Last weekend we celebrated Valentine’s Day with our traditional family party. We made heart-shaped pizzas, made and decorated heart-shaped cookies, played games, and exchanged cards and the kids each got a new book.
The kids worked very hard on making cards for everyone. It’s always a really fun time.
The next evening Josh and I had a special dinner after the kids went to bed. So glad God has given us all these Loves.
Last week we had a family day and spent a few hours at a waterfall. We’d visited this waterfall last July, but it was during rainy season and the water was brown from all the rain. This time it was quite clear and the water level was low enough to allow the kids to play.
First we went on a jungle hike following the source of the falls. Then we had a picnic lunch, complete with egg salad sandwiches, Pringle chips (we can buy these here), mango, double stuffed Oreos (bought in Siem Reap), and Sprite.
Afterwards the kids played in the water for a while before we headed off to PE. It was a fun day. Perfect weather. Perfect location. Lovely day.
(Between trying to manage our stuff, watch the kids, and stay dry – we forgot to take a picture of me. )
Last week for family night our kids decided to dress up. They were quite pleased with themselves and were very agreeable when I asked if I could snap a picture (getting all four to look and smile is often a challenge.)
Christmas is long over and we’re back into the swing of things. I had had big plans for the week after Christmas with lots of projects and time to prepare for the New Year, but with the accident everything was put on hold. So I started the year a week or more behind.
Thankfully I can now say, 8 weeks after the accident, that I think I am fully recovered. I was told it could take 6-8 weeks to recover from a concussion and it was true. Those weeks were hard. I didn’t feel well, had trouble with light and sound sensitivities, was tried, and had absolutely no motivation. I didn’t even want to read my messages from friends (which I was told by another concussion victim was a completely normal symptom). Probably the hardest thing was that right before the accident I was feeling really good. I had stopped nursing Clara and my energy level had returned and I probably felt the best I had felt for….years. I had all this motivation and energy to get extra things done. To go from feeling so good (much better than I had in years) to being down with a concussion was discouraging. But life had to go on. Meals still had to be made (there’s not many other food options out here and I am thankful for some meals that were sent out from Ban Lung). Kids still needed care. There really wasn’t any time for extra rest. But thanks be to God, I recovered. I feel so much better. Thanks for your prayers!
Christmas morning we decided not to start out with quiche and cinnamon rolls, since usually the kids are hungry/grumpy by the time everything is ready. So this year we had Honey Cheerios, pumpkin bread, and scrambled eggs for breakfast and had the cinnamon rolls and quiche for lunch. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to me, my yeast was going bad, so the cinnamon rolls did not turn out as well as I had hoped.
After breakfast Isaiah and Anna performed separate Christmas plays. It’s Becca’s tradition to do a Christmas pageant every Christmas evening with Little People. She spends weeks preparing. The younger kids did not want to be left out, so we watched their programs in the morning.
Afterwards the kids passed out gifts. We put a big emphasis on the kids giving things to others for Christmas. They get really excited about buying and/or making gifts for everyone in the family. It’s so much fun to watch their delight in giving. As Becca says what makes Christmas really special is that we don’t just get gifts, but we get to give gifts too. Becca spent a lot of time making special gifts for each family members. One thing she did was to make paper frame backgrounds for each family member and had a picture of her and that family member printed to put on each one.
After lunch we had a rest time and then played games for the rest of the afternoon. Then we had a supper of Indian Buffalo roast. After supper we finished up the gifts. We gave the kids their gifts. The theme was art supplies and they were so excited. I love seeing them so excited about simple things…they each also got their own magnifying glass. Becca finished passing out her gifts to Josh and me. She spent hours writing and illustrating original stories for each of us.
Our last event was watching Becca performed her Christmas Pageant. She basically quotes the Christmas story from Luke and Matthew. It gets better and better every year. What a blessing to watch.
So that was our Christmas. Thankfully there were no funerals nearby like in past years and we enjoyed a semi quiet day. Thankful for the time we had together. Thankful for the traditions we can keep even though we live in Cambodia. Thankful for the birth of Christ!
