Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

We are blessed this year to have my sister and her family here for the holidays! The kids are loving playing together.

Here on Christmas day, everyone dresses up in the same cloth (sold to raise money for Malian missionaries who serve in Africa) and heads to church for an extra long service. The church service we attended lasted three and a half hours. Each people group sings and song, as well as the women's group, the children and anyone else who feels the need to sing. :) It is enjoyable but long and since it takes up the morning, we postponed our Christmas until today.

But here we are in our cloth. Kenan was upset because he wanted to push the button for the camera but Dawson got to do it first. :)

My sister bought all the kids matching pajamas. They had to pose for a picture before they could open presents. Not too bad for 6 in the morning, I think.

The kids have had lots of fun today. Jake, a fellow missionary here, came over as well to join in the Christmas fun. My parents also wanted us to call them, so even though we woke them up at 1:30 in the morning their time to open presents, they enjoyed it and it was fun to have them there. Kenan loved showing them all his new gifts. I think Kenan was the most fun to watch open gifts this year. He was happy with everything, even if it was a shirt or a book. He would respond with something like "it's my favorite" or "i love it." Afterwards we got to have breakfast, and though bacon here isn't really bacon, more like country ham, it was still nice to eat it and some grits, eggs and biscuits.

There are many more pictures that I must post at some point, like the new Christmas tree my sister brought me, the ornaments she made with the kids, and the gingerbread house. She is extremely creative and so good with kids so the boys are enjoying her being here. Next up, will be Kenan's Superman Party! (his birthday is Jan 1).