Mexico Part 13: Tlaquepaque

Matthew's parents joined us for the second week of our spring break.  It was great to have them here.  You don't realize how much you miss family until they come for a visit and then they leave.  But, the good news is plane tickets are finally booked to Oregon and we won't have to miss anyone for too much longer.  The most fun that we had will come in a post soon but one of the days that they were here we went to Tlaquepaque.  At first I had a hard time saying this word when we first got here but now I am such a pro, I don't have anymore issues :)  Here's a little wikipedia nugget on the place...Tlaquepaque (Spanish pronunciation: [tlakeˈpake]), historically San Pedro or Georgetown, is a city and the surrounding municipality in the Mexican state of Jalisco. During the 20th century it was absorbed by the outward spread of the state capital and is now a neighborhood of the Guadalajara conurbation, lying only a few kilometers from the city center.  
Apparently it is also known for its pottery, blown glass and mariachis but I think we missed most of that because we didn't see too much of that.  I guess we did see a museum with some artwork and pottery now that I am remembering but I didn't take any pictures of that.  When we were there they were having this crazy sale of  empanadas.  Which for anyone who hasn't had an empanada, they are so delicious   They are this Mexican bread that is filled with whatever you can find them with.  Most often you see them filled with a pudding custard or apple, but here they had them filled with cajeta (I like to think of it like the Mexican caramel but it is a sweet goat milk spread), guava, pineapple, strawberry, all sorts of goodness.  And, my sweet friend showed me to love the ones that are filled with food, like mushrooms, tuna and peppers.  My personal favorite are the ones filled with cheese and peppers, or rajas, as they say here.  I LOVE them.  They are probably super fattening, but I don't care.  And if you find them warm because they were just made, they are even that much better.  The town is super cute.  At first we didn't think there was much to see, but then we found the touristy street and it was really clean and filled with neat statues and street vendors.  One of the things that I thought were super cool, but didn't get were these little statues that were covered in tiny colorful beads.  We will have to go back soon, so I can buy one for our home.  One guy told me that is takes him about 5 days to cover the little elephant with beads.  That's a lot of time and it makes me think I wish I was that good at making something that would sell well and looks beautiful.  And of course, the day wouldn't be complete without finding some fountain to cool the kids off and keep them happy until we walked back into the car.  It was HOT outside!  

   

Mexico Part 12: Guadalajara Zoo, Bikes and New Car

This weeks marks the beginning of Semana Santa (Holy Week) and spring break for Matthew and Eva.  I remember spring break back home when I taught and it was only one week, quite the tease.  But here it is two weeks.  There are some positives to this but also some downsides.  Okay well really just one downside.  And that is, if we had a shorter spring break than Matthew would have one extra week during  summer.  But, nonetheless, we are very excited to have him home for the next two weeks.  Today, we went to the Guadalajara Zoo.  It was great.  We got there early in the morning, right after it opened and spent a good chunk of the day there.  I couldn't believe how empty the zoo was in the morning.  It was awesome.  We were able to see the animals quickly without having to elbow anyone to see the animals.  And the animals were super lively.  They were jumping all over the place, wrestling each other, "jumping" each other...it was crazy.  It seems like the animals in the Oregon Zoo are way more lathargic compared to these ones.  Maybe they feed them tacos with salsa or something.  Elijah LOVED it.  Matthew and I couldn't believe how much he walked.  This was really the first time I think that he was old enough to really enjoy a zoo.  He was climbing all over the place trying to get as close as he could to the animals.  Eva, on the other hand, spent the whole time avoiding her family because her little friend was there and she wanted to hang out with her the entire time.  In fact, the only time we were able to get her to be with us was when she got a blister from her plastic sandals that she had to wear instead of her Nike ones that would have been nicer to her feet.  Even though she wasn't with us a whole lot, she also had a blast at this zoo.  Poor girl thought that there was no zoo here in Guad because we hadn't taken her yet but today we proved her wrong.  We paid for the general admission and the safari that they have here.  They have a great collection of animals.  Bengal tigers, lions, black bears, a polar bear, elephants, monkeys, reptiles, birds, everything you would want a zoo to have.  The safari was neat because these giraffes come right up to the jeep that you are on to eat carrots from your hands.  I didn't actually get to touch it but Matthew said they have a scratchy tongue.  It was pretty cool!  After much walking, and sun we went home, but I know that I will be taking the kids back there again.

