Celebrating Five Years - Plan D was Delightful

Travis is really good about writing blogs, though I am happy to contribute when I get the writers itch. As for this time, Travis barely started this blog this afternoon, but now, as he tries to catch some much deserved zzz’s with Micah, I’ll see if I can finish it. 

 

Some of you were there 5 years ago (yesterday) when we made our wedding vows – “in sickness and health…through overwhelming joy and intense sorrow” – while others of you we’ve been able to join in this journey since that time. With our first milestone wedding anniversary on the horizon, we had wanted to do something big and memorable. After all, people always say, do some exploring now, while you still can, for one the kids come, you are very limited in your ability to travel. Well, last Fall, we were presented with just such an opportunity by some of our best friends (a family from another organization who has been working with the Gmz for the past 10 years). They told us of their plans to celebrate their 15^th anniversary with a June vacation to Thailand and they invited us to come along in celebration of our 5^th. We were really excited about the possibility, not only would such a vacation be great but the cost was reasonably within reach our savings. However, it wasn’t long after that the pregnancy test came back positive and our little one’s due date was such that plans for a June trip to Thailand never got off the ground.

 

Plan A: Thailand vacation

Status: Grounded

Reason: Baby Williamson is coming!

 

Plan B was by far less extravagant, yet still something we looked forward to.  We planned to leave our little guy with one of our eager babysitting volunteers (a co-worker who isn’t a grandma quite yet but is very excited about filling the role) and spend an evening together. Although we probably would never consider it a very romantic or appropriate anniversary celebration back home, we decided it would be fun to go bowling (a first for us in Ethiopia) and then eat at some place special. But, after Micah’s delayed arrival and the unplanned c-section, throwing a heavy ball down a lane quickly became a non-option. In addition, our eager babysitter is out of the country for a short time and asking another to pinch hit would have been tough – given additional reasons stated below.

 

Plan B: Bowling and Nice Dinner

Status: Gutterball

Reason: C-section and babysitting issues

 

On the plan C. Here in Ethiopia, male circumcision is performed exactly 8 days after birth, in accordance with the Mosaic Law. So, Micah’s 8^th day landed right on our anniversary - June 18^th. Of course, we anticipated that Micah would not come out of the procedure full of smiles, but at the same time, we didn’t think it would be a big deal to plan a nice lunch at the Hilton Hotel on our way home. At the same time, we could celebrate Micah’s circumcision, which in Madagascar reflects a rite of passage into manhood (sniff…sniff…they grow up so fast). Well, the Hilton plans began to unravel when Micah returned from the procedure with detailed instructions that for seven days, Micah could not be diapered or have any clothes fastened on the bottom end. Shocked, and trying to think of the ramifications of these instructions, we soon pulled into the Hilton parking lot. Right then, Micah shrieked and wailed so persuasively that, without ever getting out of the car, we drove home, knowing that getting out of the house for these 7 days would be pretty difficult.

 

Plan C: Lunch at the Hilton

Status: Snipped and Exposed

Reason: Our crabby and bare-butted baby

 

As we drove home Travis thought aloud. “It really wouldn’t be appropriate to ask someone to babysit Micah in such a condition – especially since we haven’t experienced more than hour of it ourselves. Maybe, instead, I could make a nice dinner for us to celebrate at home together.” This suggestion brought tears to my eyes and that stuck feeling in my throat. I knew that Travis was tired, he’s been taking the roughest times with Micah (9pm – midnight) and letting me sleep. I also know how time consuming and tiring it is to make a nice meal because almost everything has to be made from scratch and extra care needs to be taken (such as in cleaning vegetables). Upon arriving home, we ate a quick late lunch of leftovers and I headed upstairs to take a nap with our sleepy Micah. Meanwhile, Travis set to work in the kitchen.

 

Somewhere around 7pm, I came back downstairs, greeted by a wonderful spread. First, a chicken…a very special meat here because they are expensive, especially if you buy a nice “farengie” chicken (farm raised - plump and tender). Plenty of herbs, garlic, onions and carrots made an incredibly flavorful bird, which had already filled the house with pleasing smells (which are not as common these days!). Next, a beautiful tossed salad with multiple greens. Pineapple jello in glasses – don’t laugh, jello is a rare treat here! But to me, the icing on the cake was the twice-baked dabados (potatoes). I have never attempted such a feat here! Twice-baked potatoes are a Williamson family favorite for which his Grandma Perry was famous.  Not only did he successfully make them but they were excellent…we ate half a cookie sheet of them and I’m pretty sure I ate my fair share of that. After this incredible meal (part of which, was by candlelight do to power outages) we talked about this past year and the many things that we have seen God do, the things that we want to remember and celebrate in the years to come. As the night came upon us we enjoyed large mugs of Ghirardelli’s mint hot chocolate for dessert (a gift sent to us by a women’s Bible study at Christmastime). And throughout, the whole dinner and time of reflection, Micah was really silent – that’s was a first!

 

Plan D: Home-Cooked Special

Status: Delightful!

Reason: Despite obstacles and exhaustion, we still had a memorable celebration of another year together! (ps. I took the evening shift that night as Travis deservedly hit the pillow early!)