More pictures of Thanksgiving

After our own version of a Thanksgiving feast at the Italian restaurant on Thursday. The kids had half a day on school Friday. The three oldest wanted to go to school. I know, weird. But, Jessica decided to stay home with us. Nick took her hiking on Montserrat. Here is what Wikipedia says...

Santa Maria de Montserrat is a Benedictine abbey located in the Montserrat mountain, in Monistrol de Montserrat, in Catalonia.
It hosts the Virgin of Montserrat, and the Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat, a publishing house, the oldest press in the world, still running, with the first book published in 1499.
The monastery is Catalonia's most important religious retreat and groups of young people from Barcelona and all over Catalonia make overnight hikes at least once in their lives to watch the sunrise from the heights of Montserrat. Virgin of Montserrat (the black virgin), is Catalonia's favourite saint, (and I want to add is said to have been carved by St Luke in 50 AD-ish) and is located in the sanctuary of the Mare de Deu de Montserrat, next to the Benedictine monastery nestling in the towers and crags of the mountain. Montserrat, whose name means serrated mountain, is 48 kilometers (approx 30 miles) west of Barcelona, and can be reached by road, train/cable car.
At 1236 meters (4055 ft) above the valley floor, Montserrat, is the highest point of the Catalan lowlands, and stands central to the most populated part of Catalonia. The stone monolith is ideally located to play an important role in the cultural and spiritual life of Catalonia.
The Basilica houses a museum with works of art by many prominent painters and sculptors including works by El Greco, Dalí, Picasso and more. Montserrat's highest point, Sant Jeroni, can be reached by funicular railway from the Romanesque monastery of Santa Cecilia. From Sant Jeroni, almost all of Catalonia can be seen and on a clear day the island of Majorca is visible.

The puppies on the walk...

Jessica near statue...

The iron cross...

Jessica with the monestary off in the distance.

The monestary at Montserrat

Close up of the iron cross...

Jessica doing her St Francis imitation in front of her inspiration.

Rascal on the road to Montserrat

Meanwhile back at the ranch...the PTA sponsered a skating event in Barcelona. So we took off early to catch the train to get the bus to walk down the street to the ice rink. The kids all met up with friends there.
Here are two of my friends, Wendy, Melinda and Melinda's daughter, I'm blanking on her name.

Joe, Ben and Lucas...

Here's Andrea and her friend Lila. Joe is in the frame too but his back is to us. And Joe...

Joe and his friend Ben...

Alexa, in the blue jacket with her friend Maude. Alexa has had a rough "mean girls" week at school. Maude has been such a breath of fresh air and helped Alexa keep her head up. Alexa went over Maude's after school and they came together to the ice skating event.

Alexa and Maude's family. Maude came with her whole family including her gradnfather who was also out there on the ice. I'm not certain what country they come from. I think her Mom might be American but she speaks many languages and has been here a while. I think maybe her grandfather is from Sweden...maybe? They speak to each other in french. *Shrug* They are super nice and helped Alexa get through her awful week.

Andrea and her friends...

We had so much fun we went on Sunday as a family. Jessica didn't make it to the ice skating event and she wanted in on the action.

Jess...

Me and the kids...not a great picture but it's the only one of me with most of the kids

That's alot of photos. I hope it makes you feel like you shared in the fun with us. There are videos in the next post.

We missed you all this holiday weekend.
I can't wait to see you all soon!!

Love you

Bren

Thanksgiving weekend skating video

Thursday night we went out to dinner at an Italian restaurant. It was amazing. The food was beyond good and the service was really amazing. That is a rare thing here in Spain. The wait staff doesn't work for tips so you get attitude more often than not. But, not Thursday night. I never did make that feast. We had Apple pie and chicken on Saturday. I've still got the sweet potatoes. I think I'll try them tomorrow. Friday the kids had a half day of school. In the evening the PTA arranged an ice skating event. Jess stayed home from school and went hiking on Montserrat with Nick. I took the older kids ice skating. It was decided later we should all return to the rink and return we did...on Sunday. Below is some videos we took of the good time we had.

