Preparing for Christmas in the Tropics

You have to really psyche yourself out to feel "Christmassy" in the tropics. There are NO weather clues to help you along. No decorations, no music blaring over the speakers whilst you shop. But - we perservered and our home is ready for Christmas! Our last Christmas in the tropics!

First, Benjamin made room for our stockings. Since we have no fireplace to hang our stockings on we put them on the coat rack. Benjamin is in charge of clearing off the coat rack. Marvelous job he does! (Yes, we do have a coat rack, and use it! The kids freeze at school in the over-air conditioned classrooms and so have several hoodies that they use at school and drop all over the house - and sometimes hit the rack.)


Casey felt inspired by our old times in Beijing where we learned to knit from my friend Nicole Goldrup. Out came the yarn and knit away she did!

A closer shot shows just how much Beijing influenced her knitting. Those are chopsticks for her needles!! (I have since confiscated the knitting and have it in my room for theraputic purposes. If you've never tried knitting I highly recommend it!)

Whilst Casey was busy knitting the boys and our regular rent-a-kid (Greg Balint) started on the tree assembly. Benjamin doesn't have a shirt on because that is his standard dress code as of late. He thinks he has an "eight pack" and is very proud of it.

Last in Christmas preparations are the treats! Here are Mark and Jordan making Grandma Friend's famous pizzelles. These are chocolate and anise flavored. We made lemon a few days ago but they are almost all eaten by now.

Merry Christmas everyone. We are trying to enjoy our last Christmas with rain and sun and warmth. We know this may be the last Christmas ever where we can work on our tan when we shop for presents. Wish us luck and we'll join you all in the spirit if not the temperature!