Happy Belated Thanksgiving everyone!  Even though I am on a small island off the coast of Belize, I was still able to have a great turkey dinner; homemade pies, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, the works!  Kathy and her husband Collin are a wonderful couple who live here in Belize now.  They moved down here from New Orleans 5 years ago and Collin helps to clear land on the island so homes can be built.  Kathy cooked all week and we are still eating leftovers, thanks be to God! 

I was also able to get away for the weekend and go visit Benque on the border of Guatemala.  I finally went to my first Mayan ruin with my friend Ann as well.  I figured since I have been here for over two months, it�s about time I saw something historic! 

Anyway, I am back now with less than two weeks to go before we leave the island.  We are going to Mexico City for the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12^th.  Following that on the 15^th we head home for Christmas!  It will be a nice break, despite the shock of adjusting to the cold!  I hope everyone has a Blessed Advent, as you prepare for Christ�s birth on Christmas.  May this Advent be a time of watching and waiting for Christ with joyful anticipation as John the Baptist did.  Just like lent is a time of purification and cleansing, so is Advent!  For me that's easy to forget when I see all the Christmas lights up and the Christmas carols playing all the time.  This past Sunday (the first Sunday of Advent) marks the New Liturgical Year for the Catholic Church as well!  Happy New Year everyone!