I thought I should report on our second Valentines Day in Chile. To be sure, it seems to be celebrated at least as much here as in the U.S.

On my way to the store to buy, among other things, chocolate for Mary, I saw street vendors selling something interesting.

These are 6 strawberries on a skewer dipped in chocolate with a colorful marshmallow on the top. Having seen these, buying chocolate in the store seemed boring. Mary seemed pleased.

That evening, we went to the wedding celebration for a young woman from the first branch in which we served. We had no idea what to expect.

We arrived about an hour after the scheduled start time only to learn that the bride had not yet arrived. After a few minutes, an SUV pulled into the grassy area and she got out with her father who delivered her to the groom who was waiting to the left. (Sorry I didn't get him in the picture.)  Everyone was outside around the pool and they immediately started taking all kinds of pictures and serving delicious hors d'oeuvres.  We enjoyed visiting with people we knew and, a little after 9:00 started saying our goodbyes. We were informed that we could not leave before dinner and, shortly, everyone went inside.

The first picture is of the entrance of the bride, groom and bride's father. The second is of the two families.

Over a dozen speeches and a toast were offered before dinner and we finished eating after midnight. At some point, we learned that the festivities, including dancing, would go until 4:00 a.m. Since we got up at 3:00 the previous morning and got to bed at almost 1:00 that morning, we said our goodbyes after 12:30 and headed home - being the first to leave. (We wondered how many were jealous of us.)

The 90-year-old Temuco pioneer woman we met at a chapel open house about a year ago happens to be in the same ward as the groom's family. I took a picture of her and her daughter with Mary. The daughter was visiting from Norway. She went to college there, married a native and has lived there ever since.