Christmas performances....

There was no shortage of Christmas activities for the Aarons...

Rayna's class was invited to perform some Christmas songs (in Spanish) at a theater in Rota. It was her first field trip on a bus! Johann took the day off and we trailed the bus to see the show...

Here she is jumping off the bus to perform!



And here is why we didn't get to see her sing...



Because apparently, the city invited 5 other schools to perform and those parents, grandparents, cousins, friends and neighbors had already filled up the auditorium before we even arrived.

None of the American parents got in... But, we were told by Rayna's teachers that she was a star, which I don't doubt for a minute! We were also promised a Spring performance, so we'll have to wait for that one...

Reese's class also held a longtime invitation to perform at a Convalescent Home in El Puerto de Santa Maria. Apparently for years and years the 2nd Graders of the base visit this Home and the people were so excited to see them!

Reese's class sang Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman and Feliz Navidad, of course! Reese choreographed the moves to Rudolph and Frosty and taught them to the rest of her class! Ms. Boswell confided in me that Reese is a very talented little girl and I should be very proud! (and I AM!)

(She's below in the middle in the white shirt and blue pants)



And both girls were a part of the Children's Christmas Program at the Chapel on base. Reese played the angel Gabriel and gave the Luke 1 announcement to Mary! Rayna was also an angel, but informed us that she didn't want to say anything, but wanted to just, "stand there and look pretty"... LOL



Well, they both did a great job! And I believe Jesus was glorified by our celebration of His gift to us of coming to earth and redeeming us to Himself!

Here's Reese as Gabriel! She learned her lines in about 2 days! You'll see Mary have to wrestle the mic from her! Hahaha

Merry Christmas/ Feliz Navidad

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Christmas is coming!!! So much is going on! Johann and I have been to THREE Christmas parties in the last 2 weeks!

The first was the Chief's Christmas party...



While we were there, the Bienvenue's babysat R&R and took them to the base for the annual Christmas Tree lighting ceremony. And Santa Claus flew in on a helicopter for the occasion! R&R were very impressed.



R&R and Vlad in front of the newly lit Christmas tree on base...this picture also made the Coastline (our base newspaper)!


The next morning, the girls and I took Zeke to the Jingle Bells Pet Walk on the base and Zeke got to meet Santa and got some special treats for showing his elves that he was on the good list...he "sat", "laid down" and "shook hands." The elves were very impressed and I was pretty proud!



Last night Johann and I went to his command Christmas party at the Hotel de la Luz on the beach. It was a beautiful hotel and a really nice night.


Johann DJed...

... and I partied! :-)

It's been a busy December, but we are not nearly done yet...The girls are practicing for the Chapel Christmas play next week, so stay tuned for a post and pictures on that. And they both have field trips this week at their schools for Christmas programs in town! We are definitely on the go!

Also, stay tuned for pictures of our Christmas tree. We must have mistakenly sent our old tree decorations to storage because they are MIA...so, I am having to improvise and pick up things here and there...I'll post when it's done..hopefully, prior to the 25th of December!

Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful for...

Last year Johann was in Bahrain for Thanksgiving and this year we are all together! And while we are far, far away from our biological families in the states, we have been blessed with a wonderful surrogate family of new friends here in Spain with whom we shared Thanksgiving this year.

R&R had Thanksgiving feasts at their schools...

Rayna's class dressed as Fall leaves and paraded through the halls of the school before sitting down to a Turkey, mashed potatoes, and PIE lunch with parents...



Reese's class did a potluck and also invited the parents! We talked a lot about how much we have to thank God for each day and how Thanksgiving was a special day of giving Thanks!



On Thanksgiving day, we all met at Anna and David's house and each family brought their specialties/favorites. I made 2 trays of Mac n' Cheese, green beans with potatoes and smoked turkey, Johann fried 4 Turkeys over the weekend, only one of which made it to this table...I made 2 trays of cheesecake and a peach cobbler!

Everything was delicious and the company was amazing.

So, SO very blessed are we!


