What difference is it?

Picture: Bram & Jeff at La Alhambra in Granada, Spain.

It has been a full year in Spain.

Many people want to know "How has your life changed?"

Jeff has taken on the challenge to answer that very question...

I drink sterilized milk & juice from a cardboard box.

I eat out exponentially less, and only at restaurants with a ‘play place’

17 months between boys seemed ok, until 3 vs 2: the apartment is very loud

I wash my Salvation Army uniform tunic & pants in the washer and hang dry

I have personally paid over 2,000 USD for official items, not counting things that could be taken officially back home

At times I have to park 200 – 300 yards from the apartment

I walk 4 flights of stairs multiple times a day; groceries, toddlers, luggage, trash

I’ve lost 25 lbs

Most days I have to park ¼ to ½ mile from the Corps and lug in instruments and program material.

Although a vehicle seems a necessity; w/maintenance & operating costs it constitutes 20% of the budget

I’ve lived with 75% humidity all summer

God is bigger than my stress

God has been faithful in every situation

I love the smell of the salt air as the breeze comes in off the coast line

I love to watch the clouds billow over the mountain

The view from our balcony makes it all worth it

I get to spend twice the amount of time with my family

Although my Spanish is far better today than when I arrived; it is by no means where it should be

I rely on our prior experience & training to move forward, all the while finding the ‘new’ ways God is calling us to minister.

Pastorally, Corps Officership is the same no matter where you serve & administratively

All things relative, we would accept a second term.

10 Things I Learned...

"So, you've given up on the blog?" he says.

"No, what are you talking about?" she casually responds while clicking through facebook photo albums.

"Well, are you just not feeling inspired to post anymore?"

"No. What do you want me to write about??"

...ok, so I clicked through a few more photos before coming back to post....


So, here's a list of 10 things I've learned this summer: (in random order)

1. Vinegar really does keep away mosquitoes.

2. Air conditioning is a blessing not to be taken lightly.

3. Dresses keep you much cooler.

4. God is bigger than any financial crisis.

5. God is in the details.
(including perfect timing for you to make it downstairs so they don't tow away your only vehicle)

6. I would much rather have a donut for dinner. Don't tell my boys, it'll ruin my reputation.

7. Friends are a necessity and a blessing for sanity purposes.

8. Sand really does get into EVERYTHING.

9. When the temp is above 95 and the building's turned the water off, it's great having friends who let you use their pool.

10. Vacations seem to happen just when you need them. (our's: next week!)


Side note: Burgos & Palmanova are both quite a distance from our town. But I'm sure your prayers for both of those cities as they recover from the bombings is greatly appreciated.

Run, Forest, Run!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's Festa Major in Denia! Our area of Spain is known as one of the locations to have the most fiestas.

I have learned in our near year here that they love any reason to have a good party. And the more dancing and singing in the street the better the fiesta!

Festa Major includes bulls and lots of them! Three nights this week they will run bulls down the main street of our town into a temporary bull ring set up by the sea.

In the bull ring, twice a day, they will play a game with several bulls. We witnessed "Bous a la Mar" (Valenciano for "Bulls to the Sea") this afternoon. Apparently the rules are: try to get the bull into the water without it killing you. The end result was simply a lot of wet people. It was very exciting and a lot of fun to watch.


I think sometimes we have a tendency to take life a little too seriously. Everything is dramatic, everything is important, and there's not time to be silly. I have been reminded this week, and am learning in Spain, how important it is to just have some fun sometimes. Sometimes, in order to maintain sanity, you have to let the bull chase you into the water, even though you know you're going to end up all wet in the end.

My Favorite Clothes

This is my most comfortable outfit. Granted, those are definitely not uniform 'appropriate' shoes, but I have to walk a lot...

I realize that this uniform tends to make some people uncomfortable, mainly because of a misunderstanding of what it means. Although, there are parts of the world where there is an instant recognition of purpose and position upon sight. And then there are parts of the world, such as the one I live in now, where this uniform is still virtually unheard of. (But that is changing!)

We are in the habit of wearing our uniforms most every day. It's hot now, so I'm thankful we've switched to 'summer uniform' (sans nylons). It does make for a conspicuous walk around our little town. There are the passing comments "Maybe they're sailors?" or "Perhaps they're pilots?", but more often than not there are just outright glaring stares. We attract a lot of attention for so little 'effort'.

