Christmas 2006

I've noticed the Christmas lights are not only still up in town, but lit at night as well. So, if St. Andrews can extend the season, then I suppose I'm not too late for a Christmas review. When asked, I've said that I imagine this was the ideal year for Christmas as a parent. Nora slept in until 9:30am not understanding ahead of time what was coming. Once awake and in the same room with her Nora-size heap of presents though, she was thrilled. In the picture above, she is saying, "Ooooo" at being given permission to open the first present.

Nora's best Christmas present from mom and dad: Doll stroller -still a favorite weeks later.

I'd never seen Nora set up in her corner before Christmas morning; now it's a habit. She'll take her baby and sometimes stuffed animals into the corner and "read" to them.

This picture was actually taken a week later when I did Nora's hair in pigtails for the first (and as yet only) time. Not an easy task, I'll tell you.

Christmas dinner:
We enjoyed a scrumptious Christmas dinner with about 65 other people -some friends, some new faces; mostly American, PhD students and their families; Christians brought together through the St. Andrews church network. I was very impressed by the layout. I knew it would be a potluck, so I expected paper plates, etc. Not so! There were China and glass goblets, candles and festive greenery in the church hall where we gathered. There were games and holiday videos for the children (though Nora was too young to get into that, it was fun to watch all the other children -about 25 -get into that). And the food! I'd never had such a big Christmas meal. There was all the traditional food -ham, turkey, stuffing, potatoes, etc. -and some international dishes -curry and oriental. And after we had our fill of eating, it was even fun to pile into the kitchen and take turns washing all that China!

Boxing Day:
The weekend before Christmas, I decided I wanted to host a Boxing Day Open House for friends and as an excuse to do a little extra holiday baking that would be consumed by more than just us! I sent out the evites and slowly responses came in...slow enough that I decided to postpone shopping for everything I needed until Boxing Day morning. Mistake. Turns out St. Andrews isn't America. I know, shocking. That's what I was -shocked- when I realized that grocery stores all across town were closed the day after Christmas. It turned out alright in the end. I decided not to stress about not having the perfectly planned party I envisioned. Instead I had fun with it throwing together a random assortment of food. One throw together dish -cheesy, bacon oven fries- was a particular hit. People brought their own contributions (and mugs as I didn't have enough glass ones and no paper ones to purchase!) and we had a great, even relaxed time. At the busiest point, about 25 people were sprawled about our 3 room flat. Good times. Good lesson in flexibility, too :-D