Normal life.

 Here was the pinnacle of my tight-rope balancing act while Anthony was gone and we had a stomach bug. I have been sick for weeks -- fever and all.

 They drastically pruned these flowers this week, so I'm glad I got a picture of our picnic.

 I am a proponent of "soccer-tourism," in which you visit scenic towns for away games.

 The man on horseback (left) must have seen Micah's good defensive play (right.)

 The latest birthday girl was Ana Sofia, who is on Paul's left.

 Anthony had one of those "small world" experiences on his way home to Colima from San Diego, when he and his Northwestern graduate school officemate Elaine were on the bus together. She took a break from researching the volcano to join us for a long lunch in Suchitlán.

 Paul's teacher gives him the biggest English speaking parts, so he has had great practice with public-speaking.

 The P.T.A equivalent gave me the job of selling popsicles for a whole day, so I got great practice discerning 30 flavors based upon shades of color. I have also been helping out with English classes more.

Here is an ordinary errand-run for my beloved husband.

The Heart of Christmas

The five of us seemed to understand more of the heart of Christmas this year! Paul drew pictures for 70 Christmas cards while Micah wrote notes in Spanish on them and I wrapped the socks for the kids of Casa Cuna and Casa Matriz. I treasure this more and more frequent sight of them joyfully serving. Micah, Paul and Samuel consistently say that the highlight of Christmas was having two kids live with us for 11 days. Anthony and I agree. I have never seen Anthony as excited for Christmas as he was this year!

Pre-Christmas celebrations were fun! One of the posadas (Christmas parties) we went to with our new friends Manuel, Adriana and their 3 boys included impressive professional dancers.

Our fútbol club had a great posada, too. Samuel is understandably drooling over the DELICIOUS food while his dad runs all over the fútbol field playing with other dads who have played this kind of fútbol (as opposed to football) their whole lives. Can you believe that I scored the only goal in the first half of the mom's game, helping my team win 3-1?

Of course posadas include piñatas that were bigger than Paul to begin with.

Micah's friend Julieta had her birthday party at the McDonald's. Another one of Micah's friends had her birthday at the Burger King today, but he was winning a soccer game at the same time.

I had to laugh on the first day of winter (the second day of break) when the boys went outside and made music in the shade, since they thought that they had not been outside enough that day.

The government-sponsored posada included clowns and other acts.

Paul and Isis are such wonderful friends. I am pretty sure that they can spend hours sitting and talking with each other. Her mom Isis (in red) and I enjoy time together too, and I have gotten to help her little David get over his separation anxiety by working in the church nursery.

After the Governor's wife finished giving her speech at the posada, she and her photo crew came directly to our kids for a photo opp. I forgot to check the newspapers for the "guerrito" publicity picture. Plus, Isis and I were too busy laughing at the situation to take a good picture while everyone was looking.

During his Christmas vacation, Samuel got to play with Barbies and My Little Ponies for the first time in his life. One of our guests was very patient in teaching him about those toys she had just received from a generous doctor. Have I mentioned what a sweet Christmas this was?

We really enjoyed time together (the 7 of us) during Christmas break. It is amazing how long the vacation feels when you aren't travelling during it.

Don't all parks have squirrel seats?

Our friends Claudia and Mauricio and their two sons were so welcoming to invite us to their extended family Christmas gathering. We enjoyed the party from 8:30 pm until we left at 2 am! Micah will always be able to say that he played soccer outside at midnight on Christmas Eve. The hospitality here puts me to shame time and time again. Would I invite someone (who barely spoke my language and had 5 kids under the age of 8 along) to my Grandpa's house for Christmas dinner? The heart of Christmas hospitality: opening your inn or stable for the foreigner and the outcast.

Christmas morning was possibly my favorite ever. The 5 kids acted out the Christmas story in Spanish with the use of the Playmobil Nativity that D'Anna gave them and the Spanish story Bible. The kids were thrilled with the few little gifts they gave and received for Christmas. A wooden top, a puzzle, a book, a wooden toy, a plastic toy, something homemade, and a ball are more than enough treasures.  We feasted simply with low-effort, yet freshly yummy food. There was plenty of time to play together outside. I was able to take extra time to read the Bible (or was it being read to me by someone who loves to read out loud in Spanish?)

