la familia Balcazar

mari, paco, and sarai

The Balcazar family has adopted us and they invite us to do sightseeing adventures with them just about every month.  Mari is from Mallorca and she and her husband, Paco, along with daughter Sarai, know all the best places to visit and more important, the best places to eat!  A Saturday adventure with them is a wonderful food fest, with bakery treats and new things to try, as well as beautiful scenery.  This past weekend Sarai made us pancakes--delicious!-- and then we were off to the Santuari de San Joan to check out the views.  Next we tried a new restaurant started by some friends of Paco with typical Mallorquin food--the restaurant used to be a butcher shop and was redone so beautifully, but with some of the old details still visible.  After a late lunch with delicious food, we were off to a walk through a finca--farm/ranch--and saw an incredible sight!  We had quite a bit of snow last month, and when it melts,  it runs underground from the mountains and pops up in the middle of a forest, creating a very big river with gushing water.  This only lasts until the snow is all gone, so we had a window of about three days and it was so cool to see this gushing of water appear in the middle of nowhere--magic!  There are no rivers here on Mallorca, they only happen when it rains or the snow melts.  Wish it would have lasted longer so we could see it again, but I guess that is what makes it so special:)

the well at santuari de san joan

good friends--sarai, valentin, aurora

cute couple!

the start of a river in the middle of the finca

Snow!

The Manacor Elders--Gross and Batanero--wanted to go on a field trip with us for a Preparation Day so they could see a little more of the island and get out of Manacor.  So, yesterday the four of us went to Valldemossa and as we were driving up the mountain, we saw snow on the peaks behind the one we were driving on.  Elder Batanero said he had never seen snow before, so we decided that after lunch in Valldemossa we would go find some snow for him.  But, as we were paying the parking meter, it started to snow right then, big, fluffy flakes, in our hair, on our coats, and Elder Batanero was giddy with excitement that he was actually having snow fall all around and on him.  Elder Gross--from Michigan--and Steve and I actually got excited about snow again watching Elder Batanero experience snow for the first time.  We ate our favorite roasted chicken as the snow was falling and then took a quick tour of the city, and we were off to find more of the white stuff.  It was strange to be in the snow--especially when I know how hot it will be in just a few months--but it was just another of the many diverse characteristics of this beautiful island.  A beautiful day!

elder batanero with his camera catching snowflakes

elders batanero & gross with a handsome snowman

Hallelujah!

We are singing the Hallelujah Chorus today because it is our 1 year mark--we have made it through a whole year on a mission!  I think we deserve a big pat on the back or at least a gold star for this major accomplishment.   Our Top 10 Highlights:

1. In the MTC when we were accused of being too young to be a senior couple--this still happens.
2. Getting to know and loving the people of the six branches we serve with.
3. The thrill of our Center for Young Adults being approved and having a real budget.
4. Four months later, when they decided no more Centers and us wondering what to do next!  (we were so grateful we got our TV and computers before this happened:))
5. Realizing that senior couples only have two rules, "Behave Yourselves" and "Do Some Good." (we have added, "Don't Forget to Vacuum the Sand Out of the Back of the Car Before You Put the Mission President's Luggage In.")
6. We have learned to be flexible and to have a willingness to jump in and try to do something.  (Steve tells people, "I'm just trying to eliminate excuses.")
7. For Steve--Helping five of our Young Adults fill out their mission papers.  (two are serving now, one has received his call, one is waiting for his call, and one is finishing up his medical.)
8. Traveling to the islands of Menorca and Ibiza regularly and hopefully, forming a Group on the island of Formentera in the next month!
9. For Karen--Poco a Poco, Little by Little learning Spanish. 
10. Working with the missionaries and being involved in something bigger than ourselves.

