It was a very beautiful Christmas in our new home, made all the more special by having our gorgeous girls to share it with. Sophie took her first steps at a friend’s house on Christmas Eve and took her first ride on a ‘trike’ on her Birthday.
The girls woke at a respectable 7am on Christmas Day morning and enjoyed opening their stockings before heading downstairs for breakfast. The summer fruits of strawberries and blueberries adorned our plates and the girls waited patiently to open the multitude of presents beneath the Christmas tree.
It took us all day to open all the presents (and Charlotte was still opening her presents on Boxing Day!). We had such a relaxing day, which was blessed with sunshine. We ate our Christmas dinner mid-afternoon, after Sophie and I had enjoyed a midday nap and Charlotte and Daddy had collected some Pohutukawa blossoms on their pre-lunch walk by the beach.
We dined outside, whilst Charlotte bounced on the trampoline (she couldn’t wait to tuck into her food after all the mid-day fresh air and filled up on a couple of Cranberry sandwiches). Sophie (who eats anything) tucked into her turkey dinner with gusto and enjoyed watching the exploding crackers and giggling at us wearing our paper hats.
Dan and I spent the morning sipping Champagne (with a strawberry and blueberry for good measure). Sophie reached into Dan’s glass for his champagne soaked strawberry!. We connected with our dear family in England via the wonders of modern technology (a video-conference via ‘Skype’!). It was fun for the girls to see their Grandparents and Great Grandma and dangle a few Christmas baked cookies in front of the camera (Dan was busy dangling a bottle of champagne and his beer of choice!).
By late afternoon we were all quite tired and headed down Lyall Bay beach for a ride on the trikes and a blow of sea air. The girls were exhausted from all the paper opening and tinsel ‘torture’ so went to bed peacefully around 7pm. We spent the evening quietly relaxing (but for some reason I felt the urge to clean out all the toy draws to make room for the new pressies!). On Boxing Day I sent Dan off to get more hangers for all the girls lovely new clothes (and a chocolate cake for Sophie’s Birthday!).
It was a very special day, filled with happy memories of the previous year (when I was very pregnant and expecting the arrival of our dear Sophie at any time!). It was much more pleasant to be able to enjoy a few drinks, stuff myself silly and not have to worry about having my hospital bag packed!
I tried to take Charlotte to a family Christmas service on Christmas Eve, but she was too scared to sit in a church full of so many people. It was a beautiful little church, with fairy lights adorning the white wooden arches of the entrance and a star lighting up the pulpit. I enjoyed a quiet peek at the children acting out the nativity scene, but felt a little put out that Charlotte didn’t find the courage to even sit at the back of the church (c’est la vie! Maybe next year…!). Instead of sulking about the missed occasion we drove down to the beach, where we parked up and said a little prayer. She did ask me, on Boxing Day, ‘Mummy, can we visit the little white church with the pretty lights and colourful window?’, so maybe there is hope for next year (with a few introductory visits first!).
Christmas is such a special time, whatever ones beliefs, a time for reflection and a time to think of the coming year. A time to give thanks for our loved ones, who touch our lives with sunshine, and a time to think of those less fortunate and pray that their New Year will give them hope.
