31December2010 Resolution

[rez-uh-loo-shuh n] -noun - a resolve or determination to do something; the act of resolving or determining upon an action or course of action, method, procedure, etc.

1. Spend more time with friends and family.
2. Lose weight or start an exercise regimen. 
3. Stop smoking or drinking.
4. Get out of debt.
5. Improve, start or end a relationship.
6. Get organized.
7. Learn a new skill or talent.
8. Volunteer and help others.

Do any of these look familiar?  In approximately 15 hours, EST, we will embark on a new year, 2011 and millions of people around the globe will make New Years resolutions.  Some will forget their resolution before the Times Square ball drops.  Most won't last more than a week.
Our prayer for '11 is that we will be more determined, more resolved to live out love in the community in which we live to the people we live among.  We hope you'll come along....and last more than 2 weeks.  Happy New Year friends!

28December2010 Quickshot: Lit

Heard about this village last year but never went.  The entire town decorates with Christmas lights.  A real oddity here!  This little taste of home was a real blessing during the holidays!

25December2010 Merry Jingle II

25December2010 Merry Jingle

22December2010 Gift?

We've occupied the last few days passing the stomach flu around the house.  Last week M came home from school feeling a little puny.  Then she woke up in the middle of the night (isn't that when these things always happen) and purged her body of everything she'd eaten since moving here.  Okay, maybe that's overdoing it a bit but from 2 o'clock to 5 o'clock in the morning things are a little hazy. 
Fast forward three days, to D's birthday.  Usually this is a day, well maybe a week, of celebrating the second-most (just barely "second-most") important holiday of the year.  Huge homemade, southern breakfast, cards and presents, balloons, fireworks, ticker tape parades.....you get the idea.  This year it wasn't to be.  2 boys, 1 little boy and 1 grown man, playing the part of a second little boy, were laying on the couch, loveseat, bed and even the floor, with makeshift throw-up buckets standing ready nearby.  Not exactly the festive atmosphere we normally shoot for. 
Alas, today everyone is healthy and happy.  We're building towards the climax of the Christmas season and then planning for next December 18th.  Happy late Birthday D!  And thank you God for the gift of health.

17December2010 Quickshot: How lovely are your branches.

14December2010 Crazy Weather

Whew!  We have had some interesting weather the last few days.  It started on Thursday.  The sun disappeared behind lead-colored clouds as the temperature plummeted and the sky turned yellow.  Winds picked up (30-50 mph) bringing with them sand and dust.  Next was rain.  First it sprinkled, hot chocolate colored drops, and then it poured, in torrential, horizontal sheets.  Finally a thin layer of snow and ice covered the ground.  Check out this AP story about weather across the region.  Basically everything in town shut down.  Schools shuttered their doors and the only stores doing any business were gas stations as people stood in long lines to fuel their cars and purchase kerosene for space heaters.  We're grateful for any precipitation, especially the snow, but the sand sure did has made a MESS!

12December2010 Cookie Monsters

One of our favorite holiday traditions is making Christmas cookies.  D loves to bake, the kids love to decorate and P loves to eat the product.  Below are pictures from our latest cookie making project.

11December2010 Quickshot: Cupcake Bliss

We found a bakery that makes CUPCAKES!  That's right, CUPCAKES!  Score!

9December2010 Quickshot: Seven-Eleven

An early Christmas present:  We recently learned that we will be returning to the States for 6 months beginning the end of July, 2011.   There are lots of things to consider like where we'll live, school choices, which restaurants to eat at first.....

7December2010 Family Bonfire

Kettle full of hot, no HOT, chocolate!

Here are some tips for your next family bonfire:

1. You're gonna need some wood.  Wood is extremely rare here (something to do with not having many trees) but the boys stumbled upon a jackpot of scraps at a recently completed construction site.  Apparently the neighbors had never seen Americans dumpster diving before. 

2.  A nice spot is a must.  We picked a local park on the outskirts of town.  Perched on a small hill, outcroppings of large stones, wind swept cedars, dead kitten laying in the parking lot....

3.  Food!  Our menu consisted of hotdogs, chips, smores and hot chocolate.  D found some cookies (called "biscuits" here....sorry Granny!) that resemble graham crackers but have a thin layer of chocolate on the top.  They were perfect.  Caution - A metal kettle, complete with steel handle, placed next to a roaring fire will remove the finger prints from your digits if you pick it up without a oven mit tor dish towel.  Don't ask how I know this!

4.  You gotta have stuff for the kids to do.  Throwing sticks in the fire, or playing with the previously mentioned dead cat only lasts so long.  We sang campfire songs (Rudolph the Rednose Reindeer is a campfire song, right) and made up silly stories (the best had something to do with a pair of Russian brothers fishing for a fire-breathing, ice cream eating leviathan in the 1930's). 

5.  Enjoy yourself and take some pictures.  Below are some of ours:

2December2010 Quickshot: Vitamin C

A nice haul of limes from the garden this morning!