¡Feliz Navidad!

¡Próspero año y felicidad!

O Holy Night!
The stars are brightly shining.
It is the night of the dear Savior's birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till he appear'd and the soul felt its worth…. Fall on your knees, oh hear the angel voices!

Oh night divine, Oh night when Christ was born!

Hi, friends!

I couldn’t resist the opportunity to quote my favourite Christmas carol, considering it’s just a few days away. ❤️

We are currently in the process of buying a property here. Last week we signed the papers at the lawyer’s office, and now we’re excited to go and start cleaning up and building a driveway. Our girls got some early Christmas presents to help them celebrate—hammocks to hang from some trees around the property. They’re excited to use them whenever we’re up there!

There are a few things that “sold us” on the property—the views, the trees, and the location. Looking out from either side of the land, there are some breath-taking views of the ocean off in the distance, as well as lush green mountains/“montañas” in almost every direction.

Besides having a few huge mango trees, we also have some amazing avocado trees that must be at least 20 years old. We have some little lime, orange, and mandarin trees, a guanabana tree (with spiky green fruit), and even a few big cashews and some majestic coconut palms. There are also a few others we have yet to identify, including what I think is a eucalyptus. We’re excited to plant some papaya trees soon too. Our friends who have some growing in their yard say they only take nine months to grow from seeds to bearing fruit. Wow!

The elderly man we’re buying the land from has been very kind and is even mentoring us a bit. He knows what grows well here, so he’ll help us with planting a hedge by the road, and he’s helping us line up someone to excavate the driveway. He showed us some other property he owns nearby—even though it’s not for sale—just to let us see the amazing views.

It’s already the middle of December, and it’s still feeling a bit weird to be in a hot climate with NO snow whatsoever—even though it’s our second Christmas like this. Up until last year, I hadn’t had a single “non-white” (if that’s a word) Christmas! Even with all the travelling I did in my twenties, I almost always managed to be home for a snowy Christmas. I remember going from -30 in Canada in early January to +30 in Australia—what a shock to the system! The same thing happened when I left for Namibia a few years later in January. The one Christmas I spent in England, there was a glorious dusting of snow just in time for our celebrations in Nottingham—a rare occurrence there❄️

All that to say, I miss the snow in some ways. It’s sparkly and it makes those otherwise dark, short days brighter, and building a snowman, skiing, and sledding, are all a lot of fun. People here in El Salvador have fake snowflakes on their wreaths, and Olafs in their yards, while the sun relentlessly beats down. It’s not quite the same scene.

Our girls have all decided that winter is their favourite season. Tom and I still feel differently, but we do miss certain aspects of it. I suppose that if it had lasted just three months instead of six in northern BC, we would have liked it a bit more.

We are excited to have Tom’s sister and her husband spending time here with us over Christmas. We plan to take them down to the beach, surfing, hiking volcanoes, visiting waterfalls, and on a road trip or two, before venturing to Costa Rica with them in January.

The girls got the festive spirit in early November, after seeing some decorations around the neighbourhood. They plastered our door with cute Christmas trees and a nativity scene. They also created little stand-up trees (see pic above) and made presents for family members, now wrapped under their mini trees. They even hung the lights inside when I wasn’t looking—and did an amazing job!

Tom is excited to use his new charcoal BBQ for some special grilling on Christmas Eve. We have plans to visit with a few friends here on Christmas Day. Other than that, it’ll be pretty relaxed. We’re going to go easy on gifts, and enjoy doing things together as a family, including time at the beach, visiting our new property, and exploring nature. We have met some great people here in the last few months, and enjoy spending time with them. And we are very thankful to have some family here with us from Canada.

Here’s to a joyous Christmas season!!

May you share love and peace with all those around you 💚❤️💚❤️