#DominicanThanksgiving [part 2]

Saturday we headed up the mountain

[a whopping 10 minute drive]

to a cabin [read: wonderful and large house]

for a nights stay.

Thank you Wallace Family for your generosity.

You are inspiring to say the least. 

kneading dough and baking with yeast

oh yeah we used the espresso machine

We struggled all Saturday to get the oven to work.

No such luck.

I was truly challenged while I watched Brad prepare 

the chicken for our big Thanksgiving dinner.

The oven wasn't working, but he was putting so much effort

in preparing the bird.

It was a lesson in trust and expectant hope.

Victory is ours!

Thanksgiving dinner is saved!

This celebration was fabulous.

two girls perfecting their crafts

[Emily - cooking

Alicia - art]

window peeping on a busy kitchen

crackling fire

Curt's apple pie

and mini pumpkin pies...

dessert and 1st breakfast...

early morning sit 

with good books and good friends

It's official!

Emily and I are trained baristas!

Thanks Neal ;)

Thanksgiving 2014 breakfast crew

"You've made crepes before, right?"

"No... I thought you had..."

we were spoiled

with views

with food

with friends

Holidays are not complete without

watching "White Christmas"

in your jammies.

twinkle light putter uppers

What a splendid Thanksgiving break.

Although we live on an island,

things are not always perfect here.

It's still normal life.

[just a bit warmer]

But this holiday break was exceptionally wonderful.

I hope yours was too.

What was the highlight of your Thanksgiving this year?

#DominicanThanksgiving [part 1]

Holidays without family can be rough.

But when you have friends who stand in as family

it tends to work out alright.

First things first...

a trip to la cancha.

Overwhelming to put it nicely.

[la cancha is the Walmart of Jarabacoa.

But right now they are in the middle of a remodel.

Think construction workers, giant holes, jack hammers,

and piles of merchandise everywhere.]

Preparing my auyama for our Thanksgiving dinner.

[auyama is the squash here, it's comparable to pumpkin]

Doulos Thanksgiving is one of my favorite events of the year!

We all gather for games, fellowship, and delicious food.

Look who is growing up!

Cresly is doing great in 1st grade.

Holidays would not be holidays without

at least skyping with family.

I love you, Grandpa!

[isn't my grandpa handsome?]

Midday neighbor hangouts are a must.

We have the cutest girls next door.

On Friday night we drove 1 1/2 hours to watch some 

Dominican winter league baseball!

Manny Ramirez at bat.

The crowd goes wild!

Saturday morning we headed up the mountain

to a lovely cabin for a night.

But more on that in part 2 :)

lessons w/ little humans

I love learning from 5 year olds.

They really can teach you a lot if you just pay attention.

For the last 40 minutes of the school day we have "centers".

It's a time to learn from play.

A time that many would say is the most important

part of Kindergarten.

Anyway...

I was playing with a group of kiddos 

who were working on a puzzle.

Here is how it went down:

The puzzle was dumped out 

and the little humans scrambled for their pieces.

Then they pulled their pieces close 

and moved away from each other to begin their work.

Soon they were frustrated.

The little humans could not get their pieces to fit together right.

They glared at each other 

to see how the others were progressing with their work.

...............

One by one the tiny people began to move closer to one another.

Pieces started to come together.

Progress.

Excitement.

Little voices shared ideas and thoughts.

Tiny hands passed puzzle pieces to friends.

Slowly the puzzle began to grow and take shape.

The little humans were having fun.

Together, they eventually completed their work

and, let me tell you, 

it was a beautiful puzzle.

I love the way this lesson challenges me.
Can you learn something about work and life
from my 5 year old friends?

Gracias a Dios

Gracias.

for after school campaigners and loud thunder

for casual facetime chats and a mama that makes me giggle

Thank You for the smell of hot cider and cozy nights at home

for twinkle lights and fiesta rice bowls

for lanzamiento season and full immersion cultural experiences 

I am grateful for events that inspire unity and reading by flashlight

for wise folks that come alongside me in teaching

and curious kiddos 

for sweet reminders that come in the smallest ways

I am so grateful for early morning walks

with dear friends

for coffee shop dreaming and friends who encourage

for tucked hair and a sweet boy

for friends and family both here and there

who remind me daily of Him

What are you grateful for this holiday season?

Young Life Camp [Pico Escondido]

Young Life Camp.

It just never grows dull.

Because of Jesus I would assume :)

A few weekends ago

we headed about 10 minutes up the mountain

to Pico Escondido,

Young Life's camp in the DR.

It was an amazing weekend.

Coffee in hand... ready for the weekend.

The day before camp we had 35 friends signed up.

Friday rolls around and 55 friends hop on the bus.

God's cool like that.

We were SO BLESSED by a Young Life team from the midwest

who came down as our assigned team.

They worked hard and showed us an excellent weekend.

Thank you Thank you Thank you.

High school shenanigans.

Plus, isn't Pico beautiful? 

One of my favorite parts of the weekend was

the 2am HOT showers.

hot water + quiet + silence + tranquilo = oh yes please

Just a late night baseball game... no big deal

It's 1:30am.

We're laying on a mattress outside our cabins.

We can't stop giggling.

#classicYLleadermove

#honored

This culture LOVES to dance,

but the square dance was a tid-bit tricky...

But of course there was smiling and laughing 

and general fun having.

There was a crazy downpour on Saturday afternoon

that provided some intense puddle jumping.

Again... Pico... beautiful!

Alicia and I got the amazing opportunity

to talk real life with these young ladies.

Those times were some of my very favorite.

Young Life Jarabacoa

We had an amazing weekend.

And because of the way YL works

it doesn't end there!

These are the people that I do life with.

YL club, the plaza, school, campaigners, basketball games.

This is so not over.

I am so grateful.

What are some of your favorite YL camp/camp memories?

Discoveries

Just because it's my second year living abroad

doesn't mean I've done less discovering...

To be honest, I was not jazzed about Kindergarten being moved

to the "preK" team this year.

BUT I have discovered that working with these ladies

is wonderful and easy!

#TargetVneckMonday

Walking at 6:15AM is not appealing to me.

But when it's paired with Emily 

(and other wonderful friends)

and coffee

it's surprisingly stupendous.  

Investing in students on this island has many perks.

Two said perks are YL pool parties in October

and stunning sunsets with palm trees.

Bringing your domesticated street dog 

to a YL "anything wash" 

will result in a clean but unhappy pup. 

I have discovered that I can watch 

my brother and dad play Sunday night hockey

from the DR!

When my family bought a new puppy (Osito "Osi")

I wanted to buy a plane ticket home on the spot.

I apparently don't like new things happening

and me not being there.

I have discovered that I have allergies.

Not fun.

I have been battling itchy eyes 

and a stuffy/runny nose since August.  

[I am very grateful I am not battling anything worse]

But this has been a really frustrating discovery

and if you have any advice on it, please share.

Fall in the DR.

Also, this little peanut (Rut) is fierce :)

Christmas comes real early in the Dominican.

like the beginning of October early.

music... lights... trees.... ginormous jingle bells...

so festive.

Also.

We have Christmas cups.

take that Starbucks.

When Mateja, Adam, and Hanelei 

are available to communicate in any capacity

I will drop anything and stare at their beautiful faces.  

The Kindergarten selfie will never stop being cute.

What have you discovered lately??