“El Abu” is Home!

DJ made this drawing (at age 3) when we were praying for “el Abu” who was not well then (in mid 2014).

Back then, we titled it: “El Abu, Running!”

E reminded me of the drawing this morning: “And now he is!”

At 4:49 a.m. (EST), he ran to the arms of his Savior...

Christmas Eve 2014

Twelve Days of Christmas!

December was extra busy with academic obligations and challenges on all levels, including finishing up online courses (for three of us). So we extended the Christmas Season by celebrating Twelve Days of Christmas! When the twelve days actually begin (whether on Christmas Day or on December 26) seems to be a matter of debate. Either way, January 6 (“Epiphany”) is a red-letter day on the calendar here in Uruguay.

Here’s what we did to celebrate the mini-season...

Dec25

Christmas Day with extended family!

Dec26

Edited pictures from Christmas Day (and wrote the blog post)

Began our traditional reading of Christmas books as a family

Read a favorite Christmas book, What is Christmas? and a new one for this year, The Secret Santa of Olde Stonington

Dec27

Outing to Punta Carretas Shopping

Enjoyed hot chocolate & candy canes before bed

Began reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever!

Dec28

Last-minute “cook-out” in the back yard with college students

Dec29
Finished reading The Best Christmas Pageant Ever!

Recorded DJ’s villancico: ¡Venid, pastores!

Dec30

Potluck lunch at church

Outing to Portones Shopping

Dec31
New Year’s Eve

Recorded E’s carol: Joy Has Dawned!

Baked and decorated cookies: Shepherd’s staff & sheep

Fun with origami!

Cook-out in back yard with extended family

Jan01
New Year’s Day

Cook-out in back yard with extended family

Jan02

Made (more!) cookie dough
Edited and uploaded E’s and DJ’s Christmas Carol clips

DJ & E each read a favorite book aloud

This Is the Stable

Song of the Stars

Jan03
Finished reading a family favorite: The Story of Holly & Ivy

Baked and decorated cookies for cashiers at La Favorita (where we go to exchange currency)

A long-standing tradition of my Mom’s that I’ve wanted to keep!

Jan04

Outing to Feria de Navidad (a Christmas Fair at the park nearby)

We love the food at the fair!

Jan05

Baked and decorated the rest of the cookies!

This has (finally!) been the year for cookies!

Jan06

Día de los Reyes Magos

Books are gifts of preference – much loved and enjoyed!

SO much to be thankful for!

Christmas Carols!

On Saturday afternoon we recorded DJ singing a villancico and quoting a passage from Luke 2 – all in Spanish. Both were his part of our simple program at church on Sunday, December 23.

On New Year’s Eve we recorded E’s carol: Joy Has Dawned!

(And just this afternoon I finished editing and uploading both clips to YouTube.)

Besides sharing these snippets of life with grandparents, these (almost yearly) video clips have become another way to gauge growth from year to year.

SO thankful!

Happy New Year!

E’s idea!