a few christmas pics

somehow we don't have any pictures on our camera of our christmas eve dinner with 16 family and friends, but here are a few from christmas night when we all got back together for leftovers and presents.

all around the table.

with baby harv.

jarred playing with his new remote-control helicopter (and stacy and aaron doing something in the background).

we had a really great weekend celebrating Christmas! it was really fun to have tim and jane and our friends aaron and stacy staying with us. we had a ton of good food to eat over many meals hosted at our place. and we loved going to the IF sunday morning, what a treat to have this Christmas on a sunday! and we got a lot of great presents from family and friends from all over the world. and we are mostly thankful for the reason we celebrate Christmas in the first place. merry christmas everyone!

norfolk christmas

so the webcam isn't so clear at my parents house, but i snapped this as i talked to them christmas night (their christmas morning) as they had christmas breakfast and then opened stockings and presents. love. it.

molly the dog, dad, kathryn, baby gillian (not so baby anymore), mom, and laura.
(just missing rusty in the laz-y-boy out of the camera's sight)

they're here!

welcome to asia, tim and jane!

thank you bessers!

yesterday we went to the post office to pick up our first packages in 2 years! now in asia you can get WAY more stuff than we could even just 5 years ago and we have narrowed down the list of absolute essentials we need to bring from america, but there is so much stuff that is just a blessing to get sent over. we are super thankful for kathryn and jeanette who always send us fun things whenever people from nc come over here. and last year we were blessed with both of our parents sending stuff with my parents at christmas and laura buying all of target and packing it in her suitcase for us.

but there is something just awesome about getting a package in the mail. and yesterday after going to the post office, we dug into all of this:

thank you, JESSIE & ANDY (& abbie too)! you guys are so awesome!

jessie and i met eight and a half years ago in gatlingburg, tn where we spent the summer sharing a pull-out couch. i am so grateful that we got to spend 10 weeks together, but that we got to start a friendship that would last for years. thank you guys for sending us so many wonderful goodies (and decorations & gifts!) just in time for christmas!

Christmas Fair

On Saturday, Shelley and I went to the annual Christmas fair in our city. The Christmas fair is a place where foreigners can get their fill of the fudge, decorations, and gifts that are missing in a country that doesn't really celebrate Christmas. We spent the morning enjoying performances, shopping for gifts, and eating pumpkin soup and turkey sandwiches (read: luxuries). It is a fun way for us to kick off the Christmas season.

One of the dance performances
Our version of black Friday
More shoppers
Our friend Josh provided entertainment for an hour