First Christmas Eve and Christmas in Alaska

Well as Christmas drew closer I kind of started to dread how quiet and different the holidays would be this year. With two of my siblings in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea and us being up in Alaska I knew it was going to be different but it was not what I imagined!

On Christmas Eve morning, with many skype appointments lined up our modem got fried. I was sooo disappointed! The MTA office wasn't going to be open again until the 27th so there was no hope in fixing it in time. There were no invitations to parties or events going on Christmas Eve so I was feeling a little blue.

We got a call that there would be an impromptu Christmas Eve service at church so we jumped on that. It was such a blessing to get together with our fellow brothers and sisters and celebrate the miracle of the birth of Christ and be amazed at the grace and faith that Mary displayed in carrying the Christ child!

We came home and cuddled up on the couches and watched The Polar Express and got to bed late.

Christmas morning, rather than be busy with skype calls and be distracted we were able to sleep in and then have a relaxing day with the children, opening gifts, spending time together and not having any appointments or engagements. We had a traditional brunch of aebelskiver (Danish) and then we had a baked ham, scalloped potatoes and corn for supper. It was such a nice day to be a family and I didn't miss the computer at all! In fact I think it made it just a little bit easier to be away from family for this first holiday away. I'm pretty sure it was the Lord's hand in taking some of the sting away!

So a Merry Christmas was had by all! Here are some pictures... (oh and the time stamps are all wrong so please ignore them :)