In other news, on a more regular basis, life is much more calm.  We spend a lot of days outside.  Eva and Eli love riding their bikes on the tile that we park on.  They do circles on the thing and it makes their day.  Often Elijah will pick up the hose and soak himself as well, or fall on the tile because it is deadly slippery when wet, but I suppose those things are what makes things a little bit more exciting around this place.

And, last but not least, we finally bought Matthew his own car.  It was cute when we were bringing it home because Eva said, "oh mama, now papa can drive himself to school."  Oh how right she is.  That is what is most exciting about the entire thing.  We joke that getting a second car saved our marriage, but really I don't think it is a joke.  First semester I drove Matthew everywhere and picked him up, but by second, I was only dropping him off and not picking him up anymore.  Poor guy would walk home, bum rides, or even take the bus.  But now, he can be an adult and take himself wherever he needs to go.  It is great news for us.  Things are good.  We can't believe how fast time is going by and that soon summer will be here and we will be back in Oregon for a little break.  Yeah!

Mexico Part 11: Fancy Mexican dining, a stray bunny, and the open house

At Santo Coyote with Eva's crown

Well, this last week, I got one year closer to entering into the thirties.  A friend of mine said that thirties are supposed to be good, so while I should enjoy this last year of being in the twenties, at least it won't be the end of the world when I hit thirty.  Isn't that crazy?  When did I get to be so old?  No offense to anyone who is older than me.  I am sure we all feel this at more than one time of our life right?  I remember when we had Eva I thought, that I would be thirty when she was in kindergarten and I can't believe that is almost right around the corner.  Time flies.  I suppose that is why we are here in the first place.  We never wanted eight years to pass and go back and think, man, Matthew could have been a doctor by now.  I know it's nuts to think about life like that but sometimes you just have to in order to take the plunge and do something that might be a little out of the ordinary for you.  So, enough about that, I had a great birthday.  Eva was super cute and wrapped up some of her things to give to me.  Among her "gifts" were a copy of her Book of Mormon, her crown, that she says she doesn't use anymore, and her Hello Kitty watch.  She even wrapped the stuff in homemade wrapping paper that she colored.  Super adorable.  Kids are what make birthdays fun.  I don't know if people remember but back in January I bought myself my early birthday present, a sewing machine, but Matthew surprised me this year by getting me more than that.  He totally shouldn't have but it was nice of him to do that.  He took me shopping at Liverpool, the equivalent to Macy's except way more overpriced, and let me buy some clothes.  I thought that was pretty cool.  The Liverpool that we went to is close to our home in this crazy, nice mall that is right around the corner.  It is called Andares.  People go to the mall here in their super nice clothes hauling around extremely overpriced strollers.  It really is a site to see.  But I digress.  Then, he took the kids and I out to dinner at Santo Coyote.  It is a super nice restaurant here in Gaud.  The atmosphere alone is beautiful.  The service was AWESOME, which is hard to come by here sometimes, and the food was delish.  In fact, I think last week I only cooked dinner two times for the entire week.  The next night we had a babysitter to celebrate a friend's birthday and we went to another nice restaurant, Cocina 88.  It seems like since we got here we get a babysitter more, which for me is crazy since I never trust my children to anybody, but the truth is, since Matthew is busy all the time we do need to spend more time with each other.  And it has been great because we get to really see what Guadalajara has to offer.  Fast forward to Friday and some of my favorite people here and I went to Applebees, no link needed, and had a super fun night, just the girls with no kids.  It took me 50 minutes (which normally only takes 10) to pick up one of my good friends because UAG was having a sporting event backing up the traffic.  That is one of the crazy things around here.  There aren't too many alternative routes for me to get to places, which stinks.  In fact, this morning it took us about 30 minutes, instead of 10, to get to church because they were having a marathon in town and they we running on the busiest street here.  Is that normal?  To do marathons on heavily used streets and block traffic?  Now we know to look for green lines on the street letting us know that a running event is on its way.  But where was I?  Not cooking, right.  Then on Saturday we went with some friends to a taco place for tacos, of course, but what was better was that next door they have this little ice cream place.  Now, for some educating.  Apparently, back home I would always call our American ice cream "nieve."  Well, I guess that would dry Matthew nuts because nieve is a water based ice cream.  Milk based is called helado.  Maybe a little confusing but the nieve here is so good.  It tastes very natural and you can get it in all sorts of flavors.  Their helado, not so much.  In fact, I pay big bucks, at least 10 bucks,  for the kirtland ice cream at Costco, because it tastes so much better than Mexican ice cream that you can buy at the store.  But, their nieve is worth buying.

