Although our kids aren’t with us for Christmas, we find ourselves with fifteen other kids! The missionaries serving here in the Valley are missing their families and their holiday traditions just as much as we are. Naturally we all had to celebrate together.
We started with a sort-of-traditional Christmas dinner of ham, potatoes, and corn. There were paper plates and plastic forks, the potatoes didn’t cook as quickly as we’d planned, the tablecloths were cheap plastic, and we were sitting in a gym. But hey, you work with what you have.
After finishing our meal together, we headed– where else?– to the Dunes. I’m not sure, but it might’ve been almost eighty degrees there. The sun was hot, and we were in shorts. It definitely didn’t feel like the cold Montana, Colorado, or Missouri Christmases I’d known my whole life!
We played an impromptu game of sand ultimate, which is always fun.
Everyone took turns sledding down the sand. It’s the climbing back up that’s tough… the dunes are steep, and the shifting sand makes every step a bit more work. Luckily there’s a helping hand at the top.
We spent several hours together, basking in the sun and chatting. We sure love our fifteen kids here.
Yeah, it was a different sort of Christmas for all of us. But that didn’t make it any less merry.