Mountains and Food...Always Food :)

Blog About September 2021

Doug made a trip up north to the mountains to visit with the owner of a resort so he could help an NGO organize a retreat they wanted to have. Doug was with the resort manager and his assistants for most of the day. Doug said he had one cup of coffee, two glasses of tea and lots of conversation. They also told him they had recently built a zip line, and they wanted him to try it. The day was a success, and he was able to secure the resort at quite a discounted rate for the NGO and also get some business for his tourism company.

This is at the top of the zip line.

I guess he made it to the bottom because he came home later that night.

September 22, 2021

Besides Doug's tourism business (KeyTreks), Doug has another job. This last week, two of the men at work arranged a barbeque for all of the employees and their families. Caleb and I joined in, and we were glad we did. The food was amazing. Most of the teachers speak and teach a different language from the one I am learning, so I didn't do much communicating, but the ladies were sweet to make hand gestures and let me know what they were laughing about. 

September 27, 2021  

Doug made a couple of trips to the mountains this month to meet with friends. 

On the first trip, the men cooked fish up in the mountains and had a meal while they visited. You can see them sitting in a circle behind the smoke. On the second visit, they invited some new people and had tea over an open flame and their conversations were full. 

September 25, 2021

A Christmas Whirlwind

Blog Post About Winter 2020

The cards you all sent made the best decorations in 2020! It was such a blessing to be remembered by so many and our plain-looking tree thanks you :)

We went to church for Christmas Eve, and then we came home and Kylie and Karis treated us to our own "food board." We weren't able to have all of our overseas friends come by for the Christmas story and some American food, and they were missed.

On Christmas morning, Keira read us the Messiah's birth story from Luke 2.

I don't have a picture of Caleb because I think I missed him opening the few he had. He had decided to forego most gifts so that he could buy parts for and build his own computer. 

That evening (on the 25th), we all loaded in the car to drive 2.5 hours to my parents' house to celebrate Christmas with them and other family member that could make it.

Kylie and my sister-in-law put this "board" together. In reality, these are the kinds of foods we have always eaten and snacked on at Christmas and other times with family...for years. 

I was just thinking the term charcuterie board was something new invented to describe what we had been doing for years. Nope.

The French came up with this in the 15th century. "Chair" means "flesh" and "Cuit" means "cooked." It basically translates as "pork-butcher shop." Their shops also included the pig's internal organs, which I'm thankful has gotten removed from our boards in America.

In French, the one preparing the meat is called a Charcutier.

So just like Solomon in his great wisdom reminds us, "There is nothing new under the sun."

The cousins that were able to make it sat at the "kids' table" for dinner. 

Who doesn't love sitting at the kids' table, right?

Things like this happen at the kids' table :)

This is my son on the right and his cousin (12 days older) on the left.

They decided to try some hot sauce called "Da' Bomb" my dad had around the house.

The sweating, moaning, and pain continued for quite some time (and probably later, if you know what I mean).

When Kylie returned back to college, she found a youtube video showing that the hot sauce these boys tried was the third hottest in this particular hot wing contest.

Yes, these are things that happen at the "kids' table." :)

We only stayed two nights with my parents because we needed to go see the other grandparents and more cousins on the 27th. 

One of the many benefits of the grandparents living in Waco is that we can go see the Chip and Joanna Gaines empire almost anytime we want. We hadn't gone in few years so we drove over to see all of the new additions like this chapel. The crowds were really low because of Christmas, plus there was rain in the forecast.

We also took advantage of other "Waco-things" like the store near the Dr. Pepper museum.

S'mores by the fire was a nice ending to the day.

And the next morning, a few of us got up and went running/walking downtown.

Covid + Christmas made for a very quiet, enjoyable morning.

We knew it was important to see both sides of the family because we are rarely, if ever, in America during Christmas anymore. So even though this was a whirlwind of a trip, it was good!

