In January, Dad and Lynda came to visit as part of their cruise. It was 3 King's Day (Epiphany / January 6th), part of the long Christmas season here in Puerto Rico.

We made sure to show them El Yunque, the only tropical rain forest in the U.S.! The waterfall, the Roosevelt bath, and of course - Owen trying to photobomb Lynda and caught in his unedited trans-dimensional true nature!

SanSe is San Juan's festival for their patron saint San Sebastian. This is the official end of the Christmas season on the island, and takes place near the end of January.

There are parades, the streets are crowded with pedestrians, and of course there are Cabezudos - paper maché heads symbolizing famous people!

La Vuelta - In February, Owen biked from Old San Juan to Naguabo, about 65 miles out of his goal of 75 miles, before getting a flat tire and having to wait for Kim to come pick him up from the side of the road. He considers this a success! Since then, he has not been on a bike again -- his buttcheeks are still sore from the bumpy roads and little saddle on the bike! 

Speaking of rough rides, for Kim's birthday we went horseback riding on the beach!

In February, when Karen and Jim were visiting, we were able to pick them up and head down to Ponce on the south side of the island for Carnaval - their patron saint festival! Featuring Vejigantes (that's Spanish for "vegetarians"), these demonic costumes meant to scare away evil spirits. We also did Loiza's patron saint festival in July, where I found this awesome painting of Vejigantes!

We overnighted at an Earthship, which is this really cool 1970s sustainable living commune with funky architecture. Natural cooling, water reclamation, and of course an apiary with excellent honey! For an alien like Owen, it felt like home!

In June, Kim visited the mainland for Molly's graduation party, Detroit to see Nolan's game, as well as a quick stopover in Chicago to catch Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" live in the park with friends.

Meanwhile, left to his own devices, Owen put on some music, picked up a paintbrush, and created this painting. You can read the full artist statement on his blog if you're interested in what it means!

In June, we recorded Owen's first music video - a cover of Love Song by the Cure - in our local neighborhood of Rio Piedras with cool street art. Since then, Owen has created a few more. You can check them all out on YouTube!

After 6+ months of unemployment, Kim signed up for Rover and discovered she is not meant to be a professional dog/house sitter. (Ask her about demon cat.) However, for exercise and mental health she has kept one client on a 3-5x / week basis - meet DONA! (Pronounced Dough-nah, like donut. Because that's what it means in Spanish.)

Hard to see, but there is a Puertorican parrot there (called a "lomo") and beautiful singing from the dozens of them in this tree where she walks Dona.

Above - Women's retreat with Cocoa ceremony, sound bath, walking meditation, and community.

Below - Sword moonlight yoga and sound bath by the ocean. (Swoon)

If you recall, we got married at a Baha'i temple - so what better way to reaffirm our love then to visit one for holiday! So off to Panama, where we took a plane, train, and automobiles to find the Baha'i temple there!

Slider of various food which we cooked this year, including the best damn mofongo on the island, guineos from our neighbor's tree hanging over our fence, and 1001 ways to use mango. (Mango season was long this year.)

Homemade Pasteles with our neighbor Irene.