Mi familia

Hola blog world! These past few days have been crazy, but it's the kinda crazy tiredness that makes you feel that all is "well and good" when you fall into your bed at night. It is Memorial Day weekend, so the whole country breaks out the stars and stripes to honor those who have served our country. I've never had anyone close to me serve in the armed forces, so I haven't always realized it is more than just a weekend of sweet corn and macaroni salad. People have chosen to protect me and risk their lives for me. So seriously, thank you for that.

Alsooo! My Colombian family is currently staying at our house. This is their first trip to the US so on the day they arrived, we threw them a little fiesta to introduce them to the States with style :)

As per usual, our reunion was a partaaay. Celebrated with food both delicious and diverse, populated with family members that spanned the ages of 14 months to 78 years, and abounding with horse-shoes playing, bon fire gathering and memory recounting. It's always funny to me when my family assembles in one place because we are such a little mosaic. From ages to languages to eye color we are a montage of a family. God literally brought people from all different places together to create something stunning. I love my family! This particular party was centered around my Colombian relatives, so it definitely has more of a Latino-flair. But make no mistake, almost all of us kids and cousins are half this and a quarter that, so it's impossible to judge by appearance in this family ;)

          The photo below is a total iPhone pic (as are some above) but I had to include it! This, ladies and gents, is called flan. It, ladies and gents, is amazing. Courtesy of Tia Mercedes. Gracias Mimi! :)

In case you are curious, flan is cooked upside down, and then flipped onto a plate so that the caramelized sugar at the bottom of the baking pan drips over the edges of the cake. Highly delicious and generally joy inducing.

Horse-shoe playing and aguardiente drinking also seem to be common place at our family gatherings. (Which makes for lively games, mind you.) My family even brought over little wooden shot glasses with the Colombian flag painted on them! The glasses are tied to a string that is hung around one's neck. Decorative, adorable, practical. That's how we roll.

On a completely different note, I seem to have been born without seemingly one ounce of my mama's mochalicious skin. For instance, I am currently sporting what I call the "rose glimmer." The rose glimmer, for those of you who do not know, is the phase of sunburn which occurs a couple days after the initial burn. It is not so lobster red at the moment and can thus be called something more elegant and positive. I do not tan my friends, but you better believe that I am often seen exhibiting the rose glimmer.

ANYWAYS, for los americanos, I hope you've all had a wonderful Memorial Day weekend and to everyone have a smile-filled semana! :)

cocoxx