Texodus: Go-lo-lo-la

We were so lucky to get to know our new niece-in-law, Carola this trip.  Bear had a tough time saying her name, so it usually came out something like "Go-lo-lo-la".  She was awesome with the kids and they loved her.  I think she endeared herself immediately to them because she loves stuffed animals.  Bear collected them all and insisted on making a "mountain" that had to remain intact until we left.  She was nice enough to watch the kids for an hour not long after we got there and she fed them tons of cookies, soda and painted all of their toes and fingers (even Bear- you can see it in the pic above. He loved his "paint").  No wonder they loved her right off the bat!

Carola is very crafty and artistic.  She had these neat painted rocks at the house that all the kids liked a lot. We collected some rocks of our own and she showed the girls and me how to paint them.  It was a lot of fun!  She also made up little games for the kids to play- like numbering paper plates for a bean bag toss, and cutting up milk jugs for a ball toss game.  She is going to make one awesome mom! 

Her English is coming along really, really well.  She is a doctor (surgeon) and she is working on not only learning English, but studying to pass the necessary certifications in the U.S.  She is one smart lady!  A funny irony is that she never liked studying English in school- she preferred French :)

Did you know empanadas come from Argentina?  I didn't either.  She and Dan were so awesome- they worked all day (literally- it took hours!) to make empanadas just for us.  There were delicious chicken ones ham and cheese and a ham and cheese torte (right? was that what it was called?). They were AMAZING.  I would have asked for the recipe, but I know I can never replicate that work!  Also interesting- in Argentina, each kind of empanada is folded and sealed a certain way.  Chicken ones are folded over and sealed with the seam on the side. Beef has the seam on top and ham and cheese are folded around kind of like a croissant.

We can't wait to visit our Carola next year (and Danny, too.)  I think he is getting pretty used to the universal love the family has for his great wife (Charlie ADORES her and she takes good care of Papper, too!)