A Hug from Home

Micah brought me the best christmas gift from home when she and Hank visited--this beautiful blankie filled with memories of family and good times, and made with lots of love by my girls--thank you Tara, Katie, and Micah! It was the best present for a sometimes lonely missionary--a big hug from home from those you love:)

We have been on a mini vacation for the past 4 weeks with visits from Micah and Hank, and Cory and Katie.  We had such a good time with both couples doing very different things, but mostly just enjoyed being together again.  We got to show off our kids to our new friends here in Mallorca, and visit Madrid and Barcelona as well.  We hiked, we ate, we drove to castles, we ate, we visited cathedrals, we ate, we walked through little towns, we ate, we hung out with great people, and we ate.  See a pattern here?!  It was sooooo good to have family with us--we dragged them to all our normal missionary activities as well as a few extra things that were especially for the holidays.

2 missionary couples--m & h dressed in our clothes
because of lost luggage:)

We were sad to see them go, but are looking forward to a visit from Tara, Wyatt, and Cody in March--time is flying and they will be here before I know it:)  Time to get back to work now that we rang in the new year with partying at the church from 1-3:30am--we left early!--the 3 kings finally came, school is back in session, and the Christmas festivos are over.  The next festivo is not until. . . . . . . . .Monday:)
Spain. . . .we love it here!!!

cruising the east coastline of mallorca

toledo with our "tour guides" paco and susi

beautiful hike with the levante branch

December Travels

This month has been a busy one so far with lots to come!  We visited with branch members and missionaries on Menorca and Steve rented my wish for Christmas while we were there.  However, after driving it around, I realized it would be perfect for two adults in the front, but if I ever wanted to take more, i.e., children, friends, or grandkids with me, it would be a tight squeeze.  So, he was smart and did a test drive with the two of us and the missionaries and I think I have dropped it off my list. It really is a cute little car though, and VERY easy to park:)

steve with elders perez & weiss of menorca

isn't it cute?!

We also went to Madrid for a Senior Couple seminar about church employment resources.  The Area Presidency wants us all to be able to be a resource for help in finding jobs for our JAS as well as members of our branches/wards in Spain.  So, we had a fantastic couple of days hearing about what the goals are and how we can help facilitate these goals.  We also were finally able to understand schooling here and the process involved--we can now really help some of our JAS finish their obligatory education and start to move forward.  We had fun visiting a Belén display--beautiful, HUGE, nativity scenes with the whole city depicted--and eating tapas together.  We also realized that being grouchy and negative never solves anything, and we hope that as we get older, we are able to be positive and looking for solutions/ways to help, instead of picking everything apart.  Steve is off to Barcelona this weekend for a quarterly meeting, one more trip to the airport this week and our new favorite place to park where they know us by name already:)

p.s.  happy birthday, mom, i miss you!

bethelehem city display

joseph, mary, baby jesus

wisemen from the east

singing carols waiting for one man with 20 cameras

tapas by the heater

Navidad

We have been doing a few things here in Palma to get a little ready for Christmas.  We inherited this little tree and some ornaments from the previous missionary couple's stash, and with a new string of lights, it is perfect!

plus 2 ornaments from manacor  friends

We also had another festivo--there are may holidays this time of year!--so we invited the JAS over to decorate sugar cookies with Hermana McArthur.  Lots of frosting and colored sugar later, we had many creations and a lot of fun together.  We watched a christmas movie and ate pizza and had the perfect Christmas kickoff.

a true sugar fest!

angel carolers

isabel & raquel

ana, andrea, lemar, & john

For our activity after institute last week, we played "uno para ganar," or "minute to win it," Christmas style.  Some of the games were a lot harder than we thought, but we had a great time laughing with each other. Christmas is coming!

evans & john=very focused

concentrate lemar & panchi!

andrea & freddy

Odds

What are the odds that the only mosquito left in Palma for the winter gets into our piso through closed windows, flies around and finds me--pretty good, since Steve hasn't been touched here--and then bites me on the eye so that it has been swollen for three days?!  I'd say the odds are pretty good, and not in my favor.

pretty attractive, huh!