A Kiwi Christmas

 Prepare yourselves Canadians, they purpose grown different varieties of pine tree for Christmas trees here and they don't look much like what we're used to!  Dave & Poppa took the boys out to cut down a tree for us to call our own.  This photo doesn't really show the scale of it, but you can see the creativity required to decorate it.  I found a "Fill a Bag for $5" at the thrift store and found 3 sets of tree lights and a bag full of ribbon.  We've hung sea shells, postcards, pinecones, candy canes and lots of ribbon on the tree with a homemade paper star on top.  It grows on you, trust me.  And it smells good.

Christmas here means everyone goes to the beach!  We had a Christmas eve picnic at the beach - thanks to Pizza Hut tonight!

For those who know that I'm a candy lover, you'll appreciate the necessity for me to help the kids decorate a gingerbread house each year.  Well, they range between $24.99 and $39.99 in the stores here . . . so we went old-school and baked our own.  We'll bust into it on Christmas Day and try it before I share the recipe.

Summertime here with the longest daylight hours for the year, so it's berry-picking time.  Raspberries, blueberries, boysenberries were the order of the day.

 The boys filled empty ice cream containers (they are plastic here, with proper lids and are reused for everything like free ziplock containers) and eat them as fast as they can breathe.

Dave found me a lovely poinsettia for the table!

Christmas Sunday Service at our new church with the kiddos singing.

 Christmas Eve Carols and Candlelight service on the steps of the Cathedral in downtown Nelson, put on by the council of churches.  A lovely night as the sun sets.  We didn't get home until 10:30pm and the boys were begging for their beds. 

So, we'll leave you with a wish for a sacred and spectacular Christmas, celebrating with love and joy.  We'll hopefully be enjoying our turkey outside on the patio tomorrow!

Love the McFaddens