Snow!

After the castle, we drove a little higher into the mountians to a little place called Cotos where we had intended to hike. Instead, we were surpised to find a fresh little layer of snow. The kids caught sonwflakes on their tongues, and threw snowballs (okay, I guess we all threw snowballs), we ate our picnic lunch in the warm car, and then stopped into a little restaurant for hot chocolate. We were amused that the lady preparing our glasses of milk was going to serve it to us cold because we are Americans, and of course Americans like their chocolate milk cold. Don't worry, though, we stressed that we wanted our chocolate caliente like everyone else in the little lodge! Mmm, and was it ever hot and frothy!

Manzanares El Real

On Tuesday (the school's off for Easter Break), the Fields family offered to take us adventuring. Our first stop was at a castle in Manzanares El Real (which translates to something like the Royal Apple Orchard - though you won't find any apple orchards there today). It was an amazingly well-preserved and well-designed castle. Here are some pictures.

Adventures in Ransom #9

Ransom is becoming quite his own character. Recently, people have relayed some stories to us about the little man. We thought we would share.

1. Ransom has never been fond of coloring, but it's one of those things that's pretty much standard when you go to kid's church. Most kids recognize this and go with the flow, even if coloring isn't their cup o' tea. Ransom's Sunday school teacher informed us that she had asked Ransom to draw a picture. "Okay" he reluctantly agreed. Ten minutes later she returned and said, "Ransom, you didn't make a picture!" He responded emphatically, "Yes, I did! It's FOG!" What could she do but staple the blank sheet to the wall with all the other pictures?

2. Our kids sometimes join the other kids for recess at the school where Andrea teaches. The volunteer on playground duty informed us she overheard the following:

• Boy at recess: "What are you doing?"




• Ransom: "Playing Superhero."




• Boy: "That's cool. Can I be a superhero, too?"




• Ransom: "No, I'm the superhero...but every good superhero needs a sidekick!"

The kid is 4 year old. Where does he come up with this stuff?

Ever feel like this?

If you can relate, just be reminded that this world is not our home....and that we can look forward to so much better than the lousy peanuts that this life has to offer.

Stir Crazy

These kids need to get out of the house...

Disneyland

During our time in California we got to go to Disneyland with the cousins. Unfortunately, the only decent video that we got is this short clip of cousin Travie (presented in old school cinematography for your reminiscing pleasure):

7 Years Old

We also celebrated Corrie's seventh birthday in Hawaii. Sunshine and smiles...long hair and lanky legs...bewilderment and beauty...innocence and intellect...goodwill and godliness. Our little girl is seven! Happy Birthday Corrie!

Unfortunately, Corrie spent the later half of the week in Hawaii with a fever and wasn't much in the mood for celebrating. (Blow out the candles, honey, but don't get your germs on the cake!)

The Wedding Day

Marissa and JC got married on February 23, 2008. It was not your typical wedding. The bride and groom, as well as several of the wedding party, skydived (or skydove, whichever you prefer) into the wedding, held on the sandy beach of the North Shore of Oahu (where they happen to live). Here are the happy couple in the air:


And here they are safely on the ground:

Wedding essential: The close-up ring shot.

Both families together:

It's rare to get Andrea's siblings together at the same time; apparently it is easier to accomplish if everyone is stuck on an island.

As you can tell, the weather was perfect, the flower girls passed out leis, the parachutes opened, and everyone had a good time. Overall success. For more wedding pictures, set to a groovy tune, just click here.

On the North Shore

As most of you know, we recently made a little whirlwind trip: California for a few days, followed by a trip to Hawaii, in order to attend the wedding of Andrea's sister Marissa (more to come on that subject) and then back to California for a few more days, then returning to Spain. Ransom who used to love airplanes, is now panick-stricken at the thought of getting on an airplane. Poor guy. Guess we logged a few too many hours of flight time! Anyway, about Hawaii. Marissa and her new husband rented beach houses for the family to stay in. They were fantastic. Here is a view of our backyard. Nice:

The kids enjoying he beach:

Corrie loves to body surf!

Ransom up to now has preferred the sand over the water

but swam with his daddy quite a few times this trip.

A man came to trim the palm tree while we were there and everyone enjoyed watching him scale the tree and hack off branches and coconuts with his machete-looking tool. He cut one open for us and everyone partook of the sweet coconut water.

The kids decided to do some tree-scaling of their own. Ransom the monkey:

Corrie and Holley, Marissa's new niece. Who knows what relation that makes the girls.

Went for a ride in a jeep to the tip of the north shore and did some tidepool exploring.

Wind-blown.

Ransom's been working on his goatee.

Homeschool lesson about crabs.

Corrie & Ivy

We had the pleasure of watching Ivy for a few days (sometime during the expanse of time we will simply call "the silent months of blogging"). Ivy is the dream dog: well behaved, well-mannered, kind, and loyal. Due to inhumane treatment as seen here, we don't get asked to dog-sit anymore. You can just see the look of terror in Ivy's eyes..."get me outta here!"

