Thanksgiving in Mexico

This year Thanksgiving looked much different than usual for our family. It's always a bit weird to be in a foreign country for a holiday, especially on a holiday that the country doesn't celebrate, like Thanksgiving in Mexico. However, thanks to a great community and schools, we were able to make some fun memories.

Our Thanksgiving fun actually started on the Tuesday of Thanksgiving week at SMCA (the school I teach at and Josh attends). Seth and Sam didn't have school that day, so they came out with Josh and I and were able to join us for our school's Thanksgiving feast. It was such a fun and festive day. The students at school memorized all of Psalm 136 (well, at the least the big kids did...Josh and his classmates new about half the verses, and could say, "His loves endures forever," at the proper moments). We had turkey sandwiches and pumpkin pie, and the kids did crafts. It was a great day!

 Josh and his fellow students.

Me and my fellow teachers: Christina, Katie and Mrs. Bev

The first weird part about actual Thanksgiving day was that Seth and Sam had to go to school. It definitely doesn't feel like a festive holiday day if you don't get to sleep in. However, we decided to have the boys go to school, since their teachers asked Ben and I to come in and do a presentation to the fourth grade about Thanksgiving. Perhaps it was just a subtle way to get us to take our kids to school. Regardless, we took them up on the offer and did a little presentation to their 100 classmates about Thanksgiving (we may or may not have had to research in order to make sure we knew the actual true history about Thanksgiving...grade school was a long time ago!)

I was so thankful that Ben was able to go: he was the life of the party and had the grand idea of having the kids move around the room to a "fact or fiction" side for different statements we read them. It was loud, crazy, and fun. 

I was perfectly comfortable to man the powerpoint presentation with Josh while Ben spoke.

Josh didn't get the "turn around for a picture" memo, or maybe he did and didn't care.

Ben and I with the whole fourth grade.

Weird moment number two of Thanksgiving day was attending Seth and Sam's soccer game after school. It was a super fun game to watch, though, and a crazy setting right in the middle of the city.

Sammy is goalie (portero in Spanish)

After the game, we headed out to Back2back for the staff Thanksgiving meal. It was so nice to be invited and it just felt so festive to join a large group of people (especially in light of this being our "on" Morris year for Thanksgiving, so we would have been with about 75 family members at a camp if we were living in Portland).  

I'm telling you: it was the best Thanksgiving meal I've had! These guys have making turkey for mass amounts of people down pat! 

After the dinner, the boys played soccer under the lights. 

Meanwhile, there was praise and worship (in a mixture of Spanish and English). It was so beautiful and the setting couldn't be beat. I'm so thankful that I get to work for this amazing organization. (We sure did miss the Leonard's though and wished they were there with us!)

Thursday wasn't the end of our Thanksgivings...we still had one to go. We wanted to host a dinner at our home with some of our American friends: the Anderson's, the Lester's and the Williamson's. All of these friends work at the consulate and all of them will be leaving for their next post this late spring or early summer. We sure treasure time with them, as it is short and they have made life here so much more pleasant for us!   

 Talk about a good meal: I made two hams and everyone else brought some amazing sides. 

 Aaron took another picture for us so that I could be in it. 

 It was such a delightful evening: the kids played happily and the adults had great conversation. We're so thankful for each of these families that we've been able to meet here in Monterrey! 

A Fall Visit Home

The kids and I were recently blessed to take a last minute trip back to Oregon to join Ben for a business trip. It was so nice to be in the Pacific Northwest for autumn. It's amazing how spectacular fall can be when you haven't experienced it for two  years. We seriously were in awe of the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. 

We started our trip home with a road trip to central Oregon to stay at an airbnb home with my parents for a couple nights. This meant we had the most beautiful three hour road trip over the mountain passes and into the Redmond area. 

First, we explored and ate in Sisters. The boys quickly found some leaf piles to play in.

It was so fun! 

First leaf pile in two years!

Sisters is such a neat town.

The leaves made for perfect photo ops.

We totally scored at the airbnb place we stayed in. It was was a beautiful and comfortable home on 20 acres and even had a hot tub! 

And as a bonus feature, we could walk to the neighbors horses and feed them.

It was Josh's first time to feed a horse.

  The boys were in heaven.

All the boys played poker one evening.

And Ben taught Josh to play chess for the first time (which he is now currently obsessed with playing.)

The kids played outside a ton, games like corn hole and boche ball. 

One of the days we went for a hike to Kline Falls and saw some real fall beauty, like this tree.

Seth

Seth (by the Deschutes River)

Sammy

Family picture time.

  Joshy

  My boys (Seth, Sam, Josh)

Kline Falls

Would you believe that I had to photoshop graffiti off one of the rocks?

Selfies are real hard as a family of five

The falls were super full and the water just gushed through these canals.

Papa and his grandsons

My mom, as always, had fun crafts for the boy to make. They each made monster masks and a spider web and spider. It was a wonderful three nights with my parents.

On the drive back up to Portland, we decided to make a quick stop at Smith Rock.

I've given up on smiley pictures and have embraced "funny face" pictures instead.

 We originally intended on doing a hike with the boys around the rocks, but on the drive we spotted: 

This absolutely amazing pumpkin patch. Since we hadn't visited a pumpkin patch for several years, we thought that the boys would enjoy that experience more than a hike. 

