Christmastime in Tanzania // A Poem in Pictures

'Twas the weekend after Thanksgiving and all the walls were bare
So we set out to decorate with an excited little Bear.

  

As the school term came to a close
We prepared a school-wide show
To sing and act about a newborn Baby
And share the Jesus story with every man, child and lady.

 

Before the Holiday could officially begin
We treated the GEM Employees to some family fun again
Laughter, prizes, games galore,
Jesus, prayer, bonuses and more!

Then we switched off the alarms and snuggled up close
We put on our jammies 'cause we needed a dose
Of staying home and relaxing for a little while
Just the three of us - our little tribe

With Christmas Day quickly comin'
'Twas time to throw some goodies in the oven
We got out the cutters, the flour and rolling pin
As Momma & O made cookies to celebrate Him

 

 

By the end of the dough it was becoming clear

This little knew just what to do without fear

So she stepped aside and let him take the reins

And we feasted on cookies for days and days!

   

Christmas Eve came and he could hardly wait

So we let him open a gift after we ate

A new set of jammies from Gramma in AZ

And a Storybook Bible to him, from Papa & me

  

Then the morning dawned and as the sun came up
He ran into our bedroom and up he jumped
"It's Christmas!" He said, "can we open our gifts?"
"Ummm, okay," I said, "But first, how 'bout a kiss?"

He gave a quick smooch to me on my cheek
Than ran to the living room to take a peek
Gifts piled by the wall near his felt tree
I thought he'd nearly burst he was filled with such glee

"Can I open?" He asked, hesitating at bit
"Of course!" We told him, "Which one do you pick?"
He looked for a moment then snuck next to the big one
(I said a quick 'thanks': we were blessed with this marble run)

 

We set to work right away sorting parts and building shoots
But soon he was distracted by the rest of his Christmas Loot

 

Over to the stockings he ran and he did a little dance
When he found the pull-back cars sent here by his great aunt (hence the blur)

Next he chose the one with a hat

A Tic-Tac-Toe game from Gramma, played on a felt mat

 

Then came a package of clothes from a store
"New running shirts!" he exclaimed, "Now I have more!"
New shorts with zippers and a fancy new belt
Getting clothes from Gramma made him happier than most kids may have felt

 

On to another big box he went next
A gift from Great Gramma - a new Duplo set!

 

The next one was small with a striped candy cane
His first action figure (from Gramma again)

One last gift before he was done

Some more jammies from Gramma - with some Spiderman ones!

 

Little did we know how many hours we'd spend
Building tower upon tower, the fun wouldn't end

 

Until the time came for more Christmas baking
Cinnamon rolls made from scratch - tradition & memories in the making

 

 

As we labored over the dough and butter (as you do)
He just kept hugging me and saying "I love you"
My heart was in a puddle and I took a mental note
These are the times I cherish, and on this boy I'll forever dote

 

We were having so much fun with the cinnamon shaking
We started giggling uncontrollably at the sounds he was making

 

As he took his fist bite and his unraveled roll hung there
I couldn't stop the joy from beaming at these moments with our bear.

As he finished his frosted roll I went back to work
Making rolls with coffee icing - a grown-up-only perk!

As we sat in our food comas I began to look around
Astounded by the joy and love that did abound
Toys that meant creativity and whole-family fun
And cards sent from afar - we cherish every one.

 

This Christmas was surely one for the books
And now I'll leave you with this video of how the first Marble Run looks :)