Christmas Day 2015

We had a lovely Christmas Day!
Kids up early and excited about their stockings, adults up later, house smelling of freshly brewed coffee, a very animated present-opening period, then a late breakfast. The day itself was fairly uninspiring weather wise - mild, windy, and rainy. We had a cozy fire going in the fireplace and it was wonderful to have a good sized crowd in the house.

Rhiannon, Molly and Ruby

Nerf shooters Tryfan, Rhiannon and Molly

 The main part of the day was spent preparing food for dinner, various people going for walks and runs at different times, and then the Queen's speech at 3pm. Tryfs, Rhiannon and Molly expended quite a bit of energy chasing each other round the house shooting Nerf pellets at each other (Thanks Eric and Kristin!) and it was generally a jolly, festive household!

Watching the Queen's speech

 The Queen said some carefully worded and warm things about Christ Jesus and his message of sharing love and gratitude... Here is a little excerpt from her speech (I found the full transcript and video of at this link):
"Despite being displaced and persecuted throughout his short life, Christ's unchanging message was not one of revenge or violence but simply that we should love one another.  Although it is not an easy message to follow, we shouldn't be discouraged; rather, it inspires us to try harder: to be thankful for the people who bring love and happiness into our own lives, and to look for ways of spreading that love to others, whenever and wherever we can."

We had several calls and text messages with the Welsh contingent who were all together up in North Wales, In the late afternoon and evening we had FaceTime calls with Judy, Joe, Annie, Jody and their respective broods in Montana, then also with Will, Eric and Mom in Seattle, and finally with Egan and Wheeler (oh wait, i think that was last night on Christmas Eve...). Didn't manage to connect with Heidi today but we will tomorrow hopefully. Merry Christmas everyone!