|
After sleeping in a bit in the morning, we woke up and had breakfast with the kids. Paola opened her gifts from the party. She got a lot of nice gifts befitting a young lady: towels, perfume, stuffed animals, soaps. After that, we all got into clean-up mode. We disassembled tables, cleaned up trash, swept up pine needles, etc. Having been her party, Paola took the lead on clean-up efforts. She worked very hard.
At lunch time, Juan Carlos, Yolanda, Fatima, Junior, Victor, Julisse, Alex, Andrik, Neli, Josue, and Brittany arrived for lunch. We had leftover chicken in mushroom sauce and rice. Juan Carlos made a cabbage cole slaw and included some hot peppers straight from the garden. After lunch, we made a puzzle of a map of the world with the kids. It was a lot of fun, and as soon as one group of kids finished the puzzle and disassembled it, a second group got to work on it immediately. Obviously it was a big hit. Craig and I played tic-tac-toe with Yoselin and Fatima, respectively. It got dark, and soon Humberto came home from a day of taking 23 clients on a lake tour. He was done for the day and ready to unwind. Rosa and Victor, Juan Carlos and Yolanda, and all of their respective kids arrived for dinner. Rosa and Victor set up the charcoal grill and got some marinated steaks cooking. The grill is really just a tire rim welded onto some rebar legs, and it works amazingly well! The adults all drank beer, but Humberto knew that I was allergic. He produced a bottle of Chilean red wine that he had received from colleagues for the New Year, and popped it open for me. I was thrilled. Victor and Rosa toasted tortillas on the grill, which we enjoyed with fresh guacamole. The evening air was chilly, and after we enjoyed the delicious steak, we all huddled around the grill like a campfire. Embers popped out of the fire and we brushed them off of ourselves. The radio was on and we joked about keeping the neighbors awake two nights in a row. Luckily most of the neighbors were the family, and they were participants. We disbanded at midnight. |
 Paola with a birthday gift  Junior, Juan Carlos, Yolanda, Paulina, Humberto, and Craig around the grill See all photos from January 5 |
|
 |
|
 |
