Christmas in Jersey!

Getting to Jersey: Even though I had some good bruises from my tumble down the stairs, I felt optimistic after a good night’s rest in Poole. We quickly repacked, ate, and said a prayer to ask for some patience and good luck. Then, we were picked up by Tracy (a sweet friend of the Furbank’s who was kind enough to drive us to the port in her car). She is LOVELY-an Australian who has worked in America, married a Chinese man, and lives in England. We loved hearing her perspective of the world, and we were sad to say goodbye! At the port, we found that we were allowed to bring all of our luggage with no additional fees! Hallelujah! (huge blessing-we were very concerned about that) We got settled at a nice table on the ferry. It is MUCH nicer than an airplane-plenty of room for walking, a nice table with four chairs around it where you can plop all of your stuff, and they even have a children’s play area! After about 25 minutes at sea, I was starting to feel a bit dizzy. Paul and Rachel were playing in the kids area, so I was holding Alice and trying to stay sane. Soon, Paul came back and we all sat together trying to keep our lunch down. The Captain announced we were entering the choppiest bit, and the boat did a HUGE lurch and slammed into the water. You could hear things breaking in the kitchen, and people were vomiting all over the place. Paul and I were making eye contact as if to hold each other and promise not to lose it. Biggest miracle of the day: Rachel, who never sleeps in public, FELL ASLEEP in Paul’s arms!!! I can’t explain how much that helped me. We were all able to relax and keep our food down, and there’s absolutely no way that would have happened if Rachel had been awake. After 2 ½ hours, we arrived in Gurnsey where we were joined by Alex, Sariah, baby Alexander, and Aunt Yvonne and Nadine! We had a nice 1 hour sail to Jersey, then Yvonne drove us to the cottage in her giant tank. Literally. This thing is a beast. I don’t know how she even found a car that big in England. It’s amazing.

The cottage: Pete and Alex are renting this darling home that was built in the 1600s. (They actually share it with two sister missionaries-Sister Steffenson from Norway and Sister Moorcroft from Australia/South Africa. Those two are DARLING) There is an incredible stone fireplace, and the doors all remind me of hobbit homes or something. It’s so cheery with the Christmas tree, and we are very comfortable in our own room. We even bought a Moses basket at a thrift shop for 4 pounds so Alice wouldn’t have to sleep in bed with me. There is a large bit of property in back where some wild chickens live! We hear the cockrels crowing every morning, and even though it occasionally wakes us up at ungodly hours, it all feels poetic somehow.

Health: Rachel was "poorly" (you don’t say “sick”. Sick means vomit) when we started this whole thing, and she STILL has a runny nose, but the fever has been gone for a few days. Thank goodness. I got sick as well-a fever that lasted about 24 hours, followed by congestion and coughing that won’t go away. Pete had the same thing, and I’m just praying we don’t give it to Alice. I’m pretty sure we’re safe by now…

Alright, where were we? Ah yes, Yvonne drove us to the cottage, and we spent the first night eating fajitas and getting settled.

Day 2: Saturday morning, Pete’s son Isaac arrived, and we caravanned around the island. The John’s led out in a giant blue van that Alex inherited, and we followed in Pete’s Audi. (Paul is now a master at driving in England/Jersey.) Pete and Alex showed us the old lighthouse where “Uncle Wally” used to work. Aunt Yvonne used to ride her horse out to the lighthouse to bring him lunch. So romantic! Paul took this shot:

They showed us some old bunkers built by the Nazis during WWII, and we also visited the ruins of Grosnez Castle (it’s French, good luck pronouncing it) built in the 14th century on the east side of the island. You can see Normandy from the coast where the castle sits! It’s stunning. We went to the Ward Christmas Party that night. It was HILARIOUS. We did some group quizzes that were INTENSE, and our team had a lot of fun working together. Alex won the chocolate tasting contest!

Sunday, we had a lovely time at church. We were a bit late getting there, so it was pretty distracting while the whole crew marched to the front row. It was the only available pew big enough for all of us. Ugh. I hate being distracting. Alex recruited us to sing “Because I Have Been Given Much” for her Sunday school lesson. I’ll admit, I started to get really nervous, but I said a little prayer that I could forget myself and that someone would get something out of it. I’m pretty sure the prayer was answered, because I suddenly didn’t feel anxious, and everything seemed to go well. I loved being able to sing with Paul.

We went to “Hollycroft” that evening. Hollycroft is the house Matt and Tachi McKenzie's home (Alex's brother and sister-in-law). They have two kids-Sapphire and Matty Ross. We were also joined by Pop McKenzie (Alex’s 91 year old grandfather) and Aunt Yvonne. (Nadine was poorly) We had a feast and lots of fun visiting quietly… just kidding. It was LOUD. The two dogs and the four babies in addition to the loving banter was hilarious. I loved it! (Note the matching Christmas dresses made by Ggie!)

Monday was Pete’s birthday! Unfortunately, Pete was feeling poorly, but we had a great day anyway. Pete had to complete some fun challenges from Alex that included running a timed mile (5:40!), and he and Paul went into town to shop and move some furniture. In the evening, the family came to the cottage for some more hilarity playing Pictionary. Pete requested juice for dinner, so we had some deliciously healthy juice. It felt good after all the chocolate and silly holiday treats we’ve been eating! I've decided we need to juice more often. I'm SO bad at getting enough fruits and veggies, especially in the winter.

The 23rd was a rest and regroup day. Alex and I stayed home with the babies to try to recover from the bugs going around. It was so nice to sit and talk about life and motherhood. I had to pinch myself since I’ve looked up to Alex for so long (and been intimidated by her wisdom and talents). It is a treat to be in her home and learn from her! The boys went “last minute shopping” in town, and we met up at home for some Lord of the Rings!

