From December 1st through 12th our neighborhood gets pretty loud; we truly don't mind, indeed we feel thankful to live so close to such a beautiful and culturally rich celebration.  Fiestas de Guadalupe:

also here

This past weekend we did a swap with friends of ours who live just north of Vallarta.  It was incredible, Karli and I have long been proponents of trading rather than getting new stuff when it comes to the kids...it seems the same invigorating energy that accompanies a new* toy works with adults too.

We had an amazing time; and spent hours chasing roosters, playing in the waves, on the beach, and in the hammocks.

(click images to see them larger)

Thank you thank you thank you ROEL for sharing your life with us for the weekend, we look forward to playing together soon...

In other, unrelated, and unsolicited news: best breakfasts in Sayulita - hands down.

* or new to me

So its American Thanksgiving*.  I have much to be thankful for.  More than I could ever state.  First and foremost, for Karli.


November is quite the month for Karli and I.  We "met" in November, we were married in November thus we have lots to celebrate and have been doing so.

i am thankful that on our anniversary weekend away my wife wanted to cancel our dinner reservations at the "nice place" to go back to the incredible fish taco joint we happened upon the night before ... con champagne - que fancy.



* AKA thanksgiving to my American friends and family.

If you are a lover of the variety of celebrations that take place at this time of year, and you have never been to Mexico for them, you really need to get that on your list.  Around these parts these celebrations last weeks and they truly know how to do this time of year right.  It involves the youngest children through to the very old - and indeed the long ago deceased; it involves celebration, dancing, spirituality, personal reflection and memories.  It is one of the most photogenic and beautiful holidays that i have ever witnessed.

As has been said many times before:  death, is Mexico's favorite toy.  I was moved last year when a colleague of mine who has many years experience working in the country said to a group of newer teachers  "Growing up where i did, i used to think that if i didn't smoke and wore my seatbelt in the car that death would never bother me, but Mexican's don't see it that way - they truly understand that its just another part of life."  Living the last two years in the heart* of the local celebration I have seen this to be true; even just tonight I was moved to watch some skeleton clad teens dance in remembrance of loved ones, not as a part of a show - but because they were remembering.  Nobel Prize-winning Mexican writer and poet Octavio Paz has famously quipped that Mexicans don't mind getting up close and personal with death; in fact, the Mexican "....chases after it [death], mocks it, courts it, hugs it, sleeps with it; it is his favorite plaything and his most lasting love."  Ironically, the Day of the Dead in Mexico is a celebration of life, an acknowledgement of death as a fact, and a culmination, of life (taken:  here).

Now, I do not claim to be an expert on dia de los muertos (but i'm fascinated and learning**), nor on Halloween (although I did try join a friend in trick or treating a couple days early in the hopes of scoring a little more candy one year) - but I can tell you quite simply that the cultural beauty that surrounds me is of a type that defies explanation, and that you should see one day.

Ok enough of fascinating and beautiful culture, what about the ongoing adventures of KOEm?  No worries they have been real busy this week...

throwback:
Looks like I missed documenting last year?
First Mexican Fiesta (quite a trip to see the difference in the kids!)
Ella's First Pumpkin (2008)
Ollie's First Pumpkin (carving) (2007)
2006, otro

notes:
*Vallarta is by no means the "heart" nowhere even close!  For that go to Pátzcuaro
** learning from 6 year olds at ASPV

A wise man once said, "Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."  Well we definitely do our share of looking around and this blog has begun to serve as something that we can also look back at.  Its amazing when you start to see correlations...

First watch this:

first and foremast thank you thank you thank you to Ms. Leza and Ms. Kenya for all your tireless work!

Now take a drive down memory lane with us and look at this.  Pretty amazing and it feels like it was yesterday ... definitely not two years ago.  

Summer 2011

Well there really hasn't been too many posts here lately.  Its not that we aren't having fun, it isn't that we don't have the footage, life just seems to be ... well ... busy.

