Family Christmas

December 25th isn't much of a holiday in this part of the world, but in our family it's Jesus' Birthday! That morning, after the big evening before, our children actually slept in. Then Asya stumbled out to find that the manger wasn't empty anymore.

Baby Jesus!

Jaan and Raia soon joined her. Then they started into Christmas books and snacks with Papa....


While I fixed a special brunch.

No, we didn't spend the whole day around the table, but those are the photos I got. After brunch, we went out for a walk. The sun was shining a little, but by the time we were dressed, it had disappeared again. Our walk was actually a rather damp one, but we had a great time, wandering through the park. We saw birds that we hadn't seen before, and we heard pheasants. The pheasants led us all over through the wild, brushy areas, but never did show themselves. After that, the rain was picking up, so Will and the older two went to the grocery store, while Asya and I headed home. She and I did stop to watch a non-Russian (Uzbek? Kazak?) wedding party dancing wildly and singing. And before we got home, the sun broke through in the midst of the rain, making everything sparkle.

Once everyone was back, there was a short nap time, while I made lasagna and baked a birthday cake.

Festive dinner

Not quite enough nap

Raia took this photo.

I wanted a picture of me frosting the cake, while Asya watched. Um, yes. It makes me laugh. She's been working on vertical shots lately. (Actually, she figured them out, just a few days later. You'll see some of those soon, in another post.)

Then our guests started arriving.

We had invited the youth for tea, and a good group came. Such fun! We sang, ate and talked until late, when Will announced that I would be turning into a pumpkin soon.

The children's table

Our family Christmas celebration was a long, full, happy day, and it certainly felt like a celebration!