A USA Christmas

We had an amazing time at home for Christmas, and it was wonderful to see our family and friends after our last 4 months in England. We spent time with Nick’s family first, and got a chance to go and be ‘mystery readers’ at his mother’s kindergarten class. Lauren read a book about bridges all over the world, and then Nick led the kids in a bridge-building activity. After a great ‘Christmas’ dinner with the grandmothers, we set off to spend some time in Ohio with Lauren’s family.

This was Nick’s first year attending the preimer annual Springfield event, the Horstman Christmas Eve party, and he thoroughly enjoyed the chili and Frito pies, as well as the caroling and drum beating. It was a very musical Christmas Eve. After a few days of game-playing and relaxing in Ohio, we took to the road again to spend an all-too-short time in our beloved Pittsburgh. After 4 days of games, lunches out, weddings, late nights, and New Years Eve parties, it was time to leave again. The whirlwind trip certainly brought to focus the people that we miss dearly from back home and made it really difficult to get back on a plane.

We posted some photos from our time with our families on picasa here. It was great to see everyone at home and so hard to leave again. If we didn’t see you, or barely saw you we’re sorry! So little time! As always, our door and guest room in England are open, and we look forward to spending lots of time with our family and friends when we come back. Happy New Year and keep in touch!