Christmas 2008

On Christmas Eve, Ben and Josée invited Tim , Andi, the children, Cynthia and myself out to the farm to have dinner with them. They had prepared a lovely dinner for us in the form of a fondue. We began the meal with snacks which Josée had prepared. First part of the meal was a cheese fondue into which we dipped our chunks of crusty French bread. Next game the main course, made up of chicken and pork with a variety of veggies for dunking. Finally we ended the meal with a platter of mixed fruits, all to be dipped in a hot chocolate fondue. Tim, Andi and the children left after the meal but Cynthia and I stayed on for a little while. We sat around with Ben and Josée and chatted. It was all very relaxed and comfortable.
Quite early on Christmas morning, after Cynthia had finished stuffing the turkey, we headed down to Tim and Andi's home to take presents for the children and to wish all of them a merry Christmas. We found Oliver playing in a tent full of plastic balls and having the time of his life.
Charlotte was there too, playing with her Webkins. Of course, she showed us the new books that she had been given along with some of the other gifts. We had some tea and then Charlotte unwrapped the gift we'd given her which was an electronic learning/games device which could be hooked up to a computer.
Oliver liked the ride-on truck which we had bought him. He pushed all the right buttons on it and, of course, got the resulting tunes, noises, whistles which were built in. I'm sure his Mum and Dad will love us for that...not!
In the evening, Ben, Josée, Ron and Jean came to have Christmas dinner with us. As always, Cynthia had prepped a beautiful meal which we greatly enjoyed. Conversation was good over the meal. We moved to the living room for our tea and/or coffee than played some games of pictionary and 20 questions. these were separated by some carol singing when Jean took to the piano. Later on, after the Husseys had left, Ben and Josée, Cynthia and I opened our stockings together before they went home and we headed off to bed.
Boxing day, Cynthia and I watched a delightful movie called August Rush, which had been loaned to us by Tim and Andi. We had lunch then Ben and Josée came over to watch the first game of the World Junior Hockey Tournament from Ottawa. Canada was playing Sweden. We had a meal together then they went home and we ended up the evening watching some more shows before going to bed. It had been a good three days.