So I still owe at least a summer 2010 and a spring 2011 post ... but in an effort to not fall further behind I present to you:  Summer 2011!
Be fairly warned:  this is by far the longest movie we've ever made, so long in fact YouTube won't play it.  Which is a bummer because they did accept the HD version of this video (which is really nice), its their loss, because this was a fantastic summer - truly mind blowing.  We were treated and spoiled and toured by great people through beautiful places and can only hope to one day repay the incredible generosity which we have received.  We missed many and will hope to catch them on our next tour and as always you're welcome here with us.


The Ongoing Adventures of KOEm - Summer 2011 from markpicketts on Vimeo.

If you don't watch it or make it through it all we totally understand, in fact if you DO then we kinda think there must be something wrong with you too - must be why we get along.

In other, more recent, news:  Karli is a Kinder Teacher, Ollie is a Kinder Student, and Ella comes here full time now too.  We are thankful to go to, and return from, one location together each day. Vallarta is hot and wet in August and September but we are enjoying the pool, the house, the beach, and getting back into the swing of things while continuing our rigorous pursuit of having as much fun as we possibly can.

so I thought as I am once again buried with cool images, great times, and wonderful stories that I would try and get away from the big big posts and post more regularly ... the little things.

This was Ollie's art show at work this morning:

more good stuff is coming so stay tuned...

Ella Turns THREE!!!

It was a day filled with princesses, pizza, & chocolate cake - just what the birthday girl ordered. We all had an incredible time. We were so lucky to share it with great friends here in Vallarta and Granny & Boppy during their visit.

Ella is an incredible sweetheart of a little girl, kind, caring, a real beauty, and funny as anything. All of these great traits were on display.

Some history: birth announcement, 1st birthday (stills), 2nd birthday

In February we were treated to a visit from Ian, Liz, and our new niece and cousin Anna (aka AnnaBot). It was a wonderful visit and we were lucky that they were here for some great events including Ella's first day of school, Ollie's second Trike-A-Thon, some birthdays, and lots of smiles, laughs, and fun.

---

A HUGE thank you to the people who made Oliver the highest sponsored rider in his

class (two years running*): Aba, Granny & Boppy, Ian & Liz, Geoffrey, GGB (GreatGrandmaBond), The Hugheses, John & Nina, Tia Amanda, and Tia Nancy. Thanks you for your incredible generosity. I am happy to let you know that thanks in large part to you, Givelod Manis a beautiful girl from Haiti will go to school and receive two meals a day for another year. Thank-You so much.

There is lots more footage from the days as they fly past me that i will try to share with you here as soon as possible.

* denotes father bragging

So this morning as I put the finishing touches on his birthday video Ollie got a star of the week award from Pre-K (picture). Congrats Ollie, we're proud of you.

The real reason for the post is to mention what happened last Wednesday. Ollie had some friends over to celebrate his fifth birthday. Everything was going well and people were having fun but then an evil villain (the DarkShark) broke into our house and of all the low down dirty things....stole his birthday cake! Ollie and his friends went through a gauntlet of tests and before anyone realized turned themselves into SuperHeroes! They found the clues that led to the cake and a major crisis was averted. Enjoy:

In other, unrelated news...Ollie continues to work really hard twice a week in his art classes and I wanted to share some of the work he's produced in his dinosaur collection:

So i know i always start this way, talking about how behind i am, but this one is particularly rough. I really have no idea what to say. I was almost done the summer video (in October) when my computer crashed. Sifting through so much great footage of time with family, friends, their new babies, weddings (on both sides of the continent) allowed me to relive a summer that was incredibly fun! As great as it was to go through these digital memories it involved an enormous amount of time and losing all this work was painful. I tried to re-start a couple of times but there was so much...I just felt buried.

I still want to re-do the summer video as well as to share some of our fall fun & adventures but i blinked, and months had passed. The number of images were growing - we continue to be blessed with a wonderful life - and now it is 2011. So i am using the whole holiday update bit to push the reset button with the hope that i will get to the videos from an epic summer and wonderful autumn one day.

