santas little helper

had to add another couple of photos of miski because she is too cute.  finally got a really good picture of her in reindeer antlers while she was passed out on the couch. trying to enjoy my last precious few days off...hoping it will rain.

Derby Christmas

merry christmas from derby! what a different christmas this has been for us. new country, new friends, new weather, no christmas tree, etc.  but it's been great anyway! yesterday we had a lovely lazy day together with the puppy. i made sweet potato casserole to bring to the orphan xmas party we were going to later on. thought a taste of an american dish would be kind of fun.  went to the christmas party and had lots and lots of food, drinks, and laughter.  my dish was a hit! we even had turkey and salad so it was almost like a late thanksgiving. but it was SO hot last night we were pouring sweat, which was rather unpleasant. not even a bit of a breeze.  zonked out early and woke up to have christmas with the little pup.  gave her a very special christmas breakfast cake, opened her presents and stocking with her and then jose and i exchanged gifts/cards and had a huge xmas breakfast together.  now we are going to snooze the afternoon away. to all those back home...merry christmas eve to you all.
love from nicole, jose and miski (woof!)

merry christmas, feliz navidad, happy holidays, feliz año neuvo, happy new year, peace and joy to you all

christmas cheer!

 

 today was a bit rough, not feeling well, but i rallied and brought home some christmas decorations. jose took it all in stride and has been really positive and lovely when i am feeling tired or down.  brought me an amazing lunch today at work as a nice surprise!  i am a lucky girl. anyway we put up some of our decorations and got the table all set for our xmas dinner and breakfast.  can't wait for some holiday relaxation and puppies first xmas! happy holidays!

taco salad and xmas sugar cookies!

 

after making breakfast sunday and puppy training, we took a walk, lounged, then i made us lunch from left over burger patties and bread (another hamburger and bruchetta on the side). yum. then headed to the pool for a dip with emmett, came back and began making sugar cookies. i can't find molasses to make the family ginger cookies (sniff) so i thought i'd do something xmasy anyway.  forgot that i didn't have a rolling pin or cookie cutters but hey you do what you can with what you got.  also made the boys taco salad and we sat outside for the first time ever! it was beautiful out, yummy salad and delicious beer.  nice way to end a lovely weekend.

christmas in cusco 2008

Happily I did return to see him for several weeks. And it was amazing. Christmas and New Years in Cusco, Peru is wonderful. There are so many traditions and dishes and events. I got to meet his family and they are lovely. I got to see Machu Picchu again and much more of Cusco. We’ve made lots of plans since then, one of which is to hopefully move to New Zealand, Australia, or Europe after we get married and are waiting for the US visa paperwork to finalize.  we decided to start this site to keep friends/family posted on our travels. Click on our Trip Album to see our pics (via picasa) from this past Christmas and New Years.  You can also access the same photos by going to the photo page and viewing the embedded slideshow there :)