Christmas.

Needless to say, it's been a busy day.  But here are some of the highlights...
We kicked things off at about seven, with the boy getting up to see if anything had arrived by overnight reindeer.  This was perhaps a little early for some of our houseguests, but they played along!  Sure enough, the stocking had landed.  We did his presents, and one of ours each before breakfast.  We hit church at half ten (well, ish...) and were treated to a tableau.  We went to the village church today, as it's a little more convenient than driving into Burton, and possibly more what Anna's family is used to.
Then it was home for lunch.  We have the advantage of two kitchens (one industrial), which made cooking large amounts of food much easier.
I dug a couple more parsnips this morning.  Two of them were intertwined, thus:

 Once peeled and trimmed, they looked almost architectural. 

What's more, they doubled very nicely as a fine piece of headgear.

We had an amazing lunch.  Turkey and ham, spuds, parsnips (honey roasted, freshly dug, that is!), red cabbage, sprouts (yuck), carrots, pigs in blankets, great stuffing, various other 'trimmings'.  All in all a great deal of meal!

Joshua's spent a fair amount of the day riding around the house on his new bike.  This has been great fun (he put his helmet on after his first fall!) and he's loved it.  He's also enjoyed all the other things he received today, and they've all had a decent amount of play time!

I've had some really fab presents today, including an all-singing-all-dancing meat thermometer/timer/general kitchen tool from Anna, which was used a lot today!

Really grateful for lovely family to share the day with, and looking forward to seeing my side of the family as they descend over the next few days.

Tonight, Joshua and I talked about why Jesus came to earth.  He told me that Jesus came because there were some bad people, who were doing what God didn't want them to do.  I filled in the gaps and we got there pretty quickly.  A distinct improvement on last night's conversation, which went

Me:  What's the nicest present that God gave us at Christmas?

Joshua:  Uh, Buzz, Buzz Lightyear?

Oh dear :)

But seriously, what an amazing gift He did give.  I think of the explosions of angelic choirs heralding His arrival, and the sheer enormity of His coming to earth, but tinged with the knowledge of the Father about the destiny of His Son, for the sake of His children.  I think back to just before Christmas four years ago, looking at the very real possibility that we might lose Joshua, and I just can't fully grasp how God made the sacrifice He did.  He must love us a great deal indeed.