I have noticed that as of late we've been getting a lot more questions. I LOVE when people ask me what my uniform is for, because they have opened the door for me to tell them exactly what it is for. I get the chance to prove that we're not 'weirdos' or harsh military types. I get a chance to tell them where The Salvation Army is located in town, what we do, etc. I get to build relationships. I have noticed that while I may not know their names, many people greet me on the street...and the only way they know and recognize me from every other foreigner in town...you guessed it.

There are some that say we as an Army should put this 'vintage' and 'military' look away for a more updated and modern look. I am not one of them. If the people around us don't recognize our uniforms or know what they stand for....it's our fault, not the uniforms'. The only way to create and understanding of what those epaulettes mean is by wearing them, not storing them away.

No Such Thing

I don't believe in coincidences. I believe that God works all things together for the good of those who love him...even the little things. Even the things that one would initially think God is too busy to really deal with.

Example:

Saturday I arrived at the church to set up for our Spanish service. Only to find that the gate covering the door would not go up, which is the only way to get in the building. Needless to say, I prayed with the regular attenders before sending them home.

My husband and I, on Sunday morning, were able to manually shove the gate up enough to let people in for our English service. After the service we pressed the remote opener and the gate slammed shut. There was nothing more we could do about, being Sunday. So the boys and I spent the afternoon on the beach....suffering for Jesus.

Sorry, back to the story.....

Monday morning, Jeff and I once again shoved the gate up so we could open the thrift store for the day. We were decided to find a "repair" shop to give us an estimate about what needed to be done.

I had considered calling the Baptist church pastor and asking him if there was anyone in his congregation that fixed these gates that he could recommend to me. I wanted to find someone relatively trustworthy, because honestly I have never dealt with gates prior to being in Spain. I also had recently noticed some large signs pointing out various businesses as the "best businesses in Denia" and a repair shop had one of those signs just around the corner from our church building. So we decided to start there.

We walked in, explained our problem, and explained where the broken gate was located. The shop owner said "Oh, we're Christians too. We go to the Baptist church." Which led us into a conversation about how nice it would be for the evangelical community to do more things together, and she mentioned that just yesterday her church had prayed for the other churches in our city including The Salvation Army.

Her husband came the same evening and has completely sorted our gate issue out, even demonstrating to me what to do in the case of problems in the future. I am convinced that God led me there. That the shop was our intended destination.

We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28

Smash!

This is how we spend one to two afternoons a week. As long as it's not raining, you might be able to find us slowly morphing into beach bums. Ask Jonas if he wants to go to the beach, and he'll undoubtedly say "Si!"

I create these little sand crabs for the boys to spend the next few seconds mashing into the ground. I will admit it can be very therapeutic play...

It has definitely warmed up on the Costa Blanca!

Here's a quick update on life in Spain:

* We painted our chapel. It was in a desperate need of a "pick me up" and God has really blessed this congregation with several retired professional carpenters and painters. It looks great!

* We revamped our thrift store. The store is one of the main sources of income for our church. So we cleaned it up, rearranged, got rid of trash, and have had an increase in sales! (Now, let's hope it holds out and is not just temporary.)

* We recently participated in an church wide prayer event, hosted by a local Baptist church. It was the first time that many of these evangelical groups have gotten together for anything, and still many 'refused' to attend. It was a great event, and we're really excited about what God will do through a united evangelical community.

*I've signed the boys us for the summer program at the same Baptist church for the month of July. (Everything is closed in August) The selling point of many summer programs are the fact that English will be taught throughout the summer, but they wanted to warn me at the church it would be "American" English because they have groups from the States that help out during the summer. I simply smiled, and said "Well, we speak American so it shouldn't be a problem for the boys."

Q: How do you make sure it rains? A: Hang your laundry on the line to dry.

It's going to rain....again. It's been raining off and on for a week now. My parents arrived a week ago, and its been relatively rainy since. I haven't had much to write about either...so here's a few pictures.

We played on the beach today...it was a little too cold. On Saturday we went to Guadalest. A town high in the mountains.


We spent time walking on the boardwalk in Javea.

And we've been having a pretty good time...when the sun is out.

Falla Photos

If it weren't for the remnants of Roman candles and fire crackers from last night's parties, you'd never know the Fallas even happened.

Here's a few photos from the week's events!

And the planning for Fallas 2010 started the next day.

Pop!

