December 24th, 2011:

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our friends and family both new and old! The temperature is forecast to be 83°F tomorrow here in Banderas Bay and we’ll probably go to the beach after opening the gifts from Santa and enjoying a nice breakfast. But tonight, our little family gathered around our mast-tree, ate gingerbread cake warm from the oven and watched Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. The girls left out a plate of cookies and chocolates for Santa (we assured them 7 cookies would be plenty) and little notes and drawings for the jolly guy. Despite our missing our families this year and it feeling like a Seattle August in December, it really did seem like Christmas tonight. We hope you are having a wonderful holiday too.