It's the most wonderful time of the year...

Yes, our Christmas post is a little bit late - but better late than never!

Christmas time truly is wonderful. 

Christmas Eve was filled with plenty of fun as we all opened up our Christmas Pajamas; Atticus even got two pairs. We also opened up a family game to play together, put chocolates on the tree (and ate some), talked to some family, finished our advent calendar and watched 'The Nativity'. It was a lovely evening. And we even managed to snap a family photo before heading to bed.

Christmas Eve family photo

Front view of our gingerbread house

 

 

Gingerbread house - side view

Our Advent Calendar; fully decorated

Atticus putting a chocolate decoration on the tree

On Christmas morning we were pleasantly surprised with how quickly Atticus got excited. We read Luke 2 together as a family then sat down to a breakfast of fresh fruit and Chinois - very tasty! Then it was time for a few presents. Atticus was even able to open a few presents with Grandma and Grandpa over skype, including a beautiful quilt that Grandma made, which he loves. Presents took most of the morning since Atticus would open one at a time, then go and play with it before he wanted to open another. He was so eager to share his toys with us. We played some games together and got things ready for dinner.

For Christmas dinner we made perogies. We invited another family over for dinner, so they arrived early to learn how to make perogies. It's always fun seeing people try perogies for the first time (and they loved them)! Dinner was a huge success; we ate A LOT, played some games and then ate some more. It was lovely being able to share Christmas dinner with others.

Once things were tidied up, we were able to talk to some more family before calling it a night. Christmas was not quite over for us though....

In the Netherlands, they celebrate the first and second day of Christmas (the 25th and 26th). So, on the 26th, we had a lovely Christmas meeting at church that the Dutch congregation had organized. The talks focused on Christ and ways that Christmas can help remind us to draw closer to him every day. It was followed by socializing and a few Dutch Christmas treats. It was a nice opportunity to catch up with some friends and start making new ones.

One of the best parts about this Christmas was that Jason's office was closed for the week following Christmas so we had him all to ourselves! We spent our time playing games, enjoying the snow, swimming and just trying to relax. It was simple and it was wonderful.

Of course, we missed our friends and family in Canada, but we are grateful for the technology available that we can still see/talk to them.

Hope everyone had a lovely holiday season!

Love,
-The Clog Crew