traditional Tex-Mex Dinner. We had Tamales with Chili con Queso, Salsa, Guacamole, and yummy Tortilla Soup. She was very full! For dessert we ate more American-type food with a San Antonio touch. We had gingerbread with freshly whipped cream made with Mexican vanilla. It has a special flavor that is delicious! 

Santa will be sure to visit Emma. So don't you worry. She has been nothing but nice, no hint of naughty. We took her downtown to see the big HEB Christmas tree display in front of the Alamo. 

HEB Christmas Tree at the Alamo

Flat Emma remembers the Alamo!

She also saw the lights on the Riverwalk and waved at a riverbarge. Here are some pictures of her on some of the Riverwalk's bridges. 

Can you see me?

  

She also attended a concert in one of San Antonio's oldest churches, St. John's Lutheran. The family she has been staying with has a Mom who sings with a choir here called the San Antonio Chamber Choir. 

Flat Emma attended their Christmas concert. She was very well behaved, and had wonderful concert etiquette. She will be sending you the program shortly, along with some other fun things she has picked up.

In Texas she has seen the temperatures go up and then back down. They always say, "If you don't like the weather in San Antonio, wait a day or two and it will change." Right now, we are waiting for our last leaves to fall off the trees and the temperature was about 50 degrees. In the summer though, Texas is a lot like Arizona-just more humid.

Thanks Wittens for taking such great care of Flat Emma!

We're not in Kansas anymore! Oh wait, we are in Kansas.

Flat Emma went to the middle of the United States to visit some great friends in Kansas!  She had a great time with Ashton, Talan, and Syphr, and now Regular Emma wants to go visit them too!

Emma,

Thanks for sending us a flat version of yourself! We had fun showing flat you all around lovely Kansas. 

Love, 

B.R.A.T.S. 

1. Flat Emma came to our house in Saint George, Kansas, but since our town is so small if you blink you'll miss it, we took F.E. on a visit to Wamego, Ks. Wamego is our neighbor town, still very small, but much bigger than Saint George. And don't worry, Talan made sure F.E. wore her seatbelt the entire 10 minute trip. 

2. F.E came at an exciting time. As you might have heard Kansas is the home of the Wizard of Oz. As luck would have it, F.E. came to visit the same weekend Wamego was having their yearly OZ fest. I was a bit sick, so I stayed home, and Brad, Ashton, Talan, and Syphr took F.E. to the celebration of OZ. They stopped on the yellow brick road, toured the Wizard of Oz museum (but there were no pictures allowed inside), and had lunch at Toto's Tacos. 

Emma-thy and her little dog, Toto-phr

On the Yellow Brick Road!

On a separate trip to Wamego, everyone headed down to the Chrysler house. Walter P. Chrysler was the founder of Chrysler cars. He was born in Wamego, and lived there until he was 3. The town is pretty excited about it so they moved his childhood home to a corner lot in the center of town so everyone could see it. 

Chrysler House

And keeping with the love of the Wizard of Oz, there seems to be witch feet sticking out from under his house. 

The Wicked Witch is dead!

The same day we went to visit the Chrysler house, we also ventured down to the Oregon Trail Park which is just a few miles north of Wamego. 

Oregon Trail!  We're headed West!

I love this park because it sits right on top of the Oregon Trail. I think F.E. liked the two scenic overlooks. Most of the views in Kansas show fields of corn, wheat, soybeans, and other things, but those are most common. We also often have views of cows. 

Platt River

The last thing we took F.E. to is the Historical Beecher Bible and Rifle Church in Wabaunsee, Ks. It has been standing since 1862, and still even holds church services every Sunday. 

Beecher Bible and Rifle Church - the two things we need.

Ready to go to Bible and Rifle Church

3. There are 1117 miles between Saint George, Ks, and Gilbert, Az. It would take Flat Em 17 hours and 44 minutes to drive back to your house...if she could drive. 

4. Next time F.E. comes for a visit she should definitely pack a winter coat and maybe a hat and gloves if she comes any time between November and April. Kansas loves snow and ice storms. If she visits us in the summer then definitely shorts and flip flops. And, we do hope she returns!! 

5. Most everyone here speaks english. I like to call it farmers english. Most everyone says, y'all, pocketbook (purse), book bag (backpack), worshing maching (washing machine), pop (soda), gradeschool (elementary). It took F.E. a bit to get used to it all, but I am happy to say she now speaks fluent farmers english 6. There isn't a whole lot that is interesting about Saint George. It is located right by the Kansas River, there are only about 692 people, we have no stores, just a city hall office, and post office. Our mail man does not wear a uniform, or drive a regular mail truck. Instead he drives a jeep with the steering wheel on the wrong side.

