December in Xela

The temple is replanted to reflect the seasons and so the grounds are covered with magnificent poinsettias.

This is the manger scene as you drive into the parking area.

Saturday night was our ward's cultural event for Christmas.  The kids are super excited.

My dear friend Katia who taught us to make her Honduran baleadas, and Isis, her daughter, who is very dear to me as well. 

The final few minutes of the talent show included some of the women singing Christmas carols.

Mike joins the men to sing one more carol.  

This is Estuardo and his little girl after the cultural event.  He and his sweet wife Maria are brand new members who asked Mike to perform their baptism last Saturday.  Mike did a great job, even performing the ordinance in Spanish.

Today we had Jaime take us out to do some last minute Christmas errands.  We drove by the school in Centro and saw a line two blocks long to register kids for this school.

Afterward, Jaime took us to his home to see the nacimiento he had just put up for his family's Christmas celebration.  This fills up 1/4 of their living room and he tells us it gets larger every year.  This continues a 27 year tradition, using many of the same pieces that his mother used in his childhood home.

Rosy tells us the car on the left represents Jaime's taxi.

These faux candles are made of tubing and birdseed.

This is their lovely kitchen table.

Dulce tells me jokingly this is the family loro, or parrot.  

Their chickens put up with a lot of wrestling around from the girls, and are happy to be returned to the backyard to hang out with the dogs.

The backyard is abundant with fruit trees.

It is great fun to see how people live in different cultures.  We're grateful to have such good friends here who include us in many of their activities, including Christmas, in such a loving way.