Slip and Slide

Here is a new Christmastime tradition we never enjoyed in Illinois: slip-n-slide! One of the missionaries on our compound bought a big sheet of black plastic, they squirted some dish soap on it, turned on the sprinkler and - instant fun!

Nate got cold pretty quick and was a little apprehensive about everything, but Lexi absolutely loved it. She even let the older kids pull her down. She also got to wear her new swimming suit, because she has out grown her other one.

Isn't winter a great time of year!

Monkeynastix!

Lexi and Nate are enrolled in this really great class called "Monkeynastics." It is sort of a beginner gymnastics class, and the kids absolutely love it! One of our friends organized the class for teachers' families, and invited Nicole and the kids to be a part of it. There are actually two classes, one for younger kids (1-2) and one for older kids (3-5). It is an absolute blast to watch, and really well done. Every Tuesday, the Monkeynastics people (www.monkeynastix.biz) show up on campus and the kids come and do stretches, balancing activities, and coordination "stunts". They walk on balance beams, hop on and off of stools, and play with parachutes and flags.

The kids got some t-shirts, (Nate tries to wear his everyday) but believe it or not, we don't have a picture with the kids wearing them to class. Here are a few pictures of our favorite monkeys!

O Christmas Tree!

The Sprinkel family is getting excited about Christmas. We miss our decorations (and at times snow), but we are trying to keep some of our traditions alive. We bought a very small Christmas tree and some ornaments, and Nicole made us some stockings out of Maasai blankets. One of the missionaries loaned us some lights and a few decorations, so it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas (except for the extremely hot sunny days, absence of snow, palm trees, and banana plants).

Some of the stores have lights up. A few of them have large Santa Claus figures that sing (I think one of them was singing "The Yellow Rose of Texas" the other day - which only makes sense here.) Everyone is starting to feel a little more festive, and we have been invited to more Christmas parties than we can possibly attend.
Grammy, Grandad and Uncle Matt are coming to visit in just a few days - we are incredibly excited about that. But mostly, we are glad to celebrate the fact that God loved us enough to come to earth, become one of us, so that we can have a loving relationship with Him!

Here are some pictures of us setting up the tree - Nate was more interested in a paper bag than decorating the tree.

Thankful

We had a great Thanksgiving here in Kenya. American Thanksgiving isn't a Kenyan holiday obviously, (although Obama Day???) so Thursday was a school day. We did have Friday off though. We had a big feast with the other AG missionaries here. There were about 80 people there, and we had a lot of fun with our "adopted" family.

Coming from Illinois, we enjoyed a few Thanksgiving "firsts".
1. It was the first Thanksgiving we celebrated outside of Illinois. (ok that one was obvious.)
2. It was the first Thanksgiving we celebrated outside under a big tent.
3. The first time we wore shorts, sunscreen, and bug spray on Thanksgiving day.
4. We also had a bonfire and marshmallows that night, that was a new tradition.

Several things were the same. We were surrounded by people we love and who love us back. We still missed all of our family back home, but we have really been embraced by so many people here. We are thankful for them every day. We also had way too much food, and left pretty stuffed. We played games, watched football, and snacked all day long.

Of course the most important part of the day hadn't changed either. We continue to be very thankful to God for His abundant blessings in our lives. We are healthy, safe, and thankful for each day that we have. None of those things are guarantees, and we truly are grateful.

Here are several pictures from our Thanksgiving Day.