The holidays are always the hardest time to be away from family, whether you are a few states or a few thousand miles away. As we faced the upcoming holidays here in Ecuador, we received some very good news. We had visitors on the way! What a blessing to have family near on our first holidays away from home (really in all of our lives)! Yes, we have been super spoiled!
It started with a visit from Kurtis’ sister, Kristina. She showed up the day before Thanksgiving with suitcases packed with treats from The States! She even traveled with a cooked turkey breast and a homemade apple pie! (Unfortunately, the turkey didn’t make it through customs, but thankfully the delicious pie did)!
Kurt's sister, Kristina (or "Aunti Na" as we like to call her) and Malachi, exploring the equator together.
Malachi loves to watch "Happy Thanksgiving, Charlie Brown" and because of this he is SURE that Thanksgiving meal consists of popcorn, jelly beans, and toast! Well, Auntie Na came through and brought us Jelly Belly's from home! We were all pretty excited for him to enjoy them, but felt so bad when the first Jelly Belly he popped in his mouth was a ho cinnamon one. Boy was he surprised! I am sure it is not what he imagined when he was thinking about jelly beans! He quickly got over it, though, and enjoyed the rest of the bowl with us.
Our best "Charlie Brown" faces. He's kind of a grumpy dude!
On Thanksgiving day I looked up "Thanksgiving meals made with Chicken" since we were short some turkey and found a great recipe that did end up tasting quite Thanksgiving-ish. We enjoyed the day, Skyped with family, and thought much about all we have to be thankful for. It all came together great and it felt like home!
Auntie Na's famous zucchini stuffing and traditional green beans :) Yay for big suitcases!
We even got to set up the Christmas tree while Kris was in town!
A little sibling rivalry
You can't set up the tree without some delicious hot chocolate!
While Kris was still in town, we had the privilege of spending a really big Quito holiday with our neighbors. The 6th of December is Quito's birthday and we found out that birthdays are a really big deal around here! There were fiestas in the streets a whole week before the actual day; people in party busses, celebrating the birth of their town.
On the night of December 5th, our neighbors took us through Quito to see all the fun. We visited the beautiful historic center of Quito. There were people everywhere! It was fun to witness all the excitement.
Exploring the city
We ended the night with a late dinner (11pm) in a beautiful restaurant at the top of a local landmark hill. We enjoyed delicious empanadas, potato soup, and even tried hot chocolate with cheese. Yep, you read that right. Cheese! I'll just say I prefer to stick with marshmallows :) It was a beautiful night and we are so thankful that Kristina got to be a part of it with us
On the 6th of December, we were treated to a personal parade in our own little neighborhood!
Happy Birthday, Quito!
