Home (Away from Home) for the Holidays

First of all, happy new year everyone! We hope that you all have had a blessed holiday season surrounded by close friends and family. This year, we were ecstatic to be together for the holidays, but being so far from home was definitely something new for us. We have each been away from our respective "homes" during both Thanksgiving and Christmas, but we were always with one family or the other. This year, we were both thousands of miles away from anything familiar.

Luckily, Jordan's mother and step-father came to visit for the week of Thanksgiving! It was awesome to get to spend some one-on-one time with them. Jordan met them at the airport at the beginning of the week, and the three of them spent two days sight-seeing around London. I came down to meet them after work on Tuesday evening, and Deborah and Randy were kind enough to take us to see Billy Elliot! The next day, after touring the Tower of London, we rode the train back up to our neck of the woods.

Jordan and his mother in front of the Tower of London

Deborah and Randy :)

That night our friends Leslie and Phil came over to help prepare our Thanksgiving feast! (Leslie has been dubbed "English Mum", and Phil is our friend in town who is a wonderful chef. He develops menus for new pubs, and helps to get them off the ground and running.) Basically, we had a cross between an American Thanksgiving and traditional English roast. They made Yorkshire puddings, honey-roasted parsnips, broccoli, cauliflower, and pigs in a blanket, in addition to my stuffing, rolls, pecan and pumpkin pies, etc. Oh, and of course the herb-butter rubbed, and citrus infused turkey, along with the best gravy I've ever had, a-la-Phil. It was amazing to say the least. And I got to use my china for the very first time!

Phil and Leslie, hard at work!

The best picture I could get of our fabulous feast!

Sadly, Deborah and Randy were only here for a short week, but we made the most of our time with them. We took them to see the Abbey Gardens and outdoor market in Bury St. Edmunds, went for a nice walk through Cambridge, and even had afternoon tea at an award-winning tea house in Ely. We also made a couple of trips to Cooper's favorite place in the world--the heath in Newmarket.

Shortly after Deborah and Randy left, our friend AJ came to visit from Germany! AJ was in Jordan's squadron at the Academy. We had a great time while he was here, and we can't wait to visit him sometime soon!

On Christmas Eve, Jordan, Cooper and I had a nice, quiet evening at home. I made prime rib for dinner, and afterward we enjoyed a nice bottle of wine by the fireplace. We talked to family on the phone for a while, and were successful in staying up to go to midnight mass at Ely Cathedral. It was absolutely beautiful, and was such a memorable way to spend Christmas Eve.

Our yummy Christmas Eve dinner for two. (Cooper got some scraps too!)

In front of the Christmas tree in Ely Cathedral. It was huge!

We woke up early to open gifts on Christmas morning, then we ate breakfast and spent a good part of the day on the couch reading and just enjoying each other's company. Later in the day, we went to our friends Daniel and Kirstie's (Leslie's son and daughter in law) house for dinner. It was nice to be around their two daughters to see the magic in their eyes on Christmas, although it did remind me of how much I miss our four favorite girlies back home.

Our Christmas tree.

Cooper puting Mommy's loot of new clothes to good use!

Kirstie asked me to make "something chocolate". I found a fantastic recipe for the most chocolately chocolate cake I've ever had. It was so good!

For Jordan's birthday, I was excited to give him a gift that I secretly bought in Greece! He had his eyes on a couple of different chess sets, and while he was gone I found the perfect one! It's hand-made out of olive wood, and the pieces are made of bronze. It was really fun to give him such an unexpected gift! Unfortunately Jordan had to attend an all-day training session on his actual birthday. I had taken the day off, and ended up just preparing for the guests we had arriving that day. The Scholbrocks, (who are some long-time Quintana family friends) came to visit for a few days. We enjoyed showing them around town, and spending quality time with them. It was so wonderful to see so many familiar faces around the holidays.

And finally, for New Year's Eve we decided to throw a party at our house. We decorated the house with streamers, and even confetti-filled balloons. It was great to ring in the new year with all of the new friends we've made throughout the past year. We are looking forward to an exciting year ahead, during which we plan to do a lot of traveling!

Mary, Courtney, Me, Sara, and Andrea.

Confetti at midnight!

Happy New Year from the Kemps!