Muñeca, the word for a toy doll, is a common term of endearment for a young girl or even baby who is – well, pretty as a china doll (probably prettier – some china dolls are kinda creepy)!
So, here they are, three muñecas! These three are MarÃa Fernanda, Kathryn, and Hannah, at the fourth anniversary of what was then our church in Cuernavaca, Mexico. Ten years ago today!
Our first Three King’s Day in Mexico, ten years ago today, was spent with friends and fellow missionaries the Thiessens. Here we are in our kitchen in Cuernavaca with our rosca (the traditional cake of the day). I believe atole was also on the menu. For more about the traditions of this day, check out my original post: The Cottrills and the Magi
Above you see Peter and Grace, with their youngest Ivory and their boys Ivan and Ira. Sadly, less than a month ago, Peter passed away suddenly, due to complications related to a ruptured appendix. I’m sure the family would appreciate your prayers.
If we want to follow any family traditions from decades past for Christmas, and I’m talking about food at the moment, we pretty much have to make everything from scratch. Then again, if we want to follow any Mexican traditions, we mostly need to make everything from scratch too – but that’s another story.
Anyway, I had some fun making Christmas pudding this year, so I took a few pictures so you could see the process. (Note to purists: This is a gluten free and non-alcoholic pudding. So no flames. And to the curious: Yes, there was some fig in the pudding, but not too much. Call it “figgy pudding” if you must, but I’ll stick to “Christmas pudding”.)
For once I’m posting a picture that has none of us in it! I guess we were all sitting on one side of the room here. This was a missionary Christmas party that we went to only three weeks after we arrived in Mexico, ten years ago today. As you can see (and you can’t see everyone!) it was mass chaos – I believe we were in the middle of a gift exchange!
Any of our fellow missionaries recognize anyone in this tiny picture? I bet you will ….
The 4th of November, 2006 – 10 years ago today! We were on our way down to Mexico, and had the opportunity to visit our friends the Stirtzes. Out on the farm near Enterprise, Kansas, we enjoyed a taste of the farm. Here’s Shari and Hannah, beside the mysteriously hidden driver – Ryan, I believe?