Cute, little, black bunny

I kept meaning to post about this but about two weeks ago we found a stray bunny.  Kind of strange I know but it was the cutest, little black bunny.  If I wasn't in a right state of mind, we would have kept the little bunny.  At one point Eva even asked me if we could keep it, but I reminded her that we had River and we didn't want River to eat the bunny.  Well, to that she replied, that we could sell River and then keep the bunny, right mom?  Now again, if I wasn't in the right state of mind, I might have gone along with it but of course I couldn't sell our dog.  So, for a couple days, the bunny hung around our yard.  It let us pick it up and pet it.  It was something we all looked forward too, even Matthew, I am not going to lie, every time we opened the door that the little bunny might be there nibbling at our grass.  After a couple days of this, River saw the bunny one day and chased it away, and then that night Matthew said he saw the bunny being chased by a cat.  We never saw the bunny again.  I am hoping that its owner found it because the other thought would be too sad to think about.  Lucky for us, the kids never asked about the bunny after they didn't see it, but man, that was one darling little bunny.  Or maybe, as Elijah is getting older, and looking more and more like a little boy, I am yearning for something cute and cuddly, to hold.  Guess my little Eli will have to do for now.

Speaking of Eli, today after 22 months, the kid finally stayed in nursery, our church's little Sunday school, all my himself.  I was so proud of him.  He cried of course, but I was called to work as the primary music leader and I thought this was a perfect opportunity for me to let him stay by himself in nursery and it worked.  It was about time really.  It was just that when we first got to Mexico we put him in nursery early.  He was only 15 months so I stayed with him.  He couldn't even walk at that point.  But then, it was easier to stay with him once he was 18 months and walking when I should have left.  More time passed and then it was my calling in January to be the nursery helper.  That was kind of hard because that was when I had just decided that I wanted to leave him their alone, but now I couldn't.  And finally, fast forward to March, and I can say that he went by himself.  I know sometimes I baby my kids, but only because it is so hard at times to let go of the fact, that they are growing up.  Does that happen to anyone ever?

Elijah decided to sit on the money statues outside of Santo Coyote

Last week as well, Eva's school had an open house.  She was so excited for me to go.  My favorite part was when we went home and she told me over and over how happy she was that I was able to go to her school.  I was one of the few mom's who didn't have my paparazzi camera and I was kicking myself for it because it would have made for some great pics and video.  I teared up when I saw her at school being so good.  She really made me proud.  They fast forwarded through all their morning routines and I could see Eva keep up.  We spent part of the morning in her Spanish class, then the other in her English class.  The English part was strange for me.  I am not going to lie, but I am pretty hard on the English teacher because I myself am an educator.  The only thing that I could criticize was her accent.  I know, I am horrible.  I think this because it is too bad, in my mind, that she is teaching all these little kids English and they are exposed to English with an accent.  In reality these kids could have the opportunity to English without an accent.  But since they are learning from their teacher who has one, they have a harder time.  Does that make sense?  I mean, it's pretty bad when I have to correct Eva on her pronunciation of the word August, to come and find out at this open house, all the kids are saying August wrong.  And what is more annoying for me is that Eva gets mad at ME when I try to help her say things right.  Oh well.  Something else that was funny was kids dancing a routine to a Shakira song and Michael Jackson's thriller. That was a part of their English class routine.  Isn't that funny?  These kids are so little but here they are exposed to pop culture at a very young age.  But more importantly, I loved seeing my baby in school.  She is a respectable student that works so hard at school being as good as she can be.  No wonder she comes home and breaks apart.  You would think there would be some balance for Eva, but that's just the way she is.

Sorry about the long post.  At this rate, I will have enough material to turn this blog into a book.  And the links, I went a little crazy with, but since I forget to carry the big ol' camera, I thought you might want to see what some of these places that I am talking about are like.  Anyone ready to come and see me yet?

