So the song says "white Christmas," but as we all know that isn't possible in certain parts of the world. When we were in Tanzania we substituted "wet Christmas." Just yesterday I was thinking that neither of those really work for BC. I mean, it rarely snows, so it would truly be a dream to have a white Christmas, and it's raining all the time anyway (much like Seattle), so who wants a wet Christmas... still I felt there should be a substitution. So as we were skyping with family and noticed the glare on the computer, I found it-- "bright Christmas!!!" I'm dreaming of a bright Christmas... hahaha.
We had an awesome Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. On Christmas Eve we lounged around, went for an afternoon walk to the local playground, and enjoyed a standing-room-only service at our church. Then we came back and enjoyed a dinner of Cranberry Cider Pork Chops that were amazingly delicious (thanks for the recipe Mary McCarty!!!). Then we opened our one Christmas Eve present, which was new jammies for the family, snuggled up in our new jammies, and read our advent readings. The new pajama thing is something I'm hoping to make a tradition-- it's so fun that all of our Christmas morning pictures are in our new clothes! Anyway. We also enjoyed hearing Tim's parents read us The Night Before Christmas story on this cool recordable book they sent to Micaiah. I grew up reading that story, and while Micaiah knows that Santa isn't real (he's just a pretend character that's fun to pretend about), it was still fun to hear the story as I used to as a kid.
Christmas Day was similarly relaxed. Micaiah didn't wake up until about 8am and even then was more into snuggling with us in bed than jumping around and opening presents! Talk about a blessing! Tim read us the Christmas story in bed, then we headed out to open stockings and gifts. After presents, we had a big breakfast of eggs and sausage. Around mid-day we had lots of time to skype with family (both mine and Tim's) and Micaiah tried out all her new toys. in the afternoon we had a big lego-building party, which was oddly one of my favorite parts of the day! I made a turkey for dinner, which we barely put a dent in. But the upside is that now we have loads of turkey meat in the fridge and freezer!
It was sad to not be around family during the holidays this year, but at the same time it was very enjoyable to have some time to ourselves. Tim is gearing up for a big spring semester and will need all the energy he can muster. Plus, we're also celebrating the new Christmas story that has been published in the Mara cluster (9 languages!) in the past month or so. I've really enjoyed the opportunity to think of our friends there and how the Gospel may be impacting their lives. God is so good.
Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, too!
-JLR
Are Our Headlights Out? (July 26, 2021)
5 years ago
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4 comments:
Oh I love the pajama idea! May have to steal that from you. :)
I'm so glad to know there is someone else opting out of believing in Santa Claus. :)
Glad you had a good Christmas!
Love
Dana
Feel free to steal the PJs thing. I've been thinking about it for a few years now, and I think it will even work in TZ... how hard would it be to take one pair to a fundi and have them copy it? Or just sew some quick ones myself?
Yep, we're definitely not into the Santa thing with Micaiah. I guess it could get us into some trouble here and there, but she enjoys "pretending" about Santa with her cousins and friends, so that has helped. But we've met several families along the way who are on the same page, which is encouraging.
Hope you guys had a great Christmas, too!
-J
Sounds like a great, relaxing Christmas! We have the same stance on Santa, but that didn't stop Elijah's eyes from shining and getting quite a thrill from "Santa's" visit at the big family Christmas Eve party (Marc's extended family throws an enormous bash at the old family farm). Brynn took one look at Santa and started to howl!
Unfortunately many of my earliest memories of Santa are similar to Brynn's reaction. :) I would expect it's even more fun to see Santa when you're in on the secret! Hope you all had a fantastic Christmas, too!
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