Last Night's "Mascleta" (the daily, large fire crackers event during the week of festivities)

Fire crackers are an important tradition involved in the Fallas week. Mostly it's the little fire crackers that are designed to make more noise and smoke than anything else. You know, the kind that go off and scare you? But it's a constant thing the few weeks before, and especially this week.

I have been leary of walking near pre-teen boys holding lit fire crackers waiting to startle some unsuspecting tourist. And yesterday, I swallowed my cultural pride, and watched as my 3 year old threw simple crackers with some friends from school. (They were only throwing the ones that pop upon contact. There was no fire involved...grandmothers, take a deep breath, he has all 10 fingers still...)

I have noticed a slight 'evolvement' of my reaction to these noise explosions. Two weeks ago when the fire crackers first started making their appearances, I jumped and screamed. Later in the week, I would simply startle and turn my head towards the noise. Now, I barely notice anymore. I don't jump, and only if it is a really loud event will I turn to see where it is coming from.

I think that's sometimes how people react to God's voice... He's speaking all around. He's making noise, in His way, but we just become disillusioned and stop paying attention.

For God does speak - now one way, now another - though man may not perceive it. Job 33:14

There are times when I feel like I'm all alone, and God has forgotten about my situation. And all the time He was trying to get my attention, throwing fire crackers at my heart if you will, but I'm not paying attention. God has not become de-sensitized, it's been me who's stopped noticing...

Spring has sprung

My favorite 'signal' of Spring is the daffodil. Now they've been in bloom since early February here in the Costa Blanca, which has been a strange sight for me since I'm used to them making their first appearances much closer to Easter, rather than Ash Wednesday.

Winning Trivial Pursuit Fact: Daffodils are the national symbol of Wales.

Life Update #1:

I spent the weekend in London attending the UK Territory's Baby Song Training Conference. It's a program that is aimed at reaching out to families via parent-baby bonding classes. The Norweigan Salvation Army was conducting the seminar, and invited me to attend when they visited Denia last fall. So, an American Salvation Army officer serving in Spain Command attending a United Kingdom Territorial conference as a Norweigan delegate. Plus I got a whirlwind tour of London on the go!

London was great! See how happy I am in this picture in front of St. Paul's Cathedral:

Life Update #2:

The Fallas is in full swing here in the Comunitat de Valencia. (Valenciano Community = a large chunk of the south eastern portion of Spain....google it....) The Fallas commemorates St. Joseph's Day on March 19th, which is also Spain's Father's Day. The story goes that carpenters would clear out the shops each year at this time and burn their scraps in the street, so someone got the idea to create a figurine out of the scraps before creating the bonfire. And well, that tradition has become this:

These ENORMOUS works of art take a year to build. (The average height was 2 to 4 stories tall!) Clubs compete against each other to win prize for the best creation, and then on the night of March 19th the set them all on FIRE! (I'm secretly looking forward to seeing them in flames!)

So in that thought I leave you with the words from the song written by William Booth (the founder of The Salvation Army) that have been buzzing around my head while taking pictures of the fallas:

'Tis fire we want, for fire we plead,

Send the fire!

The fire will meet our every need,

Send the fire!

For strength to ever do the right,

For grace to conquer in the fight.

For power to walk the world in white,

Send the fire!

Will Your Anchor Hold?

We conduct a "Songs of Praise" service in English each Sunday evening at a hotel in Denia. The service is attended by hotel guests and various others from our local area. Usually the boys and I stay home, but since my in-laws have been here I have been able help out. This week one of the leaders in the program captured the "magic" on camera!

Enjoy!

Madrid....Here we come....

Jeff's parents are flying into Madrid, arriving Monday morning. Since Madrid is a 4 to 6 hour drive from where we are, we took the opportunity to claim a little vacation time and "sight see" around Madrid with them.

But right now I am laying in bed with either a chest cold or the flu. I have every heater on possible, but then I get hot so I turn it off. Then I get cold, so on they go again...it's been a whole day of that.

Bram celebrated Carnaval at school, and we were able to visit and see the costumes and the dancing. The "external relations" director approached me to apologize profusely for Bram's head bump on Monday (he fell on his way out to the school bus and has one major scratch/goose egg.). To which my answer was "He's 3 and a boy. He'll do far worse in the future, I'm afraid."

We also met another North American (from Canada) and got invited to tea by some parents from Bram's class....not to mention the various strange looks due to our "uniformed" presence. One child asked if we were pilots, I overheard one parent speculating that we were foreign military, and I'm sure the majority of the British parents were saying "I didn't know The Salvation Army was in Spain?" At this point we are more than use to it...

