Our community used to have a library, but it closed down a few years ago before we moved here. A group of people have gotten together to renovate and build a new one. Years ago, it looked pretty nice, but after being closed for about 10 years, the whole place was in disrepair.

Happy last day of 2024! It feels like this year has dragged on AND flown by! I don't even know how that's possible! The weather has been different this December in the highlands of Panama. We started dry season with blue skies, rainbows, and winds, as usual. We got a few weeks of sunshine, and then on Christmas day, we had rain. We've never seen in rain on Christmas - a wet, not white Christmas! We really look forward to the sunshine and rainbows again soon - we've had a few days of clouds and rain!

The other day, I found this nutty boy playing with a spider he had found. He kept tossing it up in the air and then he would roll over it. He was able to kill it pretty quickly with all the "playing" he was doing! It was a large spider that we call a "skinny tarantula," but others have identified it as a "wandering" spider. Some call them wolf spiders, but I'm not really sure what they are. We have them on occasion, especially in dry season when they come out looking for water! They're harmless (as far as we know) and we usually try to relocate them quickly.

On Friday evening we had our annual candlelight service with Scripture reading and songs. It was a great time to be with our community here in Panama. As with all events held here, we sent many days leading up to it getting ready. The whole area was swept and cleaned. Even Cinderella, in her fanciest dress helped out! 😅

When I start to see friends' posts at the beginning of December talking about how cold they are and how much snow they've had, it makes me thankful for the weather here where we live. We live in one of the highest towns in Panama, close to the base of the largest volcano, Baru. Since we are also near the equator, the weather is basically the same all year long. Our temperatures range from mid 50s in the morning to mid 70s in the heat of the day. Never any snow. Never any hail. Never a tornado. Never super hot weather. It's considered the Land of Eternal Spring, and it really is.

Yesterday, December 15, Kat turned 5. Kat is our neighbor's indoor pet goat, and we had a banana split birthday to celebrate! Our neighbors said Kat loves bananas and invited us over for a banana inspired birthday party for the girl! Everyone was encouraged to dress in yellow to go along with the theme. After Kat got on her diaper, she also got a yellow shirt to wear!