We had a wonderful Christmas. One of the best ever! Amidst the sweet fellowship, good food and programs though were lots of little bugs. I wish I was talking about ants invading the house but I'm not. When we returned from Kathmandu, Caleb had a terrible cold. He had the constant runny nose and sad little cough. He slept 18 hours out of every 24 for about 5 days straight. Christmas Eve morning though he woke almost back to his normal self. We were out at the market at lunch time and things turned ugly. He threw up in three shops, the sidewalk and the road. He threw up for the next 6 hours! By Christmas morning though he was feeling better and by Christmas lunch he even ate some good food. We had a wonderful time with friends that day and feel so incredibly blessed to be surrounded by family here. Then the day after Christmas, I fell ill with the same stomach bug. I'll spare you those details. Then the next day, Caleb started having terrible diarrhea. By the next morning, he was much worse so we drove down to the "big" city to see a doctor there. Unfortunately, someone decided to close the highway in protest so we sat on the highway (no way to go forward or turn around) for 5 hours. By the time we finally got him to see a doctor it was his bedtime. The doctor determined he had picked up a parasite in Kathmandu (thank you Kathmandu for that lovely parting gift). He gave us medicine and sent us on our way. After waiting out another road closure - we finally arrived home the next day at 11pm! So, I feel the need to confess (if you made it to the end of this long story) that this Christmas picture was actually taken on New Year's Day - once we were all finally healthy! I can finally take down my tree now.
I'm going to go ahead and brag - we have the most amazing child. One shot, on self-timer and the kid is grinning for his grandparents! Merry Christmas Nana, Grandpa, Grandad and Grandma!
We had a tree decorating party with our teammates. Lights even get tangled in India!
Remember that tear-stained face we posted earlier when he bumped up against the tree? He finally got over it...praise God!
I always said I would never have a fake tree. Well, last year, we decided fake was better than a wimpy twig of a real tree. So, for now, we piece our tree together.
The local youth groups go caroling the two days before Christmas. We had a group each night. Fortunately, the first night, a Nepali friend of ours was at our house. He was gracious enough to help us not look like unknowing foreigners. Caroling here is quite different. I heard them outside and opened the door - ready to enjoy their songs. The first thing he said was, "you must shut the door!" Apparently, you aren't allow to open the door until they are completely finished and shout "Happy Christmas" (not a typo - they say 'happy' instead of 'merry')! So, they sang three songs, then, "We Wish You a Happy Christmas" and shouted Happy Christmas. Then I was to open the door, give them a plate of sweets (little pieces of chocolate) and an envelope with a gift of money for the youth group. Then as a group, they prayed over our house! Pretty amazing!
Caleb was sick for most of his gift opening endeavors. He wasn't too interested.
He liked this punching bag from our friends though!
He did not like the helmet or gloves that came with it however!
The ONE smile we got out of him while he opened gifts my mom had sent. He loves this shape sorter! Mostly he likes to open the flap and put them in that way.
Father and son with their new "Christmas" hats. Praise God Caleb is feeling better now. We had a wonderful Christmas and pray yours was equally blessed!
