Happy Late Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Cyprus!  We have had a busy Christmas week.  Our friends Jan, Mike, Steve, and Carrie came to visit us from Boston.  It was great to have them here and we did our best to show them as much as we could in a short time.  They left yesterday morning.  I'm hoping that some of them will do a post for me about their time here.  We had some computer issues while they were here and weren't able to post during that time.  I will just focus on Christmas day for now. 
Christmas morning Alex woke up at 6:30 and I got up with him.  He was very good and didn't try to sneak in to see if Santa had been here.  By 8:00 he was becoming pretty anxious to open presents and I gave him the green light to wake up daddy and Sofia.  Both kids were excited by everything they received.  Well, except Alex wasn't too happy to get another book from his parents.  We then picked up our visitors from the hotel, and came back to the house to open more presents.  Aunt Diana hosted the entire family as well as our friends for a Christmas lunch.  She had tons of delicious food that was enjoyed by all.  It was a fun afternoon of visiting with everyone, including Alexis and Stephanos who were on leave from the army.  In the late afternoon we headed to the town of Limassol with our visitors to begin our touring for the remainder of the week.  We are truly blessed to have so many special people in our lives.

Opening the stocking stuffers

Alex got the police van he wanted.

Sofia was happy with her play dough ice cream shop.

Winter Celebration

Alex's school had a Christmas party on Monday evening.  The kids spent many days practicing their songs and it paid off.  Alex's group sang five songs and I'm pretty sure Alex did the best of anyone.  He likes to sing and knew all of the words and sang in a loud enough voice that he could be heard.   After the concert, Santa made an appearance and gave all of the kids a gift.  Sofia is usually terrified of Santa, but this one had a beard that covered only part of his face and she willing walked to him to get her present.  There were also some craft activities for the kids to do and refreshments.  A nice evening. 

Waiting for the show to start

In the audience

Alex was reading the names for Santa

Finally his turn.  His was the last present from Santa's bag.

Santa brought her a book.

Being silly with his best friend.

Working hard together.

A friendly tiger.

And a beautiful butterfly.

Nicosia Marathon

Congratulations to Demetris!  He ran, and finished, his first marathon on Sunday.  He put in many hours of training and was in good shape at the finish line.  The Quantum Nicosia Marathon is an international marathon, complete with the flame that travels between marathons.  There were about 150 participants in the marathon, plus others in a half marathon, 10K, and 5K.  Alex and I were able to see him once during the race, and then we picked up Sofia and met him at the finish line.  He's already talking about his next marathon!

Here he comes

The woman behind him is running the half marathon

Waiting at the finish line

At the finish

Alex is holding Demetris' medal