Christmas Video

Hello dear family and friends!

Here is a sneak peek into our Christmas celebrations. We will write more soon!

First Pot of Soup!

Sunday the 5^th December began with church. It was a really relaxing afternoon of Christmas movies and playing games.

Monday began with prayer and a team meeting. The weather was a bit yucky, but Lucy ventured out for a chiropractor appointment in Bangor. It was decided that Lucy could start decreasing the amount of times she had to go to appointments, because her neck is in line and will hopefully stay that way!! Micah did a few errands and then stopped by Bobby and Joy’s house to drop off some leftovers. We ended up staying for dinner and watching one of Bobby’s favourite shows, River Cottage.

Tuesday was decoration day at the Ember. The morning was spent organizing decorations, buying a tree and untangling lights. The rest of the decorating happened in the afternoon when the core members were back, but we did not help because Lois and Wayne arrived. Lois and Wayne attend Lucy’s home congregation and Lois was Lucy’s mentor through high school. They are currently living in London volunteering as care workers for MMN volunteers. There is a MMN couple that recently moved to Belfast so they were able to combine visiting them with visiting us. They arrived about dinner time so Peter and Jenna (the MMN couple), Wayne and Lois, Frans and Julia (our new housemates) and Thomas joined us for dinner. It was a good evening of catching up and playing the Mennonite game!

Wednesday was another Root Soup day. Micah and Bryson (a trainee) went shopping at IKEA for additional kitchen supplies before returning to the office. Lucy worked in the office all day. She met with Frans and Julia to make sure they were settling in and to give them a chance to talk through some of the new ways of life that L’Arche provides. After work, we headed to the Ember for dinner and then Wayne and Lois returned from a day out (they stayed in our guest room) so we enjoyed chatting with them.

Thursday we went on a walk along the river with Wayne and Lois before heading to Protection of Vulnerable Adults training. The evening was pretty low-key.

Friday was a garden day for Micah. They worked a lot of transplanting and weeding. Lucy had the morning off so she took the chance to do some reading and cleaning. The afternoon for Lucy was spent in the Ember. Lucy helped Thomas get KK gifts and Lucy got her first present from her KK!! It was a great present of clementines and assorted nuts! Friday night we headed to city centre to meet up with Peter, Jenna, Wayne and Lois to listen to some traditional Irish music. The music was suppose to start at about 9, but the upstairs (where the music was) didn’t open till 9:30 and the musicians didn’t start playing till after 10. Then they only played 2 songs before heading out for a smoke break! Bummer! We only heard a total of 4 songs before heading back home, but it was really good music!

Saturday was an Ember day. Micah headed to Common Grounds with Thomas to volunteer. Lucy helped Jillian up and around before heading out with her to get some fruit and veg from the green grocer and buy some toiletries. Then afternoon was spent up at Forestside doing Christmas shopping or lounging around the beautiful Christmasy living room! In the evening we all headed down to the Ark for ‘Larry’s Pub Night’. Larry loves the pub but is often too lazy/overwhelmed by the number of people there to actually want to go to the pub, so we brought the pub to Larry. It was a great night of charades, singing, dancing (mainly by Jillian) and chatting.

Sunday we headed to church with Wayne, Lois, Peter and Jenna. After church we all went to a nearby sandwich shop before parting ways for a few hours. The afternoon for us was spent relaxing and napping! For dinner we headed over to Peter and Jenna’s house for jacket potatoes made by Lois and Wayne.

Monday started as usual with prayer and a team meeting. After lunch, we headed to the train station because Lucy had a chiropractor appointment. Lois, Wayne, Peter and Jenna had all headed to Bangor earlier in the day and we met up with them after the appointment for a cuppa tea. After getting back to Belfast, we headed to the Christmas market and then out to dinner at a great eclectic place called ‘Made in Belfast’. It had lots of character and really nice food.

Lois and Wayne headed to the airport on Tuesday morning. We decided to head to Ian’s bakery for breakfast since it had been a few weeks since we had gone. It was as good as ever. Afterwards we headed to buy some toiletries at Forrestside. Christmas shopping is making every shopping centre crazy busy!! We will avoid them if possible till after Christmas! We worked in the afternoon in the office then headed to the Loom, a new prayer space for the community. We had dinner and decorated the space. After the gathering, the live-in volunteers had Volunteer Night Out at a pub with Irish music. It was good craic!

Wednesday was an exciting day for Root Soup. Micah and Bryson made the first pot of soup for Root Soup! Lucy went to women’s group in the morning only to find out she should check our cell phone more often because it was cancelled. So after a cuppa tea, it was back to work in the office. Once the soup was made, 11 people enjoyed a bowl and some yummy wheaten bread. It was a big step to actually make a pot of soup! After work and dinner, we went to cell group where we enjoyed festive food and good company.

