Christmas festivities continue....

So after a fun day of decorating trees and cookies it was time to get dressed up for dinner. David, my one year old nephew, looked dapper, but didn't want anyone to know it. He put up quite a fuss about wearing the hat. This was the best we could do to get a picture with him and the hat.


Dany's family celebrates Christmas (including presents) on Christmas Eve, which meant that in order to have the kids involved, we had to open presents before dinner. We all gathered at Dany's parent's house and started the round robin of present opening. Timothy was very excited and did a great job of ripping paper.


David was more interested in the fun paper than the present inside - which is just funny. Timothy had a great time helping give presents out as well as opening (his or others) as the opportunity provided.


Once presents were done, it was off to eat. Wisely, the family decided to reserve a table at the Intercontinental Hotel for dinner. They have a reputation for having a great buffet, and there is also the added advantage of no dishes to clean up :-) Speaking of cleaning up, don't we all look lovely? I do like the opportunity to dress up a little.


I couldn't resist the chance to try a lot of desserts. Anyone who knows me know that I LOVE sweets, and a buffet of desserts at a good restaurant is worth holding back at dinner to leave room. I didn't take a picture of my favorite one, which was a pear tart with ginger ice cream. Yummy! There was also a flourless chocolate cake that was brilliant - I ate that all up before I thought of taking pictures. I also didn't take a picture of the cheese table at the very end, but it was presented in a lovely way, and I decided to be adventurous and try most of them. I have what D calls a "dog nose" meaning that my sense of smell is finely developed and acute. This generally means that challenging smelling things, like unpasteurized cheese, are anathema for me, but I really have been enjoying my cheese education in Belgium. I was well rewarded by discovering a couple of cheeses that I quite liked - and then wrote down the names so that we could continue enjoying them in Belgium.


I was grateful that Dany's folks invited me to church with them after dinner. Their church is just down the street from their house, so we walked down and took our places. The church filled up early, so I was glad that we were able to sit together. I was able to understand a lot of the sermon and really enjoyed it. I was thrilled that most all of my favorite Christmas songs were on the bulletin- Lo How a Rose Er Blooming; Silent Night; Still, Still, Still (I don't know what this one is in English, I have only sung it in German). It was a wonderful way to start the Christmas celebration (it was a midnight mass, which meant that it ended at midnight.)