Friday, January 9, 2009

Crossing Cultures

Fiesta Navideña
Celebrating the Holidays is always a big deal, and for our family, we have the blessing of celebrating with a taste of Latino culture. We've struggled with balancing both cultures and have ended up making our own traditions that don't quite fully represent one culture or the other. The mix is great and helps Angel feel at home. This year, we helped our church plan a special outreach service for the Latino community. It was our first time doing something like this, and was a great success.
Interrested in how Latinos celebrate? Well, a few things are essential for a real Latino flavored Fiesta!
1. Patience. Usually there is a beginning time, but typically the fiesta never begins at that time. And there's never really an ending time. People come when they want and leave when they want.
2. Food. Tamales, Mole, Tinga, Flan, Galletas, Pan Dulce. Yum, yum, yum! This is typically done potluck style and there is usually enough to feed an army! When word gets out about a fiesta, people bring their family, and their in-laws, extended families, abuelos, primos, neighbors, and the list goes on. So a lot of food is a good thing.


3. Piñata. Not just the piñata, but people for crowd control, someone to control the piñata, someone to do the blindfold and spinning. Someone to call 911? You know, just to be prepared. Here's Alisia and Caleb taking their turn at a swing. Angel was the pupet master controlling the piñata. That's usually his job. And notice he's wearing a Santa hat? Not very Latino-ish. That's part of the crossing-cultures thing.

Wednesday, January 7, 2009

Christmas Update

Finally! A long over-due update from our Christmas! The kids are back in school and hoping for a snow day! We are finally getting back into the swing of things, but boy was that a struggle!

We were blessed this year with two amazing Christmas program from the kids school. This was Alisia's first year playing the bells with the older grades. This was Caleb's first Christmas play and seeing him on stage raising his hands and lifting his voice to celebrate the birth of our King deeply touched my soul!

Alisia and Caleb helped me deliver gifts to families I work with. For many of these families, it was the only gift they recieved for Christmas.

We spent Christmas Eve with family.

Our Tree looked soo pretty when every thing was finally ready and wrapped and Angel and I headed to bed for a few hours before the kids woke up. Actually, Angel was the first one up!

Christmas Morning - Santa's Gifts:

Nativity Story:
One of our traditions is to read the Christmas story and act it out with the Nativity set.

Stockings!!

Caleb was so excited to give Papi his present that he wrapped all by himself.

Alisia was psyched about her new MP3 Player!

finally playing the new Scene-it game! Soo fun! We love board games!

We enjoyed tons of family time over the holidays! It's still hard to imagine how our Christmas next year will be so very different from this one with a new little one! Come back soon, I hope to update more this week before I get too behind! We had lots going on before school started back.

Thursday, December 25, 2008

For unto us a Child is Born

We rejoice this day for the Savior born. He was sent for us! He came to die. That we may be set free. To give us hope.

"I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. "
Luke 2:10-11

"Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well."
1 John 5:1

Come, thou long expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.

Israel's strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth thou art;
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.

Born thy people to deliver,
born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.

By thine own eternal spirit
rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all sufficient merit,
raise us to thy glorious throne.

Charles Wesley, 1744

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Family Christmas Pic

"He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth." Luke 1:14


Merry Christmas! From our (growing) family to yours!

Monday, December 15, 2008

Date Night

These two just had date night!

And were off to see High School Musical 3!



I don't know who enjoyed it more, Alisia or Angel...haha!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Tis' the Season...

Deck the halls with boughs of holly....




Decorating for Christmas is so much fun! Fa la la la la, la la la la.



Tis the season to be jolly


Fa la la la la, la la la la.


Strike the harp and join the chorus.


Go see SVCC Christmas Concert! Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Don't forget the flowers for after the performance! Fa la la la la, la la la la.
(This was as all I could see of him giving them to her. When the concert was over, he ran up and gave them to her as quick as he could since he didn't like carrying them around.)


Only 14 more days 'til Christmas! Fa la la la la, la la la la!

Monday, December 8, 2008

My So Called Family

Time for the Christmas spirit
This weekend was busy with Christmas activities!

But before we get into Christmas, let me catch up on a few fall pics that I never got around to posting:









Wednesday, December 3, 2008

The Challenge of being Thankful

This was the first year the family gathered at our house for Thanksgiving. We didn't take many pictures, but here are a few.
After we enjoyed a great meal together, we enjoyed playing a card game.
These were some special decorations the kids made. Caleb memorized Psalm 100 and made a coloring book of the Thanksgiving Story. Alisia made the Turkey-pinecone and wrote us a thank-you note for being her parents.
I'm so thankful for the relaxing time we had as a family!

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name."
Psalm100:4

Why is it that we have to be reminded to be thankful? Why do we have to set aside a day for thanksgiving? Why does scripture remind us of this over and over again?

The truth is, our hearts are full of greed, discontent and complaining. We are not easily pleased and are always looking for more, bigger, and better. It's easier to think about what we want, rather than to be grateful for what we already have. It is our nature, especially in this culture to accumulate, dream, and admire what others have. It makes us feel like we need more, more will make us happy, we deserve more. If this is our true reason for living, we will never reach the end. We will never be able to say, "Enough."
I find myself falling into this trap all too often. I recently re-read these words Jesus said:

"Beware and be on your guard against every form of greed; for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."
Luke 12:15

We were built for so much more than earthly posessions. In reality, earthly posessions are only temporary. We must realize that it all belongs to God. This will make us greatful and more responsible for what he has entrusted to us. This change in our heart will make being thankful a way of life instead of one day a year. I need this reminder:

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
Matthew 6:19-21