(left to right, Alex and Lorisha, Brian and Natalie, David and Anna, Eric and Carrie, Johann and I, Colton.)


and the kids table... R&R, Casey and Vladimir.

Cinderella Ball

This past Saturday, the base hosted a Father/Daughter Cinderella Ball! And Johann got to take our lovely ladies out on the town.

We love to dress up around here! So the girls were giddy with excitement about getting all dolled up. The invitation specifically says, Attire: Formal ~ Ball gowns and tiaras encouraged!

You don't have to tell US twice to put on a tiara or two!

Granny even got excited about the vision of her Spanish Grands and ran out at her lunch time to grab some fancy ball gowns for the girls and had them in the mail the very next day.

Rayna's dress came in 5 days!

Reese's still isn't here...tee hee :-)

But never fear! There is no shortage of ball appropriate attire in these girls' closets...

We spent ALL day doing hair (cause these girls have a LOT of hair)...and Johann snuck upstairs around 5 to get ready...

At 6pm...Johann presented the girls with their corsages...



They posed for pictures...

...and headed out the door to the base gym for the festivities!


There was a program...with cupcakes!!!



Special guests - Princess Tiana


And Cinderella and Prince Charming...



There was....

DANCING!!!


And a horse drawn carriage ride!!!


After the dance, Johann took them into Puerto for Tapas and dessert. I think he's setting the bar pretty high, which is just where it needs to be!



We keep this up, by prom time, we'll be OLD PROs!

Princesses in the kitchen!

So, Auntie Val sent some goodies here as a 'Thank You' for hosting her visit to Spain and in the box-o-goodies were stickers, arts and crafts AND a "Cooking with Tiana" cookbook. (For those not up on Tiana, she is the newest Disney princess from last year's 'Princess and the Frog' movie.)



R&R have been watching P&theF in their usual rotation of their favorite movies, ( listening to the soundtrack in the car), and have been obsessed with all things New Orleans: Jazz, Mardi Gras, and especially, Beignets...

I guess they looked SO delicious in the movie that they HAD to be fiction along with the talking frogs...but no...I confirmed that not only was New Orleans a real place ...but Beignets are VERY, VERY real and soo soo delicious!

The girls are anxious to try the recipe for them in the book, but we started with a simple dinner.

Buford's Fish Fillets!



Rayna gave the tilapia a nice bath in the melted butter, lemon and egg wash...and Reese gave them a dip into the parmesan bread crumbs and spices!



And Voila!



Muy Delicioso!!!

Soccer is over!

The soccer season lasts 6 weeks for the kids here in Spain. It was pretty grueling though...Reese had practice on Mondays, and games on Wednesdays AND Saturdays. And Rayna had practices each Tuesday - so we were at the soccer field almost everyday for the last month and a half and we are POOPED!



But, what fun we had!

Rayna's practices were arranged so that every 15 minutes the groups of children rotated to different stations where they would learn to dribble the ball between cones, kick in straight lines, kick-pass, kick diagonally to partners (the parents), throw the ball in after a foul, and score goals with their POWERFUL super kick!

Reese's team, RED STORM...


... did a fantastic job and lost only one game, tied two games and won the rest!



Saturday was her last game (they tied 1-1). And the end of the season pizza party was held immediately after the game at Pizza Villa on the base.

The kids had a great time eating and playing together and then Coach Lamb passed out their trophies! He also made a little speech about each of the players and Reese was his "Most Improved" player!


I agree, Reese did become QUITE a soccer player over the last few weeks. Particularly since this is our first time playing soccer AND our first time with a team sport. Previously, Reese and Rayna were DANCERS (an arguably individual sport).

Rayna's end of the season pizza party followed at 2pm and she also got a trophy!

They were both VERY proud of themselves! They kept telling each other in the back seat, "This is my FIRST trophy!!!" And discussing where they'd put it in their room!

And since the weather was so nice, (and Daddy wanted to golf) I thought it would be a great day for the beach. Not hot enough for bathing suits, but PERFECT for lounging with a book while the girls played in the tide and collected sea shells!

Another perfect day in Spain!