Baby's First Christmas!

We're a little behind on our weekly blog schedule, but hey it was the holidays and if you've ever been to Mexico at this time of year, you know things move a little slower around Christmas.

So to catch up since the last post, in the week before Christmas, Sasha hosted a baby shower for our pals Kate and Michael. It was a great grown-up type of shower: we held it at night with boys and girls and lots of twinkly lights and bubbly beverages and a strict ban on party games per the mom-to-be.

Not even a week later, Kate demonstrated her own formidable hostessing skills and threw her own party for Christmas Eve. Kate and Michael's bash featured her homemade tamales and atole along with lots of other treats. The party was so great we went twice. First, with Ivan and then later, much later, after Uncle Sam rolled in to town just before midnight.

In between the baby shower and the Christmas Eve fun, we attended Joe's second-annual Hanukkah party. Last year was the first time we were invited to celebrate Hanukkah an we were smitten. Especially with the latkes. This year's event featured the same goodies (jelly doughnuts! and a gift exchange!) and a big turn-out from the local diplomatic community. We had a great time and left humming Rock of Ages all the way home.

"Keep it ROLL-in'..."

Oy vey!

With Grandma Kathe arriving on December 23rd and Sam on the 24th, we were all set to celebrate Baby's First Christmas. It was a blast introducing Ivan to his Uncle Sam and reacquainting him with his Grandma whom he hadn't seen since he was just a month old. Ivan poured on the charm and started things off on Christmas morning with just the kind of exuberance only a 6 month old baby can muster.

That's not a gift.

That's closer...

That's not a hat.

Suddenly everyone lost their damn minds.

We certainly had a merry little Christmas here and hope the same for all of our family and friends!

Stay tuned for highlights from the Dennis visit including lots of sightseeing as well as the down-low on San Miguel on New Year's Eve. Coming very very soon....