Cookie Decorating Party with Santa

This weekend at the embassy, we had a “Cookie Decorating Party with Santa.”  Our CLO (Community Liason Officer) that is in charge of the embassy activities, was out of town.  So another mom, Holly (not pictured), and I volunteered to plan and execute the activity.  It ended up only being for our families and one other family because a few others left the country and another one was sick.  Small group but still fun for the kids.  

We wanted to help the kids think of those in need this Christmas, so as part of the activity, we prepared a little treat to take to an orphanage.  We had the kids attach little papers to traditional red and white candy canes that explain the meaning behind the candy colors and shape.  Here in Angola, they have red and white round candies, but they have never seen candy canes.  So the kids cut, hole punched, and tied the meaning of the candy cane to the canes.  Holly and I are both Christian, and knowing that it would be mostly our kids at the party, decided to go ahead and do a “Christ” focused activity as part of our party.  The kids were very helpful and are looking forward to delivering the candy canes along with some toys, bed sheets, shampoo and soap soon.

The Meaning of the Candy Cane

Many years ago a candy maker

Wanted to make a candy that would

Symbolize the true meaning of Christmas—Jesus.

The hard candy was shaped like

A “J” to represent that Jesus

Is our rock of all ages.

The candy was made of white to stand for

The pureness of Jesus.

The red represents the blood that Jesus

Shed to save us from our sins.

So the next time you see a

Candy cane, take a minute to

Remember the real meaning of Christmas.

Jesus.

After preparing the candy canes, the kids colored Christmas pictures, frosted and decorated gingerbread cookies, ate popcorn, and visited with Santa.  This year was extra special for us because Santa was Briant!  He was a good hubby to humor me and be the Santa this year.  Typically one of the marines fills that role, but to make it easy on everyone, I volunteered Briant since he would be at the party anyway.  The kids know that the Santa that appears at the embassy is not the real Santa because Santa can’t come to everyone’s Christmas party, especially in Africa.  So because last year they figured out that it was one of the marines, I thought I better tell my kids that it was going to be their dad.  I didn’t want them to figure it out in the moment and then ruin it for any child that thought it was the real Santa.  The kids loved seeing Briant dress up and they were really good about not accidently calling him ‘dad.’

Here's Santa returning to his "sleigh" and changing room.  :)

By the way, Briant had a wonderful "HO!  HO!  HO!"  Now my nickname for him is "Santy."

MERRY CHRISTMAS!