Trip to Siguatepeque and New Years!

The day after Christmas, we loaded up the cars and caravaned to Siguatepeque with my parents, Kara and Luis, Hailey and Catherine, where my mother-in-law, sister-in-laws, and some of Marvin's extended family received us with open arms. We are so thankful for two wonderful families that the Lord has blessed us with. We enjoyed taking my family to the clay workshop (and my mom and sisters enjoyed the amazing bargains there!), and we enjoyed taking them to see several big nativity sets, traditional of Siguatepeque. Sadly, Marvin, Luis, Kara and I had to go drop my parents and two baby sisters off at the airport the following day. We were so sad to see them go, but thankful for the special time we had with them.

Kara and Luis stayed with us in Siguatepeque two more days, and we had a wonderful time showing them around the city (and even running into some of their friends from Seteca!), taking them to eat tacos and pupusas, visiting Marvin's family, and just hanging out with them. My mother-in-law really loved getting to host them and having the opportunity to talk to Kara and get to know her better. We all wished they could have stayed longer and are so happy to have had that time with them!!

After Kara and Luis left, Marvin and I stayed in Siguatepeque 'till January 3rd. We had a wonderful time celebrating New Years with Marvin's family and enjoying all of their wonderful family traditions. I enjoyed helping my mother-in-law and sister-in-law make tamales on the 30th, and all of us loved eating them. Some other things we did were: go to church and after church have a big supper at 9 p.m., go down to celebrate with all of Marvin's extended family around a big bonfire and wait for the new year together, hug all 80-90 family members at midnight and wish them a happy new year (i'm not kidding!), get our ears blown off with lots of firecrackers, participate in a massive family gift exchange, drink coffee at 2:00 a.m., and just have fun! I love Siguatepeque because it is a city of so many unique traditions. The 31st as we drove down the road, I loved seeing bonfires on literally every street corner in neighborhoods all over the city and families gathered around them. We also saw homemade men which symbolize the old year sitting out in peoples yards all over Siguatepeque waiting to be burned in the fire at midnight to burn the old year away and welcome in the new year. These men are life size and made up with people's own old clothes and shoes. Another fun tradition is that the people who want to travel in the new year run through the streets with suitcases at midnight (this was very funny to watch--especially Marvin's aunts!) Marvin and I got to bed sometime between 2 and 3 in the morning. Most of Marvin's family didn't go to bed until much later and some never went to bed at all! The next afternoon, January 1st, the men in Marvin's family have the tradition of participating in a soccer tournament. They get their team together, made up of family members only--cousins and uncles, young and old alike, and play against another team. They actually play really well together, and they beat the other team pretty badly!

We had a wonderful holiday season and are so thankful for the privilege of spending time with people we love so much. We are especially thankful for God's gift to us of Christ, and this opportunity to live a New Year for Him. Marvin and I were so thankful as we looked over our list of the goals the Lord helped us accomplish (or accomplished in us) last year as we remembered once again that He has given us the opportunity to live life with eternal value and accomplish things of eternal value. The things of this world will vanish one day, but life in Him is forever. We pray as we look towards 2011 with our new goals and plans that He be the center and focus of every move we make, that He make us more like Him everyday, and that His kingdom continue to come to earth through our lives. May His will be done, and May He be glorified through us.

Happy New Years to all of our family and friends!