I think I said this in my last post...it is so hard to realize that the end of another year is now upon us. We had a very nice quiet Christmas Eve with the Armstrong family. Their oldest son Bob, his wife Emily and their four children came down for the holidays. Matt, who attends BYU also came down. So they had quite a house full of family. They were kind enough to invite us to spend some time with them also. During the course of the afternoon, Ana, the youngest grandchild fell asleep in Elder W's arms. He rocked our children and grandchildren in the same manner, so he has not lost his touch. 
It is a family tradition in their family to have a "Christmas Stew" on the eve of Christmas. After a wonderful dinner, "Presidents A. & W." went into the kitchen to do the dishes. The other members of the family then prepared for the program which was to be performed. They dramatized the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ. It brought back many, many memories of when our children were young and we had very similar programs with family and friends in our home.
On Christmas day, we took the opportunity to do some sightseeing. It was a beautiful day to be a tourist. Elder W. never wants to look like a tourist as they are always targets of street robberies. So we hide our camera and speak Spanish to everyone on the streets and in the shops. This is a photo of a typical street in a South American capital city. The architecture is wonderful. The Portuguese built much of Montevideo, thus the balconies on the buildings. I have heard it said that the larger the balcony, the more wealth the family had, I don't know if that is true, but you can see many balconies, some larger than others. The photo below is a public building. As you can tell, it is very large. Somewhere I wrote the name of the department it houses.
The next thing we saw was the "Port of Montevideo." This is where all the commodities come into the country. There are thousands of containers sitting on the docks waiting to be picked up after they are inspected by customs. We walked around for quite awhile, we saw some very interesting vessels. Part of their "armada" is here also. There was also a very large sailing vessel of some kind. Cruise ships also dock here and the tourists shop and eat in this downtown area. For this reason, the prices here are somewhat higher than in other parts of the city. We did some "window shopping" it was a fun day.
We are always looking for wonderful looking buildings and we found this great doorway. It is very old. Notice if you will the apartment number. Elder W. did not see the number, after I took the photo, I told him to look at the number. He chuckled with me. We find this "219" number in many places It has a significance in our lives. Our Rebecca lost her life on a highway at mile marker # 219. Before her death she had recently shared with Tracy that her new favorite Hymn was hymn #219, "Because I have Been Given Much." It is a special hymn with a special message. When I was a cashier at Smith's, many times I would be thinking of Becky and my register would show $2.19 as a price or the change a customer was receiving. I like to think that she needs me to know that she thinks of me too.
On our way home we traveled on the "rambla" or the beach route. We can get to many locations by using this avenue. As you can see, there are many, many apartments buildings along this route. When we were trying to find our apartment;our real estate adviser tried to get us to rent one of these apartments. I can't imagine living near the beach. The noise and traffic would have driven us crazy each day. It is not far from the mission office or President's home, but we are so glad we chose the apartment we did. The beach near us is within a five minute drive. It is not very clear in this photo, but there were many people on the beach. The water is very shallow.We are beginning the summer season. Many, many people here in Montevideo are somewhat athletic. We always see people riding bikes, running, exercising on the beach or even playing volleyball or soccer. Over all, the people here are much more fit than either Ecuador or Peru.
We will be hearing and seeing lots of fireworks during the next few days. It is a tradition to use fireworks during Christmas and New Year. They are very loud and in our town are very illegal. Here, anything goes. We hear what sounds like sticks of dynamite! My boys would love it. It is a remembrance of years ago when we lived near a wash and our boys (Dad included) would set off "cherry bombs and M 80's." Very LOUD! Here it begins about midnight and lasts as long as their supply, usually several hours.
Well, that is about all for this post...and this year. Time is passing so very fast, we will be home in no time at all. I do look forward to our reunion at home. I know it is early to say that, but this mission, I know time will fly by faster than our other missions. We thank you all for your love, prayers and positive thoughts for us. We think of you all every day. All my love!
Until I write next time.
XOXOXO
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