Me and Brian at the top of the mountain over Albuquerque.
The city lights of Albuquerque.We hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We were thrilled to leave L.A. for a solid five days to spend time with Brian's family in Albuquerque. We had a lot of fun, adventures and some great time of rest. Here are some of the memorable moments:
-- Thanks-mas! This was our first celebration of Thanks-mas or Christ-giving. Because we will be visiting my family in Missouri for Christmas, we decided to celebrate Christmas on Thanksgiving with Brian's family. His dad enjoyed wishing everyone a happy Christ-giving! It rained on Thanksgiving morning, which was a treat for me and Brian. We stayed cozy in the house. As Brian's mom finished the holiday cooking we all attacked a jigsaw puzzle. Everyone in Brian's family is really smart, so we finished that puzzle in lightening speed! It was really fun! We ate our delicious Thanksgiving meal and shared what we are thankful for. Next we needed time for our bellies to rest. We passed the afternoon with a walk (the rain had stopped) and a movie. Then it was time to open presents! It was so fun to see all of the traditions that Brian's family has and to become a part of them. And, what was the best present I got? A lazy Susan-style spice rack! Brian had become aggravated with my spices diving kamikaze-style at him every time he opened the cabinet, so he was even more excited about this than me.
-- Stranded! The day before Thanksgiving Brian's family and I went to take the tram up to the very top of the mountains above Albuquerque. The tram takes you from an elevation of 6,000 feet up to just over 10,000 feet. From the peak to one side you have a view over all of Albuquerque and to the other side you can see Santa Fe off in the distance. It is quite beautiful. Brian's family made reservations at the restaurant that is at the top of the tramway. We enjoyed eating as we looked out over the city. About halfway through the meal our waiter came over and told us that we should take our time because the tram just got stuck. What?? We ended up waiting at the restaurant for almost six hours! Our waiter brought us free cups of tea, coffee and deserts. In the end, we had a great time just sitting around and talking. But, we were glad to get back down once the tram was fixed. And we were able to tell people that we were "stranded at 10,000 feet!" Sounds like a Lifetime movie, huh?
-- Ni hao! We took the train to Albuquerque. It takes as long as driving, but it's much safer when you fall asleep! On the way out of L.A. an elderly Asian couple was seated behind us. We found out that they were Chinese, and we were able to practice a little of our Chinese skills. We quickly realized how little we know! On our language lesson CDs we've learned how to say things like, "Where would you like to eat dinner?," "Is the shop closed?," and our favorite "Can you buy a lot of beer?" These didn't prove very useful with our new friends.
--Kitty! We enjoyed playing with the two kitties that Brian's family has. One of them, Jasmine, is a huge poof ball who will almost always let you pet her. The other, Jinx, is an actual "'fraidy cat." She only lets you pet her if she really, really wants to be pet... and no one else is free. Brian has a mild allergy to the cats. This doesn't prevent him from gently rubbing his face in Jasmine's soft, fluffy fur. Then, he quickly runs to take a shower before his face swells.
-- Family! It's always a joy to spend time with our families. Sometimes we are sad that we've been called to live so far away. But we realize how fortunate we are to be surrounded with a huge group of supportive friends in California. We often miss our families and greatly look forward to seeing them, yet we are comforted in between by the love of those Father has put in our lives here. Now we only have 3 1/2 weeks until we get to go to Missouri for Christmas!
