12-30-2016 Wine Tasting

Aaaahhhhh, wine in Belize...it's generally almost twice as much as you would pay in the States, and it hasn't been stored
well, and even the dry reds are served cold, so we have basically given up on it. But then we learned of a guy that could
import it directly from Chile, knowing that it was stored well, and at reasonable prices. So, we were thrilled to attend a
tasting of the wines he could get.

He had a few dry whites and a few dry reds. We are generally dry red drinkers, and that's what we liked this time (no surprise).

It was a beautiful day to be drinking wine on the beach!

A lot of our friends were there because everyone wants to get good, affordable wine.

It was a great success, and now there is monthly wine delivery to Hopkins - yay!

12-28--2016 Foosball Tournament

I (Cara) didn't get as many photos of the foosball action as I should have throughout the evening, but here's an action series when Eric played Jonathan in the singles competition...

Foosball can be pretty intense, especially with these guys, and Eric was quite sweaty by the end. However, he and Will did
win the doubles competition!

Once again, Oli won the singles competition.

12-25-2016 Christmas Potluck

Christmas Day we went to a potluck/fundraiser at Diversity Cafe, which is Janette's annual tradition there. Here is Ed
bringing just one of the turkeys. There were at least two turkeys and a ham provided.

Everyone had hoped the rain would stay away, but there were a couple of downpours.

Will in the kitchen carving a turkey

We brought the Santa hats from last Christmas, and some people did make use of them.

The dessert table and donation box

About half of the entree dishes that people brought - there was a ton of food!

Thankfully it did not rain all day, so people were able to sit and eat outside.

Lots of our friends were there, and we also met some new people.

Jungle Jeanie (a sweetheart go-getter who reminds us of Eric's late grandmother Mable) with Gwen

The food was delicious, and we stuffed ourselves, so we didn't stay late. We went home and crashed in a delightful food coma.

12-24-2016 Christmas Eve Dinner

Ingrid and Yuri invited several of us over for a Christmas Eve dinner at their dock.

They had a cute little Christmas tree hanging up under the palapa, so everyone took pictures by it.

Patrick (Lea's brother), Lea and Dorla

Yuri and Ingrid

Rudy and Birgit

It was a lovely evening and a great dinner, as usual.

After the dinner we went back to the village and walked down to Jalapeno's BBQ & Grill,
where Steeve Inglish, aka Mr. Downchild, was playing the blues.  Very nice!

12-21-2016 Minigolf Tournament

This was the third monthly tournament at Putt-in-Belize, the minigolf course attached to Windschief Beach Bar. Some
people get competitive, but most people are just there to have fun and hang out with friends.

It also brings a lot of spectators.

Oli announcing the results - Eric came in first and won a $50 gift certificate for the bar - woohoo!

12-18-2016 Beach Walk and Party

You might think that we go on a lot of beach walks, and we do, but it's always fun and never gets boring.

One of our favorite spots to chill - Luba Laruga Cool Spot

Further up the beach at Driftwood Beach Bar & Pizza Shack - we stopped here for a while, then continued north.

When we got to Weiga we found the Christmas party for Chef Rob's employees happening. Chef Rob and Corrie are so sweet
- they invited us to stay and have drinks.

Everyone was having a blast. We did too, though we didn't stay too late. (We still had to walk back in the dark.)

Live drumming was a nice touch!