December 21st, 2015

December 21st, 2015

4 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!
Hello Family and Friends!! I hope all is well back home and everyone
is ready for Christmas. I have heard that the weather back home has
been pretty crazy as of late. Things are really going well out here.
We had ourselves a pretty good week and good things are continuing to
happen all around us. I'm grateful for this truly wonderful time of
year when the whole world seems to think a little more about our
Savior and His life.

Unfortunately this week, I don't have a whole lot to report on...but
the things that did happen were pretty neat. Last Tuesday, after we
had finished our P-Day, we were heading out to do some house tracting
using the new Christmas video that the church produced. We prayed just
before leaving our apartment, and set out for a good night of knocking
on doors. It is probably about a 75 yard walk to the parking lot exit
to our apartment complex and as soon as we walked out the door of our
apartment building I had the feeling that we didn't need to leave our
apartment complex that night. I pushed off the prompting, thinking
that it was only my own laziness that didn't want to hike up the steep
streets of Mistretta, but just before we had reached the exit the
prompting returned and it was much stronger this time. Immediately I
turned around and started heading back towards our apartment. We
re-entered our apartment, prayed a little more specifically and began
climbing the stairs of our apartment building. Now, for Anziano Da
Ponte and I's first 3 weeks here in Mistretta, we did absolutely
nothing but house tracting. We knocked on doors for hours and hours on
end, and we did not get into one single home. Not one for three
straight weeks. We modified our approach, used videos, scriptures,
pamphlets... We tried it all and nothing seemed to work. Back to the
story. We got let into our first home on the third and last floor of
our apartment building. It was a younger lady, who had a really nice
house. We showed her the video and that was about it for her. She
didn't show any real interest in us returning or wanting to learn
more, but she was really kind. We then went to Part B of our apartment
building and began knocking. We knocked on the middle door on the
second floor and a classily dressed man opened up his front door. At
the beginning he immediately responded "No." Anziano Da Ponte fired
back with another question right after he let us in. Two houses in a
row. I thought that I was going to fall over. We got inside and the
husband called for his wife. She came walking into their living room
and right from the get go she had walls put up, in the sense that she
wasn't having anything to do with us or our message. We showed them
the new little video, and all of those walls began to crumble. We
began to laugh and talk a little bit more and a little bit more. Well,
by the end of the short little visit, that same wife who built
barriers as soon as she saw us, was telling us when we needed to
return and when would be the best time so we could meet with their
whole family. The guy is probably around 40, along with the wife and
they do have you get children. I'm just not sure of their ages of how
many of them there are. Miracle Number One. We left their home and
hiked up to the third and final floor or Part B. We decoded to knock
on the middle door again, because it was obviously our lucky door.
Now, another little de tour.... We have walked past this smaller
little lady about 3 or 4 times and she has always been so kind with
us. She is seriously like 5'2" tall and 100 pounds max. Her husband is
about 5'6" and about 250 pounds. She has always been very warm with us
but it has never really had a great opportunity to start a good gospel
conversation with her. We recently seen her walking out of Part B of
our apartment building and we were wondering if by chance she just
happen to live that close to us. Back to the story again. We knocked
on the middle door, on the third floor and that same little short
young lady opened the door. As she noticed that it was us, she swung
the door open a little wider and welcomed us in immediately. THREE
HOUSE IN ONE NIGHT. I almost fell over. She brought us into her
kitchen, and there we met her parents, her husband and his little 1.5
year old son. We showed them our video and talked with them for about
an hour. We mainly listened as they did a vast majority of the talking
and we would pitch in when we had the chance. I feel like we made a
really good impression with them. We didn't argue or try to tell them
everything that we knew, we just listened. Turns out that her husband,
took the missionary lessons about 20 years ago when he was a teenager
and he has read most of the Book of Mormon. As we were leaving, they
said, "We are always home, come by any time!" They were the nicest and
the coolest people. Tonight Anziano Da Ponte and I plan on returning
back to both of these families and beginning the lessons with them.
Last Tuesday, was one of the greatest evenings of my mission and it
only happened because we allowed the spirit to be our guide. That is
an area where I need to improve and improve drastically.

