decked the "halls".

We decked our "halls" this past weekend.  Here's to chains of thanksgiving, each one with a written inscription of something someone from back home or here on the compound is thankful for!  They make delightful Christmas decorations!  (Thanks Mom!!!)  Especially because they match the strange colors of our kitchen!

On another note, our solar power has been finicky due to...the sun.  That's right!  The sun moves positions (or rather the earth tilts during the changing season).  Therefore, there were more trees blocking the solar panels and decreasing the amount of power coming in and being retained.  Thankfully there was a man from the solar company in Juba that was here in town working on something else, and he stopped by the compound and checked out our system.  He also told us the best way to fix it.

Enter....Loparinga (aka Shannon) + chainsaw.  He shimmied up trees and chopped off three giant branches, correctly calculating the exact place they'd fall on the ground.  The branches missed the panels, missed the fence, and missed the kitchen!  Since then, we have had an increase in sunlight hitting the panels in the afternoon, and more power, enough to last through the night!!!

Hadn't seen 23V in weeks!

And it added to our Christmas decorations!  That "tree" you see?  A very thorny limb from a nyaronyit (or desert date) tree!

Praise the Lord.

O come, O come, Emmanuel
And ransom captive Israel
That mourns in lonely exile here
Until the Son of God appear
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel
Shall come to thee, O Israel.

Come Lord Jesus, come.