...um...I was going to post pictures of Bram's adorable clown costume...but the camera is not available...you'll have to imagine it.

And he huffed, and he puffed...

This is the neighbor's yard. This neighbor only comes to their place here in Denia during the summer months. They are going to be very upset when they find this rotting pine tree covering the length of their yard area...

Spain had some incredible wind/storms this past weekend. In Barcelona 4 children died when a football (soccer) arena collapsed on them. There was a fire that engulfed an entire apartment complex when a power line pole was knocked over in the wind. I think the death toll was up to 12 people last I heard.

Our neighbors lost a huge chunk of their brick wall, so there is nothing between her washing machine and falling into the courtyard 4 stories below. There are broken lamp posts, twisted bill boards, and downed trees all over our little section of the Mediterranean. Thankfully our apartment and church building are unharmed...we didn't even lose any clothes off the line.

Some positive things in our past few days:

1. Bram is loving school! (He must have told me the story of the three little pigs about 40 times.) And his uniforms finally came in!

2. The sunshine has returned to the coast, so our clothes will finally dry in a decent amount of time.

3. I finally got around to reading the book my mother-in-law sent (Deep in the Heart of Trouble) and I'm lovin' it!

4. We have family coming to visit in a few weeks!!

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday! Yay! Check out the others here. Truth for the Journey I do enjoy the reminder to stop and let the "world" know what it is God has blessed us with from the little things to the great...

1. I am thankful for a great school system for Bramwell. He seems to really be enjoying himself, and as the days go by I'm sure I'll be less nervous for him. He walked into the class today and didn't even look back, yesterday they showed him a train set and I might as well have disappeared. Apparently, I'm the only one with hangups about him going to school.

2. I am thankful for all the new possibilities in our ministry. We have recently changed to having our language specific services on seperate days, rather than one meeting right after another. I am really excited about all the good things that could come from this. Of course there are moments when it's seems very lonely on the "front lines"...but we have been promised the victory!

3. I am thankful for Kinder chocolate. It's apparently a chocolate that's not really available in the States, bit it's incredibly cheap here and incredibly good!

4. I am thankful for all the Christmas cards we recieved. We have taped the cards onto the wall above our dinner table and the boys and I have been talking about how these are all the people that love our family. I still don't have the desire to take them down yet.

5. I'm thankful for the snow on the mountain. It's been rather cold the past couple of days and with the rain today there is visible snow on the mountain. It's just a beautiful reminder of an amazing Creator.

Los Reyes Magos

Two posts in one day....woohoo!

We decided to keep the boys out late and see the Denia Three Kings Day parade! The parade consists of the kings docking at port, parading down the main street, throwing candy, a procession to see Mary and Jesus, and ends with more candy from the town hall building. And tonight little Spanish children will rush home to leave out their shoes in hopes that the kings will leave them gifts overnight!

It was a lot of fun! Here's a video the pics we took:

(Music: God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen & We Three Kings by Barenaked Ladies)

A Skype Christmas

The sun is setting on our palm tree Christmas. I'm enjoying a cup of tea, some left over ginger bread cookies from our Christmas Eve service, and just basking in the Mediterrean pace of life that has returned to our household.

We had a wonderful candle light service last night, followed by the annual opening of one gift. It is incredibly difficult to convince toddlers that they cannot eat the large chocolate Santa Clause until tomorrow.

The boys were excited to ride their brand new tricycles. We took a little walk on the boardwalk outside our apartment. It's a balmy 65 degrees today...afterwards we treated ourselves to the Christmas menu at the restaurant below our apartment.

We've skyped all the family, and the boys have ignored the calls, like they usually do. (Getting toddlers to pay attention is a miracle. My mom had their attention when her Scooby Doo Christmas 'thingie' started singing...)

Christmas has come and gone. We've survived the first Christmas away from family. It can be done. Let's try this again next year....

Family Christmas Card 2008

Here's the 2008 Carr Christmas Card...video version!

Enjoy!

Christmas Carols

We've been doing a lot of Christmas carol singing lately. Our church band has been out playing different events. (Some events a donation for The Salvation Army is even taken up!) We've played for a British Christmas party, the local state run nursing home, the weekly Monday market in town, a restaurant, and later this week we'll play at the port carol sing in a town around the mountain from us.