Thanks for letting Flat Emma come visit you in Kansas!  It looks great, but I think the best thing to see there is the Coates family.  :)

Our Nation's Capital

This time Flat Emma's travels took her to Washington, D.C.  Regular Emma was born in Virginia and lived just outside of DC until she was almost two years old.  Flat Emma was sent to visit two people who love Regular Emma very much.  They took her to see some amazing things!  Here is the letter she came home with:  

Dear Emma - 

I am sending you some information about the photos I took with Flat Emma.  Hopefully you enjoyed them!  

Flat Emma visited me in the Washington, D.C. area and Northern Virginia.  Flat Emma got to see your first house in Arlington, Virginia, and got to visit some of the sights around Washington, D.C.  

Regular Emma's first home in Arlington, Virginia

  
Gilbert, AZ is roughly 2,300 from Washington, D.C.  Right now here, it is fall and all of the leaves are changing into beautiful colors.  It is a little cold right now, too.  Flat Emma needs a jacket!  But during the summer, it gets hot and humid here – very different from the weather in Arizona! 

Washington Monument

People speak ALL kinds of languages here and are from all different countries and backgrounds.  Though the main language is English, I work at an elementary school where 52 different languages are spoken!  Washington, D.C is our nation’s capital (see the picture in front of the Capitol).   There are many monuments there.  Flat Emma had her picture taken in front of the Washington, Jefferson, and Martin Luther King, Jr. monuments.  

Thomas Jefferson Memorial and the Tidal Basin

Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial

The White House, where the president lives, is also there and also many museums, which you can see in the picture on the Mall.  

President Flat Emma at the White House!

U.S. Capitol

It is also very expensive to live here and the traffic is the worst in the nation.   (I included those facts for your parents.)  

I am sending Emma on to visit some of my relatives in San Antonio, Texas.  Hopefully she will have a nice visit there.  She will be visiting three of my nieces and their parents.

Good luck with your project.  I hope Flat Emma gets to see many places!  I also hope that I will get to see Real Emma very soon!!

Love, 
Agatha and Mark - your "aunt and uncle" in Virginia

Meandering in Malaga near the Mediterranean with some Missionaries

Hola!  This week we received photos and letters from Emma in Spain.  She was visiting Regular Emma's great-aunt and great-uncle on a mission in Malaga, in southern Spain on the Mediterranean Sea.

Here is the letter Flat Emma sent home from Espana:

Hi everyone!  Here is the story of my adventures in Spain.

The day I arrived, I saw a cool fountain which is in the middle of Fuengirola .  That is the name of the city where Uncle Rod and Aunt Jeanene are working during their mission in Spain.  It is on the coast near Malaga.  In the photo you can see a sign with the name of the city behind the fountain.  The fountain has sea men and sea women and sea horses around an obelisk.  The fountain is in the middle of a ‘roundabout’.  They use them instead of traffic lights most of the time, and they often have statues or art in the middle.

The next day we walked for 10 minutes down to the sea shore so I could play in the sand and see the beautiful blue water. 

Considering a swim in the Mediterranean Sea

 The weather is almost always warm and sunny here in Spain.  Many people used to earn their living with fishing here.  Now tourists have mostly taken the place of fishing as an important industry. People come from all over Europe to enjoy the sun and the sea.

Then I rode a sea gull!  Well really I just sat on another fountain.  It had rocks and sea gulls and was easy to get close to.

Near a fountain in Fuengirola

The rest of the week I rested up for our trip to Merida.  We drove 4 hours toward the middle of Spain to get there.  This city is filled with very old ruins of buildings built by the Romans!

 Roman ruins

First, I walked on an old Roman road.  Then we saw the coliseum.  The Romans used their coliseums for entertainment.  Instead of sports, they had fights.  I stood next to a picture of one of the gladiators.  The hole in the middle of the arena was sometimes filled with water and used for mock sea battles. The rest of the time it was covered up.  The coliseum is huge!  Some parts have been rebuilt so we can see how it must have looked long ago.  This one was started about 100 years after Christ.  (100AD) I made friends with a very small lion.  Lions were sometimes part of the fighting long ago.

Next we walked to the Theater.  This is the best preserved Roman theater in Spain, maybe in the world.  It is right next door to the Coliseum.  It is still used for lots of plays and other events.  Can you find me?

 

I tried out many different places.  I pretended to be in a play.   Do you like my acting?  I was standing next to the statue of an emperor at the back of the stage.  One of the statues lost his head.  Later, I held hands with the statue of a lady.  I couldn’t tell if she was sad or had a head ache.  There were beautiful gardens and interesting columns too.

Then we went to see the hippodrome or the Roman Circus.  It was a race track for chariot races.  

Roman ruins near Merida

You should see the movie Ben Hur. It shows chariot races. My Uncle pretended to race some other Senior Missionaries that went with us.

On your mark, get set... go!

On the way home we stopped and took a photo of some olive trees with olives on them.  

Olive Garden with Elder Uncle Rod

I was amazed by how many olive trees there are.  They were planted as far as you could see along the freeway going for over an hour.  There must be millions of trees.  Most of those olives are used to make olive oil.  Spanish people eat LOTS of olives and olive oil.  Do you like olives?

