L'ego my Eggo!

I hear there is a waffle shortage in the US. I share your pain fellow Americans. There are no frozen waffles here. The closest thing they have to frozen waffles is a thing called Gofres, which looks like a waffle but tastes like the syrup is already infused. Imagine the sugar shock we all got the first time we tried to eat these "waffles" with syrup one morning. Only Alexa succeeded in eating more than a bite. Even without the syrup they are one sweet treat. Whew. So, no waffles. When Nick's cousins were here in July we mentioned how we missed our Eggo waffles. And that I hadn't been able to find a waffle maker here. When they returned home, Steve and Danielle sent a care package that included a waffle maker. I was thrilled. Our first attempt at making them was foiled because the plug didn't fit into our energy transformer...the one that helps an appliance that is made for 125volts take 240. I did notice a week or so later that our laptops which already have the capacity to switch energy levels have the same plug. We use a simple plug converter for our laptops. I came up with a plan. I'd use the plug convertor to plug the appliance into the transformer thus creating the perfect electric pathway to make our waffles. I made our batter. I plugged it in...we made three perfect waffles before we lost power to half the kitchen. This is not an extraordinary occurance here so I asked Alexa to flip the fuse switch. Then I smelled the smoke. You know that electrical smell...and I noticed wisps of white drifting up out of our transformer. Yep, we blew the transformer. Apparently I was supposed to include how much energy the appliance used...which is too much for or little transformer. Luckily only the transformer is damaged...and waffle batter makes ok pancakes too.

Thursday night was Jessica's Holiday show. Well, it was the elementary school's holiday show but since she is the only one of our kids left in Elementary it is Jess's.lol Here is a pic of her before the show.

For some reason the vidoe won't load. I'll try to upload it elsewhere and add it.

~Bren

picture added

I forgot to mention that I added a picture of Joe and Jess in their Altar server outfits to the corresponding post below.

Thanksgiving.

Spain does not celebrate Thanksgiving. I'm not sure it crosses anyone else's mind but it really is a quintessential American holiday. Because of that, our kids had school on Thursday and Nick had work. I did pick up three of the kids early to get home to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade which starts 3 pm our time. Andrea chose to stay in school and go to play rehearsal. Our little Judas is very dedicated. So, we were Thankful for Slingbox so we could enjoy the parade so far away from home. Plus, with the Lexington office closed it was easier for Nick to get out at a decent time. And I was especially thankful that Nick was able to find Christmas PJ's for the kids at Corte Ingles on his way home from work continuing our tradition for one more year.

Mostly we are Thankful that we were able to celebrate with several other families on Saturday afternoon. Our neighbors and fellow Americans, The Zieglers hosted all of us for "traditional" turkey with all the trimmings. She did call me frantically about 45 minutes before we were all to descend on her house to help her pick up the turkeys she had ordered from the market. Her husband Ted had disappeared without his phone while taking their son to a travel futbal game and she didn't know when to expect him. I was happy to help because while I had heard of this particular market that was rumored to be open on Sundays (I know...I should have found this place) I had never been there. More to be thankful for...when we showed up to find the 4 turkeys she had ordered spinning temptingly on the rotisserie. Our helpful cook!

Here is a picture of Jessica on the left and my friend Laurie on the right. She is also new this year and is in my Spanish class with me.

Kari and Mike

Here is Ted, the host, carving the turkey.(one of them anyway)

The boys enjoying some dinner.

The adults outside swapping Thanksgiving stories and various adventures.

The kids lined up at the dessert table waiting their turn at the goodies.


We have a lot to be thankful for this year. Our health, Nick's good job, some fantastic experiences and the opportunity to meet some fabulous people, who take you in as family and make you feel at home.