A “nearly” white Christmas in Pennsylvania.

I am going to take a break from my normal blog posts to wish you all a wonderful Xmas and a very Happy New Year. As you know, my last blog post was about Sedona in Arizona. Normally I would keep my posts in order following the places we have visited, but felt I would interrupt the normal process by sharing our special Christmas with you all.

Obviously we travelled East from Arizona toward Florida, then North into Pennsylvania (where we first began our trip 5 months ago.) We were excited to be seeing Lynda, Alan and Scarlett again, as well as Alan’s sons and their families, who had flown from Australia to spend Xmas with their Dad and Lynda and Scarlett as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas eve was a very enjoyable evening with us meeting a lovely family, friends of Lynda and Alan’s. Mark, Patty, Justin and Mariella were fascinating to talk to and very accommodating when we took the kids outside to leave food for Santa’s reindeer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The children (under Kaitlin’s guidance) wrote letters to Santa, and left them in designated areas in the living rooms. Santa was going to have a big job leaving little surprises in twelve different areas (seven for our children, one for Scarlett and four for Alan’s Grandchildren).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kids were very excited going to bed that night and I thought they may not sleep, but I think the excitement of the days leading up to Christmas and the goings on with many people enabled them to fall to sleep without too much trouble.

Trevor and I spend a few more hours finishing off the wrapping of presents (glad I wasn’t trying to wrap for 7 kids in the RV….that would have been a nightmare). As it was, we were staying in Lynda’s huge art room, which she had transformed by hiring bunk beds for the kids and a queen size bed for us. It was spacious and warm and perfect for our size family.

Christmas Day…………….was it a white Christmas?

Alas, no…….but special nonetheless. The kids found that Santa had left them all a pile of pressies, and they spent the next half an hour “oohing” and “aaahhhing” at what Santa had bought for them all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Santa spoilt everyone and nobody was disappointed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few calls to Australia to wish our families a great Xmas (although by then it was nearly over for people in Oz).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was followed by a lovely breakfast cooked by Alan, Steven and Keith. We filled our bellies before we all settled down to open presents we had given each other.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lo and behold, there were more surprises in store! Guess who was in the neighbourhood and decided to stop by and surprise all of the kids!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The children spent the next few hours playing with presents they had received from Santa, their parents and relatives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We received a skype call from Daphne and Nick (cousin to Trev’s Dad and a gorgeous couple we stayed with in Texas). Meanwhile Lynda had done a splendid job of organising caterers to take care of Xmas lunch/dinner. She had everything organised to the finest detail and made for a very yummy and festive day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our children were able to experience a real gourmet Christmas followed by traditional sweets (desserts).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just when we thought gift giving was over, we found some more pressies (left there because we had been surprised by the visit from Santa!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most of us were ready for an early night, and I must say that having a late breakfast, then an afternoon dinner was perfect, and we actually went to bed without feeling bloated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thankyou Lynda and Alan for a wonderful Christmas…not a white one, but a fun one filled with lots of festive cheer. Maybe we’ll get a white New Year!