Okay, so now it's the beginning of February, and SOME of our Christmas cards have been sent(!) between many other comings and goings, and makings and doings. I'm going to just give you a run-down of our Christmas this year. It was a really special one for us, and so I wouldn't want to miss it out entirely (like I did the holiday we managed to have back in the summer!) So ideally in brief but probably nothing like it, here goes...
A week before Christmas we went to Coventry for a few days. The night before we were due to leave it started to snow, and by morning it looked like this:
So, do we spend ALL day driving slowly in the snow (if we could get over the hill at the top of our road in the first place!) or do we stay and play and go tomorrow? Go tomorrow or course! We swopped frustration for a lot of fun together as a family, and it was definately the best choice. Peter wanted to make a snowman, but it really wasn't the right snow for it (good job we got some more snow after Christmas for that!), so we decided to go for a walk ... with sledges. :o)
We went round the corner from our house to "Wild Park", which is really a little valley with grassed area in the bottom that is usually used by lots of dog-walkers, for playing football, and we've found an interesting scout band practising their very modern-looking "marching" (very loosely) routines there on Sundays. Well, it was the perfect place for sledging, and all of the girls in the family (me too when I finally plucked up the courage!) had a great time sledging down the hills there.
We got very cold, and came back in two groups, some staying around longer for just a bit more. Then plenty more washing, finishing off packing, etc. ready to leave the next day. The roads were clearer by the end of the day, so we set off on the Saturday instead. We got to Coventry (where there had been just a flurry of snow but none landing) with snow packed down underneath the roof box on our car, just in time for Coventry Ward's Christmas party. It was great to see some lovely people again. Our girls felt at home right away, Rachel and Hannah going off with their friends. Peter wasn't so sure with SO many people there many of whom he didn't really remember, but settled in after a while and enjoyed the Primary craft activities. We loved how they did the Christmas presents for the children. The children sang a couple of Christmas Primary songs, then they had the youth act out the nativity while a few appropriate scriptures were read, and when it was time for the wise men to come in, on trooped the bishopric all dressed up. They then came down off the stage, and the wise men handed out the gifts to all of the Primary children - from Primary. It was a fun way to do it, and no Santa needed. The gifts were simple, and Primary theme/gospel related. It was just perfect, and all felt really nice. :o)
Samuel with my brother David.
Rachel and her new cousin Elodie. She has such a lovely lot of dark hair.
Well, the reason we went to Coventry was for Elodie's blessing (my brother's new baby). It was lovely to meet her for the first time that night, and to be there for her blessing (only just - as we were locked out of our car for a good long while that Sunday morning with the locks all frozen - Coventry got snow in the night!) We enjoyed spending time with family and friends, and having a few cuddles each with Elodie - some more than others (Samuel seemed pretty worried when I held Elodie so I didn't get much chance to cuddle and get to know my new little neice, but the girls had plenty of chance. I did sneak off with her for a few minutes when Samuel was safely playing on the floor though!)
Samuel with Gramps.
Peter with Nanny, and Granma just behind.
Hannah and Elodie.
Rebekah and Elodie - two very Christmassy little girls.
I mostly enjoyed my cuddles with my happy Samuel.
That Sunday morning after breakfast, Rebekah's first tooth fell out as she was brushing her teeth. She was SO excited and eager to show her extended family! She had only noticed it was wobbly as we got in the car to drive to Coventry, and was looking forward to showing them that. How excited was she!
On the Monday, we enjoyed the Travelodge rooms we were staying in (me in one with Samuel, Rebekah and Rachel, Michael in another with Peter, Sarah and Hannah). Samuel got tucked into Rebekah's pull-out bed just for fun.
Then we spent the day going to see some friends from when we lived there - I went to see a couple of sisters who I was a visiting teacher for. It was SO lovely to see them again. Unfortunately one lady died while I was there, but before I got to see her family. It was sad to miss her, but I was SO glad to be there and able to visit with her daughter right then, who was doing amazingly well. Meanwhile Michael and the children went to visit our old neighbours. I wanted to see them too, but couldn't be everywhere at once, but they did get to meet Samuel. :o) They braved the cold at a local park for a bit too. The things we had hoped to do together that day didn't really happen, but luckily we had an extra day - my parents helped us out with staying an extra night in Coventry, which we were all thrilled about - the children especially. Coventry is such a special place for them as all of their memories are there, and they really didn't want to leave. So that evening, having stopped off to get some food for tea, we also stopped and had a game of bowling, so we could have some proper time doing something together. It's really fun sometimes to add in extra unexpected things, just to make things work, or because we can, I loved the look on the children's faces when we suggested it. :o)
Rachel just being BIG!
The big Daddy.
Rebekah had a LOT of fun, and was SO sad when it was time to go.
