January Mendez News

My apologies, I have no idea why some of my pictures are loading sideways. I can't seem to make them do what I want to today.

Our December started with Joel leaving Alabama and on his way to Afghanistan. Something we've been preparing for for over a year, and yet not something you're ever ready for.

So, my way of coping? Keeping us as busy as humanly possible.

The good news is all of the Christmas activities made that VERY easy to do, LOL.

First, here I am with one of my little human blurs. Abby moves so fast, not even a camera can catch her, LOL.

So, we started out meeting Santa at the Fairhope Public Library and getting our picture with him. This is the real Santa, who also just happens to have a condo on the bay, across the street from my aunt. So in addition to there being hardly anyone there, we got lots of extra attention and time. This was fabulous because it gave Lily plenty of time to really think about it and warm up to the Guy in Red.

Not many of the pictures came out that well, but this one turned out pretty well.

Here is Lily showing Santa a picture she drew for him.

And here we went to the Tree Lighting Ceremony in Fairhope. Now for you non-locals, this is not where they light a Christmas tree. No, they literally light up ALL the trees lining the streets of the downtown area. Over a million lights this year. It is really gorgeous. And they leave it up through Mardi Gras. It's one of my favorite things about Fairhope.

Now the ceremony is kind of lame, I will admit. But the girls were fascinated.
The Fairhope High School Band playing - (go Bucanneers!)

And the Dogwood Trail Pageant court in attendance. Now this is REALLY what the girls were into. They are famous for their perfect curtsey. (Yes, you yankees. We Southerners take silly things like this very seriously, haha.) Anyway, Abby loves those dresses and has been practicing her curtseys ever since.

Lily fell in love with candy canes.

And here we are at the Christmas Parade. What a fabulously fun cheese-y small town event. I think every single Boy Scout troop, church and civic organization had a float. And of course Santa came in on the fire truck at the end.

Here are Abby and Lily showing off their stash.

And Abby, well, being Abby.

My mom and dad joined us on a Christmas train ride to the "North Pole." It was a little dorky, but exactly right for the preschool crowd. It's a 20 minute train ride to see the lights with a stop at the North Pole to see Santa and get a present (a little wooden train to decorate) with a gingerbread cookie and hot chocoloate at the end.

Abby told Santa she wanted a bike and a ballerina doll. Thank goodnesss "Santa" had already picked those out for her.

This Santa Lily wasn't too sure about.

Nana and Papa Joe really should get this thing for their yard.

And here is Abby at her school's Christmas pageant. After the ornate extravaganzas in Chile, I wasn't really impressed with this one. Abby wasn't either. She was obviously bored and goofed off the entire time. She and her angel posse spent most of the forty minutes talking to the shepards sitting in front of them. I really wish they had told me not to put that big bow on her head, but at least it made her easy to find.

Halfway in the middle of the month, in the middle of all these festivities, the girls and I moved into our partially finished, partially unpacked house. I got just enough unpacked so we use the kitchen and put up the tree in the living room.

Here we are making Gingerbread Men in our new house. I LOVE AMERICA. Why? Because here you can go buy a little tub of pre-made gingerbread cookie dough. In Chile, we had to make that from scratch.

And here was our very quick, thrown together shoot for our Christmas pictures. This one was actually done in our church parking lot!

And that was our December. I rang in the New Year by falling asleep by 8pm with the girls, and then spending New Year's Day cleaning and unpacking some more. Yep, that's me. Party Animal.

We talk to Joel via Skype often, and he is doing well, though working long hours. He says it's like drinking from a firehose.

Love to all,

Joel, Julie, Abby, and Lily