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!

¡Feliz Navidad from Costa Rica!

(The links below point to the full stories of each event on our blog if you want to know more or see more pictures… Versión en español disponible abajo.)

During the first three months of the year our focus was on finishing my Master’s degree – me with writing and Graham with keeping Claire entertained and out of the way so I could write (bless him). As soon as I presented my final project in March, we shifted gears and began preparing for our move to Costa Rica!

Claire happily shoveling snow last January in Kansas City

Playing with Daddy in the park on a warm March day in KC

We arrived April 29 and have really enjoyed the almost eight months we’ve been here. The current plan is to stay for two school years…we shall see. Graham and I spent seven weeks taking intense Spanish immersion classes (20 hours per week) and have been seeing a private instructor since we first arrived (usually 1-3 days per week for 2 hours at a time). Our Spanish is now what I would call "decent conversational," but could certainly use improvement. The trick now is using the right verb conjugation or gender in conversation and also hearing things that people say correctly. Always depends on the person, of course. We thought we were doing really well until our car insurance guy called to renew our policy – rapid-fire Spanish over the phone humbled us dramatically.

Our last group of classmates (+el maestro) at our intensive Spanish school

Claire originally started school at a daycare-like place called Yimboré, then in August started at her first big-kid school, the American International School of Costa Rica. The school has kids from preschool (her class) through 12th grade, so she’s exposed to a lot of different things. They teach in English but we encourage her teachers to work on Spanish with her, and all her friends speak Spanish on the playground. She understands a ton and will generate quite a bit (more so if Mom and Dad aren’t around) – she really enjoys the process of learning a new language. Often she’ll ask us how to say something in Spanish, and if we don’t know she says, "Well, we need to look it up!"

Claire at school with some of her art

Again, we’ve really enjoyed our time here thus far. We’ve experienced a lot:

• Massive thunderstorms and an earthquake (very small) 
• Visited three volcanos: Arenal, Poás, y Irazú 
• Tried some crazy-wacky fruits 
• Driving in another country (Costa Rica driving = LA + NY - rules - street signs. Crazy!) 
• Zip-lined through the trees 
• Saw sloths, iguanas, scarlet macaws, pizotes (coatis), gigantic spiders, and all sorts of butterflies 
• Drove to Nicaragua and spent a few days 
• Learned about Costa Rican holidays, customs, and birthday parties
• Made lots of new friends

Hiking at Volcán Irazú

Claire at 4 is busier than ever. Her favorite pastime these days is drawing – she will sit for hours happily coloring and drawing pictures. She writes her name well and loves all things kitty-related. Most days she pretends she IS a kitty.

Our happy 4-year-old

In October we visited the U.S. in a jam-packed trip: we visited DisneyWorld and Universal Studios Orlando, went to a wedding in South Carolina, and spent two weeks in Kansas City with family. We all had a great time but enjoyed getting back to our "new normal" in Costa Rica.

Claire with Woody

Us in front of Hogwarts Castle (a personal favorite attraction)

At the beach in South Carolina

Our big most-recent news is that we’re expecting a little one in May! We’re all just thrilled, and Claire is very excited to be a big sister. She’s been asking us for a baby all year… We do plan to stay in Costa Rica, which will give the baby dual-nationality in the U.S. and C.R. We hope to find out gender in January – stay tuned!

17 weeks as of December 20!

Right now we can’t receive mail reliably – we got a few things early on (took about a month) but haven’t received a thing since. There’s an FAQ on how to contact us on our blog if you want to know more.

For news, updates, and pictures of our adventures, visit or subscribe to our newly-renamed “Forman Adventures” blog at http://munchkinforman.blogspot.com.

We wish all of you a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year! Know that you’re in our hearts and minds even though we’re far away.

For your amusement, we made a dancing greeting card of all of us wishing you a very Merry Christmas. (The cat sort of steals the show…)

Christmas silliness

With much love,

Graham, Mindee, Clare, and Baby Forman

P.S. For those of you who use Spotify, take a listen to our holiday playlist (on random): “Homemade Gingerbread Men.” Enjoy a diverse mix of Christmas/holiday music to help you feel merry and bright.

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En español (traducción completo - por favor me corrijan):

Durante el primero parte del año, nuestro foco era para finalizar mi maestría – yo escribía y Graham jugaba con Claire para yo podía escribir (le bendiga). Tan pronto como yo terminé mi proyecto final en marzo, ¡nosotros comencemos preparar para nuestro mudo a Costa Rica!

