To Danny & Irene on the arrival of Cristian David!
He's so beautiful. I had the privilege of attending his birth! It was my first time attending a birth as a spectator and I loved the experience. Irene did wonderfully and both Mommy and baby are happy and healthy. I hear he sleeps real well too!
I won't steal their thunder by posting any more details about the baby but I did want to share my joy with you at experiencing something so awesome!
This year a friend of ours invited us and another family here to spend Independence Day with him. We went to San Francisco Soyaniquilpan, a small town (population 4,000) located 40 kms. outside of Tepotzotlan. We spent the 15th and 16th with him.
We got to celebrate Independence Day the traditional way and it was a lot of fun for the kids to experience real Mexican culture this way. I'll let the pics tell the story:
Tasting the traditional Pozole.
Our friend was having a family get-together to celebrate Ind. Day, and it was cool to see how all of his relatives came dressed up in traditional outfits. They had a table with a bunch of extra sombreros, red-white-green jewelry and face paint, etc. for people who hadn't come dressed up.
Our friends' wife (left) dressed in a traditional outfit from Oaxaca and a relative (right) dressed in traditional garb from Chiapas.
The girls sang a few songs for the guests. It was cold which is why they wore their costumes over their regular clothes.
There were a lot of children there and Lily and Ben had a blast playing with them. Ben, who is usually quite shy, was very outgoing and befriended a group of older boys. He assumed they understood his English so he talked on and on, as they made an effort to understand him. (It was very cute!)
At around 11 pm we all went to the town Zocalo to see the fireworks. They were pretty amazing.
Ben enjoyed the fireworks but not the booming sounds they made.
Lily dancing on the stage at the Zocalo after the fireworks.
Our host with Justy. He loved holding him.
We spent the following day at our friends' house and had a BBQ with his relatives.
Ben trying out the electric shock machine, a traditional game to see how much electricity you can handle.
I know it's been awhile but I never got around to blogging about my birthday so I figure better late than never. Chris worked really hard to make it special and it really was!
My birthday was on a Saturday (a busy day for us) and half of our Home was on the road so to make up for it, Chris took me to Mexico City for an evening of music at the Pedregal Home for our friends and supporters. I'd never been to one so that was nice. I got to see KK (yay! It had been forever!) and about halfway through the music, Jerry asks for a volunteer from the audience. Of course I kept myself nicely hidden but Jerry spotted me and asked me to come up front. To my total surprise, they sang "Las Mananitas" for me and then he went on to sing "Special Lady" and "Have I told you lately that I love you". Turns out Chris had worked it out for him to sing for me ahead of time. It was so sweet! I had no idea!
Jerry made Chris and I dance in front of everyone which was rather embarrassing but so sweet!
The following Monday was our rest day and Jamie, Oliver and Cristina came to spend the day with us. We hung out by the pool together, went to get my nails done and then they took me to "Marco Polo", a cute Italian place that Simona had told me about for dinner. It was SO sweet of them; we had a great time.
He was so good, sat in his chair without whining throughout all dinner. I LOVE chocolate cake!
Chris wasn't able to join us for dinner as he had work to do and when we got home I found out that he had planned a surprise area party for me. I quickly got dressed and then TONS of people started showing up. It was a lot of fun. Thanks to everybody who came and got me presents and wished me a happy birthday. I had a very good one!
A few presents. Chellie got me these spider earrings which was hilarious as I can't wear earrings and HATE spiders with a passion.
I was too busy having fun to take pics of the party so I only have these two.
I was so happy that Paula showed up, she made sure I had a good time.
Another great surprise was that Dave & Stephy came with the little cousin and Danny & Irene showed up too. I was so happy as I wasn't sure Irene could make it out here cuz she's about to pop.
Anyhow, Chris worked SO hard to plan the party, stayed up till 6:00 am cleaning, then got up to make breakfast for everyone. He's so wonderful! I love you Honey! Thanks for a great birthday.
Ben: "Mom, you made eggs for me and Dad bought me a new toothbrush! You have been so sweet to me that I'm going to make some cards for you. You like to laugh and you laugh a lot so I'm going to make you a card with a picture of a hedgehog peeing on a man's face! Dad only likes to laugh a little and he only laughs a little bit so he gets a card with a picture of an ant. Maybe an ant going in an anthill!"
To Danny & Irene on the arrival of Cristian David!
