Christmas Pageant

So, the holidays have come and gone, as have our illnesses (for the most part). We enjoyed ourselves and are sad to see our holiday vacation come to an end.

We had our friends, Melvin and Cheria Sadler and their two cute little girls Danya and Nikole over for Christmas Eve fondue. They had never had fondue before and we opened their eyes to a world of stressful possibilities involving hot oil and uncooked meat all within reach of their 2 small girls at the table. For some reason, fondue has never been a stressful event in Kevin's family (from whence this tradition came). I don't know if it's because the kids grow up with the hot oil on the table every Christmas or what...but it's never stressed anyone out (that I know of...correct me if I'm wrong sis-in laws). However, our poor friends had the hardest time with their children grabbing food out of the bowls, reaching for the forks in the fondue and just reaching for the hot oil in general. You could tell they were a little stressed out all night. But, for Kevin and I, it was fun having fondue. It's a tradition I always look forward to. And, especially this year, making and eating the fondue made our little English cottage feel like home.

After the fondue, the kids did their best to fill all of the roles in the Christmas story. The two young ones lost interest after about 2 minutes and took off their costumes. The older one, Danya, had to fill all of the roles by herself. No small feat for a 5 year old actress. I will say that our costume collection is sparse indeed. Nothing like grandma's collection. He have no furs to make people into animals in the stable. No old bathrobes. Nothing that resembles frankinsence and myrrh. Our trio of actors had to rely on long t-shirts, dinner napkins, head bands, an umbrella for a shepherd's staff and lots of stuffed animals. We found out that the birth of the Christ child was witnessed (at least in our production) by not only sheep and cows, but by two lions, a crab, a couple of monkeys and a chihuahua. Well, it was a low-budget production, needless to say.

After the festivities, we spoke to most of our family over Skype...well into the wee hours of the morning. Santa still managed to come, even though we were up until 3 am. Weslee received some new toys and would get so excited after opening a present, he didn't want to open any more...he just wanted to play with the toy he had just opened. We had to hide the presents he had just opened so that he would finish opening what was under the tree.

Santa was skimpy with Kevin and I this year...mainly because we told him we didn't want gifts, we wanted to travel. So, we're taking any money we would have spent on Christmas gifts and are using it towards going and seeing Europe. In January, we're planning to go skiing in the Bavarian Alps of Germany for a week. In February, we're touring Northern Italy. We may even take a road trip across the channel and visit France for a few days. Who knows?

Anyway, the season was festive. It came and went entirely too fast, in my opinion. I always love the Christmas decorations, the flickering candles, and of course, the good food. I love spending uninterupted time with my family and making memories. I hated that I wasn't able to do all that I usually do because I was so so sick. We were all SO sick that it was hard to accomplish more than just the bare minimum. But, even so, it was a good holiday.