Three Years On Statia: How did Santa Get here!?

Ho, Ho, Ho, - Ho, Ho, Ho, How did Santa Get Here?!

~The title of this entry is after a classic Caribbean Christmas song here on the island!

It was that time again for the annual children’s Christmas party! Being our third year here we figured we had it down pretty good. We brought drinks and snack for the kids, arrived a little late and it worked out perfect! The entertainment was going on and there are always lots of friends. This year was the year of Elmo, Mickey Mouse, Tinkerbelle, and Transformers. We brought friends Niz and Zay to the party with us! Anike was a home with a broken foot from having surgery and Eric, her husband, had just broken his leg on the job! Zay is like the little brother Jase doesn’t have!

After the kids show they allowed anyone who wanted to have their picture taken with the characters could. Court was the only one of my kids that wanted to get a picture, but there were lot of other little kid who wanted to get their picture taken. The only problem was that there was no on to take their picture so they would kind of stand in front of the character wanting a picture not knowing what to do. To I ended up taking a few pictures of these kids not having anyone to take a picture of him or her just so they could be happy. I was looking for the pictures but I only have ones of girls that I know – I must have erased them grrrr.

Santa Clause – the big guest of honor!

Again this year they lined up to get their present, and it went by really fast this time!

Court got an entertaining video about counting money, Jase hit the jackpot again and Katie too with MP3 players! And of course being with friends and Santa is the best!

And again to finish off the party is the insane raffle! Giving out bikes, MP3’s, Kindles, Nintendo DSI’s, and not just one of each of these big items! At least 3 or 4 of these items each, but there were about 8 bikes. We didn’t win anything but it was fun to see some of the friends we know win! Its always a little bit of a chaotic party but the kids don’t seam to notice or care, just that they are having a ton of fun, seeing Santa, and hanging with their friends!

Jase and Katie, over the Christmas break, started taking their junior open water diver course! In order to pass this course they have to learn and understand everything an adult would have to know to pass and complete the course so its not an easy task. Before they started the hands on part of the course they spent hours at home reading, watching video’s and studying the PADI course. Once they got the first two sections under their belt they were able to start with the equipment. So before Christmas they started the first few sections of the course at Scubaqua with our well-trusted friend Marieke Van de Wetering who also taught Todd and me. You wouldn’t just trust anyone with your kids diving underwater!

Here they are learning to handle the equipment they have studied about.

And now they are dawning on their equipment to get in the water to try out their underwater skills! Doing the basic skills, all underwater, of clearing water out of your mask, removing and replacing your mask, sharing air, removing and replacing your equipment, clearing your regulator, navigation with a compass, being neutrally buoyant, my goodness there is so much more that I can’t think of right now! Practice makes perfect! Marieke did a great job dealing with two bobbing kids in the water with all their diving gear on!

Going into the ocean for their first water skills! And they did a fantastic job!

This first picture is of Katie and what she did when she saw a barracuda on their first water skills lesson!

That afternoon they went for their first dive at a dive site riding on the diving truck to the boat! And they did a fantastic job, and Marieke said they are naturals!

Just before the Christmas break I got a call from Hilda Berkel who runs the Chapel Peace Community centre for the Elderly on the island to come to associate with each other, play games exercise eat ect.. the place that the kids sang at before. She asked if the kids all wanted to sing again for a Christmas program she was putting together. I said absolutely and gave her the number of the primary representative from church that was still on the island. So this is where we are! It ended up that a group of people from church sang and it was a valiant effort. We enjoyed signing a variety of Christmas song, some that I didn’t’ know, listened to poems and others sing their hearts out.

This man here has a form of disability but wanted to share a sweet song with everyone and was so proud of himself. We see him walking all over town all the time, but I don’t know his name.

And this sister was grooving to the music of the Killy Killy (named after the Island’s national bird) band with Hilda! The Band is absolutely fantastic!! We want to pick up a CD of theirs! They play with banjos, guitars, tambourines, ukuleles, a washboard tin of sorts, and some instruments I have never see before!

Here we are singing our family rendition, right out of the church hymnbook, Joy To the World and Angels we have heard on high.

