Thankful for Tex Mex

We started having Mexican food for Thanksgiving after we moved here for several reasons. Our community in Africa that really went all-in for Thanksgiving was gone; we weren't in America where Doug's mom made the most divine Thanksgiving feasts; and my kids not growing up with regular access to typical Thanksgiving food meant that it wasn't a big deal for them.

This year we invited three extra people for our Tex Mex Thanksgiving feast, two of which were Americans. We all enjoyed the food, played games, and had a restful day.

The morning started with Doug, Karis, and Caleb joining 20+ Americans for a friendly game of flag football. Keira was at school, and I was cooking. Keira gets out of school at 1pm on Thursdays (our last day of the week), and so we were able to start lunch around 2pm.

After our guests left, our family played a few games of Catan and had a great day all-around.

I also forgot to mention a story from the beginning of November. 

During my time with Covid, we were having some problems with our power. Doug contacted the neighborhood generator man, but he would never come. However, when a neighbor down the street had his fuse affected by our fuse, the generator man got another phone call, and he came right out.  

The neighbor didn't understand why his house and our house were having power issues at the same time until they saw that our fuses had melted together. I'm just glad someone caught it in time. It could have burned up the entire fuse box for quite a few houses. Our power was much better after that until....a month later, and the fuse box inside our house started smoking! 😟

A Quiet Thanksgiving and a Photo Shoot

Blog About Fall 2020

Thanksgiving was a quiet affair, and we changed things up a bit, since it was just us. My kids didn't grow up with "typical" Thanksgiving food (and it's not really their favorite), so overseas, we usually have Mexican food on Thanksgiving.

This year, we had a brisket and some other favorite foods that we enjoy when we're in America.

We all remained outside, socially distanced, and we tossed the football around and enjoyed the beautiful weather!!

We also had a family photo shoot planned for when Kylie was in town, but we delayed it 6 days to give more time for Doug to finish his recovery time. He didn't have horrible symptoms, but he also didn't want to be around others until the time limit was up.

 The day we rescheduled for was FRIGID and WINDY!

The above photos were obviously mine.

You can tell a difference because the ones below shine.

They were taken by the amazing Melissa Darst!

November travel with a touch of Covid

Blog About Fall 2020

Kylie didn't get to stay long, but we knew we'd see her soon.

A dear friend of mine drove to Texas from Mississippi to stay a few nights and visit with me. 

She asks the best questions, she is so fun to have conversations with, and she tells great stories.

While she was here, we drove out to the Bush Presidential Library. It was closed for Covid, but we were able to walk around the beautiful grounds and see where former President Bush had been laid to rest in 2018, along with Barbara and their daughter Robin, who died before her 4th birthday

November 14, 2020

This is a part of the Berlin Wall that is outside the Bush Library.

Doug had left a few days earlier. He drove to Memphis, Tennessee, to meet up with some friends from seminary.

After a few days with his friends in Memphis, Doug was able to go spend two days with Kylie in Nashville before driving back home through Arkansas where he met with some other friends.

If you haven't guessed by now, our time in America is usually crazy busy!

Doug drove home, he spent one night with us, and then drove to stay with his mom because he dad was going to have surgery.

 

His father made it through the surgery fine, but while Doug was sitting with him in the hospital, Doug got a call from one of his friends he had been with in Tennessee, and he told Doug he had tested positive for Covid.

Doug told the nurse, who didn't seem concerned, and he immediately left to get tested. He took two tests. His rapid test came back negative, but he drove home to quarantine while he waited to hear about the other test. 

We knew Kylie had been with him two days in Nashville, so we sent her to get tested, and I had spent one night with him between his trips, so I also went to get tested. Kylie and I came back negative, but Doug's test was positive.

Like many of you, plans had to change. Since we knew he had to quarantine for two weeks, we also knew we would have to cancel plans with family for our first Thanksgiving back in America since 2015. However, Kylie flew home for the holidays, and even though Doug distanced himself and stayed in our room a lot, we were able to having a small Thanksgiving celebration outside with just the 6 of us.

Thanksgiving and an Experiment

One evening, right before Thanksgiving, our team went to play laser tag.  Keira was sick, and I stayed home with her; however, on Caleb's birthday in January, we ALL played, and it was a lot of fun!

November 27, 2019

Thanksgiving morning, some Americans (and Dutch) played a game of football. Keira still wasn't feeling 100%, so I stayed home, but Doug and Caleb joined in the festivities.

They were put on opposite teams, and had a fun time covering each other.

Caleb's team won.

Later that day, we decided to have Thanksgiving at a restaurant again.  The chef from the restaurant we celebrated in last year moved to a new restaurant.  Last year, my teammate had helped the chef with the menu, and it was just for us, so with it being publicized for the whole city, we weren't sure what the set-up was going to be.

There was a buffet and plenty of food, but he changed some recipes and used some different spices this year, and it just didn't taste as good to me.

But it was still nice to all eat together, and Keira's fever was down, so she joined the festivities.

November 29, 2019

Right before Thanksgiving, I took a chance on getting my hair colored. 

I had never done that before.

I thought about getting some blonde highlights to make the switch to grey a little bit smoother; however, I was very nervous about getting my hair colored in a country where a majority of the salon's deal only with dark brown or black hair.

I finally found I guy I trusted and held my breath.

And it was quite a process!

Keira was not excited about me getting my hair colored.  

She wasn't sure she was going to like it.

It turns out, he did just what I wanted!

This was five months ago, so when I get to America you'll get to see my roots and grey, but it was fun while it lasted :) 

November 23, 2019

Thanksgiving in the Middle East

Our teammate had a wonderful idea last year. 

Her children wanted to experience an "American" Thanksgiving meal over here, but she wasn't sure she could pull it all off.  She confidently asked the chef from one of our favorite restaurants (he's from South Africa) if he would be willing to cook for a bunch of people and prepare our Thanksgiving lunch for us.

He needed to be shown recipes and gain understanding of green bean casserole and pecan pie, etc.

He had shoppers searching the city for things he needed, and he pulled off the most amazing meal!

I've never had a green been casserole with such a presentation!

The restaurant is owned by Believers, and they had decorated for Christmas and put a fire in the fire place for our get-together. 

We were two American families, three national men, and a family from Nicaragua, but we also invited the restaurant owner and his wife to join us, so Keira, Doug, and I sat at another table with them.  We told them the story of Thanksgiving, and they were so excited to get a chance to share our tradition with us.

Keira was glad we waited until her school was out so she could join the festivities!

The chef couldn't find any pecans (they are tough to find here), but he made a beautiful walnut pie, using a pecan pie recipe he found on line.

He even threw in something extra for all of us!

We couldn't thank him enough!  It was a lovely Thanksgiving! 

This particular chef is now at another restaurant across town, 

so we'll see what the future holds for this Thanksgiving.  

There's always a story to tell.