Christmas Part IV

Adrienne, Charlie, Ellie and Gaga

Notice the "halo" around Charlie's head!

Damian setting up the first course of the Christmas Eve feast
Texas cousins, Baby Charlie, Cody Man and Miss Ellie
Had to be quick to get this photo!

We hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas! Ours was full of baby delights and delicious meals with over-the-top desserts. As for the food, Ed and I were amazed at how many desserts we could consume in one meal. I think my favorite was the pavlova - a meringue covered with lightly sugared berries and heavy cream. Papa's choice was the Christmas pudding - a very dense cake of berries and nuts soaked in brandy with brandy sauce and brandy butter. Did we mention brandy? These are just two of the many we had at lunch, dinner and sometimes breakfast.

As for babies, Ellie loved each of her presents to the extent that we weren't sure how many days it would take to unwrap her presents. Her first gift was a book that Gaga purchased at the Cedaredge Public Library annual book sale for 25 cents. Ellie was consumed with it for at least a half hour. As with Alex, Ellie reminded us of the significance of the little things in life. Thank you Ellie! As for Charlie, his grins are just the best. We couldn't stop kissing this most lovable baby!

To top off Christmas, Kelley, Jamie B. and Cody came up to Dallas from Hempstead. We were thrilled to have this precious time with them. Cody is so patient with his little cousins even when his Lego building creations are demolished in one fell swoop by Miss Ellie. Hopefully you can see the absolute admiration in Ellie's eyes in the cousin shot.

This was truly a Christmas to remind us of the abundance of our life. So much for which we give thanks. Ahhhh! We do wish you all a year filled with wonder, joy and good health.

Christmas Part III

Christmas, Dallas and UK style

Here's Ellie, dressed up in her Christmas jammers to go see Christmas lights. A neighborhood very close to the Hirst's was incredibly decked out with lights, inflatable Santas, reindeer, Mickey Mouse characters, etc. Ellie and Damian got out of the car several times to get a closer look. As Ellie is not bashful, she walked right up to several displays as well as told other passersby about them.
Here's Charlie! What a big growing boy he is. He smiles most of the time. Of course, we missed it in this photo! In fact he smiles right through spitting up! We'll try not to get a picture of that.

It's very festive in Dallas. In fact, it's snowing today (Christmas Eve)! Not exactly like Cozumel and Ed is shivering as this is written. Damian and Adrienne have been busy making all kinds of exotic foods that Damian views as a Christmas necessity. Here are a few of the delicacies we'll be having over the next several days - cranberry orange bread, chocolate yule log, summer fruit pudding, bread and butter pudding, cornbread stuffing for the turkey, bacon wrapped sausage, carrot mash, roast potatoes, pavlova, brandy sauce and butter to go on the Christmas pudding purchased in the UK, ham and salmon. Phew! Didn't know we could fit all this on a post!

Christmas, part II

Alex with her own Christmas tree - the color purple of course!

One of the best things in the world is having a little girl quietly enter my room and tell me about her dreams on a pre-Christmas morning. I just can't help feeling the true Christmas spirit when I hear Alex's whispers of delight at Christmas tree lights and seemingly inconsequential gifts of Mexican marimbas and flutes. It has truly been a week of wonder ending with a fun marathon cookie making session and a delicious turkey dinner.

Christmas time in the city!

Alex has the body movements down when singing Christmas carols.Do you think Mom would notice if I took just one lick?

The big question - which camera is next?

It has been big fun for Peggy aka Gaga to visit the Galyons in Broomfield. So great to look at the season through the eyes of a 3 year old! From watching Alex prepare to sit on Santa's lap (she made sure that the page with the picture of the animal she wanted was marked with a sticker so that she would have a visual aid when talking to Santa!) to her play group's party at Chucky Cheese (air hockey with lots of giggles) to her preschool party (a lively recital of Christmas carols, decorating gingerbread houses, making ornaments and necklaces, and, of course, consuming the requisite amount of sugar), it has all been a kick. This weekend will bring a marathon cookie making session and a Christmas turkey dinner. The only thing that would make it better is to have Papa and the rest of the family together.

Construction Continues!

Peggy in in the US now and has the camera, so I can't post new photos. Besides, I don't know how! But, here's an update on construction. The vestibule is done except for the tile on the floor. Pulpo poured the floor this morning. Senior Rigo, the wrought, man, delivered the protectora door (wrought iron bar door). We had previously told him what we wanted and since our Spanish is lacking, we always wonder if he understood. We try to draw things out, but it's like playing Pictionary! Then, we worry about the final outcome. But, as is usual, what we didn't communicate he figured out. The door is perfect and he's installing it now. Sometimes I can watch, sometimes not. His welder is ancient and he connects it directly to the fuse box. Sparks fly! He jumps back. And.... it's working! Zap. Zap. And he's done. More importantly, he's still alive! He's the man making our stairway and there's been lots and lots of discussion between us about it. Again, does he understand us? But, it'll work out. Usually does down here. It's all part of the fun.

Eco Divers Posada

Last night we went to the Eco Divers posada. Jorge has done this for the past several years and we were happy to be included again. Eco's version of a posada bears no relationship to most posadas in Mexico. This diversion from the norm shouldn't be a surprise to anyone who has met Jorge or dived with Eco! It's mostly just good food courtesy of Jorge's girlfriend, Kristen, lots of booze, and some really funny folks. When we arrived, Jorge's long time friend Paulo was playing traditional Mexican music with a small group and all the guests were singing along. Peggy spent quite awhile talking with Jorge's niece Carlita (12 years old) and Paulo's daughter (11 years old). We have known Carlita since she was born and this year we were blown away by how she has become a young woman! Peggy tried to speak Spainish and the girls practiced their English. So much fun to have the girls become very serious instructors. Ed, on the other hand, drank beer with the boys and ate more food than was necessary. We stayed a couple of hours and when we left, the party was just gettin' goin'. Wow! These folks are party animals!