The next day we went to church.  I made a new friend named Melissa.  She is 10 years old and lives in Fuengirola too.  She is very nice.  She speaks Spanish of course.

Tomorrow I want to try on a gypsy dress.  Women wear them to dance.  They also use beautiful fans to keep cool.  

There are some elephants I want to ride, too.  Then I will be ready to go on my next adventure.  

Riding Spanish elephants!

Aunt Jeanene and Uncle Rod and I really had a good time together.

Thanks to my great-tia and great-tio for this wonderful tour of Spain!
You can read more about all the activities of Elder y Hermana Castillo on their mission blog: http://rodcastillo.blogspot.com/.

В России, г. Екатеринбург

Can't read the title?  That's because it's in Russian!  It says, "In Russia, city of Yekaterinburg."

Flat Emma traveled in Russia!  She visited Andrey, Tatyana, and Erik in their home city.  

Yekaterinburg is a large city on the eastern side of the Ural Mountains, where the continents of Europe and Asia meet.  Flat Emma visited in the fall so she wasn't too cold, but if she was there much later she would have been very chilly!  

Here is the letter we got from Flat Emma's friends in Yekaterinburg.

Привет Shane, 

Flat Emma was visiting us in Ekaterinburg.
Flat Emma walked with us in the center of the city and saw the river Iset, a movie theater "Cosmos", the Palace of Sports, Museum of the History of Architecture and Industrial Technology Urals, a monument to the founders of V.N.Tatischev and B.I.de Gennin, City pond dam on the Iset River (dam was built in 1723( when  was based Ekaterinburg)It was rebuilt many times).
The distance between our city and the home of Flat Emma in Gilbert, Arizona, United States, about 10,000 km.
If the Flat Emma will visit us again, it will need in the summer: dress, skirt, shirt, t-shirt, jacket, sandals or shoes, umbrella; fall: a jacket, a warm dress, skirt or jeans, shoes or boots, umbrella; winter: more warm boots, warm coat, warm hat, mittens, scarf, sweater; in spring: need clothes is the same as in the fall. In Yekaterinburg, most people speak in Russian.
Ekaterinburg was founded in 1723.Ekaterinburg the big city and the administrative center. It is located on the banks of the river Iset, within the city there are four ponds. In Yekaterinburg changeable weather and well-marked seasons.

Плоская Эмма гостила у нас в городе Екатеринбурге.
Плоская Эмма гуляла с нами в центре города и видела реку Исеть, кинотеатр" Космос", Дворец игровых видов спорта, музей истории архитектуры и промышленной техники Урала, памятник основателям города В. Н. Татищеву и В. И. де Геннину, Плотину Городского пруда на реке Исеть ( плотина была построена в 1723 году, когда был основан город, она много раз перестраивалась).
Расстояние между нашим городом и домом Плоской Эммы в Гилберт, штат Аризона, США, около 10000 км.
Если Плоская Эмма посетит нас снова, ей надо будет летом: платья, юбки, рубашки, футболки, куртка, сандалии или туфли, зонтик; осенью: куртка, теплые платья, юбки или джинсы, туфли или ботинки или сапоги , зонтик; зимой: более тёплая обувь, тёплое пальто, тёплая шапка, варежки, шарф, свитер; весной: нужна одежда такая же как осенью.
В Екатеринбурге большинство людей говорит по-русски.
Екатеринбург основан в 1723 году. Екатеринбург большой город, административный центр. Он расположен по берегам реки Исеть, в пределах города есть четыре пруда. В Екатеринбурге изменчивая погода, хорошо выражены сезоны года.                                                                                                                      
С любовью, Таня 

Arizona State Football!

 Tonight Flat Emma's Regular Dad took her to see the Sun Devils play football at ASU Stadium in Tempe, Arizona!  She loves football and had a great time at the game.  She was good luck at the game, and the Devils beat Stanford 62 to 41.  Go Devils!

For this adventure Flat Emma visited Tempe, Arizona, just down the street from her home.  ASU Stadium is about 11.5 miles away, and the weather is exactly the same as at home.  It was about 90 degrees at kickoff -- still hot!  Flat Emma was nice and comfortable in her ASU t-shirt that Regular Emma made for her.  It is very hot in the summer here, but very beautiful in the winter.  We can't wait for winter!  Most of the people in Tempe speak English, though there are people from many states and different countries who attend school at ASU.  

Thanks for taking her to the game, Dad!

Meet Flat Emma!

Hi.  I'm Flat Emma.

My friend Regular Emma created me, and she is sending me on adventures all around the world.  I am leaving tomorrow for what I think are going to be some pretty great destinations, meeting some of her friends and visiting some really cool places.  

If you want me to come visit you, please comment and I'm sure she'll send me your way.  Look out for my first adventure, coming soon!