This past week, we did lots of service for our old blind friend Nino.
He is seriously my hero and just being around him makes me happy. I'm
not sure if I have ever told you his entire story, and if I have
already...I apologize, because right now I am going to do it again.
Nino was born in Mistretta and is 65 years old. He often tells us
hunting stories, points out the house where he was born, and he
seriously knows everyone in town by name. Nino used to live in
Northern Italy in a big city called Bologna. There he was the head
chef for many years at the biggest and fanciest restaurant in Bologna.
Bologna is a very, very large and rich city. There he was introduced
to the church by his older brother, began taking lessons from the
missionaries and was baptized by that same older brother who
introduced him to the missionaries. He still remembers those
missionaries names and years ago he went to America just to visit and
spend some time with those 2 elders. Nino married an American sister
missionary after she finished her mission and moved to Italy. They
were married and sealed in the Bern, Switzerland Temple. Nino than
decided that it would be best for him and his little family to return
to Mistretta and call Mistretta home. He continued to work as a chef
in a town about an hour drive from Mistretta called Cefalù. Nino is
well known in Mistretta and people often call him for advice on how to
cook. 8 years ago, his wife inherited a large amount of money after he
parents died. 6 and a half years ago, she told Nino that she would be
heading to America to get her knees replaced. Well she took off, had
her knees replaced, but she never did come back. She is currently
living in Brooklyn. Nino began to loose his eye sight some years back.
Now he is completely blind in his left eye and has barely anything
left in his right....yet he is the most humble, happy, grateful, kind
and loving little old fella that I've ever known. He always finds the
good in people and in every situation....no matter how difficult that
goodness may be to find. Him and his wife has one girl named Sonia.
Now Sonia is 31 years old and lives just off of the mountain in
Mistretta. She comes up often to see her dad. They are the best of
friends and he always brightens up when he starts talking about his
daughter. For Christmas this year, Nino gave Anziano Da Ponte and I a
pair of gloves and some nice long socks for the cold winter that is
approaching. He is such a good guy. In one of the Christmas
Packages that I received last week, there were 10 little marble
replica statues of the Christus statue that they have down at Temple
Square....Anziano Da Ponte and I have been giving these little statues
to our members as Christmas Presents. When we gave Nino his, he was so
thankful and immediately went up his stairs and set it on his night
stand right next to his bed. Nino is a champ and as I said earlier,
we've been doing a lot of service for him, which I love to do. He has
a little old cellar type home, that is 20 yards from his house and he
keeps all of his wood for the winter in there. These week we chopped
wood, filled sacks with the chopped wood and hauled them down to his
house so he will have plenty of wood to keep his wood stove burning.
We also took the time to re-stack his pile, so if he does it on his
own....the big tall unstable stack won't come falling down and crush
the poor guy. Now it is all safe and ready to go. I love Nino. He
wishes everyone back home a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Saturday Evening we held the annual "MISTRETTA HAS TALENT" in our
church building as our ward Christmas Party. All of the members come
prepared with something that they can perform for everyone else.
Anziano Da Ponte and I have really been encouraging the members to
invite their friends and family members who are not members to come,
but performing that invitation in a natural and normal way. We don't
want to scare people away with an awkward and strange invite...We want
to be casual and show them simply that we care. The members came
through big. We had many less active members and even a family of non
members that we have tried working with, that had never set foot in
our church. It was a HIT. We had some piano solo's, poetry, a story,
and Nino even played his harmonica for us. He dedicated one verse of
"White Christmas" to us American Missionaries. I was nominated to be
the Host. We decided that it would be a fun idea to have everyone that
wanted to perform, to bring along also a white elephant gift. After
each contestant performed, they got to choose a present from my giant
Christmas stocking. It was hilarious. The spirit of Christmas was
surely there and we had a lot of fun all together.

That is all of the good from this last week. Last Thursday was a very
special ladies birthday and today is a pretty good guys birthday. I
would like to wish Momma Mandee a Happy Birthday on the 17th and Papa
Jon a Happy Birthday Today. I'm not exactly sure what I did to receive
the parents that I did, but I consider myself to be the luckiest young
feller alive. I've been blessed with two amazing moms, that have both
given me everything that I could ever ask for. They have given me more
love than I will ever deserve and have sacrificed more than I will
ever be able to fully comprehend. My old man...well he has been my
best friend for as long as I can remember. Whether it was out on
SkyWay Golf Course on Saturday Mornings, looking up in the stands on a
Friday Evening, up in the batting cage after a long day, shoveling
concrete out of an old wheelbarrow on a hot summer day, watching the
Packer game after church or just needing someone to talk to....my old
man has always been there for me. Things may not have always been
easy, and 99.9% of that is completely my fault...but no matter what
happens, no matter where I am, no matter how old I may get....that
bald headed fella will always be my number one guy, my first best
friend, my most trusted hero, my greatest supporter and best of
all...my dad. No other person has taught me so much, while at the same
time saying so little. No other person has done so much, while at the
same time never asking for anything in return. No other person has had
more patience or put in more time turning me into who I am today.
Happy Birthday Papa Jon!! I hope it is one to remember...next year on
this day we will be together, drinking a Mountain Dew and sitting at a
sweet Chinese restaurant. Boy i cannot wait for that. I love you dad!

