A very Merry Christmas!

Christmas Eve and a curry night fit for a king!

Later on, the scene was set...

Morning came and we got to it pretty early!

There aren't really words to describe the scene...

Then we all scooted off to church. Chalfont St Giles looked stunning:

It all went well...

... apart from a slight error regarding the junior choristers - Mum thought there were 4 girls, but in fact one was a boy!!

But back home, no mistakes with the turkey. Girl or boy, it cooked perfectly!

Pirkko even remembered Bowser the tortoise, with TWO Christmas outfits...

After dinner, we enjoyed a quiz with rounds contributed by everyone, and a great variety: Mum did a Feely round, Dad a cheese round, Grandma did general knowledge, Pirkko did family history, Graham did curiosities of the universe, Lyds did Contemporary & Toddler art (spot the difference!), Flo did a picture round, Luke a science round (KS2 level) and Dom a Wii round...

In the middle of this, Dom presented us with an amazing treat made by him and Debbie. We broke in straight away and it was DELICIOUS!!

We went back to the table and made an attempt at tea, (mostly quite weak), with the sausage plait incredibly drawing out hitherto unsuspected levels of appetite:

All in all, a wonderful day. Thanks everyone for the gifts and the sharing of talents!

Night to remember

Yesterday was a night to remember with the WHS Christmas musical reunion, brainchild of the great Mrs C!

 

Lydia and Flo we're joined by about 100 former WHS pupils, and they made a fantastic sound:

Back home, it was pizza and mincemeat (?!) brownies with a needle match if boys vs girls Articulate. Won't say who won!

Dom's home!

U

So Dad fetched Dom from Southampton today. Lunch and TV football followed (fortunately a win for United today.)

...then Debbie popped round for a visit. Just like old times !

Dad has been baking - he's almost addicted to it.

These are for the office tomorrow - Dad's hoping to start a trend of homemade cakes each morning in the run-up to Christmas. 

This is what Dad is currently making - fig, pistachio and honey balls. Someone needs to invent a taste blog...

The finished articles. Dad's colleagues are in for a treat tomorrow!

There's something SPECIAL going on...

Dec 10th

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Advent

Well, it's been a busy week, starting with a trip to Westfield last Saturday to do a spot of Christmas shopping. Guess who we bumped into?

Yes, we had burgers and no, it wasn't actually a chance meeting. Good though!

On Monday we were back with Lyds for the Sotheby's Christmas event. Mum looked stunning, but nobody took a photo so she photographed her shoes and bag herself:

It was great to have an occasion to wear my ORANGE accessories again.

Mum chose a picture by Holman Hunt, but sadly was otherwise engaged on the actual auction date. Shame, because it was on sale for only £3-5 million, so quite a bargain:

 

 

On Wednsday, Mum started her new job as one of the staff chaplains at the Tearfund office in Headington. Her colleague is Phil Simpson who also used to work for CMS, so they have a lot in common! 

 

 

 

Next up (on Friday) was a sad event, but a very inspiring one; Jeremy Hibbins' Memorial service at Christchurch, Virginia Water. Loads of people came and many tributes were made and songs performed by former colleagues. Paul & Anne bore up well and we were all incredibly proud of Jeremy's achievements.

 

 

It's worth looking at Jeremy's mission statement for his school - the British International School in Ljubliana, Slovenia: http://prezi.com/hatbphd8fyuc/mission-statement/

 

 

On Saturday, we bought a turkey (it's in Grandma's freezer) and paid a visit to Costco to get important things for Christmas: 

 

 

 

 

...and today we have been getting on with sending out Royal decrees, writing cards by the light of the Advent candle ...

 

 

 

 NOT forgetting the Advent Calendar, of course...

 

 

 

Happy Advent everyone! See you soon xxx