One of the great things we’ve discovered in living here at Tenwek is that there are some pretty fantastic traditions we get to add to our holiday season! Yesterday we participated in the annual making of gingerbread houses. I found a great recipe and printable template here and constructed Ella’s base for decorating the night before.
Today we’re back in Nairobi while our new house at Tenwek gets painted! I am super excited to get it all painted white, because it’s sure to brighten the entire interior. The fumes from the oil-based paint, however, are awful, so we were told to leave for a nit while it’s all being done. Pete starts work at the hospital on Monday, so this is a great time to get away, visit another mission hospital, see friends, and pick up a few more things we need that we can only find in the city. Things like shower curtains, yoga matts, weights, yogurt, etc. Sam loves his yogurt. Until I start making it at home, we need to travel a ways to a grocery store to buy it.
While we’re in Nairobi, I’m going to squeeze in a few posts of events that happened before we left the States but that I really don’t want to miss getting up on the blog. Here’s the first!
I adore planning parties. So even though we were in the middle of packing and moving and wrapping everything up in Duluth, I wanted to have a party for the kids. I also thought it would be a fun way to get the family together before we left. The party was at the very end of April, one month before Sam’s birthday and two before Ella’s. I asked Ella what she thought the theme should be and was thrilled when she asked for Disney World. One of my favorite places!
I need to admit something. I have a bit of an addiction to baking. I don’t know what it is, but I can’t bake enough these days! It’s 9:15am and I’ve already made a couple loaves of pumpkin bread. Last night I made raspberry jam crumb bars and Irish soda bread. For Valentine’s Day I made 5 dozen champagne truffles, heart sugar cookies, two classic coffee cakes, and a cherry streusel coffee cake. Most of it is to give away, but we definitely sample everything that I make. Ella loves to sit in her highchair or play with spoons and bowls on the floor while I bake. I often wait until she is sleeping to take on larger baking projects, though.
Here are a couple photos from recent baking endeavors. I’ll soon have pictures of the baking from the last few days.
a practice (mini) cake
champagne truffles
