Bastate cosas.

The month of December has been a BUSY ONE!!

1) Christmas with the girls
The week before Christmas, Celsa had a party at her daycare.  The girls got all dressed up and had a chance to tell Papa Noel what they wanted! :)  They looked precious!

Papa Noel visited our girls!! We celebrated Navidades with Belen's family and had a delicious dinner that was prepared by Belen's sister Maria Jose.  We were joined by Belen's Uncle Manolo, Belen's mother Celsa, Belen's two nephews Inigo and Elias, Maria Jose and her husband Elias.  The girls stayed up until about 12 o'clock when Papa Noel put presents in their rooms!  They were so excited!  Papa Noel also visited me :) I got a new pair of gloves and a new wallet!  For the family, I made a book with some of the photos I had taken of the girls and when Belen opened the book, she started crying with joy :)  That night we stayed up playing card games with Inigo and Elias until 3 in the morning!  It was such a fun Christmas!

2) Updates on the girls
After a few nervous week of walking, Celsa is finally getting a little more secure in her steps!  She is walking all around the house solo! :)  She is growing up so fast!

Agueda is still learning so much english!  Now she is putting sentences together like 'Sarah, can I have a chocolate please?' Obviously, the most IMPORTANT things!! :)  She is also learning the months of the year! Right now she goes "January, February, Marchuary, Aprilary" haha but she is getting it :)

Valentina is also learning a few words but my favorite part about Valentina is that she is just so sweet.  Sometimes Agueda will say she doesn't like something I am wearing, but Valentina comes up right after and whispers 'Eres guapa' :)  Love her!

3) Day Trip!
My friend Hector took me on a little day trip to what I think is the most beautiful part of Galicia I have seen so far!  We went up on top of a mountain with spectacular views of the little pueblos below and the bay surrounding the mountain.  It reminded me so much of California!  Then we went to the Ramon Sampedro site where Ramon Sampedro jumped and broke his neck, thus leading a crusade in Spain for the right to live or die.  His story was portrayed in a famous Spanish movie starring Javier Bardem that my family and I absolutely love called "Mar Adentro."  It was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen.  Then we went to a beach that is placed in a natural park so it had no buildings or houses around it. Just the beach and nature--Just the way it should be.  Absolutely breathtaking.

4) Happy New Year!!
I decided a fun way to spend new years was in Madrid with my favorite person in Spain -- Jacklyn!  She lives with a wonderful family who welcomed me into their home with open arms!  Jocelyn's dad and his fiancee were visiting Madrid for New Years so Jacklyn and I ate a delicious meal with them.  We had lobster, steak, Salmon, and a delicious Caramel muffin for dessert.  It is also a tradition in Spain to eat twelve grapes of good luck while standing on your right foot to make sure you 'start your year on the right foot.'  Of course we participated!  Eating twelve grapes in twelve seconds is way harder than you'd think!

The best part of the trip over all was the night that Jacklyn and I went salsa dancing until 4 in the morning!  At this point, we are pretty much professionals :)  We met a super sweet girl from Louisiana who was spending the week here and we all had a blast dancing Salsa, Meringue, and Bachata!  It was a blast!

That is about all the updates I can think of now!  We are preparing for the Reyes Magos tomorrow and then Agueda's birthday on the 8th so more updates to come!! :)