New Years

On New Year's Eve, our landlord sent one of her workers to pick guandu from our yard and the field behind our house, so we joined him. While we were helping him fill his bucket, I was asking questions about preparing the traditional New Years bean that was being sold roadside for $10 a bag. After he left, we headed back out and picked enough for our own meal. N helped me shell them and we cooked them with rice and onions.

It was a relaxing family day, with a morning trip to a very tall waterfall in Las Palmas. Just when we had decided to give up on the current route and were looking for a place to turn around, the road dead-ended into the waterfall. We had it to ourselves until just before we left. E climbed up behind it, making me very nervous. I'm always thinking about how far we are from a hospital at any given time. Since we'd all worn our swimsuits, C and I decided we'd take a quick dip in the freezing water. I imagine it would have been more refreshing on a sunny day, but it was early and cloudy, so we couldn't handle the water for long.

We came home and the girls swam in our driveway pool, and we toasted the passing year with champagne and sparkling apple juice. Looking back on 2016, it was a year full of adventures and changes. I'm so thankful to share it all with these people.