I'm so excited to skype home this Friday. It will be here before we
all know it and I cannot wait. Just a reminder, I will be calling home
at exactly 9 am sharp. I will be calling home to my Grandma Bubbles
computer, and it will be set up exactly how it was on Mothers Day.
Bring all the questions that you want, no matter how long, deep or
random they may be. I don't want there to be any moments of awkward
silence. If you would like to personally say something, raise your
hand or just start talking. I would love to hear from ya! I'm grateful
for you all and for the opportunity that we will have to spend a few
hours on Christmas Day together. What a blessing!

Everyone, have a great week and please be safe. Have a very, very
Merry Christmas. I hope you ap have all felt the true meaning of
Christmas. We must remember that if there would have been no Christ,
there would be no Christmas. He was and is the greatest gift that we
have received. Everything that we believe and everything that we have
hope for is only because of Him. He is our Elder Brother, our Advocate
with the Father, The Prince of Peace, The Lord of Lords, The King of
Kings. He is our Savior and our Redeemer. He is the Christ and the
only begotten of the Father. He is the reason for the season. He is
the reason for our Hope. Because of Him....everything is possible. I'm
grateful for Him and this wonderful Christmas season that we have to
remember His ever so humble birth and everything that He performed
from the time that He left that little manger. Let us, not like the in
keepers of old, make room and time for Him during this Christmas
Season. I love you all. Merry Christmas. I'll see you soon..❤️

Much Love from Italia,
Anziano JarDee Nessen

December 15, 2015

December 15, 2015

10 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!
Good Morning family and friends this Tuesday morning. I hope everyone
is doing well and enjoying this absolutely beautiful time of year. I
received some pictures from back home and it looks like there is no
shortage of snow this year. We haven't got any snow up here in
Mistretta, but the temperature continues to drop. Yesterday morning it
was 4 degrees Celsius ( roughly 40-41 Fahrenheit ) and that seemed
pretty cold. 4 degrees Celsius is pretty chilly for Italy and here in
Mistretta it will only get colder. Anziano Da Ponte and I were given a
CD from Nino that has 101 American Christmas Songs and whenever we are
in the apartment, we have Christmas Music blasting. Since this is my
only Christmas here in Italy, I'm trying my best to soak it all in. I
hope everything is healthy and happy back home. Everything is going
great for us out here. We are both happy and healthy. All is well and
I love you all!

Last Monday, we went over to see Antonio Bartalota because it was his
birthday. He turned the big 51! The Wardles and Us pitched in and got
him a little present and birthday card. He was so grateful, he is
always so grateful. I love that guy! We weren't able to stay to long
because he already had plans that evening, but we were able to catch
him for a bit and like I said before, he was grateful for that. We
sang him happy birthday in Italian, and he asked us to sing it in
English. There were nothing but smiles that night. Both Him and His
sister seem to be doing a little bit better with the loss of their
mother. You can easily see that a huge weight has been lifted from
their shoulders, but there is still a little pain in their eyes. The
night of Antonio's birthday, was the first time in over three years
they left the house together and go out with their friends, because
now someone doesn't always have to stay with their mom. They are doing
great and I love those people!

