We decided to give the kids one big Christmas gift this year. It wasn’t hard to choose what it would be, but it was hard to keep it a secret until Christmas morning! Pete was working over Christmas, so we planned to Skype in the morning while the kids opened their stockings. The fact that the Christmas parade from Disney World happened to be on at that same time was a lovely coincidence.
We had a very sweet, simple Christmas here in Duluth. Pete was away working, so it was really great to have most of my family arrive on Christmas morning. All the cousins had a lot of fun opening presents, eating cookies, and watching ships pass by. We even had the last pieces of our furniture delivered just a few days before Christmas, so we didn’t have to sit on the floor to eat!
(I’m not sure why my photos aren’t loading as clearly as they should. I’m trying to figure it out since these all look really great on my computer but not on the blog.)
My mom, my sister Becky, and her little guy, Stephen.
Merry Christmas, dear friends! We’re so thankful we can share our journey with you here on the blog. We’ve had quite a few adventures in the last year! We certainly didn’t think we’d be celebrating Christmas in Minnesota, but we know God has guided us for what is best for our family. We praise God in the exciting, joyful moments, and we praise Him in the unsure, unexpected moments. Merry Christmas to you and a very Happy New Year!
card designed at PhotoAffections
Photo Friday is a little glimpse at our week in pictures. To see more, follow @TheMangoMemoirs on Instagram!
As we pulled our Christmas decorations out of our storage unit right after Thanksgiving, we laughed in absolute delight over what we found! I honestly couldn’t remember what we had kept in storage, what we took and stored in Kenya, and what we gave away until we opened our small Christmas bin. Each little item we pulled out was a sweet reminder of Christmases passed. The night before, we bought a beautiful (very artificial) pre-lit tree, which was our first full-sized tree in three years. Pete put the tree together and I fluffed the branches while the kids snuggled on the couch in their new Christmas jammies.
As missionaries on Special Assignment with World Gospel Mission, Pete and I have been able to step into a mobilizing role along with some of the other things we continue to do with the organization. Mobilizing means we get to walk alongside people who are thinking about going into missions in some way. You guys, we LOVE getting to do this! We’ve always been superfans of encouraging others to follow a call to the mission field, and getting to do it as our role with WGM is pretty amazing.
