Saturday, December 26, 2009

HOLIDAYS

This is a picure outside my front door Christmas morning. Gorgeous blue skies and mountain views. Hummingbirds everywhere. Doesn't feel like Christmas however without snow! We did go to a pot luck on the 24th with a bunch of families from here. Below is a picture of a few of my girls. We don't dress up very often here, so when we all arrive with clean clothes, hair combed, no flip flops and make up on, we take pictures and all coo "Oh, your so pretty!"


From L to R-Lizanne, Sharron, Nicole, Me, Jenni and Tammy


HO HO HUMBUG?

I trust you all had an incredible Christmas with your loved ones. This was our third Christmas in Panama. Every year it seems our traditions evolve and we adopt some new traditions. As a parents, you always want to make the Christmas season special for your children. This year was a little different. As some of you know, Syd has been struggling with her skin so a real tree and a trip to the ocean was out of the question. Before we knew it, it was Dec 23rd.



This was the type of tree we wanted to have, but we improvised and came up with the following new tradition!





Our Christmas pineapple tree!
Until I blog again,
Linda

Monday, December 14, 2009

FELIZ NAVIDAD

Holiday Greetings to all our blog followers!!

We have switched from rainy season to windy season. I have to say, it sure beats minus 38 degrees and snow. I send my condolences to those freezing in Calgary today!

Christmas and New Years is huge here in Panama. People save all year to buy their loved ones presents and to decorate their homes. Many people wrap their front doors in wrapping paper and put their tree on the front porch for the whole community to enjoy. Even the poorest of places will have some type of Christmas decorations displayed. The stores are packed and there is always a free wrapping table outside each store that will wrap each gift individually. On New Years, at midnight, almost every home sets off fireworks. It is such a beautiful sight and a really neat way to ring in the new year. Another tradition is that people will paint their homes, top to bottom, inside and out. It is a way to symbolically remove all the bad of the previous year and start the new year fresh. Paint is on sale everywhere!

I always have such a tough time getting into the Christmas spirit when there is no snow. This will be out third Christmas in Panama. This year we hope to go to the ocean for a few days. This year we are praying for new skin for Syd. As many of you know, Syd has been really struggling with her eczema. She has been improving, and we hope all her skin will be closed so we can all have a good soak in the ocean this year!

I will take a picture if a few houses today and add them to the post.

Until I blog again.
Love Linda