Do you see the STRIKE that Peter got up on the screen behind him. I think he's playing it cool! :o)
Yay for Hannah!
Woohoo! Sarah did great too and had a lot of fun, but could also have stayed there all night. :o)
On the Tuesday we got to visit and care for Ellie's grave. We didn't leave ourselves quite enough time, which is a shame, as we wanted to spend quite some time there. It's about the most special place in Coventry for us, and we love to be there. Then we finally got to go ice skating before travelling back home (big upset there, but oh well!) I have no pictures of the iceskating. I think I must have been too busy holding Samuel and keeping him happy while we watched the others skate, held Peter on and off the ice, and having feeding people snacks whenever needed. It was fun though, and LONG awaited! They would love to go again, but there just aren't any ice rinks anywhere near where we live now, so maybe next time we're travelling. Here's a picture of Rebekah at the cemetery though.
Well, back in Brighton, with two days to go until Christmas, we still didn't have any decorations or anything (Christmas sort of jumped on us this year for one or two reasons). So we unpacked, put up some most important decorations, including the ones the children had made some weeks earlier, and the fabric garland we had made with Kathryn. We wrapped a few gifts, got others from family out, did some shopping, made some other Christmassy plans, and we were really happy with the Christmas that we had.
Rachel and Hannah and the heart / dove wreath they made back in November. You can see Peter's red wreath with bells on the table.
Hannah and Samuel on Christmas morning.
Stopping for a quick lunch on Christmas day. The flowers in the background were delivered to us secretly that morning (in broad daylight, with us all sat in the living room - the children were amazed by someone doing that in the daylight, and we were all delighted with such beautiful cheery Christmas flowers. That really added a little extra sparkle to our day. :o)
Not a great picture of me, but I WAS enjoying my new sling, and being able to carry Samuel more easily again. He was enjoying his nap too. :o)
Peter LOVES melon!
On the way to Bethlehem - Mary, Joseph, and their wonderful donkey. One of our favourite parts of Christmas day is always acting out the nativity while we read our script from the scriptures.
Joseph talking to an innkeeper.
Another innkeeper finds them some room in a stable.
Baby Jesus, with his loving mother and father.
Visiting baby Jesus in the stable. A very happy gathering. :o)
Samuel loved the baubles on the tree.
They were such fun to play with, he was even happy to reach past the wrapping paper on the floor to try to get at one of them.
Samuel exploring his new bead toy.
Peter playing with his horse and cart.
Samuel with another fun wooden toy, and Rachel wearing one of the pioneer hats Granma gave us for Christmas.
Our delicious Christmas dinner, ...
...which Samuel very happily got stuck right into. He LOVES to eat. :o)
Boxing day we started to get ill, one by one, but at least we actually had Christmas without this year. Some of us went to church the Sunday after Christmas, while the ill ones stayed home. We had a lovely musical time that afternoon though as we had our own carol concert. Then we enjoyed a visit from Nanny (Michael's Mum), who was also not well, so we got to rest and get well together just doing some calm things. It was lovely to have her come and visit us. We will miss her when she goes to Australia soon for her mission.
There were a lot of special things this Christmas, but the very best parts of our Christmas were:- Making things for each others stockings, and opening those together on Christmas morning. Each of our stocking was filled with a lot of love - poems, paintings, wooden games, cards,... We were all excited to GIVE what we had created instead of seeing what we might receive. We really could have stopped there and it would have been a wonderful day, it felt so lovely.
- Not having so many presents. We have done a lot of decluttering this year (with more to come), and none of us are keen to have more things around that we don't need just for the sake of it. It's much more peaceful living with less. We considered having no presents, but decided on a couple of special ones. All the girls wanted was money towards horse-riding (they're all saving up), and a horse (toy - not a real one yet, though they'd love it!) They were over-joyed to get just that, though there were some other things too, which they are also really enjoying.
- Doing various kinds of secret service, though obviously we couldn't say what!
- Using candles. We have LOVED using candles. They have a magic all of their own, and really make things special.
- Reading a Christmas story together every night at bedtime (by candlelight and also Christmas tree light once we had a tree up). It was really magical doing that by candlelight, and a daily wonderful tradition that we will definitely do again, but actually couldn't bear to stop, so we are still reading together at bedtime now. :o)
- Having a family carol concert. We did this on the Sunday after Christmas for our family home evening, and it was great. Rebekah was ill, and we thought we'd do a show for her, though she actually joined in a bit too. We're going to be working towards that for a while before Christmas next year. Another new tradition that will come back each year.
We had fewer Christmas decorations, simpler but more beautiful traditions altogether, and an amazing feeling about Christmas that we loved sharing. That's exactly how we'd like all our Christmasses to be. We especially loved how it was focused more on each other and others, and really on the true spirit of Christmas - on our Saviour. That's what made it our most special Christmas yet. :o)
