A wonderful Christmas break

We had a super Christmas break, one of my favorite weeks all year!

There was wonderful worship at Church on Saturday, Sunday, and Christmas Day, a fabulous three night sleepover at my parents house (complete with morning babysitting so that John and I slept in everyday), and then a short trip to Marrakesh for a bit more quality time. We even managed to memorize some intermediate French verbs (like to rock (as in a baby), to pet (as in a cat), and to limp).

Here are the highlights-

my mom took the whole week off of work and my dad did after his Christmas duties were done. We took lots of walks together (like this one with the three men of my life)

Sam was a complete dream on Christmas Eve- allowing all four of us to enjoy an exquisitely delicious meal together at the table. This was made possible in part by his new found interest in food. It seems like one day last week he decided he was willing to eat real food- so now he can be contented with a bit of banana or cheerios. Here he is sporting his Christmas sleeper (thanks Lors)- I just want to note that the kind of hood it has is exactly the shape of the hoods of the cloaks that men wear here in the winter.
And here he is feeding himself

Marrakesh was awesome this time around. In general, John and I haven't really enjoyed our times there (fun times with the Zinns aside), but this time was different because we didn't really try to see the sights. Instead, we hung out by the pool where Sam had his first swim...

And went on a carriage ride through the market. We just loved the ride- so leisurely. We've learned that Sam fusses sometimes just because he is bored, but a change of scenery cheers him up. This applies to travel too- it was really rewarding to leave home on this trip because everything was new. He explored the hotel room and bathroom, found the fountains fascinating, and was a huge fan of the horses.
The last day, John and I went off on our own to explore the High Atlas mountains near Marrakesh- they reach 4000+ meters and are therefore snow-capped :-) It was a glorious day and so great to be together.

Here's a brief look at the changing scenery in this short 90 minute drive.

First the desert of Marrakesh with the mts in the distance...



Then a bit of a moonscape...


Cactus growing on the slopes

beautiful little streams

Climbing higher...
Enjoying a short hike and a gorgeous view in the national park (John says this is the most beautiful place Sam has ever eaten- too bad he didn't get to enjoy the view while he ate)
It was an amazing day for John and I- so special and Sam did so well on the car ride home which was a real blessing.

Some new videos and really cool slideshows by John

Here are two video/slideshows that John made for Christmas of Sam
This first is the highlights of the first 9 months of Sam's life and the 2nd a short compilation of Sam eating the camera


And here Sam is showing off his fascination with glasses along with a slightly creepy new sound.

Celebrating our new nephew/cousin

HOORAY! Joshua Emmanuel was born in Penang, Malaysia yesterday- joining John's sister's family (the one with the two beautiful girls that have so often graced the pages of this blog (see Dec-Jan 06-07 in the archives for example). We're so excited to meet this new little one in March.

Our beautiful sister Susan

Joshua just a few hours after birth

What a cutie!

A little yawn from a little guyThe proud big sisters... Ruthie
...and Lyddie

John and Sam

John and I went to get a formal portrait of Sam the other day to go with one from when he was a baby- there are a few options, but I like this one the best and I've cropped it to match John's.

And this was a gift from the lady who prints out our photos here. She took a few pictures of Sam and then designed and printed this while I was doing my other shopping. Just thought you'd enjoy a taste of her aesthetic.

Forays into infant potty training and a new skill

So it'd been a little while since I lasted posted- there's three new ones now :-)

Here are pics of Sam and his potty- which we're working on getting him accustomed too- so far he pees in it about 3 times a day. We're definitely not going all out with it yet, but the idea is that your baby gets used to going in a diaper so why not get them used to going in a potty before they get into the willful 2s. It's something that most babies in places we've lived do and in Congo babies generally start at 6 months though we are a bit late for that. I hadn't really given it much thought, but I'll let you know how it goes.

Sam loves this hat (and in the background is a felt banner my grandmother made that I add an ornament to each day- this is kind of what my Jesse tree will be like)


Okay here are a few videos- I know it has been awhile since I posted any, but I suppose this could be considered overboard, all three were taken right after those potty pictures.

This first one is a gleeful getaway from the potty. John requested that I call this video "Tasteful Nudity" since he was so proud of his camera angles.


