Best Few Hours in Mexico!

Most times I go down to Mexico, I am always traveling back home on Sundays, so I have only been to church down there once. But, we were so fortunate that on Saturday we were able to join Family of God Church to help them host a Christmas celebration for the barrios. Here are Lynne and I after setting up our craft table. As you will see from future pictures we had to switch to two tables because the crafts were a huge hit!

These kids were amazingly happy, polite, and fun. It was so fun to watch them look out for their little brothers and sisters, share supplies, etc. Plus, I loved being able to communicate with them....Lynne's Spanish also seemed to miraculously improve during her time with the kiddos.

Dottie (red shirt) is a great family friend who actually introduced my parents to Puerto Penasco. She and her mom, Dorothy, were down at the same time we were. It was actually Dottie who invited us to this fantastic event - thanks Dottie!!

Lynne with one of her favorites....she certainly was the craft master. (please note that Lynne and I were sweating in tank tops and these kids were in fleece!!!)

I just loved watching these kids be creative....precious...

Not only were their crafts and games, but the locals had put together some skits. Here are two little shepherds!

And my favorite little angel....

The high school group did an incredibly powerful drama to Lifehouse's Everything. (I highly recommend you go to You Tube and search for the "Lifehouse Everything Skit" - amazing). The kids did an amazing job!

This video is from the very end - the triumph. Basically, the synopsis of the skit is the girl starts off dancing with Jesus, then Satan comes and entices her, followed by several different "vices" (drugs, appearance, alcohol, etc). Then, she is considering suicide and Jesus is trying to get to her through the vices. Finally, as you'll see below, he fights them off and defeats them.

Shrimp Cocktail...I LOVE Shrimp Cocktail!

For those of you who have met El Prowler, you knew it wouldn't be too long until we got him out of the garage and took him for a spin! So, after putting on quite a show for anyone who might have been watching us rock out in the gym (round of applause to Lynne for her hip hop mix), we were off to town.

First stop was Mary's for the best shrimp tacos around! It is unbelievable what a difference it makes when the shrimp was caught about 3hr before it hit our plates. We had our first Feliz Navidad serenade...first of many.

We ran a couple of errands in town...Lynne bought some rock star earrings and a necklace...I bought shrimp (to be featured later)....and we took some town photos. As we were headed back to El Prowler, a man yells out "Quieres Shrimp Cocktail?" (yes, we just had shrimp tacos and I bought shrimp for later about 5min beforehand). Lynne does a complete about-face and says "Shrimp cocktail? I love shrimp cocktail!" hilarious!

Then we were off to the Fruteriea where we got 3 full bags of fruit and veggies for $7.50 - amazing. Last stop was Super Ley for the tortillas fresh out of the oven. YUM!

Whew! After such a busy morning, we needed a little R&R at the pool/hot tub.

Ahhh....happiness!

Now remember that pound of shrimp...that $3 pound of fresh shrimp? Yep, it made an appearance for cocktail hour on the patio. Delish!No trip to Penasco is complete with out sunset drinks at El Capitan at the lookout. We were the only crazy gringas who chose to sit outside...the bonus was that we got a private mariachi band. And yep...you guessed it...another round of Feliz Navidad!Gorgeous sunset!

And how about this manger scene! Love it!

Chocolate Priest in Meh - hee - coe!

Thursday morning we woke up, piled into Bessy, and were headed south. I had told Lynne that if we were not able to stay with Jill, we could have driven to Gila Bend and stayed at the Space Age Lodge....she had one word - GHETTO! Really, it is not that bad - Melissa, Britt, Olga, Leslie, and Daron can vouch for this!

We arrived around 1 and it was just as perfect as I remember....

Lynne is a stellar photographer...I cannot wait to see what she does with all the sweet photos she's been taking.

After unpacking we made some pb & j sandwiches, grabbed some beers, threw on our bikinis, and headed to the hot tub. Not a bad way to spend the afternoon....

Another gorgeous sunset...

A delicious dinner made by me!!

This is one Lynne likes to call "Christy raiding daddy's liquor cabinet...." Sadly no Baileys ( it is on the shopping list today), but we did find Frangelico, Godiva Liqueur, and Kahlua. We did a little research on Frangelico - The Frangelico bottle is an immediate reminder of this distinctive history. Shaped like a monk’s habit, with a traditional rope belt around its waist, it is a guarantee of authenticity and quality that links the past right through to the present day.

