Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Christmas, Emma's blessing, New Year's Eve... so much has happened in the passed few weeks, our lives seem to be constantly occupied with celebrations. We'll try fill you in what has transpired:
Christmas:
Emma's first Christmas was one to remember! Kim and Justin drove up on the 23rd. It was really good to have most of the family home to join us. We enjoyed decorating the tree, wrapping presents, and all of that usual good Christmasy stuff.
Emma's Blessing:
What a hectic morning! I managed to set the alarm for 7am that Sunday morning, (we have church at 9am) the only problem was that I forgot to turn it on! - I set it at 3am, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it. So we ended up waking around 8am and the rest is a blur. We made it to church just in time to hear the opening prayer and then jump up and give the blessing. It was still a special expereince however, one that we will never forget. Emma's such a special spirit and we know that the Lord has so much in store for her - we can't wait!
New year's Eve:
We were lucky enough to celebrate the start of the the new year three times. We called Mom and Dad just before South Africa rang in the new year and shared in on Mom's screaming and the rest of the festivities. It was nice to speak with them and catch up on their Namibia trip, (PS - mom, you still have to post something on that trip). We also spoke with Matt and Carrie just after their midnight in Charlotte, North Carolina - always good to hear from them. Last, but not least we were also able to speak to Geoffrey and Shona but weren't lucky enough to share in their new year's eve celebrations, 'cause they didn't have any! I guess when you reach that age going to bed early on new year's eve is expected :) State side, we just hung around till midnight and watched some fireworks in the valley from the balcony while firing some off ourselves.
Well, we hope all of you had a merry christmas and have a happy new year. We look forward to hearing all about your holidays!