Snowball Fight!

Much to the children's delight we finally got some actual snow to play in.  It only lasted a day, as it quickly turned to ice, but we enjoyed what we had.

We didn't have a sledge, but an Ikea bag worked pretty well as a substitute!

Expat Extra: The Shops

One of the biggest things that made me feel overwhelmed and displaced when we first arrived in the UK was not knowing where to go for the myriad of things we needed: groceries, mobile phone services, bungie cords or a cooler. So here, for any future expats or curious friends back home, are some of the British to American equivalents of "the shops."  This is not all inclusive, but these are the ones we frequent most ourselves.

Ben A'an Hill Walk

After spending two whole days in doors and in our jammies - it was time to get out!  And get dressed and shower before noon for that matter.  We were thrilled to have a gorgeous crisp and sunny day.  A perfect day for a hike.  We drove an hour and a half through Loch Lomond to the Trossachs National Park and made Ben A'an ("Ben" means mountain) our destination.  It was glorious.

Once we reached the base of the mountain, the girls opted out of finishing the climb for a head start back and to find a proper toilet.  The boys trekked on and were rewarded with this . . .

Gosh, even just experiencing the photographs takes my breath away.  I'm so glad they finished the hike to the top for all of us.

We all had a wonderful day out, but it is time to confess that two wee Matthews' girls were not at all pleased with the excursion at the start.  And, sometimes as a parent you just have to tune it all out, embrace your sense of humor and make the experience yours - it's either that or turn the car around.

Good times right?  But, as adept as I've become at tuning out the whining I still prefer for us to all have a happy, memorable experience if possible.

This is how we were able to turn those frowns upside down . . . continue to following post below.

*click the images to make them larger.

This is a true story . . .

Christmas Eve

Though quite chilly out, the wee bit of sunshine had to be taken advantage of.  We walked up to the pond and fed the ducks and swans a christmas dinner.

When we got back home we warmed up with cider and biscuits and then it was time to tuck in to our own festive meal.  We weren't able to source any tamales but did pretty well in keeping with our Texas roots despite!

 After dinner we attended our congregation's carol service where the children participated in their last nativity play.  They got to open their Christmas Eve jammies and Jon and I finished up the wrapping.

Christmas Day

I understand that other peoples families are never as interesting to watch as one's own, so this video is really for the grandparents, though anyone else may feel free to watch if so inclined.  

We've really tried to simplify Christmas this year and I think we did pretty well.  Two "big" gifts to share between them:  I found an old wardrobe in a charity shop for only £15 and repainted it to fill up with other charity shop/ebay costume finds (I'd been on the hunt since October.)  The doll play sets were found as a lot on gumtree!  We pooled our funds with the grandparents and made these presents from all of us.  The children could not have been more pleased with the result.

Our Christmas day was spent mainly in our jammies, with the exception of the children, who were costume chameleons-changing every ten minutes throughout the whole day.  

We had the missionaries over for brunch and a game of Scotland Edition Monopoly.  And in the evening enjoyed a family Christmas feast complete with paper crowns and crackers.

Jon calls this collage "Blended Traditions."  You take a classic British dinner of yorkshire pudding, beef and mash then smother it in left over Christmas Eve queso- lots of queso.

A British Christmas

I've been excited to incorporate as many British traditions and holidays as I can while we live here.  Not only is it fun to explore new cultures but, I would like to to leave this country feeling like we have a bit of our own small claim to it by having life here become a part of us.  So here are some of the British Christmas traditions- some of them welcome additions, some we'll just leave on this side of the pond. Click on the pics to make them larger and more legible.

And just for fun here is a great little video to sum it all up for you!

(I came across the video on another great Scottish Expat blog: marydebastos.blogspot.com)