This year Christmas has been different for quite a few reasons: we’re now a family of four; we’re living in the Netherlands; but primarily because this is the first year that we’ve been at home, rather than visiting either my parents or my in-laws. So we’ve also had lots of discussions between us about how we want the day to go, and what our family traditions will be.
Looking back, from the end of the day, the two biggest differences this year have been that I’ve had to cook the big Christmas dinner (thanks Nigella!), and we haven’t had to travel round the country to see people. We had stockings from Santa and presents under the tree. We had new clothes all round to wear for Christmas. We went to church, and though the service was in Dutch we knew most of the tunes. We Skyped both sets of grandparents and assorted uncles, aunts and cousins to show off presents. We had a turkey, and the meal was pretty much what you’d expect for a traditional English Christmas dinner (though I’ve just realised we forgot to pull the crackers), with piles of leftovers to last us the rest of the year!
Overall it was quite a relaxing day, apart from small ones being under the weather, as we kept having to stop and play with the new toys! Fingers crossed they feel better soon.
Merry Christmas xx