A Very Merry Christmas

Although I'm not "home" home, I've been welcomed into Frank's home by all of his family.  I'm sure glad I got to see my family before coming here otherwise I would be really missing them, but thankfully, I got to spend some time with them and now I'm with more family.  I do really miss being "home" for Christmas, but I'm having a wonderful time in Maryland, despite the cold.

So far there's been shopping, family dinners, cookie making, a hockey game, Christmas presents, tree cutting and decorating, and lots of good conversation.  I've met some very kind people here and I've felt so welcome :)  Makes me feel really special.  Frank's family has included me in their traditions from searching for the perfect tree and decorating it, to having a filled stocking left at the foot of my bed and unloading the stockings together in the morning.  I thought that having Frank in my life was enough of a blessing, but having his family in my life is a blessing indeed.  They have been so kind to me and I am enjoying all the family time here.  They also were so sweet and gave me some gifts to include me in their gift exchange--it was such a nice thing to include me and I felt like part of the family.

Something special: Frank and I exchanged gifts on Christmas Eve.  I gave him a small collection of books from one of my favorite authors (Donald Miller) with a bookmark that I made with a poem I wrote.  Frank is an avid reader so I wanted him to have something to think of me when he reads.  I also got him a water bottle he really wanted & was pretty excited about--it's the little things in life ;)   Now onto his gifts for me.  The first one: We were out touring downtown Frederick, Maryland the other day and found a neat pottery shop and we saw some cool ornaments.  I pointed out one that I really liked and he had his dad secretly pick it up later to surprise me.  So sweet.  And, the grand finale... he gave me an Irish Claddagh ring because of his Irish heritage and the traditions he loves.  Also, his father gave one to his mother when they were dating.  It was very special and brought me to tears of course.  The tradition of the ring is that you wear it on your right hand ring finger facing out if you are unattached/looking for love; on your right hand ring finger facing in if you are "romantically involved" or your heart is spoken for; on the left hand ring finger facing out if you're engaged; and on the left hand ring finger facing in if you're married. Mine is on my right hand ring finger facing in--he stole my heart ;)  It's a neat tradition and I'm really happy he gave it to me.  Also, his father has an Irish Claddagh ring as his wedding ring.

Ornament made from a pressed flower

My beautiful ring

Pics from the trip so far:

Frank was so excited to drive!

Frank in his high school alumni hockey game

Looking for the perfect tree

Found it!

Got a pretty wreath too

Neat house where the tree farm owners live

Setting up the tree

Mmmm Starbucks!

So excited to get my peppermint hot chocolate

Church in downtown Frederick

Beautiful town homes

Thought this house looked really pretty

The tree set up in the house

Frank and his brothers (Tom--left, Robert--middle)

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

With my man in front of the beautiful tree--our first Christmas :)

I was proud of this bow I made :)

Gift wrapping station in my room

Frank's mom made gingerbread men

Lisa teaching me how to make Christmas mice--their Christmas cookie tradition

End result

Flaming Figgy Pudding

Christmas Eve

Christmas morning

Presents galore

Christmas morning--looking pretty good for little sleep

Frank's family got me a large 4 person cribbage board

Family visit

Now that I've had a couple of days to get settled back in at home, I can now write about the fun family visit I had.  My parents, brother, and grandpa all visited me for a little over a week and it was quite an adventure.  I set up a shuttle service which kept things running smoothly and we even visited a new place for me :) 

After riding a bus to the airport to meet up with my family, we headed out to Granada for our first leg of the trip.  The next day we rode an express bus over to Masaya to check out the markets.  We met up with Frank there & I got to formally introduce him to my family, since before they only knew him through Skype.  We hung out in Masaya and shopped a little, then took a chicken bus back to Granada.  Frnak & I love spending time in Granada because we get to feel like Americans a little & eat yummy food.  We also got to visit my host sister in Granada and little Dyland.  My mom loves Dyland and we spent a lot of time playing with him and then went out to lunch.

Eating some banana bread in the airport--my dad made it just for me :)

Having snacks and smoothies in the central park in Masaya--can you believe my grandpa climbed up these chairs??

We took a horse carriage to visit my sis

Such a big boy!  Only 9 months old

Loves!

Such a precious little one--with teeth now haha

Ty playing with Dyland

Bubbles!

Lunch in Granada

So sweet :)

Granada was a nice beginning to the trip, but after 3 nights there, we headed south to San Juan del Sur.  Frank & I had never been there, but were excited to check it out.  Here, we rented a house from a Canadian.  He has a nice house right in front of the bay with a pool too!  It was nice to spread out in the large home and check out the beach.  San Juan is a cute little fishing town that is surprisingly very clean.  I didn't really see any trash on the ground, which is shocking for Nicaragua.  It was a nice change.  There are quite a few hostels and tons of backpackers and surfers wandering the streets.  It's a safe little place and we really enjoyed ourselves.  We visited a nearby beach, Playa Maderas, and tried out surfing.  Even got a little tan ;)

On the way to San Juan del Sur

Ometepe Island from the shore--the island is made from 2 volcanoes

View from the house in San Juan del Sur

Lunch on the beach

Purisima celebrations

Running around with a bull on fire

Getting ready to do the zipline

View from the first zipline

So beautiful out there

Ty

Frank

Dad

Gramps

Frank trying to catch some waves

Jasser visited and came out boogie boarding with us

Yep, I stood up on a surfboard :)

Ty heading out

After San Juan, it was on to Barcelo at Montelimar Beach.  When my parents visited in April, we went to Barcelo, which is an all-inclusive resort on the Pacific coast.  My parents really liked it then so we decided to go back on this trip.  The food is awesome (or maybe that's just because I've been eating simple foods...) and there are all-you-can drink cocktails all day.  It was quite a vacation :)  The beach is private and beautiful and the pool is big, cool, and relaxing. 

Beach!

Pool

Mom's pretty tan in the back

I didn't take as many pictures because I was too busy enjoying myself, but my parents got a lot more I think.  After we finished up at Barcelo, we went to Managua  to stay the night since my parents had an early flight.  The trip went by way too fast, but I was happy  and thankful for the visit :)