A Beachy Costa Rican Christmas

Happy New Year from the Formans!

Claire's last day of school was the 16th - she has 5 weeks of vacation so we've been spending a lot of time at the park and just together having fun.

Happy girl on the teeter-totter

Dribbling - Claire's latest soccer skill 

Keeping the ball away from Daddy (two seconds later she picked it up and ran with it) 

 The swings are my favorite!

Claire's new favorite dinner time helping activity: peeling garlic. She gets very upset if we forget and peel it ourselves...

Graham's brother Bart visited us for the week of Christmas. Since this is the first Christmas neither Graham nor I has traveled since college, and Claire's first Christmas ever with no travel, it was wonderful to have family here. Made it feel much more Christmas-y, especially with the sunny, 80-degree weather. We had a lovely American-style Christmas Eve dinner with friends that culminated in a very special ceremony where Claire put the Baby Jesus in the nativity scene, we sang carols, and read from the Bible (all in Spanish). The next morning we had a traditional Costa Rican holiday breakfast of tamales with Salsa Lizano for breakfast - yummy!

Claire showing everyone in the room the Baby Jesus before putting it in the nativity scene. She had that honor as the youngest person present.

Claire opened all the presents for everyone - she was a great helper! 

Santa brought a bicycle for a girl - she took it for a test ride Christmas afternoon 

Mom and Dad gave her more art supplies, and she's been happily drawing, coloring, and cutting ever since 

The day after Christmas we took the traditional Costa Rican holiday trip to the beach. (We hear San José gets VERY quiet for New Year's since everyone is at the beach.) We were only supposed to stay for one night, but had such a good time we decided to stay for two. We went back to Punta Leona, where we had previously been on a day trip - it was fun to spend more time there. Then we shifted to a surf hotel at Playa Hermosa (Punta Leona was full for the second night) and Graham and Bart got in a bit of surfing. A fun time was had by all! More photos can be seen here if you're interested.

On the way to Jacó there's a bridge over the Río Tárcoles known for crocodile-spotting - we saw more than 20

Claire's favorite part of the hotel - the pool! 

Bart catching a wave at Playa Jacó

Saying goodbye to Uncle Bart - we were sad to see him go but very glad he came to visit!

We hope 2012 brings you great joy, health, love, and peace!

En español:

¡Feliz año Nuevo de la familia Forman!

El ultimo día para escuela para Claire era el dieciséis de diciembre – ella tiene 5 semanas de vacaciones, entonces hemos pasado mucho tiempo al parque y juntos tenemos diversión.

Bart, el hermano de Graham, nos visitó por la semana de Navidad. Esta Navidad es nuestra primera sin viajar desde la universidad, entonces era fantástico a tener Bart aquí con nosotros. Pasamos Nochebuena con amigos. Tuvimos una cena de tipo Americano y una ceremonia con Jesús Bebé en el pasito, canciones, y pasajes de la Biblia (en español). Comimos tamales con Salsa Lizano para desayuno la mañana de Navidad - mmm...

El día después de Navidad nosotros viajamos a la playa. En vez de solamente una noche, pasamos dos porque era muy divertido. Regresamos a Punta Leona, y luego nos mudamos a Playa Hermosa. Más fotos están aquí si quiere verlas.

¡Esperemos que 2012 traiga mucho alegría, salud, amor, y paz!