Nana and Grampy were excitedly waiting for our New Year’s celebration…
Elora planned some activities for us on New Year’s Eve. Although Christmas was over, she really wanted to act out the nativity. So we got out some blankets, and voila! Here is Mary and Joseph.
Marion got to be baby Jesus. Here are some shepherds who brought their sheep, Skye, to see the baby.
The wisemen brought some gifts, which Mary was very excited to hold.
Oliver was getting bored by this point, but Elora was thrilled with our fun nativity story. We decided to sing some primary songs to keep Oliver entertained, so the kids took turns leading the music for us while we all sang together.
Chris bought some fireworks when we were in Germany, which he was very excited to try out.
We only bought the little ones, but you can get really big rockets and stuff here. The best part of this picture though is Elora wearing her coat, but still standing inside because she was too scared to go outside…
Elora refused to hold a sparkler, but here is Ollie with his. He wasn’t sure about the whole thing, I think Elora saying, “No! I will get burned by the fire!” kind of turned him off to the idea.
Elora finally came outside and the kids stood as far away as possible.
Lots of smoke… the kids didn’t make it until midnight, and neither did Nana and Grampy. The room we were staying in had tons of windows so we opened the blinds so we could watch everyone in the neighborhood shooting off their big fireworks. It was almost as good as going to a real fireworks show! And it was fun to be in the American area of Vienna so we could hear everyone shouting “Happy New Year!”
Our new year will be full of adventure as we move back across the world and figure out what the future will hold for us. As we look back on 2010 I am amazed at how many wonderful blessings we have in our lives – many new friends, family visits, plenty of life learning experiences, and especially little Marion. And now we look forward to another year of life, learning, and daily blessings!
