El Dia de la Accion de Gracias
Thanksgiving seems a lot longer in Spanish than in English! As promised though, here is a taste of El Dia de la Accion de Gracias at YLM. Our Father Lutheran Church in Centennial, CO, Chris's home congregation, is the group that is behind the whole thing. This was their 15th year doing it, and they have it down to a science. It's really very cool to witness...unloading, prepping, cooking, serving, etc....Chris and his mom had been talking about it for months but I felt truly blessed to actually be a part of it. I tend to be a very traditional person most of the time so it was strange not to do what I always do for Thanksgiving, but this is a new tradition that I think I could get used to.
Dad and Buddy in their matching Coke apparel.
The kids (Kara is on the right) assembling goodie bags that we handed out to the kids at each site.
Thanksgiving Day was the first meal we did, right here at the mission. It was preceded by a brief worship service, as were all the meals. San Pablo's consisted of lots of singing and then anyone who wanted to had the chance to stand up and say something they were thankful for. Viviana was baptized first thing, too...more on that tomorrow. Anyways, here is the serving crew hardat work in #6. My sister is in the middle-ish, serving corn maybe? Each plate had turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, ranchero beans, and a roll. There was also salsa, Kool-Aid to drink, and cake for dessert.
Once that was all cleaned up, we went to the market in Juarez. We decided it'd be faster to park on the U.S. side and walk across, which gave my sister a chance to take a picture in 2 countries at once! Chris made yummy lasagna, mac n' cheese, salad, and garlic bread for dinner that night.
Only a certain number of people could work in the kitchen each day, so Friday and Saturday I got to be a part of the off-site work crew all morning. We worked to "winterize" a trailed in Horizon City by sealing the windows, tiling the floor, and building an overroof. It is home to 4 people right now, but the mother is expecting her 3rd child in February. They don't have running water or a bathroom, so they have to rely on other family members who live on the same property but in separate trailers.
Measuring the 2 x 4's to the proper length so Bruce could cut them.
No wonder her roof leaked!
The little boy (maybe Ruben?...that was one of them but I'm not sure which) didn't want to ride, just push, so I hitched a ride!
I guess it's become kind of a tradition that I take a picture pretending to eat whatever kind of construction adhesive I happen to be using...there are similar pictures with roofing tar and VCT cement.
Laurence and I made a good team screwing the rafters onto the roof and laying the OSB.
We pretty much got back, showered, and got in the vans to go serve again after working in Horizon both days. Friday, the group was split, half to Cristo Rey and half to San Lucas, which is where all the Mackenzies went. Here is the worship service before the meal.
My first job was filling Kool-Aid cups...the nice neat rows that some of the girls arranged them in made me really happy.
Then I became the turkey lady...want some?
All the kids came through the line first...
...and then EVERYBODY!!!
After everyone had eaten their plate, my sister, my brother, my mom, and I started filling to-go containers. The contents changed as we started running out of stuff at different times (e.g. turkey, beans, and potatoes, then 1/2 turkey and 1/2 beans, then all beans), but the people didn't care!
There were a couple of cats that became very interested in the vehicles after they were all loaded with dirty dishes. One even jumped up on the hood of the Toyota!
Saturday was much the same as Friday, only everyone went to Santisima. The service there featured a choir of all the kids singing us a couple of Mexican Christmas carols.
Modeling my new apron, yet another Cardinal birthday present, this time from my friend Erica.
I started as the turkey lady again but we switched jobs a bunch since we were all at one place so everyone could have a turn working.
Lizbeth, me, Chris, and Karlita...they belong to the family that we built the 2-story house for back in June.
Ruby and I.
So...I killed a van on the bridge...AGAIN. Well I didn't actually DO anything to it...I never do; it just seems like I am ALWAYS the one driving them when they malfunction. This time, the battery just straight-up died when we were like 6 cars from the guard station after waiting over 2 hours in line. Thankfully, it was on the downhill slope once again, and there were lots of volunteers to push. The other YLM vehicles were right next to us in different lanes so we borrowed jumper cables from some random guy behind us in our lane and then jumped the dead van with the Toyota when we all got across!
