Christmas came...and went....

Well, we spent our first (ever!) Christmas away from our families this week. I only broke down one time and it was first thing in the morning. It was really an uneventful Christmas for us. On Christmas Eve Papi (Mr. Mendez) showed up around 8:00 and said, "You look bored, let's go to a party!" so we went to a party. It was at the house of a friend of his sister. It was fun. We ate good food, listened to music, played instruments to the music, and got invited to their New Year's Eve party. We met some of Papi's family, too. We met his sister, Nilsa, her husband, Papi's nephew and his girlfriend, and some other neices and nephews. We had lechon, pasteles, snacks, drinks, etc... The people were so friendly - whenever our hands were empty they brought us a beer. It was nice to get out and spend some time with other people that night. Then Christmas Day we got up, did our cooking and went to Tom's house for lunch. We had a great lunch with Tom, Tori, Tori's friend Mandy, and Tori's new puppy, Coco. Here's a few pics from Christmas Eve and Day...told you it was uneventful!

Puerto Rican Papaya anyone?



Pasteles filled with pork



Our new Puerto Rican band!




Christmas Day...is for the dogs! Here's Coco and Miller in his Christmas gift from Curtis.





Manischewitz anyone? Oh yes people, we drank it! Ew!



Let's see - after Christmas Day we went back to Utuado to the caves with some friends. Mama Pomales has family here from Indiana for a few weeks so we took them to the caves. We had 3 cars full of people. When we got to the gas station and parked our cars there was a stray dog just hanging out. He followed us to the cave opening and we thought he'd run away...nope. He went through every place we went through, probably even more graceful than us! Here's Courtney and his friend.



After the caves we went to Arecibo to the Pirate's Cove which happens to be with the lighthouse. We walked around and looked at the "pirate ships", went through the aquariam and then took in the beautiful view. It was a full but fun day!

I had to take pictures with the pirates by myself since Katie wasn't there. Here's one...





Here's a picture of our group and a few of the scenery - not to shabby, huh?!





Since then we haven't done anything. We were supposed to go Snuba diving on Saturday but it's been cancelled because of the weather. We are re-scheduled to Snuba next Friday, the 4th of January. We'll have a busy few days because we will Snuba on the 4th, Three Kings party on the 5th, and the Dills come home on the 6th. We won't be bored then! Hope you all had a great Christmas!!

Christmas is coming!

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

Christmas is coming...

Hi everyone! It's been a while since I blogged last so I thought I'd give you a quick rundown of what we've been up to. Nothing too exciting. A few weeks ago I went with the Dills to take their Christmas picture. We found a way to get to an old Sugar Mill in Guayama that they were able to walk up and sit in. Benny and Lola just LOVE sitting still for pictures! They like it about as much as Miller & Winston do. Here are a few shots from that day.



Last weekend we didn't do too much. On Sunday we went to another teacher's beach house and spent the day. We didn't get into the water because it was raining off and on but we had some good food and hung out. If they would have put us up in a beach house we might consider staying a little longer...




This week was spent getting grades and tests finished up because report cards go out right after Christmas break. This coming week will be the easiest week ever at school. No grades will be taken, no pressure. On Wednesday we have our Christmas program and then students are released at 11:00. Granted we have to stay until 3:00 but oh well! Free after that until January 8th!! Katie, Brent, and I put together a little play for our classes for the program. We're doing a short (very short) version of The Polar Express and damn is it cute! Our elves do a little dance routine with presents, we made a train, we have the cutest conductor, and it's just fun! Here's a pic of Kate and me working on painting The Polar Express No. 123...

Last night the 4 of us went out to celebrate our Christmas together. We went to a nice restaurant in Old San Juan and had some great food. When we got home we exchanged some gifts. Courtney told me this week what he's getting me because he needed to set it all up. We are going Snuba diving on Dec. 28. Don't know what snuba is? Snuba diving is a cross between scuba diving and snorkeling. You wear an oxygen mask like in scuba but you don't carry the oxygen tank. You don't wear a wet suit either. Your oxygen tank is floating in a raft on the water and your line only goes down 20 ft. so there's no chance of floating up too fast and passing out or anything. I'm really surprised my hubby wants to do this seems as how he hates the ocean. There are about 6 or so of us going out to do it. Don't worry, I'll take plenty of pictures that day to post! So last night I told him his big Christmas gift - I bought Brent's XBox for him. He's only had it since last Christmas and plays it all the time so I just decided to buy it! Yesterday I found Madden 2008 for the XBox and it was a price that I couldn't pass up so I bought it too. There you have it folks, if ya need a gift idea for Courtney - XBOX GAMES! Anyway, Brent and Kate bought Courtney an XBox game and a movie for his PSP. We bought Brent a movie for his PSP and a shirt that hasn't arrived yet. We bought Kate a makeup bag and a book all about women running to help motivate us in our running...it's getting difficult! The name of the book is "Sole Sisters" - isn't that cute?! And they got me a BEAUTIFUL Coach purse!! I love this purse! Kate and I saw it a few weeks ago and I knew she bought it because I was there, I just had to wait for it. Here's a picture of my purse...

Brent and Kate are set to go to the States this week for Christmas break. They are not taking little Benny and Lola so Aunt Kelly and Uncle Courtney get to babysit. I'm sure it will be crazy with them the first couple of days but then they will be bored with us. Miller and Winston, I'm sure, will be tired out by the time the Dills come home. We don't have a ton planned for Christmas break - snuba diving, Vieques, and not much else. We'll probably just spend a lot of time relaxing and at the beach. Christmas will be tough but I'm sure it will go fast! In case you haven't heard we are moving home in May or June!!! We officially got jobs for next year, I know, already?! Courtney will be teaching Spanish at Pleasant Ridge High School in Easton, KS (6 miles from Leavenworth) and I will be at Ft. Leavenworth again. I'm not sure where yet but I think it will probably be Kindergarten at Mac. We're already looking at houses online because that's the next move. If any of you know of someone selling a house in Leavenworth, keep us in mind! Have a great week and if you're in a place with lots of cold weather and snow - stay warm!