Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was a full day. We started off by making cinnamon rolls and Esther did Molly’s hair while I mixed up the dough.

The girls enjoyed trying to help and once again we went down the road to the bakery.

We gave the baker a cinnamon roll and sampled one ourselves (hence the empty spot on the plate). They looked a little overdone but turned out amazingly good.

Next I made donuts for the people coming to do the shoebox distribution (our pastor’s wife and helpers).

We had a little down time while the girls had their quiet time and then the children started arriving. The day before the girls and I had taken a walk around the neighborhood making sure the children knew what time to come, and we were not disappointed. There were lots of kids.

Thankfully we’d done inventory the night before of what age groups of boxes we already had at our house so our pastor’s family knew what cartons to bring.

It was definitely the most crazy and disorganized distribution I’ve participated in, I think it was partly because too many moms showed up wanting to interfere and we didn’t have a real team helping organize kids and calm everyone down. It was too bad it happened to be Esther’s only chance but I think she enjoyed the experience anyway, and every kid heard the gospel and got a box.

Aravis Leanna 2 months old

Sunday pictures

Orcxance stayed home with Aravis so the rest of us could go to church. We wore the matching dresses I made back in February and took some pictures

Visitors

We had a visit from the Hollands and Combests and it was lots of fun. We rearranged our sleeping places and made room for 7 extra people, cooked some big pots of food, stayed up very late talking and just had a great time.

Lydia and David:

The children really enjoyed each other and especially the goats! Unfortunately we didn’t get a group photo but I did snap a few pics of the children. Lydia and Molly:

The fellowship of the Saints at any time and place is a real blessing.

Afternoon outing

Orcxance doesn’t get much time at home due to his job and the community medical care he does, so an afternoon with Papa is a real treat. He doesn’t mind at all that he’s the only dad around who goes for a walk with a baby strapped to him.

One afternoon recently they went off to the “beach” for a swim right before a rain storm and came home doubly soaked from swimming and the rain.

Eileen was freezing cold but seemed very happy. I gave the girls quick baths and then we snuggled up in Masai blankets and had hot chocolate and peppermint sticks, the special kind that my grandmother always liked.