Tuesday, I went on exchanged with Anziano Cleveland who is serving in
Bagheria. Bagheria is a small town just outside of Palermo. Anziano
Cleveland is from Huntsville Alabama and is in his second transfer. I
asked if he knew Gentry or Bri, but unfortunately he doesn't. I stayed
in Bagheria with Anziano Cleveland, while Anziano Da Ponte and our
District Leader headed back up to Mistretta. Anziano Cleveland is a
good kid and a great missionary. We had thee greatest meal appointment
that I have had in my mission. We met with the Bascone family and they
took very good care of us. The father picked us up from the apartment
and drove us out to their house. From the get go he was very kind,
funny and genuine. We got to their home, and there we met the rest of
the family. The father is about 60 years old and his wife is about the
same age. They have two boys, one who is 30, married and has to little
kids and one who is 25 and not married. Again, from the get go they
were genuine, kind, hilarious, and respectful. They welcomed us in,
sat us down and they immediately started bombarding me questions.
Questions of every type. If I had a girlfriend? What I'm going to do
after the mission? Why I came out on my mission? All sorts of stuff.
They asked me questions for, no joke, over an hour. We all kind of got
to know each other really well in that questioning session, and we had
a really good relationship right from the start. I was able to bond
with them really quick and it just made the night that much better. We
began to get into more gospel related topics of course, and the night
continued to get better. We talked about the difference between The
Pope and our Prophet. We talked about the scriptures and the power of
prayer. We talked about how families can be together forever, because
of the priesthood keys that were restored to the earth. It was
honestly one of the best, if not the best night, of my mission. This
family was seriously so funny. They would all make jokes with each
other and give each other a hard time, but you could just see the love
that each of them had for one another. They fed us a really nice
dinner and they seriously just kept cramming food into our stomachs.
We finished with our spiritual thought on the new Christmas video that
the church has produced, and I was able to tell my story and why I was
sitting in their living room that night. I explained them that there
is chance that I would never step foot in their home again and so I
wanted to tell them why I was there. As I said before, they were so
respectful. For the first time in Italy, I wasn't interrupted during a
conversation. Haha. The Bascone family is heaven sent, and I found out
from our District Leader that they attended church this past Sunday
for the first time. They reminded me so much of my family, and that's
why I believe it felt so much like home. I haven't stopped talking
about that night and just how great it really was. God bless the
Bascone family!

Thursday was December 10th, 2015 and I have officially hit my year
mark. I never really thought that it would happen. Haha. I thought
that the world would have ended or I would have died... Somehow, and
only with Heavenly Assistance and the prayers of so many of you back
home, I've made it a year. I would like to say thank you to everyone
for everything that you have done for me especially during this past
year. I thank you for the letter, the packages, the prayers and for
putting my name in the temple. During the good times, and more so
during the times of difficulty, I can feel those prayers and that love
pushing me forward. I'm grateful for the learning experiences that
I've had this past this, and for the opportunity I've had to grow
closer to my Father in Heaven and His Beloved Son. It surely hasn't
all been easy, but I can honestly say that this mission has been the
greatest decision that I've ever made and I'm grateful that I still
have one more year to learn, to grow and to work. Happy One Year Down
Everyone!! Anziano Da Ponte bought me a nice rotisserie chicken and
some potatoes, I bought us a nice Flinstones party drink from our
local grocery store and we had a good ole time!

Thursday we had English course but no one showed up yet again, so we
decided to put up and decorate the ward Christmas Tree. I'll send home
some videos that we took of our so called masterpiece. Afterwards us
and this Wardles headed over to see Antonio and Lydia again. We had
dinner with them and had a good time. Antonio told us his conversion
story and it was pretty powerful. I was translating it into English
for Sorella Wardle, and it was really powerful. Lydia, just kind of
played on her phone the entire time, but you could tell that Antonio
really appreciated us coming over. He is such a good guy! He came to
church in Sunday, but I will talk more about that a little bit later.

Friday evening we drove down to AcquaDolce, a little town that is not
up in Mistretta but in our boundaries, to visit Sorella Battista.
Sorella Battista is the little older lady, who's dad just passed away
and she has the handicapped daughter. Sorella Battista is my hero and
honestly one of the strongest people that I have ever met. She fixed
us a really nice dinner, and we had a really great Family Home Evening
with her.  We talked about this Christmas time of year and the
importance of remembering the real reason why we celebrate Christmas.
We wrapped up the night with our traditional game of Uno. She is
always so grateful to have us and she always takes such good care of
us all.

