Noël à Bruxelles

This year was the first time that we stayed in Brussels over the holidays, but after our terrible travel experiences the last two Christmases, we were not about to tempt fate by flying with a wee bairn. It was actually the first Christmas in my whole life that I have not spent with my parents and siblings and, from that point of view, it could have been a pretty sad occasion. Make no mistake, we definitely missed seeing our families and friends in Colorado, heading to the mountains, and enjoying a white Christmas sitting by a cozy fire. But even so there was something very special about spending Maren's first Christmas here, in our own house, with our own little family. We were also really fortunate that several of our friends decided to stay in town this year, so we were far from alone.



Our holiday season kicked off in late November when we took a drive to Aachen (Germany). Troy's parents were visiting, so we took them for the opening weekend of the Aachen Christmas Market.


Dennis & Sharon at the Aachen Christmas Market

It was Chicken's first visit to a different country, but she didn't really see much as she spent our entire visit sleeping. The rest of us had a good time, however, and among our other finds was a super cute, warm, chicken hat for Maren for Christmas!



As part of our move earlier this year, we shipped some more stuff over from Colorado, including our collection of Christmas ornaments! These ornaments are very special to me as my parents would give my siblings and I an ornament each year, starting with my first Christmas. A couple of years ago, my mom carefully boxed up all my ornaments, plus Troy and I have picked up many more over the years. As my friend Cornelle said, it's a bit like my life on a tree.



For one reason or another, Troy and I have never had a proper Christmas tree before so we were both super excited to get our first real tree!



Troy walked over to Monceau Fleurs and picked out a beauty. Once he got it up and fluffed out, it was the quintessential Christmas tree and smelled lovely too!



We started with the star, but decorating took quite a while -- we had more ornaments than I thought!



Tree trimmed, we posed for a family photo to commemorate Maren's first Christmas!





In case you were wondering, 99% of the gifts you see in these photos are for Maren. And as cheesy as it might sound our own best present this year was, of course, Miss Maren herself.



With the house decorated and the Christmas music on constant rotation, we were ready to celebrate! Christmas Eve morning arrived and Maren got to sport her reindeer ensemble, an early present from Mamie and Papie.



And the stockings were...laid by the chimney with care -- oh well, at least we have a chimney! (Heavy stocking hooks are on the list for future Christmases.) That's my childhood stocking at the bottom right, now in use for the next generation.




Cool close-up shot of some of our ornaments, with the cityscape in the background.

Our good friends Cornelle and Serge came over to celebrate Christmas Eve with us and were kind enough to bring the meal to us! Here's the table, set and waiting for them to arrive.



Maren was very excited!



Mid-nosh shot -- eating huge plates of pasticcio (Greek lasagne) and Greek salad.




Pasticcio


Me & Cornelle

For Christmas, we had a very full day. First up was services at St. Andrews Scottish Presbyterian, our church in Brussels when we go (which, unfortunately, is really not enough). For the occasion Maren got to wear her beautiful Christmas ensemble, again courtesy of my parents. (I was torn about what was cuter, these adorable ruby slippers or her coat, which you'll see in just a second.)



It was Maren's first time in church and she did really well. She turned quite a few heads at the service as she looked around at everything and everyone from the vantage-point of our arms. She liked the music, but finally sacked out near the end of the service.



When we got home, we changed into comfy clothes and opened presents!




The Chicken Hat!

Maren had fun with her gifts, especially the tissue paper. But, by the time we got to this photo, she was OVER IT. I love the grouchy look on her face in this shot!



After a nap, it was time to get dressed up again and head over to our friends Raven and Jon's for a Christmas party. Here's the aforementioned coat -- isn't it the cutest thing ever?



We had a fun time at the Christmas party and went to bed that evening tired but happy.


Family photo at the Christmas party

Christmas may have come and gone but our holiday celebrations kept going! Troy took the week between Christmas and New Year's off from work, and we spent the time hanging out en famille. La Poste finally delivered several packages, so we had Christmas all over again.



We had not yet made it to the Brussels Christmas Market, so one afternoon we paid our annual visit in search of tartiflette and the Grand Place light show.


Video of the Grand Place Christmas light show



It was a lovely couple of weeks, and we loved getting to spend them together with Maren. Her first Christmas, in Brussels, will be a special family memory always.





Christmas 2011 Photo Album - Click Here