Category: Other Page 88 of 181

Making Merry

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On December 30, 2012

In Other

 

Since it’s almost impossible to buy decent gifts for the kids here, Christmas presents usually arrive via big yellow envelopes.  These particular ones were from our friends at FCC. 

Thank you to everyone who blesses us at Christmas!

 

 

Annual gingerbread house decorating with Caleb and Imani. 

My houses did not collapse this year, so I am improving.  However, as I was wrestling with these ridiculous contraptions, I declared rather loudly to anyone who would listen,

Next year I am buying a kit! 

 

 

 

Making glorious messes has always got to be a part of Christmas.

Skyping in the relatives.

Next year there will be no Skyping!

 

 More glorious messes:  Christmas morning.

And the benefit to hosting 14 additional people on Christmas afternoon?  It all gets cleaned up, lickety split. 

So Gil convinced his mom to purchase a zip line for the kids for Christmas.  (I don’t think, actually, that Grandma realized that this particular gift means that her grandchildren will be whizzing across our yard at tremendous speeds and almost crashing into trees…with no helmet.)

 

Thanks to Grandma for purchasing it;

Carley’s family for carting it over here;

and Tony and Devin for their help in putting it up.

 

 

 

It was a whiz-bang Christmas.

 

 

 

It was also a Claimjumper Christmas. 

 

It all started with the meat. 

My friends Alyssa and Lauren and I went to a day-long women’s retreat in November.  A gift was given to each woman who attended:  a recipe and little bag of spices to make Claimjumper’s Corned Beef.

 

We decided right then and there that we would make the beef for Christmas.  AND that therefore, we needed an entire Claimjumper’s Christmas.  Logical conclusion, don’t you think?

 

So we scoured the internet for recipes.  And oh my.  I have amazing friends. 

 

Bacon wrapped shrimp, citrus salad, Thai salad, BBQ salad, mozzarella cheese sticks, cheese-potato cakes, twice-baked potatoes with chicken.  And corned beef.  We should open our own Claimjumpers. 

 

Yes, those are Hershey’s kiss cookies, made from kisses that have been at the bottom of my freezer since August.  However, they are not very well suited to Tanzania, since they could only be out of the freezer for about 10 minutes before they turned into Hershey’s kiss puddles.  But that’s okay, 10 minutes is enough! 

 

And of course, it would not be a Claimjumper’s Christmas without

The Motherlode. 

Except mine was only 5 layers, instead of 6.  I couldn’t fit six under my cake container. 

 

Heri ya Krismas! 

 

Next year….next year.  Next year I will be home for Christmas!

But wait.  This is home too.  And I will miss it.

 

Be still, my divided heart. 

 

 

The Very Best Way to Spend Christmas Eve

By

On December 26, 2012

In Other

Gil has had a significant influence in David S. and David. M’s life for at least the past six years.  Now they are seniors, and when 18-year-old boys are wanting to stand up and declare their commitment to Christ, that is something worth celebrating.  Especially on Christmas Eve.

 

Pamoja

By

On December 25, 2012

In Other

 

I love Tanzanian fabric.  Half of my wardrobe is made from it. 

Kangas are probably the most common form of Tanzanian fabric, and what makes them unique is that each pattern has a saying or proverb written along the bottom.  When I found this one, I knew I had to get it for my kids and made into outfits for them. 

 

It says:  Upendo wa mungu umetuweka pamoja.

 

The love of God has brought us together.

 

Yes. 

 

Merry Christmas!

 

He Comes to Make His Blessings Flow, Far As the Curse Is Found

By

On December 24, 2012

In Other

Remember William and Stella? 

 

There’s that precious baby girl, Janet, who is now 20 months old and scared to death of anyone white.  Would not let me come near her; you can see it on her face.  But the sight of her sure makes me smile! 

 

 

As you might remember, William is the head cleaner at HOPAC and blesses us every day.  He is also the pastor of a church in a village not far from here.  So we decided to make a visit to William’s church, and to play with the kids that come to his Sunday School.  (We’ve been there a number of times in the past.)

 

It wasn’t much, just some crafts and snacks and games.  Santa, interestingly enough, doesn’t make it out to the villages in Africa, so it was fun to bless these kids, just a little bit.  Though I think my own kids got the most out of it. 

except the Traffic

By

On December 22, 2012

In Other

I recently saw this t-shirt:

Oh yes.  That is my life as a resident of Dar, but even more so as an adoptive mama. 

A bit of relief has been felt in this household in the past few weeks, as we have acquired two new passports:

If you could only understand what goes into procuring these precious little books of paper.  Bringing home Lily’s Tanzanian passport turned into a much bigger undertaking than expected, or necessary.  But such is life.

Last week I realized that in order to track down this passport, I would need to go to the immigration headquarters building in downtown Dar es Salaam.  I had only been there once, and my perception of it was that it was far, far away.  Never never land.  Like, the kind of errand that would take me the better part of an entire day to complete.  Needless to say, I was not looking forward to it.

I also did not remember how to get there.  Gil told me to look it up on Google Maps.

“You can do that here?” I said.  I was incredulous.  I didn’t believe him.  But he was right.

I didn’t know a lot of those streets even had names.  But my main shock in seeing these directions is that it told me that it is only 25 kilometers (15 miles) from our house to Kurasini.

15 miles?  15 miles!  Like, if I was in America, I could jump on the freeway and be there in 20 minutes?  Like I said, my perception was that this place was in Never Never Land.

My second shock came from Google Map’s estimation of how long it would take to get there:  34 minutes.

At this, I had myself a good long laugh.  Obviously, that little satellite up there, looking down on good ol’ Dar es Salaam, has no idea that 5 million people live in this city.  5 million people on roads that could handle about 250,000, give or take a few.

34 minutes.  Ha ha HA.

So when I left for the trip, I set my clock.  90 minutes later, I arrived.  90 minutes for 15 miles.  No wonder I thought it was so far away.  And it took at least that long to get back home.

But at least, we are now a 7-passport family. Can’t wait until we are an 8-passport family, when Lily has her U.S. passport.  The day that I am done acquiring passports will be a Day of Celebration.  You will be invited.  But it will take you at least two hours to get to our house from the airport.  (Google Maps:  17 miles, 46 minutes) 

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