Christmas Eve

This year we decided to have our fancy Christmas meal on Christmas Eve rather than Christmas Day, and it was a great call!  Here are some photos from the day

Outing to Royal Tunbridge Wells

We had another outing today with just the 9 of us to get out of the house and explore.

We had a good time in the town and did a bit of Christmas shopping.  Of course, it was lovely to come home and get cozy with everyone. Tryfs and Rhiannon were already cozy laying in front of the fireplace.  

Happy scenes round the house

It has been wonderful to be able to share big family dinners. The camping table with built in seats has worked a treat for the littlies!

They did a great job of decorating the Christmas Cake with some colorful icing.  Each of the four of them did a thoughtful drawing of what they would want to have as the decoration, and then Phoebe (as the eldest) did a great job of diplomatically selecting an aspect of each person's artwork in icing form.

Grandma Debi was a welcome source of steady warmth and comfort

And then tonight the 6 of us went out to the Hopyard for a swifty on our way to collect fish and chips that Grandma Debi paid for.

Outing to Lewes

We spent some time last night deliberating on how to spend the next day, and we converged on the decision to go into Lewes.  It was a great decision because we had a good day there.

We walked around Lewes Castle and then we had lunch in a cafe on the High Street. It was delicious and exactly what we all needed. A group of 9 walking around on a cold blustery rainy day with 4 of the 9 being littlies is kind of a handful for any cafe, but this guy was really gracious and moved tables around so we could sit together.

Cousins

It was really fun to see our kids together with [some of] their younger cousins.  Everyone is missing Jordan and Luke being here though.

The crew arrives for Christmas!

Today it really all starts, and seeing Santa on a motorcycle on our way to the airport was a good sign!  Actually it started yesterday when Will & Rebecca arrived with their younguns' Phoebe and Ingrid.  I collected them from Heathrow and we made it home before dark, then went for a afternoon walk in the forest to stretch the legs before dinner.  This morning Will and I picked up a massive 9 passenger van from Uckfield Enterprise and then drove to Heathrow again, this time to collect the California contingent of Grandma Debi, Eric, Kristin, Billy and Evan.

That all went pretty well and we got home in the late afternoon so that everyone could settle in.  It's mental but so fun to have a lot of people staying here!  

Annie wasn't too sure about the little kids (especially Evan) so she kept her distance although she was so curious about them. Kept coming over to do big sniffs and then slowly back away.

So yeah, it was a happy scene at our house!

We walked down to the Red Lion for some refreshment, and that was a great kick off to the Christmas holiday

Rhiannon's trip to Cardiff

After the saga with Evie's broken ankle which led to her not being able to go to ABBA, Rhiannon was due to visit Auntie Sioned over in Cardiff for a few days.  Rhiannon was so looking forward to this visit, since she is really close to Sions.  But then just yesterday we learned that Sioned has come down with some terrible bug and is not able to host Rhiannon! Such a bummer.  Fortunately Rhi can still go to Cardiff and stay with Auntie Nia and Uncle Cris, and cousins Gabi and Val, but missing out on special Sioned time is a real disappointment.  

So she took the bus on Saturday and has been staying with Nia and co, but they still have school this week so Rhi is going to come home a day early.  At least it was a very exciting World Cup Football Final with Argentina beating France in a fantastic game.  With Cris being an full-fledged Argentinian, it was probably quite an exciting place to be.

Then on Monday Nain and Taid came down from North Wales to be with Rhiannon while the others were at school, and then Rhi ended up taking an earlier bus to arrive home in time for the first wave of visitors to be here. 

Silent Disco 2022

Cat and I went back to do another festive Silent Disco Walking Tour of Brighton, just like last year, and it was just as good!  Actually, our leader wasn't as great as our guy last year, but it was still super fun.  Maddy joined us as well, and she is such a groover, always fun to be with.  Honestly, we three had such a giggle.  

This year our tour guide took us down to the Christmas market and it was such a lovely scene that we ended up coming back here to find something to eat afterwards. Bonus!  We had the best goat cheese pizza and a side of chips EVER. Honestly, so tasty.  A super fun night.

ABBA Voyage

We had bought dance floor tickets for Rhiannon and her friend Evie to go see the ABBA Voyage concert in London several months ago and they had been so, so excited about this event!  But then a couple of weeks ago, Evie broke her ankle and it was not looking good for her to be able to go, then when it snowed the other day she actually hurt it worse, and so I tried to find a way to get a refund and reschedule, etc.  Long story short, it didn't go very well.  And by this time it was too late to resell the tickets, so it was looking like we would just lose the money and need to book for another date in the springtime.  Sad!  But then I had the idea that maybe I could go in Evie's place?  I approached Rhiannon about this and she was fine with that.  So I left work early and we drove 3+ hours into London on this icy Friday night to get there before the doors closed at 7:45 pm.  We barely made it!!! But we did make it and it was such a special and fun evening.  I will cherish this memory forever: singing along and dancing with my precious girl in this strange but awesome concert venue.  Even writing this now (a few weeks later), my eyes well up with love and tenderness.  Here are some photos from just before and just after the concert, since we were not allowed to take any photos during it.

