I’m sitting here on Christmas morning listening to the howler monkeys who are very near our house for a change. I have been taking photographs of our natural Christmas tree – it is a green tree with bright red upside down flowers and we love having it as our reminder of Christmas. It is raining but looks like it may clear up a bit – we’ll see. Last night we had a wonderful Christmas Eve dinner with our neighbors. Rene and Sarah brought over dishes and dishes of antipasta and Tom made a wonderful Brazilian shrimp dish for the main course. I made my famous chocolate mousse pie although it was pretty flat since I didn’t have a mixer to whip the whipping cream. It still turned out quite good.
This morning I went with Rene and Sarah to The Bridge for the annual Christmas party that Barry and Nanci put on for the Bri Bri (and whoever else shows up for free food and entertainment. 
There were about 100 people there and it was a wonderful few hours. I got to help Rene and Sarah entertain the group. They are professional guitarists and I accompanied them on the tambourine 
One of the highlights of the party was when all the kids tried to break the Christmas pinatas. Each of them were blindfolded and give the opportunity to break it. When it finally broke, candy and prizes spilled out all over for them to pick up and enjoy. 
After we left that party, we came back and picked up Tom and went to an open house at the botanical garden just down the road. It is an annual event that began many years ago at an individual’s house and moved to the botanical garden two years ago. It is given for anyone who lives in Playa Negra (our neighborhood) and it was great to meet so many of our neighbors. I have seen many of them at the weekly farmer’s market but I never knew any names or have had the opportunity to actually talk to many of them.
So – it has been a really wonderful day although we are really missing family today. It is a bit difficult to be so far from everyone this year but it was great to meet so many new friends. Feliz Navidad!!!
More pictures
Sarah 
Rene
Getting ready for the pinata
Getting ready to eat
Costa Rica Dog Lover 