Thanksgiving in Chogoria

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!