Bananaquit

This little guy and his buddies are really friendly little birds. As you can see they share this feeder with the hummingbirds here. They are fun to watch on the lilies because they try to suck the nector out of the side rather than the top of the bloom. The green hummingbirds (how do you like the scientific name!) here are on steroids - just huge. We haven't yet been able to capture one of them in a photo. It's sort of like trying to take a picture of Cody. Most of the pictures we try to take of him only show where he has been not where he is!

Construction

Construction has started here again. Before we we get into more detail than you may want to have about our project, we thought we would review our priorities with you. Now most people with limited funds would be thinking about maybe purchasing a stove/oven or a washing machine or maybe a vehicle. Not us. It has been pretty warm and still here and the skeeters are thick. So, literally, rising to the top of our list has become a way to get to the roof. Right now, the only way is by ladder and Peggy's whimpering about climbing the ladder has gotten to be a little much. So......



This time we're putting in a door from the top of our inside stairway that will lead to the roof of our back porch. From the porch, there will be a metal stairway made that will get us (actually only Peggy) without whimpering, to the roof of the house. This is a "before" shot.

Here are some of the "materiales". Sand and gravel were dumped on the front sidewalk. Blocks are stacked inside our gate. Cement and other materials are stored on the back porch. Usually concrete is mixed by hand out in the street and then carried in plastic buckets. Mortar for the block is being mixed, also by hand, up on the porch roof.

That's Alvaro, son of the contractor, on the porch roof. Pulpo (means octopus), the contractor is to the right. His real name is Elias. Most guys here have a nickname. We don't know why, but they do. You can see the wall going up. It'll go up even to the top of the house. The second tier of the stairway will traverse up this new wall. Almost all of the chipping necessary to attach the new construction to our house is done by hand. The men work from 7:30 until about 5:00 with an hour and a half for lunch. It is great to watch father and son working so well together. Pulpo has tremendous experience and good ideas. He listens attentively to changes that we have and is very willing, even eager, to change the design accordingly. Alvaro is a strong, hardworking young man who is learning to be a master in his own right. Both are used to working with Americans and they speak Spanish very slowly for our benefit.

They're making good progress. We're thinking that it'll be 10 days or so before completion. Maybe longer as estimates of cost and time are almost always overly optimistic! That's okay, we can wait!

The hunt!

One of the things on our bucket list has been to see the many kinds of fish which live in far-off places like the Great Barrier reef, Palau and the Maldives Islands. We never expected that we'd see one of the most exotic creatures in the ocean here in Cozumel. Yes, lionfish have invaded the reefs off Cozumel. There's a great deal of concern as these fish are voracious eaters with no natural enemies here. They propogate like mosquitoes! The underwater park authorities have OK'd their capture and have said it's fine to kill them. Today Peggy and some freinds went on a scuba/snorkel hunt for the critters just north of town. They found two. They caught one and it'll go into a a glass bowl at a local diveshop. All of the shops seem to have one or two on display now. We'll try and take on every dive a goody bag or something to snag the beautiful but nasty creatures! In Cedaredge, it's grasshoppers, in Mexico, the lionfish. Stay tuned for the body count.

Welcoming gift!

This is a story of a gift that keeps on giving! The Cedaredge Women's Literary Club has a Christmas ornament exchange each year. Members bring ornaments wrapped and take turns picking out a package to open. After the first ornament is revealed, then the next member to open a gift has the choice to either take the known commodity or to open another package. One year I came home with a real charmer! Being the giving mother that I am, I immediately regifted it to Jamie and Eric that Christmas. For some years, the ornament has been gifted back and forth between us. I don't remember when we last "gave" it back but apparently we did a good job of hiding it in Jamie's maternity underwear drawer. Jamie hasn't needed the drawer's contents for some years.

After a few days of settling in, I noticed that we had this beautiful object hanging from our fruit basket. Having a little bit of trouble with my memory (many people have commented kindly that I am Dory from Finding Nemo in human form), I just thought I had stuck this lovely thing up there before we left last year.

What actually happened was that last fall, Jamie called Rita and asked if she had any customers coming down to Cozumel in the near future. Jamie wanted to get the ornament down here to greet us upon our return. Rita, not being a Dory at all, remembered the story of the ornament exchange and was happy to be a part of the plot! Rita actually went back to Chicago this fall and Jamie mailed the ornament to her there. Voila! It appeared at our house, thanks to Rita, the courier.

Athough the ornament looks very much at home with our decor, we are confident that it has not found its final resting place. Heh, heh! For now, we are incredibly impressed by the devious child we have raised.

Any genetic link? Naw!

It is so much fun being friends with Becky. She finds out about the best stuff happening around the island. The other day, she was hanging out at a great little hotel down the coast from us and found an artist doing some very informal watercolor classes in the open air lobby. Becky jumped right in thinking this just may be her third career. She then enlisted another friend, Lynn, and I for the next class. The artist, Linda Lord, has figured out more than the fine art of watercolor. She has mastered the fine art of finding something good to say when, really, there is nothing redeeming in what is before her. After she had looked at my painting, she told me that I was holding my mouth right! Even though it certainly won't be my next career, it was a fun way to spend the afternoon!

Here is my masterpiece!

Now HERE is a true masterpiece - this toad is one of my favorites from the many over-the-top wonderful paintings my sister, Marcy, has done. Many of you know this but I just have to say that Marcy's story is incredible. She started painting about six years ago and now she is really well known in North Carolina and beyond. Amazing , huh? What's really amazing is that she's my sister! Any genetic component on the artistic ability - Naw! I'll just stick to appreciating it!