Picnic

We had a few beautiful days in the middle of winter and the kids were itchin' for adventure. So we decided to hike "Camarma Hill" and have a picnic. Stopping at the Dia (Camarma's idea of a grocery store), we stocked up on a few picnic treats and made our way up. Dad then relinquished control of all planning and decision-making. The kids still talk about the day that they got to be "in charge of everything." Here are the two monarchs surveying their kingdom:

In the Kitchen

Here's a picture of the bakers three makin' cakes. Despite the fabulous baking apparel (courtesy of Grandma - thanks Grandma!) we have to replace the "A" sign in the window with a lower grade whenever the smaller cooks get involved.

























The Spanish like their bread fresh daily, and crusty. It's a bit too hard on the outside for Ransom's taste (his 4-year old concept of Heaven probably looks something like the inside of a Wonderbread/Hostess factory), and he has been known to eat out the soft middle of an entire loaf, as seen here.











And yes, that is a washing machine in our kitchen. Where else would you put one, silly American?

Happy New Year

“¡¡¡Feliz Año 2008!!!”

We spent our New Year's Eve (nochevieja) in our "new" house. It has a patio roof, so we ran up there to see the fireworks all over town, but didn't stay long because it was cold. Fireworks and partying all night long, but we went to sleep instead. The Spanish have a traditon (las doce uvas) of placing 12 grapes in their mouth at midnight-one for each chime of the clock. Interesting, but we didn't try it.

The Belén

After dinner with the Steffens we walked down to see our Town's Belén, which means Bethlehem. Most Spanish cities have some sort of replica of Bethlehem which is constructed and torn down each year. Very intricate models with running water, lights, and moving parts. They start in about March and work on it all year. After the holidays, they destroy it and start over. Seems like a shame to put so much work into a project only to tear it down, but hey, it's tradition. And Spain is all about tradition. Here are some pictures.

Christmas Day

We were invited to have Christmas Dinner with a charming family called the Steffens, who have lived here in Spain for many years. The glazed ham, decorated house, and pumpkin pie made it feel more like Christmas at home. We did have Spanish appetizers however: serrano ham, manchego cheese, and langostinos. Spaniards swoon over serrano ham which looks like this:

and is cut from a pig leg that looks like this:

May not look appetizing to you, but the average Spaniard's mouth would be watering over this picture.

Langostinos are pretty much gigantic shrimp, served cold. Now those of you who know us know that we are not exactly shrimp people, but we got the low-down on how to twist off their heads, pry off their armor, discard the legs and use the tail as a handle for insertion in the mouth. The flavor was very nice once you got past the chewy-tendony-bursting texture. Aunt Chrissi would be proud. Brian went back for seconds, though probably just for the morbid pleasure of ripping off something's head.

Manchego is a delicious cheese made from sheep's milk and you can find it in the States nowadays, so give it a whirl. Melted on slices baguette-style bread is best.

The Christmas Tree

We had no intention of buying a Christmas tree this year. You can get fresh ones, but they are maybe 3 feet tall and look more like a bush in a pot. Or you can find fake ones, which are a little pricey. But when we spotted a deal on a "returned"-looking tree in a beat up box, we thought we would give it a try. Found a set of plastic ornaments for cheap, strung some popcorn and voila! It was just like the end of a Charlie Brown Christmas Special. Doesn't that look Christmasy?

The Day after Thanksgiving

The day after Thanksgiving we asserted our Americanism and went to a mall. Unlike American malls however, this one was a ghost town. Since the don't have Thanksgiving here, they obviously don't have Day-After-Thanksgiving sales. Nor, of course, do they have the rampant American materialism, but they are working on it. We went with a family called the Fields and had a nice time getting to know them. Corrie and Julia have become bosom buddies. It took about 30 seconds to establish "best friend" status on the day they met. Had Chinese food in the food court. It's been at least a year since we have indulged in the Mandarin Orange/MSG-glazed chicken (?) chunks that have so eloquently been described by those among our acquaintance as "notches and knuckles." It was quite a treat and it gave us that sick and over-full feeling reminiscent of our favorite Chinese dives at home. Why do they mound five pounds of rice and knuckles onto each serving? The mall also had an indoor ski slope, so we entertained ourselves by watching the skiers and snow-boarders.

Felices fiestas y'all

Woke up this morning in the mood to blog, you lucky audience, you. Sorry you had to spend so long looking at what one of our adoring fans calls "the disturbing boy." We have our excuses for not blogging lately, oh yes, we do, but who wants to hear them? That was last year. We shall try to bring you up to date. Here's a picture of two impertinent little gnomes in one of those cheezy rides that slowly go up and down about six inches. What a waste of a euro. The kids beg and plead for these whenever they see one, and when they finally get to ride one, the look on their faces says, "This is not really as fun as it looked like it was going to be." But of course they would never admit it. Philosophical question: If one is under the impression that one is having fun, is that the same thing as having fun?

To put you in the Christmas mood...

Merry Christmas!

Love,

The Jacksons

Barcelona

Someone at the school had free airline tickets to Barcelona that they could not use, but they had to be used right away. Bobbi offered to watch the kids, so Andrea and Brian got to take an inexpensive little honeymoon to Barcelona for two days. We had the best time! Here's a brief slideshow of the sights.