My friends, Suyen (in the middle), her sister and son, set up a big Saprissa party for me.

Saprissa is one of Costa Rica's soccer teams.

There was a pinata that had the Saprissa symbol on it.

There were two cakes. One was chocolate cake with chocolate icing and the other was vanilla cake with chocolate icing. Both of them had strawberries on top.

I got stuff like a World Cup book that you keep teams that are in the World Cup on stickers. I also got an electric kit that makes an alarm. I also got a lego type car and board games.

I invited all my friends to my party. We had a great time!

~Alex

My friend, Ben, is from Atlanta, Georgia – like me!! He is my friend. He is from my mom’s school and he comes to my school to help with folk dancing and he helps to heat up the lunch. He takes us on trips. Last Thursday he took us to a campground instead of school! It was a lot of fun. We went swimming. Sometimes Ben gives me piggy back rides. When he took us to the pool I told him I didn’t want to get in because it was freezing cold! Ben took us to a movie to see Eight Below. After most of the movie went by everyone started running all over the theater because we were the only ones there. They got better seats. Ben let me sit with him during the scary parts. The bad part of the movie was this mean old leopard seal that came up and bit the best doggie and hurt its leg. Ben also took us bowling. We’ve had lots of fun!
~Maggie

Note from mom: I feel I should clarify Ben a bit…lol. Ben is a blessing from Evangel Community Church in Snellville, Georgia. He is here in Costa Rica for the summer to spend time with our MKs. He and Laura, an intern/missionary associate here, take the kids every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday after school on field trips to the park, bowling, movies, etc. I’m not sure if we shared this before, but the kids are finished with school for the summer. However, they go every day from 7:30 until one and have a summer camp style day with lots of Spanish class. Ben and Laura help give them a little bit more of a fun summer feeling and help us have a little extra time to do homework.

How To Make Empanadas ~ A Lesson With Alex

I made empanadas for my dad for father's day. Here is how you make them. First, you mix flour (maseca), water and a little bit of salt.

Next you make little balls and smoosh them in the tortilla flatener.

Then you take cheese, chicken and other things (only take one) and sprinkle it inside the tortilla. Then fold it in half and gently flatten again.

Then you put them on a hot pan with oil and flip over when it is lightly brown.
Bon Apetit!

~Alex

Alex's Tico Twin

Here's a video of Alex and Maggie's last day of school. In this video Alex is playing "Jingle Bells" with two classmates. They said they chose that song because they really liked it. By the way, it was pajama day. I don't normally send my kids to school in their jammies!