Feliz Navidad y Feliz Año Nuevo


It was hard not to be with these cute kids on Christmas Eve -


but we were proud of them for carrying on the traditions of acting our the Nativity Story and getting new Christmas pajamas from the Pajama Elf! 


This is our oldest granddaughter Eliana who just turned 14 holding our youngest Luna who will turn 1 in January - such beautiful angels!


Meanwhile, in Texas, we spent time on Christmas Eve with the Morales family and the missionaries from our ward learning to make tamales! It was a lot of fun and we made an astonishing 15 dozen tamales!


They were delicious, and I am excited to try making them at home. We may have to add them to our traditional Christmas Eve dinner of clam chowder.

                                                                                 
We had such a fun time with these people - it helped us to not be as sad about all that we were missing at home!



We have grown so fond of the missionaries in our ward, and we knew that transfers were coming up this week. It is going to be hard as some of them leave our area and get new assignments!


We loved getting Christmas cards from dear family and friends, and we even got some delicious homemade ginger snap cookies from our friends the Werners!


On Christmas Day I made way too many rolls for a dinner we had with the two other senior missionary couples that live in our complex.


It was a delicious meal and we enjoyed their company!


On the day after Christmas we went for a longer walk than
usual and saw some more fun birds.


John caught this one taking off.


On the Friday after Christmas we took advantage of the lighter than normal number of phone calls and went to the temple. 


It is a beautiful little temple and we so needed and enjoyed the peace we felt there.


We finally went to the local Harley Davidson shop and got John a couple of new shirts for p-day.


On Saturday we gathered with all of the senior missionaries at the mission home and had a fun Christmas party!


We got the towel set shaped and molded into a white elephant as our white elephant gift, and President and Sister Hewlett gave us this blanket and water flasks printed with our mission logo. It's fun to say we are T.H.E. Mission (Texas Houston East.)


On Monday we drove to Salado to stay for a few days and ring in the New Year with our Scott Law - he and his wife Jessica are amazing hosts. Lisa's sisters Anne and Bonnie met us there. This photo is of a high school football practice field here in rural Texas - John was pretty impressed!


They were there to watch Scott's son Luke (in black sweats) practice. He is 14 years old and 6'2" and 165 lbs! Football is serious business in Texas!

                                                                                 

We went for a fun hike during the day of New Years Eve  - it's fun to be back in hill country!


There was a pretty waterfall, and the water was crystal clear.


It is also fun to spend some time with family!


Sisters are the best - we have been taking walks, talking and laughing a lot! (And leaving Lisa's missionary companion out of most of it!)


We started off the new year with a nice soak in their family sized hot tub in the cold air.

2019 was a tough year for our family as we said goodbye to our son Ian. We are grateful to be serving this mission, because it is a daily reminder of the plan that our Father in Heaven has for us. We love our Saviour Jesus Christ and are increasingly thankful for his atoning sacrifice for all of us. Because of Him we look forward to being together as a family again.

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