I know its totally wrong to thank Evie for breaking her ankle, but honestly, it was so special to go to this concert with my girl.  I'm so grateful.

Loads of snow

The snow that came yesterday afternoon really dumped quite a lot of the unexpected white stuff, and now the forecast is for cold temperatures to stay for a few days, so it looks like we can actually enjoy before it melts away!

Rhods and I went for a walk around mid morning just because we could! It was so beautiful.

 

Getting ready for Christmas

This morning we took it easy, after our full day and late night in London for Rhiannon's birthday.  It was cold with high overcast skies as we woke up, and after some cozy morning stirrings, we went to the Carter's Christmas Tree farm down the road and picked out a good one for the season.

In the afternoon, Rhodri and Tryfan actually had rugby practice and as they were starting to pack up to head home, our part of the country got a big dump of snow!  Apparently they barely made it up the hill to the top of Stonequarry Road because there was so much snow on the ground.  But for Rhiannon, Annie and me, we were all snuggled at home with the fire going.

We spent the evening decorating the tree and the house!  We've all been looking so forward to this moment, when the four of us are back together under one roof and feeling the Christmas spirit, and here we finally are.

Our girl turns 17

It is so hard to believe that Rhiannon is now 17! We are so glad that she was able to be here at home for her birthday, and the way she wanted to celebrate by going into London with Sophie to do some shopping, then go for dinner at a place of her choosing.

It was so busy and crowded in London! But the decorative lights and installations made it all feel very festive and fun.

We went for dinner at Cocochan, and it was really great.  And then after dinner we made our way back home.

Annual Tree Light-up

In years past, this has been my favorite night of the entire year.  This year I was a bit ho-hum about it, because of course the focus was on Rhiannon's return earlier today.  But in the end, it was a fun event which had the normal amount of mayhem and confusion, but all in good spirit. There is always at least 1 Christmas song that we end up singing and yet we don't have the words to it, while another song ends up getting sung multiple times.  Anyway, with mulled wine and mince pies and loads of people crammed into the village hall (all doors and windows open to enhance circulation), it was funny. Rhodri ended up being the MC (he was asked to do this as we arrived to the event!) and he did a brilliant job of course. 

After the tree lights were dramatically switched on, a crowd of us went caroling up and down the main road. We were more successful this year than in previous ones, mainly because we targeted houses that we considered 'wins' from last year! That is, we did NOT attempt to go back to the ones who switched off the lights after they peered through the window to see we were there at the door, etc. One heartwarming house had quite an elderly lady who stood at the door requesting more songs and singing along herself. 

Anyway, Stuart and Leigh came back to our house afterwards for a liquid debrief, which involved a lot of laughing.  They are always fun to hang out with!

Happy collection

Meeting Rhiannon at the International Arrivals area of Heathrow Terminal 5 was in retrospect a highlight of the month or maybe year.  I even tear up a bit just thinking about it.  We had been in text communication since she touched down, so I knew when to pay close attention to faces walking through the arrival doors. I saw my girl before she saw me, and I positioned myself at the end of the roped off area so she could come straight into my arms. Ahhhh, that gorgeous moment of a tight tight hug that didn't relax or even allow any words to flow for like 10 minutes. It was such an indulgent, long awaited embrace in a moment I had been dreaming of for months. It was so powerful, and even now thinking back to this moment, I can go back there in my mind and feel the closeness of my daughter in my arms. I hope I can retain this memory for the rest of my life.

Anyway, eventually we de-clung from each other and found the car, then drove home. Of course, she had a similarly dramatic and emotional reunion with Rhods before she settled into her bedroom and started to unpack. However, it was not a day of rest since she wanted to see Evie straightaway.  So Rhi and I did a grocery store run on the way to collect Evie in Uckfield and then came home for the afternoon.

It was so wonderful to hear the two of them laughing together and filling the house with teenage girl noises.

Rhi Day

Rhiannon is leaving for the Christmas holidays today (1 day before the rest of the boarders) to get home for her birthday, but in the meantime her RC made a birthday cake and sent us this pic!  In just a few hours she will set off on her solo travel from St Louis to London Heathrow (via Chicago) and we wish her safe travels.

More construction

Things are happening now on the sauna complex

... and just 2 more sleeps til our girl arrives!

Less than a week to go!

We are counting down the days and hours until Rhiannon comes home.  Here she is with her roommate in front of a Christmas tree in the dorm.  She is going to fly on Thurs Dec 8 and arrive home Fri Dec 9 in time for her birthday on Dec 10th.

Construction coming along

Construction has stalled a bit this week because of the weather forecast: really cold and dry followed by freezing rain. A beautiful start to the month though!