Mexican Independence Day

Independence Day in Mexico is on September 16th. It is a huge holiday. The kids were out of school Monday, the day it was observed, and Tuesday, the actual day. Our Stake threw a big party for FHE on Monday night. As you can see from the list, written by Chloe, who I have turned in to an obsessive, compulsive list maker, we were supposed to dress up. If you cant read Chloe's writing or her spelling, the note says :

Tonight Party

at 7:00

Dress Up

Hurry and Go

find a place to sit and enjoy

then go home and go to bed.

Later she added at the bottom:

Yes or No

Si o no

In the pictures below, you will see our version of the traditional clothes. Tyler and the boys are wearing ponchos--basically a sarape with a slit in the middle to fit your head through, (sarape is pronounced su-raw-pay with the su sounding like "su" from suck). I am basically wearing a shawl. I dont know what a Mexican would call it, but that is what I will call it. It can be worn around your shoulders like a shawl or tied around your waste. Chloe is wearing a little Mexican dress. She was so excited to wear it. The rest of us look ridiculous, but she loved everything about it. They actaully sell the same shirt and skirt Chloe is wearing in womens sizes, but I opted for just the shawl. I know, I know I am such a party pooper!

The stake went all out for this activity, including air jumpers, a spin the wheel kinda game, and three amusement park type mechanical rides. This one was a dragon, kind of shaped like a ship that went back and forth. Chloe and Logan loved it. I stayed on the ground with Carter and Luke.

This is Chloe with two girls from our ward, Vania (sounds like Vaughn-yuh) and Niktel (sounds like Nick-tell). I have no idea if I am spelling those right, but Chloe had a blast with these girls. Vania is 12 and has become Chloe's best friend at church. She always comes up and gives her big hugs and is very kind. Vania's whole family has been very welcoming. Her mom, Veronica is an english teacher in a public school. She has fast become a dear friend of mine. Her husband is in the Bishopric. They have 3 other children. The sweeetest family. Niktel is 11, and is becoming quite attached to Chloe as well. I dont know as much about her family yet, but they are very very nice people.

This ride, that Carter and Logan are pictured on, had 4 little cars for the kids to sit on and it went around & around & around. They literally had to push and run to get the ride going--we are definitely not at Disneyland. :)

At the activity they had tons of food. Tacos, tostados, gorditas, frijoles, corn on the cob, pazole (soup), and postres (desserts). The corn was rubbed down with a mixture of mayo, chili pepper, & some kind of cream. I say some kind of cream, because no one can tell me what it actually is. All I know is that it is not sour cream, or whipping cream. At this point I am not a big fan of mayo and chili pepper on my corn. But, hey, maybe it will grow on me. Gorditas are made with a fat tortilla sliced open like pita bread and then stuffed. These particualr gorditas were stuffed with beef, potatoes (my fav!!!), and some kind of chili pepper seasoning. They weren't too spicy and they weren't fried like the tacos and tostados, so I enjoyed them. Pazole is a red soup--that is all I know about it. I asked someone about it & I was told that it is usually very good soup with corn in it, but it was being served cold that night and that I should wait to have some nice and hot. The postres included rice and milk pudding mixed with cinamon and raisins on top, small fruit cups and little muffins with whip cream on top. Can you guess what was served to drink--TANG!!! It was such a fun experience, the only problem was that there was a sepearte line for each item. That is 7 lines and the corn line was as long as the other 6 put together.

Chloe and Logan didnt want to leave. But Carter and Luke had been asleep for over an hour in the stroller. We havent fingured out why everything starts so late here, but that seems to be the schedule they are on. School meetings/functions dont start until 8:30. And short meetings, emphasize short, end at 10:30. I have usally been asleep for a while by the time 10:30 rolls around. We figured we lucked out this night when the activity started at 7:30. Woohoo!