Better late than never

The last posting was in October? Wow...I can't believe how much has happened since then..so much but not many changes in my life.

October:
This month ended with a few days of Halloween. The US Embassy celebrated Halloween the day before, only because it was a better day of the week. Alex dressed up like Spiderman...Sydney was a bat. Shane dressed up like Spiderman and I was BatGirl...so we had a fun superhero family.

On the 31st Shane's mom arrived to stay with us for a few week. So it was a good ending to the month.

November:
I spent time with Donna (Shane's mom) in the mornings and on the weekends. My Bible study finished up and I got ready to go back to the states for about two weeks. I returned on the 23 (I think) and had a great time with family. It was fun to celebrate thanksgiving, crazy stay up all night Black Friday shopping with Kristen :), Lucy's 1st birthday, go out on "dates" with Colton, see Brittany and Anna, and repack my suitcase to come home.

December:
I got back home on the 5th and December was a blur. We did so much. The kids got out of school on the 11 (and didn't go back until January 11...it was a long month - and I know appreciate why parents don't alwasy enjoy summer vacations). Christy and I planned out the month with activities each day to help keep a bit of structure in the day. So we went to several museums, the zoo, gardens, children's museum, etc...kept it different and fun.

I haven't really figured out a lot of Salvadorian culture yet...greeting people with a kiss on the cheek, pupusa, but that's about...that was until Christmas eve came...these people LOVE fireworks...I mean love them. I wasn't prepared for the noise. I was forwarned but never expected them to last as long as they did. I figured maybe an hour...oh no. They started about 9:30/10 pm and didn't end until 3 am. so not too much sleep that night. I brought Alex into my bed to ensure he woudln't get up and open the presents "Santa" brought him. And he started to wake up around 4 to get the presents, but we stayed in bed until 7 (I think). We had a relaxed Christmas and attempted to take a nap (since I didn't feel well from the lack of sleep). New Year's I was ready for...I turned on the air conditioning unit (for the fan) and put my ipod in...slept great!

January:
This month had a slow start. But with the kids returning to school, it's nice to have time to work out, spend in the Word, catch up on updating my pictuers and blog. I went out with the other moms to enjoy a pedicure and manicure...which are only a total of $15. Shane also told me he's sending me away for a weekend to an all inclusive resort in El Salvador, Christy's husband is sending her too, so we are looking forward to it! We're going the first weekend in february. Other than that, this month is going to fly by.