Family Fun Day Part III-Afternoon Activities

Miguel and the guys took the opportunity
to throw a few rounds of horseshoes...

The big afternoon activity was tug-of-war...
pull, Gracia, pull!!!

Micah's group won their round!

Apparently, Micah got a few 'toritos' in
his hand throughout the day...'toritos' are
thorns, the word literally means 'little bulls'
because of the shape of the thorns.

Even "Grandma" showed up for the tug-of-war games!

JD getting a kick out of watching "Grandma"!
Good to see a smile on his face!

Goody bags for all participants!

After I took this picture, I noticed Gracia's
top teeth were bleeding, but it's only because
they are loose! Tooth fairy should be visiting soon...

Jojo on the swings...

Off to Ladies Retreat

At some point, I will be back to finish posting about our Family Fun Day...but I've been busy and now I'm heading off to a ladies retreat for our church. I will be back tomorrow. So I thought I'd leave you with a glimpse of the craft I will be teaching tonight...for a video on how to make these cute boxes, click here. These boxes are super-versatile and can be used for decorations or gifts or storage...not to mention fun to make!

My Place of Peace Giveaway!

Before I continue to write about Family Fun Day, I wanted to slip in a quick post about a really awesome giveaway over at My Place of Peace! Click HERE to check it out! What could be better than winning coffee and/or a magazine subscription?!

Family Fun Day Part II-Lunch

Lunch for Family Fun Day was provided on a donation basis by the students who are in missionary training at the Rancho Siloé. The money earned will be used for making a trip out to visit one of the tribal bases, so everyone was quite happy to chip in for that good cause!

They had a good variety of burritos and hot dogs as well.

Caleb, the cook, grilling hot dogs...we hope

to have a grill like that here at the Bible Institute

dorm soon! Miguel's working on it!

Miguel and Alcides enjoying their food...Alcides is

from the cowboy country in Colombia and

loves to dress the part!

Loving those chips! He kept begging
chips off of anyone who had any left on their plates! haha

Jojo and his lunch...

Barb, the Kindergarten teacher, taking

a break after lunch...

Family Fun Day Part I-Morning Activities

Every year, our school for MKs holds a Family Fun Day out at the Rancho Siloé, our organization's training institute north of town. All of the kids in school are divided into four teams and compete against each other in many different events according to their grade levels. This year, Family Fun Day fell on October 30 (which was also Micah's actual birthday, which is why we had his party the day before), the day after our Big Snow (see this post)...after the 'weather event' of the day before, we were blessed with a truly perfect day for Family Fun Day! Not too hot, not too cold, clear blue skies and plenty of sun!

JD (in the red cap) participated in the mile run

for the high schoolers, the first event of the day for them.

JD was on the yellow team and earned some points

for his team by coming in third.

It was a little hard for Miguel and I to keep track

of all four kids while they participated in

different events at the same time...

but we did pretty well at getting around and watching

their main events.

Jojo was on the pink team! Members of the

pink team were also allowed to wear red

in case they didn't care to sport pink shirts!

Here he is posing with the rest of the

kindergartners and his friend Isaac.

Gracia during the ball toss. Gracia was

on the black team.

Checking in with JD during the running
long jump. He came close to breaking the school record!

Jojo won the kindergarten sprints...look at him go!

Jojo won all of the events he participated in!

Micah (in the middle with blue jeans) running his sprints...

he came in second after a run-off. Micah was on the blue

team, but wore a red sash since they didn't have

enough blue ones...it was a little confusing...

We were very proud of Gracia for coming

in second in her sprints...

After the main sports-type events, the elementary students

had some fun games and continued to try to

collect points for their teams.

Micah's Birthday Bash

Ready for an eyeful of pictures? I decided to just put them on one post instead of dividing them up, so here goes...

Not my best cake, but Micah loved it!

That's what counts, anyway...right? lol

Ready for the party to start!

Jkaile helped with the decorations...

JD taste-testing the nachos...

Counting off for 'weird baseball'.

After the snow that morning, I was so very thankful

that it cleared up enough to have the outdoor games as planned!

Also very thankful for Miguel and all his help with

the kids...I literally could not have done

this without him...

"Weird baseball' is somewhat like regular baseball,

but played with things OTHER than baseballs...

notice I highlighted the shoe on that pitch!

Birthday boy takes his turn...

The boys taking turns shooting the pellet gun,

no surprise that it was a big hit!

It was somewhat of a segregated party, with the boys

playing with Miguel and the girls either on the trampoline...

...or on Gracia's bed!

Birthday boy blowing out the candles...

A few of the presents...

every boy needs a trusty sword...

Apples to Apples Bible Edition!!!!

Lovin' the Legos!

Post-Party...I think it was a success!

Snow? In Mexico?

What? Snow in Mexico? In October?! Typically, the word "Mexico" brings up thoughts of sunny beaches in Cancún or lush tropical jungles...but there are actually a few places in Mexico that get pretty cold and may actually snow from time to time! And we live in one of those places...granted, October is really early for snow and since the temperatures had been up in the 70s the day before, this really did take us quite by surprise! But yeah, last Thursday, we woke up to sleet and snow and really, really cold temperatures!

This was JD's first experience with snow!

After running around outside in shirt-sleeves, it didn't

take long for him to decide that he needed to get dressed

appropriately for the weather!

There was enough snow piled up in the corners

and on the trampoline to make snowballs!

A very small snowball...

Even Jkaile got a snowball!

He knew what to do with it, too, since

he promptly threw it at Micah!

But alas, all fun must end at some point and the

kids had to get ready to go to school...they

were still pretty excited, though!

Micah was convinced it had snowed just for his

birthday! I was thankful that it did clear up

enough to mostly have his birthday party outside

that afternoon...stay tuned for my next post

for party pics!

Remember my pretty flowers? Poor things

out there in the snow...