Christmas Is a Comin'

I love Christmas! I count down the days until I can decorate, listen to Christmas music, make festive treats and bundle up in warm clothes. Yes, it is necessary to bundle up here especially when you crawl into bed and your sheets feel damp. Curse the humidity. We are approaching our second Christmas in Guatemala. Last year I would have hopped on a plane MT bound in a heart beat if I won free tickets, but this year we would have to turn down the tickets (something about women delivering midflight is undesirable). Last year we went to multiple homes on Christmas Eve where we ate many tamales and enjoyed good company with friends. The hospitality we experienced last year challenged us in how we will be celebrating future holidays. So often it's easy to be selfish with our holidays and we want to be as comfortable and relaxed as possible, which means we surround ourselves with family and close friends. We had only been here (our current city) for four months and close friendships don't form overnight, so it would have been easy for us to wish we were somewhere other than where God had us. Is there anyone you can think of who may want to celebrate with your fam' this year?

We postponed leaving for the Capital (where I'll deliver) until after Christmas so we can enjoy it with friends again. God has given us some amazing friendships this last year that we are incredibly thankful for. Trust me when I say that these friendships are from God because with very different cultures, styles of humor, and our limited vocabulary it hasn't always been easy. God is good!

Mold Madness

After only one month of disuse look what we found in the bottom of the closet!

It is really damp this time of year and we are battling mold big time. We even blow dry our sheets each night before crawling into bed because they feel so wet and clammy. My hair dryer is also used to dry our clothes each morning because they never get completely no matter how long they hang for. Our pillows smell terrible and we just bought new ones in September, there’s nothin’ like laying your head down on a bag of mildew after a long day of work. These are some of the unfortunate things about humidity but on the bright side my skin feels o-so-smooth and perhaps it will help prevent stretch marks over the last 9 weeks of pregnancy. I never need to use lotion or chapstick but rather I powder my feet with gold bond each morning before I slip on a pair of stinky sneakers. Yes, our tennis shoes permanently reek since they are always cycling between wet or just damp.