Merry Christmas. Happy New Year.

It's been wonderful to be with my family this Christmas. I've certainly been busy trying to see everyone. There just wasn't enough time to visit with everyone I had hoped to see. Please ask that we will not waste time in 2009! There is still so much work to be done before we make it back home. Until next time....

Reunited

One of my favorite kids from our village. Last summer he and his mom moved to Timbuktu, so we see them a lot less often. We ran into his family in town, though, and I was so glad to see him! However, we had about 8 other white people with us....so he was in white person overload!

Christmas Party

We had a party in the village to celebrate Christmas with all of our friends. Our volunteer team from University of Mobile was here, so they got to join in on the festivities. Here are just a few pictures. We had a guitarist and drummer just like all of our cultural parties have. Alyson, Jessica, and I also wore "uniforms" which the people who throw the party usually wear. The party was a huge hit for relationships in the village...and they will talk about this party forever!

Christmas is a little different this year!

Last year's Christmas decorations in their entirety...at least at Christmas time!

This year things look a lot better!

They say Christmas is all in the heart, but this year preparing for Christmas is much more merrier than last year!

Baby It's Cold Outside!

It's getting colder in the village now, so we're beginning to wear our fleece pullovers, sweatshirts, socks, etc!