First Christmas.

Our first Christmas here was filled with as many new things as it was missing familiar things.  Our Christmas tree was not cut, but potted.  It was some kind of evergreen sold here that more resembled Charlie Brown’s tree than the one we had last year.  There were less presents under the tree as this culture requires so much time to shop that we simply did not have the time to get anything beyond the toys and “special delivery” stuff for the kids.  Lisa and I are going to spend a few afternoons over the next week or so and find ourselves some things as well as the boring clothes gifts that the kids don’t care to open anyway.  But don’t feel sorry for us or the kids because I think they had a blast.  When they walked into the living room to see what we thought was a meger delivery by Santa Clause their faces lit up with smiles and they rushed to see what each other had been given.  I was so proud to see our kids respond with thankfulness and contentment for the things they received.  Not once did they say that they wished they would have received more toys or different things.  They played together with all the gifts as though they belonged to everyone.  Lisa and I took several pictures but we look like we are on drugs so we will not post them.  We will insert some of the picture with the kids for your enjoyment.

Take a look at the ornaments on the tree.  They are our very own salt dough ornaments.  The other ornaments are things that the kids created at school or on our kitchen table.  Our theme this year was simple because we did not want all the ornaments to crowd each other and therefore not be able to admire the beauty of each creation.  Actually, this is all we had.  (Our families tried to send us ornaments but the postal service is. . . well lets just say it is not the most advanced government organization.  We just received our packages with the ornaments this last week.)Since we have to dry our clothes inside (another story) the humidity in our home is high.  If you look closely at the salt dough ornaments you will notice a slight sagging.  Just before Cristmas we noticed that our ornaments were deteriorating and falling on the floor in puddles of goo.  The kids thought it would be great to through it around and watch it stick to the walls.  I on the other hand did not see quite as much humor in the deal.  One night I noticed some spots on a floor pillow we have in front of the TV.  I noticed that it was fresh and it looked to have been dropped and not smeared on.  When the next blob hit me I noticed the splattering of salt dough on the ceiling.  I must admit the alure of splattering stuff on the wall and ceiling but I resisted and turned on the stove burner to reduce the humidity.

The picture of the kids is when they sat on our bed to open their presents from our family.  We called my parents and let them watch as the kids pealed into their good presents from home.  The big present was a Nintendo DS for Seneca.  Now with 2 in the house the kids can share with dad, and mom. 

Overall I think this was a good first Christmas away from home.  There were many different things and many things we missed, but being here has taught us to truly cherish the meaning and ultimate purpose of Christmas.  We rounded out our Christmas morning by attending a church service to celebrate with local believers.  The worship service was crowded and the people were all smiles.  We sat on the floor literally touching people on every side.  After the service the entire church ate a wonderful meal together.  We had to eat in two shifts because there was not enough room for all to sit down at the same time. 

It is always fun to see the kids respond to these new and different situations.  As you can se here they were taking turns having mom feed them.  They all ate well on their own but for some reasonhaving mom do feed you makes it taste better.

We pray that you and your families also had a wonderful Christmas and we hope to tell you more about our lives here soon.  Blessings to all.

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