December and January were very busy months for the Abdalla family. Christmas was wonderful! The girls were delighted to wake up and find that the manger they had worked so hard to fill with soft hay (from good deeds performed) in anticipation of baby Jesus' arrival did indeed have baby Jesus in it! Ruthie was particularly excited and carried baby Jesus around with her all day long. Since our new room addition was completed, we surprised the girls with a newly decorated basement just for them. It is a large play space where they can explore and be kids! There is even a slide (which they love). Since we could not fit our basement under the Christmas tree, we had St. Nicklaus leave a note for them on the tree telling them to go to the basement. They were so surprised. That evening we got dressed up and headed to Dt and Opa's for their Christmas tradition which starts with a procession to the chapel and ends with gifts.

We headed to Houston, TX to celebrate Christmas with our Abdalla family and Eddie and Roula's beautiful home. It was so nice to be together and the children loved seeing where their aunt and uncle live (who, by the way are expecting their first child!!!!!).

After Houston, we headed to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico to celebrate the new year with the Smith family. It has become an annual vacation spot. We all enjoyed the sunshine and the beautiful scenery. Emma was a little hesitant in the pool in the beginning, but by the end of the trip, was very comfortable. Ruthie, on the other hand, (who was a fish last summer at only 1 1/2 yrs. was not comfortable at all). Hopefully we will get Ruthie's confidence back up. Vivian was so excited to be in the water and even enjoyed putting her head under water!

Upon returning home to Indianapolis, all three girls ended up with pneumonia! It was horrible. The girls were so miserable. Thankfully we avoided hospitalization, but did so by using a breathing machine from our doctor's office.

At the end of January, we headed to Naples, Florida to spend time in the sun with Dt and Opa. Pictures from Florida will be on the February/March pages.

The girls are adorable. Emma and Ruthie are playing together so well now. Ruthie wants to do everything Emma does. Emma is patient (most of the time) and loves to teach Ruthie new things.

Vivian is blossoming. She is crawling all over the place and cruising the furniture. She is wanting to walk, but we are enjoying her last few weeks of limited mobility! Vivian is saying more words. Thanks to Senora Reyna, Vivian is understanding Spanish and English. While we were in Mexico, Vivian was saying, “Hola!” It was so cute. And when you would ask her to say adios, she would wave.