Thursday, January 6, 2011

December in a Nutshell - Part 2

  This was Christmas Eve night, after all the kids were in bed.  All the gifts to the right side of the tree were sent here by a precious supporting church in Alabama!  Unity Baptist certainly spoils the Andrzejewski family! ;)
Church Christmas dinner in our home.

Some of the desserts, including a Bolo Rei (King Cake).  A traditional Portuguese Christmas dessert.

The kids are allowed to open one gift Christmas Eve night before bed.  Brooklyn chose to open a book she had picked out.  She wanted to lay in bed all night and read.


Christmas morning

We've been dealing with a strange virus around our house this week.  As well as having two of the 5 kids on antibotics for infections in their throats.  The rain and winds have set in.  Umbrellas offer little shield from this type of a rainy day.  We stay wet and cold.  Lots of soups, hot teas and of course coffee help keep us from freezing.  I'm waiting patiently on the nice firewood man to deliver more wood so I can try to dry out the house.  The floors and walls are staying wet and if they don't dry out soon, mold and mildew won't be far behind.

I'm thankful for a routine again.  I loved having the kids at home for two weeks straight, but the confusion of no routine gets the best of me.

Michael has begun to work on our mini-furlough this summer.  There is a lot to do in preparation.  We're praying the Lord will bless and we can get everything accomplished in the 12 weeks we'll be Stateside.

Prayers from Portugal,
Nina

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Looks like a great Christmas! Sorry you are all sick. I would never make it with mold and mildew growing on the walls. I'd be in the hospital for sure! Praying you all get well very soon.

-FringeGirl

Jill said...

Hope you're all feeling better soon. I know it'll be hard to cram everything into a 12 week furlough! I'll be praying that works out for you all.

Marytoo said...

Is that a fireplace? Or is it a video of a fireplace?? :-P Your home is beautiful.

Starla said...

Your tree was so beautiful. Brooklyn probably has her book finished from Christmas Eve and I haven't even started on the book that I got for Christmas. :) Glad your family had a wonderful Christmas.

Nina in Portugal said...

marytoo,

It's really a fireplace.

Our landlord had it installed last winter and it's been a lifesaver in this cold, damp place.

My Mom said it looked like a microwave!

Marytoo said...

It does kinda look like a microwave, come to think of it.

I know people who have fireplace videos, which I think is sorta nutty. Kinda like the snow videos, aquarium videos, etc.

I grew up in the cold, damp Azores, so I rather know what you are talking about. We had a regular fireplace, which was the only heat in our whole house!

Tori Leslie said...

Wow you have had a really busy month or two. So glad you had a good time with family in the states and a sweet Christmas in Portugal.

I'm so jealous of your fireplace, I want one and as cold as it gets in Croatia you would think they would have them, but they don't. :0(

Anyhow, we're stateside now and just now getting into the swing of things. Already looking forward to going home.

Anyhoo, thought I would drop in and say hello. I'll be back again soon!