Cookies with Santa

Christmas time is here!!! We kicked started the season with Cookies with Santa on Saturday. A Chevron colleague of Nico's organized a Santa visit for all believers. Mateo and Santi were sooo excited all morning and even more when they actually saw Santa come into the room. The beauty of innocence and of belief is reflected in this pictures - why do we have to grow up????

Last weekend while this cat was away in Bogota having some R&R, my mice put up our (ugly) Christmas tree. The boys were very excited to decorate it but complained that there weren't enough decorations. So on Monday, Nico had a mission to fulfill: buy more Christmas decorations.
At the party this Saturday, they made some Xmas tree decorations. Mateo is very much into the whole decoration theme, so he was very proud at his creation and according to him, "The tree is now even more beautiful!"

Their eyes shine like little stars every night when we turn the tree on. So to add some more magic, we also put some presents under the tree. And since we are going away for Christmas (and to minimize our luggage both ways!!!), we allowed the boys to open them. We gave them some dress-up outfits, a police and a fireman set. They were sooo happy playing this evening, putting out fires, giving us fines and warnings ... I loved every minute of it!

Otherwise, we are trying to cope with all the rain here in Venezuela. The Ministry of Education has closed all schools since last Wednesday. The rains have caused major landslides and flooding everywhere! Buildings and houses have collapsed and not just in the poor areas! Santi still doesn't have school until Wednesday, which is heartbreaking for me, because he was scheduled to have his Christmas presentation on Tuesday. But at this rate, it's much better to stay safe and off the roads!

Enjoy the pics!