Thanks to Olga Schats for taking a picture with our camera! Here is a little side story:

A family tradition on my side of the family is to go caroling on Christmas eve to our friends. This year we decided as a family that we would carry on that tradition and go caroling to some of our friends on the island. We went on a few different nights to spread out the singing load and had a most marvelous time! We brought cookies, my grandma Bishops recipes, and gifts, the video Joy To The World & The Proclamation to the Family, to some of our friends. We tried to get as many as we could. It was a wonderful experience singing with our children about our love and thankfulness for our Savior Jesus Christ at this special time of year; and our friends could feel that too. We sang Joy to the World, Angels we have Heard on High, and Silent Night. Some of them told us that they could feel peace and joy as they listened to the words of the music – music they haven’t heard for years – and we said to some it is the Spirit telling you these words are true. This opportunity was truly a blessing for us as a family to grow closer together, and hopefully a blessing for those we were able to touch.

So we felt is quite fitting to sing our songs when Hilda asked for anyone who wanted to do a little number to go ahead and share.

And after was some great food cooked by none other that our friend Philomena who works as the centre’s Chef! Followed by music dancing and visiting.

Pic 40 – 45 – add in words

This sweet lady walked right up to Courtney took her hands and started dancing with her! It was so cute!

Katie with Savannah & Hayley.

Courtney with her friend from school Nicole!

Christmas time crafts at the Centre for Youth and Family! They always have some really fantastically fun ideas of crafts for the kids to do! We brought some friends down with us to do crafts and hang out for the day! Sarah, Niz & Zay!

The boys and most of the girls opted for the candle in the spray painted jar whish looked really cute with all the decorations they could decorate with and pick their color of candle and spray painted jar.

But Court wanted to do something different – follow her own path and chose to do a tree ornament thingy – I’m not sure what it’s called but it’s really cute. Shw was working so carefully to get it just right!

The finished product – with her classmate from school Maqure who did the same craft as she did!

Everyone’s finished products

And while we were there Ineke Schram came up to us after a trip to the Netherland and visited with our friends Judith, Saunders, and Beau Fijma! Beau had send these postcards home with Ineke and asked her to deliver them to Zay and Jase! What a sweet surprise for the boys!

So one day during the Christmas break we are sitting in the house, just the girls and I, and we hear this boom, boom, thud, thud, boom boom – and we couldn’t figure out what it was at first. Then we start hearing loud music - sounding like it was getting closer and closer so we knew we had to jump in the car and go check it out! Lucky for us we did because it was what I call an instant parade! They don’t advertise or let you know when it is going on you just hear the loud music as it drives around the island hitting most of the major streets louring you with its music! This time it was Santa in a truck surrounded by elves throwing tons of treats to those who come out and see them. Oh my goodness it is so fun! We were laughing and catching the treats – not cheap treats by the way – even packages of low fat snacks for the adults – we even recognizes a few of the elves on the trucks. (Ibo for one – the maintenance man who helps to look after Katies school.) A little instant parade to give you a little instant joy!

We have some super great people we have met on the island who do so much for us its hard to keep up. Debbie had to go to Columbia to the Doctor leaving Jose working hours on end and the possibility of Sarah at home alone a lot without her Mommy there for her. So of course we had her over whenever she needed to be – they do so much for us! And they still insisted on taking us out for dinner. These people truly are selfless – I try to learn from them as much as I can! What a nice evening. And Sarah bought them all Christmas gifts with her own money.

We had another great evening with some friends of ours the Hunters. Todd had helped them on a few occasions – he fixed their daughters computer and Grant was so sweet and helped scrub our ceiling beams, what Todd was doing when Grant called for help, while Todd worked from the computer to the beams. This last time he helped fix their cistern from leaking all of their water out. They are another fantastic family we have gotten to know and they also felt they wanted to take us out for dinner. Its mostly Todd I would have to say but I guess you could argue as some have said to me that I’m letting him go and fending for myself more often.? Anyway we are blessed and grateful for great friends! We even went to a dinner and a show – watching the bats, rats, and cats climbing and swooping in the trees above us! Even leaving me with a party favor of bat crap on my head and jacket! It was pretty funny!!

