Colombian Lantern Festival

We got invited to celebrate Colombia's tradition of lighting lanterns and sending them off into the sky with our Columbian friends the Tovar family.

Little Candles' Day (Spanish:Día de las Velitas) is one of the most observed traditional holidays in Colombia. It is celebrated on December 7, on the eve of the Immaculate Conception, which is a public holiday in Colombia. This day is the unofficial start of the Christmas season in the country.[1]

On this day, people place candles and paper lanterns on their windows, balconies, porches, sidewalks, streets, parks and squares, in short, everywhere they can be seen, in honor of the Virgin Mary and her immaculate conception.

We met in the large field near or home and lit paper lanterns.  There were probably 70 people there participating.  It was a bit daunting with the boys being so little and the fire risks, but it was beautiful.

Shenzhen Branch Christmas Party

The Shenzhen Branch Party was a hit with the kids.  There was traditional holiday food from the USA, singing and even visit from Santa.

Christmas Cookies

Christmas Decorating

Stationary Mall

Victoria Claus

The boys made home made ornaments from their hand prints - next year their hands may be too big

Dafen Art Village

Dafen is home to the Oil Painting Art Village, an interesting group of old and some fairly modern buildings complete with a central square in its midst!

Janine, Maria, a visitor and Jaclyn

November Randoms

I was preparing my Gospel Doctrine lesson while Ironman practiced his letters

 Kenney with a couple of his protests

In our Shenzhen apartment we had a row of floor tiles that were "heated".
The building water pipes ran underneath them so it gave that effect.
Cole would spend chilly mornings laid out on the tile like this. 

Riding to school

Irish bagpipers in the Shenzhen subway - that's pretty normal right?

We had lunch at Element Fresh with our friends one Saturday morning after sports practice.
This Chinese lady asked if she could take a picture with all the kids.
Her husband is next to me snapping photos.  I guess we are an eclectic bunch!

Black Friday

Black Friday used to mean my mom and sisters having a fun exhilarating day of shopping, finding treasures to delight loved ones, focusing on others and creating great memories. We loved coming home to explain to the men how much we saved by spending 😉. Today Stan is off to Vietnam to meet his buddies for a golf weekend and I get to accompany my boys on a school field trip to a cooking oil plant... Things have changed : ) shop on for me my sisters!