Daytrip to Cadiz

Today we took a short 30 minute drive south around the Bay of Cadiz to the city of Cadiz. Their claim to fame is the longest continually inhabited city in Europe having been established in 1100 BC. We had the opportunity to catch up with an old friend and her family who were in Seville for a holiday vacation. At 60 degrees and sunny it was the perfect day to sit outside at a cafe and catch up.

The Cathedral of Cadiz


Tatum on the steps of the Cathedral


Owen and Tatum goofing off in town


Owen trying to prevent us from taking a good picture of him


Owen holding on for dear life on his 1 Euro horse ride!


One of the many narrow streets of Cadiz


Maybe the final belly shot before Baby #3 arrives?

Live Nativity Scene in Arcos de la Frontea

We took an organized this trip this past weekend to a town we had visited this past fall called Arcos de la Frontera, one of the beautiful "pueblos blancos" that the region is known for. Every December, in what has been declared an official "Tourist Interest" by Andalusia, for one night the Old Quarter of town is transformed into Bethlehem of Judea. We were expecting a tourist trap, however, we found that it was quite the opposite. There were indeed many people crammed into the small town, however, it was very authentic and inhabitants of the town were dressed exquisitely with great attention to detail.

The Cathedral at sunset as the nativity scene is set to begin

The town was lined with palm leaves to transform it into Bethelehem

One of the many donkeys around town

Tatum on the edge of the cliffs at sunset

One of the 25 scenes around town

The white village at night

Getting crowded as night hits!

A fruit market in "Bethlehem"

Owen and his girlfriend, Kelsey!

Our Beautiful Ballerina

We are very proud of our sweet Tatum who performed in her very first dance recital this past Friday at the annual Holiday Polar Express night here on base. In addition to a wonderful performance, the base hosted a Polar Express train ride, hot chocolate, cookies and ornaments for decorating, and a fun-filled room with bounce houses galore! It was fun had by all.

November Pictures

A few pictures from our November and early December adventures...

The Dad's and the gals before the Cinderella Ball

Tatum and Daddy

Fun in the rain

This one had no fun in the rain!

Marching in the parade at the school "Fall Festival"

Owen a little uncertain of his "outfit"

Tatum's class pre-march

Tatum dressed as a naranja

Enjoying a Spanish tradition: churros and chocolate

Owen enjoyed the chocolate

after chocolate and all cleaned up

Tatum's class celebrated the tradition as well

Digging in...

Getting Ready For Christmas

We took a few steps towards getting ready for Christmas today as we went out in town to the local nursery and purchased a tree. I'm pretty sure that Christmas trees are not a tradition here as the selection wasn't particularly great. It definitely wasn't a Douglas-fir! Once we figured out how to actually purchase the tree, Lindsey asked a worker "tiene ropa?" as she was looking for some rope to tie the tree to the hood of my car. Unfortunately, that isn't how to ask for rope and they didn't have it anyways, so the tree ended up taking my spot in the car and I squeezed in the back with the kids. This was also the first year that Tatum had a big interest in decorating the tree and she was 2-for-2 on breaking the first 2 ornaments she touched! Once she got rid of her "butterflies" the process was much smoother. Now we are getting closer to being ready for the holidays. Now...we just have to get the kids some presents.

A not-so-great picture of our living room ready for the holidays