Group shot...25 Coloradans + 4 Mackenzies + Chris & I = 31 servants!
Until next time, blessings!
Dad and Buddy in their matching Coke apparel.
The kids (Kara is on the right) assembling goodie bags that we handed out to the kids at each site.
Thanksgiving Day was the first meal we did, right here at the mission. It was preceded by a brief worship service, as were all the meals. San Pablo's consisted of lots of singing and then anyone who wanted to had the chance to stand up and say something they were thankful for. Viviana was baptized first thing, too...more on that tomorrow. Anyways, here is the serving crew hardat work in #6. My sister is in the middle-ish, serving corn maybe? Each plate had turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, ranchero beans, and a roll. There was also salsa, Kool-Aid to drink, and cake for dessert.
Once that was all cleaned up, we went to the market in Juarez. We decided it'd be faster to park on the U.S. side and walk across, which gave my sister a chance to take a picture in 2 countries at once! Chris made yummy lasagna, mac n' cheese, salad, and garlic bread for dinner that night.
Only a certain number of people could work in the kitchen each day, so Friday and Saturday I got to be a part of the off-site work crew all morning. We worked to "winterize" a trailed in Horizon City by sealing the windows, tiling the floor, and building an overroof. It is home to 4 people right now, but the mother is expecting her 3rd child in February. They don't have running water or a bathroom, so they have to rely on other family members who live on the same property but in separate trailers.
Measuring the 2 x 4's to the proper length so Bruce could cut them.
No wonder her roof leaked!
The little boy (maybe Ruben?...that was one of them but I'm not sure which) didn't want to ride, just push, so I hitched a ride!
I guess it's become kind of a tradition that I take a picture pretending to eat whatever kind of construction adhesive I happen to be using...there are similar pictures with roofing tar and VCT cement.
Laurence and I made a good team screwing the rafters onto the roof and laying the OSB.
We pretty much got back, showered, and got in the vans to go serve again after working in Horizon both days. Friday, the group was split, half to Cristo Rey and half to San Lucas, which is where all the Mackenzies went. Here is the worship service before the meal.
My first job was filling Kool-Aid cups...the nice neat rows that some of the girls arranged them in made me really happy.
Then I became the turkey lady...want some?
All the kids came through the line first...
...and then EVERYBODY!!!
After everyone had eaten their plate, my sister, my brother, my mom, and I started filling to-go containers. The contents changed as we started running out of stuff at different times (e.g. turkey, beans, and potatoes, then 1/2 turkey and 1/2 beans, then all beans), but the people didn't care!
There were a couple of cats that became very interested in the vehicles after they were all loaded with dirty dishes. One even jumped up on the hood of the Toyota!
Saturday was much the same as Friday, only everyone went to Santisima. The service there featured a choir of all the kids singing us a couple of Mexican Christmas carols.
Modeling my new apron, yet another Cardinal birthday present, this time from my friend Erica.
I started as the turkey lady again but we switched jobs a bunch since we were all at one place so everyone could have a turn working.
Lizbeth, me, Chris, and Karlita...they belong to the family that we built the 2-story house for back in June.
Ruby and I.
So...I killed a van on the bridge...AGAIN. Well I didn't actually DO anything to it...I never do; it just seems like I am ALWAYS the one driving them when they malfunction. This time, the battery just straight-up died when we were like 6 cars from the guard station after waiting over 2 hours in line. Thankfully, it was on the downhill slope once again, and there were lots of volunteers to push. The other YLM vehicles were right next to us in different lanes so we borrowed jumper cables from some random guy behind us in our lane and then jumped the dead van with the Toyota when we all got across!
Group shot...25 Coloradans + 4 Mackenzies + Chris & I = 31 servants!
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Carol (La Mama de unohoo)