How We Did Christmas Celebrations

Yes, it felt like Christmas around these parts, with the tree, the lights, and the treats, but we still felt like we were missing out on the joyful celebrations with friends and family back home. Thankfully, we did attend one party with our good friends here in Antsirabe. It was a "White Elephant" Christmas and we drew names for gifts. We also all pitched in for a positively, scrumptious Christmas dinner: chicken, noodles, stuffing, pie, cookies, corn, green bean casserole..., and mashed potatoes. Delish!

Our Christmas Eve and Day celebrations were a bit more tame... :) We were able to Skype with family while we opened gifts, which (almost) made it seem like we were all together! 

Best part of the day: opening gifts with family via Skype!

Her most favorite gift was from her daddy and me: a Doc McStuffins doctor kit!

The second best part of the day was playing with all of our great gifts!
It's amazing what our families can fit in a USPS flat rate box! They're the best! 

So, needless to say, Christmas was great, but different. While we missed family so much, we owned Christmas for ourselves, starting new traditions and redefining what the holiday will be for our little family. We loved the simplicity and near-absence of secular Christmas advertising, we enjoyed Christmas Eve service at a local church and at 2:00am with our church family back in the States, and we cherished the time we spent with our extended families thousands of miles away. God is so good.