'Twas the Night Before

Happy Boxing Day!  And Merry Christmas.  And I'm actually going to start with Christmas Eve.

Our hand-made, funky wrapping-paper wreath was hung on the wall with care:

Our tomato lights and hand-made ornaments (except the awesome soap-stone angel!) were twinkling with glee:

The table was set with beautiful summer flowers because it was 80 degrees and borrowed dishes because we don't have service for 10:

Everything was ready.  So we went carolling.  All 10 cottages and all the missionaries and friends piled into gazebo no. 2 to sing. 

I led the singing and Richard read the Christmas story in between songs like a Lesson and Carols service.

Having 100 people carolling is really fun.  One little boy told me he wished we would have sung all the way to the night.  Why did we have to stop?

But dinner was calling from our house.  All the missionaries, short-term or long-term, that were at the village came over for my family's Christmas Eve dinner tradition of spaghetti and all the fixings.

After dinner we ate a traditional fruit cake made by a friend and donated by a travel agency we use a lot to ferry people around.  In Kenya, you order cake by the kilo and this was a six-kilo cake.  It was delicious.

One friend brought Christmas crackers to share.  I think it must be a British thing, but it will definitely be on my must-do list for next Christmas.  You pull the "cracker" apart and it pops like a firework.  Inside is a paper crown, a joke and a prize or toy.  (Joke example: Q: What do you call a man with a spade on his head? A: Doug!) I got a tiny plastic trumpet whistle and Richard got a green plastic ring which he promptly made me wear.  It was a blast.

We finally scurried off to bed with visions of slaughtered goats in our heads.  Merry Christmas!