Finally, the guests started arriving. Santiago got here first so I gave him some rubber duckies to float in the hot tub. His folks were both near by so no danger. Isidro’s six grandchildren rushed in and surrounded me with hugs and kisses..unprompted! Even the boys. They are such sweet children. Then Yolanda and Yoli and Oscar and Isidro were close behind, lugging a big aluminum pot full of Yolanda’s traditional posada chicken salad to be eaten on tortillas as well as a huge thermos of fruit punch and another of jamaica. We did the piñata first, starting with the tiniest and going uphill to the tallest–and as it turned out, the strongest. Yoli was the heroine who whacked Santa his final blow. Luckily, I think his cute face is salvageable so I can use it on a wall or door next year.Below are all my cellpics of the event. It was sooooo enjoyable and the kids were so excited and all the young adult parents and cousins and brothers and sisters were so fun as well. The kids had as much fun playing hide and seek in my garden and all around the outside of my house..and the inside, actually…as they did whacking the piñata. Here are some pics:
The children were so active, running through the house and out four different doors of the house..in backyard and front yard and yet they were careful, damaged nothing. At one point one of Isidro’s granddaughters saw me pick up a candy bar wrapper from the grass and minutes later went over to kids and told them not to throw anything on the ground and to put the candy wrappers in their hands into the wastepaper basket. She was a very small girl and I thought this was an incredibly thoughtful act. In fact there was no trash around at all. Amazing given the hundreds of pieces of wrapped candy that were being consumed. .Yolanda and Yoli and Ellie and Marie Jose cleared the tables and all the trash, even though I did not ask or expect them to. All in all, a wonderful wonderful experience. The mother of most of Isidro’s grandkids who attended was only about 7 when I first met her. She won a “clean up the lake” poster contest I sponsored. And Alejandra, the mother of two others, attended a kids camp I helped organize and conduct when she was 12 years old. She’s now 27! It’s amazing to live through an entire generation of kids. I’ve been here 23 years. Longest I’ve ever lived anywhere. (If you are worried about Santa’s present condition, here is more of the story: https://judydykstrabrown.com/2024/12/24/santa-makes-a-comeback/
For Cellpic Sunday
lifelessons - a blog by Judy Dykstra-Brown 
It seems that everyone had a great time. Love these pictures Judy
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As I said the other day, the joy in your posts creates the beautiful first memories of my mornings. Thank you, Judy and Merry Christmas!
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Thanks, Laurie. Wonderful to hear someone gets as much joy from reading them as I do from writing and posting them. xo
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I always love seeing your family celebrations, as well, Derrick.
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Great fun
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Oh Judy such a happy party set in such a beautiful place by beautiful people in views that I have not seen before. You are so lucky~! I wish that I could have been there just to sit, watch and listen to the yells and fun being had. (even grabbing a tiny bit of pinata sweets and treats to taste. In addition I have now seen your home and garden put to a different use with a different purpose which brings to a life of happiness that I have never seen before. Was it necessary to not have at least one of the animals attend~? Tami would have been all over the place helping to entertain~!
This is the type of Rotogravure that I truly enjoy of any garden. While pictures of flowers are great, seeing the garden (and home), come alive when you put life into it with people, especially children, enjoying it all, thus bringing it to life. A sound movie would have been a nice addition too. Maybe next year or hopefully (next time) which could be sooner,rather than later, even “new year” or one of the many Mexican holy days. Thanks not only for shearing your eclectic art, home, garden, and life with these families but then also shearing the whole the whole thing with us. I so love the “Latin alegría de la vida”~! Thanks for making my day and week a happy one starting so early on a cool Monday morning leading up to Christmas week. I AM SMILING~!
SAM
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I did take videos that I am trying to get on Youtube so I can link to them on my blog.. So far no luck but I will keep trying. I had to take dogs next door as all the doors and gates were open, including the garage door to the street so they would have been either gone or up on the table eating the people food. They would have had a wonderful time playing with the kids, but they had fun next door as my neighbors were having a posada party with a few friends and they got to interact with them. I couldn’t get Morrie to come home!!!
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Looks like a terrific party and the kids are adorable, but whose birthday was it- yours?
Curious cat that I am, I had to look up Posada Chicken Salad; I loved it and plan to make it one of my “boat dishes.”
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