We spent a week before Christmas in Malawi with some friends at a cottage on the lake. We had great weather and the kids spent A LOT of time in the water. Traeger learned to swim under water for the first time. Kallen loved the water and is a little dare devil. We had to be watching her every second. We arrived back in Lichinga on the 19th of December and we had a very nice Christmas at home. We had a big turkey dinner here, Christmas Eve, for some collegues of ours. It was very nice. We sang Christmas carols after dinner and read some scripture. The kids are old enough now, that they are understanding better the true meaning of Christmas. We spent a lot of time reading Bible passages and talking about God sending Jesus to be our Saviour. Traeger and Karis slept in the living room by the Christmas tree and then Christmas morning we opened presents. Later that afternoon, we went to our church in Namakula for a Christmas service and lunch. So our Christmas dinner was beans and rice! Overall we had a very nice Christmas, but we are looking forward to being home next year and enjoying Christmas with family. Here are some pictures of our festivities.
We had a "band" waiting for us when we arrived at the cottage in Malawi. The local kids were trying to earn money by singing and dancing and playing the drums.
This is the front view of the cottage we stayed at.
This is view looking out from the cottage towards the lake.
Here is the beach.
We had a couple big storms come up on the lake while we were there. It was really incredible to watch.
Karis washing her hair in the sprinkler.
This is a colorful chinchilid from Lake Malawi. It is famous for these colorful fresh water fish.
Karis and her "princess" sand castle.
Traeger learned to swim underwater and jump from rocks into the water. He has been so cautious about the water, it was fun to see the progress he made in the week.
Kallen learning to swim.
Singing Christmas carols on Christmas Eve.
The kids opening presents "in front" of grandma and grandpa on Christmas morning. It was about 5:30am our time and 10:30pm, Christmas Eve, their time. And no we didn't plan to get up that early, the kids were up and ready to open presents by 5:15am!
As you can see the kids were spoiled this year, we received about 7 packages of Christmas gifts from Grandma and Grandpa, aunts and uncles, and friends, so there was no shortage of gifts this year.
Kallen really enjoyed opening her gifts this year.
2 comments:
i CANNOT believe how big kallen is! she is a totall doll! i'm so happy you could get away for a break and enjoy the lake... i wanna come visit! it looks beautiful there. your kids are all darling, michele, and i love that they are experiencing so many wonderful things. we're planning to be in GR for christmas next year, too, and CANNOT wait to see and hug you all!
So sweet! Merry Christmas!
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