Skip to main content

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Blog Post

In theory it shouldn't be that hard to keep up with a weekly post on one blog.  In practice, these last few months, it just. did. not. happen.

So, new year, new resolution to do more writing.  I'm starting with Christmas.  Because it's easy.  And you're not all ready to forget about Christmas quite yet, are you?  If so, shut your eyes now, because here come lots of photos.

This Christmas....

...we had snow!  Well, not on the day itself, but in December, which is unusual enough.  And there was plenty of it - enough for a giant snowman.


Snowman and snowdog (or perhaps sheep)

...we went to the Christingle service at our local parish church (the proper dangerous kind with kids waving lighted candles at each other) and to see the lights at Calke Abbey (for the 4th year running - must count as a tradition by now).



...we had a real tree as a present from Graham's boss, which was thoroughly decorated and surrounded by gifts.



...we spent Christmas Day at home, which turned out to be a good thing when Graham woke up that morning feeling grotty.  He spent most of the day lying down trying to be enthusiastic when the boys got excited.  I called off Christmas dinner and defrosted some chicken casserole instead.  Nice and easy!

...it was the year of the board games.  Hungry Hungry Hippos, Minions Monopoly, Rebound, Kerplunk and Pieface all turned up underneath the Christmas tree.
Kerplunk

Rebound

and Pieface!


...this was Toby's big present.

It's a desk!

...and this was Theo's big present.

Yep, that really was his top request this year

...we made it to my parents' on Boxing Day, despite Graham not really being better yet. We had Christmas dinner with them a few days late, went for some cold walks, and met up with some friends to go bowling.



...I made my first ever Christmas pudding, complete with suet and hours of steaming, but no brandy butter.  I also made a chocolate Malteser Christmas pudding alternative.

Proper Christmas pudding

Chocolate Christmas pudding


...we finally ate our turkey on New Year's Eve.  Much better time to have a festive dinner, I think!


Happy 2018 to you all!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Models of Contextual Theology: Spiritual Formation Book 7

"A theology that neither issues forth in action nor takes account of the way one lives one's life can hardly be theology that is worth very much." Models of Contextual Theology looks like the most boring book in the world. Dry academic title, weird geometric cover design - you'd definitely only pick this up if you were required to write an essay on it, wouldn't you? Well, I wish the outside did it justice, because the contents are much more exciting than the cover. It asks some very interesting and important questions about how our faith relates to the world around us. Is culture mostly good or bad? Is there such a thing as the "naked gospel", free of context? Do you have to be a trained academic to theologize, or can anyone do it? How much does theology from one culture transfer to a different culture? Bevans describes six models of theology which offer different answers to these questions. All are valid, he says, but they all understand the gospel an

Unto us a son is given...

Did I mention something about life getting back to normal in October? Oh yes, I was just finishing work and looking forward to at least two weeks off to organise the house, stock up the freezer and buy baby stuff. Then little Toby threw a spanner in the works by turning up five weeks early! Which would put his birthday in... let's see... October. So much for normal! For those who would like the gory details, here goes. If you are a mother who had a long and protracted labour, I advise you to skip the next bit - or if you don't, please don't start sending me hate mail. You have been warned. You see, we'd been to all the childbirth classes (yes, just about managed to finish them) and learned all about the different stages of labour, and how many hours each lasted. We learned some relaxation techniques and various things Graham could do to help coach me through long periods of contractions. And then we turned out not to need any of them, because the entire thing

A birthday weekend in York

We were surprised to discover that York is only a 90 minute drive from our house. It's somewhere we'd been thinking of going for a few years, but I'd assumed it was much further away. So when we wanted to go away for the weekend to celebrate my birthday in January, York was the obvious choice. The city did not disappoint us. I'd been to York years ago, and my only clear memory was of a tower on top of a grassy mound. That was Clifford's Tower, owned by English Heritage, and recently updated with a rather snazzy series of platforms and staircases inside. We saw a 13th century toilet which had been inaccessible for 400 years (I think I was more excited about this than the boys) and got a great view of York from the rooftop viewing platform. View from the top of Clifford's Tower Most people's memories of York probably involve the Shambles - an ancient street of shops - and York Minster. Apparently there isn't a clear difference between a minster and a cathe