Happy Birthday, Jesus – We love you!

Day 5 - Tuesday, December 25^th - Christmas Day

Christmas in a predominately Muslim country was a very different experience and a time to really make me stop and think.  Even though there is a large presence of Christianity there, it still just felt different. Andrea said she had heard that in the last couple of years they were seeing more and more Christmas presence in the UAE since ADEC teachers had arrived.  We saw lots of Christmas trees, store fronts decorated in Christmas and winter scenes, Santas in every shape and size, lights and decorations, all things Christmas except for the most important - a manger scene.  It made me think about the people and wonder if they knew my Jesus and the real reason for celebrating Christmas. Sadly, a large majority of them do not.  It also made me realize the joy, peace and promise that we have as Christians. 

 

Andrea opened her gifts and we thanked her for ours – two plane tickets to the UAE to see your Baby Girl is pretty special.  Thank you Andrea – we love you!!!

We dressed and headed over to Nicole’s to cook Christmas dinner.  Nicole and Andrea had found everything we needed or could improvise with so we spent a couple of hours of preparing and cooking.  Our menu: ButterBall Turkey, Old-fashioned Cornbread Dressing with Gravy, Broccoli Casserole, Green Bean Casserole, Sweet Potato Souffle, Pasta Salad, Rolls and Chocolate Pecan Pie.  While it all had a very good flavor and we enjoyed our dinner immensely, it just didn’t taste like it did at home.

We spent time eating, opening gifts, playing with Ethan, reminiscing and just relaxing.  Ethan is so darn cute and has such a cute personality. 

Andrea, Ethan, Nicole at Nicole's Apartment

After we left Nicole's, we made a brief stop at Al Ain Mall.  There was a Santa and Sleigh and an ice skating rink. The kids were so cute ice skating but I don't think they had a clue who Santa was.  Look at the little "ice skating walkers"- if we had those in the US, I might try ice skating myself. LOL

After we got home, we made more calls home to family and friends – we were 9 hours ahead so as our Christmas Day was winding down, Christmas Day was just beginning in the US.

Scenes of Christmas around town: