Christmas

Sorry this is sideways.  For the record, it is uploaded vertically.
Technical help is always appreciated! 

Hola! It's been a week, and a full one at that.  Let's start at the very beginning.  Getting here was no small event.  Flights on Sunday were cancelled due to an ice storm in New England. Bryce and Tina packed in a hurry and took a flight to Philly Saturday evening to get ahead of the storm.  Jon and the girls took a bus to Boston at 3am, flight to Philly, and then were on the standby list for PR from Philly.  Luckily, they got on, and our entire family was in PR by 4:30 pm.
Immediately the hospitality of PR was at our service.  I met Hector, an Airport Ambassador, here to help me find my luggage, my rental car, and give me places to visit, eat, as well as a cell phone number to call him if I need anything else.  This would be the first of many people giving their cell phone numbers, with the message to "call anytime" you need help or a recommendation.
The apartment is in historic Old San Juan. Spanish Conquistadors once roamed these streets and we are flanked by the forts.  We are also flanked by bars, restaurants, and shops, but we'll get to that in another post.  20 foot ceilings, exposed beams, arched windows, marble floors, and luckily AC units for your sleeping comfort.  It's surreal.
Getting settled for more than a vacation takes a trip to Walmart. There are 3 million people on this island, and at any given point 1 million of them are in Walmart.  Absolutely insane experience, but the reason we are all there is because Walmart delivers what it promises - everything to stock your home at prices you don't have to look at.
We got settled and it was on to Christmas.  We learned that the PRicans are a very celebratory culture.  Every day is a reason to set off fireworks and dance and sing and eat, but Christmas is a month long event from Dec - all of January.  We needed items and headed to largest mall in the Caribbean on Xmas Eve.  People were shopping like they had just begun their Xmas lists!  On a personal note, Bryce sat with Santa and told him his wishes and received some very nice compliments from Santa.  I held back the tears but my heart was on my sleeve as I watched this interaction for what may be the last time.  So special to have had it happen here.
We could not find a Christmas tree, so we made one! Our resident artist Allie cut one from wrapping paper, and we hung it on the wall.  We decorated it with lights, ornaments, and candy canes. The presents were placed by the Elves (see the video on Facebook).  Jon read the Night Before Christmas and we all went to bed.  We woke to more packages from Santa, and one bottle of sunscreen with a web address on it.  We looked it up, and discovered that Santa had rented us a beach house for 3 days.
We'll talk about that next time.

From Puerto Rico - wear your sunscreen and bring an umbrella!