December 2012

This was a fun month with lots of activities and lots of visitors!  Such a blessing to be sharing our lives with the community here at CVE and our families back home!

 Tamale-making in progress:  Eunice (the 3rd and 4th grade teacher at our school) taught me how to make northern tamales!  It's quite the process and very different from what I learned (and mostly forgot) seven years ago in Morelia (southern Mexico).

 My parents were down visiting in early December and so we had an early Christmas meal -- tamales!!!  :)

 Mom and Dad with the (then) five grandkids!

 True love!!!

Floppy, I don't think you'll ever realize what a special relationship this is for Ithan!!!

 Aron turned 11 on December 10th and was super-excited that Grandpa Jeff was going to be around for his birthday party!

 He asked for tiramisu, which still makes me laugh!

[think Sleepless in Seattle]

 And -- post mordita!  Gotta love the disgusted face... :)

 Ithan "helping" Dad fix Candi's drain!  ;)

 Dad babysat one morning while we had a staff meeting.  I returned to the house to find Ithan face-down on the bottom part of the armchair... sound asleep!!!  

 Opening gifts while Grandma Janice looked on!

 Mom got the kids this neat, twisted car track... it now doubles as a tool belt when the kids want to play!

 Downtown Magdalena always has decorations around the government buildings -- and this year's old fashioned car was fun!  Even funnier, though, was how I made the kids and Joel take this picture and then they got severely scolded by an older lady for standing on the car... oops!

 One afternoon I looked over a barricade of chairs to find Candi playing -- in all her OCD glory!  Everything lined up and in its place!

 Aren't they precious?  :)

 We were also fortunate enough to have Uncle Lee and Aunt Chel down for Christmas!

(Above) Uncle Lee helping put together Aron's Lego watch he got from Tia Chelsie...

 ... and Tia Chelsie playing with Ithan and his new "periodic table of elements" blocks from Tio Lee!!!

(Yes, it's a perfect geek gift... :)

 Uncle Lee, Aunt Chel and all the sobrinos!!!

 Joel and I took Chel and Lee back up to Tucson for their flight out and then stayed overnight to celebrate my birthday -- good times!

 I'm thankful for this man!

 Somehow, these are out of order from Dad and Mom's visit... oh well!

Ithan, Marcos and Candi playing Christmas songs!

 It was hard to tell which of these two was having more fun... ;)

Candi reading Grandpa Jeff a Christmas classic!!!

Thanks to our families for visiting -- it really is so wonderful for our kids and for us too!