 I gotta say, we were freezing. The wind was cold and we clearly weren't prepared (and aren't accustomed to) this type of weather. 

 But, all the cold was worth it for the pumpkin canon. It was amazing.

 Each kid got to sit in the seat, aim and fire.

Sam

 Seth

 Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: to shoot pumpkins out of an old school cannon into a junk yard car. Welcome to Oregon.

 This trip was all about experiencing all things fall, which of course, included caramel apples and kettle corn. Delicious.

On Monday, Ben headed to work and Diane graciously offered to take the day off of her work to hang out with the boys. I used the free babysitting to run to our house in Scappoose and gather winter clothes, then to have lunch with a friend, and finally to run some errands. 

 While I was gone, the kids had a blast with their grandparents outside at Jeff and Diane's new house. They spent all afternoon doing yard work and then ended the night with a big bonfire. Pacific Northwest living at it's finest.

We were blessed with a spectacular sunsets that evening.

Boys are pyros. The end.

Ben's parents recently moved to a new home out in the countryside with an acre of land. The views around their house were so beautiful. 

The farms surrounding them have tree nurseries, so there were rows upon rows of trees with their leaves changing. Just a few steps from their driveway, there is even this view of Mt. Hood. 

 Joshy and his piglet hanging out on Jeff and Diane's front porch.  

Diane brought books home from school and spent the evenings reading to the boys. They laughed a lot, as always.

Tuesday, the kids and I headed to Estacada to spend the day with cousins. The highlight for me was getting to hold Ben's cousin Melita's four-week old twins. Oh man, did it bring back a flood of memories! 

Brooklyn (left), Brodie (right)

I couldn't get enough. 

Joshy was so sweet in wanting to hold a baby.

 Everything brought back memories: from their little heads fitting in the palm of my hands, to the sweet sucking sound they made while drinking bottles, to how it felt burping them. Sometimes I can't believe that we survived twins (and now Melita is doing it with 4 and 2 year olds in tow as well!)

While I was in baby heaven, the boys were in cousin heaven playing soccer and then pretend mud food. We're thankful for these wonderful cousins for the boys to grow up with.

Wednesday was Halloween, and we were so excited to spend it with my sister's family. It was SO fun to be with them for the holiday and to do all things Halloween together. 

 First, we carved pumpkins together; Josh wanted his pumpkin to have heart eyes. 

All the kids carving.  

 Nick even carved one of the giant pumpkins that they grew in their own garden. 

 I got into the spirit of things and carved a pumpkin as well. I was so proud of my creation. 

Seth carved a "snitch" from Harry Potter.

Josh and Edmund. Edmund carved "Elephant" from Mo Williems books. 

Sam worked very hard on his "HP" 

 All the cousins (except cowboy Josh) wore costumes themed "Harry Potter." When we arrived, Katie had a surprise gift for Seth and Sam: their very own wand. The Platos know someone in the area who makes them. The twins were thrilled! 

 Josh the cowboy and Fred and George Weasley.

 I love this picture so much. The twins were trying to look mischievous like the Weasley twins would. 

 My handsome nine year olds: Seth and Sam

 The entire Plato/Morris crew: Miriam (Hermione), Seth and Sam, Aidah (Professor Snape), Clara (Dumbledore), Josh, Edmund (Norbett the dragon), Henry (Fawkes the Phoenix).  

 Josh posing like a cowboy with his guns up. 

 Nick's sister's family joined us for trick-or-treating adding in Elise (Luna Lovegood), Timothy (Draco Malfoy), and Adelyn (Rita Skeeter as a ladybug). It was quite the themed group and the kids had a blast not only getting lots of candy, but also running around casting spells on each other. Josh and Edmund were hilarious trick-or-treating and had no qualms about marching up to houses to ring the doorbells. It was a very fun night. 

We lit all the pumpkins when we arrived back home. They looked pretty cool. 

 I'm still just so proud of this one. 

 The kids capped off the night with a sleep over in the living room. They went to sleep decently all things (and candy) considered, but there was rumors of Josh and Edmund waking up at midnight and chatting for awhile. 

We hung out until lunch the next day. The kids never want to say goodbye to one another. 

 Sweet Henry in the leaves. 

 Again, experiencing all things fall.

Friday, Seth and Sam left in the morning to go hunting with their Grandpa Deedo. Then, when Ben got off work in the early afternoon, Josh and I joined him in the drive to The Dalles. Josh and I spent the next three nights with Holly and the girls (and their new puppy Daisy), while Ben joined Nathan, Jeff and the twins hunting in Eastern Oregon. It sounds like the boys had an absolute blast hunting, although they didn't get to shoot at anything. And Josh and I's time in the The Dalles was so wonderful: just fun and relaxing. Josh and the puppy, Daisy, were pretty  hilarious to watch together. Initially Josh was petrified of the puppy and so Daisy chased Josh around trying to jump up on him. But, thankfully, after half a day or so, Josh got the hang of the puppy thing and ended up just loving to play with her.

The changing colors of the cherry orchards in The Dalles were amazing.

Unfortunately, the clouds are hiding the view of Mt. Hood. 

Diane came over for one of the nights and played endlessly with the kids. 

Hailey, Josh and Ellie

I shamelessly bribed the kids with Halloween candy for this picture. 

Thus ends our absolute whirlwind trip home for Oregon fall. We were so thankful for this "bonus" trip!