Christmas at Lakeside

It's a beautiful - albeit cold by the looks of the ducks skid/crash landing on the frozen lake - and lazy Saturday morning here, so thought I'd take a few minutes and post pictures of the Christmas decorations around the house. Hetty, who was a missionary in the Philippines & a dorm family at Faith for years, has taken to calling me "Martha Stewart" - which, while I don't particularly like the nickname, is probably fitting for a week where I've spent a lot of time decorating and then baked chocolate chip cookies. Ç'est la vie! As I told Hetty, if there's anything that "works" decorating in the house, it's thanks to my mom, I've tried to copy what I've seen her do for years, and thanks to Dawn (who's decorated here for the last 12 years) and the decorations she's accumulated.

Here's photos (click to see the stories or see them bigger):

So, there's a little taste of Christmas in Ireland. Had friends over for the first time last night - just two came, but had a blast with them and they seem to have really enjoyed being here - and must be sleeping well, since it's after 11am and they're still asleep. :-) It makes me really happy that they're both able to sleep long and feel the freedom to. I think four more friends or so should be over this afternoon, so that'll be great.

JBU's group of 42 comes tomorrow - can't wait!