Emily: Today I can hear some loud music coming from somewhere in the neighborhood. This is not abnormal. There always seems to be some kind of dance beat pounding a few doors down, or a spanish opera singer serenading the neighborhood from a record player. But when I go outside to sweep our porch, I realize that it's not the radio or a CD, but a live mariachi band playing in the park just down our street. They are just standing on the sidewalk, singing and playing their instruments, decked out in full black uniform and sombreros. I don't want to display my complete gringoness by walking down and taking a picutre, so I stick my camera out our gate and snap a shot.

Chad: Well, Christmas has come and gone. Definitely an experience having Christmas in Bolivia. It is summer here and so it never really felt like Christmas. I knew that it was Christmas in my head, but it just never felt like Christmas. We really enjoyed ourselves though. We actually had our friends Mike and Aileen Kindsfater over, and they spent the night. It was sweet. We then spent the day playing games and watching some movies. The picture here is the Santa that was at the equivalent of the Bolivia Walmart. Em and I thought he was interesting.

It is also our privilege to say that we have finally chosen a name for our little puppy. It was a painful process but after a week we have named her Sage. Just yesterday the whole potty training thing just clicked. After a week of virtually no progress, I was beginning to wonder about our little fuzz ball. Then suddenly she walked to the door yesterday and barked. We let her out and she did her job. We were exstatic. She did the same thing several more times yesterday, and although I'm sure she will have an occasional accident; she's doing well.

We just want to say Merry Christmas, and we hope that all are well. We miss you all.

Emily: Yes, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year! The picture of us together was taken the day we played Mary and Joseph for the chapel nativity scene at school:)

no where? nowhere. hmmm...have you ever looked at a word you have written a thousand times and wonder if you spelled it right? ...yeah.....

Emily: well...now is the time to tell you all to be expecting to see a new face in the family....
We don't have a name picked out yet, but she is so super cute, our new puppy!!! It is a big committment, but I think we are ready:) I asked Chad as we drove home from the vet, "do you realize we will have this dog when we have our first child?" (nowhere in the near future for those of you wondering). It's just nuts to me to think that this dog could be a part of our lives for the next 10-12 years!!! SO crazy. We made a good compromise, though. Chad wants basset hounds, which I am not ready to concede to yet, and I love little dogs, which chad, well, doesn't. I know that golden retrievers are not small...sometimes not even medium...but I think she will be a great dog for both of us. Any name suggestions? Here are the forerunners today: Paige, Isabelle (Izzy), Mara, and Claire.

Yesterday was the last day of school for the semester at the learning center. This morning we took a friend to the airport. There are a bunch of teachers going home for Christmas. I was a little sad and maybe a little envious, but we are going to enjoy our Christmas in Bolivia!! We can lay around in our hammock sipping cold drinks while the majority of you might be a little cold and wondering where all of the snow is. My friend Staci posted on her blog about how captivating the Christmas story really is...how God came to earth..and changed our lives...we can be captivated no matter where we are. Merry Christmas!!!!!

Emily: I would just like to clarify, on my mom's behalf, that she did not scream about the tarantula. She was actually quite calm but DID make an "oh this is too gross I can't do it" face.

Chad: Well this is like the third time that I've tried to get this to work, so I'll cross my fingers that third time is a charm.

A couple of quick stories. While Emily's mom was here we got to do some tourist activities that we haven't been able to do within the context of our daily routines. We took Laura to a butterfly farm. At the butterfly farm they kept a gigantic tarantula. Emily and I held it, but Laura could barely get herself to touch it. She kept trying to touch it, but everytime would jerk her hand back at the last instant and scream. It was hilarious. It reminded me of a similar instance in Mexico with my mom, but that's another story.

We also went with Mike, Aileen, and Laura to los Espejillos, which are some waterfalls in the jungle by Santa Cruz. In order to get there we had to drive through a river. Mike and I got out and forded it to make sure that it wasn't too deep.

We continued driving up into the mountainous jungle. It was incredible. We then hiked up to the waterfalls. The falls cascade in several steps down the mountain creating several different pools. Unlike the mountain rivers and lakes in Montana these pools were warm. Mike and I found a ledge that was about 30 feet high to jump off into one of the pools. Aileen and Emily jumped off a lower ledge that was about 15 feet high. It was awesome.