This video is over 4 minutes so feel free to skip to the next if you just want to see the new skill. But this long one includes babbling, standing, crawling, his new trick, and a fun commentary by John (we were feeling a bit silly I guess)


Here's Sam doing his new trick for the 6th time that day. Since then he's tried in on stairs, couches, and most enjoyably, from the dining room table to a chair :-) I'm not sure if this will end up keeping him safer or getting him into more trouble.

Eid el Kebir is on the way

Friday is the 2nd big Muslim holiday (Ramadan was in October). Devout go to Mecca if possible and sacrifice a sheep if possible, of which a third is donated to the poor. That means that every household that can buys a sheep which then is killed at their home the morning of the holiday. I guess in apartment buildings like ours it is customary to keep the sheep on the roof or in the garage the night before and then slaughter them there as well- should be interesting. The only other time I was in Morocco for this holiday was when I saw little girls in fancy kaftans holding bloody sheep heads on the way to the guy who roasts the brains for a fee.

Here are a few sights from around town today- I'm sure I'll post some from Friday as well.


This is a temporary sheep market set up at one of the biggest supermarkets in town. They have a credit system for buying sheep and the sheep are about 5 dollars for 2.2 lbs.Here's a purchased sheep, waiting to be picked up (though there are loads of others in pens labeled 'sold'
Here's a family trying to get their sheep into the back of their hatchback
Nothing to do with the festival- this is a big inflatable toy for kids to play on- it's in the shape of the Titanic- as it's breaking in two :-)

Clark, cookies, and creve(with an accent on the 2nd e)

This last week my uncle, Clark, came for a visit. It was fun to spend time with him and special to see him with Sam.


Especially because he's known me since I was a baby...



Anyway, I spent this weekend making a variety of cookies to give away (of course we'll keep some too). During Ramadan (the Muslim holiday) in October, so many people here gave me treats from their celebrations or invited me to eat with them. I'm trying to return the favor with plates of cookies. We've got 11 varieties (though I'm not sure if candy canes counts exactly). I had so much fun making family recipes with my dad, making John's favorite Canadian recipe (butter tarts), and trying a few others. Special mention goes to the white bark covered pretzels which my college roommate's mom Verlette made for her every year. She always said they were the simplest thing and she was right.

I was pretty tired after three days of cooking, but just take a look at John after a session of vocab memorization- he's creve (crev-ay, which means exhausted)

Re: pictures not showing up

Thanks for the feedback guys- I've gone back and tried to repost those pictures- so hopefully they'll work now, though I realize that some of them are too small and others a bit fuzzy. Oh well, I'll do better next time :-)

How much fun!!

Today we went to a holiday bazaar at the American school. It was pretty fun though we didn't really buy anything. But my dad got this caricature done with Sam :-)

Quick question...

Is anyone having a hard time getting some of the photos to load (like my dad with the turkey, or Sam with the soccer ball in his mouth?)- I'm not sure if it's working for other people because of where I got the photos...

Another post inspired by John

First two more pics for the St. Bernard collection...


And this next pic is an ad that is everywhere right now. John tried to get a picture of it last week with his camera phone but missed it. Fortunately my mom also found it to be a fun ad so she snapped this pic. Anyway, it's from a bank advertising a payment plan for buying your sheep for the upcoming Muslim holiday Aid el Kebir. Each family unit that is able buys a sheep to slaughter the morning of the holiday- in the weeks preceding Aid el Kebir you can spot lambs in all sort of interesting places- on the back of motor bikes, being carried on shoulders etc. We'll try to take more pictures of that in the next few weeks.

Sam- our Saint Bernard (plus a bit more)

John wanted me to post the phenomenon of Sam as St. Bernard- so here goes...






And here are a few more pics...

We went to this fun discount clothing market where we found some good undershirts for Sam among other things. It was really fun to have an afternoon in French (we went with our teacher and her husband on Sunday) and they put Sam in this box :-)
This is our new tutor Aime (I spelled it Eme last time- oops) . Right now, John and I are doing an hour each with him three times a week in the morning, because I have had such a hard time finding a female tutor. Sam likes him a lot too. He and I are spending our sessions in conversation practice and so far we've talked about learning French, politics in America and the DRC (where he's from), Christmas traditions (he used to go to the interior and hunt gazelle and stuff for Christmas dinner :-) ), and stuff like that. It's a great way to stretch my vocabulary.


