Our Christmas!!!

I´m sure y´all are all wondering how did our Christmas go. Well, It was wonderful. There were many of the same traditions and some a little different. Here in Peru, the big party is at midnight of Christmas Eve to welcome in Christmas.

So, what do you do until midnight? Well, Christian and I went to the park to take fun Christmas photos with the lights and fun Santa hats. Don´t we look Christmasy?

We then went back to our apartment and watched Christmas movies until about 11:40pm. We then had a lovely family home evening about Jesus Christ. Wow, it was the best part! So, at midnight we quickly finished family home evening and celebrated with hugs and Feliz Navidad!

From that point we opened gifts and ate our Christmas feast! The best part was the hot chocolate and the Panetón! Doesn´t it look yummy?

After we ate we watched another Christmas movie before going to bed at 3 am. We definately slept in Christmas day. It was a fun, different, and definately wonderful. And the best part was the we were celebrating Christ´s birth for the first time as a family. Just me and my hubbie! :)

My Lil Christmas Project

Ok, so I got all crafy on yall. I´m really not a crafty person, but who knows maybe I´m changing. I wanted to make some fun Christmas decorations. So one day I was playing with the cardboard toilet paper roll and came up with an ingenious idea. A Countdown Christmas Calendar! I guess you could call it CCC. Now as you can see below...there is a star and numbers on each Christmas tree. That´s right, those green things are lil Christmas trees. All you have to do is move the star to the next day to countdown until Christmas. I had fun making it with my sister-in-law. Now we can keep track of how many more days we have to prepare EVERYTHING! I think I must be behind schedule. Ahhhhhhhhh!

Let´s not forget all the other fun Christmas projects we´ve done. Christian, Lucy (Christian´s sister) and I all took a part in this one. Snowflakes! It may be summertime in Peru but in the Diaz Family Apartment its Winter. Each has their own design and style. Here´s just an example.

Don´t you worry that´s not everything. I thought I´d try my hand at the whole craft store Christmas items...garland...hand-made bow...and other cute little things. Take not of the little horn. Cool huh? Here´s the bow...I know its not that crafty, but I had fun making it...and I feel proud of myself.

And we can´t forget about the Christmas lights. The light sing 10 different Christmas songs...so if the Christmas music isn´t playing on the computer...I just have to turn on the lights.

And you can´t forget the "interesting" lit up Christmas wreath.

That just about finishes us our decor for Christmas. We/I had a great time setting it all up. Now its just a countdown until Christmas!!!

Panaderos

Well, let me just tell you about the coolest thing about Peru....ok, maybe not the coolest, but a good one. Twice a day a man comes by with a little cart and a horn...just to let you know that there is fresh bread ready to buy. Fresh bread of every type. You have your french bread, butter bread, soft, crunchy, sweet, filled, you pick it you´ve got it. Plus you can get 8 pieces of rolls or any type of bread for 1 sol...which is about 30 cents. Cool, huh? Ya just gotta be careful that you don´t eat too much...you could gain weight really fast without even noticing. Happy Holidays!

Christmas!!

Well, I suppose wedding pics and mangos aren´t all that fit for the season. Well, I think that it is time that I get on the ball and get into the spirit. I suppose its a little harder this year, because here its summer time...there´s nothing cold about the weather...and I haven´t been home for Christmas for quite a few Christmases. This will be my 3rd consecutive Christmas outside of the country and away from home or I guess now its my parent´s house. Crazy, huh? But I´m excited and trying to get ready. I´m trying to put the idea of snow here in our apt even though almost somebody here has ever even seen real snow. I guess that´s part of the fun. We´re going to have so many Christmas traditions in our family is not even funny. When will we open presents...midnight on Christmas Eve or when we wake up Christmas Day? What will we eat? Will we put up stockings? When does Santa come if everybody is awake until 2 or 3 in the morning? Where do you find a cheap plastic tree? (real ones don´t grow here) Lots of questions, huh? Well, we´ve decided what we did want to eat. I big, fat roasted chicken. Watermelon, ya ever eaten watermelon on Christmas? I haven´t and I´m dying to try it! Hot chocolate, Panatone...its the best kind of sweet bread on the planet!!! Sorry guys, you just can´t find it in the U.S. only in Latin American countries...mmmmmmmmmmmm. I ate a ton in my mission. Everything else is up in the air. We are excited. We just have to get the through the end of semester and get to Christmas. The cool thing is that here the school year ends in December not May...so then you have 3 months to play. Well, that´s some of my Christmas thoughts! Merry Christmas to all!!!

Mangos

YUMMY!! Let me just tell you about the joys of mangos. I really had never quite discovered the taste of mangos...except in smooties, until now. I´ve always been afraid to eat mangos in front of people...because...well...they are soooo juicy you just get messy really face. So mangos here in Chimbote are in season and I´m loving it. I eat about 2 mangos a day. I learned about this joy when I saw that Christian always picked out mangos when ever we went to the market together...and well the mangos started disappearing. So, I thought to myself. What´s so big about mangos? Why does he like them so much? So, that´s when it started. I tried one...mmmm, a bit messy but I was good to go. I ate another....WOW!!! Look at what I´ve been missing all my life!!! They´re delicious, well at least the ones here in Chimbote. Don´t miss another moment of your life without a mango.

How could I ever forget about my incredibly, handsome husband. Well, here´s the STAR of the Show!!! Isn´t he HOT!!!

Well here it is. You asked for it and now you get it. Wedding pics...just 6 months late. Ok, so I got one on...lets see if I can get some more. That´s my parents and I. Don´t they look great! We just walked out of the Lima Temple.

That´s my modeling shot. The photographer´s took the shot to put in their magazine...I felt so weird, it was funny...but they turned about pretty darn good. Ok...so if it turns out weird sorry. Here´s a couple of pics. Gotta run. Take care.

Okdoki Let´s see if I can get the hang of this

Ok. Well, hi there friends and family. I thought that perhaps this would be the best way to keep in touch with everybody or at least fill everybody in on life. Living far away from my family and friends and country is not the easiest thing, but we are happy. Ok, just a little update on life. We´ve been married for a little over 6 months. Wow, time flies. We are living in Chimbote, Peru. It used to be the biggest fishing port in all of South America...but not now. Now its struggling...let´s just say that. Ok, so right now in my life I´m struggling with 2 issues. 1. This year, U.S. Immigration Services recieved double the amount of visa requests than last year. Meaning that the chances of going back to the U.S.A. with my hubbie...is about 16-18 months away. That means my last semester of school...if put on a definate hold. But don´t you worry I´m going to finish my degree. 2. I don´t know how housewives spend their time without kids. The work here isn´t too promising. The jobs here are dangerous or people take advantage. So I´m looking into a work at home kinda thing to keep me busy and earn a little bit more to help out with the expenses. Haven´t found anything yet, ideas? I´ve gotta stay busy or I´m going to go crazy. I just can´t book and clean and read all day...I feel pretty useless. So that´s the new scoop on life.

Diaz Family

Well, Welcome to the Diaz Family Blog! We are currently living in Peru. Christian is 23 years old and I, Michelle, am 24 years old. We love watching movies and studying. I suppose its a good balance. Well, enjoy.