Thanksgiving

There are many things to be thankful for and I'm sure this past few weeks you've made your own list. It was fun to share some of the Thanksgiving traditions with our friends here at Malamulo. Cristy and I are the only Americans here currently so we decided to invite people over and prepare a traditional thanksgiving dinner for them. We didn't have turkey (but we saw one the next day! see below) but we had butternut squash soup, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole along with pumpkin and pecan pies. Mostly though the nice part was sharing a meal and being together with people from all over the world. I counted afterward and realized we have people from 5 continents at our table. Masa, our house worker, and his family came and after dinner he said, "I think this might be what heaven will be like." That really was touching to me and I think I might have to agree! We had plenty to eat and were left with a pile of dishes at the end.

This was the table set up in the living room.
Cristy drowning her sorrows in sparkling cider (yes, non-alcoholic - don't get any crazy ideas :) ). Notice the piles of dishes behind her waiting for us to wash.
This is the turkey that got away. One of the only ones we've ever seen in Malawi - it was up at Mulanje.

The next day (Sabbath) Cristy and I borrowed Don's car and drove to Mt. Mulanje (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulanje_Massif) and escaped into the wilderness for some R&R. We parked at Likhubula Lodge at the base where they have chalets and guest houses for retreats and vacations. Trails start off from there to explore the mountain. There is a waterfall about an hour's hike up with a pool at the base so we made our way up there and after nearly overheating on the way up we were happy to plung into the chilly water. It was so nice to be in nature and get away for a few hours. Here are a few photos:


This is the waterfall and the pool. Apparently the pool has no bottom or it is so deep no one has found it!Yes - that is me on the lower left - floating watching the clouds and birds fly by.

Beautiful Iris type of flowers growing directly out of the ground.
Colorful lizard - maybe a confused chamelion?

Yesterday we broke out the Christmas decorations and the Christmas music and turned our house into a comfy holiday place. We even have a fireplace to hang our stockings on. We are using a potted palm tree for our Christmas tree - complete with little bells hanging from it! I'll post some photos of that later. It is a fun time of year to reminice about family traditions and join in the expectation of the soon coming of Jesus. I think reflecting on the first coming of Jesus reminds me how soon his second coming is. Cristy and I are doing daily readings for the Advent calendar. It is a nice way to absorb and welcome the season.

Missing you all and hoping you have a wonderful holdiay season with your friends and family.