It's Party Time!

Well, it is official.
The holidays are upon us.
(It is hard to believe since it is 70 degrees and sunny every day.)
We kicked off the season with two traditional favorites.

First: Thanksgiving.
Although we had to work this Thanksgiving, we were invited to a party after school. It was a potluck, and it was our job to bring enough mashed potatoes for 16 people. Making the potatoes almost resulted in destroying the Steins kitchen, but, nevertheless, we arrived on time with 5lbs of mashed potatoes.
Some said we overdid it, but at the end of the night, not a speck of potatoes came home with us.

The table for this meal was a pool table with a top and a tablecloth on it.
Here is the spread:
Here is the aftermath:Here are some friends:Tonight, Jay and I held a traditional "Baking and Bonding". (For more info on "Baking and Bonding" check out another recent post").
We took the chance on possibly destroying the Steins kitchen once again, but I truly believe the Lord protected us. I did blow up a pressure cooker and burn some beans (we had chili while we worked), but, other than that, the night went smoothly and was super fun.

Here was the group:
Here is some of our handiwork:
Yay for the Holidays and yay for being with family in less than three weeks! (not that I am counting down or anything. . .)

We've (Temporarily) Upgraded.

For two weeks Jay and I are house-sitting for a missionary family. Although it involves driving to our house everyday to walk the dog and check the mouse traps (we are currently waging war against the mice in our house and we've taken out six already), the house we are staying in now is quite a bit nicer than ours.

We've exchanged this:
for this:
And this:
For this:Needless to say we have temporarily upgraded.

Speaking of houses, we are considering a move to a different house in a safer neighborhood. Although many missionaries are supporting our decision, we are also receiving a lot of opposition.
We are praying for God's guidance and would appreciate you joining us in prayer.

Santa really does exist. . . even in Mexico!

Yesterday was a day full of fun and frivolity.

It began with a second round of "Baking and Bonding". For as long as I can remember, my family has had this Christmas tradition known as "baking and bonding". On some weekend before Christmas, my family along with another family, the Ronkettos, gather together to bake Christmas cookies, decorate sugar cookies, and spend time together. (here is a pic from an Original Baking and Bonding)

Since I have had to miss this beloved tradition for the last couple of years, I have worked to carry it on wherever I might be.

I have already had two "Baking and Bonding" experiences this year (and it isn't even December). The first was in Nebraska with Lori and Crystal (never were so many cookies made in such a short period of time).

The second happened yesterday, although the people planning it didn't know that "Baking and Bonding" was its official name.

Here are some photos from that time:(This was the first "Baking and Bonding" to include Tea Time.

And I am secretly planning a third "Baking and Bonding" in which the official sugar cookie decorating will occur.

Jay had a craving last night for tacos, so we set off in the minivan to find a (cheap) taco place.
Since it was only 5:30, every restaurant was open. . . but empty.

Here is a pic of Jay with the completely empty restaurant behind his head.Here are the desired tacos.

And here was the bathroom - I have had many interesting bathroom experiences in Mexico and this one is noteworthy because it was good! They had toilet paper and soap.
We didn't want to spend another night at home, and most places around Chihuahua right now are considered dangerous after dark, so. . . .

We went to the Mall! And I was shocked to find out Mexican malls are just as crazy with their Christmas decorations as American malls.

Everywhere we looked they had these Christmas candy creations set up. They also had a GIANT Christmas tree and a Santa figurine (no real Santa. . . at least not yet.)

OK, now for a sidenote: I pulled out the end of our loaf of bread this morning and this is what I found.The package was intact so we know it wasn't our mice (yes, we have mice, but I am getting used to it), So we figure it must have happened during the packaging. If anybody has any ideas, please let us know. Anyway, it made Jay and I laugh and ask "WHY!?!" for a long time.

Back in the Swing of Things

Well, we are officially back. With (almost) one week of school under our belts, we feel like that break may or may not have actually happened.

We arrived home to a house that desperately needed cleaning. It seems as though all of Mexico dried and shriveled into dust while we were gone. Said dust then proceeded to plant itself on every surface of our house.

Here is my attempt to capture the mayhem on film.
Here is Jay helping with the cleaning.
Here is our very dead plant that simply could not survive a week without our tender love.Also, with the whole drying and shriveling process has come something I don't think I was totally prepared for here in Mexico - Cold Air.

When we wake in the mornings it is about 50 degrees in our house, and a day full of baking in the sun doesn't do much to warm the place. So far, we are too cheap to turn on our heater. We simply layer up in the evenings and sleep nice and warm under our new quilt that was bestowed upon us by Mama Taylor in Nebraska.So we are ok. Adjusting to being back. Freezing our tushes off when we use the bathroom (the bathroom window is permanently stuck open about 2 inches), and returning to the service God has planned for us for this season in our lives.

No more suitcases. . . at least for a week

Jay and I have been living out of suitcases for the last few weeks, but what that means is that we have been able to do some very fun things.

First, we were able to escape our isolated, strange-colored, mouse-ridden home for a week and go house-sit for some friends who live in a gorgeous house on the outskirts of town.
Being there was a retreat for me and for the first time since being in Mexico, I was able to relax.

Our time there was full as we still had to care for our dog back at our house, drive to and from work and attend (under the threat of being pied in the face) the fall festival at our school.

We won a cake and for money our students were able to lock us up in "prison" or the "cage" for a time.

We had a party at the high school girls' bible study I attend. The party was both to celebrate Erika's birthday and say good-bye to our fearless leader, Melody, for a time.

Then we hit the road:
4 hrs to El Paso
10 hrs to Denver
9 hrs to Norfolk, NE
2 hrs to Lincoln
17 hrs to El Paso
+ 4 hrs to Chihuahua

= 46 hrs in the car and 3,000 plus miles under our belt, but a whole lot of fun and quality time with people we love.
P.S. Sorry it has been so long since my last post. . . with all the travel, I didn't have my camera cord with me and posts are just no good without pictures :)