It is always fun decorating a gingerbread house and most satisfying watching them decorate one you have made from scratch. My grandma Bishops family recipe! You can’t buy the premade gingerbread houses from the store here so if you want to make one you have to do it yourself! We made one the first Christmas we were hear but ran out of time on the second year but had to do it this year! Our friend Sharique had joined us for the day coming to church with us, where he said it was different but nice, and hanging out all Sunday to make our house with us! It was really nice having him here! I don’t think he has made one before. Todd helped the kids with the icing bag – made out of wax paper so its fragile - and they ate and stuck on a ton of treats! Fun!!

We then went looking at some Christmas light around the island. There are some fantastic ones out there.

Christmas eve has come real soon! We decided again this year to open our home for a Christmas Eve party with some great people - a lot of them who are away from home without family to be with. The Tidmarshes, Hunters, Rodriguez, Hilda Doek (Katies school teacher), and the Wolseys. We made some goat with potatoes and carrots, homemade mushroom soup – thanks to Anike for the recipe to die for! -, spinach dip, Mud buddies, had lot of pop and water to drink and home made apple cider! So good! Plus everyone brought some amazing food to share! Twas’ a night to feast!

We had a little mini program where whoever wanted to share a Christmas song, poem, thought ect. they could. We had some great singing by a bunch of different people. Katie and Sarah sang some Dutch songs that teacher Hilda has taught them in school and some Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, Britney, Savannah and Hayley Hunter sang a beautiful round of a Mary, Mary song – I’d love to learn it! , Courtney did her own little solo of Go Tell it on the Mountain, we had a Feliz Navidad, we as a family sang Silent Night, and Camille Tidmarsh shared a wonderful short story/poem from the point of view from Mary, Jesus’ Mother, and a sad dream she had about people forgetting the reason why Christmas is truly celebrated – beautiful and thoughtful story.

Piñata Time! It is a tradition in Todd family to have a piñata on Christmas Eve and we thought it would be a lot of fun with all the little kids we were going to have at the party! I think they had a fantastic time! I love how the little ones would just come up to the box and tap it a little bit with the bat like little Liam and Remmy! You can see on their faces, “Are you serious – I can whack this thing with this bat? What about all of the do not hit lectures! – Awesome!” It was great fun! We only had the string break twice by pipes Hayley J and then big Matt finally broke it open!

Jingle, Jingle, Ho, Ho Hoooooo Merry Christmas! While singing some fun Christmas songs Santa Clause came to town! The Rodriguez’s went above and beyond the call of duty to get Santa from his busy schedule tonight to come and say hi to the kids!! Lucky us!! Remmy was scared to death and hid in the corner, we all tried not to laugh poor thing, but the rest of them were super excited! Even the big kids! This was a big tradition in my family to always have Santa come on Christmas Eve! We love Santa!! Thank you for coming!! (If only my pictures weren’t so blurry – boo!)

The tradition of the Nativity is done every year in our home much like pretty much every member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints you might meet. Whether it is read from the scriptures or acted out, read and sang – it is celebrated. This is why we have Christmas to celebrate the birth and life of our Savior Jesus Christ. It is always fun for the kids when we act out this special time in the world giving the kids the chance to pick who they want to be, Mary, Joseph, Angel, Shepherd, animal, Wiseman – it makes it fun and memorable for them. We always act, read, and sing the coordinating Christmas songs with the scriptures. For instance when the angels appear to the Shepherd we sing ‘While Shepherd watch their Flock by Night’ and ‘Angels we have heard on High’, or we sing ‘When Joseph went to Bethlehem’, as we read about their journey to Bethlehem. We always close off with ‘Silent Night’, which always leaves a feeling of peace and joy in the room. It was so wonderful to be able to share this special time and feeling with our friends.

For fun the Hunter Family, I’m not sure if it every year, but they brought their face paint to help get everyone into character. Courtney being Mary got an extra special look I’m not sure how exactly she felt about it but it stayed on. And we had a fantastic Joseph, some fabulous animals, Shepherds, Angels, Wise men and special baby Jesus! Thanks for making it so memorable!

