Merry Christmas, from San Juan del Sur!

We want to wish all of our loved ones - family, friends, blog followers - a very Merry Christmas and a safe holiday season!!

Much like Thanksgiving, we were both feeling a little homesick leading up to Christmas.  Bex! and I have developed our own holiday traditions and have all the ornaments we've collected during our lives together - sitting in a box in a storage unit in Hillsboro.  I can picture them all, and the story behind each one - why we bought it, where we got it, why it's important to us.  

In addition to 'our' ornaments, there is a large collection of hand made Christmas stocking ornaments that Bex! has been collecting since around high school, receiving a new one from her mom (Anne) each year.  In fact, last year Anne was in Portland during Christmas.  This made for a wonderful evening of mother and daughter hanging these ornaments on our tree, reminiscing about each one.  

I have my share of ornaments, too.  I have a Beatles' Yellow Submarine', courtesy of my son.  He also gave me a Homer Simpson ornament.  I have ornaments from my grandkids, too.  

Our first Christmas together, we made some ornaments which still go on the tree, even though they're a little cheesy.  Popsicle stick reindeer with pipe cleaner antlers and googly eyes, bead-and-wire sparkly twists that shimmer in the Christmas tree lights.  I remember getting the tree, tying it down to the roof of my Mitsubishi 3000GT VR4 (sorry, George!!) and bringing it to my old apartment for decorating.  I remember we had to run out and buy a bigger tree stand!  We popped popcorn and had fresh cranberries, so threaded those on string to encircle the tree.

When I was a boy, probably 8 or 9, I received a Lionel train set for Christmas - the Wabash Cannonball.  Being heavily into books and movies about America's Old West, this was the perfect gift because it matched in scale my cowboy and Indian toys!  I still have the set and it would get hauled out each year to run around the tree or, if too many gifts blocked the path, to make a few laps around the living room.  My son is holding it for me and I believe he set it up for Natalie and Stephanie to check out.

I miss all my grandkids very much!  My daughter's children call me Grandpa, so to all of you - Judah, Piper, Sawyer, Daphne and Otis - a very big hug and a Merry Christmas!!!  And for Natalie and Stephanie, Pampa sends hugs and a big Merry Christmas to you both!!

In Central America, the big celebration for this holiday is held Nochebuena - Christmas Eve.  That's when the big family gatherings occur, with tons of food and music - and fireworks.  Oh, the fireworks!  We decided to have our special meal last night, to go along with the locals.  We hit Pedro, the carnicero (butcher) at the market, for some fresh chicken legs.  When he sells chicken legs, it's the whole leg - thigh included.  We got some papas (potatoes) for rustic mashers and splurged for our Christmas meal by buying a stick of butter.  It was delicious!  We had corn, too.  I rubbed the chicken down with a mix of S&P, an herb mixture and little paprika, then fried it in some EVOO.  With Nica Libres and Toña's to drink, it was a great meal!

After dinner, we were hanging out on the porch listening to all the festivities down at the parque central.  We had traditional Christmas music playing on the computer, which both helped and didn't help the feelings of homesickness.  Bex! got her mountain dulcimer out and played a few holiday tunes, until her fingers got sore from the strings.  Feeling a little melancholy, we decided to break that attitude by going for a walk.  We made a loop along the beach, then headed to the park.  

Wow!  The park was jammed with families and music and vendors selling toys, and food; fireworks were being lit on the streets around the park.  There were lights and decorations and such happiness all around us.  It was such a good feeling to take it all in and smile.

Bex! built a snowman in the park, too.  Here she is putting the finishing touches on it:

'Heehee - that tickles!!

Notice how tan the wife is looking these days!?  Must be the good clean living.  After she finished frisking Frosty, I got a pic with him.

Frosty would put his thumb up, too - if he had one.

But then I had to break the news to poor Frosty - that he wasn't really alive, that there must have been some magic in that old top hat we found, and that since it was 85 degrees he would soon be water and making his way back to the ocean via the sewer system.  He took the news pretty well, resigned to his fate and taking heart that he provided joy - and sno-cones - while he was here with us.

Awww, man!  I'm gonna melt, aren't I?

The walkabout cheered us up immensely and we meandered back home, passing through town and back along the beach to get there.  We ran into my Spanish teacher, Gladys, and her family who were out for a holiday stroll.

Back home, we hit the sack and flipped around the channels while listening to fireworks being set off right outside our bedroom window on the street below.  Ahh, Latin America and your crazy fireworks!!  Side note:  for all the fireworks going off constantly this last week and especially today, we never saw any place that was selling them!  Another side note:  to my son-in-law, Ben Meckel, if you set up a fireworks stand down here, you'd make a killing!!!  Think about it!

***          ***          ***          ***          ***          ***          ***          ***

So, from San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua to you and your families, wherever you may be this holiday season, we wish you a very merry Christmas.  Hug your loved ones, enjoy family time, and count the blessings in your lives.

Hugs and kisses - 

Bex! and David