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The girls used Legos to construct Bethlehem with the manger nearby. Bethlehem has no room in the inn; it's clearly full - with Disney princesses! I don't remember that part of the story.
They also came up with these pajama outfits on their own. Creative.
Lia's school put on a Christmas show - with singing, dancing, and skits. They told the story of Christmas. And Lia had no problems with the lines she recited. They actually did the show three times - at a hotel with family in the audience, at a local orphanage, and at an English center for kids. She totally enjoyed it.
She also played a couple songs with bells. Very impressive.
Today, Muslims celebrated this festival by killing an animal and then sharing the meat with family members as well as the poor. The festival honors Abraham for his loyalty and willingness to sacrifice his son, Isaac.
We weren't aware of this holiday until last night when I saw this cow being walked into our apartment complex. I had the sense that the cow's future may be short.
And sure enough, from our apartment window, we could see in front of another building some of the slaughtering happen. "Slaughtering" sounds too inhumane, but just so you know, they kill the animals very quickly. It certainly wasn't about torturing the animals. Honestly, it was pretty interesting. Lia even watched for a little while, and she was fine with it. I have lots more pictures, but I don't want this post to be too nauseating. Often, they will donate the skin to the local mosque.
Then this sheep arrived, and he shared the same fate as the cow.
We thought this exercise equipment would really communicate the Christmas spirit.
The Christmas season began with a little Bockman miracle - the day after Thanksgiving, we got our Christmas tree up! I know. Take a moment to catch your breath. And I almost lost my temper with it only 7 or 8 times.
We found a dazzling - to put it nicely - fake tree in a market in town. When we got it home, we found it in three pieces. Okay, a bottom, middle and top - no problem. As I jammed the pieces together, the tree was quite deranged, and it became very clear that we had two middles and a top. Hmph. If we didn't have metal bars on our windows, I might have tossed it out the window. After a large sigh, I manipulated the middle section into the stand, and there you have it - our little, two-sectioned tree.
Lori and I weren't thrilled with the tree at first. Then, the girls came in and said in unison, "I love it!!!" That's enough for me.
Then they said, "Hey, let's play Christmas!" They ran off, and we wondered what this would look like exactly. They came back with their pillows and blankets and proceeded to set up "beds" under the tree. Very sweet. But I hope this doesn't mean they think they'll sleep there on Christmas Eve.
Oh, and the vendor that we bought the tree from gave the girls these monkey masks. When they first put them on, they just pointed at each other and laughed hysterically. It was hilarious, and I wish I had gotten it on video. They really like 'em ... but they kind of freak me out.
Apparently, this is the only picture we took on Thanksgiving. My apologies to the grandparents. And it seems like Meg is always the first to come running to offer her services to pose in a picture. Thanks, Meg, you're a gem.
But we did have a fabulous day of giving thanks and enjoying quite the feast - with turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. And we have leftovers. Rockin'!
Most days here are surprisingly clear, but this one was especially so. These are the mountains we can see from our apartment complex. And it hasn't gotten cold here yet; highs are in the 50s. This has been a welcome gift and really pleasant.
This doesn't happen as often as we might like, but it sure is nice when it does.
And Lia's going great with her reading.
And of course, the book is about princesses.
Meg came up with something new - peanut butter toast with Tasteeos cereal. Mmmm. So good I had to share it with y'all.
We realize it's football season, but pigskins hanging outside our window is a bit extreme! Yech-o. And they smell as bad as they look. The window remained closed during their dry time.
Others said they're pig stomachs. It's a toss up.
I report. You decide.
Meg's doing a little video chat with Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Cindy who are all in Spain. However, Meg was a lot more interested in our own face that appears in another window on the computer screen.
We had an incredible weekend! We went to the mountains and stayed at a place for one night. About an hour into our drive, the snow peaked mountains began. They were gorgeous! We were amazed ... thrilled ... stunned at the sight of them. Here's our first glimpse of them.
After more driving, we arrived at the top of the range. We took more pix here. We totally weren't expecting these views, but we joyfully welcomed them.
And of course, the bus driver wanted to get a picture with the girls. Not a shocker.
After just 2 1/2 hours in the bus, we arrived at our ... uh ... "inn." Not sure what to call the place. Again, we were pleasantly surprised with it.
Oh, look ... lunch! Mmmmm.
Temps were in the upper 60s, and after a very fresh lunch in the sun, we set off for a short hike. Many photo opps ...
Dad and Meg - in black and white.
Lia hikes in style.
I was diggin' this here tree.
And of course, a favorite hiking activity - throwing rocks into the river. Val's form isn't bad.
Would be nice minus the shadows.
Hiker Meg.
Smiling goat. Saw lots of goats on the hike ... but they left a personal, natural trail so watch your step!
Later that night back at the "inn", our room was a wee-bit chilly so the girls sported their hats as they got into bed.
Our room had a sitting room where the innkeepers started our heat - burning coal. Not the healthiest but it did get warm. However, we had a bit of a problem late that night when the "boiler" portion of the system overflowed resulting in scalding hot water being dumped into our room. Fun! A metal wastebasket caught some of it, and Mr. Innkeeper finally arrived to fix it ... kind of. He kept pointing at the burner and saying in English over and over - "too hot." Indeed. It overflowed a couple more times but finally stopped. Whew. Sleep.
The morning brought us much colder temperatures. There was a path we wanted to explore so we bundled up the kids. As we set off, it began to snow. Perhaps this will be a short hike.
But really soon it cleared, and we were all shedding our layers.
A view of the "inn" from the trail.
Saw some piglets. Val didn't want to leave them.
More goats ...
Rams. Nice horns.
Yaks. I like this guy. If it looks like we're close, well, we were.
Found a "tractor" - not exactly a John Deere but it made a nice photo opportunity.
As we headed to our inn, we saw a couple interesting things. We ran into this guy with his pigs. I like this picture.
Look out, kids! Don't get hit by that hay hauling car-truck-convertible-motorcycle-cart thing. [huh?!] Sweet ride.
Before we left the inn, we went to a nice waterfall. Come on everyone, final family pic!
Then in the morning, the present explosion began.
We're so thankful for multiple packages that the girls' grandparents had sent. Everything was a big hit. Here are a few of them ...
Val with her Bitty Baby and matching local traditional clothes that a friend had made here.
Lia with her American Girl Samantha DVD.
Lia and I also got matching waveboards. It's like a skateboard but with only two wheels and the middle is a big twisting hinge. Confused? Perhaps. I don't remember seeing these in the States. We'll have to post a picture of it. Lia had been wanting one for awhile, and I wanted one since I generally enjoy any type of board that I can put under my feet.
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