Christmas Eve

Jayne's Mam and Dad got into town almost as planned on 21st Dec. Some delays meant they were a few hours late into Burlington but they got here safe and sound. Even without a nasty snowstorm to contend with there was still plenty of the white stuff all around when they arrived.

Before we knew it Christmas Eve was upon us, and still there were a hundred and one things that hadn't been done or prepared (isn't that always the case?!). It didn't help much that Jayne had been wiped out with horrible abdominal pains for the first week of Adam's parents visit and was only just getting back to normal when her folks arrived. At least everything was checked out by the docs and found to be nothing to worry about - the baby was A-okay and it was all put down to things growing and stretching. [Hmmm - there's lots more of that to come yet so I hope it's not all as painful! - J]

Christmas Eve day was mostly spent doing the usual food preparations...

Christmas cake all iced and ready

Mumsie stuffs dates with marzipan... it wouldn't be Christmas without those!

Mince pies in the oven

After all the veggies were peeled it was time to get going on the road down to Sugarbush for a 'non-denominational Holiday blessing and carol service' followed by dinner at Timbers restaurant. We all piled into John & Rosemary's rental car (a big Ford summat or other with three rows of seats) and set off in the snow.

After some confusion amongst Sugarbush staff over where the service was actually being held we were finally directed to the courtyard outside their ski lodge where a handful of other people were milling around waiting.

All wrapped up warm as as the snow continued to fall




More people gather in anticipation of a festive celebration

Hmmm... so it didn't happen quite 'as advertised' (ie nobody turned up to lead the 'service'!) so we all gathered in a circle and sang carols anyway

It's fair to say Jayne was a bit miffed (errm - pretty annoyed/upset... must have been the hormones or something) that it was a bit of a let down but at least the restaurant managed to pull our dinner booking forward and get us fed an hour earlier than planned. We were welcomed into the lovely warm and welcoming lounge area of the restaurant and warmed up with hot chocolate, wine and beer. It wasn't long before our festive spirit was fully restored and for some unknown reason we all seemed to be caught having a little romantic moment!?

As it happens, Sugarbush serve their hot beverages in rather nice big mugs... you'll have to ask Rosemary about the relevance of the next picture...

Funny how Margaret is so blurry so early in the evening... was it the wine??

Anyway, suffice it to say the food was excellent and the evening turned out to be great fun, with our laughter becoming quite raucous at times... to the point of us being reminded at the end that we would be leaving through the bedroom area of the hotel and to be please be quiet as we did so!! Teehee!

Timbers Restaurant is the round building you see here

Adam and John

Ready for home... and yet another Rummikub challenge!