Thanksgiving

We had Lisa, Rahja, Oli, & Noah visit for the thanksgiving weekend, the cousins had a great time together.




The young cousins got to hang out while Chris & I got to ski with Oli, he did great for his third time ever on skis.



We had a fun turkey feast with a couple neighbor families.









We had fun romping in the snow and then closed out the weekend by putting up our Christmas tree and moving on to making gingerbread cookies, a favorite holiday tradition from my childhood.

Nicaragua part three

One more highlight from Ometepe was the natural cool water springs called Ojo de Agua. The waters were lovely and peaceful, so much so that Audrey and Julian passed out afterwards. The light green under us is the stump of a giant tree.


























There were other spots we could have visited but the ocean was calling us back so we got on the ferry and enjoyed the views and the signs on the restroom doors.



























After a few more days at playa majagual we packed up and said goodbye to the howler monkeys and to our buddy Herly, the caretaker at Max's house.








We returned our rental car at the border then caught a bus on the other side.






We had one more night of partying at a hotel in Costa Rica before we caught a plane back to the USA.

Nicaragua part two

Ometepe is an island on Lake Nicaragua made up of two volcanoes, on of which is active, you can see it below putting out some plumes.

















There are many interesting attractions on the island: ancient petroglyphs





beautiful flora

















I spy a monkey












There was so much there I need to make another post...see part three.

Nicaragua

We flew into a town in northwestern Costa Rica and headed straight for the border. Audrey and Julian got a ride on a bike cab on the way from the Costa Rica exit office to the Nicaragua entry office.








We were glad to make it to San Juan del Sur so we celebrated there before making the 25 minute drive north to the beach house.






The house was in a beautiful spot close to two beaches, one with big waves we could hear from the front porch and one with the nickname Baby Beach, this is where we did the majority of our swimming and often had the beach to ourselves.


















































Chris did some surfing and got a couple lessons from Orlando who coached him enough to catch a couple big waves. Unfortunately his progress was cut short by a nasty ear infection. Orlando wanted to teach Audrey to surf next but we decided instead to take a little trip to Ometepe...see part two.

Houston visit

We had a nice time visiting family in Houston, including brand new baby Sawyer!



























It was a quick, fun visit and then we flew to Costa Rica.

Rocky Mountain High

We had a special visit from grandma and grandpa last week, made extra special by the need for alternative healing. Grandma has halted chemotherapy, so we called upon food made with love and turmeric, grandbaby snuggles, birthday parties, time with friends, and cool, clear mountain air to provide some relief from the myeloma.







We had belated birthday parties for Julian, Audrey, and Grandma. Blowing out candles became a daily activity and Julian became very interested in the lighter.







Barber Chris did some work on Julian's and Grandpa's hair.