Our first Christmas in Tchad:
Needless to say, our celebration of J’s birth looked
different this year. We’ll let our
version of a well-known carol share a few of these differences…
We’re having our first Tchadian Christmas,
Unlike the ones we’ve always known.
They’re camel not reindeer,
And donkeys bray here,
While bells ring only on cell phones.
We’re having our first Tchadian Christmas,
The only white we see is sand.
Though our days are sunny and hot,
It’s a joy-filled Christmas we’ve got!
We’re having our first Tchadian Christmas,
Where the stars shine brighter,
Marshmallows roast without fire,
And chocolate melts all on it’s own.
We’re having our first Tchadian Christmas,
With all our treats baked in the sun.
Though our days are sunny and hot,
It’s a joy-filled Christmas we’ve still got!
This was our contribution to the ex-pat Christmas party
hosted by another family serving alongside us.
The kids had fun “shopping” for each other in a “up-cycle” store that a
couple moms organized – a great way for under-used (or outgrown) toys to be
circulated amongst various kids/families.
We shared soup, swapped treats and sang carols.
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| Decorating our treats for the party |
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| Gingerbread & Peppermint Cookies |
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| Wrapping her gift for the gift exchange |
Another way we brought some “home” into our holidays was to host a Gingerbread House party! This is becoming a K-fam tradition (if you recall from last year in France we did something similar), which we hope to continue for years to come. We found various “crackers” to use in place of gingerbread and everyone contributed from their candy stashes so the kids could be quite creative building festive nativities/houses/etc.
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| Everyone at work... |
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| G adding yummy decor... the "finished" product collapsed before photographed : ( |
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| Someone's "nativity" design |
In addition, we attended the local congregation’s Christmas events – a large community-wide meal on Christmas Eve followed by a Christmas morning service full of song & scripture.
And somewhere in the midst of all of this, we made time for family moments around our little tree : )
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| Decorating our tree (which was purchased IN Chad!!) |
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| Calendar Countdown |
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| Christmas Morning |
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| Quite a FULL tree...we are blessed indeed! |
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| Gingerbread Scones for Christmas breakfast (another repeat from France, another tradition in the making) |
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| S enjoying his new duplo train |
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| Tea Party!! G has really enjoyed the tea set sent from Nanny |
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| Even Dad was invite to the inaugural party! |
As our song reminds us, even with all the "newness" of this year's celebration of J's birth, it's a JOY-filled Christmas we've got, ALWAYS!!
Celebrating the greatest gift,
DDG&S