Mexico Part 10: Cribs and V-Day

It goes without saying that we really don't have much money.  But, poor Elijah has been sleeping in a portacrib since we got here back in August.  Can you imagine a huge kid like him still sleeping in a portacrib?  I wish I would have taken some pictures of him sleeping in that thing.  In fact, I think the kid slept in the corner because he seemed to fit a little better that way.  It was just that cribs are so expensive here.  And if you know what I endured to get Eva out of the crib, you would think I would just transition Eli to a toddler bed asap, but did I mention that they don't really have those here either.  What they do have are very overpriced cribs that turn into twin beds with two night stands.  Not to mention that you then have to special order a mattress for the crib that almost costs the same as the crib.  I looked at buying those rails you put on twin beds but those cost a lot too.  Pretty much the cost of the special order mattress.  Thinking Elijah would never get a bed and sleep in that portcrib until he was five, I accidently found the perfect bed for him.  Yes, it's still a crib, but since he's not climbing out of the portacrib, I don't know why I would want to give him free reign to explore the room.  In fact, I like to confine the kid as much as possible.  What I can say is that I so dearly miss craigslist.  I know I paid way too much for this bed but at least Elijah can sleep better.  He was pretty excited to get the bed.  In fact, the first time he went in the thing we was jumping from side to side and beaming from ear to ear.  It was pretty cute.  So, that was one "big event" that has happened in the last couple weeks.

Next, I had a nice valentines.  I remember the first one Matthew screwed up the first year we were married (does it sound like I hold grudges?  I have forgiven him, really).  We were living in Salem and I was so excited for Valentines day.  I had gotten all ready thinking we were going to do something special and exciting and NOTHING happened.  I was beyond disappointed.  I remember him even asking me why I had dressed up for the day, and I couldn't even face him.  Well, needless to say he never did that again.  And this year he actually surprised me the night before, telling me to eat a light dinner with the kids because he was going to take me out.  I was shocked!  He doesn't normally think of things like that on his own.  He even got a sitter all by himself.  And he bought me the most over priced roses, I have ever seen.  We had a nice evening together.  It's funny how when the kids are little, the little things are that much more special.

Third, I have come to the realization that I think I am going to have to order Elijah one of those monkey backpacks with the leashes because he's all over the place.  Eva asked me if I was going to get him a leash like River and I just laughed and said yes.  A couple weeks ago he busted out of the house, half-naked ( the kid sweats A LOT so he's always half-naked) and ran away from our house, crossed the street in our coto (gated community) and was in the neighbors yard, wandering with the dog.  I almost had a heart attack, and he just laughed.  Thank goodness it was at a quiet time of the day and I realized fairly quickly that he was gone but it still gives me an ulcer thinking about the what ifs.  We now leave the door permanently locked!  He is proving to be quite the handful and what worked for Eva doesn't always work for him.  For example, Eva and I would go to the store and use those little kid shopping carts and I would tell her when it was time to go, "bye, bye, cart," and she would leave it no problem.  Well, then there is Eli.  You tell him the same thing and he throws himself to the ground and throws his little tantrum.    And again I don't know if I want to laugh or just hide in embarrassment.  Kids, I tell you!  Thank goodness my sweet Eva is still sweet on most occasions.

Lastly, I have been at it again with a little crafting.  I am including a picture of Eli half naked because those are the attempt of pajama pants that I made for the kid.  I was so scared to try clothes but it wasn't too bad in the end.  I used this tutorial with the pattern she provides for her 2/3 year old but apparently my kid is too chubby for that pattern, even though he's not even 2 mind you.  I will have to be giving those pajama pants away but they won't be the last.  I think next time I will try making my own pattern.

I know I am all over the page, but I think it's because that is how my life is for now.  Scattered thoughts here and there, not very significant really but they are what my life is.

Mexico Part 9: Pesos and River Sand

I have been so lazy when it comes to this blog.  I think often that I need to update the good old blog, but life happens and nothing gets posted.  Maybe this month will be better, but I won't hold my breath so neither should you.  In a lot of ways nothing really has changed around here.  Our routines are still the same.  The beginning of the term is always a little stressful because our financial aid check always comes late and then to top it all off they issue us a check in american dollars.  There are plenty of places that want to take your dollars but of course give you the worst deal possible.  To top it all off as well, the dollar isn't doing that well either.  When we first got here we could get the dollar for almost 13 pesos and now it is hovering around 12 pesos.  Pretty stinky if you ask me.  But none the less there is nothing we can do about it.  At least we are getting financial aid right?  People often think that it is cheap to live in Mexico and maybe it is in other areas but not so much here.  And for some crazy reason, everything seems to cost me double than the rest of my friends that live here.  I will give you some examples.  Everyone here fills there gas tank for about 1500 pesos and it will last then three months.  Me?  A month and a half, and that is if I am lucky.  I am in the process of trying to figure out if there is a gas leak in my house because according to what everyone else tells me my gas should last me longer.  Example II, my good friend got her water bill for the whole year and she was estimated that her water usage would be around 500 pesos this year, mine?  998 pesos.  Now we have discussed that I shower my kids every night and she doesn't but I can't imagine that that would double the cost of my water usage.  I don't even water the lawn, which isn't a good thing, but still, you would think that with the amount of water I am being charged for, the grass is bright green and my driveway sparkley clean.  But if you know me, this is not so.  And for example three, electricity.  I pay 1500 pesos every two months and that's with the government paying half of my bill but my friends all pay under 500 pesos.  I just might have to be a fly on my friend's wall to figure this all out.  Regardless, I know that if you were to do the math in dollars it isn't too bad, but when you don't have too much money every little bit counts.  Now, Matthew wants to try to get me to budget and I am trying my hardest, but I never seem to do that well.  For now I am just saving receipts for food and then I suppose it is something that I will just get better at over time.  What are your thoughts on budgeting?  What's worked for you guys?

