Merry (late) Christmas

Life has been crazy and hard here this past month. It's honestly quite hard to write when I'm struggling with culture fatigue (I think that's a real term). So now I feel as if I'm out of the slump for a bit and you all deserve to see some of what has happened in the past 3 weeks or so.

First, we had a visitor from Australia who serves in Southern Sudan. We met Craig our first few days in Africa and Joel has kept up with him ever since. He came down and spent about 5 days with us - it was a nice time and we all enjoyed his company.

Our next visitor was Jenny. She flew to Africa with us way back in July of 2009. She teaches at the missionary kid school (Rift Valley Academy) in Kenya. We had a nice time with her too and did some Christmasy things. We made snowflakes and decorated cookies. She brought M&Ms with her as a gift for all of us. I had to bite my tongue when I saw how many ended up on Dade's cookies. I had to remind myself that M&Ms are made to eat and enjoy - but I wanted to make them last until we get more (which won't be for some time, I'm sure). Needless to say, Dade was very happy.

Even though it's Christmas time, the weather here doesn't change much. In the afternoons it gets quite warm - especially since we're nearing the end of our rainy season. So the last playdate before the Christmas week, we had a water party at our house. We pulled out the tarp and placed it on the slope in front of the house. The kids had a blast - especially when we added soap!

After most of the kids went home, Jenny joined in the fun. I think her goal was to try and prevent Dara and Dade from making it to the top of the tarp - she's quite good.

After Jenny left (Dade could not stop talking about her after she weant back. Several times a day for the week after she left he would say, "I miss my Jenny"), we began preparing for our Christmas here.

Ruth, Dara, and I made chocolate covered cherries. It was surprisingly simple (only because I found a jar of cherries in Kampala) - otherwise it'd be impossible. Ruth didn't even know what a cherry was. I tried to tell her that fresh cherries taste very different than candied ones, but as of now - she's a cherry lover.

Here is the finished product. I read that they are better if you wait at least 1 week to eat them - maybe that's how they get to be juicy in the center. I don't know, but I do know that I have eaten 2 and they are delicious. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that we didn't share them with anyone - since we're waiting for them to "ripen". Not sure yet if we'll share them once they do. :)

Since it isn't cold here, it's not so easy getting into the "Christmas spirit" but we try. Here's our tree which we bought from a missionary family leaving the field. We had a hodge podge of gifts for all who would be celebrating with us. Many were still in the packages sent from America and the UK. Some were wrapped in walmart-like shopping bags, some in wrapping paper my mom sent us last year (but it arrived in February - which worked out great for this year) and some in Ugandan wrapping paper which is very thin and slippery. It was wonderful.

Even our stockings were hung by the bookshelf with care. We do have a chimney but the nails weren't going into the concrete very well so the bookshelf worked better. I made 5 new ones for the singles who spent Christmas eve night with us and Christmas day. In order of stockings: Ruth, Zillah, Seb, Stephen, and Lara.

Now for their faces, so bright and cheerful on this early Christmas morning. It really wasn't too early (7am) since we made the kids wait until then. From left to right - Stephen, Zillah, Ruth.Seb and Lara

Here's Ruth in the dress we bought her. She is so pretty!(I'd show pictures of the kids opening their gifts, but I have so many in this post - I'm trying to be picky. These pictures were so much more interesting.) Because Zillah and Seb are British, we had some new "traditions" added to our Christmas day.

One of these was "crackers". Apparently it's something they do before lunch. We all crossed our arms and held onto an end of a cracker. We counted to three and each pulled. There was a sound when the packages tore (but not necessarily a "crack"). Inside each cracker was a tissue paper crown, a joke, and a cheap little toy - like a top. You're supposed to wear your crown all day, but Kate and I took ours off after lunch (I think Dara had her's off before the meal was over). It was fun.

We listened to the Queen's speech in the late afternoon and we played the "chocolate game". This is the goofiest thing I've seen in a long while. You begin with a bar of unwrapped chocolate, fork, knife, and a silly chicken costume. Everyone rolls the dice one at a time. Once someone rolls a 6, that person dons the chicken hat, mask, gloves on the their hands, and a scarf (we ended up leaving off the chicken mask because we were making no progress). The person wearing the costume must tear into the chocolate using only the fork and knife. It took what seemed like forever because as soon as one person makes progress on the chocolate bar, someone else rolls a 6 and you have to give the costume to them. It was crazy. By the time we had half the bar left, it was my turn and I was tired of playing. Sowhen I rolled a 6...I put the last 6 squares in my mouth all at the same time - ending the game. I didn't actually eat all 6 squares, but I did eat 2 of them. It's a fun game but not one I'd want as a tradition. Here are the kids as best I could capture them. We missed home so much this month, but I'm so grateful God saw us through. He has blessed us with friend here who are as close as family in many ways. They'll never replace - of course, but they are an encouragement and blessing to us. I hope your Christmas was as wonderful as ours.