Christmas in Dhaka

This year was our first Christmas without our families.  Although we attended several fun holiday social events, Christmas just didn't feel the same.  We missed our families, we missed our friends.  We even missed the snow.  But Robbie and I were determined to keep things as normal as possible for Mason and Cadyn.  One way we did this was by continuing our tradition of giving back during the holidays.  This year, we decided to bake cookies and hand them out to the street kids in our neighborhood.  There is a big mosque down the street from our house and on Fridays, Jumu'ah Day, beggars and street kids come to our neighborhood to ask for offerings from the wealthier Bangladeshis after prayer is done.  The kids here obviously need so much more than cookies, but we want Mason and Cadyn to realize that "we can still do small things with great love" (Mother Theresa).

There is no such thing as lining up here.

Gee, I wonder what this could be?

Mason's gift to Cadyn.  She wanted a Santa hat so bad.

Cadyn's gift to Mason.  An ektara, a
Bangladeshi instrument.

The kids really wanted to toast marshmallows, so Robbie
built them a fire in the front yard.