Merry Christmas!

I know it is the 25th of December, but it fees nothing like Christmas today. 

Everything that I remember about Christmas as a child, or even as a parent, is so different from the Christmas we are experiencing this year.  We are happy, together, and enjoying Christmas for what it is, but without all the expensive decorations and fancy parties.  We are sad to be away from all our family back home, but glad to be with the family here as well.  I hope you are all enjoying a wonderful Christmas, for those in St.Louis, a white Christmas, and taking a day to relax and spend with family and friends. 

I was able to spend some time in the garden this morning. How strange! The tomatoes are green, the sweet potatoes are blooming, and the peas are climbing like crazy.  We had our first few green beans today, and there should be plenty more to come. 

This is our little tree. It really makes our home feel merrier.

 It might give Charlie Brown a run for his money.

Merry Christmas!!!!!!!

Three, going on an on....

Things have been hectic around here. After thanksgiving, we have st started our Agriculture project full force, and keeping everything else under control.  Jacob is now potty trained, and doing an amazing job.  The first day he went with dry pants all day long, we took him into town to celebrate, and had a party, complete with  chips, soda, yogurt and candy.  All of his favorite things.  Jacob is getting so big, and today is turning Three! I can't believe it!

 It has been a while since we have posted, and I wanted to get you all up to speed, but it seems impossible to write everything that happens.  The boys are doing fine, and enjoying the busyness of the season. Jacob's request for his birthday was a bonfire with hot dogs and marsh mellows, and a green cake.  I will have to post more pictures again soon. 

Joshua is definitely growing and getting into more trouble each day.  He is now crawling and saying mama and dada.  It is so funny how they boys seem to push each other along.  Now that Joshua is pulling himself up in his crib, he has gotten himself stuck between the slats.

Last week there was a Motorcycle race in Canilla, where we live. David and Joseph both raced and placed int he top three. It was a good time for the whole family, as we were all involved and helped hold things together.

You can see a video of the race on YouTube at:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht7zLOYxjnY

 
Ryan has been busy planting his fields, and hopes to finish today. After a week of watering, we had a few days before Ryan would be able to get into the ground to work it, and went to Guatemala city to renew our visas, and take some time off. We stayed at the Tikal Futura hotel which has a pool, and it's own mall.  We really enjoyed the time away, and posted a small video of our trip onto youtube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tkm4dwmQpjk

The video is short, and only viewable through the link.
 
 
 
 
 
This is a quick look at what Ryan has been up to with the property he is renting. 


Water the first piece of ground with sprinklers before planting.



Jacob testing the sprinkler radius.



Jacob helping haul away the water tubing.




Manually applying the fertilizer and lime.



Soaking the black bean seeds in milk as a natural inoculate.



Planting bean seeds on piece two.




Overlapped rows, to use the planter that is designed for corn, to plant the beans witch need closer spacing.