Thursday was a rest day (finally!). We used the morning to go grocery shopping and clean up around the house a bit. Then we took some time to relax before heading to Common Grounds for dinner and ‘Carols in the Cafe’ put on by our church here.

Friday was a different sort of day. It snowed quite a bit during Thursday night, so Jillian and Thomas weren’t able to go to the day centre. Jillian spent the day baking with Julia; Thomas spent the day with the two of us cleaning out his room. Thomas got rid of a LOT of stuff and his room is now dust free J. After work we learned a new game called 66.

Saturday we were back in the Ember. Lucy and Jillian headed to the green grocer and out to coffee. Micah went to Common Grounds with Thomas to volunteer. The afternoon was spent Christmas shopping, hanging about and going to IKEA. After we were at IKEA (looking for a new wardrobe for Thomas), we had a wee snowball fight. Thomas, Jillian and Larry were not impressed. Jillian kept yelling ‘cut it out’!

Today we went to church and then have spent the afternoon playing games and enjoying warm tea!

The past bit we have enjoyed Christmas’ arrival, from the Carols in the Cafe, to the snow, to the Christmas cards from Church of the Brethren members. We are looking forward to celebrating Christ’s birth next weekend. We will try to post pictures in the next few days, but for now we will leave you with warm holiday wishes!

Thanksgiving and the beginning of holiday season!

Tuesday the 16^th of December we began with a community conversation. During the community conversation we talked a lot about how we viewed ourselves in the community and things that were easy and hard for us in community. It was a great time of vulnerability within the community. After the community conversation, we were both wiped out so Maria suggested we take the afternoon off and go for lunch and a walk. It was really renewing to spend some time together. After the afternoon out we did a couple hours of work. In the evening, Thomas came over for dinner and we went to the chippie (fish and chips aka French fries). The rest of the evening was really low key!!

On Wednesday morning, Micah headed to the Root Soup kitchen and he and Bryson worked on continuing to clean the kitchen. Lucy went to women’s cell in the morning. They both were back in the office in the afternoon. The weather was NASTY in the evening so we stayed in from our cell group and watched a movie!

Thursday was a rest day. We went to the chiropractor in Bangor (Lucy had an appointment and Micah tagged along). After the appointment we went to a coffee shop before heading back. By the time we walked 30 min, took the train for 35 min, spent a couple hours in Bangor and returned by the train and walking....that was pretty much our day!

Friday was a dirty day :) Micah and Scott spent the morning hauling soil through the house. A delivery of soil came in the morning, but the truck could not fit down the back alley so they dropped 2 tons of soil in the front of our house and the majority needed to be in the back...bad news for the carpet! Lucy watched all the dirt being brought through while working in the office. In the afternoon Micah went to the allotment and Lucy went to the Ember. Micah and company spent the afternoon working on their new allotment plot, cut back fruit bushes and weeded. Lucy spent the afternoon with Jillian and Thomas. Thomas went to get a haircut and Jillian went to visit her favourite green grocer Michel. Then it was time to cook dinner! Larry headed out to a fancy dinner with Maria. He even wore a bow tie!

Saturday, we were back to the Ember. Micah headed out in the morning with Thomas to volunteer at Common Ground Cafe. Thomas helped to serve people, while Micah did a lot of dishes. Lucy, Julia, Jillian and Maria went to an art exhibition in the morning before Lucy and Jillian went to get Jillian’s hair cut. Jillian LOVES the hairdressers, because she gets coffee and pampered. The women there LOVE her! Afterwards it was back to the Ember for lunch. In the afternoon the boys (Micah, Larry, Neil and Frans) headed out to the Belfast Beer Fest. It had tons of local brews. Jillian, Lucy and Thomas went to the opticians because Thomas needed new glasses. Jillian whistled when Thomas found the right pair! By the evening we were all pretty tired so it was a low key night!

On Sunday we headed to church. After church, Joy and Bobby invited us over to lunch to meet Joy’s parents who were in from the states. It was a really nice afternoon of takeout and chatting.

Monday began with prayer and a team meeting as usual. In the afternoon Lucy headed to Bangor on the train for a chiropractic appointment. Micah took the chance to relax a bit on our rest day.

Tuesday the whole day was spent in First Aid training. We learned everything from CPR to treating burns to how to help if someone is choking. It was a full day! Afterward we were out of it so we decided to cancel on having Thomas down for dinner like we usually do on Tuesdays. We ended up eating dinner with Frans and Julia which was a nice chance to get to know them better.

On Wednesday, Lucy headed to a women’s cell group in the morning and Micah headed to the Root Soup kitchen to keep cleaning and buy a fridge. He had a lot of fun picking out the fridge with one of the men, who is taking part in the training in the kitchen, from the Open Door Housing Association. The afternoon was back to the office for both of us. In the evening we went to cell group before calling it a night.

