Two days before Christmas I took the boys caroling at the hospital. We brought a djembe, some bells, and our singing voices (namely my singing voice since I don't think any of the boys sang the entire time).
I wasn't sure how it would go. Caroling sounds so simple. But the boys are not used to being at the hospital, and certainly not used to group singing. The two combined was unusual and had the potential to push one or all of them over the edge.
But it went well.
I anticipated that 2/3 kids would be okay. Not awesome, but okay. I was right on that count.
What I did not expect was how well Caleb would do, how incredibly well Caleb would do. Anyone who knows Caleb knows how much he's struggled with social anxiety for the past several years. Group participation in anything has been a particular struggle for him, and loud sounds (i.e. group singing) used to make him cover his ears and cower, and being on display has made him literally curl up and cry. So the idea of walking around a hospital full of sick people he doesn't know watching him sing in a group of people he also doesn't really know - well, it should have been a personal nightmare for him.
But it wasn't.
Caleb came willingly! Caleb participated! Caleb enjoyed himself!
He shook a tambourine for every single song, through seven wards on the hospital. And he didn't bat an eye while doing it. And here's the kicker: afterwards he said to me, "I really like this. I want to do it again sometime!"
I was in happy shock :)
The Lord has been so very good and gracious to our son. I am so thankful to God for this huge step forward, this milestone, this Christmas miracle.
Just imagine what God can and will do in the next year in our son's life! God is good and gracious, the giver of all good things, and we rejoice in this good gift: our son who enjoyed caroling at the hospital!
The month in between Thanksgiving and Christmas always goes quickly, and this year was no different. Yet in the midst of the rapid pace of these weeks, we have enjoyed the anticipation of Christ's coming, and preparing our hearts for celebrating His birth. It has been a wonderful season of Advent.
This is our Advent Calendar this year. And it will be next year and every year after that! I found it at one of my favorite stores in Nairobi and fell in love. The boys love it also, not least because it has safari animals surrounding the baby Jesus instead of barn animals :) The figures are made out of banana leaves, the stable is an African hut, and the tree is an acacia tree. I absolutely adore this Advent Calendar and it's been a wonderful way to mark the Advent season for us here.
Another important part of preparing for Christmas was acquiring a tree. Our tradition here in Kenya is to find a tree that looks like a pine tree, chop off a branch, and call it a Christmas tree! We haven't found any actual pine trees around Chogoria, but there are a handful of cedar trees behind our compound which proved to be the perfect option.
It was a short walk around the compound, under the giant mango tree and towards the smell of cedar trees. Eli was the one who picked the tree this year. He saw a particular big branch up high and was determined to get it. And he did! It makes a perfect Christmas tree.
I surprised everyone with new ornaments this year. I found these gems way back in January at Bronner's, the world's largest Christmas store that is only 45 minutes from my hometown. You read that right: the world's largest Christmas store! Needless to say, they have oodles of ornaments and I found these among the masses. Little s'more people. Such a fun and clever idea!
I really do love our Christmas tree this year. It smells great, it fits perfectly against the only wall that could host a tree, and it makes the inside of our house feel like Christmas.
Another tradition is to get a new ornament each year from our travels. This rhino keychain is serving as our ornament this year, marking our visit to Ol Pejeta where we met the last two northern white rhinos in the world. That visit was memorable in many ways and this ornament will always hold the memories of that day.
Another Advent tradition we enjoy here in Kenya is our annual gathering with the WGM Kenya field. We gather at a British boarding school for a weekend of meetings and Christmas celebration. Since moving to Chogoria, which is rather far away from the rest of our WGM family, it was especially refreshing to reconnect with friends that we see less often nowadays. The boys also loved going to class and playing hard with their old friends from Tenwek and beyond. We are so grateful for this opportunity each year!
And now it is Christmas Eve. The boys fell asleep in their new jammies, we tucked their presents under the tree, and we're ready to be woken up early with their excited giggles and squeals :)
Our hearts are ready for Christmas. We've been blessed with ongoing traditions and reunions with good friends, not to mention the nonstop Christmas music and Christmas books that have reminded us of the joy of this season. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year!
With Christmas only five days away, I guess the time for a Thanksgiving post is past. But I can't help posting some pictures anyway, because it was our first Thanksgiving in Chogoria and it was a beautiful time of fellowship.
My friend Lauren planned everything and even got her hands on a turkey! I once ordered the turkey for Thanksgiving at Tenwek, and let me tell you it is not as easy as you think it should be. So I applaud Lauren's efforts on behalf of the rest of us. She ordered it and baked it, which was a great demonstration of love.
