Winter Break with Winter and David

Both of our children have left to go back to school which makes this momma’s heart sad. It was such a blessing to have Winter and David with us for the holidays.  In some ways, it was like they had never left except our apartment was a little more crowded.  They were able to tell us in person about their adventures this fall in their new places.  Both of them are doing well at their schools.  I would say both schools are great fits for each of them.

The first part of their break was spent in Bamian, our new city, where we did some of our usual Christmas activities like making cookies and some not so usual activities like long walks in the woods and shopping the bazaar for scarves for friends.  Our Christmas was simple with a fun breakfast and our stockings.  We also were able to open Christmas cards from friends and family that Winter had brought in with her.  Later in the day, we made our traditional pizza, watched a movie, and played games.  Here are a few pictures of our fun over those few days.

A couple of days before Christmas, the kids were able to be a part of serving our Afghan staff lunch.  This is our team’s first Christmas in Bamian so one of our pilots took the time to tell the staff a bit about Christmas and why we celebrate.  Here is a picture of the staff.

A few days after Christmas, we went to Kabul to spend New Years with friends.  This is the family whose sons I helped homeschool last spring.  It was delightful to be warm and have long conversations about life with our hosts.  For Winter’s birthday(New Year’s day), we made bulgogi with rice and ate lots of cookies.

During our time in Kabul,, Winter and Teresa were also able to take a trip to a salon we have went to over the years.   It was a delightful afternoon getting beautified and then sitting around drinking tea and talking with the staff we have come to know over the years.  As crazy as it sounds, it was great to be back in Kabul for a few days.  We even were able to see our former chaikidor who is now a chaikidor for the office.

Here is a picture of our 19 year old and her mom then a picture of Noel just relaxing on his break.

Before we sent Winter and David back to their respective places, we spent a few days in Dubai.  It was good to have freedom to just walk around and do more normal family things.  We were even able to see the new Star Wars movie.  It has also great to have time to rest and reboot before the new semester of school starts.  We didn’t realize how worn out we were until we were there and had some time to get extra rest and be removed from the everyday stress.

I know this sounds like a broken record but continue to pray for our program here.    Our prayer is that God would clearly open or close the door in regards to our flight permissions and that He would be glorified in the process.  In the meantime, we are trying to be faithful in the tasks He has for us and not put our lives on hold as we wait.  Thank you for all your prayers this past year and joining us on our journey here.  We hope your Christmas was as blessed as ours was.  Teresa for the Fouts