Christmas Eve and Luminarias

Only a little catching up to do...

Christmas eve was great. We ended up pulling a lot of it together at the last minute. I feel like I say that a lot...

 

We had some friends over for dinner. My old college friend Lisa and her family, who live two streets over from us now. And their neighbors across the street, Carmela and Mark, whose daughter happens to be Azalea's favorite friend here in Albuquerque.

But before their arrival, we spent pretty much all of the day, baking, cooking, preparing, cleaning and filling up bags of sand. Our neighborhood is quite beautiful on Christmas eve. While many people decorate their homes with holiday lights and decorations, on Christmas eve they are all turned off and they give way to the luminarias.

 

We joined in the fun this year with well over 100 bags filled with sand and candles. Lining the street and in front of our house and the walkway up to our door, along the porch and down the driveway...

We toured the neighborhood with temps in the 10s. Shivering but enjoying the lights. People even drive down the street with their headlights turned off, in respect of the candles and luminarias.

It was really great to spend Christmas eve with the kids all playing and having a great time. One of my oldest friends from college, new friends in town, and the beautiful family of my own. All in our new home, with beauty all around.

I am blessed.

Visitors from Another World

My Dad and Valeri came for the holidays!

I often find it hard to believe that he and I carry the same genetic code. But when I see two of my three kids with the ability to continue talking with out taking a breath, I remember some things just skip a generation.

Though sadly they are gone now, but not without a great week of fun and adventure.

Fortunately the first day they arrived it was a gorgeous New Mexico day. So we promptly took them for a walk over to the fields by our house. The Sandhill Cranes were doing their thing. And we enjoyed it.

  

I don't think there is a tree that either Tigo or Lola would think twice about getting into.

They are climbers, for sure. Not just trees too.

This was over at their elementary school garden. The kids had fun showing Grandstan and Valeri where they get to walk to with their classes during the week.

Even the dogs were having a great time sniffing around.

At a failed attempt to see the River of Lights, we ended up in Old Town. Which was fun, since I actually haven't really been there. Not a shopper, so I don't get there much. But it's so pretty I'll have to go out, just not bring my wallet!

We did eventually make it to the River of Lights down at the Botanical Gardens. I hate to say it, but it's much better than the one at the National Zoo in DC. Sorry Smithsonian, but Albuquerque gets you on this one. (again.)

But a lot of the time we didn't leave the house. I had big plans for us to do all sorts of "New Mexico" style adventures for us to do. But a combination of the cold weather, the Christmas season and three kids who just want to hang out, we ended up doing a lot of "hanging out."

Valeri and Lola spent a lot of time designing and doing craft projects. Santa brought Lola the beads for making many projects, but I'm not sure which of these two girls enjoyed it more.

There was also a good deal of pancake making. If you notice many of these pictures, everyone is still in their PJs. I'm not saying what time a day it is. Vacation baby.

 

Christmas morning came, with the kids in their new Christmas pajamas, they found all their over stuff stockings and a silly amount of presents under the tree. (so much for scaling back...)

 

The aftermath...

The skilled Mario Kart Wii Driver

I think we ended up having about 5 breakfasts a day...

 

Tigo and Elmer work on one of many, many, many lego projects...

When the kids woke up the morning Grandstan and Valeri left, there was definitely an empty space. Everyone had a great time. Can't wait until it happens again!!

Holiday Spirits

So it's not just all El Salvador around here. It's just that I've got to write it down before I forget... so there will be more, like it or not.

But we are celebrating Christmas around these parts, and having a pretty good time at it too. I've been trying to get the kids involved with making some crafty presents. Which isn't too hard to do. They are kids after all, and art is fun. Art is fun for everyone, it's just that adults often forget the fun part to it. Anyhow, here are some picks:

Some crafty mosaic frames, painted and decorated by 4-9 year olds.

 

 

Gingerbread house making. Really as soon as I mentioned this they were sitting anxiously around the table and behaving so nicely. If only that were still the case after the sugar rush wore off. But really they had a blast. And it actually turned out to be the best one they've made to date.

We've got two new family members and two visiting family members (for Christmas) so we need to make sure that Santa knows where to put their goodies. So we made them some stockings and hung them by the fire place.

And of course we decorated the tree! It's actually been up for quite a while now. Here's Lola putting the star on top of the tree. After being in denial for the last few years about needing a new tree topper, I finally allowed Lola to pick one out. Each year the kids take turns on putting the last ornament up. Now the star on top. They never forget from year to year whose turn it is. Priorities, I tell you.

Here's the my attempt to get them to take a family picture. They are so over me and the camera. Unfortunate for them they've got at least another good 14 years of picture posing left in them, until Azalea graduates from high school.

As good as it gets, I suppose.

And we must make sure that everyone gets either a nice Christmas story told to them or a jolly good carole sung. Lola has put herself in charge of holiday entertainment. Entertainment also includes Lola's gymnastics routines, dancing by Azalea, and jokes from Tigo.

And of course the regular holiday wrestling matches...

Never a dull moment.

Ho Ho Ho