All of this singing has caused me to reflect on various Christmas songs. There are 3 in particular:

1. "Do They Know It's Christmas?" BandAid.

You know the one, they play it on every Christmas rotation list in the States. It's on at least 2 Christmas CDs I own. You know, the one where you hear Bono scream "Well, thank God it's them insteeeeaaaadddd of yooouuu!"

The lyric that sticks with me is this:

And there won't be snow in Africa
This Christmas time
The greatest gift they'll get this year is life
Where nothing ever grows
No rain nor rivers flow
Do they know it's Christmas time at all?

Is Christmas only defined by snow and nicely wrapped presents? I will admit this year the Christmas season seems "unseasonal" to me, personally. I'm celebrating Christmas with palm trees out my back door, not 10 feet of snow (which apparently just hit my midwestern friends). But it doesn't make it any less Christmas, right? I'm sure in Africa, no I'm positive, they still celebrate Christmas, it just may look different from mine, or your idea of "Christmas".

Which leads me to the 2nd song:

2. O Come, O Come Emmanuel

O come, O come, Emmanuel

And ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God appear

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel

Shall come to thee, O Israel.

I think I have a strange 'attraction' to the minor keyed Christmas carols. I LOVE this song. It's always been one of my favorites. It has come to mind many times as I make it through my first Christmas so far away from friends and family. In those moments when I'm feeling lonely and homesick, I remember that this celebrational season is because Emmanuel came for me! So, though at moments I may sit "in lonely exile", those moments when the boys simply will not play together nicely, the cookies burned again, the Christmas tree is falling over, when I miss my family and my "normal", the Son of God will appear (to speak to me through new friends, new traditions, and lots of great coffee) and for that I shall rejoice!

And finally:

3. Noche de Paz (Silent Night, in Spanish)

Noche de paz, noche de amor, Night of peace, night of love
todo duerme en derredor. All around is sleeping
Entre sus astros que esparcen su luz, Between the stars which scatter their light
bella anunciando al niñito Jesús. Beautifully announcing the baby Jesus
Brilla la estrella de paz, Shines the star of peace
brilla la estrella de paz. Shines the star of peace

We sing this song often here. I appreciate how the words are slightly different from the English version. The part that sticks with me this Chistmas is the word "peace". Some how, without the assistance of a major fundraising effort, I have managed to overschedule and exhaust myself this Christmas! And I always thought kettles was to blame. God will often bring this song to mind when I start to think about how I just wish the season would be over with so we could rest again. The point of the season isn't to rush around buying things, or going places, or carting yourself all over town to entertain. It's a moment of peace. A moment of love. I hope that these last few days I will stop to notice that the stars still beautifully announce Jesus, the Prince of Peace.

Thankful Thursday

I'm joining in on Thankful Thursday .

1. I'm thankful for cookie recipes. Through blog hopping, family recipes, and new Spanish recipes I have all kinds of recipes I'm dying to trie! (This weekend: sugar cookies (I have powdered sugar now, so the boys can decorate them) and date pinwheel cookies) And now with the care packages from the States we just got, I can actually make them!

2. I'm thankful for that liberating feeling of doing something that scares you, and being successful. For example: driving by myself. I made it (WITHOUT the GPS) from a church member's house to the mall, then back into town, then to the boys' nursery school...and I didn't hit or scratch anything!

3. I'm thankful for Christmas sales! I took a "mental health" day and did some Christmas shopping this morning. I found tricycles on sale buy one get one 70% off! I was trying to figure out how we were going to pay for 2 tricycles for Christmas and God answered my question!!!

4. I'm thankful for potty trained children. I purchased only ONE package of diapers today. (Even though it's still a mad scramble to get the triple locked door open when Bram looks up and says "Mama, I gotta go potty"....but it's still better than changing diapers.)

5. I'm thankful for the sunshine that returned today. It's been chilly, and our little butane heater was doing overtime keeping us warm. We're still adapting to the fact that it's just as cold inside as it is outside. But today the sun is out and it helps warm up our apartment (of course we did go buy another electric heater this morning, just in time :) )

Because I like playing these games...I just don't email them back and forth

A Christmas Tag......

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
I've only found hot chocolate here. And it's goooood. Remember when Starbucks had drinkable chocolate one Christmas season, it's like that only you also have to have churros to dip in it and it's available year round..mmmmmmmmm

2. Does Santa wrap the presents or just sit them under the tree?
He places them under a tree. It was one Christmas tradition that my husband's family tradition and my family traditions agreed on

3. Lights on house / tree are colored or white?
White....and NON BLINKING. I think God is laughing at all my little "control issues" upon moving to Spain. I can only find colored lights that blink uncontrollably here...

