Anyway, round these parts we more or less celebrated Ziemassvetki (Winter holiday) than anything else. Some combination of old Latvian traditions, mixed with the undeniable Christian influence is definitely what we end up with.
Either way, it was a very nice time. It's been two years since I was with my family for a holiday, and I felt that acutely this year. On the morning of the 24th as Joel and I prepped to get out the door I found myself in tears about being with a makeshift family again. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE Joel's family. They are all very cool people, whom I admire and appreciate greatly...but you can't replace your own family. There is something about being with "your own people" that just cannot be substituted no matter how much your own people might annoy the piss out of you when you're together! :)
Anyway, so, Joel and I headed out to Kugures, Joel's sister-in-law's family country house. It was icy on the roads, but no snow. It would have been nice had the sun made an appearance, but the thick layer of clouds took care of that.
When we got to the house, Joel's brother and nephews were just getting ready to go cut down a tree. Did you know that actually Latvian law says that every Latvian family has a right to cut down any one tree from any Latvian forest for Christmas? Yeah, I just learned that this year. Interesting huh? Anyway...so the boys went and got the tree, and Marianna and I stayed home and chatted.
Decorating the tree and cooking food was pretty much what the rest of the day was about. Here's a picture of me, Marianna's mom and Marianna in the kitchen deep in conversation during food prep.
Here is a picture of the oldest nephew Tiss, in front of the tree.
And there is the tree in all its glory. It was a big one, but it fit perfectly. It did not have any electric lights, but instead had one real candle on it for each person that was there celebrating together. It was really very lovely. 
And here, just because I like photos of kids, is a picture of the youngest nephew Mikus, taking a picture of Joel taking a picture. :) He took lots of pictures that day. He went around and made sure he got one of everyone. Most of us made sure to kneel down for his pictures, so he could get us in the frame, but sometimes someone wasn't fast enough or something, and from what I understand, there were quite a few crotch shots taken as well. :) Hee hee.
You may ask, but where is the picture of you and Joel? Well, this is an issue that Joel and I seem to be having lately. No pictures of us. I'm not a big photo taker anyway. Actually, I don't even know where my camera is. So I usually rely on Joel to take the photos, and that usually works out just fine. For some reason it hasn't worked out well for pictures of us at any recent event (Solmas -oh yes, I'm going to start using the term now!, Istanbul...I'm sure there are others...). Anyway...so I have no more to show. But, I can report that the gift giving was great this year. I think that last year Joel and I were still too close to the beginning of our relationship to REALLY know what to get each other (well, except my happy light, Joel did good on that!). Anyway, this year we talked enough about it, and I suppose know each other well enough to come up with some good pressies. I made out like a bandit with a new cast iron skillet, some ramekins, a new sweatshirt and a beautiful pair of earrings - all from my very attentive and wonderful boyfriend. There was also a very cool little chest of drawers, some nice candles, a great book, a dvd and more from others. Joel didn't do too bad either I would say...I got him a subscription to an Australian sports magazine, a book he's wanted for a long time, some very nice new socks (which he both wanted and needed!) and a nice manly face lotion, so that he can stop using mine. :) He was most excited about his Geelong Cats dvd set from the previous winning season. Ah well. There was no way I could top that. :)
Christmas day was spent in pajamas...on the couch...stoking the fire...playing games (both with kids and just the adults)... it was good. Very relaxing. I tell you the only thing that makes me not want to stay in the country longer is the lack of clean running water and the opportunity to take a shower! :)
Now we're back in town, just chilling... savoring the rest of our break...we still have a while! :)
That's it for now...
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