A Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

We've spent the last week in Peoria, IL with my Mum and Dad, enjoying a very relaxing Christmas break. The whole family has been here, although Vanessa and Sean came the week before Christmas and had to leave the day after. Steve and Rachel and Andre and I are leaving tomorrow evening to fly back to Atlanta.

We've had a lovely time all together, mostly spent tucked away inside as there's been lots of snow and we are all enjoying the rest. On Christmas Eve we went to church together; the early service so Michaela could go to bed at a decent hour. It was a really special service, celebrating Jesus' birth and all the children were in for it. Miss M behaved very well (I think the snacks helped!), although at one point she was playing on the floor and suddenly disappeared under the pew in front of us, with only her little black shoes sticking out. The man sitting in front of us suddenly gave a quiet yelp and lifted his legs right up in the air in surprise, as Michaela crawled out from under his pew! In an attempt to maintain a semblance of quiet, poor Sean crept on his hands and knees around the end of the pew, apologized to the surprised man, and grabbed Miss M, who thought it all great fun. Then of course Mum, Ness and I almost disgraced us all completely by getting the giggles. You know the kind you can't stop no matter how hard you try. I think the only thing that saved us was a particularly poignant rendering of "O Holy Night"!

It started to snow on Christmas Day which was just perfect. Here are some photos:


Dad clearing the driveway in front of their house




All ready to open presents on Christmas morning


Miss M with her Christmas present from her Mummy and Daddy: her first baby doll!


The big prep for Christmas dinner


Enjoying our party hats after pulling our Christmas crackers




Christmas Pudding all alight (we pour brandy on top and light it...yes I know, bizarre English traditions)





The baby bumps! (Nessa at 32 weeks and me at 30 weeks)


My sweet Husbie


Christmas Baby Bump

It was a really special day with lots of family traditions and great fun having a little girl around, who LOVED all her presents. She ran around the whole day showing her "Nana" and "Bapa" (she hasn't quite got "Grampa" down) her baby doll and running her baby jogging stroller into the furniture. Too cute!

The rest of the week has been quiet and relaxing and we're spending New Year's Eve the same way.

We are thanking the Lord for all our blessings this past year, particularly finding out about our coming bundle of joy. I think that's certainly the highlight of 2009! I suspect that the best of 2010 will be his arrival!

We hope you all had a blessed Christmas and a wonderful New Year!