This week, we would just like to share with you a Christmas
picture card of the way things are here.
So, now that the gifts have all been presented and unwrapped and all the
huge feasts are now relegated to leftovers, please enjoy our sampling of
Christmas in a place more than half way around the world from your celebrations
and traditions.
We live in a little village where the Christmas celebration began with a street fair. We were excited to be sprinkled with fairy dust by our Christmas Fairy crossing guards.
The village featured a larger than life Nativity.
Little angels welcomed lambs to the manger
A multitude of musicians entertained the villagers
The good fairy crossing guards made sure that we all were escorted home safely
Celebrating summer is an annual event, even when snow can still be seen on the distant mountains. Burrrrrrr!
I wonder if the "Parking at rear" sign was suggesting that Mary and Joseph should go around to the back of the building!
Our friend, Tom, who went fishing in the morning, presents us with a very unique Christmas gift. One of us was thrilled.
The other was not thrilled that Ward's dinner was riding home under the front seat. Did I mention that they were still alive and literally kicking?
Time for dinner, so stop squirming!
Ross Honey invited himself to dinner and promised to cook a Hangi. A hangi is a meal cooked when the fire on the bottom heats up the rocks on the top. Then Ross took all of the hot rocks and put them into the hole you see below. The food is then put on top of the hot rocks, then everything is covered and allowed to cook for about three hours. Our Christmas "Feed" included a leg of lamb, a whole chicken, and a pork roast. Ross also cooked potatoes, Kumura (sweet potatoes) and pumpkin.
Meanwhile, Ward was coaxing his dinner contribution into the pot
This is Ross and the hangi that he cooked for three. I did not say three hundred, I said three people!
Sparing no expense, I made a Christmas tree out of construction paper and taped it to the wall. What you see underneath are the gifts that friends from our ward sent in a Christmas stocking. You will also notice a calendar that Wards' daughter, Teresa, made for us.
We were so thrilled to receive another beautiful handmade Christmas stocking from our ward. Many of the cards displayed came from that stocking. Please notice also, the freshly cut Hydrangeas on our mantle. These beautiful flowers are the gift in our yard that just keep on giving.
The Manatuke branch, held a Christmas party on the beach. How many of us can say that five days before Christmas, we were taking part in a sandcastle building contest? Now we can!
The winner of the contest wasn't even a castle, it was a giant sea turtle.
Meke is carrying little Tommy, while you can see Ward and part of the peninsula in the background.
This is the beach where the Brown family came to collect the driftwood for their Christmas tree.
Upon hearing that Ward needed to be careful of sun exposure, one of our friends presented us both with matching New Zealand bush gear. Merry Christmas and we take our hats off to everyone who has helped us celebrate this season.
As usual, we are happy and trying to work hard. It has been a lovely Christmas and we are so grateful for all of the thoughts and messages that have come our way. As 2015 will arrive before we post our next blog, let us be among the first to wish you all a Happy New Year. And just think, we are a day ahead of you, so we will be able to tell you all about it!
Love, Ward and Susan Elder and Sister Belliston, serving in Gisborne, New Zealand
So fun to get a glimpse of your Christmas..... It's going to be a very good 2015!
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