Celebrating

What a glorious time of the year. I love the decorated house with (what we call) the family tree, the "German" tree, the Chrismon tree and all the nativities which we have brought from our travels. All those traditions and memories. There are friends and family near and most far. That, of course, is sometimes not so easy. But then ... this is how we feel"

40+ years ago we could not even get a simple cheese as a brie and now we can get so many nice international things/food which make a lot of fun. We happen to have packages of cheese fondue in the fridge. Just some salad and a baguette (in the oven) and a nice evening meal is secured. Instead of using the fondue set (with the smelly fluid) I had the idea of using the induction plate. Brilliant. We can highly recommend it.

Christmas Eve we met Sarah with her family and in-laws at our church at 5 pm for the family service. The children were really very good and it was lovely. Then we parted because Sarah had to prepare for her night shift and James and I had an invitation to our friends Kim, Mike and Jessica. That is always festive. 

Later we went to the 11 pm service with the choir singing Christmas carols starting at 10:30 pm. This of course makes Christmas really special for us.

Christmas Day we were invited to Sarah and her family. Santa had been at their house VERY EARLY. The boys are always early risers anyway. But of course Omi and Papa brought some gifts too. We had a big and a small box of Playmobil for each of them. In our wildest dreams would we have not expected it be received by the boys with such enthusiasm. All adults immediately went into "assembly mode".

Santa had brought a climbing dome for the backyard in one big HEAVY box. The weather was so nice that we started with the assembly outside too. The boys love being outside. Unfortunately they also wanted to "help". And they asked a lot whether they could start climbing. But all went well. Almost done by lunch time.

Lunchtime. And then more family arrived. Cooper is a great basketball fan and he helped the boys to score.

During nap time we finished the climbing dome. The weather was so lovely and so cooperative.

Christmas dinner was a bit delayed due to the fact that their oven is having problems lately. It did not matter of course. Nobody was really hungry and we were having a good time. The boys loved sitting at their own little table. The adults were around the round table and the food very delicious. Totally forget to take any more photos.  

Since Sarah had come home in the morning from her last night shift in this cycle and had hardly slept we didn't stick around for much longer. Because of the midnight service we had not slept that much either and just got leisurely at home. 

James commented that he did not have a traditional mince pie in a long time and was longing for it a bit. Ha-ha, no problem. I found a jar of mince meat in the pantry and pie crust in the fridge. Was he surprised!

Thursday of course was my birthday. As always I have to think especially of my father since it would be his birthday too. He would have been 100 years.

Helen drove all day from Nashville and arrived in good time in the evening with Drifter the dog.

Friday Sarah came over with the children since she is in her off-work cycle. She used my new silicon cups which were a birthday present from my friend Julie. They worked like a charm.

After breakfast we all went to the park. The boys were in their elements.

Ha-ha, Sarah tried it too.

And then we walked around Meadow Farm.

In the evening Papa, Helen and I were invited "over the river". Papa played with the boys in the basement for a while. 

Sarah and Wade served a nice dinner despite their stove acting up. And then ...

I was told that Caleb had done the decorating. 

The boys definitely helped with blowing out the candles. Actually they were so eager to help that the candles were out before I even got the breath. We had to light them again. Thank you to all to bless me with such a lovely celebration. 

The weather could not have been better on Saturday. Helen, James and I decided we had to go for a walk. Well, it would have been wrong not to. 

Walking along the River James is always uplifting. And it was such a glorious day, especially for it being winter.

Helen can not visit Richmond without going to the Ramen place (Takara). 

Sunday afternoon we went for a short visit so Helen could say good-bye. Her nephews heaped some love on her.

Monday (the 30th) morning very early the alarm rang and she was on the road soon at 6 am. The long drive for her (or for us) is always a bit much but everything went well and we had such a good time together. 

Well, and then there was only the Tuesday left and the year was over. James and I wish all our family and friends a wonderful NEW YEAR! May God's blessings be with you every step you take.

Early Christmas presents

These sales commercials before Christmas are something else. But then, if you are planning to buy something soon, why not take advantage of the sales?

Rarely, rarely do we replace something which is not broken. But ... I like cooking and baking. We like eating healthy food. We really like the induction cooking plate we got some time ago. But one is not enough to cook a whole meal. And there was always a lot of cleaning involved with this (old) one because in the traditional method all splattering will be burned on the stove surface to a crisp.

Mama is happy! And the microwave has a feature I didn't even know existed. It calculates itself how much time something needs when you reheat leftovers. Wow.

And yes, you need pots which have a bottom which attracts a magnet but I already had those because of the single plate and my "old" pots and pans had started to flake the inside off. Definitely not healthy. 

Two days later two very polite gentlemen came and were happy to take the old ones away. We even had the using directions. The hauling away fees were refunded from our original invoice. 

Saturday December 21

We had to take care of something "across the river" and Wade texted us that he was with the boys at the Big Greenhouse to look at the annual set-up of the model trains. Sarah was sleeping between her nightshifts so we spent some time with them. Doesn't everybody love model trains?

Updates on my amaryllis: doing well! The one in the sunroom has a second stalk blooming and a third coming. Name: Scarlet Baby

This one (also Scarlet Baby) lives in the kitchen. It might not like it there too much. Look how it was leaning. We constantly have to turn it.

Last Easter hyacinth from church (still in a pot) wanted to be brought in. I am afraid we will miss the blooms though because we will be gone.