Christmas in Garvagh

Happy 2010! Today I have the chance to update you on what's been going on in our lives the past few weeks.

After returning from Ohio on December 5, Jeff returned to work and I started to pack up the flat in Bradley Stoke. On December 13, I hopped on a National Express bus in Bristol and rode to London to visit Bron and her family. Bron was over from Munich on a surprise visit to see her sister, Rhonda, perform a lead role in the Messiah. Bron's mom and dad have been living in London this past year, though they have now returned to New Zealand. It was a great opportunity to spend time with her family and to meet some of her London friends. I even got to catch up with a friend of mine from my au pair days in Munich; Joanna Burcham now lives by Heathrow airport. Though the time spent was quite busy, it was well worth it.

We spent Christmas 2009 Northern Ireland, my first British Christmas. On the morning of December 23, Jeff and I flew from Bristol to Belfast. The UK has experienced more snow this year than in at least a decade, so we were lucky to make it without any difficulties. However, upon landing in Belfast, the fog was so thick that we didn't even know we were about to land until we actually felt the plane hit the runway. The thick fog didn't help driving on the icy roads up to Garvagh. Gordon's flight from Edinburgh was supposed to arrive the same time as our's, but because of the severe weather, his flight was canceled. Luckily, he was rescheduled on a later flight that arrived that evening. Sharon arrived from London the day before.

Christmas morning was quite relaxed. We sat in the lounge while Beverly passed out presents to each of us. From Jeff's parents, we received a Pampered Chef serving tray and a wood wall decoration.

Robert is opening a large box of Tunnock's Tea Cakes... so yummy!

Christmas dinner was held early in the afternoon: honey dew melon sprinkled with cinnamon, turkey, ham, roast potatoes, other veg, all washed down with homemade ginger wine (non-alcoholic). Christmas pudding and custard was served a few hours after dinner. Of course, no British Christmas would be complete without crackers (behind the plate), filled with a corny joke, a cheap toy and a paper crown.

Gordon with his crown on.

After dinner, we took a walk through the winter wonderland...

...but had to make it back to the house
in time to watch the Queen's traditional Christmas day speech at 3pm.

The days following Christmas, we spent mostly relaxing, as we couldn't really drive any where due to the icy streets. We did, however, make it down to Belfast on Monday to meet up with the Ardverike crowd at a cafe and again on Tuesday for the Scott's Christmas party. We brought in the new year at a 11pm church service, followed by mince pies and tea after midnight.

One of the days, Jeff and I drove up to the coast and went walking on the beach. That sure didn't last long though! It was fr-ee-zing and very, very, very windy. We then drove around the north shore, got out at a few locations, braved the cold and wind then jumped back in the car to head to the next spot.

The sand was being blown across the beach.

Jeff walking towards the shore.

Me attempting to keep sand from getting in my eyes and trying not to get blown over.

Dunluce Castle

In the evening of January 1, we went up to Jonathan and Beverly Madden's house in Colraine. Ian Hynds joined us as well. Jonathan, Ian and Jeff have been friends for ages. After we finished off 4 of the best pizzas I've ever eaten, we played Mario Cart on the Wii and chatted. I was so glad to meet Beverly; we got on famously (though somehow I forgot to take a picture of her).

Joel and Rachel Madden

Jeff, Ian and Jonathan

We returned to Bristol on Monday, January 4. On January 5, Betsy Henderson came to stay with us for a couple nights. She was visiting friends in Birmingham. I picked her up at the Gloucester train station, and we went to a couple stores before returning to the house. By the time we came out of the second store, a bad snow storm came through and the streets were incredibly slippery. Cars were sliding everywhere. What should have been a 10-minute drive home, turned out to be at least a 45-minute drive, but we safely made it home. That evening, we drove down to Bristol (Bristol didn't get any snow until that evening) and took Betsy on a walking tour of the center of Bristol. Although it was very cold, we still managed to show her around. Then we went to the Gourmet Burger Kitchen for dinner. The following day, we had planned to drive to Cardiff, but due to the road conditions, we decided it wouldn't be safe. We were content just staying home. I drove Betsy back up to Birmingham on Thursday the 7th.

That's the latest from the Bolton household. I plan to post pictures of the house next. Thursday we fly to Munich to join MICC for their ski retreat.