And the party is still going with a White Elephant Gift exchange! Todd’s family always plays this game every Christmas and lot of our friends who came this night do it too. Basically you buy some not so expensive gifts – depending on your rules, one representing each person in your family, some nicer than others with a wide variety and you play a game of exchange not knowing what is wrapped up. There are different rules for different people some open the gift before the start exchanging them. Anyway at the end of the game you open your gift and find out what you got. It could be that the gift everyone was ‘fighting’ over because it was wrapped so nice and looked so big might not be as good as the one that no one seamed interested in! It’s a lot of fun the kids love it and everyone goes home with a gift.

It was a wonderful Christmas Eve with friends, food, fun, faith and fond memories!

My favorite part is when it all quiets down and we have some time just as our little family to be together and continue our evening of family traditions.

Each of the kids sit down on Daddy’s knee and open their Christmas Eve book.

I swear Jase's favorite gift every year is a book!

It been tricky these last few years trying to get things for Christmas – you have to plan way in advance. I planned and had everything shipped to the island on the school container by mid-August but it made the weeks before Christmas much more enjoyable rather than the usual mad race before.

For their pajamas this year we bought them Sint Eustatius shirt as keep sakes from the island. It already looks like they might have grown out of them by the time we leave anyway! So they just might get a new one. After Books, Pj’s and Todd reading ‘The Night Before Christmas’ its off to bed in hopes that St. Nicolas soon will be here!

CHRISTMAS MORNING!

I forgot to take a picture of the loot before they came out – bummer – but it was so fun to see how happy and excited they were!

Katie! She cashes out with a brand new DSI XL, and Roller Blades. A few trinkets in her stocking, nail polish, MASH nail stamping stuff – to share with Court & nail stickers.

Courtney got a super awesome Justin Beber singing toothbrush that is always playing while she brushes her teeth, a massive make-up box that with play her MP3 music, a fancy music jewelry box, and a color changing Barbie!

And the girls both got one so they can play in the pool with their Barbie’s together! They have a lot of fun doing that!

Jase got a giant helicopter, a mini helicopter, (after we found out how hard it was to fly the big one – it was on back up) Stuff for his DSI XL, and a few different model kits and assembling tools.

Instructions all in Chinese!?

Gift opening!

Jase one day soon will have his very own room!!

Katie was very sweet to buy her brother and sister some little gifts with her own money.

And she found this last minute gift for Daddy on Christmas morning!

Scubasigns! Written & pictures taken by our very own dive instructors Marieke & her husband Mike!

Can't fogey Statia!

Treat form Tony and Leontine!

Swimming with the Barbies already on Christmas Morning!

It was a wonderful Christmas morning!

Earlier on Christmas Eve we got a call from some friends that we have met here, Greg and Lavern David. Lavern the principle of the SDA School, and Greg runs the Duggins Hardware store. Todd has spent time visiting with Greg and the spent a Saturday cleaning out their cars together. They are a fantastic family! So they called us to ask if we would like to join them on Christmas afternoon for a HUGE Christmas dinner! It was really nice meeting a lot f their family form other islands, and many who we have met already here on Statia! They have a huge family and an amazing Mother who is an amazing cook! She has of course taught her daughters some of the tricks of her trade and together we had a most amazing meal!

Food prep!

Pic 158

Hanging out, and Lavern playing with the girls with one of those baby alive dolls – let me tell you we were all fascinated!!

Todd talking with the guys!

Its time to eat some amazing local Christmas food! I wish I could remember them names of some of the food there, but all I really remember is that is was so good.

The magical Christmas Sorrel Drink!

Kids hanging with the kids downstairs after we were all fed and full! And with some of the ladies in the kitchen where they wouldn’t let me lift a finger! (Laverns Mom, Me, Debora, I can’t remember her name, and Lavern)

It was so wonderful of Lavern and Greg to invite us to join in with their family and making us feel so special! We really appreciate their friendship and kindness!

The celebration just doesn’t end quite yet! We went to a Christmas party at Debbie and Jose’s house! Complete with a big pig roast started in the early morning hours of about 4 am if I’m correct! There is always good, food, friends, entertainment and the kids always love going to Miss Debbie’s!