Christmas 2017

 Our Christmas this year was amazing.  Grandma and Grandpa Dexter and Uncle Allen came to vistit and celebrate Christmas with us.  We had a formal dinner on Christmas Eve, and we relaxed on Christmas day.  It was a great holiday.  We all feel spoiled.  Uncle Allen wins for giving Thomas the life sized panda.  I'm excited to see how the movers pack that up. 

It's CHRISTMAS!!!

Ben and I greatly underestimated our two wonderful children.

There wasn't any crying or complaining about any Christmas presents or lack thereof. 

It was a Christmas miracle. 

 Our day was filled with legos and movies and chocolate.  It was a fabulous day.

Jack, smiling and getting excited over underwear in his stocking. 

The boys.

Christmas dinner, spent with our friends from church. 

This year for Christmas, our big present was a relaxing vacation at the beach.

We went to a resort in the town of Mirissa. A vacation where you never have to put shoes on, and a pool and an ocean are the sources of entertainment. Perfection.

A room with a view.

Thomas.  What can I say, but that this picture captures him well.

Jack. 

The boys having a make believe picnic.

Merry Christmas!

Love you,

Ben, Emily, Jack and Thomas

Christmas Eve.

I love Christmas Eve.  

I think it is my favorite- the kids behave really well, since the anticipation of Santa coming creates angelic behavior in almost every child. 

We played with legos and made dinner- tacos! Complete with beef from Australia. 

We read the bible story of the birth of Jesus, in Luke 2.

Complete with pictures.

And proof that Jack picks his nose and checks out what came out. 

You're welcome.

Then we opened the traditional pajamas and took the obligatory picture in front of the Christmas tree.

Then we scattered magic reindeer food in the backyard (thanks Grandpa and Lani).

All ready for Santa.

And now for tomorrow.  

Ben and I have a bet on which child is going to cry first, most likely from disappointment, since each child has changed their "lists" at least five times in the last week. (And if you are lucky, we will photo-document that moment.)  

But let's not focus on the negative.  

Let's focus on the fact that this evening was perfect.

Christmas Day.

Did you know that we have had "Hand, Foot and Mouth" disease running its nasty course through our family (and the whole of Colombo, as far as I know).  Well, everyone has had it at our house, except for me.  It really hasn't been that bad, but it is extremely contagious for an unknown amount of time, so we have been trying to avoid contact with anyone.  Luckily for us, there were a few other families that have been infected with this highly contagious disease, and so on Christmas day we had a Quarantine Christmas celebration.  It was perfect.  The kids ran around and played and the adults talked and played games.  Oh, and did I mention our gracious hosts are scheduled to leave two days after Christmas?  Wonderful (and impressive) people, they are!

Merry Christmas.  

What Ben built, and what I built.  Can you guess which is which?

How we spent our Christmas Eve.

We went for a walk along the beach, and found a lighthouse with some cannons around it.  We were not allowed to take any pictures of the lighthouse, so here are some shots of the cannons.

Thomas was in this picture, but he ran behind the cannon before the timer went off.

And we opened Christmas pajamas.

Most of our traditions are for Christmas Eve.  We had huge plans, but they kind of all fell through- due to Ben being called into work.  We will have to see next year if these traditions are going to fade away, or if this year was a fluke.  

I wasn't in the best mood when Ben got home after the boys were in bed, but we ordered some really yummy food and watched a silly movie.

Even though we didn't set out any cookies or milk, Santa still came.  I hope next year will be a little more traditional (at least for us) or we are in a really nice hotel.

Local Wears.

My lovely friend Ann bought this dress in India, and gave it to me!  It was so kind of her, and I was so excited to wear it.  It worked out perfectly that it was Christmas colors, so I wore it to our Church Christmas party.

Last week my friend invited me to join her at a wedding.  It was the perfect excuse to wear a saree.  

I didn't know how much goes into wearing a saree.  Finding the right one can be a bit overwhelming as most of the shops have hundreds of beautiful options, but little to no organization.  However, it was fun to find "the one".  

Then I had to have a blouse and an underskirt made.  Most women here have their blouses made rather short, and expose their stomachs, so when I requested mine longer it was met with resistance.  I was successful, and it turned out lovely.  

The night of the wedding, I had to have someone wrap and pin the yards of fabric around me so I could walk without everything falling apart.

It was so much fun to wear, and I can't wait for the next opportunity.

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

Visit with Santa.  Check.

Christmas Scavenger Hunt.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas here in Colombo.  It is rather surprising considering that this is a Buddhist country, and the percentage of Christians here is rather small- someone told me like 2% (don't quote me).  

However, Christmas seems to be a big deal here.  It is fun to see all of the decorations up, cashiers wearing santa hats, and retailers referring to this as the busy season.

Ben and I decided to go on a Christmas Scavenger Hunt.

It was such a fun date!  

We wandered around the city in search of the items on our list, in fact, there was only one item we did not find.  

Here are the results of our scavenger hunt.

1.  Santa Claus.  We didn't want to pay for a picture with Santa.  (Sneaky, huh?)

2. Reindeer. 

3/4.  Christmas Tree and a Star.

5.  Poinsettia.  I thought this one was going to be difficult, but artificial poinsettias were abound.

6.  Snow/snowman.  We did not find a snowman, but this display had plenty of snow.

Ben told me this picture was not the most flattering, but I was trying to look cold.

7.  Baby Jesus.  This is the only one we could find.  I am hoping one of the churches will have something a little bigger, but not so far.

8. CocaCola Christmas ad.

9. Angel

10. The Grinch.  

We couldn't find him.  We even went to MANY video stores, with no luck.  

I hope that wherever you live, and whatever you celebrate, you are able to find a way to enjoy it.

Lazy with a side of crazy.

I apologize for my silence over the last few weeks. I also apologize to those on Facebook and Instagram who have seen these pictures before. It is extremely redundant, but for some, this will be new, and this is for you.

 

Here is what we have been up to.

Jack and Thomas dancing "Gangnam Style".

 

Jack and Thomas figured out how to sneak into the advent calendar. We do it one day at a time now.

Some of our Christmas decor.

Making sugar cookies. So much more work than I expected.

The boys only liked playing with the dough, and frosting the cookies. Not much in between. They didn't even like eating them.

I don't know about you, but nothing says winter like swimming in an outdoor pool.

Not.

But we love it.

And after six months of going to the pool regularly, Jack can swim! It's one of those fabulous mom/dad moments.

Girls Night Out at St. Andrew's Ball (Scottish)

Where I tasted haggis for the first time, won a door prize to our favorite pizza place, AND received some fabulous sunglasses in my swag bag. So much fun.

 

Oh, and I ran a half marathon. Not in Bangkok like I wanted, but I did it nonetheless. On a treadmill.

 

All of that and we are helping with Christmas parties, I am finishing up two classes I am taking this semester, and preparing for Santa's arrival.

We are pretty exhausted around here.

 

 

Until next time.

Hopefully it is sooner than latter.

 

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