Simply Having a Wonderful Christmas Time - In Peru

 Christmas was different this year!

Instead of 40+ boxes of decorations, I had  two nativity scenes, a Christmas train and a few lights. George took time out from his busy schedule closing out the mission financial records to put together this shelf for me.

I think it looked quite festive!

Rather than a lot of baking for friends and neighbors, I baked a lot of sugar cookies for some very appreciative missionaries.

When I returned from the US in October, I brought back one can of pumpkin but no pie plate so instead of a round pie, we enjoyed a square one. 

 The Assistants to the President, who ate Christmas dinner with us, didn’t seem to mind the shape.  For Elder Vallejo, it was his first taste of pumpkin pie.

 

No winter wonderland here! 

It is summer with the temperatures and fierce sunshine to prove it.

From exactly midnight until 3:00 a.m. Christmas Eve there were fireworks which definitely added to a 4th of July feel of the high temperatures.

A few things were the same..

Santa made an appearance.

William, our driver is so fun!  It takes a special guy to wear a Santa suit in this weather.

He delighted the missionaries we visited that day.

The youth and children at church put on a sweet nativity, which brought back lots of good memories from our years in Barcelona.

Out Bishop invited us to join the ward leaders for a Christmas party at his home.  A highlight was a wild White Elephant Gift exchange which they called an American tradition. At first it was quite tame until Elder Lewis decided to steal an already opened gift.  Then things got crazy!

What a fun group!

Back at home in the USA, our children and grandchildren enjoyed the holiday.

Scott flew over to Boise and stayed with Matt and Cady.

Our two boys went snowboarding at Brundage.

Mary, Mark, Jackson and Trevor celebrated in Harper’s Ferry.

John, Monica and Isabella didn’t go to Paris.  John is a master at AI! 

Christmas in Meridian was great for Isabella!

We missed some of our ‘normal’ Christmas activities but embraced the opportunity to celebrate in a new culture, Truly we are so grateful to be here in Piura to commemorate the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ, the blessings of His atonement and the promise of resurrection and eternal life.

Visit With The Reynolds

While our young missionaries don’t have the option to travel home for special occasions, we ‘senior missionaries’ do!  Our mission leaders flew to California for a son’s wedding.  Hermana VanAlfen went to Utah when their only daughter had her first baby.  The Nye’s returned to Idaho for their daughter’s wedding.  It was my turn in October when I flew to Washington DC to be there when Mary and Mark’s youngest was sealed to them in the DC Temple.  

Trevor Jake Reynolds

Jake was my Daddy’s name.  

The day at the temple was the reason for the visit.

Families can be together forever!

George’s sister Karen, me,  Mark’s mom Jan, the cute family, Mark’s sister Amanda and Mary’s cousin Mindi.  Mary and Mindi had been friends for several years before they discovered that they were 2nd cousins.. 

Happy Grandma!  Next time I hope someone reminds me that my glasses get dark in the sun.  Looks like I am hiding from the paparazzi!

In addition to the temple, we enjoyed the park.

Cool shadow photo

The National Zoo

Fun on the carousel!

And plenty of play time at home!

Jackson is pretty good at sharing his toys with little brother.

As long as he is in charge!

The truck that Trevor is sitting on was mine when I was a little girl.  

And I had plenty of opportunities to eat all the American fast food I had been missing.  Wendy’s,  Chick-Fil-A, and Cafe Rio!

When I flew to DC my suitcase was almost empty but not so on the way back.

Lots of Amazon orders and shopping for food we can’t get in Peru, like brown sugar, canned pumpkin, taco sauce, dry mustard, Dijon mustard, zip lock bags……

I flew back to Peru with a 50 pound bag and a carry-on that I could barely lift.  I bought enough new clothes to keep me happy for the next year.  Since the weather doesn’t change much in Piura, you don’t have seasonal clothes changes and I was tired of my clothes already.  Now I just need to ration them out over the next 10 months.

I am happy I got to be there for shoppping and fast food but 

I am thrilled that I got to be there to enjoy such a special time with this darling child.

Christmas Traditions

 Christmas traditions are important to me.  That's probably one reason that I have a ridiculous number of Christmas decorations.  Some of them my Grandma Boyle made before I was born, others I remember from my childhood, still more from the time when we had little kids plus so many from our trips. I collect nativity scenes and also try to get a tree ornament at each destination. I love them and find joy each year when I get them out.

Traditions of things that we 'do' are even more important.  During my growing up years, all of my Daddy's family came to our house for Christmas Eve.  First we went to our different churches for a Christmas Eve service and then all my aunts, uncles, cousins and grandparents came to our house for eggnog and good food.A few years  after I was married the electricity went out during the party.  Unsure what to do with a crowd in a dark house, a new tradition of singing Christmas carols together was born!  Funniest of all, we sang 'The Twelve Days of Christmas" with different people taking each verse.  My Daddy's sister, Maudie, always sang, '3 French hens' and although she could not carry a tune, she was quick to laugh at herself and that just added to the fun. After Maudie passed away, we never sang again because it was just too painful. George and I did renew this tradition when we lived in Spain by inviting all our friends over for food and carol singing on Christmas Eve.  

