Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

We have had such a restful school break over Christmas time, perhaps it passed a bit too quickly. It's hard to believe that after this next long weekend (with New Years on Monday), we will be getting back into it.

The past few Christmases we have adopted more of a southern/tropical menu for Christmas dinner. For now, gone are the days where we try and re-create a North American classic Christmas meal, where turkey is served with rich stuffing and cranberry sauce. 

My husband, being the skilled engineer that he is, built a smoker to make yummy meats we couldn't otherwise buy in the shops here. So at this time of year, we look forward to home-smoked ham. As well, we make frozen watermelon punch, tropical cole-slaw with mint and coriander, cold green bean salad, and spicy grilled potato wedges with lime cream. And for dessert, pavlova topped with vanilla pudding and seasonal fruits.

This year was extra special as we were able to share such a beautiful meal with friends - Canadian and South African.

Above: Parents' Table    /    Below: Kids' Table, decorated by my kids

2012 - First Christmas Waterfight in Madagascar

Seasons in the southern hemisphere are opposite to Canada, so December is our mid-summer, our hottest and most humid month. Traditionally we have had water fights on Christmas Day. A refreshing time.

We invested in a few good waterguns from Canadian Tire while we were on furlough this year, so those became part of the kids' Christmas gifts to open as well.

On My Side Table

Besides continuing through Trusting God by Jerry Bridges and Momentary Marriage by John Piper, I borrowed the latest Jan Karon book from the online library, To Be Where You Are.

I have also been reading Dicken's Christmas Carol outloud to myself in the living room, only to find the kids entering the room and enjoying bits and pieces. They are already familiar with the story as we watched the Muppets Christmas Carol earlier this month. This is the first time I've sat down and really tried to read unabridged Dickens, and I'm kind of surprised. I'm enjoying this one. This version also has a bit of a glossary and cultural dictionary in the back to help explain some of his phrases or unfamiliar words.

End of 2017

At the beginning of 2017 I set out to write a blog post each week for the entire year. Here we are on my 52nd post of the year!

My hope is that this set of posts will serve as a journal for me in the years to come.

As this year comes to a close, I'm so thankful looking back on the gifts I've received this year. A trip to Canada, wonderful school material, beautiful weather to live in, rich Biblical counselling resources to learn from, fantastic Bible studies to work through, and new relationships. There has been no shortage of challenges and difficulties, even disappointments, but moving forward, I'm excited to enter a new year and see what God has for our family in 2018.

Happy New Year