Vinimos el 29 de abril y hemos disfrutado los casi ocho meses que nosotros hemos estado aquí. En este momento el plan es quedarnos por dos años en total…vamos a ver. Graham y yo tomábamos clases de español intensivos por siete semanas (20 horas por semana) y hemos tomado clases con un maestro privada ocasionalmente (normalmente 1-3 días por semana por dos horas cada lección). Nuestro español yo llamaría "conversacional decente," pero lo necesita mejorar. Ahora el truco esta usando el conjugación del verbo correcto o el genero correcto en conversación y también oyendo que la gente dice correctamente. Siempre lo depende en la persona, por supuesto. Pensamos que estábamos haciendo muy bien hasta nuestro agente de seguro (para nuestro carro) nos llamó y habló muy rápido por teléfono. Esta ocasión nos humilló mucho.

Originalmente, Claire asistió escuela en un maternal que se llama Yimboré, entonces en agosto ella comenzó en su primera “grande-niña” escuela que se llama American International School (AIS – Escuela Internacional Americano). La escuela tiene estudiantes de prescolar a grado 12, así que ella experimenta un montón de cosas diferentes. La escuela oficialmente habla ingles pero les recomendamos a sus maestros ensenarle español a ella, y todos sus amigos hablan español en el play. Ella entiende muchísimo y habla mucho (especialmente cuando Mami y Papi no están cerca) – ella disfrute mucho el proceso de aprender un idioma nuevo. Frecuentemente ella nos pregunta como decir algo en español, y si no conocemos ella decía, "Bueno, ¡necesitamos buscarlo!"

Otra vez, hemos disfrutado nuestro tiempo aquí hasta este momento. Hemos experimentado mucho:

• Tormentas grandes y un terremoto (muy pequeño)
• Hemos visitado tres volcanes: Arenal, Poás, y Irazú
• Hemos probado frutas locas locales
• Hemos manejado en otro país (Manejando en Costa Rica = Los Ángeles + Nueva York - reglas - carteles de las calles. ¡Una locura!)
• Hemos tomado un tour de canopy por las arboles
• Hemos visto los perezosos, las iguanas, las lapas, los pizotes (dos veces), las arañas gigantes, y muchas tipos de las mariposas
• Manejamos a Nicaragua por algunos pocos días
• Hemos aprendido de los feriados, los costumbres, y las fiestas de cumpleaños de Costa Rica
• Hemos hecho muchos nuevos amigos

Claire con 4 años esta más ocupada que nunca. La cosa más divertida para hacer para ella está dibujando. Ella se sienta por horas para colorear y dibujar imágenes. Ella escribe su nombre muy bien y le encantan todas las cosas de gatitos. Por lo mayoría del tiempo, ella finge que ella ES una gatita.

En octubre visitamos los Estados Unidos en un viaje muy ocupado: visitamos el Mundo de Disney y Estudios Universales de Orlando, fuimos a una boda en Carolina Sur, y pasamos dos semanas en Kansas City con familia. Nosotros todos pasamos un tiempo muy bien pero disfrutamos regresar de nuestro "normal nuevo" en Costa Rica.

Las noticias más nuevas y grandes son que ¡vamos a tener un bebé en mayo! Nosotros todos estamos muy emocionados, y Claire esta muy alegre para ser una hermana mayor. Ella nos ha pedido para un bebé por un año… Planeamos quedarnos en Costa Rica - el bebé va a tener la doble ciudadanía entre C.R. y los Estados. Esperamos descubrir el genero en enero - ¡estad atentos!

En este momento, no podemos recibir correo de forma fiable – hemos recibido unas pocas cosas muy temprano (tomó aproximadamente un mes) pero no recibido nada cosa desde. Hay un PMF sobre como nos contacta en nuestro blog si usted quiere saber más.

Para noticias, historias, y fotos de nuestras aventuras, viste o suscribe de nuestro blog (con nuevo nombre): "Las Aventuras de la familia Forman" de http://munchkinforman.blogspot.com.

¡Esperamos que tengan una feliz Navidad, fiestas felices, y un prospero año nuevo! Sepan que ustedes están en nuestros corazones y mentes aunque estamos muy lejos.

Para su diversión, hicimos una tarjeta de felicitación de bailando con todos nosotros deseándoles una muy feliz Navidad a ustedes. (La gata se roba la exposición...)