Our George Lewis family traditions have evolved over the years.  When the kids were little, we acted out the nativity story and also read 'The Polar Express' and of course left out cookies and milk for Santa. 

Our children all have sweet memories of first Grandpa Walt Lewis and now Grandpa George Lewis reciting the Harrison R Merril Poem

'Christmas Eve on the Desert" 

They remember all the years as little children when they didn't understand the poem at all and just felt anxious for the evening to end so Santa could come.  When they were teenagers, the beauty of the poem and the tender sentiments expressed became clear. Now it is a treasured reading every Christmas Eve.

On Christmas morning we open gifts one person at a time. I love this because then you get to see the reactions as special gifts are opened.  When it is a free for all, you miss seeing the recipients delight.

Now that we have adult children and grandchildren, traditions have evolved and we seem to have hit upon the perfect mix for this stage of life.

This year I loved listening to 9 year old Isabella anticipate the Christmas traditions.  Her excitement about the games and food made all the work that goes into making this holiday special well worth the time and effort!

Christmas Eve starts with ornament making.  Every year since 2011, we have made ornaments. You can see them on our tree in this photo of Matt and Cady and their cute dogs, Millie and Baby Dog.  The boys do occasionally grumble about 'crafts' but they are good sports and make one each year!

Games are next on the agenda!  From a marshmallow toss to Christmas Tree Cup Stack to mini golf, they are all so fun.  This year we added 'Oregon Trail' and 'Left, Right, Center' to the mix.

Monica won the grand prize for the "Left, Right, Center" game and promptly gave the $24 to Isabella.

Our competitive Isabella really wanted to win the big games competition. (Although the $24 did make her happy too)  She always does want to win any game she plays but this year she really, really did.  Last year Cady suggested that I buy a trophy to pass around to the winner each year.  And I did.

Isabella coveted that trophy.

We had a Christmas miracle.

I won the game competition!

First time ever!

Isabella really did not think this was fair since I bought the trophy!

After all these years, I finally won so I am keeping it for the year.

This might be the only time I ever win.  George had the handicap of a cast on his arm.  Matt was having severe back pain. And Johnny missed the games because he was working.  Scott came in a close 2nd.

This was MY year!

Game traditions!  Ornament making traditions!  And of course food traditions!

Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup with sandwich fixings....

And the oh so important to Isabella, chocolate fountain....

Her favorite thing to drizzle with chocolate -  the angel food cake!

I agree!

Christmas morning - It's all about the presents and the food again.

Breakfast pizza and cinnamon rolls!

 I made the comment that since everyone loves these two items so much, I should make them more often.

Interestingly the consensus was that I shouldn't.  They like them being special for Christmas morning.

Before and after breakfast we opened presents.

There were a lot of very thoughtful ones!

Not the most important part of Christmas but still so fun!

By the end of the festivities I felt like I should have been wearing Matt's hat.

But I would need it to say

'Tired but oh so happy!'

Next year we will be enjoying Christmas in Peru and trying to make it special for over 100 missionaries who are also far from home.

I can hardly wait!

But I will really miss all these faces!

Christmas In West Virginia

 I gave Mary a sweatshirt for Christmas that said, "Life is better with my boys".  I think she would agree that Christmas is better with her boys.  Jackson, Mark and the new little foster baby!  The baby's birth mother's parental rights were terminated a few weeks ago so it appears that he will become a permanent part of our family.  I couldn't be happier! Hopefully before too long we can share his cute face on social media.

Poor little guy had RSV for Christmas.  His fever finally broke and the meds helped so I think he did enjoy the excitement.

The Reynolds family has the tradition of going out to eat on Christmas Eve.  I love that these boys have so many Reynolds cousins plus a Nana and aunts and uncles on that side of the family.

Back at home Jackson carefully lined up carrots to lead Santa's reindeer to his house. Pretty smart!

And laid out more carrots and a cookie for the jolly old gentleman himself!

From the looks of their living room, the carrots worked and toys were in abundance!

Jackson is following in his Uncle Johnny's footsteps with a love of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Uncle Johnny even parted with his vintage hat from the 1st Turtle Movie.

That is quite a sacrifice.  Johnny's had that hat since he was 5 years old and went to see the movie - way back in 1990.

"HEROES IN A HALF-SHELL!  TURTLE POWER!"

Mary spends a lot of time playing games with Jackson.

I hope he enjoys the Mousetrap game and that it isn't too frustrating.

Mary reports that Jackson's favorite toy is his racetrack.

It does look amazing and like something he and Daddy will enjoy together.  

When we can't be together for Christmas, I am so thankful for a thoughtful son-in-law and daughter who share lots of photos.  And for Facetime so I can almost feel like I am there.