A Little Christmas Treat

Seeing as it's the holidays and all, we thought we would share a little Christmas poem with you all. So here is a Border Patrol Agent's version of "Twas the Night Before Christmas."

Twas the night before Christmas, when all along the border

Not a creature was stirring, except the guides and the loaders.

The X's were manned and the night scopes were bright,

In hopes that some smugglers would quicken the night.

The ninos were all nestled all snug in their hooches,

With visions of Mickey D's, myspace and dulces.

While Mama carries food and Papa brushes out,

The guide shouts "La Migra!" and they scatter about.

When out on the field there arose such a clatter,

The guides sprang from the lay-up to see what's the matter.

Across from the bushes one climbed up a ledge,

Then slipped and fell down as he tore open his leg.

The moon was a shine on the smoking dust cloud,

Gave the lustre of mid-day to the action around,

When, what to their wondering eyes should appear,

Border Patrol Vehicles and ATV's coming near!

With PA's driving all over the place,

They knew in a moment it wouldn't be safe,

SRT, K-9's, Horses all came,

The guides gathered the group, and called them by name!

"Now Chuy! Now Lencho! Now Pancho and Chico!
Run faster and faster, y no to rajes hijo!

To the top of the fence! To the top of the wall!

Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

The guides and the aliens mount to the sky.

So up to the hill-top the people they flew,

With the Agents behind them in heated pursuit.

Dressed all in green, black leather and fit,

Uniform tarnished with brush, dirt and sweat.

A tactical Camelback carried most of his gear,

The guides and the smugglers all cowered in fear.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And caught all the runners, sat them down with a jerk.

And flashing his mag-light around him so bright,

He scoured the bushes and lit up the night!

As he gathered the group, to his team gave a call,

And he watched as the guide shimmied over the wall

And they heard him exclaim, 'ere he ran out of sight,

"Feliz Navidad, see you tomorrow night!"

Hope you get a little chuckle out of this, that's all it's meant to provide. We hope everyone is enjoying their Holiday season! We miss our family and friends that we can't be with this year, but we will see you soon and will be thinking of you on Christmas. (6 weeks from Christmas Day we will be flying in to SLC. YAY!) Lots of love!

Update

I guess since it's been a little while since we've posted anything I should play a little bit of "catch up". We've been busy with work and projects around the house but it seems like I should still have plenty of time for blogging. Especially since this seems to be the only way we document things that are going on in our lives.

So anyways, Andrew had a great birthday. I think he has finally dealt with the fact that he is now 29. :) I keep telling him that he's only as old as he feels and since he's just a kid at heart anyways, 29 aint so bad.

We had a pretty low-key Thanksgiving this year. We invited our friends Paul and Melissa over and since both Andrew and Melissa had to work Wednesday night/Thursday morning and Thursday night/Friday morning, we ate at like 5 and we were done by 7. Oh and this year I made my first turkey! All by myself! Well with some help over the phone from Karyn in UT. It actually turned out pretty well. The timer popped like it was supposed to and it tasted good enough for people to eat. No one got sick and I guess we'll be doing another one next year. And I also got to make some of Andrew's mom's stuffing (thanks to Alana for the directions!) and he LOVED it! I'm still getting appreciation for that! I love it! Oh and we had one of Andrew's buddies from work stop by and eat too. His family is all in North Dakota and he couldn't be with them so he came and hung with us. He's a really nice guy and we're always happy to have other agents over. Man, those boys can eat! :)

Now we are well into December and we haven't even bothered with Christmas decorations. Sorry. Bah humbug or something I guess. Andrew has been super busy getting the inside of the house painted and since that is sucking all the energy out of us, we decided to only get out minimal decorations this year. We bought a new sectional couch and fireplace for Christmas and since there wont' be any presents to open on Christmas morning, we figured we'll make it easy on ourselves. Besides, Christmas isn't defined by the tree or the ornaments or the decorations. It's about the spirit that resides in your heart and in your home. We are making sure to carry those things with us, in spite of the fact that there's no tree.

Speaking of Andrew's painting...he is awesome! When we bought our house the walls were painted just that boring "bone white." It's horrible. We feel like we've been living in an insane asylum for the last year. We finally got paint colors selected and Andrew has been working like crazy to get the place painted. So far he's got most of the living room done and I think the kitchen is up next! It looks so fantastic and I can't wait to put up the before and after pics. I am one lucky lady to have such a good husband. If you're wondering why I'm not helping, it's because I've been forbidden. I am no good at painting and have a way of creating more work for Andrew so I'm allowed to tape and that's pretty much it.

Andrew is staying busy at work. He will be switching shifts in just a few weeks which we both are excited about. He won't feel like such a zombie all the time. Midnight shifts have been tough but I thing swings are still my least favorite. I am so proud of him and appreciate what he does. It's sad to see the lack of respect that the local people have for the agents down here. They get flipped off, spit at, yelled at, etc. just for doing their job and keeping us safe. So I like to take the chance, any chance I get, to let him and his co-workers know how much I appreciate them. Love you Andrew!

One final thing....we are heading to Utah for a little visit February 5-10, 2010. My awesome siblings and parents all pitched in for airfare as a Christmas gift and we are SO excited to go home! We are thinking of doing a big family get-together or something while we are there so keep some time available if you'd like to see us!

Hope these next few weeks are wonderful and filled with the magic of Christmas! Love you all!