No, the Duct-Tape Bible on the couch was not new -- Great Aunt Cheryl gave that to the boys years ago. This coin-bank is a monkey made out of a coconut wearing their fútbol team's uniform.

Two days later: the Regional Park has majestic lions.

and incredible iguanas along with boats to paddle around the iguanas' islands.

The next day, we went to the Volcano National Park. It was a pretty bad day since two sweet kids (whose last names are not Tongen) were awfully car-sick and/or elevation-sick. The language barrier wasn't usually a problem, but we unfortunately didn't understand "comitar" (actually vomitar=to vomit) until it was too late. 5 messes later, we returned home without hiking the volcanoes or playing in the snow. My many failed efforts at "redeeming the day" reminded me that only Jesus can redeem. The heart of Christmas love: redemption.

The day at the beach was wonderful. I had a cold, yet it was still a blissful day. Can you believe how many people were there? It seems like everyone from México city takes the 10 hour bus ride to our beach for vacation. One friend from México city I made at the beach (age 5) asked me why I spoke that way when she heard me speaking Spanish with our guests. I explained that I come from another country. Later in the day, she introduced me to her dad and told him, "Ella es de otra mundo." (She is from another world.) How accurate she was.

Paul posed just before the sandcastle got crushed by the soccer game on the right.

Paul spent some of his tooth fairy money on churros for all of us. Things that have become normal #28: phone booths in use.

In case if you were wondering, here is how Paul rang in the New Year.

I'm pretty sure he hatched out of his chrysalis as a butterfly the next day. The heart of Christmas power: transformation.

Now do you believe me? (The boys wanted this picture of one of their "pet" geckos, in the bottom left corner of the photo. I wanted this picture for Peyton.) The boys eagerly cleaned the house partly as a birthday gift to Anthony.

The Dairy Queen Blizzard cake for Anthony's birthday tasted so "American."

He got a ripstick (two-wheeled skateboard) for his birthday. He and Micah have had fun riding it in our neighborhood park.

Does snow on the volcano count as a White Christmas? Regardless, we had an especially wonderful one.

A few days later, the active volcano strutted its stuff, too.

For 3 Kings' Day, we enjoyed Rosca de Reyes and Micah got the baby Jesus figurine (meaning he gets to make tamales for us on Feb. 2.) Rather than giving the boys each three more gifts like they do here, we continued with our tradition of each donating 3 things to people who are less-fortunate. The heart of Christmas gift-giving: gold, for Jesus' royalty; frankincense for Jesus' divinity; myrrh for Jesus' humanity.

The boys' beautiful new school is ready! They had a worship service the night before the first day of school. Possibly the coolest part of the story of this building is that they received this awesome land years ago. Instead of building right away, however, pastor Nahum, his family, the church, and the school dedicated themselves to caring for street children. Hogar Amor (the "orphanage" we always talk about) was established and now that it is thriving, they built the school.

Samuel and I have LOVED this shady playground during our 2 hours of waiting for the bigger boys everyday. Do you think the new Covenant Presbyterian playground will be in pastels, too?

Enjoy the view from Samuel's classroom.

Enjoy the view from Micah's classroom.

No, this isn't Paul's classroom, but he loves being able to visit the many farm animals on the school grounds.

Samuel calls their new school "The Iguana School" because he loves visiting the iguanas in this enclosure. 

I love my mom.

Is this image what it looks like when "it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas?" Fall-colored leaves, flowering bushes, and a Coca-Cola star on top of the big metal tree?

Is this image what it looks like when you are "checking your list" to make sure that you have a candy goody bag for your family members in New Orleans? I admit it -- I regifted our last month's birthday party loot into Christmas candy bags for my family.

Things that are now normal #25: formal flower boquets on old pick-up trucks, #26: ladders on others, #27: statues of teachers.

We had to say "goodbye" to D'Anna and "see you in a month" to Darla.

I love my mom. She and Keith were willing to come and visit us because they love us. The week felt too short for me, especially when I wanted to show them the peaceful, relaxed lifestyle on one hand along with wanting to show them many cool things here in a short amount of time. 

I love that my mom is sneaky about taking a picture of her grandsons in order to get a picture of the dress-code of various, ordinary people on the street during the Virgin of Guadalupe festival. No, the people on the boys' left are not in the parade.

