Yes, Christmas is approaching!

Here it is the 7th of December, so it must be time to get ready for Christmas! Thanks to Nancy's careful preparations, the entry way is decorated (pix above), the artificial tree is up, having been purchased for "a song" from the previous resident of our condo apartment, and most of our '08 Christmas letters have been dispatched via Malaysian airmail. Nancy was able to purchase the skirt for the Christmas tree from an ISKL Christmas bazaar that offered quilted products made by women in Indonesia working for Agape, a Christian organization that channels all the sale income back to the quilters.

On this first Sunday in December we are hosting Doug and Tracy, Reeve, Gabi and Rania at our place for a few days after a disastrous landslide up in their neighborhood (Bukit Antarabangsa) that knocked out electricity and blocked the only access road to their house. At about 5:00 p.m. yesterday I picked them up -- all of them muddy after walking out on a jungle path with only what they could carry on their backs. With borrowed clothes from the kids of fellow teachers and with the help of our washing machine, things are okay for now. Providentially, they were in the process of selling their Jeep and were able last night to reclaim it temporarily. Otherwise, they would be down here without a car. As I am making this posting on our blog, the other Woodwards are still down at KLCC after all of us attended the children's Christmas program at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church. (Notice Gabi and Rania as "sheep"! Mary and Joseph are in the back.)