Holiday Travels to See Family

Blog About Winter 2020

After the weekend of ballet performances, we continued on with school, activities and visiting with people.  We had a friend in from Alaska who had been instrumental in leading me to my relationship with the Lord. It was nice to catch up and hear what the Lord is doing in her life and those around her.

One of the benefits of being in America was also being able to travel to see family, so on Tuesday, Doug, Keira, and I headed over to Doug's parent's to help them decorate for Christmas. Doug worked outside, and Keira and I helped inside.

December 8, 2020

The next day when we were leaving, Keira decided she wanted to spend the night away (for the first time) at her grandparents. We really wanted her to have this opportunity, so even though we were going to drive an hour and a half back home and have to return an hour and a half the next day, we said, "Yes." 

They hung out by the fire.

And she enjoyed riding her grandmother's scooter up and down the driveway.

And of course, the next day, when I returned, she wasn't ready to leave.

 

We reminded her that we were going to Dallas to visit cousins in two days, so she decided it would be best to come "home." 

Two days later my brother and his wife greeted us with hugs, laughter, and a charcuterie board. This was my first to see in person since the item had become such a popular thing in America.  I'm definitely a fan!

The next night, a friend of my brother and sister-in-law came and set up a massive "Grinch" themed party for her kids, my brother's kids, and my kids. We left them all to enjoy it while we went to a restaurant in Flower Mound called 1845: Taste Texas. 

That lady's husband is the drummer for a band my brother is in called The Poor Kings, and they were playing that night outside at 1845.  It was SO cold! The guitar player couldn't tell if his hands were playing the right chords or not because his hands were numb.  The surprising thing was that the outside courtyard had a continuous flow of people eating all night. They weren't deterred by the cold and they seemed to enjoy the music and dancing.

December 11, 2020

With the help of a friend in Texas (the son of the couple who hosted Doug's 50th), Caleb built his own computer, which we have since brought with us overseas. Here he is working at school on his new computer on his last day before Christmas holidays.

December 17, 2020

We heard of a friend of a friend who was in school to be a hairdresser, and she needed clients. Kylie, Karis and I all went. It took longer than usual because her teacher would come and inspect and ask questions, but she did a good job, and it was a lot cheaper than normal :)

December 20, 2020

We were so glad to have Kylie home and excited for Christmas.

Sharing the Mountains

Sir Edmund Hillary is credited with being the first person to summit Mount Everest.  He said, “Human life is far more important than just getting to the top of a mountain.”

Well-spoken.

So…we went to the top of the mountain with friends, and we happened to run into more friends when we got there, so we shared the mountains together.

This also led to a friendly game of paintball.  The dads and the kids played, and Keira and I peered through the chain-link fence.

Kylie, Karis, and Caleb suited up.  

Quite the battlefield.

 

All good things must come to an end. 

So after roasting marshmallows, playing late-night games, making funny videos, rolling down snow-covered hills, and eating a lot of junk food, it was time to head down the mountain.

At least I think that's where we are heading???

Is there civilization down below?

Oh my goodness, yes!
All of these people were waiting in line to come up on the teleferic on their day off (Friday).

No time to leave like the present.

Plus, it happened to be my birthday.

My family surprised me by meeting up with some friends at the same restaurant where we had Thanksgiving and ordering milkshakes.

I think Keira liked the look of hers.

My friend told the chef I liked cheesecake, and he made this presentation for me.

 Yes, we all love the mountains, and sometimes coming back down is hard.

But...

“There are far better things ahead than the ones we leave behind.” – C.S. Lewis

And this is why we come down. 

There is more work to be done.

Onward and Upward.

Spiritually, mountaintops are a great place to see the might and glory of God and feel His presence, but as we all know...it's in the valleys where we stretch and grow and begin to look more like Him.

“Everybody wants to reach the peak, but there is no growth on the top of a mountain. It is in the valley that we slog through the lush grass and rich soil, learning and becoming what enables us to summit life’s next peak.” -Andy Andrews

January 3, 2019