Merry Christmas

It was the most unique Christmas to date.  Christmas Eve was spent with some friends from different states (Florida, New York, Virginia and us from Texas).  At the dinner table:

Later another couple joined and we had one of the kids take the picture:

We played games and enjoyed some good laughter.

 

Then today we got up early, baked sugar cookies, and rode our bikes to Casa de Fe.  There we broke kids into teams and cycled them through five different stations of activities.  Doug and I were in charge of the scavenger hunt--which of course included running in the rain up and down the hill looking for the most miniscule of objects so that the kids could score points.  Great activity for kids who have unending energy--not so much for the middle aged who ran the activity.  ; )  Here are a few pictures of the groups that ran pell-mell while we huffed and puffed behind them:  (The Anglos in each picture are missionary kids.)

 This group had us running the most.  Darius loved every minute of it.

 These little guys didn't have to do what all the other kids had to.  We simply hid little Christmas ornaments in their play area and they had to find them.  This guy was the best at finding them.

 Selah and her teammate Nila. 

We found one item on our list on the front door of Casa de Fe itself.  No running involved there.  Praise God.  Maria posed with my sunglasses and Nyeli held onto me for the duration of the game.  She was born with only one ventricle in her heart and therefore ends up with oxygenated blood mixing with blood that lacks oxygen.  The result is a child that cannot manage much exercise--she was my partner and I was happy to have her.

After the five iterations of 'scavenger hunt time' ended, we then went into the big house and sang Christmas songs in English and in Spanish.  We had a family here from Colorado who decided to spend their Christmas break working in Ecuador at Casa.  So, while the father of the family led songs, we all sang so the kitchen staff could prep the big Christmas meal.  These are some of the kids in the big group.

Then we went downstairs and had lunch.  Surprisingly it was turkey, mashed potatoes, and a veggie medley.  A surprisingly yummy meal.  Doug and I sat at the three and four year old table with some of my favorites.  Our own kids were spread throughout the room among the other kids:

After lunch the kids all returned upstairs and we decided to take a quick family photo before we left.  We'd been there for five hours and were ready to go home for a little family time of our own--as you can see, we really needed it.

Finally, we ended our day delivering cookies to businesses that were open in spite of the holiday.  We had already taken cookies to the butcher, the shoe repairer, the baker, the lady in the wheelchair who lives down the road (she cried when we gave them to her), the pharmacist, the owners of our two favorite grocery stores (the size of a gas station convenience store), the pastors of the two churches we attend (one in English, one in Spanish), the maintenance men that work at the hospital and then also to the hospital employees who work inside, and to a number of our neighbors here on the compound.  That was a fun activity.  We had wanted to deliver cookies to the construction workers that are working on the bridge but we didn't get it done.  We'll do that for the new year. 

 

At last we returned to our friends' house where we spent Christmas Eve and there we had more turkey, yummy dressing, and some awesome desserts that we started the night before.  The kids again played games while we adults pulled out the old hymnals and chose songs to sing. 

 Talk about a fun thing to do.  We laughed, we praised God, we celebrated the One who's birth we appreciate.  Selah took this picture of the ladies tonight:  Not bad, huh?

She then took this one of the men.  Just goes to show that a five year old has not mastered the use of a camera.  Nice try though.  : )