Christmas Day was a ton of fun in Sumatra. It started as most Christmas Days start; the kids wanting to get up before the parents especially Kade and Brooklyn. Now that Sydney is almost a teenager she thinks she should get to sleep in everyday. Even though the kids didn't get a ton of things for Christmas they each liked what they did get. It was actually nice to have a low key Christmas morning. Kathi made some Cinnabon Cinnamon Rolls that were so good and that was our morning.
The crazy part of the day came in the afternoon. We had been asked by our church if we would be willing to host the Christmas Celebration at our home. We were more than happy to do it especially considering how Kathi likes to host parties. With the help of our good friends Shane and his son Dylan and our friend Lindsey, we were able to get all of the furniture moved around as well as the the extra chairs and tables moved in for the potluck dinner.
Our church fluctuates between 30-60 people on any given Sunday. We figured we would be safe to plan on about 50 people knowing that some people had gone home for the holiday break. On Christmas Eve we found out that the orphanage was going to be attending as well. That added another 20 or so folks to the mix. So Kathi and I stayed up late that night and cooked a few extra dishes to make sure we had enough food for the added number.
People began showing up at about 3:45 on Christmas. Now our house has a great layout for entertaining because it is an open floor plan. What we hadn't envisioned was the fact that around 115 people showed up for our little get together. We ran out of paper plates and were on to our own dishes by the end. Our Pastor's wife told us that in years past it was always around 30 people who showed up for the Christmas Day service.
Our house was so packed! It was amazing to see everyone in our home and enjoying themselves. We were able to hear a message from our pastor as well as sing Christmas songs and listen to the orphanage children sing and dance. A man in our church sang a rendition of O' Holy Night, a cappella that was amazing. We ended the service portion of the evening with a candle light singing of Silent Night. I am not sure that the Fire Marshal would be too excited about that one but no harm was done.
After that there was dessert and then a ton, and I mean a ton, of pictures taken in front of our Christmas Tree. The local folks here were so enamored with the size of our tree. It will be a shame we won't be able to put it up next year as our house in Stanwood does not have nearly tall enough ceilings. It's memory however will live on in the 400 or so pictures that were taken in front of it that day.
We hope you all had a Merry Christmas as well and we wish you a Happy New Year filled with blessings.
The crazy part of the day came in the afternoon. We had been asked by our church if we would be willing to host the Christmas Celebration at our home. We were more than happy to do it especially considering how Kathi likes to host parties. With the help of our good friends Shane and his son Dylan and our friend Lindsey, we were able to get all of the furniture moved around as well as the the extra chairs and tables moved in for the potluck dinner.
Our church fluctuates between 30-60 people on any given Sunday. We figured we would be safe to plan on about 50 people knowing that some people had gone home for the holiday break. On Christmas Eve we found out that the orphanage was going to be attending as well. That added another 20 or so folks to the mix. So Kathi and I stayed up late that night and cooked a few extra dishes to make sure we had enough food for the added number.
People began showing up at about 3:45 on Christmas. Now our house has a great layout for entertaining because it is an open floor plan. What we hadn't envisioned was the fact that around 115 people showed up for our little get together. We ran out of paper plates and were on to our own dishes by the end. Our Pastor's wife told us that in years past it was always around 30 people who showed up for the Christmas Day service.
Our house was so packed! It was amazing to see everyone in our home and enjoying themselves. We were able to hear a message from our pastor as well as sing Christmas songs and listen to the orphanage children sing and dance. A man in our church sang a rendition of O' Holy Night, a cappella that was amazing. We ended the service portion of the evening with a candle light singing of Silent Night. I am not sure that the Fire Marshal would be too excited about that one but no harm was done.
After that there was dessert and then a ton, and I mean a ton, of pictures taken in front of our Christmas Tree. The local folks here were so enamored with the size of our tree. It will be a shame we won't be able to put it up next year as our house in Stanwood does not have nearly tall enough ceilings. It's memory however will live on in the 400 or so pictures that were taken in front of it that day.
We hope you all had a Merry Christmas as well and we wish you a Happy New Year filled with blessings.
Sydney loves her UW flip flops.
Brooklyn and her new Baby Alive. Thanks, Santa!
The amount of shoes at the half way point.
Full house! This was just part of the front room. People were everywhere!
The kids from the orphanage singing.The littlest ones were way too interested in playing with Brooklyn's toys to stop and sing!
The Three Wise Men with King Herod.
Joon singing "Holy Night". He is seriously amazing.
A few of our new friends from Iran and Sri Lanka. 
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