Saturday Morning, we went out again and picked some olives for a lady
who is completely inactive. Her name is Eleonora. She is a member, but
no one else in her family has been baptized yet. They have a little
farm just outside of Mistretta and asked us for some help picking
olives. We have been trying to build a relationship with her, because
number one she is a good person, number two she has a wonderful family
and number three she has never really healed from the loss of her mom.
I feel like we, and especially my experiences, are suited to help this
family out. We've really been trying to build our relationship, but
they always seem to have an excuse or something else going on. I
figured that going down and working with them for 8 hours would be the
best time to build a relationship. We had an awesome time with them.
We got a lot of work done and had ourselves a lot of good laughs as
well. She has a little 6 year old son named Manu and this kid has
always been drawn to me. While we were picking olives, he was right
next to me the entire time. He never left my side. By the end of the
day, he even asked if we could have a sleepover. They fed us a huge
lunch as well. Goodness, at first they gave us a little bowl of pasta
and I was happy with that. Well then her husband stood up and began
cooking steak, after steak, after steak. I told him that I was plenty
full after the first one, but he just kept piling those bad boys on my
plate. I thought my stomach was going to explode...but they were so
good. Haha. This family is seriously awesome. The husband is one of he
funniest people that I have ever met. He had me laughing all day long.
Eleonora is great. We had a really great day with them. I love
service, and especially when it allows me to take Nessen Farms Global
once again.

Saturday evening, Nino called us and told us to come over for a pizza
night with him. We got over there, went to his little storage house
that is right next to his normal home, and I chopped some wood for him
for a good thirty minutes. It felt so good to swing something heavy.
Nino just laughs when I chop would because I swing so hard sometimes.
After we chopped a little bit, we carried it done to his house for his
wood burning stove. We got out pizzas and as we were returning home,
we ran into one of Nino's nephews named Renzo. Renzo was baptized up
in Northern Italy, but hasn't really been active since he came down to
Sicily. Nino bought him a pizza as well and we had another little
family home evening all together. Renzo talked about his desire to
change, and how he wants to start getting back into the gospel groove,
as I like to call it. We gave him another copy of the Book of Mormon
and he told us that he would see us in church the following day. Low
and behold, Renzo showed up to church on Sunday ten minutes early, and
he was sharply dressed. He is s good guy and I hope that we are going
to be able to help him get back to where he used to be. We all decided
that on Wednesday evenings from now on, we will all gather at Nino's
house and study the Book of Mormon together for an hour or so. Good
things are on the horizon there.

On Friday, Anziano Wardle asked Anziano Da Ponte and I to speak in
church on Sunday. I was asked to speak on Living with the Spirit of
Christmas throughout the entire year and Anziano Da Ponte was asked to
speak on The True Spirit of Christmas. Nino was even asked to sing a
solo. Anziano Da Ponte spoke first and did a great job. He was
followed by Nino and his  special musical number. He sang to songs
from the children's hymn book and he couldn't even finish the last
line of the second song because he was so emotional. I closed the
meeting with my talk and I feel like it went pretty well. I got kind
of emotional as I was telling the story of an experience I had two
years ago right around Christmas time that changed my life. When I
began to get emotional I kind of put my head down and when I raised it
back up, everyone else was getting teary eyed as well. That experience
that I had two years ago will be my spiritual thought spat the end of
is email today. Afterwards Antonio Bartalota came up to me, with tears
in his eyes and said, "Thank You, Thank You for sharing that
experience. I love you Anziano Nessen." It's those kind of moments out
her in the mission field that make all of the rough days and "no's"
worth it. Sunday was a good day.

Yesterday we had our Zone Conference down in Palermo. Zone Conferences
are always a good time because they are always powerful spiritually
and I get to see all of my good buds from the Zone. Anziano Mika told
me to say "Hello!" and "Merry Christmas!" Our Zone Leaders gave a
really powerful training on "Where will you make your stand?" They
showed something that I have never thought of before, but it is so
true. If you look at the word Disciple, it has the same beginning root
as the word Discipline. Disci. They said, you can not be a disciple of
Jesus Christ, if you are not disciplined. Their training was probably
the best training that I've heard. President and Sister Waddoups had
us reenact the Nativity. Anziano Mika had to hold the star and for
some strange reason, I was the Donkey. Haha. President laughed as he
announced my part and so did everyone else. They gave me that part,
because they knew I wouldn't be offended or anything like that. It was
a good time and it was really good to meet the new missionaries that
just came into our zone. They brought down the mail from Rome and
goodness gracious did I have a load to bring home. I had 4 bigger
boxes and letters and all sorts of good stuff. I was so pumped. When
we got home, I wasn't sure if I was supposed to wait until Christmas
to open them, or open them immediately, so I did the only logical
thing to do, and I opened them immediately. There was all sorts of
good stuff in there. Santa Cowboy Hats, a sweet Pen, Candy, Poptarts,
Notes, A Popcorn Popper, A hand made Christmas tree, Ties, and pretty
much whatever else you could possibly think of. I had a difficult time
keeping my emotions in check as I was opening the boxes up and reading
the notes from family members. It had me thinking just how blessed I
am in every phase of my life. I have been blessed with the most
loving, thoughtful, creative, energetic, supportive snd genuine family
that has ever been sent to this earth. I've been blessed with so many
people that sacrifice so much time and money for me. I am so blessed
and I am truly so grateful for each and everyone of you. There is
nothing that I want more than to spend forever with my whole and
entire family. There is nothing that sounds more beautiful and more
rewarding than spending eternity with the ones that I love most. It
will be priceless. I will do anything and everything in my power to
ensure that we are all together after this short mortal journey is
said and done. I want to be together forever with my family, because I
know that I've been blessed with nothing but the best.

