christmas day

we're celebrating christmas today at the jones' house up in orkney.

(yesterday we celebrated christmas eve!)

yeah, i know, we're a couple months early,

but we simply couldn't resist.

winter has arrived up in scotland.

i checked the weather the other night...

it said it felt like 22 degrees outside.

the wind blowing so hard that it was knocking the front door open.

you can also hear the wind flow through the chimneys-

it sounds like rolling thunder.

so, since it pretty much feels like christmas to me,

and i've been downloading christmas music for the past week,

i decided we should celebrate...

and things just kind of escalated from there.

yesterday the jones daughters and i baked sugar cookies.

we spent the day decorating them and ate them as the family watched 

'a muppet christmas' together.

today our family chef (andrew) is cooking up a chicken and stuffing,

and we've got my christmas music blaring throughout the house.

i woke up this morning to the sound of running feet and the youngest jones girls going from room to room singing 'jingle bells',

and when i left my room and exclaimed to the youngest jones that 

'it's so cold today!' she replied back, very matter-of-factly, as she jump-roped through the hall...

'well of course, it's christmas.'

i don't know what it is about christmas that makes people so happy,

so willing to join in on the fun when the holiday is still 3 months away,

but i like it.

it adds a bit of fun to the cold outside,

gives us something to look forward to,

and an excuse to be silly as a family...

curled up by the fire, eating cookies, and singing carols together.

yes, even in october,

it is the most wonderful time of year.