Christmas Eve PJ's

Christmas Eve Pajama's

Cookies were out, notes were written, and everyone was ready for bed. It is a shame that certain children couldn't sleep--CARTER!! He was up every 2 hours that night and came into our room at 4:30 am to let us know it was morning and we should go unwrap presents now. :)

Christingle Service

 Taylor had a unique Christmas service this year, as we normally do a play and this year they chose to participate in a Christingle service at the local church. The kids all made their 'Christingle's' prior to the day and had learned different hymns to sing during the service.

The Christingle is a common thing here in the UK, even if this was the first year we learned about it. :) The orange represents the world, the candle is Jesus Christ's light leading us. There are four tooth picks which represent North, East, South, and West, or the four corners of the world. The candy that is put on the toothpicks is for the food and creations of God. The red ribbon that goes around the orange is for the blood of Christ, while the small tin foil under the candle is representing us, who should reflect the light of Christ to all the world. It was neat to be a part of a tradition and to have the focal point truly be on our Saviour for this time of year.

Brennan's Christmas Performance.

 Brennan loves to steal the camera and take half a dozen shots of his face, very close up.

 Brennan was a sweet little towns person looking for an Inn during his Christmas performance this year. He really like the song, "Knock, Knock".

Christmas Showcase--Gymnastics!

 Taylor has been participating in gymnastics for about a year now, and we were excited about her first show! She was sad Dad had to miss it (being in Utah), but she ended up having a fantastic time! She is looking forward to joining a more advanced group for this new year and making a lot more progress!

Sparkles

 Brennan finished his star chart at school, and as a reward was able to bring Sparkles home for a few days. Brennan and Sparkles had a load of fun together. They helped set up for a Christmas party at the church, ate dinner at the base one night and spent every night cuddled together.

HighClere Castle A.K.A. Downton Abbey

Mike and I slipped away with Cameron while the kids were in school to check out HighClere Castle, the filming location of Downton Abbey. They were open for two days for Christmas Fair stalls. We were lucky enough to get tickets from some friends who had bought extra, and we just happen to meet some other friends from church who got there at the same time as we did. It worked out perfect for getting a great Downton Abbey shot.

Cameron is still full on English with his eating habits, fork and knife a necessity. I was lucky enough to get some of the lunch intended for me.

Trying to get one shot with all three of us jumping in the air proved a bit more difficult than we thought. :) The off center one was the best we got!

We will have to go back when the gardens are in bloom, because I imagine it is beautiful.

Trimming the Tree

 At the same time that we were decorating the tree Mason spotted another package sent my Gma and Gpa. As always he won't give up until we open it. Cinnamon Bears were grabbed straight away, and Cameron got a hold of a bag of caramel popcorn that Gma and Gps Great had told my Dad to send. He did NOT want to share!
Taylor was the star topping person this year and was very funny trying to get the star to stay on, but it finally worked and the tree was complete!