THE SANCHEZ FAMILY/NOVEMBER

Hello family and friends,

I can hardly believe how fast time is going by. I'm not complaining though, I have been enjoying the days, despite the usual weekly challenges. I thought that I would be in a new house by this time but I am not. Maybe I will have a little more luck over the next 2 weeks. Still no stove in the house which is going on about 5 weeks. Thank goodness for my crock pot, it has trully been our lifesaver. I've come to realize that you can cook just about anything in it and it still comes out looking half way decent and tasty!!!

Jorge is in the crazy mode at work this month. Needless to say we see him much less than we would like, but hopefully December brings easy days and plenty of vacation days for us. He just went to a soccer game between Toluca and Pumas, of course it was a good time.

I am keeping busy despite the fact I have no social life. I just scrap booked 70 pages. I still have more to do, but thought I would take a break as my creative side is exhausted. I just finished a book called "The House at Otowi Bridge." This book I picked up in a second hand store in Sun Valley, Idaho. Who would of thought a book such as this would have been so good for me in a time like this. Besides the book having way to much landscaping detail, it basically describes the life of a woman in New Mexico, as she learned to love and appreciate the Indian culture and life, where on the other spectrum, only 30 miles away was Los Alamos where the nuclear bomb was being developed to destroy lives. There was one quote that I particulary liked that I would like to share with you all, it says, "This morning I stood on the river bank to pray. I knew then that the ancient ones were wise to pray for peace and beauty and not for specific gifts except fertility which is continued life. And I saw that if one has even a small degree of the ability to take into and unto himself the peace and beauty the gods surround him with, it is not necessary to ask for more." The world really is beautiful whether your in the U.S. or Mexico there is beauty everywhere. As I was thinking about this quote and how really blessed we are, it came to me that the different countries I have lived in have really enriched my life and you come to realize as you leave that country what things become special to you and hold great memories. I have now started into a regular exercising schedule and it has been enjoyable. (Martha please save me the Lifetime magazine, I miss it!!). I gave my first spanish talk in church and believe it or not, it also went well. I think everyone even understood me;)

Adriana is doing well. She just won a prize in her Irish dance class for the best dancer. She loves to practice and is doing really well. Things also seem to be going well for her at school. It's amazing how much spanish she has already picked up. She still has an accent, but hopefully that will improve with time. We got her hair cut on Friday, and it looks soooooo much cuter. This month they had two celebrations. One is called "Dia de la Raza" which basically is celebrating Christopher Columbus. She participated in a dance for there school presentation. The other holiday of course was Halloween or "Dia de los Muertos", day of the dead and they do somethings a little bit different. It's common to visit the cementaries on this day, and they do something called an "ofrenda" which is a table they set up and put food on it as an offering. (see below for pictures.)

Justin is doing much better. He unfortunately had a school accident that hurt his finger really bad. It left him with a fractured bone, nailess for the time being, and 10 stitches. It was really sore for about 3 weeks but he is now back to normal....that being a crazy boy!! He is now into collecting tazos which disgustingly come only in small bags of potato chips. Go Figure!! Luckly, he has a uncle here who spoils him way to much and adds to his collection weekly. He got to perform a dance in there Halloween presentation. They danced to Thriller by Micheal Jackson. He did a really good job.

Diego is growing up but too much into electronics. He thinks he already knows how to run the computer and the DVD machine. I hope to get him into Gymboree soon. He's still as cute as ever and those eyelashes are too die for.

The best news for me, is that I will be traveling to Utah on the 12the of December for a week and a half to visit family and friends. I am so excited to see everyone and also enjoy Christmas shopping with others instead of by myself. I sure hope that this letter finds all of you well. Jorge and I were very sad to here that our neighbor in Michigan is very sick and in the hospital. We miss our friends there very much. Take care too you all, and hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and remember our Heavenly Father who has given us all so much.

Take care,
Marianne and the crew