An Unconventional Christmas

This year promises to be an unusual but amazing Christmas holiday for the Rudstroms.



We found out just a couple weeks ago that we are scheduled to meet with a judge in Ethiopia on January 2nd to officially adopt our little girl. A few days before the court date we will spend some time at the orphanage and finally get to meet her. It will be so good to see that girl face to face!



The timing of this court date couldn't have worked out any better since Christmas break starts tomorrow. This gives us a couple weeks to travel around the country before our adoption appointments.



As you can imagine, the past few days have been a flurry of phone calls and e-mails to people all over the world. But at last, airline tickets have been arranged, hotels have been reserved and a tour has been booked. We leave Brevig Mission on Saturday, we'll spend a couple days in Seattle then begin our flight to Addis Ababa on Tuesday evening.

After a little research, we learned that Ethiopians do not celebrate Christmas until January 7th. Though we're a little disappointed that we won't get to experience a traditional Christmas celebration in another country, I'm guessing we'll get over it somehow and through our best efforts manage to have a nice day.



According to our itinerary, on Christmas Day we will be in Gondar, Ethiopia to "visit the 17^th century magnificent castles, registered as world heritage by UNESCO, the swimming pool of King Fasil, the Debrebrihan Selassie church (highly decorated with mural paintings) and church of Qusquam established in the 18^th century by Empress Mintewab." Phew! That's a mouth full and an eye full.



Harold was very disappointed when we said we would not be in Brevig for Christmas this year. But we assured him we would celebrate early at home and find a way to make Christmas special while we travel as well.

 

I think this will be a good chance for us to remember that Christmas isn't about a specific date, where we are or who we're with. Jesus came into the world and this is what we celebrate, the time and place are just details



Wherever you are and whomever you're with, we hope you have a very merry Christmas!

Love,
The Rudstroms

Christmas Sweater

While we were in the process of adopting Harold, I knit him this Christmas sweater. It was my first ever sweater project and I'm very proud of how it turned out. It fit him perfectly this Christmas.

--AnnMarie

Present Opening

On Christmas Eve, Harold had no idea what opening presents was all about. Within 5 minutes he was a pro and willing to open anyone's gift for them.

Lessons

Practice and Reinforcement

--AnnMarie

Home for the Holidays

Well, the holiday season is here again. We all be heading south to Minnesota to see our friends and family. We are looking forward to it and at the same time, exhausted just thinking about it. We start out tomorrow night with a red eye flight to Seattle. After that, we go to Chicago then Minneapolis. We will be traveling for over 24 hours with very little sleep. Here's the schedule:
Sunday: Drive North
Monday: Christmas Eve, stop and see Grandmas Ginnie, then to the Lindulas, followed by an evening with the Jaransons.
Tuesday: Christmas Day, Grandma Ginnie, Duluth to see the Lampi clan.
Wednesday: Morning, visiting Charity and her family, then a day with AnnMarie's friends and classmates. We have a total of 6 boys 3 and under now, should be lots of fun for years to come. We're going to start planning our 10 year class reunion for next summer.
Thursday: Open house at the Lindula's for a bunch of folks who want to meet Harold.

Then about week after we've left perhaps we can rest a little? Seems doubtful.

The past two years we have stayed in Brevig for Christmas. It's been restful and relaxing. Don't get me wrong, going to Minnesota will be a blast, but in a very rushed, busy sort of way. It's tough to decide which is more desirable. Anyway, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and all that jazz.