Kids are doing well.  They spend a lot of their time outside playing in this used sand/water table that I bought them. They love it.  I went to a place here where they buy sand and people from Eva's dance class told me to ask for river sand, but the "river sand" is more like dirt.  Of course, the kids still love it but I am now on a quest to find real sand.  You should see how dirty the kids turn out when they are done playing.  And more so that they discovered they can add water to the "sand" and it turns into mud.  I could get super annoyed at the clean up, but, honestly, it is the only time they play semi decent together and I enjoy the "free" time I get to get things done around the house.  Elijah on the other hand, likes to drive me nuts by throwing the sand in the dryer ducts and inside the house.  He is going to drive me bonkers, I swear.

As for me, after we got back from Oregon, I discovered that my sewing machine lost its timing AGAIN.  My machine was a Singer 150th Anniversary edition, that had a game boy for a computer, that my parents bought me my senior year of high school.  It has been fun to learn on even though Matthew made fun of me all the time because it had a game boy.  But, the machine has not been strong enough for me.  I got it off its timer trying to sew bumpers for Elijah and it cost me $100 to fix back home.  So, when it happened again and I took it here it only cost me 250 pesos, way cheaper, but the guy didn't fix it all the way.  Technically it was my fault because I didn't give him the game boy to check the stitches but I was getting tired of the machine.  That's when I went on an adventure to buy one here.  Talk about super annoying.  It took me over two hours to purchase the machine, because they couldn't find all parts to the machine.  Apparently, they only carry one machine of its kind at a time, then they open the machine to display it, but in the meantime, they lose the boxes that the machines come in with all their parts.  I was extremely frustrated about it but I think I came out on top in the end because I made them give me an additional 10% off what it already had discounted and in the end I got the machine for 25% off of what they were asking.  I now have a new Janome and I love it.  I decided to go with a manual machine this time and I couldn't be happier, even if it doesn't have a game boy.  I can already tell how much stronger the machine is and I am off to making all the crafts I have been dying to make.  Plus, Matthew got me http://www.amazon.com/Stitch-Learning-Sew-Project-Time/dp/1440211612/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1296762995&sr=8-1 for Christmas and I am teaching myself the fundamentals of sewing.  It has been fun to be home because it gives me some time to do the stuff that I love.

Pictures:
1 and 2:  Kids in the sand
3:Elijah using his watermelon like a car.  That kid can eat watermelon.  Often his poo comes out pink!
4:One of two pillows that I made using this http://jessicapeck.blogspot.com/2011/01/valentine-candy-heart-pillows-tutorial.html tutorial.
5:Who does this kid look like?

Catching up...December in Oregon

The first post of 2011.  There are so many things I want to do better this year.  Like always, I suppose.  Wish I wasn't as imperfect as I am.  But, I am excited for a new year and all the things that life will bring this .  The end of 2010 was a good one.  We spent 4 weeks in Oregon, bumming at each other's parent's houses.  I don't think we drove them too crazy.  Well, maybe just a little.  At times it was difficult not being at home.  I realize now how tough our little guy is to have around.  He gets into everything.  I think it was worse at Matthew's parents because they have so many beautiful Christmas decorations around the house.  If he wasn't grabbing the fine china, he was going after these glass pitchers and putting them up to his mouth.  I suppose he liked the echo they made.  By the last day that we were there I saw that someone had moved them out of this reach.  A very smart idea.  He has proven to be quite the boy.  He likes to get into everything.  I like what one of my friends posted on facebook when I mentioned that he was bringing in dirt inside the house, just so he could sweep it up. And what she said was that we can't have the sweet until we have the sour and I like that a lot.  All in all, it was great being in the same vicinity as all my brothers, even though we like to drive each other crazy.  In the past, I had my own home and for the sake of not bothering my mom too much since she works nights, we wouldn't see them too often.  But this time we were there 24/7 and it was fun.  We played lots of chicken foot and settlers of catan.  Some of us were a little more intense than others, right Alex and Matthew, but we all managed.  Then the weather was crazy cold in Oregon.  It was hardest for the kids to get used to.  Elijah, especially, kept wanting the back door opened so that he could play outside.  Something we take for granted living in Mexico.  But it was so cold.  The funny thing is, I think we let him go outside more in Sisters, than in Hillsboro, even though it was much colder in Central Oregon.  Sometimes even barefoot.  But that was because he would escape every so often.  Did I mention it was tough watching him all the time?

