Camino de Santiago 2022

Third times a charm!!  Stefan and I are going to walk the Camino de Santiago leaving July 13!  After my last post and with Covid, we had to cancel the original attempt in 2020 and also the one in 2021. Both the previous ones were going to be Camino Frances which runs East to West through the country of Spain. The one we settled on now, will be Camino Del Norte which is mainly by the northern coast of Spain. All of them end in Santiago de Compostela. 

This trip came very suddenly and we have less than five weeks to go. We just received our shells that will be attached to our backpacks and will identify us as pilgrims. We had most of our gear from previous attempts and don’t have to buy too much. 

I am trying to increase my mileage a bit, but Stefan seems to be focusing on golfing and sleeping late as his training preparation 😊. 

Since July and August are also European vacation months, I decided to start booking some of our nights on booking.com.

We are super excited and will keep this blog updated with highlights as we go. 

Buen Camino!

Camino 2020

I decided to use my old art blog for a new adventure that Stefan and I will start on May 23, 2020!  We are going to walk the Camino Francés  from St Jean de Pied de Port to Santiago de Compostela. A 500 mile pilgrimage in the Northen part of Spain. 

Wow, it is even overwhelming to write it!!  I saw a documentary a long time ago, maybe 8-9 years ago and it intrigued me so much. Since then I have read countless books and watched more documentaries and the movie The Way, talked to several people who actually walked it and is following a few Facebook forums on this subject. But I knew to commit around 40 days, I will have to do this trip after the twins are done with high school. Which is another year and a half. 

That was the plan until September 7, 2019, Stefan, one of the twins, asked me more about what is entailed in this walk!  Why, I asked? Well, he said he wants something unique to write about for his college essay 😊 and knowing that I always talk about the Camino, he does not want me to go alone!!!  Talk about a surprise!  

It took me several days to ask him if he really knows what is involved and that I won’t feel bad if he changes his mind!  This is going to consume half his summer between junior and senior high. 

Long story short, a month later we booked our tickets, bought backpacks and shoes!

We are going!!

Christmas Letter

Merry Christmas and all our best wishes to you for 2011!

We are blessed with so much and are grateful for everything we have and can do. This is my first year that I will not send out regular Christmas cards, but I hope that you will still know that we miss, appreciate and love our family and friends very much.

Christofel is now 11 and Jacques and Stefan turned 8 years old. Christofel graduated from 5th grade and started middle school in August. All of them are doing so good in school and make us very proud. The three of them played flag football in the spring and Chris started tackle football in the fall. The twins are now trying tennis, but I hear tackle football or even ice hockey is next! Will have to wait and see! They take private music lessons (piano and electric guitar and Chris plays trombone at school) and are also in several bands. Our schedule stays busy but these are all wonderful experiences and worth every moment.

Chris and I are doing well. This year we had our 11th year anniversary in Texas. I am teaching my water aerobics classes, several times a week and started taking Spanish classes, twice a week. I love the fact that I can learn a new language. The kids find it strange that Mom is now doing homework at night! I completed a few commissioned art pieces this year and worked on illustrations for a book, but did not paint as much as I was hoping for...so you know what one of my New Year's resolutions will be!

This year we did several races together as a family and it is definitely something we will continue. All the kids enjoy running and around Austin area we have numerous races to pick from. Chris and I even ran the Austin half marathon (13.1 miles) together on Valentine's Day. Isn't that a good way to start your Valentine's Day?

We hope you are all doing well and please stay in touch. Enjoy the holidays and be safe.

With all our love
The Enslins

Illustrations in 'Because your online presence matters'

Here I am with Ronel Uys, author and friend of the book 'Because Your Online Presence Matters'. We were so excited because these were the first, hard and soft cover books, that were printed. It will be available in book stores, Barnes and Nobles and Amazon.com within a few weeks. I did the illustrations. Congratulations Ronel!

Moshi, oil 8 x 10"

Play room mural

This was a fun project!

Ouma, oil 9 x 11"

I painted this portrait using a photo I took I few years ago of my grandma (95), sitting in her favorite spot, reading a book.