This picture makes me smile, because my mom was here and can understand more of how beautiful and pleasant it is here than just a picture can show.

We found a new favorite restaurant right in el Centro -- La Preferencia. Delicious Margaritas and food that all 7 of us enjoyed. Plus, you can't beat the location for people watching, music-listening,

and Christmas-light enjoying.

Frequent parades led by indigenous people with bows, arrows, and feathers,

followed by Catholics with the Virgin of Guadalupe on semi truck beds are great examples of the mixture of two cultures here in Colima. A parade like this one happened multiple times per day for at least 3 weeks here.

I am glad that my mom was willing to take excellent pictures that I am too embarrassed to take.

While the boys were at school one day, we drove the "Ruta del Cafe" which took us through some cool mountain towns.

Carmen, our Spanish tutor, came with us.

I love my mom.

If I were in charge of publicity, I would rename this road "el ruta del photografía."

We didn't find barely any coffee plants, let alone a coffee plantation for Keith to talk to a farmer, but we saw beauty.

I like Poinsettas; I have decided that I like the perennial, more wild-looking ones even more than the force-bloomed ones we can buy in December.

I think we are living in a beautiful place.

Alas! We got to eat a delicious lunch under coffee trees!

My mom was great about documenting some of our ordinary life stuff, like the boys in their practice uniforms

and like my time with Samuel in the library before we get his brothers.

My mom came with me to see the beautiful estate of the family to whom I give tennis lessons. The trees are spectacular!

I often have a scavenger hunt of things that I need to find for the boys' school assignments. They are usually things that would be easy and inexpensive for someone to find, except when you are in a different culture and learning the language. The week my mom was here, the hunt was harder than ever -- specific items of clothing of specific colors for the boys' Christmas performance.

Unfortunately, I had a melt-down (or maybe two?) before finding all of the things that we needed. Can you see me in this picture asking the umpteen millionth vender if he has a dark brown shirt? I'm thankful for my family's understanding and God's grace.

Tonight (since I am writing this on New Year's Eve) Paul said that one of his highlights of 2012 was taking Grandma Bev to the beach for her birthday.

Fun with the foca (seal)

extra lime for Samuel's ceviche,

digging in the sand,

while Keith checks out the fisherman's catch with many others.

La Boquita is just so relaxing.

My mom and Keith are the ones walking, not running, along the beach.

Sam has learned to sleep wherever or whenever, like I see many Mexican children being able to do.

It really was fun to celebrate my mom's December birthday on the beach. Can you see that Paul let me pull out his first two baby teeth? You can't see, however, the huge fish my mom saw while snorkeling.

I love my mom. We enjoy being outside together.

I have been told that this horse path leads directly from our road (where it ends for cars one block past our house) to Nogueras (a neat, tiny town 20 minutes away by car),

but we came to a dead-end at this sugar cane field.

Mexican sunflowers and butterflies were enough to satisfy my longings

and we found the lake near our house that Micah has been wanting to hike to for months.

My mom, who grows flowers, loved the buganvillias near our house.

The next day, we hiked La Cumbre. Keith waited for us towards the top.

They had beautifully clear weather to see the mountains! (Returning to present tense of New Year's Eve, it RAINED today! Hooray! It was the second rain we have seen since October 6th.)

I love my husband.

I love my mom.

I also love Scott and his family. Who's number 1?

Sam loved building the little Lego sets Grandma gave him all by himself.

For their school performance, 3rd Graders needed to be Mexican workers. 2nd graders needed to be pirates. Kinder-Uno kids needed to be tourists. I had no problem at all coming up with Sam's costume.

It was such a treat to have Grandma and Granddaddy here for the boys' performance.

Another family photo!

What kind of trick did my camera play on me in front of the mural at the Universidad de Colima before the performance?

It was an amazing victory for Sam's teacher to get him onto the stage happily, since he violently refused to participate in the first rehearsal. There he is, in the middle, in front of probably 1,000 people.

Paul is an excellent dancer! He took it so seriously and was rewarded with encouragement from his teacher and a front row spot for the pirate dance.

We will get to have a video of the boys' performance, which I am looking forward to showing them. It was very professionally done!

Happy New Year everyone!