Thanksgiving

Seems like a lot has happened since my last blog post. Josh took a trip to Sucre to visit his family there and for the inauguration of the church; his family returned with him and spent 10 days visiting with us here - Jenny and Erik's stay being unwillingly (although we loved having them!) extended due to the polictal problems we're experiencing (for more on that please visit BBC news); we celebrated Thanksgiving complete with smoked turkey and cranberry sauce; Eliana is taking her first few steps; we said goodbye to the Sandovals as they left on furlough (now it's just us and the Forbesses!). Here are a few highlights from the last couple weeks.


Turkey time! Josh and I got a good laugh this year when we went to buy the turkey. We heard of a place that according to everyone sells the best turkeys, and so went exploring one day down in the Cancha to find it. We never would have found it if not for the huge 6 foot inflatable turkey outside the door of an autoparts shop - yes - I say again autoparts! This family raises turkeys on their farm outside of Cochabamba and sells them in the back of their autoparts store out of a deep freeze - but they were good turkeys! I tried my hand for the second year in a row at cooking the bird - but we had such a crowd (Josh's parents and James, his sister and brother-in-law, the Forbesses and Sandovals and 2 from the Sucre team), we actually cooked 2! Josh smoked one - and I actually think his turned out better. There's nothing better than Thanksgiving dinner - especially when you are able to find cranberry sauce to go along with it. Everyone pitching in to bring sides and desserts (including pumpkin and pecan pie!) and the fellowship around the table made it a year to remember.


Michaela had a blast playing with James. I was worried she'd be bored out of her mind when they left.


Josh and his dad went to work and replaced all the screens on our windows - many of which had rotted through. As it gets warmer and starts raining more, the flies and mosquitos get bad. I have been very thankful for our new screens the last few days.


Nana was in heaven with 3 out of her 4 grandchildren. We missed you, Kaidan!


This is our first year since being married that we'll celebrate Christmas in our own home. It was also Michaela's first year to decorate the tree! She caught on quickly to what the Christmas spirit is all about.


We made Christmas cookies with Nana and James. I wasn't quite prepared for the whirlwind of decorating Christmas cookies with a 2 year old! But in spite of the mess, it sure was fun.


We found a little plastic bat and ball for Michaela for a dollar and my creative husband set up a makeshift t-ball court in our back yard with a pvc pipe. Michaela loves playing baseball - and is actually getting pretty good at hitting the ball (although she still needs a little practice with the logistics of running the bases!)


Josh's mom and I made a trip to the used clothes section of the Cancha (the Bolivian version of goodwill) and she bought Michaela some dress up clothes for Christmas. She and Michaela then proceeded to have a tea party in their new clothes. Michaela loved it!


Michaela in her dress up clothes.


Eliana took 12 steps on her own! She had lots of people to practice with, and loved every minute.


We spent the day a local retreat center and the daddies and kids went swimming together. It was Eliana's first time to really enjoy the water - and Michaela had fun as always swimming with Daddy.


Zion and Eliana discovered the tupperware! They had fun playing together (although Zion can run circles around Eliana).