Lord and Lady Herndon

We celebrated the birth of Jesus this year far away from family, friends, and (sigh) snow, but look at how much fun we had!
Wednesday night, a Turkish friend had us over for dinner and gave all of us gifts, which was doubly gracious of her since she doesn’t celebrate Christmas herself. She even gave us the double-decker Turkish tea kettle so we can make authentic Turkish chai! She has attended church with us and enjoys talking with us about our traditions and beliefs, so we enjoy a close friendship with her.
We let Prince and Princess wake us up in the morning and started the day right with prayer, lighting our Advent candles, and reading the Bible story. Then we let the kiddos open their stockings and presents. Prince loves his new tricycle and wants to ride it all the time, and he was gracious enough to let Princess hitchhike a bit. Princess got plenty of new toys to keep her busy (for a little while at least) and we spent the rest of the day playing, napping, and eating a Christmas dinner as traditional as we could make it. Prince showed off his angel costume (even though a misguided taxi driver kept us from attending the Christmas Eve service at our church, where the children were going to reenact the nativity) and he also received the special extra present as the reward for being the most observant child after he found the glass pickle ornament that we had hidden on the tree (a German tradition).
Lord Herndon and I only exchanged small gifts as we plan and save for the delivery of Heir #3 and, one day, bikes for us as well!
Merry Christmas to you, and Mutlu Yıllar (Happy New Year)!