Merry Christmas

This week has been filled with the usual Christmas things. We did some last minute shopping and then stayed home away from the crowds. A few weeks ago Joyce and I "bought" a goat and a rabbit in Kenya in Josiah's and Lilly's names. These are animals that are given to villagers to raise for breeding, milking, and raising more of the same for (don't tell Lilly) eating (i.e. rabbits). There are quite a few organizations that do this -- some, in some countries, have a wide variety of animals. We went through Free Methodist Missions for ours... er, Josiah's and Lilly's, I mean. Okay, so we did this. Now, how do we communicate to a 3 year old and 6 year old what really happened and what it means? We found a small plush goat and rabbit at some company online so we ordered these for the kids. Then I wrote a story about a boy and girl in Kenya who got a goat and rabbit from "the missionary lady" so they could help their family with income. I printed this into a nice little booklet with pictures, a map of Africa with Kenya highlighted, and a flag of Kenya to color. We gave all of this to the kids on Monday. We read the story and explained what it all meant. Then we had a Kenyan dinner. I'm not sure about the authenticity of the dinner but I got it online from a "Kenyan recipes" website. I picked the easy ones. The main course was mashed potatoes mixed with pureed peas (the result was green potatoes) and kernel corn. Then some meat is cut into thin strips, fried and mixed with a gravy. This is poured over the potatoes for a meal. The dessert was "ice cream" made from mangos and whipping cream, then frozen, and finally topped with a pineapple-brandy concoction. It really wasn't too bad. The kids "helped" make all this -- as much as they could. We had a good discussion about Kenya, that some people there are very poor and probably didn't even have as much to eat as we did. We also bought a can of goat's milk for everyone to try a sip. But, alas, we forgot to bring it out so it still awaits our eager (???) paletes. Maybe we'll try it tonight.

Christmas eve we went to one of Korak's brother's apartments over in Covina. All his immediate family were there except for one brother who lives in Portland. All the cousins enjoy playing with each other. There were probably 30 people in the house. He had a simple meal ready for us and then the family opened gifts. They had exchanged names so everyone had a gift and no felt like they needed to buy everyone a gift (a very expensive proposition). It was fun but it was 1:00 before we got back home and to bed. These old eyelids don't do night shifts like they used to!

Our Christmas morning was a slow, laid back time with the kids enjoying a big pile of Santa's favors. Sure didn't look like we're in a recession to me. Between two sets of grandparents, their own parents, a neighbor lady, and friends at church they did pretty well. That evening we all went to see "The Tale of Despereaux" -- an animated movie about an unmouse-like mouse.

Remember those pumpkins with the kid's names carved in them (pictures back around the end of October)? Well, we carted them down to LA so the kids could see them up close and personal. After we cracked them open, Josiah and I dug out the seeds for roasting. The roasting didn't go very well. The seeds were big and old... and I roasted them too long. They had a good taste but the chewing residue was kind of woody. We did salvage some of the pumpkin itself and I made two pies out of it. They really tasted good but were kind of ugly -- too thin and not cooked evenly.

Sunday we did church at Marina Christian Fellowship, then went out to eat at Islands. It is an Hawaiian flavor type restaurant -- mostly hamburgers, chicken burgers, and salads. Very good food and lots of fun. In the evening Jana, the kids, and I drove over to Pasadena to attend the FM church there. It is being re-created under the leadership of the Marina church. There were not very many people present but we had a good Bible study.

And now I sit in a dentist's office waiting for Jana. She was having a tooth problem so they are seeing what needs to be done. Trust you had a very good Christmas and will enjoy a happy new year.