Lynne made a great after dinner drink, appropriately named the Chocolate Priest....it put us right to sleep, such lightweights!

What a day!!!

Wallets at the Ready

On Wednesday the day finally arrived – the beginning of Christy and Lynne’s last epic trip in 2009! Things were starting to get a little dicey in Chicago, weather wise, yet surprisingly Ohare was not too bad and we were set for an on time departure to Phoenix. Our flight was almost empty and we were all set to go yet had to wait at the gate a few minutes.

Lynne, understandably very excited to get the heck out of Dodge, was a bit impatient stating “We were supposed to be in the air 10 minutes ago and we still have to go out on the runway and do that whole song and dance. Everything is a production on an airplane. You’ve got the flight attendant who stands up there and does her little skit…” (Yes, we are keeping a quote book, you’ll thank us later)

We both decided it was quite appropriate to have an in flight beverage, thus we had our wallets at the ready! Also, a little free advertising for American…the flight attendant brought me a free refill on my wine and said “Merry Christmas” when she delivered it – Merry Christmas indeed!

We got into Phoenix around 10pm and were off to the off site parking to pick up my parents “new” (just bought from Tres) “car” (14 passenger van). Needless to say we got quite a few looks as we drove down the road in that baby. I think I did an okay job of driving Bessy (yep, Lynne named the van) however, I was a little crooked with the park job (remember, it is about midnight Chicago time by now, not functioning at full speed).

CP: Do you think I need to straighten out?

LK: Well, the good news is there isn’t a tow truck big enough to pull Bessy.

Lynne’s spectacular friend Jill hosted us for the night and then we were off the next morning….

A Chicago Christmas

Willow Chicago put on a Christmas concert that was absolutely fantastic and a great way to get in the holiday spirit! There are some really talented musicians and actors in our congregation and the was a gorgeous setting (we are quite lucky that we are able to have church here each Sunday!).

Lynne and I are looking super white here...but no worries, we're off to Mexico later this week, so many tanner photos to come :-)

Lots of Cheer!

Saturday was a day of holiday cheer and cheering for the Deacs! Jenny was in town for her graduation from Northwestern's PT program - congrats Jenny, huge accomplishment!!!

It was great to catch up with Jenny and wander through some of the amazingly decorated Chicago hotels.

Then it was off to Clarke's to meet Jen and Stephanie and cheer on the Demon Deacons as they defeated the Zags. Go Deacs!!!!

To top off a great day, Axis had their holiday party at the Hancock. Rach, Mel, and I were pretty successful at the self take!!

The Michigan crew was trilled by the fact that there was Vernor's at the party. They were shocked that I had never heard of this fine ginger ale from the mitten state.

First taste test was a smashing success!!!

A Sea of Gold and Black

The Big 10/ACC Challenge is a marker of the beginning of one of my favorite times of the year – college basketball season!!! This year my Wake Forest Demon Deacons were matched up against the #4 (AP) Purdue Boilermakers….and West Lafayette is only a little over 2hr from Chicago…so clearly I could not miss the opportunity to cheer on my beloved Deacs in person.

I invited my dad and one of his good friends, took the afternoon off, and we headed south. Unfortunately I forgot my camera and phone in my car, so no pictures. Oops! The drive was pretty uneventful except for the hundreds (seriously) of high tech windmills that dotted the farmland – wow, more windmills than I ever saw in Denmark.

My Boiler friend suggested a great restaurant/bar called Scotty’s (shout out to Lynne) where we had a great pre-game dinner…then it was off to Mackey. We were up near the top, but I swear, there is not a bad seat in that stadium. Purdue and Wake are the same colors and it was crazy to be surrounded by gold and black, yet have them cheering for the other guys – nuts. There were probably about 15 or so Deacs there, many proudly sporting their tie-dye. Surprisingly, most were seated in our section…as the Purdue fans behind us commented “there are like 10 people from Wake here, yet we are sitting in the middle of them all.” Ha! Go Deacs!

The Deacs did not come away with the victory, but it was still great to watch them in person, and with Bob and Dean, two of my favorite basketball coaches!!