And last, here's a picture of our Thanksgiving turkey (36 lbs)- I just thought you should see it :-)

Jesse tree and Lenten Tree

I spent all of last night looking at information about the Jesse Tree (thanks for reminding me about it Julie). The basic idea is that you use symbols to link to bible stories (and key people in Jesus' lineage) to prepare for Christmas. For example, one day you look at the story of Joseph to show how God provides and you hang an ornament of something like a sack of grain or a coat of many colors. I'm totally going to do it and I'm going to try to do it well. I think I'll do fabric ornaments which will hang on a felt banner on buttons- something like an advent calendar that my grandmother made for us as children. It will be a labor of love to make something like this as a non-crafty person, but I'm going to do it. I'm also leaning towards doing a Lenten tree at the same time. Both of them are ways to follow the Biblical narrative through from Creation to Jesus' fulfillment of it all by his birth and death and resurrection respectively.

What appeals to me is having something physical to go with our daily advent time and I am also drawn to the way that this presents the biblical narrative as a whole. No way for a kid who grows up on this to miss out on how the OT and NT are related.
The Lenten tree uses a cross background (obviously) and the Jesse tree uses the image of a root with a shoot growing up from it from Isaiah 11

Isaiah 11

The Branch From Jesse

1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.

2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power,
the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD -

3 and he will delight in the fear of the LORD.
He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;

4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.

5 Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

6 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling ^[a] together;
and a little child will lead them.

7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra,
and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest.

9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea.

10 In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious.

Isn't that an amazing passage!! Okay, so anyway, here are some links- the first one is the book I want to get to make my own Jesse tree.


The first is a picture of another jesse tree with pdf files of symbols you can use with the readings for each of 25 days.
jesse tree pictures

The next is a chart of key person, event/theme, bible reading, and symbol for example, Abraham/The Promise/Gen 12:1-7, 15:1-6/Stars
jesse tree readings (found at the bottom of the page)

The third are readings/symbols for a Lenten tree- such a nice complement to advent to do something each day during Lent.
lenten tree

Here's a devotional book with readings for adults and kids. There are a few to choose from but I'll probably get one.
Jesse tree devotional readings for adults and kids

Christmas is coming

We've had a really great week here. French has been going well- this week we did a complete review of all the verb tenses and several other grammar points in preparation for an exam that we will be taking on Monday. It was encouraging to see how much we've learned.

Sam, who has not really been eating solids much, willingly opened his mouth for this yogurt mixed with wheat germ and later the same day fed himself carrots and broccoli. We seem to be skipping the purees. John and Sam were both covered in yogurt by the end though :-)


We've gotten to spend a lot more time with my dad- nice because he's been really busy for a couple of months. He came over yesterday to take Sam on a walk to get the bulletins copied. Sam has really bonded with him and reaches for him whenever he sees him. Sometimes that doesn't work so well, like today during communion when Sam didn't understand why his Papajack wouldn't hold him (my dad was administering communion). We've been opening some Christmas presents early, either because (as in the case of the outfit Sam's sporting below) he already fits clothes...
or because they are Christmas decorations (as in the case of his amazing little stocking seen in this picture). I love how there's a rubber ducky with a wreath around it and beads to represent coal in the little train. My great-aunt made this for him and she made mine long ago. I should put a picture of them all together- they are so beautiful.



Here's our Christmas tree. Three and a half feet and the biggest we've had yet. It's up on a corner table to stay out of Sam's reach.

A couple of fun outings

This weekend we went on a few outings- I finally feel better after about a month!

Here's Sam in his new hat and scarf which were a gift from his babysitter, Munya.

We took Sam to the mini-park in our neighborhood which had an area for little kids too. This was his favorite seat because it wiggled, he could hold on himself, and he could watch the big kids go down the big slide.

He went down a little slide and really enjoyed it. I had a blast too.


Then on Sunday, we went to the zoo. It was so fun to watch Sam watch the animals. He especially loved the ones that came up close (like the pigs), and the monkeys because they move around so much. There were also birds, hippos, big cats, etc. It was pretty big and for just $1.20 I think we'll go again :-)


Sam hung out on my dad's back and had this expression of wonderment most of the time (here he's looking at a bear).
John joked that it's funny that we get milk mustaches and these boars get slime mustaches.

At the end of our trip Sam tried to climb the car- our own little monkey.