All the other Americans pitched in and we had a true Thanksgiving feast! Our family was even able to make green bean casserole (an absolute must at all Horn holiday meals) because an American visiting Chogoria brought a can of cream of mushroom soup and french fried onions across the ocean. Eli was fairly ecstatic :)
Here are the American kiddos at Chogoria. They wore their jammies because Thanksgiving supper crossed into the bedtime hour, and because kids eating supper in their jammies is just too cute :)
Eli was late, as usual. He arrived straight from the hospital in his scrubs, and when he arrived to join the rest of us and sat down with his plate piled high, everyone was incredibly impressed and envious of his plate-piling skills. I guess I take it for granted that my man has a system for how to get as much food on his plate as possible. "It's all about layering," he says. Layering or not, Horn men can do damage to a holiday spread (or any meal, for that matter), and I often forget the awe that their overfull plates inspire in others. I guess I should be proud? At least being proud might overtake the dread I sometimes feel at wondering how on earth I will feed three more huge Horn boys in the near future!
Besides the green bean casserole, I contributed - what else? - dessert! I made maple-glazed donuts and a triple berry pie. I actually found strawberries, blueberries AND raspberries in Nairobi a few days before Thanksgiving! Finding berries is a hit-or-miss endeavor, and I thanked my lucky stars for finding all of these berries at just the right time.
We are grateful for our American community here at Chogoria. It's wonderful to have others here to celebrate our American traditions with. We are thankful for their friendship, for their fellowship, and for their really good home-cooked American food!
We are still enjoying the memories of my parents' visit to Chogoria last month. We didn't have much on the agenda except to hang out, show them our daily life here, and see animals sometime. We accomplished all of that and had a great time!
We had started a countdown for their arrival by creating this autumn tree. A leaf would fall each day until their arrival in Kenya. The boys loved it, and when the last leaf fell we knew it was the day to go get Grandma and Grandpa!
The first couple days were filled with them recovering from jet lag and me doing homeschool and Eli going to work. Life as usual. But it's such a blessing to show people our normal life here.
We also went into the Mt. Kenya National Park one day for a picnic. The rain stayed away and we had a lovely time walking around and trying to catch a glimpse of the mountain. Eli plans to hike the mountain at the end of the year, so we're glad to be familiar with the launching point for his hike.
And then to see animals! Kenya's wildlife never disappoints. We took my folks to Ol Pejeta, a place we visited in August to see that last two northern white rhinos in the world and to feed the chimpanzees in the chimp sanctuary there. The boys remembered that last visit well and were super excited to head back, even though we told them we wouldn't be having those experiences this time. Ol Pejeta holds a special place in our hearts!
Also, the equator runs right through there, which is just cool :)
Brace yourself for tons of safari pics!
We saw so many birds! Including so many birds of prey! Check out these beauties:
1) long-crested eagle
2) fish eagle and marabou stork
3) steppe eagle
4) tawny eagle
And this crested crane family was also rather exciting. We'd never seen a baby before, and this trio squeezed my heart!
This is a Superb Starling. No joke. That's it's name. And I heartily agree that it is superb!
And a spoonbill! I was so excited to finally see one of these! It flew right over us as we watched an elephant in the marsh and it was simply majestic.
And no trip to Ol Pejeta would be complete without seeing rhinos. Ol Pejeta has a large number of rhinos, both black rhinos and southern white rhinos, and we had the privilege of seeing this mama and calf up close. Kai was the one who spotted them. They were quite far away from us but he was convinced he'd seen a rhino, so I pulled out my zoom lens to get a closer look and sure enough, that kid was right! The baby was nursing when we pulled up closer, which was also a first sight for us, and we were thrilled.
It cannot be stated enough how much we love to see animals in the wild!
The boys were excited to revisit this guy. His name is Baraka, which means "blessing" in Swahili, and he is a blind black rhino who was born at Ol Pejeta 25 years ago. Several years ago he got into a fight with another rhino and lost his right eye as a result (no joke), and then cataracts took the sight in his left eye which left him completely blind. Baraka is now in the constant care of park rangers. And people like us get to visit him and feed him! It's a great chance to get up close to a rhino and learn all about them. The park rangers at Ol Pejeta are wonderful and informative and we've learned so much from them both times we've been there.
On our way out of town we stopped for lunch at this place we'd heard about. It's called Trout Tree Restaurant and it's basically a Swiss Family Robinson-style restaurant. It's literally built around a huge mugumo tree, and yes, it was amazing! It was cold and rainy that morning, but that didn't dampen our excitement. The boys keep asking when we can go back. We even got to see colobus monkeys up close! The animal adventures never seem to stop :)
Finally we made our way back to Nairobi and spent a couple days exploring places in the city we'd never been to. The first stop was Mamba Village where we got to hold a crocodile and tortoises. Again, the boys excitement was palpable. Everyone loved holding the croc...except my mom :)
And the boys were allowed to go right into the tortoise enclosure! They spent awhile picking them all up and identifying if they were males or females. Males have a concave belly, while females have a flat belly.
Lastly, we visited the Nairobi Safari Walk, which borders the Nairobi National Park. It was basically a mini zoo, and although you might think our kids wouldn't appreciate zoos given their experiences on actual safaris, they very much love seeing any animal up close. So this was a hit!
So we had a wonderful time with my parents! It was not easy to say goodbye, because it never is, but we are grateful for the fun and the memories made. And we are now looking forward to a visit from Eli's parents next year. Goodbyes are a little easier when another hello is coming.
