With the nights cooling off to the high 60's, the days staying in the high 80's and the humidity showing veeerrrry low, it feels like Christmas season has arrived in Niger. We are so thankful for these cooler days. It's amazing how refreshing it is to us and how much more energy we have.
In our home, the month of December always combines decorating for Christmas and celebrating Tom's birthday. This year was the big 60! His favorite cake made him happy ... and he shared it with the rest of us.
With only one apron in the house, we fashioned aprons out of my "pagnes" (wrap around skirts).
The "Soiree de Noel" was a great time. Our invited guests seemed to appreciate the evening and quietly listened to a presentation of the meaning of Christmas and who Jesus was and why he came.
A couple of days later we invited all our national staff AND their children over for a Christmas party. What a fun time we had! The early birds got to do some coloring and once the whole crowd arrived, the games began. The children came dressed in their new Christmas clothes from head to foot. They looked lovely.
The youngest member of our team.
We took a picture of the entire staff team but I forgot to tell them to smile! They DID have a good time, but smiling for pictures is not the popular thing to do.
Christmas Eve was spent with dear friends at our home. We had a special visitor this year: Max, the father of Kirk and Becca was here for 2 weeks and we enjoyed having him a part of our celebrations.
Christmas Day was spent in our little church and as usual, "Jeunesse 2", the name of our English choir, sang "Hark the Herald Angels Sing." The service was followed by a heaping plate of rice and goat meat and an ice cold pop.
Yes, we were given delightful purple shirts for Christmas from some dedicated K-State alums. Tom took off his KU hat for the picture...and because he wasn't allowed into the house with it on!