Thursday was a rest day (kind of since it was Thanksgiving). Lucy headed out earlyish in the morning to go to Bangor for a chiropractic appointment and Micah and Larry went out to breakfast at Ian’s Bakery. After getting back from breakfast, Micah started cooking. Lucy joined in when she returned. The rest of the afternoon was spent cooking Thai sweet potato soup, baking pies and rolls and making gravy. Micah then ran out to pick up our turkey (we had it pre-cooked by the local butcher since our oven is quite small!!). While Micah got the turkey, Lucy, Makiko and Julia worked on setting tables and decorating. Then it was time for all 22 of us to have some yummy dinner! Although Thanksgiving isn’t a holiday here, we made a proper dinner with a lot of help from the community!

Our beautiful bird!

The desserts and punch.

Good times!

Friday was an allotment day for Micah. It was a big day at the allotment. New people, Paul and David, came up for the first time for the training that is starting at the allotment (part of Root Soup). Frans and Micah got manure for the Ark and then went back for more for the allotment. The afternoon was spent “conquering the new world and expanding L’Arche’s empire” aka taking over a new allotment that will have about 12 raised beds and lots of fruit bushes. Lucy spent the morning cleaning the house after the Thanksgiving feast and then headed to the Ember in the afternoon. After work, we had Thanksgiving #2. (Our first experience of 2 Thanksgivings!) We were invited by other Americans at church to a Thanksgiving celebration with a number of other couples/families. It was a really nice way to get to know some more people from church (and eat a lot more good food).

Cooking apples over the fire after our aluminum foil lunch was ruined.

Matthew weeding through the snow storm.

This is what makes cold, snowy days at the allotment worth it.

The snow falling over the Strangford Lough.

Matthew after he broke the knob of our water spicket.

Saturday we were back in the Ember. Micah and Larry dropped Neil and Thomas off at Common Grounds and then headed back to clean out Rosie (the community van, who was very dirty from hauling all the manure). Lucy headed out on the slippery foot paths to get Jillian’s eye brows waxed. Afterwards it was time to head up to the shopping centre for a lot of shopping and to pick up Thomas’ new glasses. He looks quite sharp with his new specs. Larry purchased some Christmas movies while we were shopping so the afternoon/evening was spent getting into the holiday spirit via films.

Sunday, we headed to church in the morning. Then we set out on a mission to find advent candles, which was much harder than expected. They either were smelly, expensive or the wrong colours, but we finally succeeded (in the 5^th store!!). The afternoon was spent at a community gathering to kick off KK (Kris Kindle). It is a L’Arche Belfast tradition, very much like Secret Santa. In the evening, we watched a movie. We do not recommend the “Nightmare before Christmas”!!

Monday began with prayer and a team meeting. Then we both headed to Bangor to go to a chiropractic appointment, do some shopping and go on a date! It was a beautiful, cool, crisp day!

Tuesday we headed in the morning to Holywood with the rest of the assistants for a walk and a cuppa tea/coffee. Rather than training we just enjoyed some time together! The afternoon was spent in the office. After work, we went to Joy and Bobby’s to babysit for their two kids, Padraig (2 years old) and Porter (6 months). Micah and Padraig ran laps around the house and read lots of books and Lucy and Porter spent a lot of time bouncing because Porter wanted his mommy! Thomas came over with us for awhile to have dinner, which Padraig really enjoyed! After Joy and Bobby were back and the boys were off to bed, we chatted for a few hours before heading home.

Wednesday, Lucy headed to women’s cell in the morning and Micah was planning to cook for the first time for Root Soup, but the two guys that were suppose to come couldn’t make it. One had a doctor’s appointment and the other had the flu. It was a bit of a bummer for Micah, but it was understandable. The afternoon was spent in the office. After work, we went grocery shopping.

On Thursday we had a rest day. Lucy headed...again...to Bangor for the chiropractor. Once back we headed up to get our Christmas tree. It is a bit like Charlie Brown’s Christmas tree, but we love it! The evening was spent drawing and crocheting...quite nice!

Our wee tree.

Friday was supposed to be an allotment day for Micah, but alas the dusting of snow/ice on the roads made it impossible to get up the last hill to the allotment. So instead, a group of us headed to an Indian buffet for lunch. Much nicer than being out in the cold anyway! Lucy spent the afternoon at the Ember, mainly chatting with Thomas. After work, Lucy scrapbooked and Micah went to whiskey night. It is a chance for guys from church to gather and hang out around a bonfire.

Today we headed to city centre to go to the Continental Christmas Market and do some Christmas shopping. The market was a cool collection of stalls from around Europe and beyond. There was lots of good food and pretty crafts! The rest of the day will be spent doing as little as possible!!

Overall life here has been filled with holiday cheer, lots of chiropractic appointments and a bit of a cold for Lucy. We are anticipating a visit from Wayne and Lois Hochstetler next week. (Lois was Lucy’s mentor from church through high school and they are currently in London with MMN.) We hope you are all able to find time to slow down and enjoy the advent season!