Celebrate a Country Day- Eritrea

 This year is still a lot like last year with the mess of Covid-19 still raging about. That and Buck's job loss made our favorite family holiday a little harder to celebrate. But God is good and we ended up finding a way to still party. 

I had wanted to do the country of Eritrea originally so that Winta and Haben could teach us all about it. It worked out that they wanted to have a celebration for their Christmas, which for them falls on January 7th (same with Armenia and some other countries!) So I decided to piggy back off that celebration and double up. 

Eritrea is next to Ethiopia in east Africa. They actually used to be two countries but there was a long, long war that ended in the 1990's with them splitting into two. But due to their shared history they still share the same culture- same food, dress, music, etc. The differences come from the languages, however, and the government. Eritrea is actually considered one of the most oppressive places to live in the world and is often referred to as the "North Korea of Africa." But if you ever want to try some Eritrean food, which I highly recommend, you can find an Ethiopian restaurant and know you're in good company; and there seems to be a growing popularity for Ethiopian restaurants in America, so check one out sometime! 

For our party we had lots of food, of course, and then Haben did the traditional coffee ceremony. It's a whole process of roasting the coffee beans, grinding them up, then boiling them in a cool pot with water. Then everyone drinks some of the thick, gritty coffee. They do this four times. And while Buck and I don't drink coffee, (and obviously neither do the kids) we enjoyed watching the process. 

We also had traditional music and dancing and Winta wore her traditional celebration dress and jewelry. It was the perfect evening.

2020 Review

I wont lie, this year has been ROUGH. I don't even want to talk about the pandemic but I guess it wouldn't be a true recap without that.  It's been really hard for me. Just emotionally. Not like in a way where I got covid (still waiting for that fateful day, gulp.) And I can see my blessings and I DO acknowledge those- a home, toilet paper, healthy family, living in a good state like Utah where my kids still got to go to school this fall and we have mountains to escape to and a lake by our house. I have been very grateful for these things and more. But I really hit that grief cycle hard with the shut downs and the huge changes to life all around the world. Not just for myself but I even cried at the beginning when I saw a sign for a school play in the spring thinking how all their hard work was now amounting in no school play. Little things like that to the big things like people dying alone in hospital beds. And all those horrible headlines. They are still coming at us, aren't they?  On and on it goes. We are all a bit burned out from all the doom and gloom, aren't we?

Home school was horrific for us. Just a complete black hole of overwhelm. Have you ever tried to home school two elementary age kids that need your constant help while two younger kids cry and hang on your legs while two African teenagers with very limited English need you to do all their homework? It was a complete and total homeschooling nightmare. 

All the protests and Black Lives Matter were significant for us and brought up a lot of hard conversations  for our four oldest kids. 

 

My mental health really took a dive at a time I had just started trying to get off my medication for postpartum depression. Slammed on the breaks for that when the pandemic hit and back on some medication I went! (Along with the rest of America, am I right?) But even with the medication it's really been a struggle, I'll be honest. And I so often feel SO GUILTY about that because I have so many blessings, I don't deserve this darkness. I should be one of the happy ones, right? 

And I wont lie, the health issues of my family this year have been intense. I am grateful beyond measure that any of those issues were not anything worse, however. But I just have never been to the doctors or hospital more in my life! And NONE of it was for me! Crazy! Poor Rose and her broken leg!

 And Hazel and her surgery! 

 

And it was HARD having Buck be so sick for several months and feeling like a single parent many days. But praise the Lord! After his surgery, he's finally feeling a lot better! 

Poor Winta and Haben and all their visits and health stuff. But we do have more answers now to things so there's that. 

 

The natural disasters have been crazy. We've been lucky in the end, even with the evacuations- that was crazy and stressful but hey, our home was safe! But so many others didn't have that happen and my heart hurts! 

 

Sorry, does this post feel like a downer? Well, that's because, like I said, this year has been a bit rough! It's bad news everyday somewhere. 

And yes, to end the year with Buck being laid off of work is almost comical at this point.

 

HOWEVER, like I said, we have been SO blessed as well. Somehow through it all, I think of all the blessings of this year- especially our health, which is funny since we had so many issues but yes, they could have been so much worse! And we've come through the other end with our health still intact. Thank you doctors, knowledge, and technology!!!!

I have full faith in my loving Heavenly Father that things will work out in the future, with everything. So I keep looking towards that light. 

Life doesn't always get to be pretty, does it? But looking back I can already say that I'm grateful for the mess because I know that means God loves us and wants us to learn and grow. 

And now, to look back on some of my favorite moments of the year, because there were still so, so many of those. More than the hard, there was the sweet, the blessed, the life living moments. Holidays were celebrated, birthdays were partied, mountains were climbed, rivers were splashed in, hair was cut, leaves were thrown, flowers were smelled, cabins were slept in, bon fires were made, fire works were exploded, kisses were kissed, roller coasters were screamed on, costumes were worn, candles were lit, horses were ridden, apples were picked, puppies became family, stars were gazed at, and family was everything. Oh, and our boat- the boat is also everything. ;) (long live summer!)

 

 

2020, you were a mixed bag FOR SURE. But looking back now I see that the blessings far out weighed the trials. I'm sorry for being so grumpy sometimes. I promise to always remain grateful through it all. 

xoxo