15 months 29 days

Today I have 410 pictures to go through, and while I started, I cannot finish them AND give you my report, so I just picked a few, and the rest will follow.

Tammy had a really tough day today. I wished they could talk and tell us why they are crying. I assume she was in pain. She was crying a lot, and refused to eat. Continue praying for their healing from diarrhea.

Today none of the kids came over to play, which is unusual. Paul was running around doing his last errands, while we were busy with final preparations for our celebration tonight. More gifts had to wrapped, some last minute.

In the afternoon we dressed the little ones in their Christmas clothes. The sticker saying "second", covering up "first" (My First Christmas) didn't stay on for long, so it's "My First Christmas In Mali". A year ago those clothes were way too big, but now they're tight.

At 6 pm all our sponsored kids and workers came for their special chicken Christmas dinner. As we're in a state of emergency and lockdown, all the restaurants are closed, but Paul found one that would cook the chickens for us, so this year we had the dinner on our base. And those were the best chickens we've ever had! Huge and good, and drinks are cheaper when bought in the store as well. So we have found a new tradition! Our kids had decorated the dining room nicely, and everyone had a great time.

We fed and bathed the little ones as usual, but then we put their Christmas clothes back on instead of a pj. Then we took them and walked over to where everyone was eating their chickens. I wanted to greet everyone, and let them see the babies, as many of them were going home right after eating, as there's also a curfew. The biggest surprise was to see Fousseni, one of the original three (street) kids I took in in 2006. He's one of our greatest success stories, and I wished I'd had more time with him tonight. I love every one of the kids I have raised here in Mali as if they were my own.

After going around saying hello to everyone, we returned to our house and put the babies to bed in their Christmas clothes. We had to get the living room ready for the celebration, which made it challenging to stay with the babies until they'd fall asleep. The carpet needed to be removed, the furniture moved, and chairs set up so everyone would have a place to sit. Randy and I also still had our chicken to eat; I got to eat a little of it, and Randy ate his once the celebration started.

Once the babies were asleep, everyone came over to celebrate. The greatest disappointment was to find out that Paul's wife and daughter had already gone home, as well as one of our cooks who lives around the corner. I had only had a chance to say a quick hello to them in the dining hall. Besides our resident kids, we had this cook's children with us, as well as one of our two university students, André, and two girls that lived with us for two years with their Mom.

We got started talking about Christmas, with me asking questions about what it was all about and its significance. Then we sang "Happy Birthday" for Jesus, and I lit one sparkler which then lit another one, spreading the light quickly across the room, a symbol of Jesus, the Light, spreading through us everywhere. Then we spent some time praying and thanking Jesus.

And then it was finally time for what everyone was waiting for: gifts! First we had the cookie box go around; this year the kids had made a lot of cookies. Sarata was the first one to come forward and choose a gift to give to someone. That person then came forward to open it in front of everyone, and then chose a chocolate to get off the Christmas tree, before picking the next gift to hand out, and so on. It takes time, but it's so much fun to watch everyone. And tonight there were a lot of cheers and a lot of happiness when gifts were opened! Apparently a cellphone is the best gift ever. Paul goes through them really fast, and he was as happy as anyone about it. So was our newest staff member, grown up Amadou, who rejoiced over his new phone. Bakary also got one, and our longtime cook Fanta who's had the same old phone for many years and had always wanted a new one. The joy on her face was so great!

The last gifts to open (before the babies' gifts) were the ones for all our children. There were three of them, and they were numbered. The first one was a card saying, go get me in the kitchen. It was a new flat TV, as they had broken the old one. The joy was great. Then the second gift, and it was a mount to mount it to the wall, so it can't fall off and break like the last one. Then the third gift. When they saw that it was a Playstation, everyone jumped up and cheered! They hadn't had one in years. A little boy in Austria donated his Playstation and games, when he got a new one. He sure made our children very happy! By the way, they only get limited play time, and they have to get it from me, so they actually stick to it.

After everyone had had their gifts, it was time for our little ones. We picked the sleeping babies up and carried them to the living room. I'm sure they were all wondering what was going on, and they were sure sleepy. Tammy got to open her gift first - a crocheted skirt, shirt and headband in the Malian colors. Then Emmy. He had two gifts - a sports shirt and pants, and a traditional Malian shirt. I had to basically open the gifts for both of them. Sammy came last, and he was the most active in helping me unwrap the gift. And I actually got it on video! He got an identical Malian shirt, the same as his brother.

That was the end of our celebration, and everyone left, while we put the babies back to bed. Puh, it was sure tough to get them to sleep again! It took such a long time! I thought Emmy would never sleep. He just wanted to be held and screamed when being put to bed. And Tammy was the toughest, having had such a hard day. I knew she was hungry, as she had refused to eat dinner, but she was just screaming, rejecting the bottle. She ended up sleeping with Daddy, but when I put her to bed, she was back to screaming. Daddy took her again, and after a while, I picked her up from the other side of the bed, which was shorter to put her into their bed, and this time she just continued sleeping. When she woke up again around 2 am, she finally took the bottle.

We moved the furniture back into place, and put the carpet back down, so everything's ready when the kids get up in the morning. It had been such a wonderful night. I sure missed these precious moments with our Malian family, when we were not here last year. May we never miss another Christmas in Mali! And Barbara enjoyed it too; she received three gifts, a Malian bowl, a traditional blanket, and beautiful clothes.

Now it's going on 3 am, and I'd better get some sleep. Merry Christmas to you all!