So enough with my drivel (more below). This video is of our holiday season, disfrutalo:

(There are many stories that could be told about these images, and they are all valuable in my selphish opinion, here are a few more details then could fit in the captions)

The mariachi is a Mexican icon that few would fail to recognize. Our new house shares a wall

with a beautiful boutique hotel. The restaurant of this hotel has a band of mariachi that play monday thru Sunday. They are truly incredible musicians, and I hope that Ollie and Ella will remember the soundtrack to their bedtime stories in the future. I won't lie; it would be nice to see some variance to their setlist - but i have nothing to complain about. Its beautiful, its Mexican, and listening to their nightly gift is a major part of this incredible dream that is our life. Back to the icon piece though, they dress - differently then many people, Karli and I have become obsessed with mariachi doing regular things. (more mexicanisms)

Hard to believe but in November Karli and I celebrated 5 years of

wedded bliss. Of so many incredible things I have to be thankful for, she is definitely numero uno. Thanks babe. Also, thanks to Granny & Boppy who took care of the kids so we could have a wonderful long weekend to celebrate.

Our new house defies description it is so beautiful, i really often think i am living in a dream. You should really come and see it.

In November Karli became an official Yogi. We are very very proud of her. It was an experience that has been life changing for her and indeed all of us. She was snapped up immediately and is now an instructor at Davanna Yoga just up the street. A huge thanks to Anna, Karli's fellow classmates, and all of her students.

The video is already very long, but really should be longer. We were very blessed to have visits from Granny, Bobby, Aba, Karl, Geoff, and Bryan this fall.

Fiestas de Guadalupe. The original clip (with the bells) goes on like that for four minutes! Living right behind the church we heard them from dawn long into the night, we were certainly not too sad when the celebration was done - but it was

beautifully rich in so many ways and we were treated to the street festival daily. I can honestly say I am looking forward to next year's festival - or at least the first few days of it.

Ollie continues to progress through school. I am so proud to say that his Spanish is very good (he regularly corrects his parents - no joke) and we are again blessed and thankful to have a wonderful group of teachers guiding him as he navigates through the treacherous waters of Pre-Kinder. He has produced some incredible things this year, loves going to school, and demonstrates new knowledge daily. Miss Katie, Miss Mary, and all the other caring teachers - we truly could never thank you enough.

Ella has worked hard at potty training, Yoga, in art classes, swimming and remains a kind, sweet, animal obsessed, ball of love & laughter. Who picks up her numbers, letters, all types of food (and lots of it), and relationships of all types staggeringly quick. She can melt you with a smile - and i have great fear for when she fully figures out how hopelessly wrapped around her finger we all all.

Both kids love to sleep together, although there isn't a whole lot of sleeping going on - but the giggling and stories they tell each other are some of the most hilarious moments in our day to day life. They are

definitely a dynamic duo who love, stick up for, and cover for each other all the time - Karli and i are in a great deal of trouble!

I started my winter holiday by jumping on the private plane (of one of my 7th graders) and flying to Baja, a land of incredible beauty for three days of kiting in the mecca of La Ventana. The wind didn't cooperate but I had some great mountain bikes through the desert and i don't think there was a better place on earth for watching the lunar eclipse on the solstice; actually flying the plane for 45 minutes was something I will never forget, nor was watching the full moonrise through the crowds as we flew over the sea of cortez. Despite not kiting for a minute, it was a great trip, and I hope to return with the family next year. Thank you to the Tron family for the invitation and opportunity.

We continue to enjoy the beauty (human, manmade & natural) of Puerto Vallarta. We go the beach a lot and have regular meetings with whales, dolphin, rays, turtles, crocodiles, beautiful birds, and much more.

So this is a lot longer than it was meant to be, but i suppose it is kinda my version of a holiday letter. We have so much to be thankful for and wish you and yours a happy, healthy, and peaceful 2011.

KOEm

(if you actually made it here you deserve a medal)