Happy Christmas! Merry Christmas! ...take your pick!

This morning I was thrilled to discover that my parents sent my stocking full of fun stuff! My aunt made me and my siblings stockings when we were little and seeing it in England was like getting a big hug from home. We gathered around the kitchen table for breakfast and opened our stockings (the Brown family stockings fell apart a while back so they use gift bags instead) before church. I loved going through and reading the little notes my family included with my gifts... a little taste of home.

My Christmas presents - including a stuffed dog to give me something to snuggle when I miss Suka, our dog back home.

After church we returned home and visited with some family friends who arrived for a visit, enjoyed a big Christmas lunch (same as the classic Christmas dinner back home, except with some extras like bread pudding), and then opened presents. Dessert included Christmas pudding and I ate a bite just to participate in the tradition (I'm not really a fan of the dried fruit desserts that are so popular over here at Christmas). I wondered if the British reserve would move into the opening of gifts, but it was like a Piechnik Christmas with wrapping paper everywhere, kids playing with their new toys, snacks on every table, and just the friendly chaos that makes me feel at home.

Piles of presents... classic Christmas chaos.

I found out that the Queen gives a speech on Christmas Day and it's quite the event. We all gathered in the living room, stood for the playing of God Save the Queen, and watched her address the nation. Definitely not something I've ever done back home! I was shocked by how directly she spoke of Jesus – I can't imagine any politician back home surviving a speech like that.

Watching the Queen's speech.

Esther (Henry's sister) and Ian joined us for the afternoon with their two daughters. Four-year-old Jess and two-year-old Rosie easily won my heart with their sweetness, adorable faces (including the shoulder and nose scrunch that I mastered at their age), and phrases like, “There's a lamb in the barn who's poorly.”

Jess reading a story with Auntie Becky.

Rosie.

Esther and Jess serving up the gingerbread house to everyone.

Becky, James, and Jess reading a new Christmas book.

Rosie delighting in every morsel of a mince pie.

I spoke with my family later in the day and found out that Lisa burst into tears when she came into the living room this morning and there were only four stockings instead of the usual five. I felt a little guilty about not missing my family too much. Many things here remind me of home, but thankfully they didn't make me homesick. (I think a lot of this is due to the prayers of family and friends back home.) I miss my family, but I'm just having too much fun to mope around about it!