The Holidays

This entry may lack some creativity and humor, but I wanted to let all who are interested know what I did for the holidays. It was such a special time for me. I had so many little touches of home and so many who reached out to me during this season.

Some of the things I look forward to the most and that really make the holidays special to me in the States are:
1. The candle lighting service on Christmas Eve.
2. Eating cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning.
3. Being with family.

And here, I got all those things. On the 24th the church had a special Christmas Eve service here just like my home church in NY does. And the best part about it, was we even had a candle lighting to Silent Night. While the song was in Spanish and we used glow sticks instead of candles, it was just enough to make me feel at home. Although, it was lacking the famous "It isn't the presents that matter at Christmas, it's the presence" quote from my dad, Pastor Andres gave a great brief sermon.After the service I went with my pastors, to Andres' parent's house. We enjoyed some great cooking, laughs, sparklers, and gifts.

Then, on Christmas morning, I even had my cinnamon roll. Kelly's mom, Paty Evans, makes cinnamon rolls for her family on Christmas, so she made me some too. From the start of the day it was special. Then I headed over to Robbie and Paty Evan's house for lunch with their kids and grandkids. Again, more great times.

After that, I was able to get together with some friends and watch a movie. Which was nice, since as time to time, if we are home, my family goes and sees a movie on Christmas Day.
Between Christmas and New Year's there was a youth conference in Morelia. It was so nice being able to go to a conference, attend, and receive, without having to plan or organize anything. I haven't done that in a long time.Here, New Year's is a big deal. It is very much a family holiday. It is almost on the same level as Christmas. The church also had a special service on New Year's Eve. Again, a great service. After the service, I went out with one of my friends. We went downtown and enjoyed some great conversation and appetizers at a really nice restaurant right in front of the beautiful cathedral downtown.
After chatting for awhile we headed over to the Lucatero's house. (The Lucateros are great friends here that I adore. They have really made an effort to welcome me into their family.) At their house we enjoyed a delicious dinner and hours of great conversation. It was a blast. After leaving there and picking up another friend, I went home. At 3:30am I snuggled in bed and welcomed in the New Year with some Zzzzs.

Then, New Year's day enjoyed some more delicious food and a movie at the Evan's house.
I had my "candle lighting service", my cinnamon rolls, and while although my genetic family were not around, I was surrounded by family. It was an amazing holiday season.