Christmas was great.  Santa brought us some neat things and the kids got way too many toys.  It was quite the adventure coming back to Mexico.  We left Mexico with 4 suitcases, and came back to Mexico with 6 and a dog.  And, to top it all off, US Airways (not sure we'll fly with them anymore) charged us for every single suitcase.  Is that normal now??  But, seeing the kids finally play with all their loot when we got back was worth every penny.  For me at least, you will have to ask Matthew.  I will just tell you that I promised to try to pack lighter the next time we fly.  We brought River back with us.  It was funny when people realized that with all the stuff we were hauling on the plane we also had a dog.  I am sure most thought we were crazy but we couldn't help it.  We had to bring River.  I feel like we are finally a family again.  I remember now why I like her.  She is so good with the kids and they love her so much.  It's nice to have her around to eat up Elijah's messes, finish off the empty can of tuna, and to feed her a piece of pepperoni when I am making pizza.  It makes me laugh because she has definitely become Elijah's buddy.  He will even ask for more food just so that he can feed it to River.  And while Eli doesn't speak much, he can say River beautifully.  And you know, even though River is a one eyed dog, she is still cute to me.  

I have been HORRIBLE at taking pictures.  But, you know, the kids are starting to mellow out more that I should take out the camera.  Before it seemed like I was constantly trying to keep the kids from beating each other up that I didn't feel like I could bust out the camera in fear that they would take it out as well.  But things seem better now.  We are back into our routines and life is calm.  Just the way I like it.

Pics:
1.  Kids at my parents.  There Christmas tree took quite the beating.  It didn't look so good after Eli was around.
2.  Erik's birthday.  His birthday is on the 26th and we never spend it with him.  This time around we celebrated it early and he actually had a celebration.  Cake, presents and all.
3.  Eva and Owen with Nana.
4.  Sledding day
5. Carla decided to bust out cowgirl outfits before we went to ride horse's where Shiara's mom works.  She did it as a joke, but we looked pretty cute, I thought.
6.  Family pic with the ponies.  Elijah was scared at first, but Shiara's mom told us to put him on there and move with the horse, and he loved it!!  Eva did too.

Mexico Part VIII: Matthew turns 29

Way back on the 9th of November, sheesh its been awhile, Matthew turned 29. I can't tell him we are getting old though because that is upsetting to him. But, man, I can't believe that we are getting closer to 30 more than ever now. We had a short little birthday celebration. I made his favorite dinner and made his birthday cake. Nothing more fitting than a tres leches cake if you are celebrating your birthday in Mexico. It was short because he had a meeting that he needed to go to that night, so by the time he got home it seemed like we were rushing his birthday. But I think he had a good birthday. That morning, Eva was so excited. In fact, I think for like three weeks straight she prayed every night how thankful she was that is was her papa's birthday. It was pretty funny. But that morning of his birthday, she had told me that we needed to get balloons for Matthew's "party." So, after I dropped her off at school I took Elijah to this big party store near her school to pick up some balloons. It was around 9:15 by the time we made it to the store, only to find out that the store was closed! This is something that seriously drives me nuts around here. Stores open at about 10 here and that is if you are lucky. You can often go up to a store and see that they open at 10 and then not have the owner show up until quarter after 10 or later sometimes. Is that not crazy? Clearly it is not about the customer here. In fact, stores here don't do any of there restocking at night. Nope, all happens during the day while there are tons of people trying to do their shopping and maneuver around huge boxes. But, I will save all this for another post. I will have to take my camera to the store one day to show you some other crazy things about shopping in good ol' Mexico.

Anyway, the last picture is just a cute shot of the kids eating some popcorn. For about five seconds they weren't at each others throat and I thought this was cute.