I'm finding it a little more difficult to keep up with writing these days! My days are filled with lots of cleaning, cooking, laundry, running around, changing diapers, feeding, playing, singing and dancing, reading books, baths, and of course, lots of snuggles. I said all that to say, I have not been able to write about our Christmas and New Year this year. It was a unique Christmas time for us because we stayed here in Belgium. No family, no running around, no big meals, no family trips...just the five of us snuggled in our loft for a couple mellow weeks. Of course we really missed our family (we made sure to FaceTime with everyone), but it was also kind of nice to do a lot of relaxing. I think it's one of the first times in the almost ten years that Cole and I have been married that we celebrated Christmas morning with just our family. So here is a catch-up post!
Cameron was interested this year about advent and Christmas. We followed an advent reading plan which he really enjoyed. He and Harrison were always excited to read their advent story each night and asked lots of questions. I enjoyed talking through it with him and explaining the true reason to celebrate Christmas. I was really affected this year, more than any other year, by the Christmas story. Having just given birth myself, it was difficult to read about Mary and Joseph, the conditions of the birth, and knowing Jesus' fate without getting emotional. I kept trying to imagine what Mary must have felt like...the worry and fear, the incredible love...Having an infant during advent and Christmas created a lot of emotions in me, but I'm thankful for the reminder that I have so much more than I could ever need, and also extremely thankful for a warm, clean, safe place to have and raise my babies.
At the beginning of December, people in Belgium celebrate Sinterklaas. I have written about
this before and how it is a little strange for us coming from the U.S., but we decided that we would embrace it this year and celebrate with the boys. We did not go to the parade to welcome Sint Niklas in Gent, but we did place things by the fireplace for him. Belgians, please forgive me if we got the details wrong. As we understood it, we were supposed to leave our shoes or slippers, a carrot for the horse, and a beer and cookies for Sint Niklas by the fireplace. In the morning, the carrots and beer will be gone or half eaten and replaced with presents. So we set it up the night before Sint Niklas was supposed to arrive. We didn't have the energy to bake cookies for Sint Niklas, so he had to make do with Oreos (I wouldn't complain)!
Cole took care of the carrots and beer and I was happy to take care of some of the Oreos. I didn't get a picture of the finished product (half eaten carrots, cookie wrappers, etc) or the boys' reaction in the morning, but it was a fun little thing to do with them!
Closer to Christmas, we had a nice time decorating the loft. The boys were very excited to be involved and help us decorate the tree! Zoe hung out with us too.
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| The boys were showing Zoe the tree |
We were invited to a Christmas fair at Cameron's school on his last day before break. The children sang songs and danced. There was also food, drinks and fellowship before parting for the break.
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| Singing "Oh Christmas Tree" |
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| Cameron had to say "goodbye" to his friend, Giovana |
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| Buddies |
Below are some random pictures of the week leading up to Christmas.
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| Our friend, Jamie, sent us gifts from home! Thanks Jamie!! |
Fun with Christmas jammies!
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| Enjoying the decorations |
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| Good thing we bought shatter-proof ornaments |
On Christmas Eve, the boys opened up Christmas jammies and books.
The boys were very excited to get up and open presents on Christmas morning!
After making a nice big breakfast, we played with Christmas presents for a good portion of the day.
In the afternoon, we went to church for a Christmas service and potluck.
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| Wrestling with friends |
We also enjoyed the Winterfeest here in Gent. We walked to the center of Gent to enjoy some yummy food, rides, and fun with friends. (Excuse the blurry iPhone photos)
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| Eating oliebollen. If you haven't had one, you should!! |
Ice Skating
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| Geoffrey and Aimi watched Zoe for me so I could ice skate |
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| We ran into each other and almost wiped out! |
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| Enjoying treats! |
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| My lovely friend, Kseniya |
For New Years Eve, we decided to go out and about in Gent to see what was going on in town. Little did we know that pretty much everything would be closed and that we would be the only ones with nowhere to be on that night! We made the best of it and walked around the quiet streets and enjoyed each others company. We eventually found a little waffle place open, so of course we had to get some waffles. We sat by the canal, ate waffles, and played until we were too cold to stay any longer!
Once we were home, we put the boys to bed for a while, but were sure to wake them before midnight. We watched the fireworks from our loft.
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| Happy New Year! |
