Merry Christmas (Eve)

Today is Christmas Eve and I am just worn out!  Last night we had a few friends over for cookies (and cookie decorating) and cocktails.  I think I'm doing everything I can to make this season feel festive and also to try and avoid the feeling of missing home and family this time of year.  Turns out - I still miss the usual Christmas traditions and anticipation (and obviously family) that we've experienced the previous 11.  Even though our years are RARELY ever the same - having always lived away from everyone - there's something about the familiarity of holiday ads, all the fun holiday stuff in stores, houses decked out with lights, floods of Christmas cards, etc.....I sound like a true American right?  :) (Side note: My British friend says you are NOT a true American if there are not Christmas lights lining your house. )

YET my kids woke up today, got dressed, then put their pajamas on (again) around 10 am, turned the ENTIRE living room into a camp/fort and literally camped out there the rest of the day.  They watched Christmas movies all day long, and minus the break to put out cookies and milk for Santa and food for the reindeer, they are now sleeping BY the christmas tree to HOPE to catch a glimpse of Santa as he makes his way to us here in Africa.  

It's a different kind of Christmas here this year, but it's still a very good one.  The true meaning remains the same wherever you are.  And when you're surrounded by people (locals) who celebrate Christmas, but to them it doesn't mean oodles of gifts and elaborate decorating, it is different in a good way......

The kids prepped all the cookies 

Cookie decorating craziness 

Disregard the Scandinavian GLOG wine drink on the kids table.... :)  

Chase made the biggest mess out of all 8 kids - he might take after his mother

Santa will have a sugar high

Will he come?  I guess they'll find out in the morning!!  

Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night!  Sending our Love to all of you!!

Ada Foah

December 6 was a holiday here - Farmers Day.  We headed out of town a bit with 3 families to try another beach.  In the village of Ada Foah - we parked ourselves on the local, public beach, and therefore, spent our day with all the locals.  :)  Not the best beach in terms of cleanliness, etc... but it was a good time with friends.  We will be returning to Ada lots over the course of our time here, it is apparently one of the most gorgeous areas around......next time we'll discover more of those areas.  This was a quick day trip and a good escape from the city.  

On the roadside

Babies carrying babies

Us and everyone else

The kids always have a good time

Watching the fisherman TUG and pull in the net

They almost always like their picture taken

They crowded around our cars from the moment we arrived and the group got bigger and bigger

Chase and Drew update

We're about to start our 3 week Christmas break, so a quick update before I do the holiday update.  :)  The boys are busy, having fun, and just amaze me.  Chase did ask the other day when we were going back to America - he really misses the orange juice I used to buy.  HA!!  He is very excited to get to spend his entire summer there.  He is always the fun-loving, easy going friend at school - and really needs his own social calendar.  Soccer (football) just ended for this session and we get a little break from that.
At the last 'practice', kids and their parents played against each other for part of it.  Brett took one for the team, and ran around trying to do headers and stuff.  They were all good sports.  This round of after school activities include soccer and hip-hop for him.  Well rounded?  Or as his teacher likes to say - Multicultural.......

Chase dressed as a girl in a recent skit his class group did 

Learning to make a Lebanese dish at Thanksgiving the International Way

By his Culture Poster

Notice Chase puts himself as having Mixed Culture.  HILARIOUS!!  95% of the kids in his class have parents from two or more nationalities so they are all 'mixed' in that way.  He just wants to be in the club - so we're going with it.  Don't really have the heart to tell him both his parents are just plain 'ole American.  

Such a good big brother

He plays his heart out the entire time

There are no words

Brett in the orange and Chase right by him

Love them

Now Drew - sweet, adorable, FUNNY Drew......he is so much fun to be around these days.  We have a fairly large playgroup we attend every other week or so and other days he spends a lot of time playing with 1 or 2 friends.  Truly, he's very happy to be at home - but does get very excited to get in the car and go somewhere.  And did I mention he IDOLIZES his brother?  It is just the cutest thing you've ever seen!!  He also takes swimming lessons - we have been a bit sporadic with it, but will pick that up more consistently after the New Year.

We took a little trip to THE local pet store with his bestie Asha.  Lots of colorful birds, weird monkeys, chickens/roosters, hamsters, dove, fish, turtles, a few dogs, and bunnies.  Interesting is a good word to describe it.

If you are a proofreader, it's best not to read this sign.  :)

It's an outdoor pet shop - get the jist?  

Creepy

These two make quite a pair 

As we were leaving, this man showed up with his PET SNAKE.  Just coming to buy some mice to feed it.  Drew hasn't stopped talking about the snake. It was a successful outing!!  :)

This parrot TALKED to them - now that was a highlight!!

Just yesterday, he let me take him all the way under the water

SUPER HIGH - is part of the reward.......

Just for fun I want to show you this - currently we take swimming lessons at my friend Manuela's house - they have TWO of these ginormous turtles for pets - just hanging out at their leisure in the yard.......

At the end of the day, this is how they sleep - we started here with each of them in their own bed, but my oldest son is such a snuggle bug and needs so much affection, he actually ASKED to sleep with his little brother.  So, they squeeze in amongst their 300 stuffed animals and all is well.  Precious boys!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.......

Such a bizarre thing to spend the holidays in a place where they actually DO celebrate Christmas but the feeling is so very different.  The biggest difference for me so far has been the temperature - it's getting even warmer, but it has pretty much been the same temperature since arriving in July.

Some of the bigger shops do, in fact, play Christmas music that is familiar, and there are a few lights here and there.  The pictures below will give you a glimpse of the type of Christmas that happens here.  I must admit some of my own shopping has come from the roadside this year (or from the window of my car).  Just this week, I bought nail polish from a street vendor and matches out my car window.

The kids have seen Santa and made their lists - and they are counting the days as always.
I have also hosted a Ladies Tea and an Ornament Exchange this month  - with all the holiday hoopla attached - so I am doing my part to spread holiday cheer.

Deck the halls!

Chase telling Santa what he wants

Drew was not sure but no tears this year

Everything you need right here

Typical holiday signage

Shoppers

The no. 1 gift people buy here are pre-made hampers (gift basket) 

Tis the season to.....dress up?

It's ball season here - and I don't mean football.  It was like November started and all the fancy events started too.  Brett and I first attended The Melbourne Cup - (think Kentucky Derby for Australia) at the Australian High Commissioners Residence.  Such a fun night - I wore a little doodad in my hair...because I was a little unprepared with a 'hat'.  Oh, but next year my hat is going to be awesome!
I also did not get a good pic of us - really, I wasn't ready for all the fanciness.  The two weekends following we had Marine Balls.  One in Accra and then another in Lome, Togo.  Because Brett is accredited in that country as well, we were asked to come.  Driving to Togo meant a border crossing and visiting another African country.  The main differences between Togo and Accra are that Togo is much smaller and it is French speaking.  We ate all our meals at the Ambassadors Residence so we didn't get to taste the amazing French food everyone raves about, but we did visit a French grocery store on the way out of town  - for the cheese and wine.  To be honest, it was not a big deal for me, but I guess if you're into that.......

There are still several fancy events on the calendar in December - so I guess I'll talk about those in another post.  I don't mind the occasional dress up event, I really don't - but it's never going to be my favorite.  Not to mention, it's a billion degrees here every second of every day, so my hair was a disaster and my face was a sweaty mess too.  But fun times, fun people, and quite a happening social scene over here - who knew?

Ball No. 1

Togo

The French cheese and wine

Ball No. 2