Christmasy happenings

This year we stayed here in Greensboro until Christmas day, when we drove up to Pennsylvania to spend the holiday week with Brooke's family. We did the same thing two years ago (before Jude was born) and I really think it is the ideal way to spend the holidays. Of course I miss my own family this time of year; we alternate, so we were in Colorado in 2010 and we'll be there again for Xmas 2012. But I love discovering new things to do around here, and I like having Christmas Eve and Christmas morning in our own home.

Here's one really cool thing: Christmas Eve LoveFeast at Home Moravian Church in Old Salem. It was a beautiful service, with a brass ensemble playing prelude music, coffee and delicious orange and nutmeg rolls for everyone, lots and lots of carols, and colonial-style hand-dipped candles. Isobel felt pretty grown up holding that candle.

Another cool new thing was visiting Burlington City Park with our friends! The carousel, train, visits with Santa and hot chocolate were all free for one special night.
We were also lucky to have Brooke's sister, Allison, come down to spend a few days and then drive up to PA with us. Having a guest made those days leading up to Christmas extra exciting. Here we are in Old Salem after the service:
We made the Greensboro-Carlisle drive in five and half hours (including one stop), which is the fastest it's ever been! Brooke's parents' house is especially homey during the holidays, with lots of little people running around and, on colder days, a fire in the hearth.
Don't worry! I didn't forget about the obligatory photos of the kids in front of the Christmas tree. In fact, we had two fairly unsuccessful photo shoots: one in front of our tree, and one in front of the Shifflers'. Here's what I got:



I always seem to have a terrible time getting good photos in front of the tree. They're either blurry with no flash or washed out with the flash. Anybody have a tip or solution for next year? Or am I just going to have to wait until my kids get old enough to hold still?










We've done a few cool project-type things lately, so stay tuned for another post sometime soon!