Holiday Update

Well, I don't have any exciting pics to share, but I still wanted to give a brief update for those of you who like to know what's going on in our lives. It's been a busy couple of weeks, much busier than I ever expected it would be with my in-laws here. I had this idea that life outside of our family would come to a stop and I'd be able to sit for hours and chat with Mims, cook lots of meals, wander around town, sleep, etc... Boy, was I wrong! There seems to always be something that needs to be done or meetings to attend or things to prepare for church. We've also seen such a great opportunity in this time to see people in the neighborhood and try to connect in these holidays. I still feel like I'm not doing enough. It's good to remind myself constantly that I was saved by grace, and continue to be saved by grace, not by anything I can do...because lately, I feel like I should be DOing more. We had an Australian family who are missionaries in Venezuela staying with us for the weekend- friends we had met in Cochabamba- and enjoyed their company. But, 4 extra people definitely filled up our little apartment and it's nice to be back to just the 4 of us and makes it seem so much quieter now. Yesterday, we hoped to get away to our favorite hot springs, but found out that calling on the road, on the way to the springs, was not enough warning for the hotel. Apparently, if they don't know you're coming, everyone that usually works at the hotel leaves the area and goes back to the little pueblos where they live. I guess the last minute nature of things in Bolivia has worn off on us- but this particular hotel doesn't work that way. So, we enjoyed driving up to El Alto, sitting in traffic jams, getting stuck in the Ceja (the eyebrow) where almost every person of the 1,000,000 population of El Alto passes through daily to get on public transport, and returning back to La Paz to finish off with a yummy lunch of traditional salta~neas. We got spanked in our own house playing Eucre last night by Scotty's parents, but returned the favor to them after lunch today. Tonight is play practice for the evangelistic Christmas play we are preparing with the church for the 23rd....and the days continue to fly by. I found a small pack of turkey breast at the grocery today for $20- so Christmas dinner is in the works. I'm hoping things will be calm from that day on.