Holiday Spirit

As always, the month of December was filled with holiday cheer and anticipation for Christmas Day. We pulled out our enormous fake tree for the third year and were pleased last year's shrink-wrap moving trauma didn't affect its beauty. I was even able to find a star tree-topper and tree skirt this year so our Asian tree looked more complete.

Elizabeth's Kindergarten class performed a music program in early December with several other classes. Our little "hip-hop reindeer" thoroughly enjoyed herself on stage with her friends!

We were happy to get invited back to Riverplace for the annual children's Christmas party. Santa always arrives during the party with gifts for all the children and in Singapore, he has an Aussie accent! The party was bittersweet this year as it was our last get together with the Hadden family - Courtney, Brian, Brooke and Bridget - who moved to Zurich in mid-December. They were great family friends to us here and we'll miss them. Of course, we wouldn't mind a good excuse to visit Switzerland sometime in the future either.

Emily and Bridget

Megan and Brooke

The girls finished school on December 16th, with Megan's and Elizabeth's classes both celebrating with Pajama Day. Megan thought it was a great idea to wear her long-sleeved flannel pj's to school. At least we compromised on wearing a tank top under the shirt, just in case it was too steamy! Santa made an appearance at school that morning and the students gave books and school supplies to him to share with other children in need.

Emily's class Christmas party started at lunchtime, with games and cookie decorating in Ms. Kiran's class. Afterwards, all the Pre-K students invited their parents to gather and sing carols together. Such a sweet group of kids!

Christmas Carols with Daddy

Brian and I participated in Elizabeth's class party and then checked out the scene in 3rd grade, where the pajama-wearing students were enjoying hot cocoa and "Miracle on 34th Street." All three girls had a great last day of school before Winter Break.

This year we chose to stay in Singapore through Christmas Day, which allowed for plenty of time to finish gift buying, baking and cookie decorating. With the rainy season more pronounced than in recent years, the gloomy weather leading up to Christmas actually made it feel more like winter. Well, I could at least pretend it was cool outside while I closed the windows, lit my holiday-scented Yankee candles and cranked up the A/C...

Nothing beats the festive feel of December!