Christmas Eve started with a morning at the beach! We walked down from the house to St. Brelade’s Chapel, which sits right over the beach. It’s SO beautiful! We stopped to peak in the little church to hear the choir practicing for midnight mass, and I almost started crying. I found it profoundly moving that these sweet people were practicing for mass in a church that had seen many generations of righteous men and women come to worship. It also reminded me of my experience touring with high school choir, and I missed those days of singing powerful music in such beautiful and sacred spaces.
We continued down to the beach and had a sand castle contest. The Cartwrights made a tribute to “Stonehenge” and the Johns developed a nice fortress with some large snakes guarding the mote! Later on, we went to a nursing home to sing with the sister missionaries for a bit, and we had SUCH a good time! It’s a bit of a tradition for my family, so I was excited to be continuing the tradition, but I was expecting that we’d walk around to different rooms and sing a song or two and visit with people. Oh how wrong I was-we walked in to a large gathering in the main hall with a piano and loads of people waiting for us. We sang some religious and some fun songs, and I did the best I could to make up some accompaniment on the piano. It was a bit disappointing to realize just how rusty my piano skills are, but we had a great time anyway. The Sisters sang a little with their ukulele, and the staff fed everyone mince pies. It was so cheery and Christmasy! We spent the evening at Hollycroft, feasting and dancing with the family and some friends. A very different Christmas Eve than we are used to, but loads of fun nonetheless.

That night, I could hardly sleep, but it wasn’t from excitement. I was worried that the small few gifts we had for the next day would hardly make it feel like Christmas. I was also worried that I hadn’t sufficiently helped Rachel understand the meaning of Christmas. I know she is small, but I wanted her to have something to work with for next year… Little did I know, Alex was spending the entire night cleaning the home and preparing it for a wonderful day. When I woke up to make breakfast, the house was SPOTLESS and Alex had set a beautiful table with oranges and cards and little Christmas poppers.

I made “hootenanny hotcakes” for breakfast, but they didn’t quite turn out. Ugh. I was so embarrassed. I ruined Christmas! Ha! But kinda… Anyway, we had to hurry and eat so we could get to Ouisine (“way-nay”) beach by 10:30 for the annual Christmas dip! Anyone who wants to meets up for a little countdown and runs into the water at exactly 10:30 wearing whatever they want. (usually a swim suit and a Santa hat, but some people go fully dressed) It’s freezing cold, and since I’d been poorly, I didn’t think it would be a good idea to go in, but the Sister Missionaries and I went to cheer on Alex and Pete. Haha! They are crazy!

We hurried home, to get ready for the McKenzie clan who came over to exchange gifts for several hours. Paul took over cooking Christmas dinner while I tended the little ones. Paul was amazing! We had lamb, pork loin, brussel sprouts, sweet potatoes made with leek and garlic, and some other mixed veggies. It was a proper feast! By the time we finished eating and cleaning up, it was about 5:30 pm, and time to Facetime with my brother Jacob (from his mission in Ohio) and the rest of my family in Utah. It was a bit of rotten timing since we’d waited ALL DAY to open the presents we had for each other, but it was so nice to see Jacob and my family. He looked and sounded great, and I had to cry-just because I miss him and I’m so proud of him. I was able to Facetime with my family and Paul’s family later, which was so wonderful! That was the best part of Christmas for me. Family. We did eventually exchange gifts and open a few from loved ones. We had set a limit of 5 pounds each for presents this year, so we had to be creative! Paul gave me a beautiful necklace to remind me of Jersey (and some peanut M&Ms), and I got him some Sriracha hot sauce from America. We all got fruit in our stockings, and Rachel got some Tangled "Rapunzel" pajamas! We had some very thoughtful and generous gifts from family members and friends, including some “English” Christmas ornaments from the Beasley’s, a stuffed Olaf from Michelle and Brielle, and a book from my family. (They recorded themselves reading “The Little Engine That Could”, and as you flip the pages, you can hear them doing all the different voices and narration. I completely burst into tears when we started listening to it. It’s perfect! It’s like they are here to read Rachel a bedtime story every night! And she knows their voices too. Made my Christmas!)

Boxing Day is actually observed in England, so we had a lovely holiday the day after Christmas! I am a fan of Boxing Day. We ate like kings and played games all day! Truly. We munched on some DELICIOUS cheeses and a divinely roasted turkey while arguing over Monopoly for 4 hours. HA! We started off the game with an hour-long argument about the rules. Alex wanted her rule to be: “Alex wins.” We had a lively debate about how that’s not a legitimate rule. Other rules we agreed on included “All fines are to be paid into free parking”, “When you roll doubles, you get to go again and you can’t be fined for pausing on properties”, “One time in the game you can pre-emptively call “halfsies” on whatever rent you end up paying”, etc. Paul and Alex had a draw in the end, but not before Alex had attacked my integrity and accused Pete of bad sportsmanship for trying to leave the game when he had no property left. Needless to say, it was the most fun I’ve ever had playing Monopoly, and I didn’t even win!

Stay tuned for more adventures next week...

RACHEL'S CORNER:
I braided her hair! I can’t believe it’s long enough for that! Crazy.

Decided she doesn't like nursery in this ward. Why??? I think she's just been poorly and a little out of sorts with travel and strangers, but still...

Loves playing with Sariah and Sariah’s toys. They follow each other around, bounce on the bed for hours, take baths together, and Rachel has taught Sariah all about climbing in and out of cots.


ALL ABOUT ALICE:
Sleeping through the night like a champ! Usually 7-8 hours.

Getting too big for all her clothes!!! Seriously. This chunk is wearing 6-9 month old clothes and is now 8 weeks old. What???

Stayed healthy through all the bugs going around. YAY!! What a blessing!