family

Since all of Dexter's family was here over the Christmas weekend, we wanted to get some photos of them.  I had in mind that we'd go outside and do things a bit more formally, but time just got away from us. In the end though, Dexter managed to get some great shots of most of his family, and we even got a group of everyone! So, maybe not what I'd expected (hoped) but good enough.

And now, let me introduce you to the fam:

 June & Helen

 Robert & Helen

Aidan

 Jackie (who is due with her 3rd child about 3 weeks before me!)

Tete

 Dexter, Robert, Aaron, Aidan 

2010

And speaking of tradition, it seems Robert is making it a tradition to make hilarious faces for the camera:

2009

 Helen, me, Tete, June, Jackie, Dexter's Mom

 Victor, Robert, Dexter's Dad (Buda)

Victor, Dexter, Robert, Aaron, Aidan, Buda

Here's everyone!  Plus you can see we managed to get a few photos hung before the guests arrived

My one regret is that we didn't get a shot of Dexter's parents together. I think that would have been nice - both for the siblings and for them!  Another thing to try to do next year.

Lastly, a shot of our friends Francis and Evelyn.  We couldn't have managed the day without them as they were so helpful - Francis grilling the goat and Evelyn got the kitchen organized and managed in ways I never could have.  I haven't quite become a true Kenyan woman yet!

traditions

I've not been very good at Christmas.  Decorating was never my strong suit, and doing the same thing year after year just hasn't happened.  But I'm hoping to change all that as we anticipate a new family member to be with us next year! 

On Christmas Eve last year, we were in "shagz" (Dexter's parents' house in the country) and I made a big batch of chili.  Even though it is hot in Kenya in December, I thought that would be a fun thing to start.  So I made it again this year!  Perhaps some day I'll be in a place where a hot chili tastes good to the bone on Christmas Eve.

 2009 cooking on a jiko (small charcoal stove)

2010 Dexter's mom checking it out

This year I served it with cornbread and cheese -- two things I couldn't do last year because of no oven and no refrigerator.  

Since most of Dexter's family was with us Christmas morning and we were having breakfast together, I decided to make cinnamon rolls! It is so great because I can make them the night before, let them rise in the fridge over night and pop them in the oven in the morning.  I'll definitely do this again.

After breakfast Dexter read the Christmas story from Luke 2.  

Gifts are not common in Kenya -- in fact, we didn't exchange anything at all! I wouldn't mind that being a tradition carried on even though I do like to receive (and give) gifts.  As a compromise, I made banana bread for everyone to take home.  This is a simple recipe that I've been using for 10 years and love.

we needed to make it official, like I was giving an award

I also wanted to bring a bit (more) of American culture to the mostly Kenyan festivities yesterday, so I had the kids (or kids at heart) decorate Christmas cookies.  None had done this before but all had a great time.

And lastly, I want to have some Christmas cookies that I make each year.  I might have done more, but I only had a working oven for a week, I didn't have all the necessary ingredients for the gingerbread men I wanted to make, and I got sick one day last week. Whew.  So here's what I did make:  peanut butter cookies with a peanut butter cup inside, gingersnaps, and snickerdoodles.  The one thing I over looked was something with chocolate in it!  Next year.

I guess we're off to a good start at establishing some traditions that I hope we'll carry with us into the years to come.  Are there things you'd recommend we add to the list? What do you do?

christmas camping

I hardly know where to begin.  The last 48 hours were so packed -- and so fun -- that there's just a lot to share.  The Christmas wrap up posts may span a couple of days!

We stayed in Kijabe this year for Christmas, and decided it would be fun to host Dexter's family for the weekend.  This includes: his parents, oldest brother Victor and his wife and two children, and middle brother Robert and his wife and two children.  That's 10 extra people in our small house!  I tried to picture how everyone would sleep here for one or two nights, and it wasn't pretty.  Fortunately, the brothers solved this challenge for me by staying home with their wives Christmas Eve and sending just their children. 

Earlier in the year we bought a six-man tent (you know, for all the camping we do) and thought it might be fun for the boys, Aaron and Aidan who are about 11 and 12, to set it up and sleep in it.  A mini camping trip to Kijabe!

 gathering the pieces

 confusion

 Uncle Allan to the rescue!

 Aaron

 cozy

Christmas morning

but where's the snow?

It was a great idea and a great success! Sleeping in a tent is more fun than sleeping on the floor of someone's house any day, right?  Dexter slept out there with them and had a good time. And, fortunately, the Kijabe Wind didn't blow the tent down!

simple things

As you may have picked up, I enjoy baking. A lot.  And what better time to bake than at Christmas?  I have a growing list of cookies and treats accumulating for me to try out.  I'm thinking to create an arsenal of Christmas cookie recipes to use for years to come.

Sadly, the oven we are buying from the hospital was broken down -- but we were assured we could simply get the broken pieces from the US and all would be well. So that's what we did.  Electricians came multiple times in the last ten days to get the stove working, but in the end gave up. Something else was wrong and they couldn't fix it. I was ready to hop in the car to Nairobi to buy a replacement. I couldn't imagine Christmas without cookies!