Here are some videos of us ice skating. Jess has on a pink jacket. Alexa and Nick first appear holding hands skating together. Andrea is to the left of the arrow in the denim jacket. And Joseph has on a greenish jacket and can be seen falling in the first few seconds. *grin*

Showing off...

I'm going to post some pictures later. This just took too long to get it all done in one day.

Love you all

~Bren

Happy Thanksgiving

Hi Everyone!!

We can't be there to celebrate this Thanksgiving with all of you. I hope you know how grateful we are to have such loving supportive family and friends in our lives. You give us the strength to go on fabulous adventures because we know that you'll love us know matter where we go. That is a blessing.

The kids have school on Thanksgiving this year. They have a half day on Friday but Nick and I are letting them stay home. We're not sure if we'll be celebrating with dinner on Thursday evening or another day on the weekend. I'm going to record the parade on our Slingbox so we can be authentic. There are no turkeys here so we're substituting for chicken which, the Sopers know, is not a huge stretch for me. Mom always made a Capon for Thanksgiving never a turkey. But, I'm going to have to make gravy from scratch. There are no canned sweet potatoes here. They have something that is in the sweet potato family. Everyone assures me it's close enough. I've got a recipe. I'm not too worried. There is no canned pumpkin here, and unless you were smart enough to find one and buy one around Halloween no fresh ones either. We're having apple pie. I've got the mashed potatoes covered, no problem there. And I was able to hunt down a can of cranberry sauce...the jelly, not our favorite but every little bit of home helps.

Of all the years of crazy Thankgsiving mishaps this year it seems we face the most challenges...unknown produce, unfamiliar cooking utensils...and an oven that is in celcius. Despite the daunting task of creating the feast in foreign lands I am confident that we'll be successful. We have each other...and that is blessing enough.

Many of you have seen the following in email form. I send out this little essay every year because it reminds me of the Thanksgivings we have at our house. I have no idea who wrote it but I suspect they may know me...or at least have heard about some of our misadventures in cooking. Maureen can share all the drama with you. Most importantly, it reminds me that even though it may not be picture perfect presentation it's your attitude that makes the memory. So, without further ado, I give you, Martha Stewart will not be joining us this Thanksgiving.
Martha Stewart will not be dining with us this Thanksgiving. I'm telling you in advance, so don't act surprised. Since Ms. Stewart won't be coming, I've made a few small changes: Our sidewalk will not be lined with homemade, paper bag luminaries. After a trial run, it was decided that no matter how cleverly done, rows of flaming lunch sacks do not have the desired welcoming effect.

Once inside, our guests will note that the entry hall is not decorated with the swags of Indian corn and fall foliage I had planned to make. Instead, I've gotten the kids involved in the decorating by having them track in colorful autumn leaves from the front yard. The mud was their idea.

The dining table will not be covered with expensive linens, fancy china, or crystal goblets. If possible, we will use dishes that match and everyone will get a fork. Since this IS Thanksgiving, we will refrain from using the plastic Peter Rabbit plate and the Santa napkins from last Christmas.

Our centerpiece will not be the tower of fresh fruit and flowers that I promised. Instead we will be displaying a hedgehog-like decoration hand-crafted from the finest construction paper. The artist assures me it is a turkey.

We will be dining fashionably late. The children will entertain you while you wait. I'm sure they will be happy to share every choice comment I have made regarding Thanksgiving, pilgrims and the turkey hotline. Please remember that most of these comments were made at 5:00 a.m. upon discovering that the turkey was still hard enough to cut diamonds. As accompaniment to the children's recital, I will play a recording of tribal drumming. If the children should mention that I don't own a recording of tribal drumming, or that tribal drumming sounds suspiciously like a frozen turkey in a clothes dryer, ignore them, They are lying.

We toyed with the idea of ringing a dainty silver bell to announce the start of our feast. In the end, we chose to keep our traditional method. We've also decided against a formal seating arrangement. When the smoke alarm sounds, please gather around the table and sit where you like.

