Pre-Christmas in Mexico

Christmas season starts early in Mexico and is super fun. 

To begin with, December has some amazing sunrises. 

Next, it was awesome to have Mexican friends to get into the spirit of Christmas with. Thanksgiving weekend we kicked off the season by going to the "Defile de Navidad" (Christmas parade) with Martin and Mayra's family. 

It was impossible to get all the kids to stand still for a long exposure shot. 

The parade and the things it featured were hilarious: case-in-point, Santa's on motorcycles. (Notice in the background the lady on stilts. There was SO many people on stilts.)

Can't have a parade here without a pinata float. 

And voted best float of the night by our family: the very odd reindeer laying on his back that maybe looks kind of like a turkey.

We're so thankful to have local friends to hang out with now. After the parade, we sat at small taco stand on the side of street and hung out in the dark talking (all in Spanish), while the kids played. We felt very Mexican and it's one of my favorite memories in Monterrey to date. 

The boys' school had their annual Christmas party, which was as socially awkward as expected. 

But, at least there was fake snow and a cool "Grinch" theme.

Our Christmas tree hunt this year brought us through the saddest "Christmas carnival" we've ever seen and into a Christmas tree lot with small, sad Douglas Firs for a whopping $80 price tag. We promptly walked right out past the empty carnival booths and drove to the parking garage of the grocery store and bought a slightly less sad tree, for a slightly less, but still exorbitant price tag of $50. And you thought that Oregon was having a Christmas tree crisis. 

A Christmas tree in an elevator never ceases to make me giggle. 

We decorated the tree over a couple different nights. The boys were completely in charge. (Note: shirts are always optional when decorating the tree in Mexico.)

Did anyone else ever want tinsel on their tree as a kid? Well, I always did and only got to have it once (on my Grandma's tree none-the-less). So I had the thought, "What a fitting time to have tinsel on our tree: in Mexico, with no carpet. The upkeep will be simple." Well, let's just say, tinsel is overrated. It's a pain to put on, a pain to be continually cleaning, and it's still scattered throughout our house. Furthermore, it didn't look great. Lesson learned. 

Our apartment is on a pretty busy street, so I was super excited to have some lights on our balcony. So many people would see it!

Another highlight of our Christmas season in Mexico was going to our first posada. Martin and Mayra hosted a group of us from church. Mayra is an amazing cook and made us cochinita pibil (our favorite taco meat here!). Then we had a pinata and fireworks, which are traditions at Christmas time here. 

Mi amigas: Mayra, Carol and Megan. 

It was decided that oh-so-tall Ben would be the keeper of the pinata string. 

Even the moms got a chance to hit the pinata. 

Mayra had reason to be scared of Josh swinging madly. 

Josh

Sam

Sam

Seth

Ben had way too much fun bopping the kids on the head. 

Candy! 

Your treats are placed into one of the cones of the star. 

Firework time.

Tiniest sparkler you ever have seen. 

Mayra also made us a traditional drink called "ponche." It like a fruit tea and you use a sugar cane stick to stir it...it was amazing. 

Sam slipped and fell while we were there and got this huge goose-egg. Thank the Lord it wasn't worse. 

We had such a fun month at SMCA school. Bev and I had the kids basically making a Christmas tree ornament a day. 

The was one of my favorites (Antonella, Josh, and Elias)

The kids all put on a play for the parents on the final day before break. Josh was a shepherd (aka, sign holder). 

Cutest shepherd ever. 

He did a great job with his sign-holding (a very important job, you know). 

I'm so thankful to be a part of this group! 

The other teachers: Christina, Katie, Bev and I, along with Brooke, who helped us with the play. 

After the play we had a special lunch together and decorated sugar cookies. 

Apparently I wasn't watching Josh close enough to regulate his cookie decorating; he really took some creative liberties. 

I got to visit Seth and Sam at their school one day for a "writer's cafe," in which they each read me a story they had written. It was really nice to get to see them during the school day! 

Seth, Sam

Ben and I got out for a date night to a dinner put on by the Canadian consulate. Actually, dinner isn't the appropriate word to use for this year's event, as it was just finger foods, most of which I couldn't eat. We were both starving by the time we came home. (Let's just say the excitement of this evening was a far cry from the gourmet dinner and then grand prize winning night of the Canadian consulate dinner last year). However, it's always fun to dress-up and go on a date and I also surprisingly connected with a friend, Sara, whom I hadn't seen for a long time. 

Ben and I;               Sara and I

One final December sunrise for this post: 

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