4. Do you have mistletoe?
No, but I can buy fresh holly.

5. When do you put your decorations up?
This year we put them on the weekend of Thanksgiving. Typically it's any time between then and the middle of December. I've gauged that Spain puts up decoration on Day of the Immaculate Conception (this past Monday) because our entire town became Christmas central over night.

6. Favorite Holiday Dish (EXcluding dessert)?
Green bean casserole with slivered almonds.

7. Favorite Christmas memory as a child?
Opening up the box of "my" Christmas ornaments every year to put on the tree. And my mom has even parted with them so I could have them on my own tree now....except this year. Glass ornaments + marble tile floor + eager toddlers = disaster

8. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa?
We were sitting in the car at a convenient store (I think) and I remember saying to my mom "There's no such thing as Santa Claus is there?" when she didn't answer I said "Then there's no Easter bunny or Tooth fairy either, is there??". I was in 2nd grade.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
Yes. Thankfully another holiday tradition that our families both practiced.

10. How do you decorate your tree?
I have come to love ribbon and the idea "less is more". This year: styrofoam ornaments. (See #7)

11. SNOW. Love it or dread it?
We don't believe in snow on the Mediterrean coast, sorry. :)

12. Can you ice skate?
um..........I plead the 5th.

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
I got this great bride doll one year we spent Christmas in a hotel. I was really excited because I was in a doll collection phase in my life. In fact I think those dolls are still in my mom's basement....

14. What is the most important thing about Christmas to you?
The celebration and reminding my boys that it's about Jesus being born in a barn...er, well that's our toddler friendly rendition.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert?
Molasses sugar cookies. Omigoodness, they are so good and they say "it's Christmas" (ooo, magic cookies!)oh, oh, I love fudge too! My mother in law makes incredible and amazing amounts of fudge this time of year. I wonder if that ships?

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Cookie making. I remember my mom spending a lot of time baking during the holidays, so I've kinda adopted it as my own too. (And when back in the States, it's a nice way to spend the quiet evenings while the boys sleep and Jeff's still at church building finishing up kettles for the evening.)....side note: since I have your attention, your local Salvation Army officer is incredibly busy right now. They probably don't even eat a proper meal, let alone make Christmas cookies. They're working 18 hour days in order to raise funds just to keep their community programs running (most places this seasonal collection is the majority of their operating budgets)..if you're not too busy, maybe you could find your local Salvation Army officer and drop off cookies, or a hot meal, or some drinks, or gift certificates to Starbucks (oh, wait that would have been if I were your local Salvation Army officer)...

17. What tops your Christmas tree?
an angel, which she's apparently too heavy for our tree because it's leaning a different direction every morning..

18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving gifts?
I prefer it all. Giving a great gift is exciting! and getting a great gift can be just as exciting.

19. Favorite Christmas Song?
"Not that Far from Bethlehem" by Point of Grace....and "Dominck, the Italian Christmas Donkey"

20. Candy Canes, Yum or Yuck?
please,no...no, don't give them to my children and then walk away...who's going to clean up this sticky mess!!??

21. What do you want for Christmas?
already got it: an entertainment center for our apartment.

22. Do you attend an annual Christmas party?
no. Typically on Christmas Day we are sleeping (we're recovering from Kettles) so you're not allowed to knock on our door or call us until noonish. We do go out for a nice dinner (read: Red Lobsters) on Christmas Eve once all the kettles are counted and the money has been deposited in the bank. It was a tradition that my husband's family did, and we adopted it.

23. Do you usually dress up for Christmas Eve or wear PJ's?
PJ's (see #22, we're usually at home in PJ's from Christmas Eve until New Year's.)

24. Do you own a Santa Hat?
No.

25. Who do you normally spend Christmas with?
See #22. We often will travel to family's the week following Christmas and take some vacation into the New Year.

26. What is your favorite Christmas decoration and why?
Nativity sets. I have begun collecting nativities, but unfortunately was only able to bring a few with me to Spain. Here nativities are incredible expanse (known as Belen). Our boy's day care even has a set that is practically the entire town of Bethlehem, complete with numerous chickens! There are nativities every where, and I have already warned my husband I WILL NOT leave this country with out my own "Belen".