In the spirit of harmony, we will ask the children to sit at a separate table. In a separate room next door.

Now, I know you have all seen pictures of one persons carving a turkey in front of a crowd of appreciative onlookers. This will not be happening at our dinner. For safety reasons, the turkey will be carved in a private ceremony. I stress private meaning: Do not, under any circumstances, enter the kitchen to laugh at me. Do not send small, unsuspecting children to check on my progress. I have an electric knife. The turkey is unarmed. It stands to reason that I will eventually win. When I do, we will eat.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind my young diners that passing the rolls is not a football play. Nor is it a request to bean your sister in the head with warm tasty bread.

Oh, and one reminder for the adults: For the duration of the meal, and especially while in the presence of young diners, we will refer to the giblet gravy by its lesser-known name: Cheese Sauce. If a young diner questions you regarding the origins or type of Cheese Sauce, plead ignorance.

Before I forget, there is one last change. Instead of offering a choice between 12 different scrumptious desserts, we will be serving the traditional pumpkin pie, garnished with whipped cream and small fingerprints. You will still have a choice; Take It or Leave It. Martha Stewart will not be dining with us this Thanksgiving. She probably won't come next year either. I am thankful.

There are so many things we are thankful for that it's impossible to list them. But, I think on days like Thanksgiving, it's important to say, I'm thankful for you. Each one of you, whether you've known us forever or just a few months. You are a precious gift to us and we love you all.
Have a happy Thanksgiving. And remember we're thinking of you all with love today!

Walk to Parc Guell

From the very first visit to Barcelona the kids have been enamored with a Gaudi scultpure of a lizard from Parc Guell. They named him Jeff. And Jeff, is everywhere. He is a staple for Barcelona souveniers. We even picked up a couple of Jeffs for our own collection. But, we'd never made it to Parc Guell. Yesterday, we finally got to see the statue in person.

The parc was designed by Antonio Gaudi and was built between 1900 and 1914. It was originally designed as a housing development offering a garden atmosphere with a beautiful view of the city. But only two houses were ever built and none of them sold. I believe Gaudi himself bought one for his family. It is a bit of a walk from the train station but we're used to that by now. This is the main stairs at the entrance of the parc.

Below are the houses that sit on either side of the entrance. They are both rather fantastical. I think one is the Gaudi house which is currently a museum. It contains some furniture that Gaudi designed himself.

I think the houses look rather like a gingerbread house. It's inspired us for our own gingerbread design. We'll be working on it shortly after Thanksgiving.

The kids by the wall on the steps. I love the tile work here. Each square is different and they are all stunning.

The kids finally getting a close up look at the real Jeff. Somehow they thought he was bigger. This Jeff is actually a repaired Jeff. The original was destroyed by vandals in 2007.

Some of the ceiling tiles underneath the porch.

Gaudi designed this wavy section of the porch as seating. This is actually the outside view of the seats. The tiled wave covers the entire exterior of the porch.

The view from the seats...looking out over Barcelona. It was actually a cloudy day. I think those two spires off to the left in the distance are the Sagrada Familia. I'm told you can see it on a clear day and it's really not that far from the parc.

The kids on the bench that waves around the porch.

Andrea's idea for a Christmas card photo was to stand on either side of these giant pillars. I'm not sure it works for the cards but it did come out cute.

There is a tunneled walk way through the parc. The interior has an unusual arc to it, like it's leaning. We didn't get a good picture of that because there was a lot of tourist groups waiting to do that. The outside columns are interesting though each a little different, some more polished than others.

I thought several of the iron gates looked like butterfly wings. One pair was a bit too high for my kids but these seemed perfect. A bunch of butterflies...

A view from the cafe...

There was so much of the parc we haven't seen. I think the focal points of the parc are mostly at the entrance but there is a lot of walking trails and other things to see throughout the parc. We had arrived at the parc around 4 pm though and it was darker because of the weather. So we started heading back to the train stopping to admire more Jeffs and other tiled souveniers along the way. We're looking forward to going back with our friends and family when they visit.

Love you all!