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! 

Life Update: Beginning of the School Year

Here we are at the end of October, and I'm just now writing a post about the start of the school year. It's been difficult to find time to blog now that I'm teaching and commuting three times a week. 

Seth and Sam are at American Institute of Monterrey (AIM) again this year. They are in fourth grade and are in separate classrooms for the first time. Sam has an American teacher and Seth a Mexican teacher. They are both really happy and satisfied at school and have done surprisingly well being separated. It's nice for them to each have their own stories at the end of the day and for them to begin to form their individual niche.  However, they certainly have a lot to say to one another by the end of the day! The majority of their school work is on an iPad, which we all find to be quite annoying, but we persevere. They have a considerable amount of homework this school year compared with last year. Currently they are weekly reading two Spanish articles (at fourth grade reading level) and answer questions about them; while this homework is super challenging and time consuming, we are seeing a major improvement in their Spanish skills. This year they get to have violin class three times a week; they love playing and we're grateful that they have the opportunity to learn an instrument during school. As parents, we continue to be super impressed in their work ethic and willingness to have a positive attitude despite being so different from those around them. 

We are also seeing a vast improvement in Seth and Sam's Spanish skills due to their 4x a week soccer practice, as their coach doesn't speak any English. I was initially very nervous to sign them up for soccer, assuming that 4x a week would be just too much to handle; however, I actually needed them to have practice after school in order to give me sufficient time to pick them up on my commuting days. Thankfully, they absolutely love it and it helps them burn a ton of energy off after being in the classroom all day. They take a bus from the school to the soccer field (which happens to be really close to our apartment). Their games are once or twice a week and are at various soccer fields throughout our area. In fact, their soccer game pushed me into driving across the dry river bed for the first time since moving to Monterrey (I avoid all the bridges and exits like the plague). Sam is playing goalie part time and is doing great. Seth plays midfield and still holds back a bit during games, but we are seeing an improvement on his aggressiveness. They are playing with their 2009 generation (they are in class a grade above their age, 2008). It's been nice to have them physically match up better than they do during recess soccer, where they have had a hard time fitting in because they are so much smaller and less skilled than the older boys.

Sam and Seth

Seth and Sam

First soccer game

 Sam playing goalie

Josh and I started our school year the first week of September at Sierra Madre Christian Academy, the school on the campus of Back2Back, a mission organization that we learned about from our friends the Leonards. I am teaching three days a week: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. Josh attends school on those three days and often I also bring him out for school on Fridays. Unfortunately, it takes us between 50-60 minutes in the morning to drive to the school due to traffic, and then another 40 minutes to get to Sam and Seth's soccer field at the end of the school day; therefore, Josh and I are spending a considerable amount of time in the car. We use our time to listen to audio books. Josh loves audio books and I often hear him use ridiculous vocabulary for his age and I chalk that up to the all of the books he has listened to.

 Josh is loving being in kindergarten. There are only four kids in his class and actually only 11 kids in the whole school, so it's a nice sized group for Josh. He is learning to read, learning to count and tell time, loves doing art and is quite creative, and is loved by his schoolmates. I cannot even express how thankful we are that Josh is getting to get accustomed to the school scene in a small classroom setting where he can feel comfortable and not overwhelmed. He frequently tells us how much he loves school and it's been so healthy for him to have more of a social life this year with children of his own age. 

I also am loving being involved at SMCA and thank the Lord often for the opportunity. It has provided a community, friendships, and purpose for me. I really enjoy lesson planning, especially the art and craft projects (I am my mother's daughter). We have had some super fun theme weeks like "Moe Williams" week and "Eric Carle" week. We did a super cool "S" is for spider study and all of October has been plant month, so we planted our own garden. The work energizes me and though I'm really tired by the end of the week, I happy to be involved in something bigger than just my little realm at home. (And returning to work in Mexico has an extra bonus for me: my maid now works three days a week for me, so I come home from work to a clean house...life changing.)

Proud Kindergartner 

 First day of School for both of us!

 SMCA first day of school

Field trip to the Mexican History Museum

 Fountain in front of the museum

 Classmates 

 The boys of the school: Josh, Lucas, Joah, Joel, and Elias 

 Our little artist 

My little class

 We try to get the kids outside as much as possible

 Elias, Antonella and Josh after pretending to be bees and pollinate flowers 

 Another art activity; Bev (the other teacher) and I, really love doing group art projects

Experiment on how water travels up the stems of flowers 

The results were awesome!

18 Month Reflections

It's so hard to believe that we have reached 18 months of living here Mexico...18 months! I can distinctly remember when we hit the 6 month mark here; I felt like time had inched by so slowly to get us to that date and that most everything was still so hard. What a different season of life we are in now than we were a year ago!

