DB Family Blog: December

We jokingly tied this deer skull to the front of a friend's minivan and they returned the favor with holiday spirit

We took Katy to Longhorn to celebrate her completion of a piano level. She is so sweet and fun!

Fudge season has begun!

And gingerbread cookies

I saw a snake but wasn't sure if it was poisonous so I put it in the pool where I could keep an eye on it until it was determined safe lol.

Johnny boy eating a candy cane in front of the fireplace, living the life!

These kids got to walk with the players for the NCAA mens soccer tournament. At the last minute, they let Jacob do it too! It was so cool!

Diana played basketball for the first time in years and loved it. She got better super fast with her energy and effort, and ended up being the main scorer for her team and voted mvp. She absolutely loves the game now.

Rock climbing at a birthday party!

Nicole at a friend's birthday party!

Sweet friends at church

We gave the missionaries Christmas gifts the kids picked out at the dollar store as well as some gift cards. It was great and made me think about how it won't be long before our kids are the ones in other's homes.

More fudge

Nicole resting after basketball on seaweed. Because she loves it and I guess it's fluffy.

Jacob's head in an NCAA commercial!

Nicole got her drivers license. They said she had to wear a mask and Jim was offering money to people in the room before an employee finally said they would give them some. Crazy.

Service project with the basketball team

Merry Christmas shopping with Jim

We chose to get a whippet puppy! Look at that little face.

Off to adventure with the essential oatmeal in hand.

In Costa Rica! Taking off our sweaters felt SO good.

Amazing house! We'd planned on sharing the house and cost with Josh, but they didn't end up coming so it was way more luxurious and spacious than we needed. Such a beautiful view!

Lots of bees in the morning in this tree

I was still dealing with anxiety and so while I rested the family made dinner with the beautiful sunset in the background. Thankfully, I fully recovered from all of the Iyla anxiety within a few days. So grateful for mental health, not taking that for granted again.

John wanted to send his teacher a picture, he really has a great 1st grade teacher this year!

Kids playing in the house. I loved all the space to spread out!

We got up bright and early to take surfing lessons at Tamarindo Beach.

Nobody was there- it gets super crowded later- and so the kids got private lessons

Lots of tide pools to explore. It's fascinating that there is always something new to see and discover everywhere in the world we've been.

John found a coconut and was trying to catch a fish in it. For some reason that didn't work haha

Lots of anemones

Sea slug

Lots of sea slugs. Nicole thought these were so cool

Iguana hanging out over our lunch

Drinks!

View from our lunch table

Jake playing some soccer with other kids

Jim's breakfast was pretty awesome

Mine was incredible too. We got the recommendation from the surfing instructor and it was spot on.

Nicole fed these monkey squirrel hybrids

Dream come true- horseback riding on the beach!

Again we went in the morning and got to go down two beaches that got super crowded later. It was glorious. I felt like I was taking in pure breaths of joy and relaxation. After the crazy of the past half of the year, it was healing and happiness to be with the family enjoying these gorgeous views on horseback.

John's horse was led by our guide and John was so happy to be in front he was singing and talking prettymuch the whole time.

Can you believe these views? It was unreal, felt like the beach was to ourselves, and beautiful!

After our ride, we enjoyed Conchal (shell) beach, made up of tiny shells instead of sand.

Found a weird slug crab thing.

Crabby!

This lunch place is owned by the vrbo owners of our place. The table had these cool swing seats.

We typically spent mornings in adventure and afternoons chilling at the pool and hammock.

Super steep driveway!

We could walk to this little private beach from the house.

Jake and Jim spent a few mornings fishing.

So pretty!

Pretty birds hanging out at our house. There was barbed wire around the property so we didn't have any monkeys. From what I've heard, that is a good thing since they are so loud.

We watched the snorkeling catamarans and fishing boats go out in the harbor every morning and come back each night.

Katy was using a coffee filter as a plate for her toasted pb and j

Church on Christmas Day was about 45 minutes away. It was sweet service, with beautiful testimony and faithful saints.

We had a cook for most of the trip, but didn't want her working on Sunday. So our Christmas dinner was spaghetti and soda!

We took a morning snorkel catamaran!

The boat had a diver go down and bring up fun things to see. Puerto Rico had a ton more stuff- probably because it's an island- but it was still awesome to snorkel around. There were tiny little anemones that would sting every now and then it was so weird because we couldn't see anything.

They served an amazing lunch. I could eat that salsa all day.

I had given the kids a little Dramamine so we didn't have to deal with any seasickness. On the way back after all the swimming and good food, they just completely relaxed and rested on the nets over the water.

Jake went in the back and caught a fish!

Jim went out to find some waves and on his way back got caught in a cattle traffic jam.

The next morning we were off to hike La Leona Waterfall.

The hike is an adventure through all kinds of terrrain.

Eventually going through a canyon through more and more water.

And through bat caves

Drinking fresh water

Using rope ladders to traverse steep or slippery terrain

Swimming through calm, then more difficult and then finally such a hard current we needed a rope!

It was amazing to see the bravery and determination of the kids. They all did it without hesitation and enjoyed it. The feeling of making it past the hardest current and seeing the powerful falls was such an amazing emotion. We all did it!

The brown clay could be used to draw on the face (or a smiley face on mike's stomach)

Nicole had wiped the clay off a bit but it ended up looking like scratches and blood. Other hikers gave her some long looks

Jim's waterproof pack seemed really heavy. Because it was full of water! Good thing I had just kept my phone in the waterproof case around my neck.

Afternoon hike in a volcano! Rincon De La Veija (it was smoking like crazy in June- I couldn't believe pics our taxi driver showed us)

We finally saw monkeys near the end of the hike! One peed towards us and shook branches trying to scare us off.

Capybara or something

Something sweet for the drive home

And the best thing ever was to be gone all day and then come home to tamales!

Breakfast from Martha!

Strong ants in the front driveway

Boogie boarding the last morning!

My wish for a pina colada came true!

Last day at the beach

Jim didn't want to waste the papaya. But didn't realize it had excellent digestive assistance properties. He ended up swigging the rest of a bottle before going through airport security. Poor guy!