There was a last ditch effort on Saturday to get it fixed. And it worked!

But when we turned the oven on the whole thing smoked, the inside was covered with soot, and the gas flame was yellow and lapping up into the oven. 

These are not good things.

I thought it might be because it just hadn't been used in a while.  Fortunately for me, Dexter (who'd given up the day going to tinker with the car) thought otherwise and was determined to set it right.  He called the electrician back and they worked some more and got it working properly!

I wasted no time getting right into the baking.  There's the oven decorated with a little Christmas cheer. The best part of this stove is that it is considerably bigger than the standard sizes here in Kenya.  Given the amount of baking I do it is nice to have two racks to get the job done faster! Or to do two different things at once!  It doesn't take much to make me happy.

Since I'm going to be munching on cookie crumbs a lot over the next few days, I thought it would be best to start the week off right.

two weeks

We were in the States for a mere two weeks. But that was long enough for Dexter to get a taste of winter (even though we never did experience snow), to have a baby shower, to eat good foods hard to find in Kenya, and to relax.  It was also, apparently, enough time to buy everything in America as we returned to Kenya with seven bags.

While it's true that I stocked up on chocolate chips and Christmas celebration supplies, the real culprit was actually the Kijabe Dental clinic.  We were packed and ready to go when two boxes of 30+ pounds arrived with dental supplies.  It is hard to be too upset about this since the equipment is not found here and is hugely beneficial to the work they do.  Still - in the future I may be a bit more careful about what I agree to!  I could have brought more chocolate chips.

So, we said goodbye to Essex and the beautiful morning light...

... and hello to a vastly different garden!

In the short time we were away it already looks so much better.  I am excited to see everything really take root and flourish.  If I can manage to water the garden on the days when Daniel, the gardener, is not here, I'll be pleased!  I'm especially excited to have a rosemary bush right outside our door.  I'm trying to avoid using it all up before it really settles into its new home.

Otherwise, things are back to normal here in Kijabe.  We're still slowly settling into the house.  We will be hosting Dexter's family and some friends for Christmas -- roasted goat, of course -- which is helping us to get the house in order more quickly.  I'll get photos up soon.

shower

There was a shower for me the second Saturday I was home. My mom organized it, and invited the women of my community to come and celebrate with us.  We had a great time, spending it catching up and laughing, and enjoying being together -- and eating, of course!  I feel so blessed to have grown up in such a place -- where people leave doors unlocked, where neighbors and friends look after each others' kids, and there's a general feeling of support everywhere. My parents are a part of a big group of friends, and the women in this group especially became my friends.

They are praying for me and for Baby and love me from afar.  It was a joy to be with them all again!  I can't wait to return next year sometime and introduce Baby to this very important community. In fact, I'm a little sad that we're so far away and have to resort to once (or twice) a year visits.

The nursery is going to have an African animal theme which is why there's a giraffe perched on the basket with the ultrasound photos and the picture frame we gave my mom announcing the pregnancy.

Dexter was pretty excited about all the packages that appeared in our house in the morning.  But don't worry, he wasn't around for the day - he and my dad went to a car show in Boston to leave the women in peace.  He was hoping there might be a coupon for a Range Rover in these bags. Alas, it wasn't to be. . .

I made cinnamon rolls. (sticky buns? either way, they're heaven, and kind of becoming my signature dish).

 Beth, Amy, Beth

 always good to have a baby at a shower! Emma Friedrich

 laughter

 Jill & Karen Rogati with Emma

I appreciate hand-made gifts SO much since I can't do a single thing crafty.  There were some incredible things - a gorgeous little sweater that is almost too precious to actually put on any child, a baby blanket, a home-made photo album book by Anne, who makes paper, and this stunning Elephant Quilt by Barbara, above.  I imagine hanging it on the wall of the baby's room. I love that she chose to (hand-sew!) elephants and I love the vibrant colors. 

all the ladies!

The day was a reminder of just how blessed I am, and certainly makes true the African Proverb "It takes a village to raise a child."  Essex is my village, and these are the women who helped to raise me. 

The day was perfect -- the last people didn't leave until 3:00 -- but my one regret is that I put my camera down too soon. I haven't mastered the art of eating, talking, and taking pictures all at the same time.  I'll work on that as I am always sorry not to have more photos, especially of the people.

jetlagging

Even though we've been here almost two weeks, we're still waking up at 5:30 every morning.  There's not much to do at 5:30 am aside from catching up on our favorite shows on Hulu.com.  The other morning, we happened to glance outside and notice that the sky was a brilliant pink. Figuring this was something good we hopped out of bed and snapped some pictures.

I know this last one is out of focus, but it shows just how spectacular the whole thing was -- a small reward for suffering from jet lag.  I'm glad we were able to catch it. The only thing that would have made it better is a small blanketing of snow over everything.  Sadly Dexter won't see snow on this trip as the c-c-c-old temps have warmed up to the 50s.  Instead of shoveling snow he's going on bike rides!