To close up this novel this week, I would like to share the experience
I talked about earlier in this email that I had 2 years ago and truly
it changed my life.

A few years back, I was at the Walmart down in Brigham City with my
Nana Melanie's side of the family and we were on the hunt for the
ugliest Christmas sweaters that we could possibly find. It was a
Saturday morning and we had just finished eating at Burt's Cafe right
by the temple. We were near the front of the store when we heard a
number of sirens from both police cars and fire trucks coming from
just outside the building. The sirens continued to get louder and
louder and as the volume of the sirens began to climb, our curiosity
level did just the same. After a minute or two, a herd of small
children began entering into the doors that we were closest to, and
each of them had a Police Officer in hand. It was the day of the
annual "Shop with a Cop". For those of you that do not know what the
"Shop with a Cop" does, it is a charity that raises money throughout
the year for little children that aren't going to receive anything for
Christmas because of their family's financial situations. Each Cop
gets to choose a family, and take one of their young kids shopping at
Walmart for presents on a Saturday morning before Christmas. Each
child has a certain budget and they can get whatever they want with
that budget. I will never forget their little innocent faces as they
were walking through the entrance. Their little eyes were huge, their
little smiles were bigger and they were just so humble and grateful.
Some of their clothes were a little worn down, some had some shoes
that were a few sizes to big, or a coat that was a hair to small...but
you could see that they were so excited just to be inside of Walmart
with a little bit of money in their pocket. 99% of the time, these
little 6 to 10 year old kids use the budget that they receive not to
but things for themselves, but to buy presents for their parents and
their siblings. This day is for them, but yet they still put the
happiness of their family members way before they satisfy their own
Christmas list wishes. This day is for them, it is their special day,
yet they are the ones that want to give someone they love and care
about something special. Those little perfect kids taught me a lesson
that morning and not one of them said a word to me. They taught me
that it wasn't about the ugly sweaters we were ready to purchase or
the presents I would be receiving. That morning they taught me the
true meaning of Christmas, that is to give, to give and give some
more. I had to walk out of sight from my family and everyone else in
the store and I broke down. That day changed my life. I was able to
sit back for just a moment, maybe 2 minutes max, and observe just how
much love little children have for their families. I was able to
observe these little kids who didn't have hardly anything, perform the
most beautiful of all Christmas Miracles.

Family and Friends, I love you all so much. I am so grateful for each
and everyone of you. I am grateful for the love I am constantly
receiving. I am one lucky fella. I hope you all have a wonderful week
and I hope you are all ready for the Skype Call on the 25th. T-Minus
10 days and counting. I'm pretty excited to see everyone. Y'all have a
good week and take real good care. I love you all.

Love,
Anziano JarDee Nessen

Picking olives!

Here there are no roofs and so Santa Claus cannot slide down the chimney.  Here he has to climb on the balconies to get inside the house. So here, for decorations, they put Santa Claus's hanging from the railing of their balconies.  I had to laugh. Haha 

I found this in the road while we were walking.  Thought it was pretty neat!

Here is my new best friend, Manu.  He is 6 years old and knows how to say all the colors in English.  He doesn't have a girlfriend yet and he still believes in Santa Claus.  I love this kid.  He is sitting by all the sacks of olives we picked last Saturday.  He says.... "Hello!

 

Meet the Bascone family. These people are the coolest!