November trip to Norway, 2005

Again!?!?!?! How? Huh?
So you're saying that Juan went to Norway from July-August, Kristine came to Houston for three weeks Sept-October, and Juan was back in Norway for Thanksgiving break, although only a grand total of 5 days?

What can we say, it was MEANT TO BE, and in our case, "meant to be" meant that we were given these opportunities and we didn't go broke...haha...this time Juan's mom, Darcy, along with two wonderful friends, Denise & Trent Swanson. Oh, wait, and someone else... THE RING!



















So, we had a short but sweet time there...


























Seriously, with the 5th day being the day you have to leave, it doesn't give you much time to do anything...but here are a couple of pictures:





A winter wonderland!















Sunday at church














here is the family (mom taking the picture)
















mini-cart at the store















Bye, bye at the airport! (until next time)

September 27th, 2005 Trip to USA

So, a couple of months after our dream-like summer in Norway, Kristine came to visit the Benito Family in Houston. She was scheduled to arrive Friday the 23rd of September...for those of us in Houston...that was the day Hurricane Rita landed on...Houston...so flights were canceled. With a little help from Kristine's mother, Lisbeth, Kristine arrived the following Tuesday.
Well, we put her to work! We drove out to Beaumont and helped FEMA deliver water, hygienic pkgs, and food.





























we did have a good time!




So, next part of the trip, hmm, changed our lives. On October 8th, 2005, Juan proposed to Kristine! The story kinda goes like this...

Kristine loves airplanes, so Juan thought it would be awesome to propose while at the annual air show...maybe over the speakers at the event...that was the original plan anyways. We got there, and the first stand we get to this man see's Kristine's incredible beauty and we kid you not, proposed...









There was only one option...get rid of him!


















So Juan did what Juan had to do...






The speaker thing didn't work, announcers and all that, it just didn't feel right once I got there...so after the event, thinking downtown might have the romantic feeling I was looking for, ooops, wait nope...nothing there, nothing open on a Sat. evening, unbelievable...well, Juan had been to the Mercer Arboretum before and knew that it was a wooded area with trails, probably the closest to nature that you can get in Houston...


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Juan took Kristine on a walk, and we were about to sit down on some benches, when while Kristine was turning around, Juan knelt down, and asked Kristine to be his wife ( she said yes!).
After we calmed down, we took this picture...


















No ring (she loved Juan for who he was)...but it was coming!

After the mission - Summer 2005

So, after a brief time at home (two months), by the grace of Kristine, Juan made it back to Norway. This happened because she was rich and he was not. Juan got to come back to Norway, see his last companion who was still in Moss, and we also had a pretty neat experience happen to us on that first Sunday when we reunited, there was a gentleman who had also served his mission in Norway...only 40 years ago. He remembered almost nothing that he saw because so much had changed. From then on we promised ourselves to encourage others to do the same...go back to Norway, or just travel, before its too late, before too much time goes by. Seeing how happy he was to be back, yet knowing how lost he felt because he didn't quite know where he was in relation to what/who he remembered, showed us that that is a very important part of life, more than money (because we don't have any), more than stability, people is what it is really about. Caring for each other!! On to the pictures already!!!!!

Re-enactment of our first kiss, on actual location of where it happened...pretty cool, eh? It was in Sweden of all places...It took Juan a kiss on the cheek, an attempt in the car on the way, before Kristine said it was ok/the right time!










A random small European vehicle in Sweden after we drove for 8 hours to get there













Nature shot on the way to Northern Norway after having been to the Sweden Temple for a week with the Moss Ward.






Probably one of my favorite pictures of Kristine!
We were on our way back from having spent a week in the middle of nowhere with The Danielsen Family. We ate fish, and some more fish, and we fished, and we swam in near freezing water...here is the map of our travels that summer...












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We started in Moss(B), drove to Stockholm(A) and back, and then up to...well don't exactly know the name(C)...you drive to Mosjøen, then you take the ferry with two stops, get off, drive 30 more minutes, park your car, and make sure that Alf Danielsens parents know your coming, they are the only people that live there throughout the year. :)

Where & When we met

While we are here, we might as well add a bit about how and where it all started.
It was mid-July, 2004, and Juan was a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, living in Moss, Norway.

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Kristine had never spoken to the missionaries previously, although her best friend lived right next to us in the apartment of a member of the church from that city. She always had assumed that we all only spoke English. That night as me and my companion (Wilbur, in Moss for 6 months as companions) spoke with Solveig Rui (wife of Sverre Rui who were our landlords), Kristine came right up to me and introduced herself as Kristine Johansen, and then did the same to Wilbur, then hurriedly went her way to visit Elisabeth Rui.

[From Juan's point of view on the mission]: We kept on talking to Solveig about how we don't really associate ourselves with the younger opposite gender while on the mission, and how the short and to-the-point introduction was the perfect example of how to keep things stricktly business.
[From Kristine's point of view]: Did you see his eyes?!?!?!?!?! Her friends quickly told her what she should and shouldn't do when interacting with a missionary, which of course is what she did because Kristine is a good girl. :)

From there, we continued to be friends until my departure from Moss, and from Norway.

Looking back, we were probably living in different worlds, but how awesome none the less to have met my future wife(and In-Laws)!

The Beginning

Hello,

This will be our first attempt at a blog!
We recently purchased laptops to be able to better meet the needs of very demanding Internet based classes, which we both "attend" full-time.
The neat part is that at the same time we are able to resume communication with family and friends, and we are truly excited about it!
Our goal with this blog is to be able to log our "Story" and how we got to where we are today, and maybe even some of our exciting hopes for the future.
Slowly but surely we will add the events that have brought us together, and make a place for you all to share with us, as at one point or another you have been there with us, making the story.
Love to all from US!

www.familienbenito.blogspot.com