Life here now feels, well, normal. It still is definitely not easy, but we're very accustomed to that discomfort. We don't expect things to happen on time or to be fixed quickly (or at all). We expect problems and delays. One of our phrases here is, "Nothing works, but everything works out." 

This past week in particular optimized that phrase. It all began Sunday when my car wouldn't start. Of course, the week in front of us happened to be crazy busy and a huge work week for Ben with a big event and his bosses coming into town. A perfect time to be down one car. Surprisingly enough however, instead of freaking out, Ben and I calmly went through our options and figured out plan B. That would be example #1 of the way that we have grown while living here. Trust me, anxiety does nothing to fix the problem. So, plan B looked like Ben taking an uber to work and using the Daimler pool car. This was perfect for me, because his car has bluetooth phone access and so I could actually make phone calls to my family (my phone hasn't been working for phone calls for about a month now...that would be too easy, right?). Anyways, on Tuesday Ben went to gas-up the pool car only to discover that the gas door won't open no matter what he tried; so he drove it to work on fumes and discovered that whoever gave him the keys knew it wouldn't open and didn't tell him. (Mexicans are never forthcoming with information, we have really learned that the hard way.) He had to pry the gas door open and broke it. Tuesday was also the day that Seth and Sam's soccer game was cancelled because it was too cold (50 degrees, I kid you not, was considered too cold to play and it wasn't even raining.) Even though their game was cancelled, I was told that they had practice; however, their coach forgot to tell them this information so the twins failed to get on their bus to the field and stayed at school waiting for me to pick them up. On days that I work I don't get to the school until 3:40, so that meant I was over an hour late picking them up. Add that to the list of frustrations for the week. By Wednesday, thank the Lord, my car was functioning again: FYI if your key faub is out of batteries it could cause your car not to start because of something to do with its security (who knew?). Poor Ben had switched back to his car and now it needed to be gassed up. Leaving work on Wednesday (again on fumes) he couldn't find a gas station that would accept either his American credit card, his work credit card, or his work gas card...too easy, right? So, he scrounged up 130 pesos from his car to get about a gallon of gas until he can make it to a second gas station, that would accept his card, to actually fill up the car. Oh, and it must be mentioned that the only reason he had so little pesos in his wallet is because he doesn't have his pin number for his American debit card because it's in the mail in America at his parents house. Why can't anything be easy?

I seriously don't think that I could make up stories like this, but truly this is Mexico life more often than not. It's crazy, maddening, endearing, refining, exhausting, beautiful, difficult, and vale la pena (worth the pain). 

So, here we are a year and half in (probably at least half way through our tenure here) and we're comfortable with the uncomfortable. 

Driving and traffic are still crazy, in fact this week we have seen three accidents in front of our apartment alone (that doesn't include the other half a dozen accidents we have seen elsewhere). We still pray every day before we get in car for safety, but thankfully we can manage the crazy drivers a little better now. (Sometimes we're even those crazy drivers...I went the wrong way on a one-way today so as to not have to sit in traffic after missing my turn.)

Language acquisition is coming, but still not easy. Ben is pretty darn adept and can hold his own in most situations. The twins have embraced an hour of soccer practice four days a week all in Spanish and say that they understand almost 100 percent of what the coach says (he doesn't speak any English). They also are reading and answering questions to fourth grade level Spanish stories for school...we're pretty impressed. However, they still don't speak it much. I have days where I feel like I'm killing it and days that I feel like I'm totally failing. I'm nowhere near as good as I hoped I would be by this time, but I am also worlds better than I was a year ago. Josh understands a lot, but doesn't really speak any. 

Looking back at last October, it was when we had really caught our stride here, mostly due to our discovery of and involvement with our church. That still continues to be the most constant and encouraging piece in our lives. I cannot imagine being here in Mexico without our iglesia community. Friendships with locals has been difficult, but we have started to form a relationship with an all-Spanish speaking family at church who also has three boys. We're hopeful in that friendship. Sam and Seth don't seem to have any close friends at school or in soccer and at times that really grieves my mother's heart, but I'm trusting that this time as foreigners and outsiders will really shape their character in amazing ways for the future (and at least they always have each other). Josh does well with friendship at school and is loved by all the students. But always, we are missing our closest family friends, the Leonards, who moved back to the States this summer. 

So, in summary, at 18 months, our life here in Monterrey in good. It's packed to the brim often with more than I think we can handle, but in the end, we do handle it because it is what God has asked of us and is equipping us to do. Sometimes we long for "easy" days living in our own country, hearing only English, grocery shopping at wonderful stores, working in our garden at will, and seeing family at a whim. However, we treasure our times here in Mexico and know we will deeply miss it when we return. 

As always, we are just so thankful for this opportunity, uncomfortable, crazy, and lovely.