Con mucho amo,

Graham, Mindee, Clare, and Bebé Forman

P.D. Para ustedes quienes usan Spotify, escuche a nuestro lista de música para los feriados (mezclado): "Homemade Gingerbread Men" ("Los hombres de pan de jengibre hecha en casa"). Disfrutan un mezcla diversa de música de Navidad y las fiestas para sentir felices y brillante.

Claire's going to be a big sister!

We're delighted to announce that we're expecting a new member of the family in May!

Claire is very excited to be a big sister, and hopes it will be a little brother (because we have three girls in the family but only one boy), but knows that God gets to choose. Hopefully we'll find out the gender in January and look forward to sharing that, too.

At this point we're almost 17 weeks along and everything is healthy - we can't ask for more than that!

We do plan to stay in Costa Rica – the baby will have dual nationality between C.R. and the U.S., which is pretty nifty.

On a separate note, we've had a lot of address requests lately for holiday cards, so I put together an FAQ on "How to Contact Us." At this point, e-cards are best. (That's all we'll be sending, too...)

In Spanish:

¡Con alegría nosotros anunciamos que vamos a tener un bebe en mayo!

Claire está muy emocionada para ser una hermana mayor, y ella espera que vaya a ser un hermanito (porque hay tres niñas en nuestra familia y solamente un niño), pero ella sabe que dios va a elegir. Esperamos descubrir el género en enero y vamos a compartirlo también.

Ahora, tenemos casi 17 semanas y todo está saludable - ¡no podemos pedir para más!

Planeamos a quedarnos en Costa Rica - el bebe va a tener la doble ciudadanía entre C.R. y los Estados. ¡Que chiva!

Our dancing smiley face

Claire's school held its annual holiday show on December 1. It was mostly dancing and had nothing to do with the actual holidays - just a chance for the kids to show us what they can do and for us to be proud parents. Claire's preschool class partnered with a pre-kinder class and they danced to a song called "Mambo" as giant smiley faces. It was ridiculously cute. All the kids did a nice job (preschool through 9th grade)... [ Video here if you would like to see. ]

The wildly dancing smiley faces 

Our own crazy little smiley face

Claire is very excited that it's December because it's the month of Christmas. Graham's brother Bart is going to spend the week of Christmas with us - we can't wait to see him! This will be the first Christmas neither one of us has traveled since college - crazy thought. This will also be the first year in a long, long time that I won't bake gingerbread cookies. I don't have the supplies (cookie cutter, etc.), and molasses isn't available here. I'm happy to share my recipe if any of you find yourselves jonesing for some gingerbread...

It feels weird that it's almost Christmas since it's 70-80 degrees here and sunny. There's also a strong wind and it gets cooler at night. For Costa Ricans, this weather means Christmas (they even call it the "Christmas wind" and we hear it gets stronger). We did put up a little tree, which helps us feel more festive. Here Christmas and New Year's are the times families go to the beach. Very different traditions... The traditional food for the day is tamales - not the corn husk-wrapped ones we think of in the U.S. - Costa Rican tamales are wrapped in banana leaves. Eggnog ("rompope" or "ponche") is also popular (and is most often sold in stores with the rum already in it), as is coffee, hot chocolate, or agua dulce (a hot drink like warm vanilla milk).

Our little tree - we're still looking for a star and a tree skirt (oh, for a Target...)

We're looking forward to our first Costa Rican Christmas!

The Spanish Summary:

La escuela de Claire tuvo una exhibición para Navidad – los niños bailaron y eran muy linda. [ Hay un video aquí si quiere ver. ]

Claire está muy emocionada para Navidad. Su tío Bart va a visitarnos por la semana de Navidad. Esta Navidad es la primera que ni Graham o yo no vamos a viajar desde la universidad. Tampoco, yo no voy a hornear los hombres de pan de jengibre porque no tengo las herramientas y no hay melaza aquí. Yo estaría feliz a compartir mi receta para las galletas si alguien lo quiere…

Lo sentamos extraño que es casi Navidad y hace mucho calor y sol. También, hay un viento fuerte y hace más frio en la noche. Para los costarricenses, esos significan que Navidad está cerca. Tenemos un pequeño árbol y lo es muy festivo. Aquí la gente viaja a la playa para Navidad y el nuevo año – las tradiciones son muy diferentes que en los Estados. La comida tradicional es los tamales (en hojas de banano), con rompope o café o chocolate caliente o agua dulce.

¡Nosotros esperamos para nuestra primera Navidad en Costa Rica!