Christmas in Mexico

We found that most celebrations down here occur Christmas eve so this was our big day, too. We started by crossing the border at 7:15 am. Unless you're familiar with this border you won't realize the significance of this photo. We drove almost to the front of the line and only waited 8 minutes to cross. This is unheard of on a normal Monday but today, of course, is special. Why did we cross? To go to our mail box and get Christmas packages!
We visited several families throughout the day and ate each place we went. In total, Steph ate 4 dinners and Ryan ate 3 (the discrepancy is in the nap that Ryan took while Steph went to one home). In fact, the meal that Ryan missed was menudo. (If you're not familiar with Mexican food, the special ingredient in this soup is tripe...aka: cow's stomach lining).
The last family we visited have become good friends of ours over the year. We got to their home at 9:30 pm and they had just begun making dinner. We visited for a few hours and ate at 12:30 am. At midnight our friend, Rene, got up, shook Steph's hand and gave a formal greeting. He did the same to Ryan so Ryan naturally asked, "are you leaving?" The family all laughed and at the same time we noticed that everyone was hugging and greeting one another! We quickly learned that this is a Christmas tradition.

Below is their dog, Dolly.

In this house, the kids have to wait until after dinner to open gifts. They all received cloths and shoes. To our surprise, they gave us gifts, too!
Its 2:00 am but we are still awake and happy to have spent time with such good friends.
We tried to sleep in the next morning but that didn't happen. So we got up, called our families, and opened gifts. Ryan's dad hooked him up with all gear necessary to be a body guard.
You can see the trip over the border to get mail was worthwhile by the smile on Steph's face!
And of course the weather this Christmas day was sunny, 65 degrees, and clear. You can see TJ in the forefront and San Diego, the Bay, and Coronado Island in the background.